Gone With the Wind

That's right, we're going old school today: a review of a book I read a looooooong time ago.  :-)

Gone With the Wind is classic on all counts. Margaret Mitchell captures everything that is romance, Southern, and timeless.

I read this book many years ago - I think the summer before my freshman year of high school. I absolutely loved it, and it immediately became my favorite book (and should have been my first clue that I would one day major in English Literature). That fall, our English teacher asked us on the first day of class to write a little about ourselves, including our favorite book. Of course I put Gone With the Wind. At the end of the year, our teacher handed us back our questionnaires, I guess as a way to show how we'd changed (although this was never expressly said). I was very interested in knowing what my teacher had thought about my favorite book being an "adult" book - nothing childish here! And lo and behold she had written a comment: "I assume you mean the movie."

That comment still irks me. Didn't I prove myself an avid, educated reader in her class? Wasn't it obvious that I knew the difference between the phrase "favorite book" and "favorite movie?" At that time, I hadn't even seen the movie (and even now I still think the book is better, and not that much longer). How dare she insult my intelligence and reading prowess! Needless to say, she wasn't my favorite (or best) teacher to begin with, but it still bothers me and I wish I would've gone up to her and corrected her mistake, but I didn't and really, what would it have gained me?

Gone With the Wind is still one of my all-time favorite books. And even though I don't have the patience at this time in my life to sit down and read it through word-for-word again, I often will long to just cozy up for a few hours and lose myself in Scarlett's world. Everything about this work screams "perfect" to me: the writing, the setting, the characters, the colorful descriptions. I fell in love with Rhett right alongside Scarlett (even if she didn't realize that's what it was) and I was devastated when she lost everything she had (more than once). She's the character you want to hate, but you can't help loving her for her determination and flair.

5 out of 5 stars, obviously, and maybe I'll even throw a sixth one in there for good measure.

Too Slow?

There are 65 books on my wishlist at Borders.  And I'm sure, if I put more time and effort into it, I could easily double that number.  Knowing that, the rate in which I can complete a book seems way too slow.  This is actually something I've been thinking about recently, having been a part of my first reading challenge and checking out the blogs and reviews of the rest of those participating.  There's something I've noticed: while I used to think I was a fairly fast reader (nothing compared to my mother, but still faster than the average Joe), I have nothing on these people.  They read a book a week at least!  How is that possible?  These women have jobs just like me (or they're stay-at-home moms with toddlers which I think is even harder) and somehow they are tearing through their reading lists.

I read at every opportunity throughout the day - in the morning if I have extra time, on my breaks at work, walking to the gym during my lunch break - and, granted, once I get home the reading does tend to stop abruptly, but still.  Is that really the culprit, or am I not as fast a reader as I thought I was?  Normally I wouldn't care, but my wishlist is sort of overwhelming me and I'm wondering how I'm ever going to have the time to read everything I want to (and since we all know I'm not a patient person, I would prefer to read them all right now).

I don't really expect there to be an answer, other than to just keep truckin' and look forward to all the good books yet to come.

For My Library Friends

I love the punchline.  Be sure to check out Unshelved for more entertainment via the library system!  Happy Friday!

The Time Traveler's Wife

Oh. My. God.

That was my first thought when I finally closed this book.  This is one of the best works of recent adult fiction I have read.  And while I may have slight objections or questions to parts, it is, as a whole, one of the best books of the decade (I say that having not read even close to most of the books written this decade - forgive me).

Audrey Niffenegger tells the love story between a man and a woman, Henry and Clare.  This would be nothing new or exciting if it didn't have one key element: Henry is a time traveler. He will disappear at random and end up in a completely different place in a completely different time.  This is how he meets Clare, when she is six years old and he is 36.  Throughout Clare's childhood Henry is somewhat of a mythical creature.  Always appearing, but never giving her details as to when he comes from or their future together.  When she meets him in the present, he is only eight years older than her, and they begin their all-consuming love affair, accompanied by moments of anguish when they are separated by Henry's time traveling (which Niffenegger explains as a genetic disorder). Throughout, Henry is searching for a way to stop time traveling, to be kept firmly in the present with the ones he loves.  But is that possible?

Niffenegger created a believable world with very human characters.  I felt for Clare when she had no idea where Henry had gone or when he would be back.  I felt for Henry when he was transported to unknown times and places, often finding himself in danger.  And I felt for them both when they weren't sure if they would be able to have a baby due to Henry's genes.  There is depth to the characters and, because of that, the originality of the story, and the flow of the writing, I am counting this among one of my favorite books.

5 out of 5 stars.  This is a story I could read again and again, and it has made me appreciate what I have.  Contemporary fiction rarely brings out such true, raw emotion, and I applaud Audrey Niffenegger and look forward to reading her second novel, Her Fearful Symmetry.

The Graveyard Book

The Graveyard Book, by Neil Gaiman, won the Newbery Medal for 2009, so I had high hopes.  While those hopes weren't dashed by any means, they weren't lived up to.  The book starts out as a murder-mystery (which makes me question its genre as Children's literature, but who am I to judge?) and I was hooked.

This is the story of Nobody "Bod" Owens, a toddler who escaped from the man who killed his family and is taken in by the occupants of the local graveyard - a hodgepodge of ghosts and spirits.  Bod is well cared for and brought food by his guardian, Silas, who is not quite of the spirit world, but not of the human world, either.

Eventually, of course, Bod must come face to face with his family's murderer, and I have to say there was an unexpected and greatly appreciated twist concerning that.  But I found the middle part of the book was a bit boring.  It seemed like Gaiman was trying to pass the time between Bod's toddler years until he was old enough to face off against his nemesis.  There were a few bits of information or experiences that were important later on, but as a whole I thought it could have been a bit more exciting.  The climax, however, was great, and the ending was emotional, so that definitely brought it back up to the expectations I had in the beginning.

Maybe I'm being overly critical.  It has been awhile since I've read Children's literature, and I'm guessing this book is just right for a lot of kids - mystery, suspense, a coming-of-age tale where the main character feels what kids his age feel - but for me, it wasn't my favorite.  Good, but not great.

3.5 out of 5 stars

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I was trying to think of something fun to post, but I couldn't come up with anything (and I don't have my camera with me to post pictures of my awesome pumpkin) so I decided to partake in this meme, hosted by J. Kaye's Book Blog.

I'm still reading The Graveyard Book, but I should be finishing that tonight or tomorrow.  After that, I was planning on reading Frankenstein, but I just brought home a book that I've been hearing a lot about and I can already tell I'm going to fall into and just stay there (have you ever felt that way about a book?  Where it just envelopes you and you barely come up from under it to eat or sleep?  At least that's what I hope happens).  And what book is this, you might ask?  It's The Time Traveler's Wife, of course.  I feel like everyone has either read the book or seen the movie, so I guess it's about time I jump on the bandwagon, and I'm really looking forward to it.  Sorry, Frankenstein, but I think you're going to have to wait until next year.


But, after my slight deviation, I'll be going back to Moby Dick and the rest of my Fall Into Reading List.  Maybe I should just add The Time Traveler's Wife so I don't feel like I'm leaving the path?  I don't think there was a rule against that.  (I just checked, and no, there isn't; in fact, it's encouraged. Yay!)

So anyway, that's what I'm reading today, and what I plan to be reading tomorrow and for the next few weeks.  Confidentially, I even cleaned off my nightstand last night so I could neatly stack my list of books next to my little reading lamp.  It makes me happy.  :-)  Have a good week, everyone!

Thar She....Wait, Not Yet

So I'm taking a bit of a break from Moby Dick because a) my two library/Halloween books came in and b) I needed a break.  I have just under 200 pages left and I can still honestly say I'm almost done.  That's how long this book is.

However, I am very excited to have started Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, which won the Newbery Medal for 2009. So far so good.  It's a nice change of pace from Moby Dick, and it grabbed me from the very first page.  This is another YA novel that incorporates illustrations at various points throughout the book, and they really help to add to the spooky feel of it.  By the way, if you're wondering where you've heard that name before, Mr. Gaiman is the author of the book-turned-movie Coraline.

Don't worry, though.  I fully intend to finish Moby Dick.  However, I might not be able to finish Frankenstein before Halloween, which is OK.  I can always save it for next year.  And yes, I know I could read it after Halloween, but I'd rather not.  October is the month for spooky things, and that's it.  There's a time and a place to be scared, and no, I'm not controlling at all.  :-)