Serena
Author: Ron Rash
Publication Date: 10/7/08
Publisher: Ecco Press
[Goodreads|Amazon]

Blurb(GR): The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton travel from Boston to the North Carolina mountains where they plan to create a timber empire. Although George has already lived in the camp long enough to father an illegitimate child, Serena is new to the mountains--but she soon shows herself to be the equal of any man, overseeing crews, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving her husband's life in the wilderness. Together this lord and lady of the woodlands ruthlessly kill or vanquish all who fall out of favor. Yet when Serena learns that she will never bear a child, she sets out to murder the son George fathered without her. Mother and child begin a struggle for their lives, and when Serena suspects George is protecting his illegitimate family, the Pembertons' intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel as the story moves toward its shocking reckoning.

Rash's masterful balance of violence and beauty yields a riveting novel that, at its core, tells of love both honored and betrayed.

Review:

I promised a review of this book this week and it looks like I just made it!  Phew.  Sunday totally counts, right?  I finished this book quite a while ago but as always, life intervened and there was much internet-free gallivanting and acres of sand between my toes and billions of hours of driving last week, all of which conspired to prevent me from writing this review.  Here’s a picture of where I was:

(That's not even a random photo that I found on the internet - my brother in law took that.  That's what it looks like.  All the time.)  Can you really blame me for procrastinating?  Can you?  

Alright, well all excuses aside I really loved this book.  This was one of Karen’s picks for me a few weeks ago on She Made Me Do It and I’m so glad she put it in front of my eyes because I might never have found it otherwise.  My favorite part of this book, without a doubt, is its titular character Serena. 

Some people, after suffering years of adversity, will become twisted and damaged and unable to function.  Maybe even most people.  And then there are people like Serena – who go up against adversity and seem to become honed by it.  They walk through tragedy and all of their softer layers seem to get sloughed off, leaving them hardened and sharp.  Serena is a girl who survived a deadly flu epidemic, burned her childhood home to the ground, braved the wildernesses of Colorado, found herself a suitably powerful lumber baron to marry, and set her sights on expansion.  Any challenge that nature lays before her feet, she seems ready to take on - whether it be a deadly virus, the rattlesnake population, or the acres of virginal Brazilian rainforest she longs to mow down.  And it isn’t as if she triumphs over nature; she’s far too much a part of it herself to be set apart in that way.  Rather, she is the smartest, deadliest predator in the natural world she inhabits.  In this wild place where several men die each week in the pursuit of lumber, Serena – a young, petite woman – seems the most fit to survive.  She is willing to do whatever is necessary to ensure her place, including murder anyone who gets in her way, or anyone who may or may not get in her way at some unspecified future date.  With her deadly pet eagle on one arm and her dedicated assassin on the other, Serena blazes off the page.

Which is interesting, because the narration never hovers over her thoughts.  Instead, it moves between Pemberton, Serena’s formidable husband, and Rachel, Pemberton’s teenage plaything from his life before Serena – neither of whom are even a tiny bit as interesting as Serena herself.  Rachel’s story really leads the narrative, and she’s no doubt a very sympathetic character, but every time the narration switched over to her I felt a bit bored.  Rachel struggles to survive on her own with an unwanted pregnancy and almost no support from anyone in the town.  She scrimps and works her fingers to the bone and gets by on very little and raises her son well.  It’s all very inspiring…but honestly, I just wanted to get back to Serena murdering people.  That was much more interesting to me.

However, as Serena’s sights turn to Rachel, the mother of what it turns out will be Pemberton's only child, Rachel is forced to become craftier, harder, and more violent…and then I started to like her a great deal more.  I also just love that, by tormenting Rachel, Serena essentially becomes the instrument that hones her into a worthy adversary.  That’s just good old fashioned poetic justice right there.

This book is like a brutal fairy tale set in the 1920's wilderness of America and starring the wicked witch.  I really enjoyed every sinister minute.  And I will never doubt Karen's taste.  It is impeccable!

4/5 Stars

Somewhat middling reviews all around last month... although we all ended up at least liking our picks. However, this month we are going to try something a little bit different. We've called in an expert! Karen is a seasoned veteran bookseller, the most popular reviewer on goodreads (where she also runs a reader's advisory group), and she recently presented at ALA about reader's advisory in the digital age. She is one of our favorite reviewers and is incredibly knowledgeable about books in just about every genre and age range you could name. If anyone can find us a great read, it's her!  We're more nervous about finding books for her. Is there anything she hasn't read yet?  

Like Water For Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

What it's about: Set in early 20th century Mexico, it's a story of Tita who is prohibited by her mother to marry the man she passionately loves. As Tita's lover decides to marry her sister to be closer to his beloved, Tita has nothing left but to suffer in silence. And cook delicious food that she infuses with magic of her explosive feelings.

Why I think she'll like it:  The fact that Karen will read, literally, anything (from picture books to monsterporn to obscure fiction that maybe a hundred people ever read) makes recommending books to her both very easy and very challenging. I mean, I am sure whatever I suggest she will finish, but will she like it? That is the question. At first I was going to get her to read Darkferver, for completely selfish reasons, obviously, and see with anticipation what happens. But then I decided to make an effort to find something that had higher odds of being enjoyed by her. And if I know one thing that Karen loves, it's FOOD (have you read her weekly Adventures of Food and Fun yet?) Even if she doesn't like the story of Like Water For Chocolate, she will at least appreciate the recipes.

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

What it's about: A very realistic portrayal of twisted female friendship in high school.  Regina Afton is a former member of the in-crowd who is now shut out and forced to face the ugliness of her own actions, as well as daily bullying from her former best friends.

Why I think she'll like it:   I'm surprised that Karen hasn't read anything from Courtney Summers yet, because I think she'd really like her books.  They're gritty, often disturbing, and never simple.  This one is particularly scary.  I know that Karen loves survival stories  - and what's more extreme than surviving suburban high school...particularly when it's populated by evil, violent psychopathic girls?  Karen enjoyed Before I Fall, (which  - full disclosure - I haven't read) and this gets a lot of comparisons to that book.  But I think this one is darker, and I know the ending is a lot more unresolved.

The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt

What they're about: The Wednesday Wars is about a Long Island Jewish seventh-grader who has to stay and spend time with his teacher while the rest of the kids in his class go to religious instruction. Okay for Now is about a side character from TWW who moves with his family from Long Island to a small town a few hours away. His home life leaves much to be desired but he is very much affected by several members of the town. 

Why I think she'll like them: Technically, I've picked two books for Karen, but I'll only hold her to one. The reason I've included both is because they are middle grade books and both absolutely lovely.  Also, I know how quickly she reads so I am confident she could knock both out in one day if she felt like it. Karen reads pretty much any genre but I specifically picked The Wednesday Wars and Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt for her because of one review she wrote. She gave When You Reach Me, the 2010 Newbery winner by Rebecca Stead five stars and said, " Sure... it is intended for children but it is a sweet, sad book about friendship and family and sacrifice that most adults could really appreciate." I had very similar feelings about When You Reach Me and these two books. They are intended for middle readers but I absolutely loved both of them because they carried so much weight despite their intended audience. I also know that two of Karen's good friends, Greg and Ariel, have both read this and 4-star or higher enjoyed it. To quote Karen on Greg's review thread, "Someday I will read this maybe." Muahahaha, that time has come, Karen. Knock knock. 

like water for chocolate

i know, how have i never read this one? it is supposed to be one of the great examples of magical realism, and i love me some magical realism, so it is high time i read it.. thank you for the kick in the pants. 

and i do love food. love it. it keeps me alive.

wednesday wars and okay for now

ariel has been talking up w-wars to me for aaaaages. i guess my only excuse for not having read it before is because i just don't read a lot of middle grade stuff, even though there are some that i have read as an adult that i have enjoyed. they are so short! i always look at the middle-grade stuff i have here, and i am like, "if i take that to work, i am going to finish it on the subway, and then i will have to take a second book, and that means i will have to sign TWO books in at work..." and it just exhausts me, having to choose a secondary book. but - ah - now i have two, and this makes the decision for me! awesome!

some girls are 

i know i have read reviews of this before, but it never really called out to me. however, in a flash of synchronicity, i had planned to start this is not a test today, so - weird. and i just got burn for burn at ALA, which is another "mean girls" book, so it looks like it is time for me to branch out and read more realistic YA instead of the dystopian stuff that is my bread and butter. 

The Go-Between by L.P. Hartley
Serena by Ron Rash
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson

What They're About:

the go-between is about a young boy's exposure into the world of adult entanglements, and the effect one summer has on his adult life.

serena is basically macbeth set in a logging community in north carolina in the 1920s. 

winesburg, ohio is a series of interconnected stories that take place in a small town whose inhabitants have larger dreams than their circumstances. 

Why I Think She'll Like Them: 

i am mostly responding to the heavy-on-the-thomas-hardy love we share. i think our reading tastes are the most compatible of the three of y'all, and these three books are among my favorites. the go-between is full of the situational complications of which hardy is so fond, and my memory of the book is that hartley describes the english countryside in a similarly glorious way as hardy; with nature itself mirroring and enhancing the action. i could be projecting, but i am pretty sure. however, i am entirely sure that the book itself is wonderful, and it is a heart-wrenchingly beautiful story of that first love, and the chasm between dreams and social position. in a lot of ways, it is like, "what if proust could have edited himself down to just the basics?"

serena is just gorgeous. do i need to say more? i will! this also has great descriptions of nature but they are not the nostalgic remembrances of a summer of promise, this nature will mess you up. it is very dark, and there will be violence, but it also has one of the best female leads in any book ever. it is at once about the evils of ambition and the danger of trees. trees!

winesburg draws on the frustration of circumstances as well, and it has a very steinbeckian feel. this also feels hardy-like to me, but like jude, where characters want to rise above what they have been dealt, and if they can't, at least they can tell their stories to the one that does have the chance to get out, so that a part of them will exist outside of their small-town existences. 

I had not previously heard of any of these selections except Winesburg, Ohio (and even that one was only vaguely), and that makes me very happy.  Of course, the first thing I did after reading the above paragraphs was head right over to goodreads to read karen's reviews and oh my god - her review of Winesburg, Ohio completely hooked me.  "this book is life - it is tender and gentle and melancholy and real. not everything works out according to plan here, but what ever does? that's not necessarily depressing, it's just a reality that can either be moped over and dwelled upon, or accepted and moved on from."  That sounds like something I would love and also reminds me of how I feel whenever I read Thomas Hardy.  And Serena sounds so incredible too - really brutal and I love that it has an eeeeevvil female MC.  Plus, Macbeth in the woods?  With scary trees?  Sounds amazing!  I am very sad that karen has not reviewed The Go-Between but it also sounds really interesting - tense and evocative and I'm intrigued by the child POV.  I am going to have a really hard time choosing one of these...plus...I put this post together and I'm seriously interested in a few of the picks for Flannery and Tatiana.  I'm very excited!

A Drama in Muslin by George Augustus Moore
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill
The Book of Night Women by Marlon James

What They're About: 

drama in muslin takes place in ireland in the 1880's and revolves around a group of women trying to make the most socially and financially advantageous matches for their eligible daughters. 

lullabies is about a young girl in montreal, growing up on the wrong side of the canadian tracks with a junkie father and hooligan friends.

book of night women is about a slave rebellion on a plantation in jamaica in the 18th century.

Why I Think She'll Like Them: 

drama in muslin is an easy sell. tatiana loves jane austen, and this is very much like austen, in a lot of ways. marriage is the ultimate goal, but these mothers treat it like a battle, and there are machinations and plotting and moore really brings the situation to life with his writing. the social and sexual politics of the smaller story work well into the larger political situation in ireland, and these poor girls are just little chess pieces to their scheming mothers, and there are ever so many balls.

the other two are more responses to tatiana's claim in her profile page that she likes book "that shock, delight, scare, make me uncomfortable, tickle my imagination, make me think or cry (but not in a Nicholas Sparks way), intense, but non-exploitative books."

i think both of these books are shocking, in their own way. lullabies is the gentler of the two, but it is apples and oranges. it is only gentler because the narrator is so young, she doesn't recognize a lot of what is going on around her for what it is. that is the strength of this book, we as readers see what is happening, but it is being interpreted by her innocent eyes, and everything is like a game to her. but the consequences are real. night women is rough. really rough. the violence is horrific, and nothing is spared. but lilith... she is an incredible character. a very complicated character, definitely, but a true original. this is in dialect, which i am not sure about, for you, if that is something that turns you off. but if you really want something intense that is going to make you uncomfortable in a true-feeling, non-exploitative way, this is your book. intense doesn't begin to cover it. 

Verdict:

The only thing I can say is that I have never heard of any of these books before (the three of us seem to be in the same boat), and yet, the way Karen puts it, they all sounds right up my alley, particularly A Drama in Muslin. I also suspect she might have read my mind, because I've been craving books set in foreign countries for a while. So, yeah, I look forward to checking them all out, especially because I am not familiar with the novels and therefore had no opportunity to have a pre-emptive opinion (read: prejudices) about them, which hinders many of my reading experiences. Off to check which books my library has...

flannery was the most difficult. there were several i had planned to suggest, but they were already on her to-read shelf!! and i am no cheater. and this morning, i have changed my mind at least three different times and had to delete all of my suggestions and start over from scratch.

but these are my offerings.

Set This House in Order: A Romance of Souls by Matt Ruff
The Sea Came in at Midnight by Steve Erickson
George & Rue by George Elliot Clarke

What They're About: 

set this house in order is about what happens when two characters with mpd meet and try to get to the bottom of a long-buried family secret.

sea takes place in san francisco, mainly, in the pre-millennial days. it is about many many things, and is hard to describe using plot alone. this one is a risky recommendation, because it is so much one of my favorites, but it is so hard to say why. 

george and rue is a fictionalized account of the author's ancestors and their crimes and punishments against the backdrop of racial inequality in canada in the 40s.

Why I Think She'll Like Them:

set this house could go on your "seattle" shelf, and i know you have read a few books about mental illness, and enjoyed them. this one has a less-than-gentle start, just in terms of situating the reader, but i think once it gets going, it is not difficult to understand. also, you know more about it going into it than i did, because i never read the back cover before i started reading it. oops.

sea came in. this book is a little tricksy, but incredibly rewarding if you let yourself go in it. i think you have a solid enough background in sci-fi/fantasy stuff that the structure of this, and the little magical/metaphysical flourishes will not turn you off, and since you have read a bunch of post-apoc stuff, this is a nice balance, because it deals with that impending sense of unidentifiable, but certain, doom. and it is mind-blowing. 

george and rue. you like mystery books, what about crime fiction? what about beautifully-written crime fiction that is both violent and jarring, and emotional and sympathetic? i know you can handle the violence of it, based on some of your readings, and it is a fantastic book that more people should read. so i am throwing it to you. 

Verdict: I am beyond excited about this. Sometimes we use this feature to force our cobloggers to choose (or have a 33.33% of choosing) a book that's lingered on her to-read shelf for months or even years. When I scrolled down to Karen's recommendations and the bit where she said that I had some of her recommendations on my to-read shelf so she picked different ones? It made me ecstatic. (I think the three of us chat so much that we've shared  many if not all of our favorites with each other. It's  a little incestuous blog we run here. It's nice to get some new blood. Okay, now I sound like a vampire. ) I've never even heard of all three of these books. I will acquire all of them and then do my mood, cover, jacket copy, and friend review analysis and get going. I am glad she picked across three genres as well because I have been really fickle lately--I do love mental illness books, crime fiction, and I have a soft spot for any book that a reader I trust calls "one of their favorites." I truly have no clue which one excites me most but I'm raring to go on this. Thanks, Karen!

We are so grateful that Karen volunteered to use her amazing reader's advisory skills and love of books for a great cause. All three of us have been feeling some fatigue about reading and I (F) think that a large part of it might be that we often talk about the same books--the ones we love most, the ones our mutual friends/bloggers recently reviewed, the ones everyone knows that we intend to read, and the ones we are writing about soon. We are excited to get moving on these fresh recommendations. Thanks for joining us,  Karen! We'll report back on how our reading experiences unfold.

If you'd like to ask Karen for more recommendations, join her reader's advisory group on Goodreads. You can follow her reviews or friend her here. 

Five Flavors of Dumb
Author: Antony John
Publication Date: 11/11/10
Publisher: Dial
[Amazon|Goodreads]

Blurb(GR): The Challenge: Piper has one month to get the rock band Dumb a paying gig.

The Deal: If she does it, Piper will become the band's manager and get her share of the profits.

The Catch: How can Piper possibly manage one egomaniacal pretty boy, one talentless piece of eye candy, one crush, one silent rocker, and one angry girl? And how can she do it when she's deaf?

Piper can't hear Dumb's music, but with growing self-confidence, a budding romance, and a new understanding of the decision her family made to buy a cochlear implant for her deaf baby sister, she discovers her own inner rock star and what it truly means to be a flavor of Dumb.

Review:

I don’t often read or enjoy “feel-good” books and that’s most certainly what this is, although; I will grant that it does take a while to find its way into corn-country.  However, sometimes I do get bogged down by all the darkness and depression.  Sometimes I just need a little refresher.  Luckily for me, there are a few things that can help circumvent my “corn-free” policy.  A few of these things are:

Nerdery/Geekery in all its forms
Off-beat humor
A unique voice
Soft rock anthems
Shenanigans
90’s Grunge
Awkwardly hot Asian love interests

And guess what?  This book has all of those things.  This book was exactly what I needed, and I'm really glad that Flannery challenged me to read it.  I think I inhaled it in less than a day, and in my world of chauffeuring, cooking, cleaning, and crisis-mediation that’s quite extraordinary!  I really couldn’t put this book down.

This is a very sweet story with more depth than your average sweet story.  Piper feels completely alone in her school, ever since the only other deaf person (and her best friend) moved to a new state.  At home, things aren’t much better.  Her baby sister, who was born severely deaf, has recently been fitted with a cochlear implant and is starting to hear – meaning that Piper is now the only person in her family who can’t.  To make matters worse, Piper realizes that her parents have raided her college fund – the one she was going to use to pay for tuition at a prestigious university for the deaf – to pay for the implant.

Desperate for money, Piper sees opportunity in the somewhat lame but nonetheless enthusiastic high school band quite appropriately named “Dumb.”  After witnessing a performance in front of the school, Piper ends up giving the band a not so small piece of her mind and their arrogant (but hot, natch) leader challenges her to become their manager.  If she can get them a paying gig in one month, she will not only get a share of the money; she will get to keep the job.  So Piper accepts.  Even though she has little to no interest in music.

The first three quarters of this book had me grinning and laughing and swooning.  I loved almost every minute – from Piper’s realization that her dorky Chess club partner is secretly a master percussionist with the soul of a rock star, to the band’s various (and mostly failing) attempts to succeed and get paid, to the very sweet dynamic between Piper and her younger brother Finn.  I loved that Piper is a no-nonsense shark of a manager, perfectly willing to lie to get her foot in the door.  And I really loved that each and every member of Piper’s family is both present and feels like a real, three-dimensional character.  No absentee parents here!

Where this story lost me was, of course, in the ending.  Oh, how I wish that I could just beam myself in to these quirky, fun reads and tell everyone to step away from the corn-ledge!  Just don’t do it, fictional people!  Don’t reach for the corn!!  Alas, I have no such powers.  Because I have to admit that I really loved that Dumb was such a big hot mess of a band.  And this story, for me, was about Piper reconnecting with the world – both at home and with her peers – and finding her own identity.  I just don’t think it was necessary or realistic for the band to fall into such perfect alignment and become a success.  Also, the way that they eventually came together was very predictable, in my opinion.  Her family’s progress also verged into unrealistic territory.  Some of her parent’s decisions and actions later in the book felt out of character and yes, corny.

However, I did have a lot of fun reading this.  Will I remember this book in a year or two?  I’m not sure.  I am writing this review only a week after reading it and already had to look up the main character’s name.

Perfect Musical Pairing
Evelyn Glennie – How To Listen To Music With Your Whole Body

Okay, so this is actually mostly a lecture, but I wanted to include it here because I was kind of bummed that this book never addressed the myth that deaf people do not enjoy music.  Even though I thought it was hilarious that Piper was very much not a music lover, I think it would have been awesome if the author had found a way to dispel this myth.  However, I completely respect his decision and I would much rather it not be present than for him to have artificially shoe-horned it in.  That doesn’t stop me from including it in my review though!  This video is really amazing – a fascinating demonstration from deaf percussionist (she probably plays the marimba!) Evelynn Glennie.

3.5/5 Stars

Feed
Author: M.T. Anderson
Narrated by: David Aaron Baker 
Published: 2008 (book: 2002)
Publisher: Listening Library
[Goodreads | Amazon | Audible]

Blurb: “We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.”

So says Titus, whose ability to read, write, and even think for himself has been almost completely obliterated by his “feed,” a transmitter implanted directly into his brain. Feeds are a crucial part of life for Titus and his friends. After all, how else would they know where to party on the moon, how to get bargains at Weatherbee & Crotch, or how to accessorize the mysterious lesions everyone’s been getting? But then Titus meets Violet, a girl who cares about what’s happening to the world and challenges everything Titus and his friends hold dear. A girl who decides to fight the feed.

Following in the footsteps of Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, and Kurt Vonnegut, M. T. Anderson has created a not-so-brave new world–and a smart, savage satire about the nature of consumerism and what it means to be a teenager in America.

Review:

I might feel uncertain if I actually liked Feed or not, but one thing I know for sure - the audio version of it is excellent. The book itself is unique because of its narrator - a teen in a future with a device in his head that directly connects him to the internet. Titus, who is constantly fed a cocktail  of advertising, entertainment and targeted info, has an almost atrophied brain, he lacks in basic knowledge of speech or reading, because why bother if all communication can be done through the Feed? His "voice" is highly stylized and peppered with "likes," "dudes," "fucks" and "dadadas." This voice can be annoying at times, but the audio truly brings it, as well as the Feed - a constant stream of information - ads, news, chats, whathaveyou, to live.

But other than the high quality of the audio production, Feed didn't really impress me.

For one, I guess Feed failed to properly scare me. You see, even though I am not a particularly tech savvy person, I am sooo far from lamenting the advancement of technology and the "loss of humanity" that comes with it. Yes, yes, Feed draws from present day culture of teens and tweens tweeting and texting in never ending OMGs and LOLs, but I am still not concerned. Somehow, these ignorant pubescents manage to grow up and become functioning members of society and in fact are often at an advantage in our Twitter and Facebook-driven world.

People have been predicting the end of the world due to technological or cultural changes since the dawn of days. Burn those astronomers and scientists! Don't let them women go to school and vote! Nobody writes letters a la Jane Eyre any more! Those telephones are EVIL! EBOOKS will ruin literature the way we know it! Every time there is a change in technology or culture, someone is crying apocalypse.

You know what? I am not scared of the changes. People evolve, communications evolve, and life goes on. Will there be time when internet is directly plugged into our brains? When we communicate mostly electronically? Maybe. So what? I am already plugged into my iPod/laptop/cable a significant amount of time. Would I be better off spending more time outside planting potatoes, picking cotton, turning over hay, grinding flour? You tell me. 

In addition to the Feed concerns, there is another layer of the novel where human population seems to be decaying, literally, physically, with people developing lesions on their skin and the planet being destroyed, but that's a completely different story. All of that doesn't seem to be attributed to the evils of the Feed. Just carelessness of people. I am not even sure why Anderson put it into the story, without significantly connecting it to the rest. Was it all supposed to be a treatise against American over-consumerized culture, the cause of everything bad in the world? This side dish of social commentary wasn't flavored enough for my taste.

To me, Feed read a bit dated and a bit young. In spite of massive cursing and sexual content, the book's message is delivered in a simple and obvious way. But that's a normal thing. After all, this YA novel is over 10 years old and lost some of its bite.

I enjoyed the novel's "voice" (thanks to the fabulous audio), but did it provoke any thoughts or emotions in me? Not really. The highly satirized and stylized style of narrative might be at fault here. Satire doesn't work for me usually. Making a joke out of serious issues doesn't compel me to cheer for the cause, no matter how legit it is.

3/5 stars (mostly given for the quality of the audio)

We all loved last month’s picks so there’s a lot to live up to with this round.  And now the tables have turned! The challengers become the…challengees! Throwing a monkey wrench into the whole affair is the fact that all three of us are currently in varying stages of the dreaded YA slump. Can anything possibly break us out of it?  Without further ado, here are this month’s selections:

The Verdict:  The End of the Affair and Five Flavors of Dumb have both been on my to-read list for a while, and are both very easy for me to get (The End of the Affair is sitting on my shelf about ten feet away from me right now) so those two are very convenient picks!  The End of the Affair sounds like something I'd love, but I think I would need to be in the mood for all of that intense heartbreak.  Five Flavors of Dumb sounds like a lot of fun and will probably appeal to my lighter side (LOVE the nerdy romance).  I'm not sure about the third pick, because I rarely read memoirs, BUT I know that Flannery has an amazing sense of humor and if she thinks it's funny, then it's probably worth checking out.  I do rely quite a bit on engaging audiobooks to make exercise more palatable.  Great picks Flannery!

The Verdict: This is going to be a hard choice for me.  I've been meaning to read The Bell Jar and The Handmaid's Tale for so long--probably since high school. They are favorites of many trusted reader friends and I always get a little nervous that I won't see what is so wonderful about books that people love so much. Tatiana is right that I really enjoy historical YA. I don't read a ton of it but it is a great get-out-of-jail genre for me to break through a book slump. I'm going to try all three to see if one sticks with my mood right now.

Okay For Now
Author: Gary D. Schmidt
Publication Date: 4/5/11
Publisher: Clarion Books
[Goodreads | Amazon]

Blurb (GR):  Midwesterner Gary D. Schmidt won Newbery Honor awards for Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boys and The Wednesday Wars, two coming-of-age novels about unlikely friends finding a bond. Okay For Now, his latest novel, explores another seemingly improbable alliance, this one between new outsider in town Doug Swieteck and Lil Spicer, the savvy spitfire daughter of his deli owner boss. With her challenging assistance, Doug discovers new sides of himself. Along the way, he also readjusts his relationship with his abusive father, his school peers, and his older brother, a newly returned war victim of Vietnam. 

Review:

Gary Schmidt’s earlier work, The Wednesday Wars, introduced readers to Doug Swieteck as a secondary character, but Doug takes front stage in Okay For Now, its 2011 companion novel. While they are both quirky, Okay For Now is riddled with darkness that its predecessor didn’t have, and that  kind of heaviness usually appeals to me, at least when it is well done. After reading both of these books, Gary Schmidt has shot himself in the foot going forward; From here on out, I’ll be expecting perfection.  I know he can do it, considering both The Wednesday Wars and Okay For Now are pretty darn close to achieving that feat. Before last week, I wouldn’t have thought it possible to like the second book more than the first but here I am, telling you that I liked it just as much, if not more.

Seventh-grade Doug moves with his family to the small town of Marysville after his father loses his job. While their family may not have fit in perfectly in their prior Long Island town, it is a rough transition considering all these new people don’t yet know about the Swieteck family’s notoriety—namely Doug’s bully brother and their father’s drinking problem and fast hands. That last topic was particularly well-done in Okay For Now, disregarding a section of the ending. I felt the tension hanging in the air and feared for the characters in certain scenes. It was absolutely a book I spoke to aloud, but that’s nothing new for me. The scenes that are always the worst for me are the ones when people are doing wonderful things, inspiring things, but I know a shadow is coming because of it.

Each chapter of the book is prefaced by the inclusion of a black and white copy of a print from John James Audubon’s Birds of America. Before I started reading, I stared at each bird, analyzing what was going on in the picture and what Doug would think of it. When Doug gets to Marysville, he ends up getting a job delivering groceries to all the townspeople from the local deli (run by the father of Doug’s new crush, Lil Spicer) and he finds a copy of Audubon’s Birds of America in the empty second floor of the local library, which is only open on Saturdays. (Check out that link to see the sheer size of the book.) Over time, Doug’s fascination with the prints is encouraged by one of the librarians and the two of them have weekly discussions about the intentions of the artist and how Doug can improve his own artwork. Because Okay For Now is written in first person narrative style, Doug’s voice comes through crystal clear and just looking at the pictures added to the expectations, good and bad, of what was to come.

Here are the thoughts Doug shares about the first picture he sees from the book, The Arctic Tern:

It’s been awhile since I’ve spent significant time with a seventh grader so I’m not sure how realistic his astute observations were, but I know how much we read our lives into everything we experience. I know that every time I hear Bach’s Suite No. 3, my entire body will relax. I know that Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber is almost unbearably sad.  If you read the Wikipedia article on it, I love the story about how the famous conductor Toscanini returned the music without any notes/comments  to the composer’s annoyance, but it turns out that Toscanini had memorized the entire thing.) Every time I see Kandinsky’s work, I think of college because I often used it as my desktop background. Even though Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks shows a couple late at night together as the central element of the painting, I always concentrate on the man who is alone at the counter. Anyway, while it might have been a bit overreaching to make Doug so contemplative of the artwork, I did not find his voice unbelievable. The backbone and temporal anchors that working through the prints in the Audobon book gave Okay For Now created a structure that was perfect and a steady pace.

As with a lot of middle grade books (and a lot of books in general), so much of the novel concentrated on what it means to be a good person. Some of the characters exist seemingly to provide consistent rays of hope to Doug (his mother, Mr. Ballard and Mr. Powell), while others are constant trials. Some reviewers have mentioned their problems with one character in particular, and that is Doug’s father. I want to comment on the ending of this book so just skip to the next paragraph if you don’t want to be spoiled. I didn’t have a problem with the ending of this book. Mr. Swieteck is a disgusting character and I certainly don’t believe that he would stop being so and then the entire family will forget his years of systematic abuse.  The ending presents Mr. Swieteck with the platter of problems he has created, all coming back to him. He’s stolen from one son, treated another like garbage, and yet another is facing a trail and potential jail time for his father’s actions. It is entirely realistic to me that someone in that position might have a moment of clarity—What have I done to myself and my family, who all hate me? I actually like where the book leaves off that part of the story because it is in a place of optimism. For a younger audience of readers, it might be a sign of hope that people can change. The reality of the situation actually made the ending sad for me. It is just a snapshot of a calm moment and the real change, if it ever comes, will be gradual.

There is so much more to this book—Doug and Lil’s relationship, the ups and downs of the townspeople’s treatment of Doug based on local hearsay, Doug’s reading adventures through Jane Eyre, Mrs. Windermere and a theatrical debut, Doug’s brother returning from the Vietnam war, the gym teacher harassing Doug to no end and several other plot points that would be absolute spoilers if I included them. But if I went on any longer, I’d probably go on forever. And that is the best indicator of things, isn’t it? I’d recommend this to basically anyone, but specifically to librarians who want a reminder of what they can do for even one person, to teachers for the same reason, to anyone who likes to think about what the artist or author was thinking about while creating their work, and to anyone who likes to put their heart through the wringer once in a while.

Catie challenged me to read this book for our She Made Me Do It feature and she unsurprisingly knew I would adore it. Thanks, Catie.

5/5 stars

The House of the Scorpion
Author: Nancy Farmer
Publication Date: 9/1/02
Publisher: Atheneum

Blurb: Matteo Alacrán was not born; he was harvested.
His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a country called Opium--a strip of poppy fields lying between the United States and what was once called Mexico. Matt's first cell split and divided inside a petri dish. Then he was placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued the miraculous journey from embryo to fetus to baby. He is a boy now, but most consider him a monster--except for El Patrón. El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself, because Matt is himself.

As Matt struggles to understand his existence, he is threatened by a sinister cast of characters, including El Patrón's power-hungry family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards. Escape is the only chance Matt has to survive. But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no guarantee of freedom, because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he doesn't even suspect.

Review:

Flannery made me do it and I am pleased that she did. I have no idea why I've been avoiding The House of the Scorpion for so long. Just look at its accolades - National Book Award Winner, Printz Honoree, Newbery Honoree. It practically has my name written on it.

But, is The House of the Scorpion worth such an overwhelming acclaim though?

I'd say, its first 215 pages and the last 20 are (ebook edition).

The first two thirds of the book are riveting. This story is not just a clone story. (For some reason, the majority of stories about clones focus on exactly the same things.) Yes, it is horrifying in how it examines the (familiar) debate about a clone's humanity and soulless(ful)ness. Matt is a clone and is defined by people around him as livestock, a source of body parts, and not a human being. (How can he be human if he was grown in and harvested from a cow?) Nancy Farmer takes Matt's character on a journey of self-discovery and self-awareness that allows him to accept that he is not what he is told he is, that he is as much of a human being as any person around him. It is a compelling journey, even though its sentiment isn't particularly new to me - I've read Never Let Me Go and watched The Island.

But, thankfully, there is more to distinguish The House of the Scorpion from similar stories.

First, the novel is set in Mexico (well, a future version of it). This country's life is written richly and authentically and never feels like just an exotic backdrop. I am no expert on Mexican culture though, so I might have felt that in awe of it as portrayed in The House of the Scorpion because of the narrator of the audio, who infused Mexican flavor into the story most organically.

Second, this is a story of a drug lord and his enslaved family. El Patrón feels he is owed a few generations worth of life, and he will stop at nothing to get what he thinks he is entitled to. Cloning is a part of his plan for immortality. It's in Matt's relationship with his master and owner where the story shines the most. How would a clone feel about the person who is identical to him, the source of his life? Would he be able to hate him, essentially hating himself? If a clone's genetic make-up is similar to that of a ruthless criminal, does it mean that this clone is destined to follow the same path and become the same vicious person? Or is there a way to break away from the prototype? And how would a master feel about his own clone? Would it be possible for him to treat this younger version of himself as an organ bank, or there exists a connection that is closer than even that between a father and a child? These questions had my brain working, and this part of the book was 5-star material for me.

But then came the escape part, in the last third of the book, and I found myself struggling with it. I was bored, I didn't feel like those pages (3-months of Matt's life worth) connected well thematically with the overreaching story arc, I didn't think they were necessary, I didn't think that a whole set of new characters (including villains) needed to be introduced so late in the story, and I surely didn't think that anti-socialist rants needed to come into play. (How did they relate to Matt's journey?) I thought, those pages only occupied time with no real bearing on the rest of the novel. To me, those 80 pages could have been completely cut out.

Thankfully, the ending did save The House of the Scorpion. It happens so infrequently in books, but it did bring the story full circle to El Patrón, and it was satisfying. But that big chunk of the novel, unfortunately, made me much less willing to recommend it, even though during the first part of the book I kept thinking this novel would be a great fit for fans of Unwind. I might reread The House of the Scorpion in future, but I'll be sure to skip over a big part of it.

4/5 stars

As amateur reviewers, we pride ourselves on being able to recommend the right books to the right readers.  As massive readers, we rely on the opinions of others to help guide our own book selections.  But how much do we trust each other?  Enough to place our next round of reading in the hands of a co-blogger? 

Today we are starting a new feature, where we will risk it all and make and receive recommendations to and from the pickiest people we know: ourselves.  Using a round-robin approach, each one of us will give three selections to another Readventurer.  That person must select and attempt to read one of the books within the next month.  Glowing reviews may follow.  Scathing rants may follow.  Half-hearted DNF’s and awkward glares may follow.  Our very reputations as reviewers are on the line!

This should be interesting.

Tatiana's Verdict: I am quite excited about these picks. I won't be surprised if I read them all. The House of the Scorpion has been on my TBR for a very long time. All those awards! It is my kind of book for sure. The only reason why I haven't read Sirantha Jax is because I prejudged the author based on the reviews of her YA novel (something about a rapey love interest?). Maybe it's time to put this prejudice behind and actually read one of Aguirre's books? And, of course, I LOVE books about mentally unstable people.

Catie's Verdict:  I knew I could trust Tatiana to list three books that I most definitely want to read - she practically does that for me every single week as it is!  I've desperately wanted to read Zoo City ever since she described it as a combination of "The Golden Compass and Paolo Bacigalupi" in her review.  That sounds like something I would love.  I've also heard wonderful things about The Blue Sword.  I was disappointed with Robin McKinley's Sunshine and Beauty, but I think it's time I gave her another chance.  And guess what?  I've already seen AND loved the film version of The Painted Veil.  Perhaps a Book vs. Movie post is in my future?  It will be very hard for me to pick just one of these when I really want to read all of them.

Flannery's Verdict: I told Catie after I read her recommendations that I find it funny that only two days ago I was on our blog discussing my hatred of ghosts and now she is recommending a ghost book to me. But it IS Meg Cabot and she usually entertains me, especially when I block Avalon High and Insatiable out of my mind. I have been meaning to read Okay For Now for ages, ever since I loved The Wednesday Wars so I'm excited to prove my chops for this feature by definitely reading that one. Catie knows that anyone can snag me when they add "IN SPACE!!" to any premise. A laundromat...IN SPACE!!  Twenty grandmothers playing bingo...IN SPACE!!  I have no clue what the man on the front of that cover is doing, but it intrigues me. Also, I've yet to read any Asimov, despite being a self-proclaimed sci-fi fanatic. The verdict on Catie's picks is that I'm excited to read them all. Realistically, I hope to read two of them. -Flannery