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Two twenty-somethings: Lindsey (a high school English teacher in Kansas) and Megan (a media negotiator in Los Angeles) who aspire to read a new book every week in 2009. (inspired in part by 52books)

Archive

Jul
21st
Tue
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Lindsey #17 The Soloist - Steve Lopez The back says When Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, he envisions this “Violin Man” as the topic of his next column for the Los Angeles Times—only to unearth an even more extraordinary story about the mysterious street musician. More than thirty ears earlier, Ayers had been a promising classical bass student at Julliard—ambitious, charming and also one of the few African-Americans at the school—until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by a mental breakdown. When Lopez finds him, Ayers is alone, suspicious of everyone and deeply troubled, but glimmers of that brilliance are still there. From an impromptu concert of Beethoven’s Eighth in the Second Street tunnel to a performance of Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites on Skid Row, the two men learn to communicate through Ayers’s music. Their bond takes tortuous turns as Lopez imagines he can change Ayers’s life—finding him lodging, reconnecting him with his family, taking him to Disney Concert Hall to meet a former Julliard classmate. For each triumph, there is a crushing disappointment, yet neither man gives up. And though it’s Ayers he initially sets out to save, Lopez finds that his own life is profoundly changed. I was expecting this to drag on since it is one of those “heart-warming” stories, however I really love it. Steve’s relationship with Nathaniel is an excellent portrayal of what everyone has experienced in the toxic friendship. Nathaniel is the kind of person everyone wants to root for and help but as Steve finds out it is difficult to deal with the bad times especially when they are so much more frequent than the good. Nathaniel has his ups and downs but sadly, the small progressions he makes make the reader sad without really knowing why. The repetition of the actions become a bit daunting but I really enjoyed the moral of the story. I think it coincided well with my counseling classes. I felt like it was a good preview of some of the things I might be working with.

Lindsey #17 The Soloist - Steve Lopez

The back says

When Steve Lopez sees Nathaniel Ayers playing his heart out on a two-string violin on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, he envisions this “Violin Man” as the topic of his next column for the Los Angeles Times—only to unearth an even more extraordinary story about the mysterious street musician.

More than thirty ears earlier, Ayers had been a promising classical bass student at Julliard—ambitious, charming and also one of the few African-Americans at the school—until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by a mental breakdown. When Lopez finds him, Ayers is alone, suspicious of everyone and deeply troubled, but glimmers of that brilliance are still there.

From an impromptu concert of Beethoven’s Eighth in the Second Street tunnel to a performance of Bach’s Unaccompanied Cello Suites on Skid Row, the two men learn to communicate through Ayers’s music. Their bond takes tortuous turns as Lopez imagines he can change Ayers’s life—finding him lodging, reconnecting him with his family, taking him to Disney Concert Hall to meet a former Julliard classmate. For each triumph, there is a crushing disappointment, yet neither man gives up. And though it’s Ayers he initially sets out to save, Lopez finds that his own life is profoundly changed.

I was expecting this to drag on since it is one of those “heart-warming” stories, however I really love it. Steve’s relationship with Nathaniel is an excellent portrayal of what everyone has experienced in the toxic friendship. Nathaniel is the kind of person everyone wants to root for and help but as Steve finds out it is difficult to deal with the bad times especially when they are so much more frequent than the good.

Nathaniel has his ups and downs but sadly, the small progressions he makes make the reader sad without really knowing why. The repetition of the actions become a bit daunting but I really enjoyed the moral of the story. I think it coincided well with my counseling classes. I felt like it was a good preview of some of the things I might be working with.

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Lindsey #16 Copper Sun - Sharon Draper The back says Amari’s life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and living in a beautiful village, she could not have imagined everything could be taken away from her in an instant. But when slave traders invade her village and brutally murder her entire family, Amari finds herself dragged away to a slave ship headed to the Carolinas, where she is bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a birthday present. Survival seems all that Amari can hope for. But then an act of unimaginable cruelty provides her with an opportunity to escape, and with an indentured servant named Polly she flees to Fort Mose, Florida, in search of sanctuary at the Spanish colony. Can the illusive dream of freedom sustain Amari and Polly on their arduous journey, fraught with hardship and danger? I really like Sharon Draper’s YA collection for the most part, specifically the Hazelwood High series but I found this book more difficult to sift through. She took almost ten years to write it and it is one of the most popular books she has written. I found it to drag on in certain areas that I wanted to go faster. The story of Amari made my heart hurt which was probably the goal but some of the things were on the graphic side, pushing the envelope on YA but still bothered my core. If you like historical fiction this really might be a great option for you. This would also be excellent to read in conjunction with a African-American history course.

Lindsey #16 Copper Sun - Sharon Draper

The back says

Amari’s life was once perfect. Engaged to the handsomest man in her tribe, adored by her family, and living in a beautiful village, she could not have imagined everything could be taken away from her in an instant. But when slave traders invade her village and brutally murder her entire family, Amari finds herself dragged away to a slave ship headed to the Carolinas, where she is bought by a plantation owner and given to his son as a birthday present.

Survival seems all that Amari can hope for. But then an act of unimaginable cruelty provides her with an opportunity to escape, and with an indentured servant named Polly she flees to Fort Mose, Florida, in search of sanctuary at the Spanish colony. Can the illusive dream of freedom sustain Amari and Polly on their arduous journey, fraught with hardship and danger?

I really like Sharon Draper’s YA collection for the most part, specifically the Hazelwood High series but I found this book more difficult to sift through. She took almost ten years to write it and it is one of the most popular books she has written. I found it to drag on in certain areas that I wanted to go faster. The story of Amari made my heart hurt which was probably the goal but some of the things were on the graphic side, pushing the envelope on YA but still bothered my core. If you like historical fiction this really might be a great option for you. This would also be excellent to read in conjunction with a African-American history course.

Apr
13th
Mon
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Lindsey #15 Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay I think I started this in the middle of the series. Oops, I probably would have been less confused for the first part of the book had I known. The back says: In his work as a Miami crime scene investigator, Dexter Morgan is accustomed to seeing evil deeds… particularly because, on occasion, he commits them himself. But Dexter’s happy existence is turned upside down when he is called to an unusually disturbing crime scene at the university campus. Dexter’s Dark Passenger—mastermind of his homicidal prowess—immediately senses something chillingly recognizable and goes into hiding. Dexter is alone for the first time in his life, and he realizes he’s being hunted by a truly sinister adversary. Meanwhile he’s planning a wedding and trying to learn how to be a stepfather to his fiancee’s to kids—who might just have dark tendencies themselves. Macabre, ironic, and wonderfully entertaining, Dexter in the Dark goes deeper into the psyche of one of the freshest protagonists in fiction. You know how you get really angry about seeing all of the good scenes from the movie in the preview? Ya, that’s is what this back of the book did. That is basically the entire book, leaving very few things out. The Dark Passenger is Dexter’s special schizophrenic friend that lives in his mind and tells him how to kill people. This takes the reader a good 100 pages to figure out however.

Lindsey #15

Dexter in the Dark - Jeff Lindsay

I think I started this in the middle of the series. Oops, I probably would have been less confused for the first part of the book had I known.

The back says:

In his work as a Miami crime scene investigator, Dexter Morgan is accustomed to seeing evil deeds… particularly because, on occasion, he commits them himself. But Dexter’s happy existence is turned upside down when he is called to an unusually disturbing crime scene at the university campus. Dexter’s Dark Passenger—mastermind of his homicidal prowess—immediately senses something chillingly recognizable and goes into hiding. Dexter is alone for the first time in his life, and he realizes he’s being hunted by a truly sinister adversary. Meanwhile he’s planning a wedding and trying to learn how to be a stepfather to his fiancee’s to kids—who might just have dark tendencies themselves. Macabre, ironic, and wonderfully entertaining, Dexter in the Dark goes deeper into the psyche of one of the freshest protagonists in fiction.

You know how you get really angry about seeing all of the good scenes from the movie in the preview? Ya, that’s is what this back of the book did. That is basically the entire book, leaving very few things out.

The Dark Passenger is Dexter’s special schizophrenic friend that lives in his mind and tells him how to kill people. This takes the reader a good 100 pages to figure out however.

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Lindsey #14 The Bro Code - Barney Stinson Another retreating read. I finished this in about an hour, it’s a paragraph per page, and it’s written for men so clearly the words aren’t particularly large. Kidding! The back: Everyone’s life is governed by an internal code of conduct. Some call it morality. Others call it religion. But Bros in the know call this holy grail the Bro Code. Historically a spoken tradition passed from one generation to the next, the official code of conduct for Bros appears here in its published form for the first time ever. By upholding the tenets of this sacred and legendary document, any dude can learn to achieve Bro-dom. This is like “He’s Just Not that Into You” for boys. It’s for dumb girls that have no grasp of how boys work. I was really hoping for a laugh out loud kinda humor, which only happened once. It’s alot of nodding humor and then you’re done. So if you are a nonreading football playing sports nut, this might be your cup of beer.

Lindsey #14

The Bro Code - Barney Stinson

Another retreating read. I finished this in about an hour, it’s a paragraph per page, and it’s written for men so clearly the words aren’t particularly large. Kidding!

The back:

Everyone’s life is governed by an internal code of conduct. Some call it morality. Others call it religion. But Bros in the know call this holy grail the Bro Code.

Historically a spoken tradition passed from one generation to the next, the official code of conduct for Bros appears here in its published form for the first time ever. By upholding the tenets of this sacred and legendary document, any dude can learn to achieve Bro-dom.

This is like “He’s Just Not that Into You” for boys. It’s for dumb girls that have no grasp of how boys work. I was really hoping for a laugh out loud kinda humor, which only happened once. It’s alot of nodding humor and then you’re done. So if you are a nonreading football playing sports nut, this might be your cup of beer.

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Lindsey #13 Forged by Fire This was my distraction from the other books I was reading. The back says: When his loving aunt dies, Gerald suddenly is thrust into a new home filled with anger and abuse. A brutal stepfather was a flaming temper and an evil secret makes Gerald miserable, and the only light in his grim life is Angel, his young stepsister. Gerald and Angel grow close as he strives to protect her from Jordan, his abusive stepfather, and from their substance-addicted mother. But Gerald learns, painfully, that his past can’t be extinguished, and that he must be strong enough to face Jordan in a final confrontation, once and for all. Had I not met the author this year, I would never had picked up this little gem. The back reads like a sob story that rivals too closely to the real world for my pleasure reading. However, I started the first in the series, Tears for a Tiger and finished it in record speed, and finally tacked the follow up. Further, had my boys not been eating this up so quickly I would have put it on the TBR for summer. Apparently, the planets aligned correctly. There are so many sad and haunting themes in this book. I would assume that it had no basis in reality prior to this year and my students. It is hard to believe that some of this stuff happens to kids and they still survive, but something has to be working in their favor. It makes me very thankful for the life I have and am able to live.

Lindsey #13

Forged by Fire

This was my distraction from the other books I was reading.

The back says:

When his loving aunt dies, Gerald suddenly is thrust into a new home filled with anger and abuse. A brutal stepfather was a flaming temper and an evil secret makes Gerald miserable, and the only light in his grim life is Angel, his young stepsister. Gerald and Angel grow close as he strives to protect her from Jordan, his abusive stepfather, and from their substance-addicted mother. But Gerald learns, painfully, that his past can’t be extinguished, and that he must be strong enough to face Jordan in a final confrontation, once and for all.

Had I not met the author this year, I would never had picked up this little gem. The back reads like a sob story that rivals too closely to the real world for my pleasure reading. However, I started the first in the series, Tears for a Tiger and finished it in record speed, and finally tacked the follow up. Further, had my boys not been eating this up so quickly I would have put it on the TBR for summer. Apparently, the planets aligned correctly.

There are so many sad and haunting themes in this book. I would assume that it had no basis in reality prior to this year and my students. It is hard to believe that some of this stuff happens to kids and they still survive, but something has to be working in their favor. It makes me very thankful for the life I have and am able to live.

Apr
7th
Tue
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Lindsey- Enders Game #12 A recommendation from Davis. A quick read until the last 70 or so pages which seemed to drag on in a hot mess of depressingness. The back says: Card has taken the venerable sf concepts of a superman and interstellar war against aliens, and, with superb characterization, pacing, and language, combined them into a seamless story of compelling power. This is Card at the height of his very considerable powers —a major SF novel by any reasonable standards. Generally, the world is at intergallactic war in which the “government” is recruiting people to help fight the battle against extra-terrestrial buggars. Yes, I understand that I just lost vast cool points with that brief analysis but the book was actually far more intellectual than I expected from a YA SF novel. In fact I sorta just assumed aliens would attack people would run, Will Smith would propose and that other guy would wear dark sunglasses and carry a sweet gun. However, there is definite analysis of the hegemonic prowess the United States asserts amongst the world and the inane idea that we can in fact rule the world but more accurately put the galaxy. Ultimately the discussion of hearsay and manipulation are overpowering themes in the novel. Creating a discussion of what we will do when mentally we are torn apart and challenged. Ender, the main character’s constant evaluation of his life, state and future are both fervent and disheartening. He is at best a child who literally has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Thus as a teacher my mind immediately goes to the idea of progress in and out of the classroom and how much weight and pressure is too much. Do we function under the idea that ultimately we can push and push and push until they break but if they are meant to do it they recover. One should automatically assume that for at least a good portion of our lives we should play, right? What happens if the need and idea for play is gone? Why don’t we just start apprenticing early as the book recommends and dismantle school and education for those who aren’t worthy, that would make my classroom life vastly easy. I really enjoyed the book although the last 80 or so pages make me think about slasher films and cutting myself it was so depressing. Redemption is a key theme but even Ender’s redemption is saddening and doesn’t provide an immense amount of hope for the rest of the world.

Lindsey- Enders Game #12

A recommendation from Davis. A quick read until the last 70 or so pages which seemed to drag on in a hot mess of depressingness.

The back says:

Card has taken the venerable sf concepts of a superman and interstellar war against aliens, and, with superb characterization, pacing, and language, combined them into a seamless story of compelling power. This is Card at the height of his very considerable powers —a major SF novel by any reasonable standards.

Generally, the world is at intergallactic war in which the “government” is recruiting people to help fight the battle against extra-terrestrial buggars. Yes, I understand that I just lost vast cool points with that brief analysis but the book was actually far more intellectual than I expected from a YA SF novel. In fact I sorta just assumed aliens would attack people would run, Will Smith would propose and that other guy would wear dark sunglasses and carry a sweet gun.

However, there is definite analysis of the hegemonic prowess the United States asserts amongst the world and the inane idea that we can in fact rule the world but more accurately put the galaxy. Ultimately the discussion of hearsay and manipulation are overpowering themes in the novel. Creating a discussion of what we will do when mentally we are torn apart and challenged. Ender, the main character’s constant evaluation of his life, state and future are both fervent and disheartening. He is at best a child who literally has the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Thus as a teacher my mind immediately goes to the idea of progress in and out of the classroom and how much weight and pressure is too much. Do we function under the idea that ultimately we can push and push and push until they break but if they are meant to do it they recover. One should automatically assume that for at least a good portion of our lives we should play, right? What happens if the need and idea for play is gone? Why don’t we just start apprenticing early as the book recommends and dismantle school and education for those who aren’t worthy, that would make my classroom life vastly easy.

I really enjoyed the book although the last 80 or so pages make me think about slasher films and cutting myself it was so depressing. Redemption is a key theme but even Ender’s redemption is saddening and doesn’t provide an immense amount of hope for the rest of the world.

Mar
26th
Thu
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Lindsey - Godless #11 The back says Fed up with his parents’ boring old religion, agnostic-going-on-atheist Jason Bock invents a new god—the town’s water tower. He recruits an unlikely group of worthippers; his snail-farming best friend, Shin, cute-as-a-button (whatever that means) Magda Price, and the violent and unpredictable Henry Stagg. As their religion grows, it takes on a life of its own. While Jason struggles to keep the faith pure, Shin obsesses over writing their bible, and the explosive Henry schemes to make the new faith even more exciting—and dangerous. When the Chutengodians hold their first ceremony high atop the dome of the water tower, things quickly go from merely dangerous to terrifying and deadly. Jason soon realizes that inventing a religions is a lot Jason soon realizes that inventing a religion is a lot easier than controlling it, but control it he must, before his creation destroys both his friends and himself. This was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, surprising based on it’s content. I really did enjoy it however. There is a great deal of social commentary beyond what is listed on the back of the book. Enlightening despite the YA listing. If you claim Pastafarian you will probably enjoy this and potentially even find it a little funny.

Lindsey - Godless #11

The back says

Fed up with his parents’ boring old religion, agnostic-going-on-atheist Jason Bock invents a new god—the town’s water tower. He recruits an unlikely group of worthippers; his snail-farming best friend, Shin, cute-as-a-button (whatever that means) Magda Price, and the violent and unpredictable Henry Stagg. As their religion grows, it takes on a life of its own. While Jason struggles to keep the faith pure, Shin obsesses over writing their bible, and the explosive Henry schemes to make the new faith even more exciting—and dangerous.

When the Chutengodians hold their first ceremony high atop the dome of the water tower, things quickly go from merely dangerous to terrifying and deadly. Jason soon realizes that inventing a religions is a lot Jason soon realizes that inventing a religion is a lot easier than controlling it, but control it he must, before his creation destroys both his friends and himself.

This was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, surprising based on it’s content. I really did enjoy it however. There is a great deal of social commentary beyond what is listed on the back of the book. Enlightening despite the YA listing.

If you claim Pastafarian you will probably enjoy this and potentially even find it a little funny.

Mar
22nd
Sun
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Lindsey -WATCHMEN #10 The back: This is the book that changed an industry and challenged a medium. If you’ve never read a graphic novel, start with WATCHMEN. And even if you have, it’s time to read it again. I really expected to breeze right through this but no dice. I was gonna finish it at Quals and then promptly see the movie on opening day. EPIC FAIL! This took me as long as reading a philosophy, because in truth it’s alot of philosophy as well as political commentary. If you aren’t paying attention you will most definitely miss something. It is amusing and entertaining but most importantly insightful and at points makes you want to pull your hair out. The basic plot is that these masked men, “normal guys” start dressing up in costumes to solve crimes (think Batman - the money) until there is a revolt and they are forced to disband their group. Then someone starts to kill the masked men and the only one with real powers (also the guy who protects the US) leaves and goes to Mars. It is visually beautiful as well as being insightful and though provoking.

Lindsey -WATCHMEN #10

The back:

This is the book that changed an industry and challenged a medium. If you’ve never read a graphic novel, start with WATCHMEN. And even if you have, it’s time to read it again.

I really expected to breeze right through this but no dice. I was gonna finish it at Quals and then promptly see the movie on opening day. EPIC FAIL!

This took me as long as reading a philosophy, because in truth it’s alot of philosophy as well as political commentary. If you aren’t paying attention you will most definitely miss something. It is amusing and entertaining but most importantly insightful and at points makes you want to pull your hair out.

The basic plot is that these masked men, “normal guys” start dressing up in costumes to solve crimes (think Batman - the money) until there is a revolt and they are forced to disband their group. Then someone starts to kill the masked men and the only one with real powers (also the guy who protects the US) leaves and goes to Mars.

It is visually beautiful as well as being insightful and though provoking.

Mar
8th
Sun
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From Megan: There you go Linds. I’ll try to do this more often now. Oy. But for reals, the Before and After book makes me want to NEVER read another book again for fear of not getting that time in my life back.

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Megan’s Book 8 Before and After by Rosellen Brown Back of book synopsis: Carolyn and Ben Reiser moved to Hyland, NH, with their two children for the comforts of rural life. But when the local police chief comes looking for their seventeen-year-old son, Jacob, to question him about the brutal murder of his girlfriend, the Reisers’ lives begin to unravel. This book was TERRIBLE. I don’t give a sh*t if it is a NYT Best Seller. First, each chapter is written from a different character’s perspective - and ONLY from the perspectives of Carolyn (the mom), Ben (the dad), and Judith (the little sister). And the author is TERRIBLE at writing from Ben’s perspective, okay at writing from Carolyn’s, and REALLY GOOD at writing from Judith’s perspective, but ONLY GIVES THE F*CKING GIRL 3 CHAPTERS - MAYBE - THAT ARE LIKE 2 PAGES EACH. Second, the climax of the book happens on like page 48. Seriously. I could have stopped reading then. But I continued through all 354 pages and wanted to kill myself. Third, the author obviously got just as tired of writing this novel as I got of reading it, because it goes from being like “Blah blah blah blah blah,” to ENDING just like that. With no description, no here’s what happened to everyone else, etc. TERRIBLE. I know you can’t give something 0 if you’re like an actual reviewer, which is why I’m glad I’m not. 0/5 - don’t waste your time or money

Megan’s Book 8

Before and After by Rosellen Brown

Back of book synopsis:

Carolyn and Ben Reiser moved to Hyland, NH, with their two children for the comforts of rural life. But when the local police chief comes looking for their seventeen-year-old son, Jacob, to question him about the brutal murder of his girlfriend, the Reisers’ lives begin to unravel.

This book was TERRIBLE. I don’t give a sh*t if it is a NYT Best Seller.

First, each chapter is written from a different character’s perspective - and ONLY from the perspectives of Carolyn (the mom), Ben (the dad), and Judith (the little sister). And the author is TERRIBLE at writing from Ben’s perspective, okay at writing from Carolyn’s, and REALLY GOOD at writing from Judith’s perspective, but ONLY GIVES THE F*CKING GIRL 3 CHAPTERS - MAYBE - THAT ARE LIKE 2 PAGES EACH.

Second, the climax of the book happens on like page 48. Seriously. I could have stopped reading then. But I continued through all 354 pages and wanted to kill myself.

Third, the author obviously got just as tired of writing this novel as I got of reading it, because it goes from being like “Blah blah blah blah blah,” to ENDING just like that. With no description, no here’s what happened to everyone else, etc.

TERRIBLE.

I know you can’t give something 0 if you’re like an actual reviewer, which is why I’m glad I’m not.

0/5 - don’t waste your time or money