Today I caved to the hype, and checked out a Stieg Larsson - my first, actually. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Multiple friends, family, acquaintances, libraries, and publications have told me that TGWtDT is a book worth reading, but I have just not been able to muster up the urge to WANT to read it. Why? Why, you ask?
(Why yes, I AM blatantly setting this up for a list! How DID you guess???)
WHY I CAN'T SEEM TO READ TGWTDT:
1) It's enormous,
2) the actual main character is a middle-aged man, not someone I easily identify with,
3) the way people say it treats women (not so good), and finally,
4) it's been publicly lauded as fantastic and multiple people have recommended it to me.
For some reason, while I enjoy recommending books, I rarely enjoy books recommended to me. Especially books like TGWtDT, what with it being pasted all over Time, Newsweek, Macleans, Entertainment Weekly, bookstores, libraries, etc. for the last couple of years.
In short, overexposed.
When a book has been as talked about and praised and recommended as TGWtDT, I just find that it never really lives up to my expectations - much like The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins. While I acknowledge that both books are good, incredibly good, even, I can't seem appreciate them as much as a book I find on my own. This may tap into my block with Jane Austen books, and is definitely something I would like to one day vanquish as Buffy did so many of the undead.
But New Years is a long time away, so I suppose I will just have to tuck my LitGuilt 2.0 away until December - when I can obsess over it with PURPOSE.
Sincerely,
RR
Friday, March 25, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Planet of the Women
Hi all,
Today is (according to Facebook) International Womens' Day!
So in honour of IWD, I have decided to do a post on, surprise surprise, WOMEN.
Below, a list of my favourite female characters:
RR'S FAVOURITE FEMALE CHARACTERS:
1. Mary "Bloody Jack" Faber
She's a pirate/musician/entrepreneur whose adventures start when she is about ten as an orphan on the streets of 19th century London. Reckless, scheming, smart, and funny, all good things.
2. Hermione Jean Granger
Smart, quick on her feet, and a great witch. Also, clearly has social conscience, as evidenced by S. P. E. W.
3. Magdalena "Maggie" Lorraine Quinn
A normal... slightly psychic.... girl just trying to vanquish evil, graduate university, and find a good pair of jeans.
4. Imogene Yeck
She sees fairies, has an imaginary friend who's not so imaginary, dresses thrift store chic, and can pull off being entirely BLUE. Also, knows how to make a few extra bucks here and there, and can defend herself pretty handily in event of a fight.
5. Jane Eyre
Hard core awesome. Doesn't care about husband's blindness and whatnot, but sticks to her morals when offered position as would-be husband's mistress when his secret in the attic is uncovered.
6. Elizabeth Bennet
Ms. Bennet, though possessing faults, is both quick with a comeback and loyal to her family, both traits I admire. Also, she manages to have her own opinions and act upon said opinions in a time when parents basically owned their daughters. Kudos given for not marrying cousin, even under maternal pressure. (I don't care how distantly they were related! IT'S STILL GROSS!)
On a more serious note, I direct your attention to the International Women's Day website. It's been one hundred years since they started, and I think it's amazing how far we've come - but how far we still have to go. Please take a look, it's a great site, and a great cause.
Yours Sincerely,
RR
Today is (according to Facebook) International Womens' Day!
So in honour of IWD, I have decided to do a post on, surprise surprise, WOMEN.
Below, a list of my favourite female characters:
RR'S FAVOURITE FEMALE CHARACTERS:
1. Mary "Bloody Jack" Faber
She's a pirate/musician/entrepreneur whose adventures start when she is about ten as an orphan on the streets of 19th century London. Reckless, scheming, smart, and funny, all good things.
2. Hermione Jean Granger
Smart, quick on her feet, and a great witch. Also, clearly has social conscience, as evidenced by S. P. E. W.
3. Magdalena "Maggie" Lorraine Quinn
A normal... slightly psychic.... girl just trying to vanquish evil, graduate university, and find a good pair of jeans.
4. Imogene Yeck
She sees fairies, has an imaginary friend who's not so imaginary, dresses thrift store chic, and can pull off being entirely BLUE. Also, knows how to make a few extra bucks here and there, and can defend herself pretty handily in event of a fight.
5. Jane Eyre
Hard core awesome. Doesn't care about husband's blindness and whatnot, but sticks to her morals when offered position as would-be husband's mistress when his secret in the attic is uncovered.
6. Elizabeth Bennet
Ms. Bennet, though possessing faults, is both quick with a comeback and loyal to her family, both traits I admire. Also, she manages to have her own opinions and act upon said opinions in a time when parents basically owned their daughters. Kudos given for not marrying cousin, even under maternal pressure. (I don't care how distantly they were related! IT'S STILL GROSS!)
On a more serious note, I direct your attention to the International Women's Day website. It's been one hundred years since they started, and I think it's amazing how far we've come - but how far we still have to go. Please take a look, it's a great site, and a great cause.
Yours Sincerely,
RR
Thursday, March 3, 2011
A Quest for Nerds
You know, everyone has a particular quest. A burden. Something they must struggle through one day.
I have SO MANY OF THESE.
Actually, quite seriously, I have a couple of books I always vow to finish at some point or another.
They tend to be older books, "Classics" that I feel like I have to read in order to be a "real" reader.
BOOKS I CANNOT SEEM TO READ
1. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. The Once and Future King, by T. H. White
4. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
I have checked all of these books out of libraries multiple times. I have read up to a third of some. I OWN some of them. About once a year, I ACTIVELY SEEK each of them, and attempt to read them.
And then I get stuck. So, so, so stuck. And I start reading something else. And then... the due date comes up, and I return it, and forget about it.
Currently, I am attempting to read J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers, or books III and IV.
I am.... halfwayish.... into Book III.
See, the thing that really gets me is that I HAVE A PATTERN, and I KNOW I have a pattern, but I still can't frigging seem to finish any of the books on that list.
Although to be fair, The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) is pretty much an enormous series. But whatever.
The pattern I wind myself into (every. time.) goes something like this:
Innocent/Naive Self (INS): "Oh, it is *summervacation/springbreak/Christmasbreak/longweekend*. You know what I will do? I will check out *book 1, 2, 3, or 4; see above*. And I will finish it during *summervacation/springbreak/Christmasbreak/longweekend*. And then I can check off a Literary Achievement!"
(I am joking about the Literary Achievement bit. Kind of.)
And the thing is, despite all odds, this happens pretty much every break. I seem to regain my sense of innocence and naivete.
Actually, this Spring Break I'm reading Book III of LOTR.
Or maybe The Once and Future King.
Or Pride and Prejudice.
*Innocent/Naive Self: "OR ALL OF THEM! WE CAN TOTES DO IT!"*
Yargh.
The worst part is the impending sense of Doooom when the end of *summervacation/springbreak/Christmasbreak/longweekend* comes around.
Dooooom................
Doooom................
Dooom.............
Doom...........
And with that cheerful thought, I leave you.
Because I have a lot of reading to do.
RR
I have SO MANY OF THESE.
Actually, quite seriously, I have a couple of books I always vow to finish at some point or another.
They tend to be older books, "Classics" that I feel like I have to read in order to be a "real" reader.
BOOKS I CANNOT SEEM TO READ
1. Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings, by J. R. R. Tolkien
3. The Once and Future King, by T. H. White
4. Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
I have checked all of these books out of libraries multiple times. I have read up to a third of some. I OWN some of them. About once a year, I ACTIVELY SEEK each of them, and attempt to read them.
And then I get stuck. So, so, so stuck. And I start reading something else. And then... the due date comes up, and I return it, and forget about it.
Currently, I am attempting to read J. R. R. Tolkien's The Two Towers, or books III and IV.
I am.... halfwayish.... into Book III.
See, the thing that really gets me is that I HAVE A PATTERN, and I KNOW I have a pattern, but I still can't frigging seem to finish any of the books on that list.
Although to be fair, The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) is pretty much an enormous series. But whatever.
The pattern I wind myself into (every. time.) goes something like this:
Innocent/Naive Self (INS): "Oh, it is *summervacation/springbreak/Christmasbreak/longweekend*. You know what I will do? I will check out *book 1, 2, 3, or 4; see above*. And I will finish it during *summervacation/springbreak/Christmasbreak/longweekend*. And then I can check off a Literary Achievement!"
(I am joking about the Literary Achievement bit. Kind of.)
And the thing is, despite all odds, this happens pretty much every break. I seem to regain my sense of innocence and naivete.
Actually, this Spring Break I'm reading Book III of LOTR.
Or maybe The Once and Future King.
Or Pride and Prejudice.
*Innocent/Naive Self: "OR ALL OF THEM! WE CAN TOTES DO IT!"*
Yargh.
The worst part is the impending sense of Doooom when the end of *summervacation/springbreak/Christmasbreak/longweekend* comes around.
Dooooom................
Doooom................
Dooom.............
Doom...........
And with that cheerful thought, I leave you.
Because I have a lot of reading to do.
RR
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Macklinator!
It's nice to see all my imaginary friends still waiting for me.
Eeeeenyways, I haven't read a heck of a lot lately, but in the last couple of weeks I've seemed to have gotten my groove back. At least literature-ily. Book-ily? I haven't been reading a lot of what snobs would call "Literature".
One of the books I gathered at a library haul was Guyaholic by Carolyn Mackler, who has written books like Vegan Virgin Valentine and The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. She is cool. There is no other way to put it.
The story of the Valentine family is started in Vegan Virgin Valentine, which I haven't read in a while, but was awesome. Mara is a straight-A senior, focussed and straightforward... until V, her pot-smoking, promiscous, sixteen-year-old niece (YES! her NIECE! I love this book) comes to stay.
In Guyaholic, the Valentine saga is continued with V, who has quit the MJ (I sound so hip... so urban... *crickets*) and embraced both school and the drama program. She's graduating high school with pretty good grades, and in a relationship with Sam, who she met during a "demon puck" incident (a hockey puck, guys. Nothing fairy/fantasy here). But when her mom bails on her yet again, V drunkenly makes a mistake that sends Sam running.
V decides, on a spur of the moment, to spend the first part of summer driving cross-country to Texas and visit her mom on her own terms.
The rest of the book is just pure awesomeness. Why? Why, you ask?
Um, it's a roadtrip. Is there truly anything better than a road-trip to give a story plot and purpose? I don't think so.
What I enjoyed about Guyaholic was both the road-trip format and the characters. V's a really fun character, and I enjoyed going cross-country with her. I really enjoyed that she was traveling alone, just messing things up on her own and then sorting them out independently - but getting help when she needed it. She's a fun character, a little wild, but ultimately just looking for what will make her happy. While suffering from a classic case of Denial, it was Palatable Denial, a conscious suppression of things she didn't want to deal with - and conscious decisions to try to deal with them later.
Overall, definitely worth reading. A fun book with a good ending and spunky heroine.
Also, it's a road-trip book.
I mean, seriously.
RR
PS: There may be grammar/writing errors in this, and trust that they will be edited out. But in the meantime, I am just DESPERATE to get something fresh up. -RR
Eeeeenyways, I haven't read a heck of a lot lately, but in the last couple of weeks I've seemed to have gotten my groove back. At least literature-ily. Book-ily? I haven't been reading a lot of what snobs would call "Literature".
One of the books I gathered at a library haul was Guyaholic by Carolyn Mackler, who has written books like Vegan Virgin Valentine and The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things. She is cool. There is no other way to put it.
The story of the Valentine family is started in Vegan Virgin Valentine, which I haven't read in a while, but was awesome. Mara is a straight-A senior, focussed and straightforward... until V, her pot-smoking, promiscous, sixteen-year-old niece (YES! her NIECE! I love this book) comes to stay.
In Guyaholic, the Valentine saga is continued with V, who has quit the MJ (I sound so hip... so urban... *crickets*) and embraced both school and the drama program. She's graduating high school with pretty good grades, and in a relationship with Sam, who she met during a "demon puck" incident (a hockey puck, guys. Nothing fairy/fantasy here). But when her mom bails on her yet again, V drunkenly makes a mistake that sends Sam running.
V decides, on a spur of the moment, to spend the first part of summer driving cross-country to Texas and visit her mom on her own terms.
The rest of the book is just pure awesomeness. Why? Why, you ask?
Um, it's a roadtrip. Is there truly anything better than a road-trip to give a story plot and purpose? I don't think so.
What I enjoyed about Guyaholic was both the road-trip format and the characters. V's a really fun character, and I enjoyed going cross-country with her. I really enjoyed that she was traveling alone, just messing things up on her own and then sorting them out independently - but getting help when she needed it. She's a fun character, a little wild, but ultimately just looking for what will make her happy. While suffering from a classic case of Denial, it was Palatable Denial, a conscious suppression of things she didn't want to deal with - and conscious decisions to try to deal with them later.
Overall, definitely worth reading. A fun book with a good ending and spunky heroine.
Also, it's a road-trip book.
I mean, seriously.
RR
PS: There may be grammar/writing errors in this, and trust that they will be edited out. But in the meantime, I am just DESPERATE to get something fresh up. -RR
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