Louisa May Alcott - "Little Women"

     Long time, no blog, I know, but here is the latest edition, and it's hot off the press too!  I've just finished Louisa May Alcott's famous classic, "Little Women."  I read it when I was a kid, and have enjoyed the movie over and over so I figured it was time to revisit this much beloved book.  I don't even know if I can do this book justice here in my humble blog.  It's so good, and I'm afraid there's nothing I can say here that will express the greatness that is this story.  Seriously?!?!?! What does one write about "LITTLE WOMEN"??? I'll give it a go regardless...

     This lovely little gem tells the story of four sisters: Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy March.  It is both written, and set in the 1860's during the Civil War.  The story starts in the winter while their father, Mr. March, is away doing his duty with the Union army as a chaplain, and the five March women (the four girls and their beloved mother, "Marmee") are home waiting for his return.  The family is suffering financial poverty, and the book tells of how they all learn to make do with what they do have.  The story begins when the girls are young, Meg is about 16, Jo 15, Beth 13, and Amy is 10 or so, and it follows their lives throughout their, "coming of age." 

    Each of the girls has their own passions that are explored throughout the length of the novel.  Meg is a very prim and proper young lady who longs to have a carefree life, and to be able to "live in the lap of luxury" as some of her wealthier friends do instead of have to work as a governess.  She's very conscious of others' view of her.  Jo is a tomboy who fancies herself a playwright, actress, "man of the house," adventurer, poet, and author.  Beth is quiet and caring; she's a homebody, the mother to a family of dolls, the care-taker of cats and their kittens, and a gentle domestic servant of the household.  Beth is the musician in the family; she loves to play her piano, and continually longs for new music to learn and play for the family.  Amy is a precocious little blond girl who wants to marry a wealthy man and be a gracious and elegant gentlewoman in the upper echelons of society as well as a great artist.

Little Women (Oxford World's Classics)

    The story tells of both the public and private lives of all of the characters, and I found myself getting attached to them all.  Each girl's story is about their own struggles they face as they experience the rites of passage one encounters on their journey to womanhood.  It's an interesting peep into what life was like for girls in that era.  So much has changed since then, some things for the better, and others...not so much. 

     There is a very strong "message of morality" woven throughout the book, and for the most part it is truly, "woven into" the story as opposed to being preached outright.  The girls all make decisions throughout their coming-if-age and are all experience the consequences.  These little women are encouraged to live rightly and to become good women. 

     As I said before, there's no way I can do justice to such an enduring classic, and I haven't really, so I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the past, and what it was like to live as a woman then.  As cliche as it may sound, reading this made me want to be a better person.  It contains a truly heartwarming tale, and I'm so glad I re-read it to refresh my memory.

     Enjoy the classics; they're "classic" for a reason ;)
    

Francine Rivers - "Unafraid"

     She's most certainly done it again!  This is the fifth book in the "Lineage of Grace" series by Francine Rivers based upon the five women listed in Matthew's account of the genealogy of Christ.  I've read the other four books in the series, but this was my favorite.  This is the story of Mary, the mother of Jesus as told from her perspective.  It is based on the Biblical account of her life as well as some of the events in Jesus' life.  Mrs. Rivers prayerfully takes artistic license throughout the story to create dialog, character feelings and motivations, and the like to create a poignant picture of what Mary's life of obedience very well might have been like. 

     Mary was an average, poor peasant girl in Nazareth, but she chosen by God to bear his son, Jesus, the Messiah.  She was probably about fourteen years of age when an angel appeared to her and delivers the message that God had chosen her as his vessel.  She was betrothed (engaged) to Joseph at the time.  Could you imagine having to tell your fiance' that although you are a virgin, that you are pregnant with God's baby.  GULP!  Although there is not too much mentioned in the Bible about Mary's life, Mrs. Rivers delivers a beautiful telling of this woman's tale. 


Unafraid: Mary (The Lineage of Grace Series #5)

      Mary (and Joseph for that matter) is a inspiring example of obedience regardless of the cost.  She said "yes" to what God asked of her.  She said "yes" to being willing to become pregnant as an unwed woman in a culture that stoned adulterous people.  She said "yes" to following her husband from place to place when God told him to go regardless of the seeming absurdity of it.  She said "yes" (though with some difficulty) to releasing Jesus into his season of ministry even though it meant having to wonder who would provide for her and her family.  Astounding! 

     I pray I have the courage to say "yes" to what God asks of me.  Mary had "built a history" with God in her faith by trusting Him in the everyday little things.  As she chose to follow God in the little things, He asked bigger and bigger things of her.  Because she had seen His faithfulness in earlier examples throughout her life, she trusted Him with the big things too.  Kinda' like "practice makes perfect;" practice saying "yes" and trusting and it becomes easier to do over time.  He always showed Himself faithful to her even when things didn't turn out as she expected.  Does it EVER happen that way?

     Please read this book, it is TRULY inspirational, and in my case brought about a renewed fervor to examine my life and the choices I make.  God has blessed Francine Rivers with a talent, and she in turn, honors Him with it.  Lovely!

     I encourage you to read this and then step back a little, and see what God does.

 

Emily Giffin - "Baby Proof"

     I've had this book on my shelf for who knows HOW long, and I finally got to!  I have read two of Mrs. Giffin's other books, "Something Borrowed" and "Something Blue."  I stumbled upon her work when I was the cafe' girl at Barnes & Noble quite a few years back.  There was an ARC (advance reader copy - A copy of the book that is given to the store before the book is actually released so the staff can familiarize themselves with it.) in the break room that I got to read, and I really liked it.  Thus was my introduction to Emily Giffin's talents.

     In this story our protagonist is Claudia, a 30ish woman, and editor for a small publishing house, who, from very early on in her life, KNEW that she just never wanted to have kids.  She relishes the idea of a life of total freedom, and a completely unfettered lifestyle.  All of her boyfriends have not been able to make a future with a woman who does not want kids, until she meets Ben...  He shares her sentiment on the subject of procreation as well as a great many other ideals; he is her soul mate.  They wed and are blissfully happy until one day Ben realizes that he wants a baby.  Claudia feels betrayed and refuses to have a baby just because of Ben's "passing" whim.  At some point Claudia must make a decision: have a baby with Ben, or don't have a baby and be without Ben.  I'll let you put two and two together (or you can read the book...) and see that a split is "inevitable." 
   
     Our heroine flees her apartment to the refuge of her best friend's (and former roommate, Jess) apartment and back to the lifestyle of the single Manhattaner.  Throughout her divorce and its aftermath, Claudia has a lot of time for introspection and is able to take a long, hard look at her life before Ben, with Ben, and after Ben.  She moves on with her life with some difficulty, but ends up dating Richard, a publicist for her company and finds herself "moving on."  Or does she???

     I have to say that it took me three days FLAT to read this book.  I admit, I unexpectedly had some time to kill this week, but I really had a hard time putting it down.  I don't know if I could actually call this a "page turner," but I certainly did feel compelled to know what was going to happen next.  I think that's a sign of good writer; they don't have to end the chapter or paragraph with an obvious cliff-hanger, but you still feel an express eagerness to resolve the issue (plot point) at hand, and QUICKLY!  I mean, your head cold explode with possibilities of which way things could go.  Seriously, I've seen it happen... Okay, not REALLY, but it SURE feels that way sometimes.

    The author does an exceptional job of creating very real, very easy-to-relate-to cast of characters as well as slew of situations.  I mean, everyone has had the experience of running into an ex and being at a loss as to why you have ice cream, complete with rainbow sprinkles slinking it's way down your arm while he stands awkwardly and introduces you to his Barbie Doll companion.  We've all been there at one time or another.  Mrs. Giffen really breaks down the emotions one feels when dealing with heartache, introspection, new love, regret, and a myriad of other raw feelings.  I really enjoyed the story and the way she tells it.  Claudia's family is good for a few laughs, as is her roomie, Jess.  I wouldn't say it was a laugh-riot, but there were certainly a few chuckles sprinkled in for good measure.  I found myself really invested in this one.  PMS?  Maybe.  I found myself choking up and being somewhat stressed out throughout the course of the story because I have had similar experiences, and the writing just drew me in completely.

     In conclusion, you should check this one out.  It's certainly falls within the genre of bubblegum literature, but this one has a little substance behind it.  There were some really valid questions and point asked and made, respectively, between the covers that is somewhat of a rarity in this subset of literature.  Let me know what you think.

Baby Proof

     Well done, Mrs. Giffin, now that I find myself in a somewhat sappy mood, I think I'll read some Francine Rivers.  It's about time, don't you think?

Rick Riordan - "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief"

dan

The Lightning Thief (Movie Tie-in Edition)
(Percy Jackson and the Olympians)

     Well, well, well, my young mythology fans, I have JUST the thing for you...  I've been in need of something lighthearted as well as something that would be a quick read.  This was recommended to me by not one, but two of my friends as just what I was looking for, and I do believe that they were right. 

     Percy Jackson is an average New York middle schooler who struggles with dyslexia, tends to get into fights, and only really enjoyes Mr. Brunner's Latin classes.  His best friend is a little whimpy, and strange things always seem to happen to him, and they usually mean he gets kicked out of school every year.  It's not until his class trip to the art museum that things REALLY heat up for him.  I mean, it's not everyday that your Algebra teacher suddenly grows bat wings, fangs, and makes an attempt on your life, although, of all the teachers I've had in my life, I'm fairly certain that it  WOULD be the Algebra teacher that has such capabilities.  (Chemistry teachers aren't far behind either!)

     He discovers after the "Algebra teacher affair" that things are not always what they seem.  For example, his puny best friend, Grover, isn't actually puny, he's a satyr who's job it is to protect Percy until he can get to Camp Half-Blood.  After an exciting series of events, that involve a trip to the beach, a destroyed Camero, and a Minotaur, Percy and Grover reach their "home base" of Camp Half-Blood.  It's at this point that Percy learn's that he's actually the son of one of the ancient Greek gods which is why he has never really "fit in" anywhere.  Upon his arrival, Percy isn't exactly sure which god he's a product of, but will soon find out.  Shortly after his appearance at the camp, Percy is summoned by the camp director, Mr. D(ionysis), and is issued a quest to complete aided by two companions to retrieve what was stolen...

     I loved this book!  It was written in first person from Percy's point of view, and Mr. Riordan did a great job of really getting inside the head of a 12-year-old boy.  Percy has a great character and a cute sense of humor as well as a strong sense of honor.  This book was action packed from cover to cover, and did a fabulous job of teaching Greek mythology to young (or not so young) readers by making these powerful beings of yore literally spring to life.  It was educational and fun to read!  Think of it as the Kix of the literary world: "Kid tested, Mother approved."

     I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did; I'll be reading the sequel soon...

Stieg Larsson - "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"

     If Dan Brown and Dean Koontz had a literary baby, it would be Steig Larsson.  His writing is fast-paced, highly detailed, well thought out, filled with many layers of mystery, a puzzle of multi-layered plot lines, and  macabre (if not bordering on grotesque).  Once I go to the 1/2-2/3 point, I COULD NOT put it down until it was finished!!!  Of course I had to because at this point in my life, I am only rarely able to dedicate entire days to my favorite hobby, AND although I fancy myself a fast reader, I'm incapable of reading 350+ pages in the space of a few hours.  I digress...

     One of my dearest regulars from work lent me his copy to read, and I'm so glad I did finally get to it.  I resisted reading it at first because it's such a popular series right now, and in my opinion, being popular doesn't necessarily mean it's any good.  I suppose I was waiting for a recommendation from someone I know.  The story begins with Mikael Blomkvist, a respected investigative journalist who is convicted of libel because he had "false" information regarding one of Sweden's wealthiest businessmen.  The other main character is Lisbeth Salander, an emotionally troubled, and very mysterious girl who is not what she seems.  She works for a security company to be a  researcher.  She's hired to find out all she can about Blomkvist for one off her company's biggest clients.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

      The next thing you know, Henrik Vanger, one of Sweden's oldest and wealthiest industrialists hires Mikael to spend a year trying to solve a forty-year-old mystery that has been haunting Mr. Vanger.  It involves the disappearance of his niece, Harriet who mysteriously vanished a lifetime ago.  Henrik gives Mikael the pretense of writing a chronicle of the Vanger family so there are not too many eyebrows raised at all of the research.  As Mikael digs further and further into the case, he finds some literal skeletons in some of the Vanger family's closets as well as some very dark and somber secrets. 

     This is a long and involved story, and it's somewhat "unorganized" in it's delivery.  Don't get me wrong, it's a good story that takes you by surprise time and time again, BUT I had a little trouble sometimes figuring out where I was in the story.  This may be due in part to the fact that it has been translated from Swedish into English, or to the fact that it was published posthumously, or that it's just the way it is.  Maybe I'm just a little slow on the uptake?  The chapters are very long, but have various "breaks" throughout to switch between story lines a la Dan Brown.  All in all, I have some mixed feelings about the book due mostly to the graphic and violent nature of some of the content.  I have found over the years that the stories I read have a way of slithering into my dream life, so I am somewhat sensitive to certain subjects and in order to protect my coveted "sleep time" I have to watch what I read.  That may not be the case for you, but now you know just a little more about me than you did yesterday.

     I do like how involved and engaging the story is, I was constantly wondering, "well what's gonna happen next?!?!?!"  Also, the character if Lisbeth Salander (aka the girl with the dragon tattoo) is so intriguing.  She in herself is an enigma and is, I believe, a truly unique literary character.  She has piqued my interest enough that I'll will most likely be reading the next book, which promises to reveal a little more about Lisbeth's personal history. 

Until next time...

Steve Dublanica - "Waiter Rant"

     Did I just stumble onto my own autobiography????  I wonder if anyone's ever thought that before?  Ummm, this may seriously be in my top three best books EVER!!!!  (After you count all of Francine Rivers' works, naturally.)  A little, personal side note about me:  I've been waiting tables now for about a decade (plus or minus a few months here and there while I tried my hand at other professions) and have been a server in the fine dining arena for over four of those years.  I ate this book UP (pun totally intended!), which was recommended to me by a waiter friend of mine.  I cannot wait to run out and buy Mr. Dublanica's second book.  Hubby had to literally tell me, "Babe, I'm glad you're so entertained, but you either need to stop reading or go in the other room." on not one, but TWO different occasions as I read through this book.  

     So a few years ago, "The Waiter" began his blog, www.waiterrant.net to detail and sometimes rant about his life as a server in one of New York's fine dining establishments.  He is a college educated middle-aged man who through a topsy-turvy stream of events finds himself thrust into the restaurant business aka service industry at the age of 31.  It's a great insight for those of you who've never worked in the retail or service industries.  Eventually his blog garners quite a bit of attention, which at some point leads to a book deal.  And here we are...

     Steve's memoiresque (yes I created a word... just go with it) book contains snapshots of what it's like on the other side of the table and in the typical commercial kitchen.  Now, do keep in mind, this is one person's take on it, but honestly I can say that in my nigh ten years of experience I've run into 85% or more of the exact situations.  Honestly, for the VAST majority of this book, I seriously wondered if someone had planted a bug in my brain.  I am fortunate in that I work for a great company with fair and respectable management and owners, and most days, I really enjoy my job, but that has not always been the case for me (or for Steve and probably the majority of waitstaff everywhere).  He has very accurately (and cynically - he warned you on the cover of the book...) relayed the "waiting experience" in an easy-to-read, relateable way that is laced with humor, honesty, and a super quick wit.

Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip--Confessions of a Cynical Waiter (P.S.)

   

     He articulates a lot of things that go on in an restaurant in a way that pretty much anyone can understand, relate to, and hopefully use to get a glimpse into the life of the average American server.  He is correct in saying that, "80 percent of customers are nice people just looking for something to eat. The remaining 20 percent, however, are socially maladjusted psychopaths."  If you have ever worked in a restaurant, you KNOW it's true.

     Throughout the book, Steve paints poignant portraits of life in a restaurant.  He talks sincerely and humorously, and cynically not only about the woes or working in as a server (of which there can be many) but also about the really great times and people he got to meet throughout the course of his employment as waitstaff.  I love that's he's given a voice to the 2 million servers in the U.S.  As a matter of fact, I think Mr. Dublanica should be nominated for sainthood; Server Steve - patron saint of waitstaff everywhere.  I think he's dead on when he "breaks down" the various types of guests as well as what it's like to work any of the major US holidays.  If you are a server, enjoy the camaraderie that you feel, and if you are a regular diner, see what it's like to wait on folks; you may learn something about something you didn't know before?

     One more note on my newest favorite book, there is a LOT of profanity in there.  It is a normal part of working in the industry, and the book would've lost a lot of it's true-to-form-nature had he excluded most of it.  Steve actually explains why he thinks this much profanity is part of the "behind the scenes" look at a restaurant staff in the book....  Just so you're warned, now, go and read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

J.K. Rowling - "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"

(My normally busy life + the super bowl being hosted in my neck of the woods) /  the fact that I work in the service industry     =   Not much time to read

     I'm not exactly AWESOME at math, but I think it all adds up to give you a semi-accurate picture of my life as of late.  We did just experience an "arctic blast" (Texan for cold weather coupled with frozen precipitation that doesn't melt immediately) that did allow me a few days off to catch  up on reading.  You may think, "With all that time, you should have been able to finish a book or TWO?"  Yes, I should have, but this is a 734 page book.  Plus, I got beaucoup amounts of housework done, including, but not limited to: laundry, ironing said laundry, sweeping, cleaning the shower, vacuuming, hanging all of the wall art that we bought for the new place and haven't had time to hang prior to now, washing dishes by hand due to the line to the beloved dishwasher being frozen, AND giving myself a hard-earned pedicure.  Oh, yeah, and I read some...

     Now, on to the good stuff!  Of the four Harry Potter books that I've read, this one is so far, my favorite. 


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Book 4)

As I've said in previous Harry Potter posts, this series "grows with its readers," and this book really proves that point to me.  Harry is now 14 and entering angsty teenage-hood along with his cohorts, Ron and Hermione.  Also, as I said in the last Potter post, this book and it's most recent predecessor both have grown a little bit "darker" than the one before.  In the last book Harry was pursued by creepy beings called Dementors while Voldemort's power slowly grew.  ***spoiler alert***  In this book, Voldemort grows even stronger, and Harry actually comes "face to face" with Voldemort, and for the first time in a Harry Potter book, someone bites the dust! ***end of spoiler***

     Another thing I liked a lot about this book is that there were quite a few different story lines drifting in and out of the spotlight.  I know all good books have few different threads of story peeking out every now and again, but this one had at least five or six; a couple of those were not just interwoven tales, but were mysteries in themselves.  What I mean to say is that there was a lot of mysteries to be solved throughout the various stories.

     I really didn't have many gripes about this book at all.  It was a bit long, and I did have a harder time "getting into it" that it's predecessors.  Once I was about 200 pages in, I was hooked and had trouble putting it down (except to do all of that grizzly housework).  This book was also a little "scarier" that it's ancestors,
too, but I don't know if I'd call that a gripe, per se.

     I do have something to say about the movie though.  Yes, this IS a BOOK blog, but my movie-loving Hubby insisted that we watch the flick.  I believe the movie in itself is as entertaining as all of the others, and it was just plain fun to watch.  It did leave a LOT to be desired when compared to the book though.  There were so many parts left out, that it felt like it only covered half of the contents of the beloved book.  I know it would take six hours to watch a movie that had all of the book in it, but I was still sad to see so much missing.  This just proves that I was right to read the book first so as not to be disappointed in the book that takes much longer than 157 minutes to read.  On the flip side, if I had seen the movie before reading the book, I may have just been pleasantly surprised to see that there was more between the two covers than the movie had led me to believe.  Hmmmm, it'll always be a mystery...

     Well, looks like there's more snow headed my way, I'll try to avoid the housework and keep my nose in my literature.  ;)