30 Books Before I'm 30: The Blind Assassin

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood

"Ten days after the war ended, my sister drove a car off a bridge. The bridge was being repaired: she went right through the Danger sign. [...] I was informed of the accident by a policeman: the car was mine, and they'd traced the license. His tone was respectful: no doubt he recognized Richard's name."

I need to start out by saying that I loved this book, but I had a hard time getting into it. The book is set up both with chapters of the general narrative and also chapters from a science fiction novel entitled The Blind Assassin that one of the characters has written. It took me a few chapters before I got into the flow of it. The story is about two sisters from a wealthy Canadian family during the 1920s and beyond. There's a bit of mystery to it, but Atwood doesn't underestimate her readers by assuming the "reveal" will be a huge shock. There's love, there's death, there's evil and greed-- the whole gamut of human emotions. 

What I Liked: I became very invested in the characters and the setting and the storyline. I genuinely wanted to find out what happened, and even though I wasn't completely surprised by the ending, but there was something I didn't quite expect (I'm not going to give you a hint-- you need to read it for yourself).

What I Didn't Like: It was long (500+ pages). Also, as with any novel that addresses two storylines (in this case the narrative and the science fiction novel), it can be a bit jarring to go back and forth. 

This Book Would Be Best if Read: Over a long weekend, without breaks.

I Would Recommend This Book to: Anyone with an interest in the Depression and/or female protagonists. Although this is technically a love story, it isn't sappy, and the main focus is the relationship between the protagonist and her sister.

If You Liked This Book, I Would Also Recommend: Dancing Girls, also by Margaret Atwood. I've heard that The Robber Bride and The Handmaid's Tale are good, but I haven't read them. Atonement by Ian McEwan.

Up Next: Suite Francaise (because I'm already halfway done)

10 down, 20 to go

It's a sad day in Glendale, AZ

This was my view of the field from my seat:

And this was my view of my husband at the end of the game:

He was a little sad. It was tough to lose. But we also walked off with about twenty of these things:

We have accumulated so many game day cups over the years, we practically never use anything else! 

It's depressing when your favorite team loses, but we certainly have had a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'll update a little more about our trip in the next couple posts. (Spoiler alert: the ShepAlder temple tally is up to 37!)

GO DUCKS!

A New Year

Josh and I ushered in the new year here:

where we watched fireworks and listened to live music.

It was cold and we had to bundle up.

I couldn't find my snow pants, but thankfully I have four sisters and a mom who own snow pants, so I just borrowed some.

I also forgot gloves. Josh packed my hat, otherwise I would have really been in trouble.

Later, Josh played football on the PS3 with our nephew Brad while our nieces Alice and Katie gave him a makeover. (And by "makeover" I mean they hit him in the face with the hat until he put it on).

On New Year's Day we went to Eugene to watch the Rose Bowl with my family. My dad went to U of Wisconsin, so he was really disappointed with the outcome. They also went to the last basketball game at Mac Court. Josh was impressed that the Duck rocked out on the drum set.

We really are blessed with wonderful family and friends. 2010 was pretty rough, but I have faith things will get better in 2011. 

30 Books Before I'm 30: The Dante Club

The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl

"Do not ask what brings Dante to man but what brings man to Dante-- to personally enter his sphere, though it is forever severe and unforgiving."

I couldn't quite pinpoint, at first, what it was that made this book so difficult for me to finish. I mean, one would think (as I did when I bought it) that this type of thing would be like manna for me-- mystery and literature references!? How could I not be in heaven? But this book was a slow-starter and it took me no less than five tries to get through it all. And toward the end, I plowed through only because I had a pile of library books I needed to read before their return date.

The Dante Club is a story about a series of fictional murders that took place using Dante's Inferno as a blueprint. The main characters (Longfellow, Lowell, O.W. Holmes, etc.) were all real people, and the story centers around Longfellow's translation of Dante to English, but none of the action really took place. I don't know if I found that more confusing or annoying, but I had a really hard time at first keeping people straight and trying to determine how much about everyone I needed to know beforehand (nothing, as it turned out). The ending was interesting and not necessarily more or less predictable than other murder mysteries. I'm not sure that I would recommend this book to anyone.

What I Liked: The action of this book takes place in Boston around the end of the Civil War, and I really liked the depiction of these soldiers coming home and not really knowing what to do with themselves or where to go for help. This was several decades before PTSD was even described as "shell-shock," and I thought that it was an interesting glimpse into the lives of Civil War soldiers without actually reading a book (or watching Ken Burns's fabulous documentary). 

What I Didn't Like: There was a lot I didn't like. There were too many characters introduced too quickly, and I didn't know whether I was supposed to remember them all or whether the action in the first 20 or so pages was of utmost importance (it wasn't). Also, the author clearly did a lot of research (and tells you so in the "Historical Note," but that might have caused him to include unimportant details just to show off his knowledge. I felt like the book dragged in (lots of) places. 

I Would Recommend this Book to: No one. Not even Dante fans. Sorry.

Up Next: The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood because I checked it out of the library and  I've already started it. Holy cow, it's thick.

Side-note: I'm starting to get worried I might not finish my list since it is already 5 months past my 29th birthday and I haven't even read a third of what I had planned. Can I blame it on grad school and just have another 29th birthday next year? We'll see.

30 Books Before I'm 30: Anne of Green Gables

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy M. Montgomery

"There's such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I'm such a troublesome person. If I were just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn't be half so interesting."

I loved this story about an orphan who is mistakenly sent to an elderly brother and sister who wanted a boy to help with the farm. Of course from seeing the movie I loved it for the romantic aspects (Gilbert Blythe! Swoon!), but reading the book made me appreciate this beautiful world Montgomery created where the worst thing that can happen is that a girl can get accidentally drunk on what she thought was raspberry cordial. 

What I Liked: Of course I loved that the main character is a dreamer who wins over the hearts of the surly people in her town. I actually really like that she has a major flaw (red hair and a red-hot anger when people make fun of her for it) and that she is beautiful in her own way. I love that she's smart and that people love her for who she is. 

I like that, though there is a hint of romance between Anne and Gilbert, the first book isn't really about that. Instead, it's about Anne's relationships with other people and their relationships with her. It's about stubbornness and compromise, friendship and redefining family.

No wonder this book is such a comforting read! It transported me back to an earlier time in my development where I didn't worry about things the way I do now. 

What I Didn't Like: I have to admit that I cried. And it was in public, which was embarrassing. If you know the story then you'll know when during the story it was, but I'm not going to spoil anything. I even knew it was coming and I still cried. So, beware.

Gems of Wisdom: Kindle books highlight things for you sometimes, and this particular book had a lot of highlights. So I thought I'd share some of these gems of wisdom.

"Isn't is splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive-- it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything would it? THere's be no scope for imagination then, would there?"

"Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think. It's splendid to find out there ae so many of them in the world."

"Isn't it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?"

"I get tired od other girls-- there is such a provoking and eternal sameness about them. Anne has as any shades as a rainbow and every shade is the prettiest while it lasts. I don't know that she is as amusing as she was when she was a child, but she makes me love her, and I like people who make me love them. It saves me so much more trouble in making myself love them."

"Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing."

"We resent the thought that anything can please us when someone we love is no longer here to share the pleasure with us, and we almost feel as if we were unfaithful to our sorrow when we find our interest in life returning to us."

This Book Would be Best if Read: Before bed. The chapters are short and they usually leave a good feeling in the gut. I read this book almost entirely on my plane ride from Portland to Austin. It's really short and really easy to read.

I Would Recommend This Book To: Pre-pubescent girls (younger than 13 because my niece is 13 and would probably think this book was way corny).

If You Like This Book, You Might Also Like: The films, of course, Anne of Avonlea (which I immediately began after finishing the first one) and other books in the series, Road to Avonlea (the television series)

Up Next: I've given up on Women of Covenant for the time being, so next (after finishing Anne of Avonlea) I'll be moving on to either The Dante Club, The House of the Spirits, or The Poisonwood Bible. Just keeping my options open.

30 Books Before I'm 30: Balancing Act

Balancing Act: The Authorized Biography of Angela Lansbury by Martin Gottfried

"As to her self-editing and reserved nature, it does not qualify the genuineness of her warmth. Angela Lansbury is as concerned, as sensitive, and as sympathetic as anyone might want in a friend. It is just that while she can offer compassion, she cannot readily give of herself. 'I don't have a best friend,' she says. 'I never did,' and she adds, genuinely puzzled, 'Why would I?'"

All right, so I know I said I was reading this next, but it was really dry. So I started reading Balancing Act instead (concurrently, really, though I pretty much stopped reading the other one for awhile).

This book was written by a good friend of Lansbury's (a stage critic, apparently, who never wrote her a bad review), so of course the book is (mostly) complimentary. It's a general biography, and unless you're interested in her, this book probably won't be your cup of tea. Also, because this is an "authorized" biography, there are zero juicy details (and considering I've become addicted to this, it was kind of a let-down).

What I Liked: I like Angela Lansbury, so all of this book was interesting since I knew practically zero about her private life. I liked that there were details about her theater career that I wouldn't otherwise know (since I've only seen her on Broadway once and wasn't around for the Mame-era Lansbury).

What I Didn't Like: The problem with this author is that he is a friend of Lansbury's so he only wrote what she allowed him to write (not that she was standing over him at the computer, but I wouldn't write nasty things about my friends either). He was also a theater critic, so he wrote predominantly about her theater life. He wrote off Bedknobs and Broomsticks as a piece of fluff (which made me sad, since that movie was such a positive part of my childhood-- I mean, how can you be sad when people are dancing around with clothing and cartoon fish?) He also devoted less than 30 pages on Murder, She Wrote, and most of that was about how Lansbury resented being compared to Jessica Fletcher (though, in fairness to her, she took that comparison seriously and made sure to choose future projects that would be in keeping with her Jessica Fletcher persona). 


I'm glad I read this book, but I think sometimes the less you know about a person, the better. The Angela Lansbury that exists in my head is much more comforting than the one that exists in real life. And I know the two aren't comparable, I'm not an idiot, but I wish I didn't read in print that Lansbury resents people for idealizing her. 

This Book Would be Best if Read: During a long weekend, while cuddling with cats and listening to the original Broadway cast recording of Sweeney Todd.

I Would Recommend This Book To: Someone who knows who Angela Lansbury is. I mean, that's helpful.

If You Like This Book, You May Also Like: The Manchurian Candidate (1962), Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971), Sweeney Todd

Up Next: Anne of Green Gables (I kind of need a comfort read).

Thanksgiving 2010

This year Josh and I spent Thanksgiving with my family (unlike last year). Josh really wanted to run in the Turkey Stuffer 5K, since we had done it a few times previously and Josh wanted to prove to himself that he could do better than his past time.

I did a lot of waffling about whether I was going to join him. I go to the gym, but I don't run, and I really wanted to not embarrass myself. The other people who run in this 5K are generally high school kids on the track team, though there are some families and younger kids too. Have you even been passed by a ten year old who isn't even breaking a sweat? Embarrassing.

But then my parents said they were going to join us. In the past, the Turkey Stuffer has been something fun for my family (when we're in town) to do together before the eating. So I promised Josh I'd come too.

Here we are before the race:

I'll spare you the after picture because it is not flattering, but here are my parents after they finished walking:

The moment I hate most about being slow in a 5K is that by the time I was nearing the second mile point, people were already heading back to their cars or running the race from the end to find their family members. Pretty discouraging. 

I did meet some of my goals (to finish before my parents, who were walking, to finish before the end of my 41 1/2 minute ipod playlist) but didn't quite meet my other goals (to run the entire time, to finish at a time I wouldn't be embarrassed to tell people). I did run/jog for the first two miles, and I did pass a lot of people who had to walk because they weren't pacing themselves well. When people passed me, I just told myself "I'll pass them later when they get too tired to keep running." It was just sad to remember past Turkey Stuffers where I did run the entire time and realize how terrible I am now by comparison.

Ultimately, Josh beat me by about 9 minutes, but I beat my parents by about 15 minutes. At least I didn't come in last!

Later that day, for the Thanksgiving meal, my nephew Brad made place cards for us:

If you're having trouble reading it, is says "Best Person Ever"

Apparently I don't make this a secret.

He also made Josh a place card:

Josh says Brad should just call him Captain N

The next day, we went to the Ducks vs. Arizona game, where we premiered our yarn beards: