Charming, I'm sure

So, I've read a few books that have *really* charmed me this last year. Just wonderful, sweet, enthralling, enrapturing books.

I'm finishing up "The Help". This is powerful as well as charming, funny, written in several voices (which can be very hard to pull off, see my review of Eve, which did not pull it off). Its a tribute to strong, affirming women, and to the power of womanhood, basically. I think this one is the sleeper hit of the summer. Its difficult to describe in a few easy sentences because just giving a few sentences to this book would almost oversimplify and cheapen the book. Its set in the South, in the 1950s and 60s, and was written as a tribute, in some way, to the woman who raised the author. Its a story of anger, frustration, self-worth, and empowerment. My friend Mary-Anne was talking some months ago about how difficult it is for some authors to write in an authentic 'voice' for race. This succeeds. Its not just a story of civil rights, though, its a story about prejudice on all levels, and alienation, acceptance, and self-worth.


Kissing Games of the World is another sleeper novel, which most people would never pick up, in part for the title. Again, its not something easy to describe in a few sentences, but it again is a story of growth, love, acceptance and empowerment. My boss read it and she loved it. While at first glance it seems to be a typical romance plot, it is so much more. And is just compellingly written. I just loved it.

Nothing But a Smile is another captivating book about an unlikely, unexpected romance. Set in 1944 it is also a discussion of independence, equality, censorship, all kinds of issues, clothed in an enrapturing book. Again, its not something most people would take out or buy, based on both the title and cover, but it is about so much more than pinup art. Its a story of an era, of changing times, and of finding talent. Of fulfillment...

I'm sure you've seen the movie, Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. The book is so much better, so much more complex and just completely, utterly charming. I took the book out and just devoured it overnight. And the characters are still people you see today, on the street. Maybe not the exact circumstances, but still, its light-hearted without being marshmallow fluff. Its well-crafted, well-written....

The Guernsey Literary and potato peel pie society, or, as its referred to by most library patrons, the book with the potato pie in the title. This is a book written in another manner that can be hard to pull off...letters. An epistolary (have I impressed you yet?) book is, I've found, one of the harder forms for authors to get right, to convey the story without faltering. This works, and works well. You really get to know the characters, the situations, and get a flavor for the novel. All through the letters, from different characters, with different plots and subplots (just like life!). Its not perfectly written, and there is a subtle change in flavor in the two sections (One of the authors died , so perhaps the book was finished by the other?), but all in all, a good book (and very popular).

Biographies....

I don't usually read a lot of biographies for the sake of biography... I read biographies where I'll learn something, about an era, about a culture, about a way of life, about change...

I recently read two amazing biographies. Labor of Love, by Cara Muhlhahn, and The Sun in the Morning, by Mollie Kaye.

Mollie Kaye wrote The Far Pavillions, an amazing novel of colonial India. She grew up in the midst of the British Empire, in India, and The Sun in The Morning is her story of an enchanted childhood in India. The descriptions of her adventures are breathtaking, bittersweet, and enthralling. She discusses her parents as well, how they met, their lives together. She had an amazing memory for small details, and would describe some object which told a story. Even though the book was basically a series of memories, tied together somewhat haphazardly, it does not feel haphazard. It feels deliberate, and really paints a picture of a forgotten era.

Labor of Love is the story of a midwife. Its fascinating to read about an ancient practice that still exists and thrives in today's modern world. The author does talk about the complications of being a midwife, and some of the run-ins she has had with the medical profession, as well as somewhat of where, sometimes, the medical profession goes wrong. But it is not, in any way, a negative book. Too many times, one can read these things and feel like you are being preached at, or have your faith denigrated, or even feel like the medical profession is the big bad boogeyman. This book really does none of those things. But it does talk about the experiences the author has had being a midwife, both good and bad. And it does talk about her interactions with doctors. It too is the story of a different world, hidden in modern culture. And it is reassuring to know that one can find midwives who have medical training. That there are a few options in life apart from home birth or hospital birth. And she does clarify a few things about birth centers and home birth and such and relative safety.

I wanted to like you....

I hate starting the new blog on such a down note, but there are a number of books that I've tried to read over the past weeks that just have left me cold. Books that got good reviews in the papers, books that sounded good from the blurbs, but that, for some reason, just didn't translate well. Maybe it was my mood, maybe I was in more of a 'good fluff' frame of mind. By good fluff I mean a well-written 'chicklit' book. There are such things out there, where they are well-written but not deep. They are entertaining and lighthearted, but not mighty tomes of death and depression. And they will be reviewed in a future blog.

Here are the ones I've tried so far, and was disappointed:

The Enchantress of Florence, by Salman Rushdie. On the surface, and according to the blurb, it has everything you'd ever want in a novel, harems, imaginary wives, travelers from strange, exotic climes, a little bit of magic...yet somehow nothing coalesced. It felt as if I was plodding through the book, and that I'd missed the magic carpet. *sigh*

Eve: A Novel of the First Woman, by Elissa Elliott. This had potential. It really did. But it could have used some more cohesive editing and rewriting. She does have some lovely language and imagery to describe the Garden, but somehow the family dynamics fall flat. I suspect the problem is in too many points of view, as it is told through the eyes of different female family members, but somehow the characters are flat, and are very one-note. I was really disappointed in this one.

Lulu in Marrakech, by Diane Johnson. I have to admit, I have never read any of Diane Johnson's novels before, and probably never will again. I was hoping for an intelligently written piece of 'good fluff', and it just completely failed. None of the characters resonated or felt true to me at all. It just felt very contrived, as if the author had only seen Marrakech through visits, and hadn't had experience with people of other cultures...

Lastly, a nonfiction piece I'd had great hopes for, but alas, it too went ptttthhhhbbbtttt. The food of a younger land, by Mark Kurlansky. I suspect part of the problem is that I expected something a little different, based on the cover, and the blurb. What it is is a series of essays about food in different regions of the country, taken from the 'America Eats' Project, under the auspices of the Federal Writers' Project, created by President Roosevelt in the 1930s. The problem with the book, I think, is that it lacks a unifying framework, a wholeness. It seems to be tidbits thrown together in a mishmash without any kind of unifying thread to it, apart from it being about food. If Kurlansky had done a little more to give a theme to the book: seasonality, unusual feasts that have since died out, and organized it that way, rather than by state, I think it would have been more what I was expecting, as some of the essays are rather short, and it just feels jumpy and choppy. Its an example of how arranging your material can really make a difference in the feel of the book.

I promise not to be a negative Nelly next time, and to review some really wonderful books that you can escape into in this rainy summer weather...

Welcome to my cozy lair....

So I'm devoting a blog to books, maybe some authors, and to book reviews. I'll review books that charm me, that enthrall me, and even books I throw across the room in disgust. There are a few authors I will probably never review: I'm not into James Patterson, Steven King, Nora Roberts, pap for the people...

But lets talk about Ms Nora Roberts for a moment. I read, last week, in the New Yorker, an article about her. Here's a link to the abstract of the article, if you want to read the full thing, you have to subscribe.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/06/22/090622fa_fact_collins

The article started out basically comparing NR to some of the greatest authors in the English Language. Apparently more women find her words memorable than they do the words in Wuthering Heights, or other works of great literature. To me, that says something about the quality of literature out there today. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Ms Roberts works incredibly hard, she certainly churns the books out. They are popular, yes. Quality literature? No. I couldn't even finish the article lauding the praises of Nora Roberts, saint in training.

This blog aims to bring you good literature. Good books. Intelligently written books, of many genres. I read a lot, I read a variety. I'll even review some of the classics as well as new books, new authors. Yes, this blog has a bias... my own. My tastes.

What do I read? Almost everything. I don't read political books or self-help. I don't read 'What's wrong with America' books.