Looking Back on a Year

Here it is, almost October! The year is just flying by! I am not really in a review-writing mood this week. I just have the most insane allergies. I really wish I could figure out what is triggering them so bad this fall, but instead I switched allergy medicine tonight and I hoping for some results. I have just beent thinking of what I could say because my blog has been pretty quiet this week. Then, I got to think of a year in review. You see, this weekend is my birthday.... That is both a good and a bad thing! Normally birthdays do not interest me all that much, but I am going to try and enjoy this one. Won't be too many more years and I will be pretending that they don't exist, so better enjoy it while I can!

Yesterday, I actually sang to myself on my blog! Thank god you couldn't actually hear it, you just read it, because I would have lost a lot of readers otherwise!

For my birthday I bought Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden, which I reviewed here, and interesting enough I am reading the sequel right now! It's a great series. I plan to go read more after this post.

I read a Giller-finalist, Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay, which actually went on to win! This was part of my Giller-a-thon which I plan to attempt again this year... You can read the review here.

Here is my progress report from October of last year. Back when I kept track! I was slipping in reading numbers and most of those books I never did get around to reviewing! A shame, really, because there are some really good ones.

I came to the conclusion I read too much fantasy....

I posted pictures from my hometown.

I finally reviewed A Secret Between Us, which I think I liked more than the book that went on to read the Giller.

"In Flanders Fields" and "It's Just a Pittance of Time"

I went to the theatres and saw Across the Universe, which I have seen many many times since...

I read a funny book about dogs, reviewed here, and a really good fantasy novel that I should get around to reading the sequel to, reviewed here.

The Kittens! Which I have not seen in forever....

Advent Calendar 2007! This ran all the way through December, but this post has all the entries on it. Be sure and remember all about it because it is going to be happening again this year!

Moving on to December, December 6th was a day of Remembrance.

I interrupted the Advent Calendar to get outraged... This still bothers me!

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

My blog turned two years old! That means that soon it will be three....

Secret Santa! Which reminds me that I will want a book soon....

Merry Christmas! I bought books!

The best of 2007!

The Fantasy Review Part One and Part Two

And then life got really busy and I hardly ever posted for the rest of the year! A lot of stuff has happened though. I got entirely rid of my hanging-on boyfriend (we had really broke up a year before but he was still around all the time!), I made friends, I lost friends, I got my mother a kitten, my aunt got married, I went on trips to Cape Breton and Lunenburg, I discovered bands like Rush, I read Neil Peart's non-fiction books, I went to a LOT of karaoke bars, I started hanging out with my charming comedian, my blog became more rambling than reviews, etc... Such is life! I am always behind in reviews, I suck at challenges, and for me, I am having a really slow reading year! But, life goes on and overall, it has been a pretty good year. The good outdoes the bad, I guess.

So, even if it is early, happy birthday to me! Hopefully the next year will bring other good things and I will start reading and reviewing with some regularity! As well as other things.

Also, here's to new allergy pills and actually being able to feel my nose clear! I might be able to breath!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Bod is an unusual boy who inhabits an unusual place-he's the only living resident of a graveyard. Raised from infancy by the ghosts, werewolves, and other cemetery denizens, Bod has learned the antiquated customs of his guardians' time as well as their timely ghostly teachings-like the ability to Fade.

Can a boy raised by ghosts face the wonders and terrors of the worlds of both the living and the dead? And then there are things like ghouls that aren't really one thing or the other.

This chilling tale is Neil Gaiman's first full-length novel for middle-grade readers since the internationally bestselling and universally acclaimed Coraline. Like Coraline, this book is sure to enchant and surprise young readers as well as Neil Gaiman's legion of adult fans.

Well, I finished it! I didn't think I was going to because my day off was busier than I had expected, but I just read the final page and decided I would review it before heading to bed. To all that is waiting for this book, I think it is worth it. I am not the biggest Gaiman fan in the world. I have liked several of his books, but at the same time, I don't get as excited as many people when he has a new one out. I still have books by him on TBR pile, actually. That being said, I really liked this book! It is the perfect book for me because it expands on a short story that I loved in one of Gaiman's collections. The problem I have with short stories is that they don't tell me everything I want to know, so I am very happy to see that this book does in fact expand on the story.

This is the story of Nobody Owens. A young boy who has found himself wanted dead by some very powerful men. On the night that he is supposed to die, though, he cannot be found. He has wandered out the door and arrived at a nearby graveyard. This graveyard will be his home for the next several years. It's a fun idea. I like graveyards. I have been known to explore them when the opportunity presents themselves, so this was a fun setting for the book. It also allows many different people to interact in one place and it work well together. Bod, as he is called, is raised by a couple that always wanted children when they were alive and now, with the The Protection of the Graveyard, they have their chance while dead. Bod grows up in very unusual circumstances, that is for sure!

There are so many wonderful scenes in this book. So many characters that I loved. I didn't necessarily love every word, but there was so much that I did love that I hardly noticed when the story slowed down. This has officially became one of my favourite Neil Gaiman books and, also, one of my favourite young adult novels. I would love to share all my favourite parts, but I know that a lot of people are looking forward to this book, so I won't take the chance of ruining anything for them.

I will just conclude by saying that I recommend this book!

A Day Off Work...

Yes, The Terror has been set aside for the new Neil Gaiman! I came home to find my copy waiting for me, and even though I own books by him that I still haven't got around to reading, I still started this one right away! I am almost done, so my plan is to finish it today. Don't get me wrong, The Terror is good, but it is not a fast read by any means!

Also, I forgot to mention that there is a review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows up at Historical Tapestry!

Well, It Happened...

I have been posting about the charming comedian on here for months with no worries! He only read my blog when I showed him something because he did not have a computer of his own. He does now... So, I wanted to show him something on there last night and he ended up reading my blog for a while, with me trying to remember what I had said on here. I think he actually found most of what he read funny, he was shocked that I couldn't remember that Jim Morrison was the lead singer of The Doors, etc... And, today, he was still commenting on random things I had said. You would think that I would be wanting to be more careful what I say on here because he can read it, but frankly, I don't say anything on here I wouldn't say to his face... He never did say what he thought of his nickname, though. He just said that as long as no one knows who he actually is, I can say whatever I want!

I know I have been quiet the last couple days. I have been really busy! I am still reading The Terror. It is not a book that is quick to read... And I have been too busy to pick it up lately. Anyway, I will be back tomorrow with a decent post. For right now, I am going to read...

Lost In Reading

So, since I finished five books for the R.I.P. Challenge and they all came off my TBR pile! (Yay!) I decided to read a new addition to the TBR pile. It was on a bunch of lists and I have wanted to read it since it came out (mainly because the cover caught my attention). Know what book it is? The Terror by Dan Simmons.

Things I have learned while reading it:

It is a very engrossing book. I had to pick up food for supper before the Charming Comedian got off work, but he called earlier today to ask me to take a garbage bag off a plant (we had a frost warning last night), so I went over to his house and brought my book with me because he has the good coffee! So, um, let's just say that I ended up talking to him on my cellphone from the grocery store while he was home waiting for the food! Yes, I could've had it started when he got off work, but I totally lost track of time! We ate really late...

That it reminds me of James Rollin's early novels, and since I LOVE James Rollins I was really excited!

That everytime I picked up the book while cooking and eating supper, something very important would just have to be said and then I would have to put down the book again. He is one of those people that gets really into their story-telling, so I want to put my book down and pay attention because many times he is almost as entertaining (or more) than the book! (Don't tell him that, though.) Anyway, so apparently he cut himself with a chainsaw. That story never came up before... There were a few others... I think he likes talking to me, even if he will never admit it!

It is a really good book so far! I don't know if I really remembered what it was about (I tend to add books to my wish list and then lots of time goes by before I buy them), so I wasn't totally sure what to expect! So far, I recommend it! I have other Dan Simmons books, and I actually started one last year, but I never did finish it. It was really good, though... I just have this habit of not finishing books! I am easily distracted or something.

Supper was really good! Late, but good.

Don't forget Saturday at 11:59 PM EST is your last chance to enter Michelle Moran's contest to win one of two signed copies of her new books!

Hi!

I am not getting enough sleep, so I am off to try and catch up on a little bit of it before I crash and die! (That and while my cold turned out to be insanely bad allergies, the charming comedian in my life has gone and got himself a cold that I DON'T WANT! And, he got it the same way I am going to if I don't go bed: Not getting enough sleep!)

Hey! The Charming Comedian. haha That's different. I don't know about the charming part, but he is pretty funny! Like when he gets up on the coffee table and pretends he is a go-go dancer. He is really random, can you tell? I am really random too, though. Like this post, this post is random!

Anyway, head over to Historical Tapestry for another interview with Michelle Moran. Saturday there will be a wrap-up post, and then you have until 11:59 Eastern Standard Time to do something to get entered in the draw for a chance to win one of TWO copies of Michelle's new book!

And, I am out! Night!

Don't Bet on the Prince: Contemporary Feminist Fairy Tales in North American and England - Edited by Jack Zipes

Jack Zipes has put together the first comprehensive anthology of feminist fairy tales and essays to appear since the women's movement gained momentum in the 1960's. He has selected works by such gifted writers as Angela Carter, Margaret Atwood, Tanith Lee, Jay Williams, Jane Yolen, Anne Sexton, Olga Broumas and Joanna Russ - all of whom, whether they consider themselves "feminists" or not, have written innovative stories which seek to break with the classical tradition of fairy tales. The accompanying critical essays, by Marcia Lieberman, Sandra Gilbert, Susan Gubar and Karen Rowe, discuss how fairy tales play an important role in early socialization, influencing the manner in which children perceive the world and their place in it even before they begin to read.

Don't Bet on the Prince was created out of dissatisfaction with the dominant male discourse of traditional fairy tales and with the sexist social values and institutions which it supports. This book demonstrates how recent male and female writers, by looking at the classical literary fairy tale with new eyes, have changed the aesthetic constructs and social content of fairy tales in order to reflect the major changes in the roles of sex, gender, socialization and education since the 1960's. It is an excellent example of how the literature of fantasy and imagination can be harnessed to create a new view of the world.

Don't Bet on the Prince is for all those interested in questioning the traditional values and expectations by which our perceptions of ourselves are formed. It will be of special interest to those concerned with the feminist movement, women's studies and the growing feminist sensibility in fantasy literature. Its tales will also appeal to children, and the child in every adult.

So, this probably won't be a review so much as an opinion piece. I warn you now! When I was little I loved fairy tales. I have some older editions by some of the greats that belonged to my parents and I loved to read them. Some I loved, while others I hated. As an adult I find myself wondering what I thought when I was reading them. When I read fairy tales now I have too many impressions. I have heard too many theories about what the authors were trying to do, and it means that I find myself looking for hidden meaning. Now, that is not necessarily a bad thing, but I highly doubt that when I was a child I was doing the same thing! I just read them for fun.

One thing that always gets me is how adult fairy tales are. Let me be blunt... I didn't know when I was seven that "Little Red Riding Hood" was getting raped. I thought she got eaten by the wolf, or came close to it. The sexual imagery that is actually there, I highly doubt I saw it. I did think that she was stupid for walking into the trap and not knowing that the wolf was the wolf, but I didn't know that she wanted to be raped. It just never crossed my mind. Somewhere in this book it says that the story portrayed the obvious notion that women want to be raped and men cannot control their animal instincts when a beguiling female presents themselves. And, we all know how much truth that sentence holds!

I will be the first to admit, though, that I am not a big fan of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and the rest of the women who have became Disney Princesses. I wasn't a fan when I was a kid, either. I was always looking for the stories where the women had brains. I had one, so it stands to reason that one of these women was going to have one too! I was not a child that dreamed I was Cinderella and I was just waiting for my prince to come and save me. I never believed in that stuff, and maybe, I didn't have as great a childhood as I could have because I wasn't waiting for the knight on the white horse. Who knows! All I know is that this ideal never really struck my fancy. The only Disney Princess, based on classic fairy tales, that I like is Beauty from Beauty and the Beast and that was probably only because she read and was a bookworm like me.

I am trying to decide how I feel after reading this book. Some of the short stories were really good, while others I found rather uninteresting. The essays at the back were interesting, but at the same time they were trying too hard. There were a few moments where I stopped and thought about what they were saying, though, so they were not totally wasted. I find it interesting, though, that instead of writing fairy tales with equality, it seems the men have to become like the women of old in some cases, in order for the women to have a brain. Anyway, that being said, I really liked this book. It was not the best ever, but it was enlightening, and fairy tales and feminist issues are two of my favourite subject matters, so I always like to develop both further.

This was reason enough for me:

"... And Then the Prince Knealt Down and Tried to Put the Glass Slipper on Cinderella's Foot"
- Judith Viorst

I really didn't notice that he had a funny nose.
And he certainly looked better all dressed up in fancy clothes.
He's not nearly as attractive as he seemed the other night.
So I think I'll just pretend that this glass slipper feels too tight.

Yeah, I laughed when I read that story. Terrible, I know!

This collection included [My thoughts are in brackets]:

• Fairy Tales and Poems:
  • The Princess Who Stood On Her Own Two Feet by Jeanne Desy [I wasn't sure about this story at first, but it grew on me. It is not really all that different than modern dating even if there is no prince involved!]
    
  • Prince Amilec by Tanith Lee [I enjoyed this story. I don't necessarily like the princesses personality, but I understand where she was coming from.]
  • Petronella by Jay Williams [A fun story that looks at the common theme from fairy tales of everything happening in threes. It breaks conventions in a fun way.]
  • The Donkey Prince by Angela Carter [A very good story from Carter. I just recently read her for the first time, so it was nice to see her included. This breaks fairy tale conventions as well.]
  • ...And Then The Prince Knelt Down and Tried to Put the Glass Slipper on Cinderella’s Foot by Judith Viorst [I laughed... ]
  • Snow White by The Merseyside Fairy Story Collective [Snow White with a brain! Very good story of good verses evil.]
  • The Moon Ribbon by Jane Yolen [A Cinderella-type story that I really enjoyed.]
  • Russalka or The Seacoast of Bohemia by Joanna Russ [Retelling of The Little Mermaid... This just goes to show you don't always know what you want until it is too late!]
  • A Fairy Tale for Our Time by Jack Zipes [I really liked this story. I think it is because it is something that I can relate to. It is why I read fairy tales, in a way.]
  • The Green Woman by Meghan B. Collins [Not my favourite story in the collection, but readable. It is a very believable story, though.]
  • Briar Rose (Sleeping Beauty) by Anne Sexton [Look, I am doing better with my strong dislike of short story collections, but I still don't really like poetry... It was just brutalized for me for too many years!]
  • Little Red Riding Hood by Olga Broumas [See above]
  • Rapunzel by Sara Henderson Hay [And again]
  • Wolfland by Tanith Lee [A great story for the paranormal fan in me!]
  • Malagan and the Lady of Rascas by Michael de Larrabeiti [Could not get into this story at all! Probably my least favourite.]
  • Bluebeard’s Egg by Margaret Atwood [I both loved and hated this story. Every time I think about it I change my mind.]
    
• Essays:
  • ‘Some Day My Prince Will Come’: Female Acculturation through the Fairy Tale by Marcia K. Lieberman
  • The Queen’s Looking Glass by Sandra M. Gilbert & Susan Gubar
  • Feminism and Fairy Tales by Karen E. Rowe
  • A Second Gaze at Little Red Riding Hood’s Trials and Tribulations by Jack Zipes

So, see, I did like most of the stories in this book! I suggest you take the chance to read it, you will not be disappointed.

The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews

“Min was stranded in her bed, hooked on the blue torpedoes and convinced that a million silver cars were closing in on her (I didn’t know what Thebes meant either), Logan was in trouble at school, something about the disturbing stories he was writing, Thebes was pretending to be Min on the phone with his principal, the house was crumbling around them, the black screen door had blown off in the wind, a family of aggressive mice was living behind the piano, the neighbours were pissed off because of hatchets being thrown into their yard at night (again, confusing, something to do with Logan) … basically, things were out of control. And Thebes is only eleven.”–from The Flying Troutmans

Days after being dumped by her boyfriend Marc in Paris–“he was heading off to an ashram and said we could communicate telepathically”–Hattie hears her sister Min has been checked into a psychiatric hospital, and finds herself flying back to Winnipeg to take care of Thebes and Logan, her niece and nephew. Not knowing what else to do, she loads the kids, a cooler, and a pile of CDs into their van and they set out on a road trip in search of the children’s long-lost father, Cherkis.

In part because no one has any good idea where Cherkis is, the traveling maters more than the destination. On their wayward, eventful journey down to North Dakota and beyond, the Troutmans stay at scary motels, meet helpful hippies, and try to ignore the threatening noises coming from under the hood of their van. Eleven-year-old Thebes spends her time making huge novelty cheques with arts and crafts supplies in the back, and won’t wash, no matter how wild and matted her purple hair gets; she forgot to pack any clothes. Four years older, Logan carves phrases like “Fear Yourself” into the dashboard, and repeatedly disappears in the middle of the night to play basketball; he’s in love, he says, with New York Times columnist Deborah Solomon. Meanwhile, Min can’t be reached at the hospital, and, more than once, Hattie calls Marc in tears.

But though it might seem like an escape from crisis into chaos, this journey is also desperately necessary, a chance for an accidental family to accept, understand or at least find their way through overwhelming times. From interwoven memories and scenes from the past, we learn much more about them: how Min got so sick, why Cherkis left home, why Hattie went to Paris, and what made Thebes and Logan who they are today.

In this completely captivating book, Miriam Toews has created some of the most engaging characters in Canadian literature: Hattie, Logan and Thebes are bewildered, hopeful, angry, and most of all, absolutely alive. Full of richly skewed, richly funny detail, The Flying Troutmans is a uniquely affecting novel.

I first heard of Miriam Toews back in 2004 when her novel A Complicated Kindness won the Governor General's Award. Sometimes I pay a lot of attention to award-winning books, while other times I do not. For whatever reason, I decided to pick that book up and I read it at some point and time. I am pretty sure it was that year, so it was before blogging. Now, while I am sure it was a good book, it was not a great book... Why, you might ask? Because without going to look at a book description, I would not for the life of me be able to tell you what happened in that book. Last year, I read Swing Low: A Life by Toews and apparently did not review it. That's annoying! Anyway, I remember that book much better than A Complicated Kindness and it hardly received any media attention at all.

So, fast-forward to this year when her new book came out. I was not super-excited about it, but at the same time, I decided to give her another try. I come away from the experience thinking 'meh'. It wasn't a fantastic book, but it also was not a terrible book, either. I really liked the characters, but I felt like I never really got close to them. They could've all died and I would've just sort of shrugged and moved on. Which is a shame because the characters are colourful and I wanted to really like them, but it was like there was a wall between me and them. So, while the characters were alive to me, they just did not capture my interest and pull me in.

To summarize my rambles. While I didn't love this book, I also didn't hate it. I just can't seem to do these plodding family drama-type novels anymore. I also notice that Toews is not on the Giller long-list this year, so I am not the only one that thinks what could've been a promising novel just did not capture her audience...

This is a read for the Second Canadian Challenge, Eh? My thanks to Random House for this book! Even though I didn't love it, I am still glad I read it. It also has an awesome title...

This, That, and The Other Thing....

I really need to come up with better titles for my posts! I probably have even used that one before, but I can't remember and I am too lazy to check.

So, my throat is still putting up a fuss, but I think I have allergies and not a cold. I love the fall, don't get me wrong, but something just drives my sinuses crazy! And, I know this, but the sore throat sort of threw me off and made me think I was getting a cold! I am actually happy to have allergies. Weird, I know, but who wants a cold at this time of the year? I want to read and read and probably clean, but I mean, who wants to clean? I just informed my DH via text-message that I have too many books. I am kind of curious what the reply will be. I do have too many books, but not overall, just to read... I feel like I should be making a big dent in Mount TBR, but I don't think it is working out so well.

Tonight I finished up a book in the Extraordinary Canadian series that Penguin Books has. I love the whole idea behind this series and have been pre-ordering the books. Two arrived in the mail this week. One on Big Bear and the other on Lester B. Pearson. Now I have to wait until March of next year for more! So, I figured I should, you know, read the ones I have already! So, I read David Adams Richards book on Lord Beaverbrook. The review will be up on Historical Tapestry once Michelle Moran's week is completed. I really think I am the biggest fangirl when it comes to this series. It is a perfect way for me to catch up with some figures from Canadian history that I am not necessarily familiar with. Yeah, I have issues, but you know that, right? And, the books are going to look so awesome all lined up in a row on my shelf... Once I have them all, of course, because you know that I will have to have them all! This is also my fourth book for that Canadian Challenge I supposedly belong to, but since I haven't actually reviewed anything yet, I am sure most people forgot I even belonged! Oh, wait, that was the fifth. Man, I am behind!

Also, don't forget to head over to Historical Tapestry for Michelle Moran week. I know people read my blog, but I haven't seen you comment (slackers), and you are missing out on a chance to win a FREE BOOK! So, go over there and comment! I supposedly comment on your blogs and I don't get free books for doing so! You do! (haha, well, maybe). Today I posted a review of The Heretic Queen, which I loved and consider one of my favourite reads of the year!

I think after I finish this I am going to review a book... So, expect another post from me today!

Giller-a-Thon Time!

Last year I aimed to read all the Giller-nominated books, and I came really close to this goal! I just had a hard time tracking down a couple of the titles. I really should read those couple others that I never did get to, huh? Maybe I will work them in with this years... So, this year I am just going to read those I can easily track down. A couple I already own, but haven't read... Story of my life!

David Adams Richards for his novel The Lost Highway (I own this, but Richards is not working for me lately... I used to love him, and now, I still get all his books when they come out. It just takes me forever to read them!)
David Bergen for his novel The Retreat (I did not like his first book. I couldn't even finish it! I might try this one, though.)
Joseph Boyden for his novel Through Black Spruce (I loved his first book, Three Day Road, so I am looking forward to another book by him. )
Austin Clarke for his novel More (I have other books by him, but, of course, never read him)
Anthony De Sa for his collection of short stories Barnacle Love (I'm not much of a short story reader... We will see.)
Emma Donoghue for her novel The Sealed Letter, (I own this. I have even started it! I just, well, haven't finished it... Are we surprised?)
Marina Endicott for her novel Good to A Fault (Never heard of her or the book before)
Steven Galloway for his novel The Cellist of Sarajevo (I like the title...)
Rawi Hage for his novel Cockroach (Never read him before but I have heard things...)
Kenneth J Harvey for his novel Blackstrap Hawco (I own it. Just received it the other day!)
Patrick Lane for his novel Red Dog, Red Dog (Not sure on this one.)
Pasha Malla for his collection of short stories The Withdrawal Method (Just not one for short story collections...)
Paul Quarrington for his novel The Ravine (I have been wanting to read Quarrington. This might be an excuse to finally get to him)
Nino Ricci for his novel The Origin of the Species (I don't know about this one.)
Mary Swan for her novel The Boys in the Trees (If I go just by the title, it doesn't sound like my kind of book, but we will see...)

It's Not Fair!

I am fighting a stupid, blasted cold right now. I am super unimpressed! It started yesterday with a sore throat and I keep hoping I am going to fight it off, but I feel pretty off right about now. I think the next two days will be spent working, sleeping, and reading. It is the only way I will successfully fight it off! And, the worst thing about being sick is when other people don't want to be around you because they don't want to catch it. I mean, I think you are contagious like two days before you start showing symptoms, so it is a little late now to avoid me. But, the boyfriend has to work two 12-hour back shifts in a row, so I can sort of understand why I have to stand ten feet away from him.... It is really weird for me to be sick at this time of year, especially since I don't know anyone that has a cold! I don't even know where I would've caught it from. I am just going to cross my fingers and hope it is really bad allergies and I will feel way better when I wake up.

In the meantime, my interview with author Michelle Moran is up at Historical Tapestry. Don't forget to post some comments so you have a chance to be entered in the draw! I am just finishing up the last pages of The Heretic Queen and I can safely say it is a really good book! I read it really fast both because I wanted to have it done so I can review it this week and because I found myself very easily caught up in it. I feel like I have hardly spent time on it at all, and yet, the pages left to read are not that extensive at all!

Playing Catch-Up

Yeah, I died again! But, here I am! I am behind on reviews, but no big surprise there. And, of course I am not actually going to write one tonight. That would be too logical! So, how is everyone making out? There is a lot going on in the blogosphere, so I have to make an effort to pay attention this week, wouldn't you think?

I am pretty amazed, my DH is actually reading! That just amazes me because I keep reading books that he himself wants to read, but he never actually reads them! He doesn't have enough time and he doesn't have enough interest to make reading a priority, so he just tells me he will read them one day. Anyway, we were at the bookstore the other night and he picked up a book. It was Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Albums of all Time. He considered buying it! I was shocked! So, I went home and bought it online... It was a perfect idea when I think about it because we are both reading it. I am about a hundred pages into it, he is just reading it sporadically and out of order, but we keep pausing to show each other something that we find interesting. Music is something we have in common and we have similar taste, so we are also arguing the order that they put the CDs. We don't always agree, but that's the fun of it, I suppose. He is more into music than I am, so he also sings parts of songs when I am totally clueless as to who certain artists are. Anyway, it might not be world-class literature, but it's a start, right?

As to the book, I think I am up to about number 83. The Beatles are probably the band that have been showcased the most. That does not really surprise me! Three of their albums are in the top ten alone. Bob Dylan has been in the list a bunch so far, too. As he is a Traveling Wilbury and I love that band, I am very happy he is so popular. Even if I am not a big fan of him. There were a few surprises... Pink Floyd is not in the list as much as I expected they would be. Some random rap album is placed very early into the list. He knew who they were, I had no idea. Neither of us really thought they deserved the spot, though. I am learning a lot of random stuff. One thing that is maybe a little interesting is that John Lennon's solo stuff is being showcased more than any of the other Beatles solo stuff. It is such a shame he died so young! Actually, I was commenting while I was reading about how many of the top 100 (well, 83) had singers that died young... Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Kurt Cobain, the first lead singer to ACDC, whoever the lead singer to the Doors is (I am blanking! That's terrible!), etc. Just imagine what they could've been capable if they had lived longer.... They already accomplished so much in the short time that they had!

So, that was part of my weekend. Sitting around comparing notes about a book. Exciting, huh? Hopefully there are more books of that nature that interest him so we can do more of it... I will have this book finished soon! I probably should read slower, but he will be at it for a while, so he can tell me things and I will have already read about it, so it works, too. I never date readers, for whatever reason, so when they actually read it is always a big thing! He listens to me ramble about books all the time. I didn't think I did it a lot, but he tells me otherwise, so I think that is a good thing that he can listen to me go on all the time, right?

And, I still haven't thought of a good name to use on here...

If you have managed to read through my rambles and get to the end of this post, let me remind you that it is Michelle Moran Week at Historical Tapestry! The first post is up now, so be sure to head over there and participate! Don't forget about the give-away!

Feminist Approaches to Fairy Tales

I am currently reading a collection of feminist fairy tales and that has got me thinking. I have always considered myself a feminist, but yet, I read a lot of fairy tale collections and consider myself a big fan of people like the Grimms' Brothers, who wrote collections of stories that were not necessarily very flattering to females. Fairy tales have often followed a very strict pattern when it comes to the characters. If there is a male character, there is always a female character that is in distress of some kind and the male character has to come to their rescue. If there is a step-mother or step-sisters, they are always evil and the father, who more often than not dies, is always portrayed as a kind, yet gentle, sort.

Fairy tales are being rewritten all the time. Times have changed (we hope) and the need is there to make fairy tales make more sense for the times we are living in. This means that female characters are not 'betting on the prince' anymore and are actually being the heroine instead of the damsel in distress. I have read a couple collections of what could be called fairy tales for the R.I.P. Challenge, and with the rewriting it is very obvious that women are coming into their own in regards to the genre. The current book I am reading is a collection of short stories by several different authors. I will write a full review of it soon, but it just has me thinking about what my favourite classic fairy tales are, whether it is a good idea to mess with them so entirely, and are we moving away from reading our children stories by the Grimms' Brothers and more towards stories of a new generation where women and girls play a stronger role? And, is this a good or a bad thing? I read the 'old' fairy tales and I still believe that girls are capable of anything, but does everyone think like that? With our need to make the children the best they can be, and the changes we have made in society as to what that means, is it limiting for children to read the old stories of people like Snow White and Cinderella?

Anyone have any thoughts on this? What are your favourite fairy tales?

Random Stuff

I have books to review, but I have to be in the right mood to write them. I guess my mood has been more random than anything the last couple days. I particularly like my randomness from yesterday... I was laughing at the memories when I wrote them. I think I might do posts like that more often just so I can look back on them and laugh... you know what I mean? I won't remember them otherwise...

Take tonight for example. After the cookie conversation there is silence:

Him (really need to come up with something better...): What are you doing?

Me: Updating my blog. The post is called "A Day in the Life of Me." I wasn't in the mood to do a book review.

Him: Oh, yeah, what are you writing about?

Me: Elephants.

Him: You aren't blogging about what I said to you on the phone, are you?

Me: What does it matter? You are just a random person, you could be anyone! You could be several anyones. No one knows.

Him: Or, you could be making it up.

Me: Yup.

Him: So, are you blogging about what I said on the phone?

Me: Yep.

Him: What! You can't tell people what I say!

Me: Why not, it's funny? People will enjoy it.

Him: Really?

Moving on. My review of The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason is up on Historical Tapestry. I reviewed it a couple days ago, but I had to wait my turn to post it. This sort of proves the completion of the R.I.P. Challenge. I will read more, of course, but I like knowing that I actually finished a challenge considering how sporadic my reading has been lately!

Anyway, so far I have read:

The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason
The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury
The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter
The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

A Day in the Life of Me

Just some random conversations... They might be those type where you have to be there, though...

I still haven't thought of a witty name for the guy that tends to make his way into my blog lately... Let's think here... Okay, no, let's just go with 'him' for the moment.

Conversation Number 1:

Him: I am going to win the lotto this week. Then, I can pay off people's mortgages and, hey, even pay off your student loans.

Me: That would be helpful. (We continue walking a long).

Me: Maybe I will win the lotto instead.

Him: And do what with it?

Me: Buy all the books that I want but cannot afford...

Him: (Blank stare....)

Me: Well, then pay off my student loans and buy a new car, of course.

Conversation Number Two:

Me: The guy downstairs has a cat, did you know that?

Him: Yes, he mentioned something about that.

Me: Its name is Sandy. (not sure of sex...)

Him: Since he moved in I have seen several other cats around. Like last night when we came in, there was a cat under the trailer.

Me: Oh, yeah? I didn't even notice.

Him: Wait, were we drunk last night?

Me: You don't know if you were drunk last night? We drove an hour in the car, we hadn't touched anything alcoholic in hours. How can you not know if you were drunk or not?

Him: Well, I remember walking in from the car... In that case, it was a real cat and not an imaginary one.

Me: Do you regularly see imaginary cats when you are drunk?

Conversation Number Three:

While I am writing this, he called.

Him: I was watching the 'Weather Channel'. Hurricane Ike, it is right over [somewhere in Cuba]. I guess it is raining turkeys and cows down there. Cats and dogs were not enough.

Me: Oh, yeah.

Him: And elephants. It is raining elephants down there.

Me: [Confused laughter]

Him: Well, I guess they don't really have elephants down there.

Me: Not last I checked.

Him: Well, the hurricane brought elephants with it from Africa, then.

Me: [thinking] Where the hell does he come up with this stuff?

While I am thinking this:

Him: I bought cookies and I shouldn't have bought cookies.

Me: [Trying to understand what cookies have to do with it raining elephants in Cuba] Why?

And the conversation goes on from there.... I have such a hard time keeping up! Believe it or not, this is very typical... I am usually pretty swift and can change from subject to subject, but in the meantime my brain is trying to figure out the connection between things.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

From familiar fairy tales and legends – Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Puss-in-Boots, Beauty and the Beast, vampires, werewolves – Angela Carter has created an absorbing collection of dark, sensual, fantastic stories.

Margaret Atwood has this to say about her:

"She was, among other things, a quirky, original and baroque stylist, a traitespecially marked in 'The Bloody Chamber' - her vocabulary a mix of finely tunedphrased, luscious adjectives, witty athorism, and hearty, up-verse vulgarity."
-- Observer (London)

Joyce Carol Oates said:

"Distinguished by bold, inflected language and ornate, indeed often bloody
imagery; it's aesthetic agenda is a wilful appropriation of the old tales and
legends of the patriarchal world." -- New York Times Book Review

Ian McEwan said:

"She writes a prose that blends itself to magnificent set pieces of factidious
sensuality...dreams, myths, fairy tales, metamorphoses the unruly unconscious,
epic journeys and a highly sensual celebration of sexuality in both its most
joyous and darkest manifestations."

I say, thanks Carl! I have had his book forever and never got around to reading it, so I am glad that Carl posted about it and reminded me it was about time I got around to it! Some of the stories were not great, but overall it was a fun collection of stories. In the collection, Carter both retells old fairy tales for grown-ups, and writes stories with vampires and werewolves to capture your imagination! I am a big fan of fairy tales, so it is always nice to read new ones. "The Bloody Chamber", actually, was a retelling of "Bluebeard", one of my favourite stories. "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon was one of my favourite stories because it retells "Beauty and the Beast". That has always been a story I enjoyed.

Overall, another good read! This is also the fourth book I read for the R.I.P. Challenge, so that means that anything I read after this is just an added bonus! I am very happy with that.

*The quotes are off Barnes and Noble*

The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke

Magic, madam, is like wine and, if you are not used to it, it will make you drunk. Faerie is never as far away as you think. Sometimes you find you have crossed an invisible line and must cope, as best you can, with petulant princesses, vengeful owls, ladies who pass their time embroidering terrible fates, or with endless paths in deep dark woods and houses that never appear the same way twice. The heroines and heroes bedevilled by such problems in these fairytales include a conceited Regency clergyman, an eighteenth-century Jewish doctor and Mary Queen of Scots, as well as two characters from "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell": Strange, himself, and the Raven King.

This is actually not the review I was promising, but I just finished this book and felt I should review it while I can keep all the stories straight in my head! So, I think I have said a few times lately that I am not much for short story collections. I rarely read them, but I do have a few in my collection and there have been some that I have quite enjoyed. Now you are probably wondering where this collection fits in. To put it quite simply, I loved it! I couldn't put it down, and that is a very rare thing for me when it comes to short stories! There was not a story in the collection that I didn't enjoy, and now I really have to get around to finishing Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell!

"The Ladies of Grace Adieu" - The title story to this collection. This story takes place during the 19th-century and looks at the troubles that women magicians had at this time. Like most professions, magic was a male-dominated world, and these three women were caught up in it. This is also the story where Mr. Strange and The Raven King make an appearance.

"Lickerish Hill" - This story is based on several sources, but for me, it was reminisent of Rumpelstiltskin. That is what I thought of when I read it, but there is a lot more going on and that story is likely not even a an original. It's another story about an unconventional woman for the times. This one did not have the head for domestic studies, but would rather learn more about the world around her, but her mother has other ideas for her.

"Mrs Mabb" - This is the story of a scorned woman who does not believe that her true-love has left her behind. It is a very fairy tale-type story! It was fun to read of all of her troubles to find out the truth and her sister is an interesting character! This story was my favourite, I think.

"The Duke of Wellington Misplaces His Horse" - Imagine my surprise when the opening paragraph states: "This story is set in the world created by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess in Stardust". I loved that book, so I was all excited for this story. I wish there had been more to it, though. This story did disappoint me, but it was more my own fault than the writing. It's a nice, quaint story. I particularly like the ending!

"Mr. Simonelli or The Fairy Widower" - This story looks very closely at fairy enchantments. It is very much a story of what you see is not always what is there! Told in diary-format, it is about a seemingly ordinary man doing a very courageous thing. I had to laugh at the ending, even if it wasn't necessarily funny... He last words that he is said to have spoken aloud and recorded in his diary are priceless!

"Tom Brightwind or How The Fairy Bridge Was Built at Thoresby" - Another fairy story. This one about Tom Brightwind, who appears to be quite the distracted sort. He is traveling with a mortal on a route that leads to adventure along the way! There are some interesting characters in this story.

"Antickes and Frets" - This is a story about Mary Queen of Scots and her attempts to take her beloved cousin, Elizabeth, from her throne. It might not be the story we have heard before, but knowing Mary's history I can well imagine it!

"John Uskglass and the Cumbrian Charcoal Burner" - This story was entertaining. It is the most interesting use of saints that I have ever seen. It shows that we have been going about praying all the wrong ways! It also shows that even the simplist person can be mighty... or at least have mighty friends! No one has to know that, though.

If the stories are not enough to interest you, you must also remember that this book is illustrated by the fantastic Charles' Vess! Who wouldn't want to see more from him! Clarke is a really amazing author, I have to say. She knows how to capture an audience, and she has only written this collection and one novel! I am a huge fan at this point.

This is my third read for the R.I.P. Challenge! Yay! The Bleeding Dusk by Colleen Gleason will be posted at Historical Tapestry sometime this week. I will keep you posted!

An Announcement and Some Other Stuff

Okay, so I have a review to write, but I actually wrote a couple for Historical Tapestry last night, so it is not like I am slacking... I am just going to talk about other things and first thing tomorrow there will be a review on here to read!

First up, Michelle Moran, author of last years Nefertiti and this years The Heretic Queen, will be appearing on Historical Tapestry for a week in September! I am very excited, and I think you should head over to Historical Tapestry for all the details! It's going to be great!

Moving on. I did really good this year with the book buying, but I sort of slipped these last couple weeks. I just had an order come in, and, well, now I have another one coming...

It contains:
The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (This looks really good)
The Terror by Dan Simmons (I blame all of you!)
The Empress of the Last Days (A bargain book)
Rolling Stone the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (not for me, but I probably will read it)

Now, would you like to know the annoying thing? I didn't get them from Amazon.... I have a gift certificate for Amazon and I went elsewhere... I find I am doing that a lot lately! Why, you might ask? Because the last book was twice as much on Amazon and The Terror would take too long to ship. I am all about instant gratification. If an Amazon.ca associate stumbles upon my blog, please be advised, I had a GIFT CERTIFICATE and I had to go somewhere else! Now, I will use the gift certificate at a later date, but really, it is crazy I had to go elsewhere for my books.

I am currently reading The Ladies of Grace Adieu by Susanna Clarke for the R.I.P. III challenge. (I am not a short story reader, so not sure what I will think of it when I am done.) This will be my third book! I finished The Bleeding Dusk the other night and my review is done, but it has to wait its turn over at HT. Anyway, I just bought Clarke's book. It was in the bargain bin at the bookstore, so I got a hardcover copy for a really good price!

Election Time is Here Again...

Okay, this is going to be venty, so I am warning you in advance!

THEY ARE CALLING AN ELECTION! Can you say the WORST time for an election EVER! Well, there have probably been worst times, but I am dealing with the here and now! I don't WANT an election! I mean, the television has been taken over by the U.S. election... do we really need to add our own election into the mix? Are they CRAZY?!? Well, yeah, they are, but still... The funny thing is that we will have our prime minister and the U.S. will still be run by Bush.... So, once our politics are over, the U.S. will still be carrying on!

Our politics are weird anyway.... I mean, the prime minister is not the head of state... The Queen of England is. (And, that means Charles after her... ) We also do not vote for the leader directly. I really wish we did. I would be all excited about the elections if I really did feel my vote counted, but I watch the results show and I usually end up trying to decide why I voted in the first place.... We will not even begin to discuss our last election... I think I drove most of the people I know to the insane asylum until it was over and probably the rest of them went afterwards... So, yeah, I get really caught up in all the political drama. I am rather opinionated...

I bet people are wondering why I am rambling on about this? Well, because the election has not even been called (the governor general has to allow for parliament to break, etc) and the ANNOYING and UNHELPFUL political commercials have started ALREADY! I guess Harper figures the Governor General is smart and knows that the Conservatives have had their fun, it is time for the Liberals to come back in power... Which reminds me of the last election... So, yeah, I am sick of the election already and it hasn't even officially started yet. I really wish the political commercials were comedy routinues instead of a potential politician sitting calmy in casual, yet stylish, clothes and talking about some very well-scripted topics that he seems to think people actually care about, when really, if you live in Canada you usually already know who you are voting for before the candidates are even announced! (The Conservatives are in power for the first time since Mulroney and his... interesting... methods. Followed by our female prime minister that I will not even BEGIN to get into!)

Did I mention this was venty? I wasn't lying! I am very happy to live in Canada, but every year I get more and more fed up with how the country is run. So, when that happens, you get these fun posts! Not to say we haven't had wonderful prime ministers that do the best they can... I just don't want an election right now, and I was all for an early one after the other one. I just don't want one when I feel like I am in the middle of another one.

Okay, I'll post a review or something in a bit to make up for this fun post!

On another note, it looks like we are going to have some yucky weather! Gustav and Hannah are both headed my way.... While they are not as bad as they were, it is going to be windy and rainy, so if I vanish, I likely have no power...

Super Commenter Award

I got the Super Commenter Award from Teddy Rose at So Many Precious Books, So Little Time. I was quite surprised to get this from anyone, to be honest, because I blog so rarely and comment even less! So, I chose seven people that have commented on my blog several times lately. It goes to my email and I am a really big slacker at deleting things from my email... It probably wouldn't be an exaggeration to say I have every comment I have ever receieved still in my email... So, these names come up a lot lately. I was trying not to use the same people as Teddy, because I could've in a few cases!

Deslily at Here, There, and Everywhere
Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings
Sassymonkey at Sassymonkey Reads
Nymeth at Things Mean A Lot
tanabata at In Spring it is the Dawn
Stephanie at Stephanie's Written Word
Rhinoa at Rhinoa's Ramblings