Natanya's Ramblings on Wilderness Tips

Title/Author: Wilderness Tips by Margaret Atwood

Publisher/Year: Virago Press, 1992

Where I got it: Powell’s

Why I read it: It’s by Margaret Atwood!

From Goodreads:

Here are brilliantly rendered stories that explore themes of loss and discovery, of the gap between youthful dreams and mature reality, of how we connect with others and with the sometimes hidden part of ourselves.

In each of these tales Margaret Atwood deftly illuminates the single instant that shapes a whole life: in a few brief pages we watch as characters progress through the passions of youth into the precarious complexities of middle age. By superimposing the past on the present Atwood paints interior landscapes shaped by time, regret and life's lost chances, endowing even the banal with a sense of mystery. Richly layered and disturbing, poignant at times and scathingly witty at others, the stories in Wilderness Tips take us into the strange and secret places of the heart and inform the familiar world in which we live with truths that cut to the bone.

If you saw my post from last month, you know that I absolutely adore Margaret Atwood. But unfortunately, many of her novels are very long, and therefore do not lend themselves well to reading in the midst of all of my schoolwork. So, when I saw Wilderness Tips, a book of bizarre short stories, I knew I had to get it.

These stories are Atwood through-and-through. Each story, even if it starts out seeming “normal,” has a bizarre twist or quirk that pulls you in. The stories all (for the most part) do have similar themes, which made them somewhat predictable after a while, but their progressions were still unique. Many of the stories deal with extramarital relationships or forbidden relationships, and, I have to admit, I did get a little tired of reading about people pining after others with whom they could never have a “real” relationship. I think I would recommend not reading the full book at once, but reading a couple stories at a time, then putting the book down for a while (and it is thus pretty good for really busy people). Also, the stories are all a bit depressing, which does not bother me, but if you are looking for something upbeat, you probably want to look elsewhere.

Many of these stories have to do with the body and people dealing with bodily issues or the way in which others perceive them, which I found kind of coincidental and interesting because for the last two semesters, I have taken literature courses focused on the body—this book could easily have been a reading for my class. I consequently probably spent a bit too much time focused on these bodily aspects, but I think that made the stories all the more interesting.

Unfortunately, I read this about a month ago and can’t remember which stories I enjoyed in particular—some were better than others, but I feel like different stories appeal to different people. While I cannot say that any of these stories “blew me away,” the majority of them were interesting and quirky, providing twists on the common theme of forbidden love.

4 stars

R holds forth on If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino

If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino

Harvest Books, 1982

How I got this book: The library

Why I read this book: I'd previously read The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy and adored it, so I thought I'd have a go at another well-known, well-regarded postmodern novel.

If on a winter's night a traveler follows the path of an unnamed reader - referred to throughout the narrative as "you"; that is, from a second person perspective - as he attempts to track down an unspoiled, complete copy of, um, If on a winter's night a traveler. What follows is a mind-boggling work of metafiction that meanders through the genres as the reader in question bumbles haplessly along on his way, blossoming as it does into a love story by way of a thriller of multi-layered complexity.

Interestingly, interspersed throughout the novel are various extracts from the random books that the unnamed readers stumbles upon on his search, our time with each separate extract limited by the protagonist's loss of the rest of the book, or indeed the book itself in its entirety. (This makes sense in the overall context of the novel, I swear.)

Frustratingly, these elements seemed to conspire against my complete enjoyment of the novel as a whole. While I certainly find the experimental nature of its structure fascinating and intellectually intriguing, I have to admit that I felt fairly alienated by the use of the second person narrative. Although I grant that my discomfort over this specific point may be down to my unfamiliarity with the second person perspective in fiction, it somehow felt odd to be told how I ought to be feeling at each point in the story - as though telling me how I ought to be feeling would instantly make it so. This alone made it especially difficult for me to identify with either the unnamed character that Calvino superimposed onto me, or any character at all within the main narrative arc of the novel.

Additionally, I was even less able to invest emotionally in any of the characters from the many disjointed extracts from imaginary books, as I soon got the picture that they would not appear in the overall novel again after the two dozen or so pages of their respective chapters had ended in their cruelly nail-biting cliffhangers.

Ultimately, If on a winter's night a traveler is like a delicately crafted work of conceptual art - I can't deny how brilliant the idea behind it is, and even now I am still filled with a sense of how very clever it all is. However, no matter how blown away by the concept I was, it cannot be denied that I found it impossible to be truly engrossed in the book itself, that I was unable to lose myself in its proceedings as I would have been able to in a more conventionally-styled novel or, as it were, in the finer details of a straight-forward canvas painting.

With that in mind, I give this book 3.5 stars, with points regretfully docked for its diminished entertainment value, and for reminding me of a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book without granting me the benefit of actually being able to choose my own adventure.

Lori On Christmas Reading

Goodness!  It's December already!  Normally, I would have a book review for you all, but I've been plugging away at grad school stuff and I haven't been able to read much lately.  And, for some reason, I just don't think you all want to hear about the Jefferson Davis biography I have to review for class tomorrow or the book on Depression-era baseball that I skimmed for my methods paper.

But while I've been working and skimming books, I've been thinking about reading.  A lot.  Mostly, I've been thinking about my Christmas break reading plan and all of the books I want to read over the four glorious weeks when I won't have any homework, when all of my friends will be gone, when I'll be stuck at home with my parents.  Whatever.

The problem is that there are so many books I want to read that I'm going to wind up bringing home 84,000 books.  Inevitably, the one book I didn't bring home will be the one book that my little soul is just burning to read.  I'm trying to figure out what to put all of these books in when I cart them home.  Looking around my apartment, I don't see anything that could hold 84,000 books.  I might actually have to buy something to carry my books home in.

You would think that owning a Nook would help cut down on the books I bring home.  Not so much.  Naturally, most of the books I want to, need to, read over this break aren't on my Nook.  Why would I make it easy on myself or my back?

I've still got a plan because I'm an only child and we only children like to have plans.  I haven't quite gotten to the point of making a list, but I'm getting there.

The first books I will read over break are the ones that I started this year, read most of, but for whatever reason didn't finish.  There are seven in this category: Wuthering Heights, Out of Africa, The Thorn Birds, Hawaii, Gonzo (that Hunter S. Thompson book I reviewed), The Reader and Nine Stories.  I want to start 2011 with a clean slate and no lingering books from years past.

The next category are books that have been calling me lately.  The problem with this is the books in this category change fairly frequently.  And, as I pointed out earlier, the one book I don't bring home will be the one that calls me after I've left.  Currently, some of the books in this category are: Revolutionary Road,  The Golden Notebook, Naked Lunch, Phantom of the Opera, Swann's Way, and Point Counter Point.  Plus, I feel like I should bring my collection of Robert Frost poetry in case it snows and my collection of Sylvia Plath poetry also in case it snows.

Life would be pretty great if I could just stick to these works of fiction that call me.  You see, in grad school, we don't get much time for reading fiction.  So, even though I would love to stock up on fiction to read for the break, there are those non-fiction books calling.  Some of these are:  John Adams (I've been meaning to read this book for ages; plus, I feel I need to read it to see if there's any mention of him being an Avatar [one of my professors is really strange and I have to blame credit him for this quest]), Acid Dreams, Fragments (which just came out and looks totally amazing because I love Marilyn Monroe so, so much), Chronicles Volume One, Secrets of the Flesh, and a couple of the flapper books I bought recently because who doesn't love the flappers?

There you have it.  Some (I emphasize: SOME) of the books that I will probably be bringing home.  A grand total of two of them are on my Nook.  Just so you know, I didn't really get up and look through my shelves to make this list, which means there will be others that get packed up in a couple of weeks.  Not to mention all of the books I have at home.

So, what are your plans for reading over the break? How do you decide what books to bring home if you are still a college student?

Jen Takes On "The DUFF"

Check out our Student of the Month post featuring Kody & get the dirt on what it's like to be a full time college student AND published author!

Title:  The DUFF

Author:  Kody Keplinger

Published: Little, Brown & Company/September 2010

How I Got It: Public library

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

“It was hurtful, and it was one of those titles that just fed off of an inner fear every girl must have from time to time.  Slut, bitch, prude, tease, ditz.  They were all the same.  Every girl felt like one of these sexist labels described her at some point.  So, maybe, every girl felt like the Duff, too?” (page 256).

Duff = designated ugly fat friend.  Who hasn’t felt like a Duff at some point in their life?  I know I certainly have!  It still happens to me sometimes.  You’re out with some friends or sitting in class and you just feel like every other girl is prettier than you, more confident than you, and you’re thinking you should have used more concealer to cover up the giant pimple that magically appeared overnight.  Now I’m usually pretty secure with myself, but at some point we’ve all felt like the ugly duckling.

Seventeen-year old Bianca is out one night with two friends and she's approached by Wesley, the school womanizer.  He starts up a conversation with her because he considers her to be the Duff out of the three friends.  According to Wesley’s logic this guarantees him some major brownie points with Bianca’s friends (and he is hoping to hook up with at least one of them).   She gets so mad that she throws her drink in his face and storms out.

From this point on the word “duff” haunts Bianca.  Its pretty much all she can think about, the word just consumes her.  Bianca has been having issues at home.  Her mom is always traveling for work and is gone for months at a time, while her dad is like a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode.  To escape from all of this Bianca enters into an “enemies with benefits” relationship with Wesley.  She uses him as a way to forget her problems.

Even though Bianca irritated me at times I loved her.  I did want to yell at her when she first kissed Wesley though (why Bianca?  You hate him and he calls you names!).  But Wesley described her best when he said she is an  “intelligent, sassy, sarcastic, cynical, neurotic, loyal, compassionate girl" (page 175).  That sums up her perfectly, I don't even have to expand on it. 

There is lots swearing in this book (Bianca drops f-bombs quite often) and sex is mentioned a lot.  If either make you a little uncomfortable I'd steer clear of this book.  Otherwise this is a great debut novel and is definitely worth a read.

I’ll leave you with one last quote (it’s a funny one):  

“Wesley Rush may have had the body of a Greek god, but his soul was as black and empty as the inside of my closet” (page 6).

Kelly's Review of "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

Title: Ophelia
Author: Lisa Klein
Published: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books, 2006
Where I Got It: My favorite used bookstore

I may be going out on a limb here, but I think it's safe to say that 99% of you have read Hamlet by William Shakespeare. If you haven't....you probably didn't attend high school. :P Anyways, you all know Ophelia, Hamlet's lady friend whose peak in the story is drowning herself. In Ophelia, we are told the same story that we all know by heart, only from a different angle.

The story starts with Ophelia as a young girl. She lost her mother early on and lived with her domineering father, Polonius, and brother, Laertes. When she is about ten years old, her father gets her a spot in the palace working for Queen Gertrude. Several years later, she catches the eye of Prince Hamlet. They fall in love, but they must keep it a secret as he is a prince and she is essentially a nobody.

Part 2 is all of the events that essentially happen in the play. As I said before, it's the same story, just told from a different point of view. Ophelia watches the madness of King Cladius, the piety of Queen Gertrude, and Hamlet's ravel to madness from the sidelines. Then things began to get weird. Remember Ophelia's scene where she has the likeness of a crazy woman as she gives flowers to everyone? I think the author didn't want Ophelia to be insane....in this story, she was simply putting on an act to fool everybody around her. Up to this point in the book, I'd been enjoying the story immensely. It was the change of Ophelia from a tragic character to strong heroine that irritated me.

If this wasn't enough, Ophelia doesn't die. She takes poison to feign a death and only lets Horatio in on the secret. I realize that this would have been a much shorter story if she really had died, but c'mon...I would have enjoyed the overall book much more if it had followed the story more closely and ended with a crazy person drowning herself. I think this irritation carried over into Part 3, Ophelia's new life in a new country. Everyone that she previously knew (her family, Hamlet, etc) are barely given a passing thought. There was a totally different feel to the story that just didn't fit.

If you don't mind that the story becomes majorly skewed from the original play, I think you'd like this story a lot. It was well written and Ophelia is a pretty likable character. It was a nice, quick read - as well as a flashback to high school. 3.5 stars.

Tahleen reviews: "Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott" by Russell Freedman

In honor of the anniversary of Rosa Parks' refusal to move on the bus on December 1, 1955, thus setting off the chain of events that became the Civil Rights Movement, I thought it would be nice to pay a little homage to her and those who fought (and still fight) so bravely for the rights of African Americans in our country. Here is a fantastic title for middle-grade readers.

Title: Freedom Walkers: The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Author: Russell Freedman

Publisher: Holiday House, 2006

Where and why: I got this book out of my local library. It was assigned reading for my children's literature class.

Rating: ★★★★ ½

This is the story of the brave freedom fighters in Montgomery, Alabama that spearheaded the Civil Rights Movement in 1960s America. It starts even before Rosa Parks played her pivotal role by refusing to give up her seat to a white man. After a brief introduction giving readers context of what it meant to be black during the 1950s, Freedman then begins with a lesser-known figure in history, Jo Ann Robinson, a professor at the all-black university Alabama State who, after being kicked off a bus for sitting too far toward the front, dedicated much of her time and life to changing the bus laws in the South.

Throughout the book, Freedman continues to put the spotlight on forgotten and overlooked players that led to such a monumental shift in American history, along with well-recognized and essential names like Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks. Freedman leaves nothing out in this history--everything is detailed, and he does not shy away from including the horrific murders that occurred before and after the boycott.

Written for middle-grade students, Freedman writes in such a way that is understandable for younger readers, yet is not degrading. He never talks down to his audience and assumes they know enough to understand what he's writing about. Here's a sample:

Rosa Parks had not expected to resist on that December evening. And she did not want to put her family at risk. But she was no longer willing to accept the indignities of bus segregation, a system that dehumanized all black people. 'I decided that I would have to know once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen, even in Montgomery, Alabama' [she said].

Short paragraphs, often broken up by black-and-white photographs that help tell the story, make it easier for younger readers to stay focused, yet it's not so simple that it would bore them. Quotes and the aforementioned photographs are woven into the text, both of which enhance the telling and give a sense of realness to it that would have been lost otherwise; as a result, the reader is transported back in time.

All in all, this is an inspiring chapter in American history that Freedman tells eloquently, simply, and brilliantly.

Top Ten Tuesday - Regarding Jana and her Favorite Cozy Reading Spots

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers’ answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND post a comment on our post with a link to your Top Ten Tuesday post to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. If you can't come up with ten, don't worry about it---post as many as you can!

Next week, join Jamie as she discusses the books she's anticipating for 2011! You know you're excited for a few yourself. As we ring in the new year, we also welcome many wonderful new reads for bookish people everywhere!

I am so excited to be writing this week's Top Ten Tuesday! Obviously, I love reading. However, I seem to love it even more during the long winter months. Perhaps it's because there's not as much to do outside, so activities are moved indoors. Or... perhaps I just love getting comfy and cozy with a really good book--which is easier to do in the winter. In any case, these are some cozy places to read, just in case you were looking for one! 

In your nice, comfy bed –

I think this goes without saying, but I absolutely love climbing in to my warm bed after a long, busy day and reading a good book until I fall asleep. And who doesn’t love staying in bed on a snow day for some much-needed R & R after finals are over?

By the crackling fire –

One of my favorite things about winter is lighting a fire in the fireplace! Going back to basics and reading by firelight is so cozy to me!

Nestled on the couch in your favorite blanket –

I don’t know about you, but my couch and cozy down throw are great friends of mine on cold winter days!

Wrapped in the arms of someone you 

love –

I don’t think anyone out there can argue with me on this one!

Cuddled up with your beloved 

furry friend –

My warm fuzzy cat has read many books with me! My house is pretty cold in the winter, so she’ll often climb on my lap to snuggle. So cozy!

While sipping hot chocolate in a quaint cafe – 

Need I say more? I love reading in cute cafes with a cup of hot chocolate and a pastry, while listening to jazzy music.  

Seated in a bay window, while the snow falls –

I’ve lived in nine different houses in my life, and have never been privileged enough to have a bay window I’ve always wanted one. I’ve seen so many movies with characters that sit on their window seats with blankets and pillows and gaze outside or read. Maybe someday I’ll have one too!

In a bubble bath –

I’m not a bath time reader, but I know many who are. Bubbles, candles, and warm water seem to really excite some of my bookish friends! Perhaps someday I’ll decide I enjoy it too, but for now I’m scared of getting TOO cozy and ruining a great book in the process!

In a fabulous little bookstore –

Remember that cute bookstore in You’ve Got Mail? That’s the kind of place I’m picturing. I love reading in bookstores! The one I usually go to is very quiet and has lots of comfy chairs and empty corners. I can sneak behind a bookshelf and get lost. It’s so convenient, because I can decide if I like a book enough to buy it, plus if I ever need a break from reading, I can browse the store! 

On a train, heading home for the holidays –

Perhaps I’m grasping at straws here, but I think this sounds cozy! Sitting next to a window… watching the world pass by… and reading a book to pass the time, all while anticipating seeing your family in a few hours! Sounds good to me! 

So now that I've told you some of the places I love to read, what are your coziest reading spots? Where do you enjoy retreating to with a good book? Enjoy the next few long, wintry months and ask for lots of books for Christmas so you can enjoy them even more! 

Happy holidays and, as always, happy reading!