Book Club!

June 27, 2006. I've read a few interesting non-fiction books.

Strapped was a bit slow at times, but then I read it when Eli was two weeks old, so I think anything above Pajama Time might have seemed weighty. I also found Strapped to be fairly depressing, as it told me all the reasons that I've never been able to save money. It's nice to have all the facts about this, although it did make me feel that the government is against me, and that Baby Boomers have it easy, and that they're all rats for thinking my generation is lazy. I recommend this book for any Gen X-er (or -- what's the generation after us called? Millenials? They should read it too). The section on political apathy was particular jarring, and made me take a keener interest than usual in my recent city council election.

I absolutely loved Not Buying It. This book is readable and inspirational. Right after reading it, I was in a bakery where I am normally tempted to buy all kinds of things, and I thought, "Oooh, I should get Dave one of those mini carrot cakes, and oh! I haven't tried this wine!" but then I thought about the book and decided to just not buy anything, and I was so much happier for it.

Sleepless in America has definitely helped to change some things here. As many of you may know, we have had consistent issues with Henry not sleeping a wink, and this book convinced me that he is chronically sleep deprived (and behavior that I was writing off as Being 2 might actually be sleep deprivation). It's too soon after this book to state anything grand, but I've been putting everyone to bed much earlier, and it seems to have helped, and Henry has been dabbling with surprise naps, which actually throw off our schedule a bit, but this book is telling me that I should try to get him to nap again. Anyway, if whining and crankiness occur at all in your household (and yes, adults count too!) then read this book.

July 21, 2005. Well, our book club died. People email me and ask about it, and whether they can be in it, but it honestly died a while ago due to how long it took me to read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which was wonderful, but took me seven months to read, after which book club enthusiasm had sort of petered out. So, I am hereby reinstating this page in a new form, where I'll just report on recent good books that I've read. Beginning immediately.

I can't tell you how much I loved this book, How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. I read it for a class in young adult literature for library school. It just won the Michael Printz award for this year, which is an award given to outstanding young adult literature. I would recommend this book to anyone though, since the fun little secret of young adult books is that they're often better than "grown-up" books -- the writing is better, there's no extraneous fluff, and (I feel) the characters are often more true.

This is the story of a girl, Daisy, from Manhattan who is sent away to live with her cousins in England, who she has never met (she's sent by her father's awful wife, who is just trying to get rid of her). Daisy instantly clicks with all her cousins, and is charmed by them and the life they lead in the idyllic English countryside. And then (interestingly, viewing recent events), the Underground in London is bombed, and a war is started. For a while, it doesn't affect Daisy and her cousins, because they're out in the country, and they're kids, so to them it's sort of a fun romp without adults (because her aunt happened to be out of the country at the time). But soon enough the war creeps out to their area, and they are sent away from the house and separated, and we watch Daisy and her cousin Piper try to survive together in the countryside while trying to locate the rest of the family.

I was a complete goner for this book from the beginning, because I love any book where the voice of the main character (or any character, I guess) is so realistic, endearing, and unwavering. I just love the way this book is written. There are some issues that have bothered some people (somewhat unexplained anorexia, and the fact that Daisy falls in love with one of her cousins) but these didn't bug me at all.

Another one from my young adult class, Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. This one is maybe a bit more "young adult" than How I Live Now but that certainly doesn't stop it from being a wonderful book. It's written from the point of view of Melinda (another character with that strong, endearing voice I love so much), who has just started high school, and all her friends have rejected her because of something that has happened over the summer (which you figure out pretty quickly). I can't remember ever reading anything that so expertly captured the way high school is always simultaneously hideously tragic and outrageously funny. I bought my own copy and find myself picking it up and rereading bits and pieces just because it was so much fun to read.

One more from young adult class, and yet another with a main character whose voice is consistent and strong (and hilarious) throughout. This book, Stick Figure, A Diary of My Former Self, by Lori Gottlieb was actually in the adult section of the library where I checked it out, and I guess it could be considered an adult book. It's taken entirely from Gottlieb's journals that she kept as an 11-year-old, when she became anorexic. I never thought a book about anorexia could make me laugh out loud, but here you go. I'm not sure I can fully describe how much fun it is to read about the adolescent Gottlieb, who seems to be smarter than all the adults around her (by a long haul), as she manipulates them all, but also ultimately fools herself into thinking you can never be too thin. I had a huge smile on my face the entire time I read this, though it's also interesting just from the standpoint of seeing how someone does end up with an eating disorder.

I've always wanted to be in a book club, and when I moved to a new town last year, I kept trying to join one. They all seemed really exclusive for some reason, and no one was amenable to bringing in a new stranger. So I decided to start my own, as soon as I met two people who were willing to join. I made up some rules:

1. The book group would be co-ed. I didn't see the point in excluding men. Also, I thought it would be fun if Dave could come to book group too.
2. We'd only read books that had come out in paperback, since hardcovers are so expensive.
3. Everyone would start reading the book, and after about a month, we'd check in and see where we all were. That way, we could try to ensure that everyone actually finished the book. Also, it would give us the chance to read longer books that we wouldn't necessarily be able to finish in a month.
4. We'd serve dinner too, since, in addition to loving books, I also really love food.

October 2001

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Book Groupers: Julie, Dave, Debbie, Meredith
Dinner: Vegetable Lasagna
Consensus: The book was good, but a bit hard to get through. There were definitely points where it moved along speedily, but mostly it seemed like slogging. We all agreed that the book would have benefited from some serious editing. It seemed that perhaps, because Michael Chabon was a Pulitzer-prize winning author, he may have been allowed to just roam free. Overall, we all liked it, but wouldn't necessarily recommend it.

Next up:

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami