Introducing: Chris Crutcher

So I finally read my first Chris Crutcher book. I figured that, as part of my job, I'm going to be spending lots of time with him soon...so, um, best that I read his books.

There wasn't a real reason as to why I had never read his books before. He's just one of those authors I never got around to reading, you know? I'm sure you all have those authors too.

So, at my boss's recommendation, I started with Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes.

This was a strange book for me, and I can't honestly say I've had this experience reading a book before. I loved it, I did. Like I said on GoodReads, for an issue-driven novel it's amazing that Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes moves like a heavily plot-driven story. It was compulsively readable. It called to me. Seriously. And I couldn't put it down.

But here's the thing: I was confused by the book as well. It is soooooo issue-driven. Bullying, disabilities, weight issues, abandonment, physical abuse, suicide, religion, abortion. Man, it is ALL there. I cracked a joke at one point, about two-thirds of the way through, that the only things we hadn't gotten to were drugs, drinking, and homosexuality. But then towards the end, Ellerby's father says something about supporting homosexual rights. And BAM! We got that one in too. For heaven's sake. My friend Jen at Reading Rants told me, in reponse to my guffawing, "Yep, that's Crutcher's M.O." Indeed.

All of this made me want to not like the book. I tried not liking it. And yet...and yet...

You can't not like it! It's some kind of mind game by Crutcher! The characters are so interesting, so likable, and so fun that you're drawn in anyway. You care about them, you want to know more about them, you love them. You're invested in them. And there are so many ideas and opinions being thrown around that you find yourself repeatedly cheering and agreeing and disagreeing and internally arguing with the characters' dialogue. The adult in you is rolling your eyes...but the teenager that we've all internalized is completely engaged. I can't imagine a better read for all those 15- and 16-year-olds out there who are defining themselves and exploring all their possibilities.

So in defiance of my cynical adult self, I am officially a fan of Chris Crutcher. Next up: Whale Talk.

Book mojo!

Don't you love those times - I know you've had them too - when every book you read just seems to be awesome? You seem to go through your books so much faster because none of them drags, none of them sucks? I'm going through one of those periods right now. And I'm wearily excited because, inevitably, I know it will end. Eventually, I'll pick up a stinker.

For now, though, I'm enjoying the ride.



Here are the Harper books I have loved (and I'm soooo sorry about the pub dates!):

• The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place by Maryrose Wood (2.10)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (3.10) - I was not prepared for how compelling this would be. I'm still thinking about it days after I finished it.
  

• Splendor (final book in The Luxe series) by Anna Godbersen (10.09)

Here are the non-Harper books I have equally loved:

• Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic) - Finally read it! And it was so worth the wait. Incredible, incredible stuff.
  
  
  
  
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• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (9.09, Scholastic) - Equally as incredible
  
  
  
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• Liar by Justine Larbalestier (9.09, Bloomsbury) - The jacket controversy seems to have overshadowed the fact that this is a well-crafted, fascinating suspense thriller. Read it.
  
  
  
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• The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly (Holt) - How can this NOT have something shiny on it come January?
  
  
• Dunderheads by Paul Fleischman, illustrated by David Roberts (Candlewick)

Great summer for reading! Now, all I need to do is get my hands on Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma (per Molly's recommendation) and Winter's End by Jean-Claude Mourlevat, translated by Anthea Bell (per Chris Shoemaker's recommendation) and my August will ROCK!

Still rough-going...

Again, I apologize for the spotty posting lately...Internet is still down at my apartment - we're going on more than a week now - so everything has been limited to my one-hour lunch break...and generally I like to eat during that time period. So hang in there, everyone!

For my purposes today, I'm going to "borrow" an idea from Sarah Miller's excellent blog and share with you what I have recently read:

- A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg (S&S, 2009)

- Mothstorm by Philip Reeve (Bloomsbury, 2008)

- When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Random House, 2009)

- Night Tourist and Twilight Prisoner by Katherine Marsh (Hyperion, 2007, 2009)

And here is what I am currently reading:

- Jellaby: Monster in the City by Kean Soo (Hyperion, 2009)

- Fire by Kristin Cashore (Dial, 2009)

- I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti by Giulia Melucci (Grand Central, 2009)

Hopefully I'll be back soon with some more regular posts. Join me in cursing Time Warner...and my utter dependence on electronics.

At night, they call to me!

Okay, stick with me on this...

I feel enormous pressure to read.  I never seem to read as fast as I would like, thus I never seem to read as many books as I feel like I should.  It really is troublesome because, frankly, feeling this way prevents me from leisurely enjoying what I'm reading.  Instead, it feels more like, "Hurry!  Hurry!  There are SO many other books to read!"  The Books I Have Yet to Read are 

crowding around me, demanding to be read, shouting, "Read me!  Pick me!"  I'm haunted by all the books I haven't read, thus all the vicarious adventures I haven't had and the information I 

haven't learned.

Case in point: for a month now I have been reading The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography, from the Revolution to the First World War by Graham Robb.  It's a 450-page tome but, one month in, and I've only read about 150 pages.  But I feel as if I'm learning when I read it.  I feel smarter by reading it.  Not to mention that it's absolutely fascinating...I never thought about the

 origins of French national identity - it has always seemed this ubiquitous thing - and it never occurred to me that, even as recent as the late 19th century, France was a divided, disjointed

nation.  The idea of "national identity" came out of Paris, of course, and the villages in France weren't buying what they were selling.   

But it's slow-going.  And other books are calling to me...screaming at me, really.  I just finished E. Lockhart's Dramarama so I was able to read that and

 Discovery of France at the same time.  But still...they keep calling to me...I hear their voices...

Teashop Girls by Laura Schaefer: "I have delectable treats and lovely passages about loose tea.  Not to mention that Betsy called me 'THE foodie book of 2008'.

  Read me!"

The Art of Eating by MFK Fisher: "Mouth-watering food descriptions and achingly eloquent prose await you.  Get lost in my pages!"

The Underneath by Kathi Appelt: "I might be a big award winner.  And you're the

 ONLY LIBRARIAN who hasn't read me!  Don't be left out!"

Lucky Breaks by Susan Patron: "You know you're curious.  Come on, read me.

  You're a librarian - you know you should read me."

Food Politics by Marion Nestle: "Patricia just told you she's going 

to ALA Midwinter, and you know she'll ask you if you've read me yet.  And you haven't...7 months after she recommended me to you.  And she read Omnivore's Dilemma after you recommended it.  You have an obligation to read me!"

Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse: "You haven't read me yet?!  Really?!  Come ON!"

Yes, my books heckle me.  It's exhausting.

So do I give up Discovery of France to appease the other books?

REVIEW: French Milk by Lucy Knisley

Huzzah, I found French Milk, thanks to a colleague that loaned me her copy (thanks, Jenn)! If you’ll remember, I was on a mission to find this thing.

A young 22-year-old woman, Lucy, and her mother decide to take a month-long trip to Paris together. They rent a darling apartment in the fifth arrondissement and explore the city from there. They see monuments and museums, but there are also instances where they’re hanging out in the Laundromat and using public toilets. Friends and family come to visit them and, naturally, they eat their way through the city. There is also a darling episode where mother and daughter get haircuts together “so we could go home looking frenchy and coiffed.” Then they do go home with a better understanding of each other and themselves…at least, that’s the impression you get.

I thoroughly enjoyed this, and Lucy Knisley really grasps the sense of place. Truly, reading this does make you wish you were in Paris, shopping at flea markets and eating croissants. Her descriptions and drawings of food were particularly appealing to me, of course. And their cuisine is so varied: Moroccan, French country, farmers’ market fare, cookies, café cuisine, and chocolate. Lucy eats foie gras like it grows on trees, and she develops a particular fondness for the rich, unpasteurized milk in France (thus, the title of the book). I also enjoyed Lucy’s imaginative touches: during a Laundromat mishap, she compares herself and her mother to Lucy and Ethel; she confesses that she sings the soundtrack to Funny Face under her breath most of the trip. In addition to being an autobiographical graphic novel (graphic journal?), Knisley also incorporates her own photos into the book, which provides a very personal and welcome touch: a picture of Lucy kissing Oscar Wilde’s grave, a picture of her mom leaning over the railing of the Tour Eiffel to get a better picture, and pictures of food.

That’s not to say that the book doesn’t have its problems, and I’m wondering if any of these will be addressed once Simon and Schuster reissues the book this year. First, one doesn’t really get a sense of Lucy’s relationship with her mother. The back of the book makes some mention of their “shifting relationship” as Lucy faces post-college life and her mother approaches 50…but I really got no sense of conflict or tension at all. Lucy makes references to conflicts with her boyfriend, but the reader never finds out what’s going on there. It didn’t bother me so much, but there really wasn’t a traditional story arc (or, one could argue, a story at all). They go to France, experience the city, and go home. Voila. I might have liked it better if there was a sense of personal journey, a stronger focus on Lucy’s self-discovery. And I definitely wanted to know more about Lucy’s mom. In true fashion for a 22-year-old, this book is all about Lucy: her appetite, her boyfriend, her insecurities, her menstrual cramps, her future. But her mom truly is part of this story so she should have been fleshed out, especially since Lucy’s friend David visits them and I got a much better sense of David as a person than the mom. Again, it’s typical of a 22-year-old protagonist to put her friends center-stage rather than her mother.

Overall, French Milk is a choice read for any teenage Francophile...or, in my case, any armchair-traveling, young-adult-book-loving, grown-up Francophile.

Other information:

Article about the book at PW

Lucy's website, Stop Paying Attention

Review of French Milk at Oops...Wrong Cookie

Review of French Milk at Try Harder

Lucy's awesome livejournal

Sneak Peek: Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Oooooh, everyone, I am in the middle of a way cool YA book: Graceling by Kristin Cashore. Don’t bother looking for it; its pub date isn’t until October 2008. When I went to dinner with Harcourt at ALA Midwinter, Ellen Greene (marketing gal extraordinaire) had arranged for all of us to get this ARC and she also did this fabulous Cosmo-style quiz where we find out which of the characters in Graceling we most align with and which Grace we have. I got the relationships grace, shared by Princess Bitterblue. So I’m about one-third of the way through the book and Princess Bitterblue hasn’t appeared yet – I can’t wait to read about her! But Walter Mayes was sitting at my table and he got the fighting grace, aligning himself with Prince Po. Now I’m reading all about Prince Po…who is rather strong and dashing…but I keep seeing Walter’s face with that big ol’ beard. Weird. Nevertheless, this is proving to be an excellent read…and I don’t normally go for fantasy. Keep an eye out for this one in the future!

And I’m consciously not giving you any more information about the book because I don’t want to be one of those bloggers that gives everything away and causes the publisher to stop giving out ARCs. Without this ARC, I’d be reading the book 7 months from now and, thank you, I’d rather be reading it now. So mum’s the word.

What I'm Reading

Oh, gracious. It’s Super Tuesday and I’m watching all the minute-to-minute updates on CNN.com. I will say this: the Bush administration sure has got people concerned about voting for a change. Don’t you remember 10 years ago when everyone was freaking out because only 30-something percent of the population was voting? Well, that’s changed, hasn’t it? People actually feel like their votes matter and they really can (and should) alter our country's direction. That's my impression, anyway.

Lest I digress waaaaay too much, I’d love to chat about what I’m reading. I’m in one of my schizo moods where I’m reading a little bit of everything, nothing is exciting me too much (or I’m getting excited about everything), and I can’t make up my mind.

Sammy Keyes and the Psycho Kitty Queen by Wendelin Van Draanen: I have to admit that this is my first Sammy Keyes book…and I’ll admit that I’m wondering what took me so long! I’m totally loving this. This is the perfect antidote to all those girly-girl books out there – which have their place too, of course – because Sammy just kicks butt. From wrestling at Slammin’ Dave’s to beating up the Queen Bee (deservedly), I’m having a blast reading it. Especially since I predict my 6-year-old daughter is a Sammy in the making. I’m two-thirds through and I’ll probably pick up another one when I’m done.

Jellaby by Kean Soo: I just got a review copy sent to me and I immediately picked it up because I had heard so many great things about it. I’m 35 pages in and I’m just charmed beyond belief.

A History of Western Art: From Prehistory to the 20th Century by Antony Mason. I received this from SLJ about a month ago to review it. And it’s taking me that long to get through it. It’s fascinating and I’m really enjoying it (I’m a frustrated art history lover), but it’s very dense and very browser-friendly so I keep sitting down, reading about 4 pages, and then moving on (it's taking me about 30 minutes to get through only 4 pages because there is just sooo much to look at!). The photographs and reproductions are wonderful quality.

Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson: It’s my newest cookbook and I’m loving it so far. When she says “express”, she means it. The meals I’ve made so far (mustard pork chops, Mexican scrambled eggs, quesadillas, et al) have been delicious and way easy. Not to mention that I love all the gorgeous photos. I will say, though, that I made the gnocchi with the mustard pork chops and I really screwed it up. I’ve never made gnocchi before – how do you keep them from turning into a globby mess???

I hope you voted, if you could, today and huzzah to the Giants for ensuring that the Patriots didn't get their perfect season (and proving - again! - that Tom Brady is useless without Adam Vinatieri)...And I digress again...

Batter up!: What I'm Reading

Here’s the list of books I have lined up to read in the next…um…oh, I have no idea how long it’ll take for me to get to all these:

CURRENTLY READING: The Quantum July (Ron King) – I’m reading it for School Library Journal…otherwise, I don’t think this is a book I would have been motivated to read.

1. Omnivore’s Dilemma (Michael Pollan) – I was halfway through, but I had to stop so that I could read Harry Potter and The Quantum July.
2. Elijah of Buxton (Christopher Paul Curtis) – it’s getting Newbery buzz so I’ll jump on the bandwagon and read it.
3. The Mysterious Benedict Society (Trenton Lee Stewart) – this one has been on my list for ages and I’m beginning to fear that I’ll never read it.
4. Michael Tolliver Lives (Armistead Maupin) – I love the Tales of the City gang and looking forward to reading this new one.
5. Slam (Nick Hornby) – I started this one at ALA and loved what I read. Can’t wait to finish it.

And then I pre-ordered Stephenie Meyer’s new one, Eclipse, which is coming out August 7th so obviously I’ll drop whatever I’m in the middle of and read that one immediately. Meyer has compared the storyline of Eclipse to Wuthering Heights…Needless to say, the 7th can’t come soon enough.