Teaser Tuesdays: Crazy In the Big Easy

I lived in Louisiana for many years before moving up here to the north country, and while I was there I discovered the writings of Ellen Gilchrist. Right now I'm reading her second collection of short stories, Victory Over Japan. My teasers are from a story called "Crazy, Crazy, Now Showing Everywhere." I know I'm cheating – this is more than two lines; but it had such a great New Orleans feel, I just had to include the whole little passage.

". . . That girl adores being crazy. She's a crazy specialist. She threw the plate at me because I wouldn't act like it was interesting that she's crazy. Crazy doesn't fool me, Lady Margaret. Not after living in this family. Do you want another beignet or not?" [p. 87]

Well, I guess everybody thinks their family is a little crazy, don't they? Even if they don't live in the Deep South. Not that mine is, of course. Gosh, I wish I had me some beignets right now.


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB17 at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or participate yourself, head on over to her blog. And these are the rules: Grab your current read; Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you're getting your "teaser" from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given! Please avoid spoilers!

Weekly Geeks 2009-23: Challenges

Well, summer's finally here. Don't know how half a year got away from me, but here we are – getting ready for the last few days of June. So I thought it might be a good time to take a look at my reading challenge situation and see just how things stand, at just about the midpoint of 2009. And since this week's Weekly Geeks topic is just that, I also thought I'd join in this week. I believe it's been several months since I participated in a Weekly Geeks event – must try to do better in the future.

This week's topic was suggested by Sheri of A Novel Menagerie. She writes:

"Reading Challenges: a help or a hurt? Do you find that the reading challenges keep you organized and goal-oriented? Or, do you find that as you near the end of a challenge that you've failed because you fell short of your original goals? As a result of some reading challenges, I've picked up books that I would have otherwise never heard of or picked up; that, frankly, I have loved. Have you experienced the same with challenges? If so, which ones? Do you have favorite reading challenges?"

I joined a lot of challenges this year. A lot of challenges. Probably more than I should have, but I don't regret it. They've kept me reading; and I've read a lot of books I probably wouldn't have thought of reading without the challenge to spur me on. I always try to look for challenges that don't call for a set number of books or put a huge limit on the kinds of things I can read (like MizB's Read Your Own Books Challenge, one of my favorites). And even if I don't manage to read all the books required, I don't usually feel terribly guilty when the challenge ends. I'm a slow reader, so I know going in that it's likely I won't be successful with each and every challenge. But I like the self-discipline they impose – and I enjoy the list-making and record-keeping almost as much as the reading itself. Well, I am a geek, after all.

So far, I've completed the following challenges in 2009:

• Winter Reading Challenge (12 books)
• Book Awards II Challenge (10 books)
• Spring Reading Thing (14 books)
• Once Upon a Time III Challenge (1 book)
• Victorian Challenge (4 books)
• What An Animal! Challenge (6 books)
• Southern Reading Challenge (3 books)
• Chunkster Reading Challenge (2 books)
• Books Into Movies Challenge (7 books)
• 20 in 2009 Challenge (20+ books)

Haven't written the wrap-ups for all those challenges yet. And I still have an embarrassing number of reviews I need to get posted (running behind, as usual).

So it looks like I've read quite a few books. Well, looks can be deceiving – many of those books were shared among several challenges. Still, I have read twenty-six books so far this year, which is a goodly number, for me. That means if I keep up the pace, I'll easily reach my goal of fifty books for the year – might even do a little better than that. I'm not making any promises, of course. My reading challenges have given me a nice big nudge, but it's best not to expect miracles!

Summer Reading Challenge 2009

Well, the Spring Reading Thing and the Once Upon a Time III Challenge have come to an end – today was their final day. I still have to write my wrap-up posts, and catch up on my reviews. But that's two more challenges completed. And in addition, I've finished up several other challenges recently – just haven't managed to get the wrap-ups written. But I'm working on it (really, I am).

Anyhoo . . . . When a couple of challenges end, can another new one be far behind? Certainly not around here, anyway. So I'm signing on for the Summer Reading Challenge hosted by A Southern Daydreamer Reads. It runs from June 21 to September 21, 2009, and these are the rules:

• Make a list of books you want to read this summer.
• Write a post with your list on your blog. (You can add to or change this list at any time during the challenge.)
• Please post the direct link to your Summer Reading Challenge 2009 post (so that other participants can visit and see what you are reading).
• You can write another post in September to let everyone know how you did.

So, here's my list. It's tentative and subject to change, of course; I always want to allow for change of mood, or the new discovery I might find along the way. And the list is probably longer than it really should be; there's no way I'll be able to read all these books in one summer – especially since several are real chunksters. There's a little suspense, a little humor, a little romance, a couple of ARCs. Some are books I'm already planning to read for other challenges (hope that's OK).

A Stitch in Time. Monica Ferris
Angels of Destruction. Keith Donohue
Ignorance: A Novel. Milan Kundera
July and August. Nancy Clark
Mistress of Mellyn. Victoria Holt
Murder, She Meowed. Rita Mae Brown
People of the Book. Geraldine Brooks
Rabbit Is Rich. John Updike
Sacred Hearts. Anita Dunant
Stone's Fall. Iain Pears
The Angel's Game. Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Black Dahlia. James Ellroy
The Dance of Death. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The Inn at Lake Devine. Elinor Lipman
The Mothman Prophecies. John A. Keel
The Spectator Bird. Wallace Stegner
The Stormy Petrel. Mary Stewart
Victory Over Japan. Ellen Gilchrist

Friday Finds: 19 June 2009

Friday Finds is a weekly event hosted by mizb17 at Should Be Reading. Participants are asked to share with other bloggers about the new-to-you books found during the week – books you either want to add to your TBR (to be read) list, or that you just heard about that sounded interesting.

Just three books this week. And, technically, The Game by A.S. Byatt isn't a new find – it was her second novel, first published in 1967; but I just "discovered" it this week while browsing an interesting library at LibraryThing. Alice Hoffman's new novel, The Story Sisters, made its appearance this month. And Fear the Worst, Linwood Barclay's latest suspense novel is scheduled to be released on August 11.

Booking Through Thursday: Fantasy and Sci-Fi

This week BTT asks about the fantasy and science fiction genres. Sci-fi author Sharon Lee has declared June 23rd Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day:

"A day of celebration and wonder! A day for all of us readers of science fiction and fantasy to reach out and say thank you to our favorite writers. A day, perhaps, to blog about our favorite sf/f writers. A day to reflect upon how written science fiction and fantasy has changed your life."

Thus, we have this week's topic: What might you do on the 23rd to celebrate? Do you even read fantasy/sci-fi? Why? Why not?

I do read sci-fi and fantasy, although I'm not going to get into "why." I just like it – OK? And although reading SF/F has helped me through some rough patches of existence, I'm pretty sure it hasn't changed my life in any significant way. Well, nothing that springs to mind anyway – I'd have to think about that a while.

These days I don't read sci-fi or fantasy as much as I did in the past. There was a time when I was a real science fiction fanatic, and read almost nothing but. I once had a huge collection of SF/F books and magazines. No more, though – most of it got left behind when we moved from Louisiana to Virginia a couple of decades ago. Still wish I'd held onto those original editions of the James Blish Star Trek adaptations, published by Bantam in the late '60s and early '70s – they're a little hard to find these days, in really good condition.

Moving on.

I'm still something of a sci-fi devotee, although I do more watching than reading – I love sci-fi movies and TV shows. But I do still read science fiction (in the last year I've read Solaris and 2010: Odyssey Two), even though I might be a little more discriminating about it. And I have to admit that I stay mainly with the older authors that I loved in my youth – Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Clifford D. Simak, Theodore Sturgeon, John Wyndham. As for fantasy – well, that's a little different. I read fantasy, but it's mostly the kid lit type – like the book I just finished reading, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I've never really been very interested in sword-and-sorcery tales or Lord of the Ring clones.

And as for celebrating the genre on June 23rd, well I guess that's an OK idea. I might do a blog post about a favorite author or book. Traditionally, June 23rd is Midsummer's Eve – so it might be a good opportunity to re-read A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of my favorite fantasies. In fact, that's part of one of the challenges I'm involved in this year, Carl V's Once Upon a Time Challenge. And if you're looking for some intriguing ideas about fantasies to read, the challenge website here is a good place to start.

Review: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Written by Robert C. O'Brien
Illustrated by Zena Bernstein
An Aladdin Paperback, Simon & Schuster, 1975; 233 pages
First published 1971; 1972 Newbery Medal Winner

Robert C. O'Brien's charming fantasy tale, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH clearly deserved the Newbery Medal it won in 1972. It's been on my need-to-read list for ages, but it took this year's reading challenges to nudge me into finally getting around to it.

The book tells the story of Mrs. Frisby, a widowed field mouse who must move her family to their summer quarters to avoid certain death at the hands of Farmer Fitzgibbon and his tractor/plow. But when her youngest child Timothy comes down with pneumonia and can't be moved, she fortunately discovers the extraordinarily learned rats of NIMH who devise a brilliant but dangerous solution to her problem.

The book is really made up of two tales that ultimately come together – Mrs. Frisby's dilemma and the saga of the rats who have near-human intelligence and a literate, mechanized society. They have electricity which they use to run sophisticated machinery, including elevators. They store food for the winter. They have the ability to read and have a large collection of books. And because of the research conducted on them before they made their escape from the laboratories of NIMH, they have greatly extended lifespans – in fact, no one really knows how long they might live.

But the rats' amazing way of life has obliged them to rely heavily on human society. That's risky, and many of the group see it as stealing. So they've decided to abandon their present lifestyle and return to a more independent existence – a sort of self-sufficient back-to-nature movement which isn't popular with everyone in the colony. Several members have already left the group and their leaving has attracted the attention of the human population. The account of the rats' efforts to avoid detection, and at the same time help save Mrs. Frisby's home and family, is real edge-of-your-seat storytelling.

I absolutely loved this book! I can see why it's on so many lists of beloved childhood books. I loved the fact that although it's a fantasy about cute furry animals (and a few cute, feathery birds), it never deteriorates into nursery language or "talks down" to its audience. It's a book that adults can enjoy just as easily as younger readers can. I unreservedly recommend it to everyone – it's a wonderful read. Oh, and the two story lines make it a very economical book as well – it's almost like getting two books for the price of one!

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Reading Challenges: 20 in 2009, 2009 TBR (Lite), Book Awards II, Once Upon a Time III, Read Your Own Books (RYOB), Spring Reading Thing, What An Animal!

Teaser Tuesdays: Who Do You Think You Are? Sherlock Holmes?

This week, I'm reading The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The title makes it sound like it might be one of Conan Doyle's ripping yarn type adventure tales, with dinosaurs roaming the lost Amazonian jungles. But in reality it was his final Sherlock Holmes novel, first appearing as a magazine serial in 1914. Here's a quote from page 56 of this edition:

"It's all very well your saying that a man escaped by wading this moat, but what I ask you is, how did he ever get into the house at all if the bridge was up?"
"Ah, that's the question," said Barker.

Yes, indeed – that's the question all right. And that's exactly why you should always be sure your bridge is up and your moat is stocked with piranha fish.

And here's another snippet, much more representative of Holmes' personality and the whole Holmes/Watson dynamic:

"Good, Watson, good! But not, if I may say so, quite good enough!" [p. 21]

Poor Watson. Why does he put up with it all?


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB17 at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or participate yourself, head on over to her blog. And these are the rules: Grab your current read; Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you're getting your "teaser" from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given! Please avoid spoilers!