more babbling...and hopefully a book review or two

I think I'm going to have to quit reading, so I don't have to write these book reviews anymore. It wouldn't be nearly so agonizing if I could just do a decent job at it. But then again, if I had to be good at something to do it, I wouldn't be left doing much at all. Ooooh...I think that thought just triggered my 6 Word Memoir.

Finding acceptance and contentment in imperfection.

I was so glad Becky tagged me with this one. Ever since I first heard about these 6 word memoirs on NPR a few weeks back, I've thought I'd like to write one. But I never actually took a minute to stop and really think about it. Turns out I didn't really need to stop and think about it though...seems as if when it was ready, it just popped out on its own.

Boy, I am really babbling here, aren't I? I guess now I should maybe go ahead and post the meme, huh?

6 Word Memoir

1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4. Tag five more blogs with links
5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

So, there you go the official blog-meme version. But now I'm pretty much going to blow off the tagging others part. I do hope EVERYONE will do it...they are so much fun to read!

Well, that was a nice diversion. But here I am with that darn book review still to write. Okay, let's just get this over with...


Notes from a Small Island: An Affectionate Portrait of Britain, by Bill Bryson. One of the reasons I've been dreading writing this review is the amazing mix of feelings I have about this book. I didn't love it. I didn't hate it. Or more appropriately I should say, at times I loved it and at times I hated it. I gained nothing magical from this book, and I don't suppose it really has left me with anything lasting.

But I do now understand why Bryson is such a popular guy. (This is the first book of his I've ever read.) The man is funny. I'm sure to tally the number of times he had me laughing out loud, I'd have to use a few toes to go along with all my fingers. But even while I was laughing, I was beginning to get annoyed. By about half-way through the book, I just got fed up with his bitching and complaining. It wasn't even that I disagreed with him. And some of his rants were actually quite hilarious. But I just started feeling like at times the tone of the book was leaning too heavily to the negative...I mean his subtitle is "An Affectionate Portrait of Britain" after all. And in Bryson's defense, it really does come through quite strongly how much he loves Britain and the people who call it home. In fact, the last couple of pages left me a little weepy.

I guess I should have explained the basic "story" here first...Mr. Bryson, born and raised in the U.S., moved to Great Britain as a young man. He lived there for 20 years, marrying and starting a family. He and his family decided to move to the U.S. But before he left, he wanted to travel the through Britain one last time. So he sets off on a 7-week journey through England, Wales, and Scotland, visiting sites and cities he's seen before and many he hasn't. He travels by train, by bus, very occasionally by rental car, and by foot. This book is the story of this journey.

Okay, now back to my rambling thoughts. It was wonderful to hear about each city's unique flavor. It was wonderful to learn a bit about each city's history. But inevitably, Bryson found himself voicing the same complaints. Mostly to do with the loss to "progress" of the historical sites and buildings and overall feel in each city. As I said, it's not that I disagree. I find that a horrible loss as well. But it got to be like the proverbial broken record. Go to another city, walk around, complain about the horridly ugly new buildings.

In a way, I feel like I'm not being fair. Because there was so much about this book I really did enjoy. But then again, as I got farther and farther into the book, I found it harder and harder to make myself pick it up and read it. Yeah, I know, this is far from a helpful review, huh? Sorry about that. I guess it does say something that I still would really like to read A Walk in the Woods (which was the book I'd meant to read in the first place, but couldn't find it in our myriad of bookshelves when the time came).

Hooray! Along with filling in my "N title" for Joy's A-Z Challenge, this also finishes up Ariel's Unread Authors Challenge. I really enjoyed this challenge a great deal...for one thing, it got me to finally read some classic authors that have been embarrassingly absent from my previous endeavors. My list included The Halloween Tree (Bradbury), The War of the Worlds (Wells), A Christmas Carol (Dickens), I Was a Rat (Pullman), Animal Farm (Orwell), and Notes from a Small Island (Bryson). Thanks, Ariel, for hosting such a fun challenge!

By the way, and this has nothing to do with anything, but we didn't get the predicted amounts of snowfall. Ended up with 10 inches, so I can't complain too much (though 16 still sounds like more fun...oops, that's sort of complaining, isn't it?).

babbling, mostly about books

Just the other day, Max sat scratching his little legs and said to me, "I hate winter! It's itchy and I can't ride my bike."

While I'm right there with him on the whole issue of dry winter skin, I really couldn't disagree more about winter in general. I've always loved winter. Heck, I love each and every season. But dang, this winter has been a real let-down. We've just had so little of the beautiful white flakes this year. They're saying that the storm that's arriving now should leave us with 12-16" by tomorrow morning, but at this point I'm not holding my breath. Crossing my fingers, yes, but not holding my breath.

But snow is not supposed to be the subject of this post. Books are. Book reviews, specifically. I'd really like to get caught up. Ah, but first I must admit failure in Kailana's Four-Legged Friends Reading Challenge. But failure's relative, right? I did read two pretty darn enjoyable books because of this challenge (Charlotte's Web and The Tale of Despereaux). Oooh, if I stick in Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM (which wasn't on my list, but I did read) for Ginger Pye (which was on my list, but I didn't read), I could really count this as a "win"...but I guess that's kinda cheating at this point, huh? Anyway, thank you Kailana for a wonderful challenge!

Hmmm...what can I ramble on about now to get out of these blasted book reviews? Yes, I'm pathetic. Truly pathetic.


Oh O.K.--I Was a Rat, by Philip Pullman. Loved this book! Loved, loved, loved it! It was so utterly charming! I knew that Annie and I had to read this one for our fairy tale exploration after reading Nymeth's wonderful review. Yes, it is a fairy tale retold. But no, I won't tell you which one. You really don't want the surprise ruined, do you?

The story begins with the arrival of a little boy to the door of Bob and Joan, an older childless couple. Bob, a cobbler, and Joan, a washerwoman, had always wanted a child, but it just never happened for them. The little boy knocked on their door and announced, "I was a rat." No explanation, just "I was a rat."

Roger, as the couple starts calling him, is a sweet, lovable fellow, but one who tends to gnaw the most unusual things. And he has a knack for landing himself in trouble, though really through no fault of his own. When Roger first shows up on their doorstep, Bob and Joan try to do the right thing and find out where this little guy belongs. They try the police and the hospital, but really get nowhere with a host of very unhelpful people. The dear couple without openly discussing it, just take Roger in as their own. But then trouble strikes and Roger is lost. He encounters a host of quite unscrupulous characters, before Bob and Joan once again find him. And even then Roger isn't safe...it takes a princess to come to the rescue (this is a fairy tale, after all).

As I said, it is an utterly charming book. Perfectly delightful.

Though not my original choice, this book is filling in the animal category for Annie's What's In a Name Challenge. It also fulfills another slot in Ariel's Unread Authors Challenge...can you believe this is the first Philip Pullman book I've read (shame on me!). And last but not least, this will fill in the "I title" slot in Joy's A-Z Challenge.













Well, damn. Once again, I really wanted to get caught up on my reviews, and once again, I just can't seem to do it. Guess I'm only good for one at a time. There's always tomorrow, right?

The War of the Worlds...random thoughts

Last week during my at-home mini-vacation, I did manage to finish up a few books. Not nearly as many as I should have, I suppose, but such is the life of an extremely slow reader. The one drawback to having finished these books is that I now have to review them. Well, I guess I don't actually "have" to...there's no gun to my head or anything...but as three of the four of them are for challenges, it does seem the right thing to do. They're quite a varied lot, and I thoroughly adored three of them. As for the fourth, well, I'll try to explain my feelings when I talk about it.

First up...The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. Though I've wanted to read this book for a while, it was really Carl's Sci-Fi Experience that urged me to pick it up at this particular time. Oh, and am I glad it did...so thank you, Carl! I can't tell you how much I loved this book...in fact, it's my favorite read of the year so far. (O.K., O.K., I know I haven't really knocked that many out so far this year, but still.)

I honestly didn't know what to expect from this book. I, of course, did know the general idea...Martians invading Earth. But beyond that, no clue. And as I've never read anything by H.G. Wells, I didn't know what to expect from his writing. I'm willing to admit that I tend to be slightly "afraid" of classics sometimes, that I sometimes don't have the level of appreciation that I probably should. But I needn't have worried here. The War of the Worlds was exceedingly readable. And fun. And suspenseful. And quite simply a great story.

I'm certainly no science fiction aficionado (one of the reasons Carl's Sci-Fi Experience appealed to me so much was the opportunity to expand my horizons a bit), but this book definitely contains some of my stereotypical visions for the genre. Ah, but the way Wells wrote about them was just wonderful...

We've got Martians:

"I think everyone expected to see a man emerge--possibly something a little unlike us terrestrial men, but in all essentials a man. I know I did. But, looking, I presently saw something stirring within the shadow: greyish billowy movements, one above another, and then two luminous disks--like eyes. Then something resembling a little grey snake, about the thickness of a walking stick, coiled up out of the writhing middle, and wriggled in the air toward me--and then another."

We've got heat rays:

"However it is done, it is certain that a beam of heat is the essence of the matter. Heat, and invisible, instead of visible, light. Whatever is combustible flashes into flame at its touch, lead runs like water, it softens iron, cracks and melts glass, and when it falls upon water, incontinently that explodes into steam.

That night nearly forty people lay under the starlight about the pit, charred and distorted beyond recognition, and all night long the common from Horsell to Maybury was deserted and brightly ablaze."

We've got giant metal "monsters":

"And this Thing I saw! How can I describe it? A monstrous tripod, higher than many houses, striding over the young pine trees, and smashing them aside in its career; a walking engine of glittering metal, striding now across the heather; articulate ropes of steel dangling from it, and the clattering tumult of its passage mingling with the riot of the thunder. A flash, and it came out vividly, heeling over one way with two feet in the air, to vanish and reappear almost instantly as it seemed, with the next flash, a hundred yards nearer."

As I said this book is quite suspenseful. Frightening. I can only imagine how much more so it must have been back when it was first published. I think one of the ways Wells managed to keep me so involved was through his first person narrative. Unless I missed something somewhere, we never even learn the man's name. And while the story takes place over just a few short weeks, we witness this man going through a life-time's worth of emotions.

I have enjoyed the Sci-Fi Experience so much that I'm going to attempt to squeeze in one last book before its official end. With all the wonderful things I've read about Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game, how can I possibly resist any longer? I know Chris will be proud of me.

Anyway, in addition to the Sci-Fi Experience, this book will fill the "W title" slot in Joy's A-Z Challenge, the 1890s slot in 3M's Decades Challenge (though this wasn't one of my original choices), and fulfill another requirement in Ariel's Unread Authors Challenge. Four for the price of one...can't beat that, huh?




Hmmm...I'd originally planned to post all of my reviews in one post, but I think that might just be too long, huh? Guess I'll be back later with another.