The Best of John Bellairs...random thoughts

The House With the Clock in Its Walls.

Me: What did you guys think? Did you like it?

Max: Yeah.

Gray: Me, too.

Me: Enough to try the next one?

Gray and Max: Yes!

Gray: Can we start it now?

Me: Maybe. What did you like most about it?

Gray: It was spooky.

Me: How spooky would you say it was? Too spooky? Not enough spooky? Or just right spooky?

Gray: Just right spooky. Too spooky equals scary. And scary gives me bad dreams.

(I personally have to agree with Gray. It really is "just right spooky"! Actually, I was afraid at times it might be too much for them, but they loved every second of it.)


The Figure in the Shadows.

Me: Verdict? Was this one as good as the first one?

Max: They were almost the same good.

Gray: I liked The House With the Clock in Its Walls more. But that was a really hard decision, because they were both really good.

Me: I liked this one, too, but for me I definitely liked the first one better. So, who's your favorite character?

Max and Gray, enthusiastically and in unison: Uncle Jonathan!

Max: No, wait. I liked the ghost in the last one.

Me: You did, huh? Would you like him so much if you had to meet him?

Max: No!

Me: So why Uncle Jonathan?

Max and Gray, again in unison: He's so funny!

Gray: Yeah, and it doesn't hurt that he's a wizard.

Me: Yeah, that is a bonus, isn't it? My favorite character is Mrs. Zimmerman. She's a spunky one. And she's always bringing everyone homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Max: Can you make some chocolate chip cookies?

Me: Hmmm...I sort brought that one on myself, didn't I?

Max and Gray: *grin*


The Letter, The Witch, and the Ring

Me: Okay guys, for me, this one was by far my favorite!!! What about for you?

Gray: Tie. This one and the first one.

Max: Mostly the first.

Me: This book had some pretty scary moments, but there were also some times when you two monkeys were giggling away. What made you laugh in this book?

Gray: Gert Bigger!

Max: The chicken! (We can't discuss this avenue any further for fear of spoilers.)

Me: Gert Bigger was a mean old bag, wasn't she? But sometimes you did just have to laugh at her. What parts did you think were the scariest?

Gray: Gert Bigger!


*****
Okay, so we didn't give you much of a review here. ;)  But let me just say how much all of us enjoyed these three books. They were perfectly wonderful!!! Definitely a bit scary (especially the last one, in my opinion). At times humorous. With a bit of an old-fashioned feel (and I mean that in the very best of ways). Filled with wonderful characters, all of whom are slight misfits...the adults (Uncle Jonathan and Mrs. Zimmerman) content and truly happy in their oddity, while the children (Lewis and Rose Rita) struggle a bit with not fitting in. Truly, I love them all.

And you know what, it might sound silly, but I really think that The Letter, The Witch, and The Ring is a great book for the Women Unbound reading challenge. :D  This book focuses mainly on Mrs. Zimmerman, a wonderful role model, and Rose Rita, a girl just reaching those teen years, struggling because she doesn't feel she fits in. She'd rather play baseball than date the baseball players. But she learns her inner strength, and becomes a bit more confident and trusting in who she really is. Yep, I love both these ladies!

a happy distraction

No, I am not supposed to have anything to do with the blogging world this week. In fact, I am supposed to be avoiding the computer as much as possible. But dammit, when I heard about the Women Unbound reading challenge, it was just far too tempting. Last night when I first caught wind of it, I allowed myself to go look on-line and see if I could find a biography of one of my all-time favorite women. That satisfied my urge for that moment, and I was then able to get back to typing up today's EnviSci lecture. But then this morning, I had this wonderful, enthusiastic, and utterly contagious e-mail in my inbox from Eva, and I found myself completely powerless to resist...I simply had to go start pulling books from the shelves. (Okay, I'm such a dork...since I have an absolutely unconquerable list of things to do today, I timed myself. Yes, for real. I gave myself 1 minute to grab books for my reading list for this challenge. Which means, of course, the future will probably see me changing and adding to this list, but at least I got the fun of putting a list together. :D Hopefully, this post will get this out of my system, and I'll be able to concentrate on the things I'm supposed to be doing. Until Sunday, anyway, when I hopefully will be able to get back to bloggging and find out what you all have been up to this week.)

So here's what I've come up with for my tentative list:
*a biography of Rosalind Franklin, probably either Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA by Brenda Maddox or Rosalind Franklin and DNA by Anne Sayre
*Nobel Prize Women in Science: Their Lives, Struggles, and Momentous Discoveries by Sharon Bertsch McGrayne (a book I stumbled across last night in my search for a Rosalind Franklin bio)
--and then these are the ones I grabbed this morning (meaning that they won't be breaking my book buying ban like the ones above will :D)
*Subject to Debate: Sense and Dissents on Women, Politics, and Culture by Katha Pollitt (Will likely be my first read for the challenge as I currently have it out from the library. It's a collection of essays, and I want to thank Ana again for introducing me to it.)
*Promiscuities: The Secret Struggle for Womanhood by Naomi Wolf
From the back cover: In this provocative and highly personal book, bestselling author Naomi Wolf explores a subject that has long been taboo in our society: women's sexual coming-of-age. Promiscuities brazenly exposes the truths behind the conflicting messages directed at young women during and after the sexual revolution. Drawing on surprising examples from the ancient and recent past, along with vivid recollections of her own youth, Wolf show how our "liberated" culture still fears and distorts female passion. She also shares fascinating true stories that illustrate the fantasies and sometimes overwhelming realities women pass through on their way toward erotic and emotional discovery. A landmark book, Promiscuities is a call to women of all ages to reclaim and celebrate their sexuality.
*The Maternal is Political: Women Writers at the Intersection of Motherhood & Social Change edited by Shari MacDonald Strong (I've been wanting to read this one ever since Dewey's review. She loved it, and I just know I will, too.)
From the back cover: The saying is true: The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. And the world has never needed mothers more. World and national leaders can't agree on how to educate our children or empower us to feed our families, on how to join together as a global community or keep us safe. Fortunately, mothers--the most underestimated and unsung political group--hold the future in their arms and hands. Whether they're starting ambitious movements by taking on urgent matters that affect millions or speaking quietly within their homes and communities, the mothers in this collection are, like mothers everywhere, making a difference one person, one issue, one wrong-that-needs-righting at a time. For moms who are willing to fight the that good fight, The Maternal is Political is a comfort, an inspiration, fuel for the fire, and a roadmap to better future...for us and for all of our children.
*The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam
From the back cover: Born in a village deep in the Cambodian forest, Somaly Mam was sold into sexual slavery by her grandfather when she was twelve years old. For the next decade she was shuttled through the brothels that make up the sprawling sex trade of Southeast Asia. She suffered unspeakable acts of brutality and witnessed horrors that would haunt her for the rest of her life--until, in her early twenties, she managed to escape. Unable to forget the girls she left behind, Mam became a tenacious and brave leader in the fight against human trafficking, rescuing sex workers--some as young as five and six--offering them shelter, rehabilitation, healing, and love, and leading them into new life. Written in exquisite, spare, unflinching prose, The Road of Lost Innocence is a memoir that will leave you awestruck by the courage and strength of this extraordinary woman and will renew your faith in the power of an individual to bring about change.
*Another Day in the Frontal Lobe: A Brain Surgeon Exposes Life on the Inside by Katrina Firlik
From the back cover: Katrina Firlik is a neurosurgeon, one of only two hundred or so women among the alpha males who dominate this high-pressure, high-prestige profession. She is also a superbly gifted writer--witty, insightful, at once humane and refreshingly wry....
*Grotesque by Natsuo Kirino (Wasn't entirely sure if some fiction was "required" for the challenge, but this sounded like a great one to throw in.)
From the back cover: ...Natsuo Kirino, celebrated author of Out, seamlessly weaves together the stories of these women's struggles within the conventions and restrictions of Japanese society. At once a psychological investigation of the pressures facing Japanese women and a classic work of noir fiction, Grotesque is a brilliantly twisted novel of ambition, desire, beauty, cruelty, and identity by one of our most electrifying writers.
*Fearless Girls, Wise Women & Beloved Sisters: Heroines in Folktales from Around the World by Kathleen Ragan (Because, well, doesn't this book just sound utterly wonderful?!!)

Many, many thanks to the three incredible women hosting this challenge, Eva, Aarti, and Care!!!!!!

Okay, break over.