Space Boy by Orson Scott Card

So we're getting better! While Space Boy isn't up to Orson Scott Card's normal caliber of writing, it was an entertaining and enjoyable novella. I've had this one ordered through Subterranean Press for awhile and received it about a week ago. It's a wonderful edition as SubPress' books always are and is signed by Card with perfect pencil etched illustrations by Lance Card. I kept thinking of Interworld by Neil Gaiman while reading this one. Card and Gaiman are my two favorite authors and this one was very similar to Interworld in that it was a very fun, quick read, but nothing like what we normally get out of the author. But I don't think it was meant to be...this was more of a story for the sake of fun story telling. Don't get me wrong, his other books tell wonderful tales, but they usually have deeper meanings behind them.

Space Boy is the story of 13 year old Todd. Todd has always dreamed of traveling to space. He knows all of his planets all of their moons, all of the satellites, all of the astronauts, etc. Four years ago, Todd's mother disappeared without a trace. Todd has gone through counseling, the police have done searches, nothing has come up. His little brother has claimed that she was sucked up by monsters in his closet, but of course, no one believes him. Well one day, while Todd is in his back yard, he discovers a strange wavering portal in his backyard through which a naked elf like man appears. He soon discovers that this man has entered from another planet through a space "worm" who's rear end is in Todd's back yard and who's mouth is in...you guessed it, his little brother's closet.

Not recommended as a night time read to kids to who are scared of the monsters in the closet. I enjoyed this one and I'm glad to have it in my Orson Scott Card collection. I'd recommend it to die-hard Card fans like myself, but at $35 through SubPress, you might want to just borrow a copy if you're not a huge fan.

Next up for Card is Invasive Procedures in September and A War of Gifts in November!! I'm so excited about both of these. The first is about genetic experimentation and the second is a new Ender novel about Christmas in battle school. Can't wait!

A Couple Of So-So Reviews

My blog came up for review today over at the Review My Blog website and Diva Dee's review just cracked me up! She gave me an 8 out of 10, which is fine by me, but really didn't do much of a review, which I understand. She admitted that she wasn't very familiar with the subject matter of my blog and it didn't appeal to her so she couldn't give it an honest review, and I thought that was fair. I love the fact that my Dave McKean header scared the hell out of her! Her main criticisms were that she didn't find my blog visually appealing...I feel that's all in the eye of the beholder...personally I like the look of my blog, though I know it's nothing flashy. I've always been a fan of black and a fan of less is more. So she wasn't a fan....that's fine with me...you can't please 'em all!

Back to books! I finished Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi for the Newbery challenge and I really just didn't like it. Not that it was a bad book, I just couldn't connect with it and it didn't do much for me. I know there are lots of Avi fans out there, but I'm not sure if I would be one of them. I'll give him another shot though...maybe this just wasn't the right one for a first read. It's basically about a boy who lives in a very small town in the 14th century who doesn't know who his father was and who's mother has recently died and has left him a cross made of lead. The cross has writing on it which he cannot read since he can't read or write. But what's written on the cross is a clue to his true identity. He lives the life of a servant and suddenly has his life at risk as he has been declared a wolf's head (a person less than human who should be killed) after his mother's death. He doesn't know why someone wants him dead. He meets a jester by the name of Bear who helps protect him and takes him on as an apprentice and the book reads as Crispin's account of all of this. The religious aspect of the book was a bit overkill. I have no problems at all with religious themes, it was just way overdone here. I also wasn't a fan of the writing style and the story just didn't captivate me. Oh well.

This year started out so good for me with books. Now I seem to be running into a couple of duds here and there. Lets hope that I get back into a good streak again soon!

Breaking Down The Gender Barrier

So CJ gave me the laugh of the century this morning when she bestowed upon me the "Rockin' Girl Blogger Award" with these kind words:

"Chris, you may be lacking one of the key elements to win this award, but on the other, you've got it made hands down"

Ha! Though I may be missing a few oh so important anatomical parts, I will happily accept on behalf of all of us guy bloggers that missed out on this one ;) What makes me most happy about this one is that I can pass it along to some of my favorite girl bloggers out there:

Quarter Life Crisis: I've been friends with this girl since high school and she's done some amazing things. Since Katrina (yes that's now a measurement of time in New Orleans) she's lost nearly 100 pounds and has now moved to Florida where she's a teacher. Her blog's always a fun read.

Literacy Chic: This is Megan's sister and I've actually known her longer than I've known Megan! We worked together at a coffee shop and she's a great person. Her blog is a great one. She writes about her experiences as a grad student writing her dissertation and teaching literature to undergrads, religious philosophy, and being a mommy to two and very soon to number 3!

Dark Orpheus: Her blog is great! You get a little bit of everything here. Book reviews, music reviews, philosophy, yoga, movies, everything! Always something interesting to read and discuss.

So, do I get to nominate a guy too?? If so, Carl, you rock!!!! I'm sure that many of you know Carl. He's one of the first bloggers that I "met" when I started blogging and remains one of my favorites. His passion for books, art, and humanity come across so strongly in his posts and I always look forward to them. He sponsors these amazing reading challenges that build awesome communities (and the prizes aren't so bad either ;) and he's just an all around rockin' blogger.

So there you go! All of you gals (and guy) rock! Proudly display the button on your blog and nominate three bloggers of your own. I still can't stop laughing at this, it just cracks me up. Thanks CJ...you made my day with this one!

Edit/Update: Aha! Thanks to Nymeth, I've found this button that was created for us guys who were given this award, so feel free to use this one Carl ;):

Characters That Haunt The Mind

Deslily is hosting a wonderful contest right now. The rules are simple:

I want the post to be about a character in a book that you really like. One that for whatever reason, you can't seem to forget. Or one that you related to. Or one that made you laugh. Just make it about a character you can't seem to forget. Tell about how you found this character, and most of all... why you like him/ her/ it... post it before August 3rd and leave a link so that others can read your post.

I love the idea behind this contest. There are so many possibilities for this one, but I've decided to go with a couple of characters that haven't left my mind since they've entered it about a month ago...They are Henry and Clare from Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife.

Since I've read the book and posted about it, I've noticed that there is a universal love for this book and these two characters. They defy genres. Fans of any genre appreciate this book and appreciate these characters. I think it is because this book has such a basic human element to it. The characters are so real. There are intimate moments in the book that anyone who has ever been in a relationship can relate to.

What I loved about the characters of Henry and Clare is that neither one of them are perfect, yet they are perfect for each other. Clare is always there for Henry when he is at his weakest. How many people could handle a relationship as stressed as this one. Yet the relationship seems so smooth...so easy...it fits, it's right. Same goes with Henry; while he isn't always physically there for Clare, she is in his thoughts in everything that he does. There love for each other is pure.

I loved them as individuals as well...not just as a couple. They both had incredible taste in music and I loved the scene at the Violent Femmes concert. Henry was a librarian which automatically makes him cool and hello! he can time travel! Clare is an artist which appealed to me immediately because Megan is an artist as well. So I connected with their relationship right away. Clare's just an all around cool gal.

The whole time I read the book, I thought that these were people that I would love to hang out with. I would love to get a cup of coffee with these guys or have a couple of drinks with them. It's rare that I connect with characters as well as I did here. That's no doubt due to Niffenegger's excellent writing.

I encourage everyone to join in on Deslily's contest! I'd really like to hear other peoples answers :)

The Kindness of Literary People

I've been wanting to post about this for days but I keep forgetting to! But I'm remembering now. The reason that Megan ended up in Texas after Katrina is because she has a sister who lives over there. I've been friends with her sister since before I even knew Megan...we worked at a coffee shop together. So whenever I go up to see Megan, I try to meet up with her as well, but it doesn't always work out. She has a family now and with as little time as me and Megan get together time seems to just disappear. Well I was happy that I got to spend a little bit more time this trip with her than I usually do! We went to eat at a really great little restaurant in downtown Bryan and visited a couple of other times. And lo and behold, on one of those visits, she bestowed upon me a giant box of books!! I still haven't had the chance to root through them all, but that made me so happy :) She's a doctoral student and teaches literature classes at a major university and has the coolest syllabus for the fall semester! I wish I could take her class. Check it out on this post of her blog.

The second thing that I wanted to post about came up in the Harry Potter comments. Megan had to work Saturday night after I got my Harry Potter book. So I decided that I would go down to her restaurant and order one of their delicious desserts and a Bailey's coffee while reading my Harry Potter book and her roommate joined me as she was reading the book too. Well there were two guys from out of town sitting next to us who noticed that we were reading the new Harry Potter book and they told us that they had bought the book in the airport and that one of their wives had went to a midnight party. We talked a little about the books and they talked about how wonderful of a server Megan was which made me proud :) Well on their way out, they gave Megan money and told her that our desserts and coffee were on them! I never got to thank them as they disappeared. So if fate allows it, thank you! One of the things I'll miss about Harry Potter most of all is the unity that it brought out in people and the conversations that it sparked. Maybe it will be a lesson to reach out and talk about things...I know it has been for me.

As for now, I'm having a rough time adjusting to life apart from Megan again. I always do after these trips. It becomes more familiar after a couple of weeks but it never feels right. The bed just feels too big at night and my head seems too full of thoughts...But the thoughts usually lead me to a good place...a place that lies in the not too distant future...the place where my heart lies. God, I'm sounding sappy tonight....

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

I'VE CLEARLY LISTED WHERE SPOILERS ARE IN THE REVIEW...THE REST IS SAFE!

I can vividly remember reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time in 1999. I remember a wave of excitement washing over me at what promised to be quite a great series of books. However, I don't think I ever expected the scope of how grand these books were to become and I certainly didn't know how much of an emotional ride I was in for. In 1999, the series was just starting for me, I had a "whole 6 more books to look forward to!" And now, eight years later, the series has come to a close and while it seems silly, it's quite an emotional experience.

Harry Potter was more than just a series of books. It was an entire world created by Rowling. It reinvigorated the genre of young adult fiction and brought millions of young readers back to books. In just under 10 years, Rowling has published an entire series of classics...characters who will no doubt live on as long as books live on. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Snape, Hagrid, Voldemort...that's the tip of the iceberg...She's created something that brought readers around the world together. We all shared the magic of Hogwarts...the times spent around the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room, adventures in the forbidden forest, battles with magical creatures and dark wizards, trips to Diagon Alley, dinner at the Weasley's, plotting and planning, touching moments, heart breaking moments, and heart pounding moments.

J.K. Rowling has done a wonderful job of bringing this beloved series to a close with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I wasn't disappointed in the least bit. Everything that I needed answered was answered. At least I think so. As the days go by, questions may pop up, but I'm extremely satisfied with it right now. Rowling has grown so much as a writer. As a piece of literature, this book was amazing. Gripping story, wonderful plot and twists, beautiful characters as always.

This is by far the darkest book of the series. Characters drop like flies and you may want to prepare with a box of tissue because it gets very emotional at times. I think that part of the emotional response comes from the build up of this being "the end." It's a very emotional book all together. I must say that a few moments really caught me in this book and many of them were some of the more comfortable aspects of the book. By comfortable, I mean the character qualities and aspects of the books that have become familiar. Much of that has been stolen from us in this book as it has been stole from Harry, Ron, and Hermione. As the reader, we are as estranged from the familiar as the characters are.

*****SPOILER****

one example of the familiar being emotional is when Ron returns after rescuing Harry and recovering the sword of Gryffindor. When he first sees Hermione and she explodes, I was so overwhelmed with emotions. It just caught me. Another example of humor as an emotional release was Mrs. Weasley's "NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!" Ha! That was just great and I was so tense that I really needed that.

******END SPOILERS******

The characters have grown up a lot in this book as they have been forced to. They are on their own for the most part and are fighting evil at it's purest form. The severity of the situation becomes more and more real to the characters as the book progresses which begins to eat away at the characters. Tempers become short and we see even the "good guys" being revealed as having hidden secrets. Rowling juggles this theme throughout the book and does it well. Can a person really be defined as good or evil? Certainly there is a difference between Voldemort and Harry Potter....dark wizards and everyday wizards, but good and evil is not so easily defined. Rowling visits this mostly with Dumbledore and Snape's stories and I really enjoyed both.

I was satisfied with Snape's outcome though at the same time, I was so disappointed.

ok ****SPOILERS*****

Of course I was happy that Snape was a good guy as I always knew he was :) I just felt so bad for the poor guy. Sure, he always treated Harry like shit, but come on...he got such a bad rap and then got killed. I'm glad that Harry explained in front of everyone what Snape had done for him and thought that it was wonderful that little Al's middle name is Severus, but I wish that Snape could've had the recognition for the brave man that he actually was while he was still alive. I thought that his death was one of the more tragic ones.

******END SPOILERS****

I don't even know what else to write about the book right now as I feel just drained from it. But I'm sure more discussion will pop up in the comments section. Absolutely wonderful book, by far my favorite in the series. I'm very happy with the ending of the book and Rowling has amazed me with what she's done with this series. It is a very bittersweet farewell to the boy who lived. It was hard to turn that last page. I'm looking forward to what Rowling does with her career and hope that she continues to write young adult novels, though I'd enjoy seeing her work outside of that genre as well. She's made a reader for life out of me.

Trying To Savor Harry

I'm making an attempt to slowly experience this last book in the Harry Potter series. I set a goal for myself to read only 100 pages a day so that I could have a whole "Harry Potter Week" for this last book, but I'm beginning to sabotage that plan. Day 1...read 100 pages, Day 2...read 100 pages...last night...couldn't put it down and read 200 pages. I really just don't want this book to end. I'm happy with the book so far and it's proved to be such a thrilling read. Very emotional at times and heart racing at others. I was afraid that those little comfortable, heart warming moments wouldn't be in this book because of the lack of Hogwarts, but they certainly are and they always bring a smile to my face. I'll be sad when this book is over, but it seems like it will bring closure to the series. Sorry I've been avoiding everyone's blogs but my livebookmarks show the titles of your posts and I can see that many of you have finished the book already ;) I'll be by soon, I promise!

In the meantime, my girlfriend's mom has moved back to New Orleans and her house is a mess. It's really sad. Her house got damage from Katrina and it was made worse due to problems with the insurance company and her inability to get her checks to fix the house. I feel like I haven't done enough to help victims of Katrina (despite being one myself) so this is my chance to help someone out who needs it. Yesterday I started getting her yard back in shape and got the front yard looking nice. Today it will be the front garden and I'll start the back yard. I actually enjoyed doing it. I miss being able to work in the yard. I used to complain about it, but now that we rent a house I actually miss cutting the grass, edging and weed eating. I'm enjoying this DIY stuff.

Greetings From Texas

So today is my last day in Texas and I'm not ready to leave. This trip flew by way too fast. It's been a perfect trip. Exactly what I wanted. We've had the time together that we wanted to spend, but it just hasn't been enough....it never will be until we're back in the same place. But the time we've had has been well spent. It's been spent mostly over coffee, target, book shopping, eating, driving and listening to music, drinking, sleeping, and all that other good stuff.

Tomorrow will be a sad goodbye as it always is, but hopefully all of these goodbyes will end soon. Megan had to work tonight, so I figured I'd fit in a blog and say hello to everyone and then of course fit in some Harry Potter reading ;) Right now our mini poodle, Buddy, is licking my brand new Harry Potter book which he was just corrected for. He has a new best friend...a 50 pound Great Dane puppy...oh yeah, there are pictures of that that I will post when I get home. I think I'll go visit Megan later tonight and have a cappuccino and desert and continue the Harry reading.

Book buying has been pretty decent here. I picked up a copy of The Time Traveler's Wife for Megan. Of course I got my copy of the new Harry Potter this morning. I've also bought a hardcover copy of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate Dicamillo, Rip Van Winkle illustrated by Arthur Rackham, The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield for the RIP Challenge and Renfield by Barbara Hambly for the RIP Challenge.

I also finished The Color of Magic by Terry Prachett and I honestly wasn't that nuts about it. Don't be mad at me everybody! I have to admit though that I didn't give it a fair reading. I was distracted throughout my reading of it, but it never really caught me. I did however like Rincewind quite a bit and the ending left me with enough of a cliffhanger to pick up The Light Fantastic which I will be doing. It did have it's funny moments and it was a very clever book. I love the world that Prachett has created, I think I just need to get to know it a bit more. Many of you told me that I may not be nuts about this first book, so I expected it somewhat. I'll continue on with the series because I'm curious enough to know what happens in The Light Fantastic and the later books in the series sound incredible!

That's all for now folks! A warning ahead of time...until I finish The Deathly Hallows, if I see the words "Harry Potter" on your blog, I'm likely to wait until I'm finished reading the book to visit your page ;) I completely understand if you do the same with mine. Happy reading everyone! I missed you guys.

Strange Noises

There are very odd noises coming from my stomach. At first I thought that maybe I was just watching too much Dr. Who and was hungover from last night, but it's slowly being confirmed that it may indeed be a stomach virus. Just in time for a road trip to Texas. Well that should be fun. Whenever I get stomach viruses they tend to not last very long...so hopefully it will be gone by tomorrow night.

So Jessica is going home tomorrow morning. It's been a great week and I've really enjoyed having someone to hang out with. I've found that I have more friends down here than I thought I did. I just fell out of touch with alot of people over the years. I've been hanging out at PJ's at night with the old crew that's still over there. PJ's is the coffee shop that I used to work at and the coffee junkies I used to hang out with 5 years ago are still there and it felt great to fall back into that crowd. I also got to go see Harry Potter (which was great!) with my friend DJ who I haven't hung out with in a really long time. We used to be comic book buddies but fell out of touch when he got married. So this past week has been alot of fun as time with Jroy always is.

And next comes time with Megan! We have lots of nothing planned which is fine by me :) I'm sure there will be movies and restaurants and coffee and book shopping and all of our old things. I'm just looking forward to being with her again. Going for long drives to no place in particular while listening to music. Sleeping all day and just staying in bed together. Sitting around and catching up on us time. A week won't be long enough, but it's all I can afford right now...and there's the issue of still having to be back here to find a job :/ Hopefully she can make a New Orleans trip sometime soon too....that would be good...but if not, we'll make it work!

As for now, I'll rest up and try to get better in time for Monday's road trip. I love road trips, I always look forward to them. Driving on the interstate with the windows down and good music always makes me happy...not so much with a stomach virus...

Seconds Challenge

In an effort to get the TBR bookcase less cluttered (yes, I no longer have a TBR pile, I have a full 3 shelf book case), I've decided to join Joy's Seconds Challenge. I really wish I would've discovered Joy's blog earlier. She's a wonderful blogger who is also hosting the Nonfiction challenge that so many of you are participating in. I only found 3 books on my shelf that are seconds offerings of authors I've read. They are:

1. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury - I bought this book about 5 years ago and I've never read it! I've always loved the title...that's the reason I bought it. I read Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 for the Banned Books Challenge and loved it, so I'm looking forward to this one. It will fit in nicely with the R.I.P. challenge as well.

2. A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin - This is the second book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. I read A Game of Thrones for the Once Upon a Time Challenge and it was one of my favorite reads so far this year. I've heard that this one is a little slow, but that the series picks up again after this one. I just don't know if I can wait til October to start this one! But I have plenty to keep me occupied until then.

3. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris - You may know David Sedaris if you ever listen to This American Life on NPR. I read his book, Dress Me Up in Corduroy and Denim last year and laughed throughout the whole thing. His writing is hilarious, touching, and very meaningful. He captures moments in his life perfectly and I'm looking forward to reading this one.

The challenge runs from October through December.

Surprise Day Off

Well I was supposed to be at work for 8:00 this morning and what do you know! I woke up to my phone ringing at 8:43 with my boss asking if I just wanted the day off. She's a very cool woman. At first I apologized profusely then realized that I finish all of my work by 9:00 and then sit on my butt until 1:00...so I'm enjoying my day off.

I haven't overslept in so long and that's always been a very anxiety provoking issue for me. When I was an undergrad in college I used to "oversleep" through class all the time. But that was mostly because I just didn't want to go to class. Now I worry all the time that when I get a "real job" I'm going to oversleep. So when the real job comes about, I think I'll start trying the old "put the alarm clock across the room so you have to out of bed to turn it off" trick. I'm afraid that's the only thing that will work for this guy.

Part of the reason I overslept is because I just can't make myself go to bed at night! It could have something to do with drinking coffee all day right up until 10 p.m. I just can't get to bed before midnight. Last night I laid in bed thinking of all sorts of stuff. Mostly of what I want to write about when NaNoWriMo comes around and I've ditched the old story line and I've finally come up with one that I really like and can't wait to write! Unfortunately it kept me up til 2 in the morning, but I have high hopes for it. It will be a modern fantasy...an urban fantasy I guess you could say and will involve faerie folk, a young boy, pods and will no doubt be depressing at times as my writing is....but my writing also tends to have an uplifting tone when everything works out, so hopefully it won't end in leaving everyone depressed. We'll see where it takes me.

More Stardust Stuff To Fill Requests!

After the post last night, a couple of people wanted to see what some of the interior art of Stardust looked like. I'm hoping that Mr. Vess and Mr. Gaiman wouldn't mind me showing it here as hopefully it will lead to more buyers ;) I found most of these by doing a quick Google search rather than taking photos of the book (I don't have a scanner). So here they are:

This one is one of the new pictures included in the back of the book and is one of my favorites. It is Yvaine (the star) singing with her sisters:Next up is another of my favorites because it's Tori Amos! Gaiman and Vess wanted to put Tori into the story, so she became a red tree...and here she is:This one is the print that I was talking about that I bought off of eBay that I want to get framed. It was also the cover of issue 3 of the initial release of the Stardust graphic novels:And here are just a couple more examples of images from the book. All together there are over 100 paintings and sketches. Really beautiful and diverse work. I hope that anyone who has the chance to pick it up cherishes it and enjoys it.

'Tis Mine At Last!

Out of boredom tonight, I decided to go to Barnes and Noble...big surprise there, right? I meandered my way over to the sci-fi/fantasy section (another big surprise there) and what do my eyes fall upon but the new hardcover Stardust! I am in love and I have a new favorite book! I'm going to have to disagree with Carl and Jeff here, but I have my reasons. I do agree that the pages are a bit thin and the quality could've been a bit better. I think the main reason I disagree though is because I've never owned an illustrated version of Stardust! With my B&N discount card, I got $8 off too, so I only paid $32...not much more than the soft cover version. However, I can understand how if you already own the $30 soft cover version you would be disappointed with this one. With that being said, here's why I wasn't disappointed being an illustrated Stardust virgin:

This book is gorgeous. I can't stop looking at it. The cover is beautiful as you can see and the picture doesn't even begin to do it justice. It's presented very well. The end pages are amazing. The detail that Charles Vess puts into his work never ceases to amaze me. I could stare at his work for hours. I can see now that this novel was indeed meant to be read as an illustrated novel and I will always recommend it to be read as one in the future. So beautiful.

I loved the extras in the back of the book. I agree that there could've been a bit more, but I loved what was there. The first is the original proposal that Gaiman and Vess wrote up and it's really neat! Gaiman wrote an updated note at the end commenting on how different the novel ended up being from what he originally perceived it to be and apparently Croup and Vandemar of Neverwhere fame were originally slated to be in Stardust! Interesting fact.

Next up are Vess' original sketches in progress for the four covers of the original comic book form releases of the novel. These were neat, but nothing overly exciting. I recently acquired a print of the cover for the third book from the San Diego Comic Con through eBay and I love it! Plan on getting that one framed.

And the next couple of sections, I absolutely love. There are six newly revealed scenes from Stardust and some more preliminary sketches that Vess did. My favorite new painting that Vess included is one of Yvaine singing with her sisters surrounded by faerie folk. Absolutely beautiful. There are also a couple of sketches for an unwritten Stardust sequel! As Vess says, there is no mention of when and if this will happen, but the idea is out there, and a couple of sketches have been done. And then there are 4 busts and the sculpture of Yvaine that's been shown on his website that should be released around the time of the movie.

I'm so happy with this purchase and I'm sure that I'll be staring at this book for days. Megan will surely be sick of me pointing out every little detail to her while I'm in Texas as I tend to do with things like this ;) Though she's a Gaiman fan too, so she should appreciate it!

I also picked up three other books while I was there! On Carl's recommendation and wonderful review, I had to get Annette Curtis Klause's Freaks: Alive, on the Inside. As he said, the cover is amazing. Looking forward to this one. Sounds like my kind of book. Because of Winn-Dixie should feed my Kate DiCamillo addiction for now as they still didn't have any copies of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. And finally, I picked up Bram Stoker's Dracula for the R.I.P. Challenge. B&N had all of there Classics on sale for 30% off, plus members get the extra 10% off. B&N does a great job with their hardcover editions of classics and I've always thought that they were a steal at $7.95...with the discount, it came out to only $5! Can't beat that.

Anyone else get any good books lately?

Siddhartha by Herman Hesse

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. It's not a book that pulls the reader along, it's a book that you read slowly and ponder on. It's a book that kept my opinions changing throughout my reading of it. I'd think that it was beautiful and then I would think..."now why did he do that..." But to an extent, I think that this was Hesse's point.

Siddhartha is the story of a man by the name of Siddhartha who sets out to find himself. He sets out to achieve enlightenment through the teachings of the Buddha. Upon meeting the Buddha, the enlightened one, he finds that his beliefs contradict the Buddha's to an extent, so he takes his own path to enlightenment. This is where the book starts to frustrate me. The book, in my opinion becomes sort of fragmented here. He has many different experiences, which all contribute to his path to enlightenment, but some seem a little far fetched, or at least not explained enough.

For instance: He meets a young mistress by the name of Kamala who tells him that if he wants to "be with her" he has to have money and material possessions...so Siddhartha goes to work for a local rich man as a translator since he can read and write. Sure, he's giving in to material possessions and such, but he still seems to maintain this certain air of happiness about him...a zen mentality. Then all of a sudden, he's gambling away all of his money and he's depressed and suicidal and it literally comes out of nowhere. I kept looking to see if there were pages stuck together that I missed.

There were a few little parts like this in the book that bugged me, where I thought that Hesse could've went into depth a little further, but over all, it was a beautiful book that focuses on the essence of self realization...the journey of discovering what life is about, what matters in life, and how everything fits together.

First read for the Classics Challenge. I'd say it's off to a decent start.

Finding Comfort In Old Places...

The past couple of days have been a time of renewal...a time to recharge. Megan and I have been talking a lot lately about the way things were, the way things are, and the way things always will be between us. Two years ago, Hurricane Katrina blew us to two different locations and forced us into a long distance relationship after being together for 4 years. This is not to say that our relationship was perfect before Katrina, it was far from it, but the distance didn't help. But even though our relationship wasn't perfect, there was something there that was so special...so strong...so unique and worth cherishing. There's a feeling of safety between us, a feeling of knowing each other completely and loving that person fully for who they are, of wanting to be with that person whenever you can and even more so when you can't. The not being able to be together part led us apart for awhile, but I'm happy to say that we are back together. I think we've always been together...I never felt that I lost her. For me, it was easier mentally to say that we "weren't together" because of the distance thing. I'll be going to see her again next week to spend a week with her in Texas. Hopefully, once I get a job and get out on my own and once her lease is up in Texas we can work towards something more permanent. I'll sleep happy tonight knowing that my facebook status is once again "in a relationship with Megan." :)

My best friend since high school, Jessica, is also in town and I can't tell you how happy that's made me. It's nice to fall back into old routines and meet up for coffee and just hang out and talk and smoke cigarettes. Last night we went to our bar hang out, had a few drinks, played video poker, and just talked. Jessica's one of those people that I'll always be comfortable with and the kind of person where any topic is up for grabs. I could go years without talking to her, bump into her and it would be like we just saw each other yesterday. We've shared many great memories and we seem to never run out of stories to tell or relive. So she's in town for the rest of the week and the fun shall continue.

I must have been a good boy somewhere down the line to deserve a month like this ;)

The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo and Gaiman/Vess News

I've gotta stop reading these tear jerkers! The Tiger Rising was another great book by Kate DiCamillo. I picked this one up after reading The Tale of Despereaux and falling in love with that one. I've become a huge fan of her after reading these two books and can't wait to get my hands on a copy of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.

The Tiger Rising centers around a young boy by the name of Rob who keeps his emotions wrapped up inside. His mother has died recently and he and his father have moved from Kentucky to Florida so that his father could escape the heartbreak of losing her. They now live in the Kentucky Star Motel. His father has instilled in Rob that he should not show tears over his mother's death and that he should be strong, so Rob packs all of his emotions away "into a suitcase." He does this in all aspects of his life. He's picked on at school and instead of getting upset, he ignores it. Instead of voicing his dislike of anything, he pretends to not be bothered by it.

There's a new girl in town by the name of Sistine and she has the opposite problem of Henry. She has too much anger and displays it outwardly to everyone and comes off as quite arrogant. In a twist of events, Rob and Sistine become friends.

Rob has made a discovery that there is a tiger being kept in a cage in the woods behind the motel that he and his father are living in and shares this secret with Sistine. Thoughts and emotions are shared between the friends and a wise maid by the name of Willie May who works for the motel.

The Tiger Rising, like Despereaux, faces issues head on. Kate DiCamillo is not afraid to work with strong emotions and when she does address them, she does so beautifully. This book is written wonderfully and can be enjoyed by anyone. It's a story of being trapped in a cage...having all of those emotions locked up inside begging to be let out. I can see it being especially meaningful to a child who has gone through loss of any kind at a young age.

One of my favorite passages in the book:

"I know something that's in a cage," said Rob, pushing the words past the tightness in his throat.

Willie May nodded her head, but she wasn't listening. She was looking past Rob, past the white sheet, past the laundry room, past the Kentucky Star.

"Who don't?" she said finally. "Who don't know something in a cage?"

In other quick news, Charles Vess has announced a collaboration he has been working on for Harper Collins. It is a 32 page children's picture book - A poem by Neil Gaiman called Blueberry Girl. Yay! Doesn't look like we should expect it too soon though, but it does look cool!

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

I feel like there are no words that I can say that can adequately describe The Time Traveler's Wife...but I'll try. Within the first few pages of the book, I knew that this would be one of the most emotionally gripping books that I have read. It proved to be not only that, but also the most powerful portrayal of love that I have read in the printed form.

Audrey Niffenegger has written a novel that comes around only once so often. Her words encapsulate and embody the true essence of passion and the raw and honest emotion in intimate human relationships. The Time Traveler's Wife is the story of two lovers, Henry and Clare. The story is beautifully told through alternating vignettes from both Henry and Clare's point of views at different times in their lives. Henry is a librarian and Clare is an artist. Henry is also a time traveler. Clare first meets Henry when she is 6 and Henry is 36. At this point in time, Henry is already married to Clare in his present to give you an idea of how this works. There lives carry on in this fashion with brief moments shared until their paths cross in each other's present times when they can form a life together and their time together becomes more stable and regular. But Henry's time travels continue leaving Clare to worry while he is away.

The spontaneity of Henry's appearances facilitate an intimacy between Clare and Henry that is pure beauty. Every second spent together is meaningful...nothing is wasted. There are other relationships between these characters...Henry and his father who was once an amazing violinist and is now an alcoholic who suffers from the loss of Henry's mother - a once famous opera singer. Clare and her mother - a mentally ill woman who is an elitist yet is a fragile poet behind closed doors...Gomez and Charisse, Clare and Henry's best friends who have been through everything with them....but in the middle of all of these relationships, Henry and Clare are still in the center.

Niffenegger paints a portrait that is real and raw in this novel...funny how a novel based on a time traveler can hold so much truth. There are moments of pure pain and heart ache..there are moments of pure joy...there's everything in between. There's passion, tears, fights, secrets, bruises, and smiles. I found myself overwhelmed at times when reading this novel. It begs the reader to become vulnerable...open yourself up...feel these emotions.

There are certain scenes that will haunt me, but in a good way...scenes powerful with love. Scenes that involve wings, scenes that involve Thai food, scenes that involve curling up together on a sofa. I've found myself doing quite a bit of self reflection since reading this book and just being amazed at how lucky I am...at the love that I have, the relationship I have...it may not be perfect, but no relationship is. But there is beauty in any relationship - in the tiny things..the little things that we forget to cherish...the little things that Clare and Henry cherish because they learn to cherish each moment.

As I said earlier, this novel has stayed with me all throughout the day while I have read it and I'm sure it will stay with me for days. This is one of the best books, if not the best, I have read this year. I can't believe it has been sitting on my shelf for so long. It makes me wonder what other treasures may be sitting there undiscovered.

I look forward to the rest of Niffenegger's career. She can count on me to buy her next book, Her Fearful Symmetry, which she is currently writing. You can check the FAQ on her website to read about it. She has two illustrated novels out as well that look interesting that you can find on Amazon. They've been described by many reviewers as similar to Edward Gorey. I may check those out. The first is The Three Incestuous Sisters and the second is The Adventuress.

Henry in the Prologue:

"And Clare, always Clare. Clare in the morning, sleepy and crumple-faced. Clare with her arms plunging into the papermaking vat, pulling up the mold and shaking it so, and so, to meld the fibers. Clare reading, with her hair hanging over the back of the chair, massaging balm into her cracked red hands before bed. Clare's low voice is in my ear often.

I hate to be where she is not, when she is not. And yet, I am always going, and she cannot follow."


Other Reviews:

Chris (Book-a-Rama)

Strike 1 On The Job Hunt

So I didn't even make it as far as the interview on the first one...here's the story:

When I first applied for this job it was in response to an ad in the paper that didn't list the company name, didn't say anything about the company except that they were hiring counselors and only listed the fax #. When I got a call back for an "interview" I googled their name and found that they don't have a website, and when I called back I was told by the receptionist that the company does not have voicemail. Ok, it may be a great company with a low budget who puts their money into their clients' well being.

I finally talk to the lady I'm supposed to interview with and she's less than friendly to put it nicely. As soon as I ask what the position is that's available (wasn't listed in the paper) she lets out a deep sigh and asks "what d'ya wanna know?" Me: "is it a full time position?" her: "we have full time, but we'd rather hire you part time....what's your degree in, I haven't looked at your resume?" Wow...

So I do some more research and find that the place is in a really bad part of New Orleans where the majority of our crime rate comes from next to a paycheck cashing place. The lady calls me today saying that she has to reschedule my interview for tomorrow. I tell her I can't take off of work on that short of a notice. She asks when's a better time....I ask if she can just mail me an application and some more details on the job...she says no (rudely)....I find out that I'm not counseling in an office, I'd be going into clients' homes...thinking this isn't really my kind of job and this hasn't been the greatest of experiences...I tell her I'll think more about it and call her back if I decide to continue with the process...she says that's fine.

Yeah, kinda glad that's over with. Oh well, that one obviously wasn't meant to be. On to bigger and better things....

Trip To The Bookstore And Mapping July

I've been so stressed lately and I'm not entirely sure why. I think it's just a number of things. Much of it is good stress, but good stress is stress none the less. I could sit here and ramble on about everything that's stressing me out, but that would only make me stress out even more...so instead, I'll talk about what I do to handle stress :) Well first of all, I tend to turn to books...duh...this usually involves buying books, which I did tonight. I didn't go overboard though...I used some control. The books of the night:

Kate Di Camillo's The Tiger Rising - I just had to read something else by her after the wonder Tale of Despereaux and this was all they had by her at Barnes and Noble. I may read this one tonight. Sounds great. By the way, if you're a DiCamillo fan, I highly recommend that you check out Carl's excellent review of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. It's the book that I really wanted to get by her tonight after reading his review...but they didn't have it :(

Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic - This is the first book in the Discworld series. Knowing Nymeth's love of Pratchett's Discworld novels and after Jean Pierre's Thud! review and resulting Discworld conversation, I just had to start this series! So here it goes!

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera - Nymeth wrote a wonderful review on this one and Robin described it as "the most passionate and intoxicating book I have ever read." Well, after that I had to read it! The girl at the register at B&N told me that Marquez is her favorite author, so I have really high expectations of this one! Looking forward to it and I can add this one to my Classics Challenge list.

SO...the other thing I do when I'm stressed out is plan, plan, plan and organize, organize, organize...I need structure and when life gets too out of hand, I go crazy trying to get everything back in place. So I've planned out July's reading :) I may not get all of this in as I have a friend coming in all next week and then the following week I FINALLY get to spend a week with Megan...but here's the plan:-Finish The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
-The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo (may read tonight)
-Siddhartha by Herman Hesse (for Classics Challenge)
-The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
-Crispin: The Cross of Lead by Avi (for Newbery Challenge)
-Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
-Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (bonus for Classics Challenge)
-AND Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (this one will be read on July 21st...trust me)

Keep your fingers crossed on Thursday for me...Job interview at 2!

10:4 Check In, Nice Editors, & Accomplishing Things

I just realized that it's time for a 10:4 Challenge check in...actually, yesterday was check in time but I forgot. This month wasn't so good, but it wasn't so bad...I lost 2 more pounds! Could've been better, but hey, there's still 2 more months left and I'm less than 2 pounds away from successfully completing the challenge which is to lose 10 pounds in 4 months. Of course, I could be much more successful and probably could've lost all of the wait by now if I didn't do things like reward myself for losing 2 pounds by shoving a donut down my throat...but hey, old habits die hard...

I got an email yesterday from Edmund Schubert, the editor of Intergalactic Medicine Show, Orson Scott Card's online webzine of fantasy and science fiction! He wanted to thank me for the mention on my blog of the webzine and informed me that Tor will be publishing an IGMS Anthology soon! Very cool! He also pointed me in the direction of his blog which is great, and I think that many of you would really enjoy it. It's called Side-Show Freaks and features essays from many great sci-fi/fantasy authors as well as some great slices of life and IGMS news. Check it out.

Today has been a day of trying to get things accomplished. I went to get my oil changed at the Honda dealership which proved to be such a pain in the ass. It took 2 1/2 hours to get my oil changed...at least I brought The Time Traveler's wife with me, so I got some reading done. Gassed up the car, got some coffee, got a very much needed haircut, came home and applied for 4 more jobs. So I feel like I've at least accomplished something today. Sometimes I just feel like I'm wasting away with no job, but days like today help...I enjoy checking things off of a list. And now back to more reading!