Happy Mother's Day

To my mom (known as Khymom to everyone else in the internet world), who still tells me what books I got in the mail, what birds have flown onto the top of our house, and that she loves me every day, even though I'm in college three hours ahead and three thousand miles away.

College's been rough, and I'm excited to go back to California for a break. It's hard to love people in New York City but easy amidst sunshine you don't have to earn.

I love you, Mom, and can't wait to see you.

the aforementioned bird

Hi.

I felt the need the post today, because I miss my blog, you, and reading. The only things I've read recently are books for my Russian history class, but those have actually been awesome.

I've read:

Notes From the Underground by Fyoder Dostoyevsky 

A classic, and understandably so. Awesome unreliable narrator. Angsty in all the best ways. 

“I could not become anything; neither good nor bad; neither a scoundrel nor an honest man; neither a hero nor an insect. And now I am eking out my days in my corner, taunting myself with the bitter and entirely useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot seriously become anything, that only a fool can become something.” 

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin

A clear inspiration for Orwell's 1984 and in many ways I liked it even more. (But maybe that's because I haven't read 1984 since my freshman year of high school, and I'm almost done with my freshman year of college now, and, whoa, coming full circle, existential crisis, etc.) Wonderfully developed society, with a really cool tension between emotion and a lack thereof because of the rather cold, calculated, scientific way the characters approach things despite all the feelings bursting out of them. Fantastic ending, too. 

“A man is like a novel: until the very last page you don't know how it will end. Otherwise it wouldn't be worth reading.” 

Heart of Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov 

Absolutely strange and nonsensical, but that just makes it more interesting. I liked it more for the historical context rather than the story, though, especially the ending. Got to love those endings that aren't all prettily tied up. 

“Kindness. The only possible method when dealing with a living creature. You'll get nowhere with an animal if you use terror, no matter what its level of development may be. That I have maintained, do maintain and always will maintain. People who think you can use terror are quite wrong. No, no, terror is useless, whatever its colour – white, red or even brown! Terror completely paralyses the nervous system.” 

My Russian reading adventures have been good, but I'd like to return to some of my normal reading and blogging. Soon! Until then, enjoy my current favorite song. 

Somewhere out there, four walls surround you. 

Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

[description from goodreads]

In the remarkable, bizarre, and heart-wrenching summer before Cullen Witter’s senior year of high school, he is forced to examine everything he thinks he understands about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town. His cousin overdoses; his town becomes absurdly obsessed with the alleged reappearance of an extinct woodpecker; and most troubling of all, his sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother, Gabriel, suddenly and inexplicably disappears.

Meanwhile, the crisis of faith spawned by a young missionary’s disillusion in Africa prompts a frantic search for meaning that has far-reaching consequences. As distant as the two stories initially seem, they are woven together through masterful plotting and merge in a surprising and harrowing climax.

This extraordinary tale from a rare literary voice finds wonder in the ordinary and illuminates the hope of second chances.

Review:

I generally make an effort to read Printz winners, but it took me an inordinately long time to get around to Where Things Come Back even though I've seen so many of my friends enjoy it. I think I waited a bit too long, because as time progressed, so did my expectations. While I did find plenty to like in it, there's enough I didn't that I was left feeling rather ambivalent.

Starting with the positives, though: this book comes together in a stunning, intelligent way. The two stories it follows are so different that for a while they seem completely unrelated, but they come together in the most natural way despite any extreme events either contain. I wish I could say more, but it's really best experienced as a surprise, especially the powerful ending. The stories come together well because of the events, but they also fit because the writing style remains similar despite the differing perspectives. There's a bit of a folktale vibe going on, and mixed with the country setting, religion, and importance of nature, the entire book has a very cool, atmospheric feel.

However, with all these positives come drawbacks. The atmospheric writing is just that, but I often felt that the writing was stylized in an attempt to make the subject matter more complex, which does not work well. Where Things Come Back really does try to tackle religion, family, home, and a multitude of other complex issues, but because there are so many that don't always overlap between the two stories, that they fall flat. Not even the most beautiful writing can make up for that. One big example of this is the issue of the woodpecker; it's a cool premise, one that could have led to much commentary about the town itself, but I actually kept forgetting it was a plot point because it was so far in the background. I do appreciate that Cullen, the narrator, has enough other things on his mind to move beyond the preoccupations of his town, but his home's so important to who he is that I thought the woodpecker would play a different role.

I'd have to call Where Things Come Back a valiant effort; I loved some of the things this book did, but everything else, despite all the attempts at something profound, fell flat for me.

Book details: Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Paperback/$8.99

Source: borrowed

This Is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith

[description from goodreads]

If fate sent you an email, would you answer?

When teenage movie star Graham Larkin accidentally sends small town girl Ellie O'Neill an email about his pet pig, the two seventeen-year-olds strike up a witty and unforgettable correspondence, discussing everything under the sun, except for their names or backgrounds. 

Then Graham finds out that Ellie's Maine hometown is the perfect location for his latest film, and he decides to take their relationship from online to in-person. But can a star as famous as Graham really start a relationship with an ordinary girl like Ellie? And why does Ellie want to avoid the media's spotlight at all costs? 

Review:

Jennifer E. Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight remains one of my go-to happy-making reads. It was a book I was surprised to love so much, and I've been subconsciously searching for something to make me as happy as that one ever since. I'm starting to think nothing ever could, but some things, like This Is What Happy Looks Like, come close. 

What prevents Happy from being on Statistical level is that from the get-go, this book made me happy. The novel opens with Graham and Ellie's emails to each other, and after the first page I was already thinking "this is so cute stop it my heart cannot handle how adorable this is stooop." I don't remember that happening with Statistical; it was more of a gradual love, while Happy jumps right in to the characters' relationship. It's a nice change from novels that start so slowly, but my heart is not used to being captured so quickly by characters I hardly know. I'm not sure I would have preferred a little more delay in romance because I enjoyed seeing the relationship escalate after the initial email chain is over, but it would have been nice to get to know the character independent of one another first, I think, especially because of some of the aspects of their lives that cause problems later.

Similarly, I think it would have been nice to get to know some of the minor characters better. Ellie's best friend Quinn, for example, is rather important to the story line, but for a while she is so out-of-the-loop that when she finally comes back in to the story some of her and Ellie's interactions did not make much sense because of how supposedly good their friendship was. I also wanted more from the minor characters because they help balance out the story. Although I loved seeing Ellie and Graham's relationship unfold because of how many genuine feelings they have for one another, it is always nice to get another story so that there was not an overwhelming amount of heartache caused by both Graham and Ellie's cuteness and their struggles. 

There were many moments where I wanted more from the minor characters, but the main characters and their beautiful, emotional relationship make This Is What Happy Looks Like one happy-making read anyway.

Book details: Poppy/Hardcover/$17.99

Source: gift 

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell

[description from B&N]

Bono met his wife in high school, Park says.
So did Jerry Lee Lewis, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be, she says, we’re 16.
What about Romeo and Juliet? 
Shallow, confused, then dead. 
I love you, Park says.
Wherefore art thou, Eleanor answers.
I’m not kidding, he says.
You should be. 

Set over the course of one school year in 1986, this is the story of two star-crossed misfits—smart enough to know that first love almost never lasts, but brave and desperate enough to try. When Eleanor meets Park, you’ll remember your own first love—and just how hard it pulled you under.

Review:

Recently, I was browsing through the bookstore and picked up this book because it has cute cover and lyrical title before putting it back down again. A few days later John Green reviewed it in the New York Times, and when I went back to the bookstore they had sold out of all their copies. Suddenly everyone I know was reading it, so I jumped on the bandwagon sooner rather than later. And I'm glad I did, because, yes, this book really is that good.

Knowing that Eleanor and Park will eventually fall in love made this book better rather than having it act as a spoiler because it made me appreciate just how slowly and beautifully their relationship grows. For while, they're merely friends, and I love that. Of course, knowing what would happen in the end made all their intentions seem beyond friendship, but really, at first, there is just a special connection between the two rather than a stronger sense of attraction. It's a sweet thing to witness, especially as the book delves more into lives of Eleanor and Park beyond just their relation to each other. They both have their share of issues, whether with family or friends, some of which were not developed as fully as I would have liked, but still presented themselves strongly. I especially liked reading about Park's family, for his parents play a larger role than I've seen parents play in most books, and the sense of normalcy that comes from the presence contrasted with the angst they bring to him and Eleanor makes for an interesting dynamic.

Another beautiful thing about Eleanor & Park is the way it's written. It's third person, rotating between the two leads, but it never has the emotional barrier I sometimes feel with third person books. It follows the thoughts of the Eleanor and Park so closely that I always knew how they were feeling, and the quick changes between characters, rather than seeming choppy, enhanced the story by revealing just what each character thought of one another. And what really impresses me about the writing is that it so easily could have been twee, with it's simple sentences and often quirky metaphors, but it never felt that way because of the genuine emotion present throughout.

Certain parts of Eleanor & Park could have been better developed, and to be quite honest I'm also not the biggest fan of the ending, but the love between the two characters, and the characters themselves, are so genuine and emotional that I'm a big fan.

Book details: St. Martin's Griffin/Hardcover/$18.99

Source: bought

Classics: Les Misérables

Over winter break, when Les Mis madness was in full swing due to the movie adaptation, I finally decided to read the copy of the book that had been sitting in my room for years. It was a long endeavor since my copy clocked in at around 1,400 pages, but I did it! Eventually. Not that I read it slowly because it was a chore to get through-- though it sometimes was-- but just because it's so massive.

As far as musical theater and the most recent adaptation of the story go, I'm actually not a huge Les Mis fan. I'm going to have to say that the book is my favorite of any version of the tale by far, but whether that's because I found its differences from the musical very interesting or if it would have been as good on its own I cannot say. However, no matter, for I was endlessly fascinated by this much fuller tale.

I did not realize how different the book would be, but because the first 70 or so pages follow the Bishop (rather than Jean Valjean), I quickly gathered that this would be very different. Although the section on the Bishop (or the sections of French history or any of the many unnecessarily long and drawn out expositional portions) was often uninteresting, overall I was impressed with the amount of detail that the novel includes. There's so much more to be known about each of the characters, even simple things like the fact that Gavroche is a Thenardier, and I really appreciate the nuances the book conveys that the musical simply has no time to include. Some things, like Javert's fixation on Valjean, still never became clear to me, but other things, like Cosette's relationship with Marius made sense with context.

Plus, I was rather impressed with the writing. For a novel with a plot so integral to the work as a whole, scenes of action never become more important than such beautiful writing"

“You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. & great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. & even loved in spite of ourselves.”*

*The quote formatting is janky but that's what's on goodreads so I'm going to go with it. 

34 Pieces of You by Carmen Rodrigues

[description from goodreads]

A dark and moving novel about the mystery surrounding a teenage girl’s fatal overdose.

There was something about Ellie... Something dangerous. Charismatic. Broken. Jake looked out for her. Sarah followed her lead. And Jess kept her distance, and kept watch.

Now Ellie’s dead, and Jake, Sarah, and Jess are left to pick up the pieces. All they have are 34 clues she left behind. 34 strips of paper hidden in a box beneath her bed. 34 secrets of a brief and painful life.

Jake, Sarah, and Jess all feel responsible for what happened to Ellie, and all three have secrets of their own. As they begin to confront the darkest truths about themselves, they will also find out what Ellie herself had been hiding all along....

Review:

If I had a nickel for every novel about death I've read, I wouldn't be rich, but I would have a lot of nickels. And 34 Pieces of You is kind of just another five cents to me-- it's not a bad read by any means, but I don't find it to be amazing either. 

As happens with many books that feature more than one narrator, the multiple perspectives in 34 Pieces of You are both a strength and a weakness. The strength, of course, lies in the fact that the story really is enhanced by so many points of view. Because Jake, Sarah, and Jess all have such strong connections to Ellie, and to each other, that even in their most brief chapters they convey at least some of vast emotional trauma they have experienced in response to her death. I wish they overlapped a bit more, but I do like that all three characters are in such different places. Maybe that's because Jake goes to NYU so I feel a bond there, but I think the different settings allowed for more variation in exploring the consequences of Ellie's death; I am glad I didn't have to read about three angsty high schoolers dealing with the same thing in the same way. Still, a bit more overlap would have been nice, especially since some chapters deal with the past, and between that and the quick perspective changes, it was sometimes difficult to connect with whoever was speaking.

The thing that always strikes me most about novels involving dead people is the dead person in question; I vastly prefer them to be a character in his or her own right, and I felt like Ellie walks a fine line between overly exaggerated and realistic. Most of the flashbacks portray her in a rather negative light, and I do so love the unlikable characters but I could not always get behind the characters' decisions to stick with the girl. Still, between the flashbacks and the titular "34 pieces" included every few pages, I got a good sense of why the other characters were so affected by her death, even if I couldn't always see her actual appeal. 

34 Pieces of You has some solid characters and emotional depth, but I couldn't always connect fully because of the rapid changes in perspective. 

Book details: Simon Pulse/Hardcover/$16.99

Source: sent by publisher for review