I Love Books!

Chocolat by Joanne Harris

I'm re-reading Chocolat, one of my all-time favorites.  I found it by chance when I was changing planes in Minneapolis or Houston or Detroit on my way to somewhere else.  I finished another book on the first leg of the flight and didn't want to make the next connection without something new to read.  I grabbed Chocolat at the airport bookstore as I was rushing to the next gate.  What a find!  Often these quickly snagged books are just distracting, and occasionally entertaining.  But, I was delighted with my choice. 

Harris' writing style drew me in immediately.  The mystical nature of Vianne's chocolate creations -- her way of interacting with people, juxtaposed against the unyielding, hard-hearted priest.  I wanted to re-read it, not only because I enjoyed it so much the first time, but because I wanted to look closer at how Harris developed her characters in the first-person narrative.  She uses lots of flash-backs to round out the characters, as well as other interesting writing devices to tell the story.  It's magical.

P.S.  The movie is a wonderful adaptation.  It keeps the magic and lightness while telling the story.  Plus Juliette Binoche makes a beautiful Vianne and Johnny Depp is handsome as ever as the rogue Roux.

Darwinism and Blogging

I tried using intelligent design when I started this blog.  I thought about what I wanted to do, why I wanted to do it, the best way to go about it.  Then, I created it.  Granted that only took me about 87 seconds, but there was thought and a certain something mystical that can’t be explained by natural selection.  And now, I realize it wasn’t enough, so, in case anyone’s been paying attention, I’m letting Darwinism do it’s thing.  That’s right, we’re evolving.

What’s really prompted this change is that I’ve been wanting to write about writing.  But I can’t do too much of it on my coaching blog, because that’s about coaching.  And I couldn’t do it here, because this is supposed to be about reading. 

So what can I do?  Start yet another blog, and let them all go into dormancy due to the overwhelming thought of trying to keep up with three different blogs?  No!  We’re standing up just a little straighter around here, and we’re making this about whatever strikes our fancy.  And by we, I mean me, unless some of you readers start commenting. 

So, I re-welcome you to I Love Books – a title that still works because it’s still true.  It’s just that now I’m going to include writing about my manuscript, which I hope to be a book some day, and whatever pops into my kooky little head and distracts me from reading, writing and coaching.

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen Part II

Okay, so apparently it was just me.  Everyone else in my bookclub thought that the impossibility of carrying water for elephants was explained well enough in the book.  I guess somehow I expected a greater revelation.  Incidentally, just about all of us really enjoyed the book.

We had a visitor (one member's mother-in-law) at the get together whose daughter and son-in-law toured with circus elephants.  She recounted some of their real-life experiences, which other than having occurred much more recently, weren't all that different.  Although, thankfully, it seems the treatment of both the people and animals has improved dramatically. 

First Person Narrative

I've just checked out a stack of books from the library.  It's an eclectic pile, including:  The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood, Chocolat by Joanne Harris, The Great Gatsby, Goodnight Nobody by Jennifer Weiner and Anybody Out There? by Marian Keyes.  The one thing they all have in common is first person narration. 

I'm interesting in seeing how different writers create fully developed characters using first person.  The last book I read, Water for Elephants, was also written in first person.  As I mentioned in that review, Gruen did an amazing job of creating interesting characters. 

Do you have any favorite first person narratives I should add to the stack?

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

For everyone who wanted to run away and join the circus, Water for Elephants: A Novel may be the closest you'll ever get.  And, after reading it, you'll probably be thankful you didn't go, at least not in the 1930s. 

From the prologue to the final chapter, Gruen draws you into the world of the big top and midway, the trains, even the assisted living center where the 90-some year old protagonist, Jacob Jankowski, is placed by his children.  The characters are engaging, the kind you want to talk about as if you know them.  I'm so glad this is my bookclub's choice for this month.  I can't wait to talk about it next week.

The only disappointment I have with this book, is that early on, there's an incident about carrying water for elephants.  Jankowski, calls a fellow assisted living inmate a liar when he tells the table that he carried water for elephants.  I expected the reason he was so sure he was a liar to get fleshed out a little more in the story, although everything else was so engrossing, it's a real possibility that I missed it.

Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior, by Dan Millman

Wisdom of the Peaceful Warrior: A Companion to the Book That Changes Lives is a quick read and a great follow-up to the original book, Way of the Peaceful Warrior: A Book That Changes Lives which I wrote about here.  It is written in a very simple manner.  With a quote from the original text and additional information or answers to questions.  Written 25 years after the original, it seems to cover the most common questions Millman has been asked over the years.

It seemed like this could be akin to a magician revealing his secrets.  While answering a lot of my questions, enough mystery remained that I could remain intrigued by the original text.  And have a unique, personal experience with it. 

Now, I'm curious about the movie.  Has anyone seen it?

The Jane Whitefield Series, by Thomas Perry

This collection of thrillers focuses on protagonist Jane Whitefield.  She's half-Seneca Indian and helps guide people out of trouble and into new lives.  She creates new identities for her clients, helps them run from whoever is pursuing them, and establish new lives.  There's no charge for her services, and she doesn't advertise.  Word travels about her special talents and the recipients of them give her a "gift" at some point in the future.  She uses her Native American background and instincts in her work.

I generally don't go in for thrillers and suspense -- I either get scared and want to make sure the bad guy gets it in the end, or I just can't wait to find out what happens.  Either way I end up reading through days and nights to finish the book as quickly as possible.  Of course, that's exactly what makes a good beach or plane read!  And, all the books in this series fit the bill.  Plus, once again, I get to indulge my fondness of getting to revisit characters in multiple books.

The series includes:

Vanishing Act

Dance for the Dead

Shadow Woman

The Face-Changers

Blood Money