The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey

The Snow Child turned out to be a lovely, whimsical read and a perfect pick for the month of February. If you are looking for a book that is life-changing and earth-shattering, this is not your novel. But, if you want to immerse yourself in a story that will leave you gratified, this is it.

Mabel and Jack have recently moved to an Alaskan homestead in hopes of a simpler life. They are childless and begin to feel like something is missing in their relationship until the first snowfall of the season, when they venture outside laughing and playing, eventually building a snow child. She is complete with blonde hair, a knitted scarf, and matching wool mittens. The next morning the snow child is gone, but small footprints can be found from where she was built leading into the woods.

The Snow Child is inspired by a Russian fairy-tale of the same name. One of my favorite things about this book was the winter imagery. Ivey's picturesque winter landscape makes to want to move to a homestead in Alaska, far away from civilization so I can experience the pure beauty that this novel evokes. Considering I'm not really the outdoorsy type, that says a lot. It's clear that Ivey is quite familiar with snowy landscapes, as she was born and raised in Alaska. I also found it interesting that when the "snow child" speaks, her words are not marked by any quotation marks. This device lends itself to a further sense of mystery surrounding the child and an added since of delicacy and quietness. I felt that overall, the fantastical elements in this novel are subtle enough to feel like they just could be real.

Mabel was no longer sure of the child's age. She seemed both newly born and as old as the mountains, her eyes animated with unspoken thoughts, her face impassive. Here with the child in the trees, all things seemed possible and true.

As I mentioned above, this novel won't knock your socks off, but it is a sweet story. It is well-crafted and beautifully written, seamlessly pairing the realistic with the fantastical, the ethereal with the ragged. There is a strong since of place that permeates the entire novel so if you do read this novel, I urge you to read it in the winter months.

Eowyn Ivey is a bookseller in Alaska. This is her first novel.

Publisher: Reagan Arthur Books, 2012

Sh*t Book Reviewers Say

Ron Charles, a Washington Post book critic, compiled a video of key phrases used by book reviewers. This is funny stuff you guys. I dare you to watch this and not laugh.



Via Melville House

Some questions about reading, answered.

Image via Pretty Books

Red tagged me in this blogger meme and even though I'm not really going to follow all the rules, I wanted to take a minute to answer the questions she tagged to me. With all the talk about book on this blog I don't often take the time to get personal and talk about my life outside of my reading habits. (Ok fine 90% of these questions are about reading, but still!) So, a thanks to Alley at What Red Read for putting together this list of thoughtful questions. Here it goes:

1. What's your favorite bookish movie? (Movie based on a book, movie with literary tendencies, whatever)
Hands down Stranger Than Fiction staring Will Ferril. The movie isn't based on a novel, but the plot revolves around the idea that the main character, Harold Crick, is suddenly at the center of a novel. He can hear his life being narrated out loud and begins a quest to find out if his life is a trageity or a comedy. Tons of bookish fun in this one. Seriously you should watch the trailer here if you haven't seen the movie.

2. How often do you re-read books?

Not as often as I feel that I should. I've been reading a lot about rereading lately, here and there, and I'm really starting to understand its importance. I'm hoping to start incorporating more rereading into my reading diet, but it's tough for me because I think about all the books I haven't even read once yet and I'd like to make time for those too. Maybe I'll save rereading until I'm a little older...

3. What's your favorite reading spot?

In the summer I love to read outside on the patio. In the winter I like to read on my bed.

4. Which season is your favorite?

I enjoy Autumn more than any other season. There is something about the crisp air when the leaves start to fall that elates me. I enjoy putting on a light jacket after a hot winter and enjoying the cool air.

5. What's your profile picture?

Pictured on the right.

6. What's your ideal meal?

I'm a sucker for Mediterranean food. An ideal meal would be falafel, hummus, babaganoush, tabbouleh, roasted vegatables, anything with spinach and feta combined and a big fat side of tzatziki. I'm also an eggplant fanatic so anything with eggplant in it and I'm on it. Also pesto. I'm generally a fan of anything with pesto on it.

7. What's your guilty pleasure TV show, movie, book?

I am the first one to admit that when I do watch tv, it's trashy tv. I keep up with the Kardashians and the real housewives of most cities. I watch True Blood in the summer and reruns of Gilmore Girls year round. I also really like Pawn Stars on the history channel and Storage Wars on A&E.

8. How do you like to spend a rainy day?

Reading of course.

9. Do you have any good Tumblrs to recommend?

Why yes I do! I really enjoy the surge in Ryan Gosling tumblrs over the last year, and I'm a huge fan of Slaughterhouse 90210. I also like PrettyBooks and BookOasis if I'm looking for images of books and reading.

10. If you like to cook (or bake), what's your favorite thing to make?

I'm not a superstar in the kitchen, but if I do find myself there I enjoy making breakfast; spinach feta omelets, rosemary potatoes, eggs florentine, and arugula salads are my favorites.

11. Do you have a big TBR list? Or do you wait until you're done with your current book to buy (or borrow from the library) your next reads?

I keep a running list of books I'd like to buy. I consult it whenever I go book shopping. As far as the books I own that I haven't read, I've probably got about 40. I've been making an effort to buy fewer books and read more of the books I already own. Some weeks I do really well and others not so much. I'm not too worried about it though. I've heard of people who have thousands of unread books on the TBR pile. As long as I never get to that point I'm ok with a short stack of unread books.

Feel free to answer this set of questions on your own blog.

Night by Elie Wiesel

"Never shall I forget that night, that first night in camp, which turned my life into one long night..."

This is a hard book to review because of its sheer power and emotional impact it had on me. When it comes to non-fiction that is this harrowing, I question how justified I am in critiquing it at all. Short answer: I'm not. Instead I'll express the facts. Night is one man's story of his experiences in concentration camps during World War II. Elie Wiesel won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968 for his "message of peace and commitment to embrace all repressed peoples and races." Sharing his experience in WWII concentration camps was Wiesel's first step in his call for peace and tolerance toward Jews and other persecuted religious and racial groups.

The title "Night" works on a few different levels. Most simply, it's a metaphor for the sense of darkness that permeated Nazi controlled Europe, signifying the idea that the days felt like night because of the gloom and despair that continuously pervaded day to day life. There was also a reoccurring theme of disappearing into the night, being taken from the places you once called home without a trace. The novel reads like fiction, communicating the horrific cruelty that the human race is capable of and the incredible instinct to survive in a nearly hopeless situation.

Night. No one was praying for the night to pass quickly. The stars were but sparks of the immense conflagration that was consuming us. Were this conflagration to be extinguished one day, nothing would be left in the sky but extinct stars and unseeing eyes.

Needless to say, Night does not end on a hopeful note. Wiesel states, "One day when I was able to get up, I decided to look at myself in the mirror on the opposite wall. I had not seen myself since the ghetto. From the depths of the mirror a corpse was contemplating me. The look in his eyes as he gazed me never left me." This was a tough book to read; its an intensely disturbing account of torture and trauma, physically and mentally. I was thankful it was on the shorter side because I honestly don't know that I could handle a 300-plus page novel so intense. Wiesel's followup to the book, Dawn, was published in 1960. I can only hope (and loosely assume based on its title) that he was able to begin to cope with the horrific experiences he endured.

I read this for the classics challenge, fulfilling a classic literature in translation.

Publisher: Hill and Wang, 1955

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned thirty-five, he'd have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day. The reality, though, is far different. He's got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he's written a novel, but the manuscript he's slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords, his pretentious archnemesis Gregory, and a hopeless, completely inappropriate crush on his favorite coworker. Oh . . . and his dog, according to the vet, is suffering from acute anxiety.Tom's life is crushing his soul, but he's decided to do something about it. (Really.) "Domestic Violets" is the brilliant and beguiling story of a man finally taking control of his own happiness--even if it means making a complete idiot of himself along the way.

Novels satirizing corporate America have been done many times over. I was worried the theme would feel overdone, like a reworking of a book I have already read. Lucky for me, this wasn't the case at all. Domestic Violets was a fresh take on the disillusionment of corporate america and the "40-hour prison sentence." It had me laughing out loud and really rooting for Tom. I hoped he would figure out the obstacles holding him back and keeping him from growing to his full potential. (Not only is Tom struggling in the workplace, he is also falling short in the bedroom.) I wanted to see him succeed and I wanted him to be happy. I found myself concerned with his future, his marriage, and his career. Of course Tom is flawed and we watch him make mistakes along the way, some ridiculous and some reasonable.

As it turns out, the novel is much more than a satire on corporate American. It also highlights the complications and oddness of modern family life, and the oddness of modern life itself. It's about not getting to where you thought you'd be at a certain point in your life and making the most out of where you are. It's about figuring out who you are and how you can get to where you'd like to be, and the struggles you face along the way.

I am next to her, listening to her. I want to touch her but I can’t, because she’ll wake up and I’ll have to explain this. I want to touch her, but I can’t, because I’m angry at her and she’s angry with me, and even though I love her, I don’t like her as much as I should. She’s right next to me. I’m alone and she’s alone. We have never been farther apart.

Because the central characters of this book are writers, there are a handful of jokes that center around famous authors and literary references. Those jokes were among my favorites. Overall, this is a funny and clever book. Norman's voice is fresh and cutting. I don't think it's a must read, but I did enjoy the novel very much. If you are looking for a humorous, intriguing plot, fully realized characters and some literary humor, this one is for you.

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2011

Ryan Gosling works in publishing.

My new favorite tumblr not to be missed, Ryan Gosling works in publishing. Why not? Maybe he could.

Other notable bookish Ryan Gosling tumblrs:

Hey girl. I like the library too. 

Ryan Gosling is an English major.

Shakespearean Ryan Gosling.

Well-Read Ryan Gosling.

11/22/63 by Stephen King

On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed forever. If you had the chance to change the course of history, would you? Would the consequences be worth it? Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the students—a gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunning’s father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk. Not much later, Jake’s friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insane—and insanely possible—mission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jake’s new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake’s life—a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

This was my introduction to Stephen King and I wasn't sure what to expect. He's certainly been at the forefront of the literary world for quite sometime, but considering that some of the other authors who regularly make the bestsellers list over and over rub me the wrong way, I didn't know if I'd be sold. Turns out, the guy is brilliant; 11/22/63 was freaking awesome. The only thing I knew about this novel before I started it was that 1. it made the New York Times Ten Best Books of 2011 list and 2. it was about a man who traveled back in time in attempt to stop the assassination of JFK. Part of the delight of reading this book, for me, were the surprises of our main character's journey itself, not knowing what would happen next, and the nuances of King's version of time travel. Keeping this idea in mind, I am going to refrain from giving too much away in this review.

The premise of the novel is what initially drew me to this book, but in the end the reasons I adored it so much was not because it was a time travel novel (I'm a serious sucker for those) but because it was truly moving and really made me think. The idea that "the past is obdurate" gives Jake all sorts of problems when he travels back in time, as if he has to work against the universe itself to change the past. And then there is the question of the butterfly effect; by changing something in the past what will you alter in the future? Ultimately, does one's manipulation of the future prove to be worth it after its ramifications surface? How tightly are the past the present woven together and is there truly a destiny for each of us? Though the novel takes place in two different decades there are universal ideas that doesn't change over time, namely love, loss, trust and nostalgia.

“We never know which lives we influence, or when, or why.”

I enjoyed my time in the "land of ago," a time before cell phones and internet, when the soda tasted sweeter and the pies were creamier. The novel as a whole is well researched masterfully plotted. The end notes are worth reading as well. Here King explains that he started to write this novel in the 70's but set it aside after deciding it was "too soon" after JFK's assassination, choosing to return to the novel after his career was more established. He also touches on the fact that it was never 100% proven Lee Harvey Oswald was the one who killed JFK - many speculate he didn't work alone, or that he didn't have anything to do with it at all. King spent plenty of time researching these claims, citing what he believed are the most noteworthy books about the subject. After years of research, King claims he is 98% certain, sometimes 99%, that Oswald was the one who did it.

One other thing I want to metion - if you are put off by this book because of it's length, don't be. I can honestly say this novel does not feel as long as the pages it holds (849) and by the time you finish you will wish it was longer because you don't want it to be over. It has taken me longer to read a slow 300 page novel than it did for me to finish King's tome. If you are interested in the novel, just pick it up and forget its length! This book is nothing short of incredible.

A big thanks to my sister who gifted this book to me for Christmas.

Publisher: Scribner, 2011

January Reading

For me, January is usually reserved for reading larger books and the novels I was excited to get on Christmas morning. (And those I bought with the B&N gift cards I recieved.) There is something about the cold weather and early dark nights that makes staying home and reading so enjoyable.

In January I reviewed a short story collection, Love Begins in Winter by Simon van Booy. I actually finished up reading it at the end of December and despite the title that is pretty spot on for the season in which I read it, the collection overall fell short for me. Then I picked up a lovely book by bookstore owner and blogger Michael Popek entitled Forgotten Bookmarks. Similar to his blog where he details the array of treasures he finds in used books, this was a unique and fun read. Then I moved on to something a little a lot heavier, Native Son, which turned out to be AHmazing. I finished this weeks ago and I still find myself thinking about it. If you haven't read this one yet I suggest you add it to your TBR. For real. Following that fantastic classic I hit Q: A Novel, which was not awesome. My sister got it for me for Christmas and I felt aweful that I didn't like it. But I was the one who asked for it in the first place, so I was the only one to blame. But then I picked up the other book she got me, 11/22/63 and fell head over heels obsessed with it. This book is Impressive with a capital I. (review coming soon) I also read The Western Lit Survival Kit, which proved to be a nice refresher of all those classics I studied back in college. I'll be keeping that one around to reference for sure.

Books read this month: 5
Page numbers read this month: 2,165

So there you have it. In February I hope to read another novel for the classics challenge (Native Son was my first) and get started on something for the Smooth Criminals challenge. I bought The Post Man Always Rings Twice a few weeks ago, so I'll probably start with that. I'm also really excited about the book The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey, which was released in the US today. I first heard about it when Dog Ear Disks reviewed it, and I just might use what's left of my last B&N gift card from Christmas to pick it up.

image via Pretty Books