Novellas in November Update #2: Memories of my Melancholy Whores and a Vlog

Novellas in November continues! If you’re new to this concept, well, it’s pretty self-explanatory. Previous posts:

I was catching up on The Moonstone this week so I only finished one measly novella. And I vlogged! May I just say that I hate the word vlog?

Memories of my Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
memoriesofReminiscent of Love in the Time of Cholera but ickier due to 75 year age difference between the romantic leads, I’m not sure what to make of this book. Familiar themes of unrequited love, the passage of time, mortality, and love as disease and cure are here. Certain passages are so beautiful that they sweep away the reservations, but the reservations creep back in.

It’s not just that this 90 year old man falls in love and, well, sexually assaults a 15 girl old girl. It’s that the girl is an object, a thing to be projected on; to be named, and watched, and dressed and posed like a doll, and rejected and pined for. I am at once relived that the “Maestro” doesn’t consummate his passion (I don’t think he did, anyway) and disappointed that the girl is so loved but never gets to participate in any way other than as a passive… not even observer, because her eyes are always closed.

Someone suggested to me that this would not be a good choice for your first Marquez and I agree. Read Cholera first, then give this a try. Here are some quotes so you may judge for yourself.

Real talk, Marquez style:

I discovered that my obsession for having each thing in the right place, each subject at the right time, each word in the right style, was not the well-deserved reward of an ordered mind but just the opposite: a complete system of pretense invented by me to hide the disorder of my nature. I discovered that I am not disciplined out of virtue but as a reaction to my negligence, that I appear generous in order to conceal my meanness, that I pass myself off as prudent because I am evil-minded, that I am conciliatory in order not to succumb to my repressed rage, that I am punctual only to hide how little I care about other people’s time.

Not sure if this romantic or cheesy as hell:

Blood circulated through her veins with the fluidity of a song that branched off into the most hidden areas of her body and returned to her heart, purified by love. Before I left at dawn I drew the lines of her hand on a piece of paper and gave it to Diva Sahibí for a reading so I could know her soul.

Why you can’t resist those “OMG remember the 90s” Buzzfeed lists:

The adolescents of my generation, greedy for life, forgot in body and soul about their hopes for the future until reality taught them that tomorrow was not what they had dreamed, and they discovered nostalgia.

Vlog: Novellas in November Library Haul
One thing about having kids is you are almost never alone in your house, which makes vlogging rather difficult. I found myself alone for a couple hours on Friday and rather than do something rational like sleep , I decide to do this. Thanks for the inspiration, Fourth Street Review!

As always, thank you to Novellas in November host Another Book Blog! Chat with us at #NovNov on Twitter. 

Snap Scene: Picture Me Reading

Apparently using memes and GIFs is a “controversial” technique for reviewing books. While I’m certainly not clutching my pearls over this (I’ve used memes and GIFs myself,)  I agree with the article’s assertion that they can be overused and just as cliche as calling a book “staggering” or “unflinching” or whatever.

So, maybe you should create your own visuals. Yeah, you can take a picture of your copy of the book, but that’s pretty boring too. Why not take things a little further and recreate an entire scene? Or take a picture of something that evokes the ambiance or the theme of the story? This is the idea behind Snap Scene, an Instagram project from Jessica Kluthe, author of Rosina, The Midwife (my review here.) From Kluthe’s website:

What is Snap Scene? It’s a simple concept. It offers another way for a reader to encounter a story/book/novel: through a photograph (a “Snap Scene”) that illustrates an otherwise text-only scene. It will offer the viewer some value by taking the viewer inside the story, the novel, the book, the essay…

If you’re a writer/author, this is a great chance to connect with some new readers. If you’re a bookworm, this is a great chance to find your next read.

What do you need to do? Stage a scene that illustrates a passage from a book/novel/story/essay. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you please. Along with the scene, in the caption below the photo I’d like to include 3 – 4 sentences from passage that inspired your Snap Scene.

Here’s an example Snap Scene of Love Letters of the Angels of Death, reviewed here not so long ago:

“I love how his headstone is so elegant and simple,” you say, defying the prejudices of no one in particular. “Remember that when you’re ordering one for me, Brigs. I don’t want anything too fussy–no statues or angels or lambs.” “I thought gravestone lambs were just for dead babies.” You’re turning away from me, waving one hand. “Everyone’s the same age in heaven.” – From Jenn Quist’s Love Letters of Angels of Death.| #author submitted #snapscene| http://www.jenniferquist.com

To date, Snap Scene’s contributors have mostly been local authors promoting their own books, but I think the potential for reader participation is huge. It’s a cool way to share what you’re reading and help other people discover a new book that’s a little more creative than #FridayReads. It also reminds me of wildly popular Tumblr Slaughterhouse 90201, where literary quotes are juxtaposed with pop culture images, so the appetite for this kind of thing is there. Continue reading →

Novellas in November Update #1: Summer, The Pearl, The Night Before Christmas, and Bonjour Tristesse

Mini reviews for mini novels! See the start up post on Another Book Blog, and my introductory post here.

Summer by Edith Wharton
Summer

My rating: 5/5 stars
Goodreads
Synopsis:

A new Englander of humble origins, Charity Royall is swept into a torrid love affair with an artistically inclined young man from New York City, but her dreams of a future with him are thwarted.

I started reading Summer at the end of October so I could squeeze one last regular classic in before Novellas in November kicked off. I knew nothing about it except it was free on my Kobo. I quickly found out it was a novella. Score! Oh and it’s supposedly an erotic novella. Double score. And yeah, it was pretty hot! I mean, check out this filth:

All this bubbling of sap and slipping of sheaths and bursting of calyxes was carried to her on mingled currents of fragrance.

Bubbling sap indeed. And this:

A clumsy band and button fastened her unbleached night-gown about the throat. She undid it, freed her thin shoulders, and saw herself a bride in low-necked satin, walking down an aisle with Lucius Harney. He would kiss her as they left the church….She put down the candle and covered her face with her hands as if to imprison the kiss.

This book is part Tess of the D’Ubervilles, part VC Andrews’ Heaven and all kinds of awesome. Tess because of the pastoral and natural elements, and the fallen woman thing,  and Heaven because our heroine comes from dirt poor, likely inbred mountain folk and you know what they say, you can take the girl off the mountain…

Charity is such an interesting heroine because she’s selfish, flighty, and well, not that bright. Or at least not at all interested in intellectual pursuits. A realistic teenager, in other words. I’m always surprised by a non-bookish hero, and think that it must be difficult for a writer to get into that head space. Wharton nails it. This book was a delight and my I think it just knocked House of Mirth out of my “favourite Wharton” spot.

Here’s a lovely, more detailed review, if I haven’t convinced you to pick this up. Continue reading →

The Moonstone Read-Along: Post One (Introduction)

Moonstone

It’s time to start The Moonstone Read-Along, hosted by Ellie at Lit Nerd! I’m about 50 pages in to this behemoth and it was slow going for the first few chapters, but Betteredge, the hilarious butler and our narrator, has won me over.

My Copy
I’m reading the free Gutenburg on my Kobo. So far it’s not too bad (sometimes the freebies are riddled with formatting errors.)

I also shelled out $4.99 for a cheap paperback, as I’ll probably need to flip back when posting my reactions. Ereaders are great but I hope there’s a crack team of scientists somewhere working out the flipping issue because I am a flipper – backwards when I have a “who is this guy again” moment (often) and forward when I have a “I just need to make sure everything turns out ok!” panic attack.

What I Know About the Book
Nothing. Honestly nothing. I didn’t even know what the “moonstone” in question was till I started reading. Once I found out that it’s a humungous, yellow, cursed diamond,  I immediately thought, “hey didn’t JLo have a yellow diamond engagement ring and maybe that would explain a few things in her life?” This article rounds up celebrities that have famously worn yellow diamonds, including JLo, but check out the entry on Marilyn Monroe, with eerie similarities to The Moonstone:

“The incredible 24-carat yellow diamond, famously known as the Moon of Baroda, was worn by Monroe at the Hollywood premier of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The diamond belonged to the royal dynasty Gaekwad Maharajas and Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Reportedly to be cursed, the diamond was said to have been the source of Monroe’s misfortune and ultimately, her death.”

via pulpinternational.com

via pulpinternational.com

What I Know About the Author
Also nothing. I though he was a she until recently. Wilkie is a guy’s name, I guess!

What I Hope To Get Out of the Read-Along

  • Cross off another 1,001 Book
  • Cross off another Classics Club book. I actually had The Woman in White on my list, because the title reminded me of Days of our Lives. If you watched during the 90s you get it. I switched it out for The Moonstone because of this read-along.
  • Chat with some new book bloggers. I don’t know many of the participants, so I look forward to discovering some new blogs!

I’m chatting on #readWilkie Twitter and will do a mid-way post around November 16th.

Have you read The Moonstone? If you’re reading along, what do you think so far? 

Novellas in November: Introduction

Thanks to Another Book Blog for hosting this event – go read the intro post!

This isn’t one of those events with a million rules (thank god) but I think I will hold myself accountable by doing a weekly post on Sunday night(ish) recapping what I’ve read.

As the title suggests, the idea is to read lots of novellas. Naturally, my first thought was “what’s the criteria for a novella?” and the answer is, there is no answer. Some people say under 50,000 words. Some say less than 40,000. It’s not that easy to find word counts, so I’m going with page numbers and calling it 150ish.

All important questions.

Pretty sure I’ve actually Googled each of these at one time or another

On to the books! I have a few more on my Goodreads list, but here are the novellas I’m most excited about.

thepearl

The Pearl by John Steinbeck (90 pages)
I read The Pearl in 8th grade English. I wasn’t that taken with it, and didn’t read Steinbeck again until I was in my late 20s. I need to revisit this book with adult eyes.

thesuicideshop

The Suicide Shop by Jane Teule (169 pages)
The premise, which is exactly what it sounds like, appeals to the former goth teen in me. A bargain at $2.95 on Kobo.

thetestamentofmary

The Testament of Mary by Colm Toibin (96 pages)
Man Booker shortlisted, lots of buzz. Not shelling out $25 for the hardcover though. Library it is.

bonjourtristesse

Bonjour Tristesse by Francois Sagan (154 pages)
“Bonjour Tristesse scandalised 1950’s France with its portrayal of teenager Cécile, a heroine who rejects conventional notions of love, marriage and family to choose her own sexual freedom.” You had me at scandalised.

memoriesof

Memories of my Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (115 pages)
Do I really need a reason? The title and the author aren’t enough?

I’ll be chatting novellas at #NovNov on twitter. Join in and feel free to suggest other novellas that are must-read!

 

 

Reading Roundup: October 2013

October was a little slow, reading and blogging-wise, but I got bookshelves! This is a big deal. I haven’t had bookshelves in my room for five years. My bedroom finally feels like home. No more #shelfies of shame for me! I’m not quite done arranging everything, but here’s a quick peek at some of my favourites:

Favs

And the obligatory duck-faced, overexposed #shelfie:

ShelfieLaura

Book Events:

I met some very cool people this month:
Continue reading →

40 Below: Edmonton’s Winter Anthology edited by Jason Lee Norman

40 Below: Edmonton's Winter Anthology edited by Jason Lee Norman | Published in 2013 by Wufniks Press | Paperback: 205 pages | Source: Review copy from the editor

40 Below: Edmonton’s Winter Anthology edited by Jason Lee Norman | Published in 2013 by Wufniks Press | Paperback: 205 pages | Source: Review copy from the editor

My rating: 4/5 stars
 Goodreads

Synopsis:

40 Below is Edmonton’s Winter Anthology. Stories, poems, and essays about or inspired by winter in Edmonton.

Like many (most?) book bloggers, I have some writerly ambitions of my own. Last winter, I spent the tail end of my maternity leave picking away at a submission for the 40 Below anthology. There’s nothing like a new baby and a two-year-old to make you feel the isolation of an Edmonton winter, so my story wasn’t particularly positive. Nor was it particularly good. Earier this year I received a very nice, personalized rejection email from editor Jason Lee Norman (author of Americas, my review here.) I have absolutely no hard feelings (it was pretty bad) and really enjoyed the whole process of writing and revising. If nothing else, it gave me something to do at 2am other than the usual dead-eyed scrolling through Twitter.

I was excited to find out who did make the cut. It’s a who’s who of Edmonton writers, including a whole bunch who’ve been reviewed here on Reading in Bed: Michael Hingston, Jessica Kluthe, Diana Davisdon, and Jennifer Quist. Not that it’s all #yegwrites establishment. There are plenty of authors I’ve never heard of, and even a couple of kids. Variety is the strong point of the collection. With that in mind, here are a few of my picks:

  • Story that I related to on a personal level: Sirens by Diana Davidson. It actually resulted in a Twitter therapy session as two other Edmonton book bloggers and I read it around the same time. They both happen to be pregnant, and Davidson’s story is about a first-time mother struggling with postpartum depression in the dead of winter. I brought my first baby home in literal 40 Below weather and went through postpartum depression too. Davidson gets it just right and I was shaking at the end.
  • Favourite very short story, I’m talking 9 sentences: Moon Calling by Don Perkins. Mostly for the last sentence: “But that moment of the infant embracing its own future ripeness, that’s the moon that calls.” You have to read the other eight, trust me.
  • Story that’s really a parenting lesson: A Winter Lesson by Alan Schietzsch. That lesson? Go outside. Your kids don’t feel the cold.
  • Story that reminds you exactly of being a kid: Sandwich Season by Margaret MacPherson. Kids are weird and do weird things, just like in this story.
  • Story that I didn’t want to end: Conversation by Ky Perraun. I read it and then read it again because I need to know what happened!

This book is an obvious buy for anyone who is into the arts scene here in Edmonton, but I think it has some crossover appeal too. It’s actually a great gateway drug for people who don’t read short stories. The pieces tend to be very short, and the theme is very accessible, so it’s easy to dip in and out. It would be so cool if people in other Northern climates, or even those who don’t talk about wind chill for six month of the year, picked up this book. I’d love to read some non-local reactions. I also think it would make a great bathroom book and I mean that as a compliment.  I am very picky about what books are kept in my bathroom.

Oh and if you were wondering, my story was about my memories of New Years Eve 1997, when we got the first snow of the year and the temperature dropped from zero to minus twenty over the course of a few hours. I was out without a coat (because: teenager) and made a rash decision based on getting out of the cold that affected my life for years afterward. Maybe I’ll try to fix it up someday!

 I hear winter’s about to hit Edmonton this weekend. Should be plenty of snow on the ground for the two 40 Below launch events:

Thank you to the editor for sending me a review copy of this book!

PS: Reading in Winter reviewed it too. 

Stoner by John Williams

Stoner by John Edward Williams | Published in 2006 by NYRB (originally published in 1965) | Paperback: 278 pages | Source: Library

Stoner by John Williams | Published in 2006 by NYRB Classics (originally published in 1965) | Paperback: 278 pages |          Source: Library

My rating: 5/5 stars
 Goodreads

Synopsis:

William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known.

And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.

John Williams’s luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing, like a figure in a painting by Edward Hopper, in stark relief against an unforgiving world.

Stoner must be the most famous “under appreciated” book around. It seems that everywhere I look, a blogger or a literary critic is entreating us to give this forgotten classic a chance. It was reprinted by the highly regarded NYRB Classics in 2006, and just a few months ago was endorsed by Ian MacEwan. But, it’s not on any of those top 100 or 1001 lists, and its Wikipedia page is just a tragedy. And it did, predictably, make an appearance on BookRiot’s Most Underrated Books list.

Stoner was my Classics Club Spin pick, and it was from my “dreading it” list. I was intimidated, as the bloggers talking it up were all really smart and I was afraid I would be in over my head; and I was managing expectations, because the last time I got all excited because of a bookish-internet frenzy I was let down.

Oh, and I could tell from the blurb that this was going to be one of those “poor little privileged white dude is bored, cheats on his wife but feels really bad and conflicted about it, wah wah, epiphany of some sort, the end” stories. So there was that. And it absolutely is one of those stories. But, once I got over myself and started reading, I quickly realized that, like most people’s real lives, you can present William Stoner’s life as a happy story or a sad story, depending how you look at it:

  1. The “Quit Whining, Privileged White Dude” version: Stoner doesn’t have to fight in either world war. He loves literature, and is able to study it then teach it. He attains tenure, and so isn’t really at risk of losing his livelihood during the depression. He marries the first girl he ever asks out. They have a daughter without having to try too hard (more on THAT later.) He has a torrid mid-life love affair, but his marriage survives. He lives a quiet life and dies surrounded by his family.
  2. The “I Feel Really Bad Now” version: Stoner grows up in abject poverty. He alienates his parents when he goes to University, and alienates his friends when he chooses not to enlist in WWI. He discovers a love of literature but his career is mired in petty politics and he never achieves any real recognition. He marries a deeply damaged woman who seems wholly incapable of love. He enjoys a close relationship with his daughter until his wife cruelly turns her against him. He finally finds a woman he can love and is forced to give her up. His never reconciles with his wife, and his daughter descends into alcoholism. He dies a protracted, painful death, having never resolved any of these issues. Continue reading →

Readalong: Dragon Bound (Part Three)

dragonboundreadalongbutton-01 (1)

Why, god, why? Read this: Sign up post

I’m five days late with this post, which means no one will read it or comment on it, yet I’m up past my bedtime COMPELLED to sum up this experience. Not that I have much to say about the book. I’ll do my usual point form babbling below. It’s just that this book has made me question myself. Like Dragos, I feel that I don’t know myself anymore. Unlike Dragos, I will attempt to deal with this through writing rather than through kidnapping, murder, and boring, repetitive sex (who has the time, amiright?)

At various times in my blogging career, I’ve embraced, rejected, and mocked the “book snob” label, but overall, I’ve moved away from it. I’ve read articles about literary privilege and why adults read YA and I’ve challenged myself to read outside the classics/litfic genres. I’ve joined a book blogging community that really does embrace all kinds. My Edmonton crew of book bloggers have been instrumental in my attitude adjustment . I’ve been coming to the conclusion that snobdom in any form doesn’t really serve any purpose and usually just makes the snob look like a douchebag.

But. Continue reading →

Pilgrimage by Diana Davidson

Pilgrimage by Diana Davidson | Published in 2013 by Brindle & Glass | Paperback: 288 pages | Source: Review copy from the author

Pilgrimage by Diana Davidson | Published in 2013 by Brindle & Glass | Paperback: 288 pages | Source: Review copy from the author

My rating: 3.5/5 stars
Goodreads

Synopsis:

Pilgrimage opens in the deep winter of 1891 on the Métis settlement of Lac St. Anne. Known as Manito Sakahigan in Cree, “Spirit Lake” has been renamed for the patron saint of childbirth. It is here that people journey in search of tradition, redemption, and miracles.

On this harsh and beautiful land, four interconnected people try to make a life in the colonial Northwest: Mahkesîs Cardinal, a young Métis girl pregnant by the Hudson Bay Company manager; Moira Murphy, an Irish Catholic house girl working for the Barretts; Georgina Barrett, the Anglo-Irish wife of the hbc manager who wishes for a child; and Gabriel Cardinal, Mahkesîs’ brother, who works on the Athabasca river and falls in love with Moira. Intertwined by family, desire, secrets, and violence, the characters live one tumultuous year on the Lac St. Anne settlement; a year that ends with a woman’s body abandoned in a well.

Set in a brilliant northern landscape, Pilgrimage is a moving debut novel about journeys, and women and men trying to survive the violent intimacy of a small place where two cultures intersect.

If you ever need a reminder of why access to reliable birth control is so important, read this book. Today, women go on the pill in adolescence and have IUDs inserted as soon as postpartum healing allows. We send our partners to be “snipped” or we go to the corner store and choose from an array of gimmicky condoms of dubious “for her pleasure” claims. One hundred years ago, women were at the mercy of their fertility or lack thereof. Or, more to the point, they were at the mercy of the men that might make them pregnant. Diana Davidson takes us back in time, but not far from home, to tell us about three women whose lives were changed by pregnancy. Continue reading →