Water for Elephants

I finished re-reading Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen yesterday. I hadn't read it in a couple of years (before the movie came out) and people were talking about it at work so I decided to re-read it. It isn't a bad book, Gruen clearly put a lot of research into getting the Depression-era details right. But, 90 or 93-year-old Walter is my favorite character. Maybe it is his flaws, but he seems the most well-constructed part of the book. The Depression-ear Walter and Marlena's love story is cute, but seems forced or rushed in places. One minute they kiss and the next minute they are in love with only a few sentences of inner-dialogue from Walter inbetween.

I do love (and hate) the fact that the book focuses so much on animals. I am a huge animal love and animal rights supporter (not so far as PETA, but I love animals) so the treatment of some of the animals is absolutely heart-breaking to read. The same goes for the human treatment, but as it is couched in the Great Depression and framed as either the circus or starving their treatment doesn't seem as bad (or I am completely desensitized to it). The scene after August uses the bull whip on Rosie and they have to treat her wounds is one of the most devastating to me. I have used riding crops and whips on horses before so I understand that they are teaching aids, but the idea that you would use them so much that they would puncture skin just shakes me to the core. I couldn't even imagine striking an animal that hard.

The discussions about the treatment of humans and animals is the real reason to read the book, for me. The story isn't bad, mostly just predictable. For fans of Nicholas Sparks and The Notebook it is definitely the kind of book that could be enjoyed, but for me it just feel short of what I thought I might feel re-reading it.

Boredom

Time to switch it up here on the blog. The book that I am going to review next is called Boredom: A Lively History by Peter Toohey. It is a very interesting book on something that is super painful. It uses a really interesting series of references including Emma and a various paintings that depict people being bored.

It also made me wonder about how often I get bored and why. I am constantly on my laptop or washing tv but I seem to be bored because I'm not stimulated. Somehow I feel as this should worry me... but it doesn't. Maybe that is what the book taught me. Boredom happens, but sometimes you just have to go with it.

Peter Pan

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.” -- Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie

Peter Pan and Wendy 1915 Cover

Peter Pan is one of the true classics, both in book form and Disney movie form that everyone seems to love. I am included in that list. Mostly because I love J.M. Barrie's style of writing. I don't know if it distinct to him or to the time period but no matter which of the Peter Pan incarnations by Barrie I read I always know it is one of his works. The original Peter and Wendy is my favorite, but the sequels are good when I need to reminisce. I also love the characterization of Smee in the book. He seems so loveable and completely different than how he is portrayed in any other sequel or media.

Peter Pan, 1953

I also grew up in the land of Disney and the 1953 original animated version of eter Pan voiced by Bobby Driscoll with Katryn Beaumont as the voice of Wendy. I am not actually a fan of the movie. It doesn't really accurately capture the motherly feelings of Wendy or the fear that comes when they (particularly Michael) start forgetting their parents. I suppose it is good for a Disney movie, but the book just seems to have more substance.

There are a lot of other Peter Pan remakes and re-imaginations. There is the 2003 version with Jason Isaacs as Captain Hook and Rachel Hurd-Wood as Wendy or the 1991 masterpiece that is Hook with Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Julia Roberts (try and figure out how I actually feel about the movie). And more recently Peter and the Starcatchers (the 2004 prequel to Peter Pan and Wendy) appeared on Broadway. If you've never heard any of the songs I encourage you to look them up on YouTube. The musical won 5 Tony Awards and Christian Borle is absolutely fantastic.

The Harry Potter Generation

So for the second review/commentary (in 2 days no less!) I thought I would go with a series that has pretty much defined my generation. And no, I am not talking about Twilight, I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter. In seven books J.K. Rowling managed to encapsulate the entire growing-up process, create characters I could fall in love with, and determine what I wanted to do with my life. Well that last part took a little time, but I'd say now I'm pretty dang determined to make it in the publishing industry one way or another.

But anywho.... on to the books themselves.
My favorite book is probably either the the second one (it introduces us to Dobby) or the last one (it seemed fitting that I was applying to college just as the Harry Potter chapter in my life was closing). Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (or Philosopher's Stone for my UK friends) will always hold a special place in my heart as the book that started it all. It is kind of funny looking back on it after nearly 15 years how much my view has changed on it. I hated Hermione for much of the first book (which is odd because I pretty much am her) and loved Ron, but as the books progress their roles kind of switched. I still love both characters, Ron just seemed to get more annoying, or maybe I was projecting about the boys around me, I don't know. The second book introduces my favorite creature from the world of Harry Potter: Dobby. He is the most infuriating little thing but I immediately grew attached to him. I think for some reason he reminds me of ET (one of my favorite movies of all time). It does make me sad that he is entirely CGI and not a puppet that I can go see at Harry Potter world or something....

Book 3. This was really the big "fan" beginning for me. I remember being really excited that the book came out. It is kind of middle-of-the-pack for me, though. Though I really wanted a time turner! It was nice to see that the supporting characters like Hargrid have a bigger role I felt like J.K. Rowling had a better idea of the Harry-Voldemort mythology than she explained which ended up being a little confusing. Harry Potter mania was definitely in full swing by the time the fourth book came out. I actually got the pre-order in my stocking as a Christmas present and was beyond thrilled. I was really excited to see the special effects in this book translated onto a movie screen and the storyline is great because we get to see the wider world outside Hogwarts, a theme Rowling continued for the next few books, but some of the characters seemed a bit flat.

Book 5. As a fan I hate to admit that the fist two times I read the book I just couldn't remember what was happening. It definitely isn't a favorite. I think it is all the mythology again. I didn't mind it so much after the seventh book when a lot of the things that happen make more sense, but still isn't the first Harry Potter book I'd be tempted to pick up. Book 6 was a big improvement for me over book 5 and marked the passing of a character that I wasn't sure I'd be able to handle. The ending had been spoiled by the time I had finished it a week after it came out, but Dumbledore is such a father figure for Harry that it crushed me to see him mourn.

Book 7. It was the end of an era. I actually really like book 7. It captures teenage-angst very well. The deaths nearly broke me though. The works was definitely Tonks and Lupin's because it was like history repeating itself with Teddy and Harry. Dobby's death and Fred's death are awful though too. It is like loosing a big brother and a pet/invisible friend all at the same time.

Well maybe I'll do more indepth thoughts on a book-by-book basis later because otherwise this will be a 23 page long blog post...

A Constant Princess

So I've decided I am actually going to start using this blog for what I intended it for almost a year ago... to blog about books. So I am going to start with one of my favorite books in my favorite genres. I LOVE historical fiction (and then reading actual factual information to disprove it... hehe).

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory is definitely up there in my favorites. The book is Gregory's ninth book and the fourth she wrote about the Tudor dynasty. The Constant Princess is the first book in the series chronologically, however, following Catherine of Aragon from child in Spain to the divorced, disgraced first wife of Tudor monarch Henry VIII. Catherine of Aragon is my favorite of the Tudor figures because there is the least known about her and because without her none of the lore about Henry VIII would exist. After all, if she had born Henry a son he would not have found cause to divorce her (or so the lore goes).

As far as the factual elements go there are large segments of the book that are not based on historical evidence, but it is an enjoyable book, regardless. The fact that Catherine of Aragon was not only married to Henry VIII, but first married to his older brother adds an element of mystery and attraction to her character. The added dimension that Catherine of Aragon was daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain adds another point of interest for me (too many Christopher Columbus rhymes as a kid maybe).

If you like historical fiction I would definitely recommend giving this book a try.

Revenge of the Nerd Books 

So... it has been a super LONG time since I've blogged, but here's the big update: I am officially an intern at YUP. Which means I get to read nerd books ALL summer long. ALL SUMMER. Which makes me happier than I can describe.

Ok, so eventually I will catch up on the entire world of college, but for now I am going to recap and attempt to not geek out over all of the things going on in Connecticut.

I arrived a week ago (last Saturday) and did all the fun unpacking stuff and grocery store runs. The house is nice, but grad student cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired sometimes :) At least over the last ten years. I met my roommates, they seem pretty nice. It is still awkward living with people I don't know, though. Sunday we did the last few errands and then I hung out in the house and walked around. I check out the bookstore and stayed there for a little while. I literally got back like 5 minutes before it starting storming. It was crazy, one minute it was sunny and then it was windy and dark.

Monday was my first day. I met the girl I am working with, K, and my boss. Then we got the tour of the press and then had social media training and lunch. There are 18 (I think) interns in the whole press. We met each other for like 5 minutes. K & I wrote a few tweets & looked through the catalogues so we know what is going to be happening. Tuesday K wasn't there so I wrote a few tweets and learned how to use the book management system. I also started reading The Event of Literature Terry Eagleton. It is an interesting book, but it is a little tough to get through when I keep having to pause and doing other things. I also got to work on D & B which is going to help with the website eventually I think.I also learned how to schedule things in tweet deck. Wednesday I finished all the tweets, worked on my blog post, and finished the The Event of Literature. Thursday I wrote my blog post, emailed it to my boss, and started pub updates. Friday was a pretty laid back day. We worked on creating excel files about blogs on a given topic.

When I'm not at work I pretty much just hang out. It takes about half an hour to get home and then I make dinner, shower, and read. Dinner is kind of interesting because no one eats at the same time and I never know who is going to home when. Everyone is really nice though. Thursday all the interns went to Prime 16 a burger restaurant near YUP which was really fun. It was hard to get to know everyone, but those I did were really great people.

So those are the updates for now...

Where Have I Been?

Wow! It's been forever. There has been a lot of drama going on around here. I've been reading some really good books lately, though. I finished Eyes in the Mirror and am reading The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I'll hopefully get around to posting reviews of them. But for now I've got papers to write and stuff to do!