Merry Wanderer of the Night:
book review

I haven't been really interested in a fantasy series since I read Harry Potter, but when I heard a description of The Lightning Thief, the first book in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, on Books on the Nightstand I knew I had to check it out. Something about a 12-year-old with Greek gods just screamed amazing to me. Percy Jackson is a troubled kid, he keeps bouncing around from school to school. He has ADHD and he is dyslexic, which makes school kind of tough, and he misses his amazing mom and worries about his horrid stepdad. What Percy doesn't know is that there is a really good explanation for all of his problems.

This book does not waste any time getting to the action. From the first page you get a very clear picture of who Percy is and how this book is going to play out, which wasn't really necessary for me but I think it is probably pretty important for younger readers. Percy is easy to relate to, I didn't have any behavior problems or anything growing up, but I was kind of antisocial and Percy is forced into that because he switches schools so much. I think I would have liked him when I was younger and I know I like him now. Percy's rebellious strike is easy to admire too; I think most of us wish we could be a little more rebellious.

Percy is actually very funny too. One of my favorite quotes is (tiny spoiler, although I'm sure you have figured it out by now) "...most people might think that's just really bad luck; when you're a half-blood, you understand that some divine force really is trying to mess up your day" (168). The humor is pretty evergreen, but some of the references Riordan makes in the story are already dating the book. Hilary Duff is mentioned two or three times, and I'm not sure if kids are really into Hilary Duff anymore. I know one of the first graders I tutor didn't know who she was so you can see that this reference is already floating away.

I didn't feel the characterization in this book was as strong as it was in Harry Potter, and there were a few similarities between the two books that didn't really feel like coincidences to me, but I think both Rowling and Riordan are just "stealing" from older heroes and it just so happens that some of the cooler things from hero myths are used by both of them. But overall Percy is a lovable character and I definitely want to complete the series as soon as possible.

This book earned an A.

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In high school I was a huge Nick Hornby fan, but when I tried to read his book Slam

I could not get into it no matter how hard I tried. I was a little put off after that experience and avoided Hornby for awhile. I mean, he was my favorite writer and he totally let me down. It felt like a nasty break-up where I hid around the corner so he wouldn't see me. In the last year I've slowly worked back into loving Hornby by reading his Believer column collections and short stories. Towards the end of this semester I was looking for a funny, reliable, relaxing book and a good story. I finally picked up Juliet, Naked

.

This is true Hornby in my opinion. It's all the things that made me fall in love with his books in the first place. The self-indulgent characters, pop culture references, and perfectly comical depiction of real life. In this story Annie and Duncan have reached the end of their relationship together. They take a vacation from their North England town to America, although it's really more of a pilgrimage than a vacation. Duncan is an obsessive fan of the rock star Tucker Crowe, an elusive musician who disappeared after touring for his album Juliet. Duncan and other obsessed fans talk constantly on the Internet about Tucker Crowe and their theories of his disappearance.

When a new version of Tucker Crowe's album shows up on Duncan and Annie's doorstep all hell breaks loose. Annie is forced to really acknowledge the nowhere place she has ended up with by being with Duncan and attempts to figure out how to get her life back.

I wouldn't say the novel is genius or anything, but it's great. Hornby is wonderful at writing characters no one really likes but still want to read about. I think it's because we can all see our own flaws in these characters and that makes them more likable. This is a great book for a vacation or a rainy afternoon. You'll get some laughs and have a good time with the story. It's a very comfy book.

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I was a little late to the party with The Time Traveler's Wife

but fell in love with it. I heard Audrey Niffenegger read a section of Her Fearful Symmetry

during the Iowa City Book Festival last year and thought it sounded fantastic. I love ghost stories and I trusted Niffenegger's ability to create a complicated and original story. Right after the reading though I heard from several others who were disappointed in the book and decided to put it off. And put it off. And put it off some more. In the end I got the audio version of the book because I was afraid reading the book would be too painful.

The story was great. It's about two twins, Valentina and Julia, who move to London from Chicago after their mother's twin dies of cancer. Their mother, Edwina, and her sister, Elspeth, had a falling out sometime that no one really knows anything about. Due to the falling out Elspeth writes in her will that Valentina and Julia must live in the London apartment for one year but their parents cannot come into the apartment. While Valentina and Julia live in London they make friends with Elspeth's lover Robert and another neighbor Martin, who is obsessive compulsive. The characters were extremely well written, unique, and interesting. I particularly loved Robert because he reminded me of Henry from The Time Traveler's Wife.

Valentina and Julia are glued at the hip but throughout the story you learn more about Valentina's desire to separate from her sister and Julia's obsession with taking care of Valentina. You also learn that Edwina and Elspeth had a similar relationship which played a role in their falling out.

Valentina and Julia are not the only people living in the apartment, however; Elspeth's ghost is present and trying to communicate with them.

So I have a story that I think well sums up my feelings about Her Fearful Symmetry. As I said earlier I listened to the audio version of this, which was divided into two parts. I didn't know this when I started it though and when I reached the end of the first half I thought the story was over. I didn't understand why everyone thought the book was so horrible. I thought it was just the right length, and had a great ending. Then I discovered there was a second half to the book. Once I started to listen I understood what all of the groans were about.

The first 80 percent of the book was all good and fine, but I felt the ending dragged and ruined my enjoyment of the characters. Overall I enjoyed the audio, but the reader used different voices for different characters and I found her incredibly difficult to listen to when she was reading Valentina's character. She made her voice very high and mousy, which was fitting for the character but horrible for my ears.

I think the book is worth reading if you consider yourself a big fan of Audrey Niffenegger. Of course, if you consider yourself that you've probably already read it. I'm not sure I would have finished the book if I hadn't listened to it on audio, and I think if you skip this one you won't miss out on much.

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My freshman year of college I did a report on Sherman Alexie after reading a short story of his. I enjoyed learning about his life and writing but it didn't really go anywhere after I finished my report. Mostly because he kind of freaked me out. I mean, he was taught in my Intro to the English Major class so he must be pretty serious right? But when I saw The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

I thought "Perfect! A young adult book! Easy peasy!"

This book really was a joy to read. It was light as far as writing, but the subject was heavy and obviously something close to Alexie's heart. It's about Junior, a teenage boy who leaves the reservation he lives on in Spokane to attend the white high school in town. Instead of just worrying about the normal things a teenage boy thinks about like girls and homework, he has to worry about the cultural divide he is opening between himself and his home. Some people in the reservation think he is brave but most people see him as a traitor. While he excels in his classes, he frequently misses school because of unreliable transportation.

The story really gets into a untouched territory as far as I'm concerned. Most people know about the extreme poverty in Indian reservations, but I really felt like I understood Junior separately from the place he was from. Because of that I was able to experience a lifestyle I've never known. I'm especially pleased this is a young adult book because I feel like his is a topic most young adults don't come in contact with until they are almost graduating from high school unless they live near an Indian reservation.

I couldn't talk about this book without mentioning the artwork. Junior is a budding artist and his drawings are scattered throughout the book. This real element helped me get to know Junior very quickly and relate to him. It's also a genius way to attract non-readers to this book, but that is beside the point.

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To say I loved Essex County

is a gross understatement. This collection encompassed so much of what I love in stories. It clearly outlines the contrast between urban environments and rural environments. It clearly outlines the passage of time in one person's life. It clearly outlines the social aspects of tied to coming from a small place and having big dreams. The artwork is earthy while still maintaining the traditional black and white inking style comics are known for. The story is complicated and weaved, it constantly keeps you guessing. It's just beautiful.

It's the story of a young boy growing up in Essex County, Canada, trying to understand who he is and where he comes from. He loves to draw comics but he's having a difficult time adapting to life after his mother's death. It's the story of two brothers who love to play hockey even though it eventually tears them apart. It's the story of an old man and his nurse dealing with a deteriorating mind. And of course it's the story of these three stories intertwined.

Gah, I loved it.

To be fair, I knew I would love Essex County from the time I read Lu's review on Regular Rumination and was even more convinced when my comics professor handed me a copy and let me look at the artwork.

My favorite aspect of the graphic novel was the use of time and place. While in rural environments the drawing was looser and spikier. In urban environments it was clean and precise. I don't want to get into the story too much because there are many surprises to be found within these pages, but Jeff Lemire did an amazing job showing what it is to grow up in a place where you feel there is nowhere to go, to leave it and realize there is no place like home, and return to the place and realize it is not the way you remembered. I love that dynamic and it was captured in every aspect of this graphic novel.

Jeff Lemire is also a master at capturing expressions. I felt like I could read so much emotion in each character's face and that is really a talent I wish more comic artists had.

Just, please read Essex County.

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Deanna Fei's A Thread of Sky is the story of three generations of Chinese women going on a trip to China. For some it means returning home, for others it means learning about a history they've never experienced. Each woman has her own struggle, her own secret. These secrets keep them from understanding and knowing each other. Throughout the novel there is the question from the grandmother, "What kind of woman will you be?"-- but then there is the answering question, "Does planning what kind of woman I will be trap me?" This is truly the most underrated book I've read this year.

Fei has that slow writing style I've become such a fan of lately. It's not so much the story that kept me going, although the story has plenty of twists and turns, but the beautiful prose. Each chapter focuses on one woman and Fei's writing style has tiny changes to suit each woman's personality. For the bulimic Sophie the writing is a little quicker, more urgent. For Irene, the mother who planned it all after her husband died, the writing is desperate. For the grandmother the writing is somewhat stern as she looks at these women and wants to tell them exactly how to live their lives.

A Thread of Sky questions what Feminism means today from the perspective of an old Chinese immigrant, a former Feminist revolutionary, a middle-aged Chinese American, and a teenager. What is clear is that the answer is something different for each woman, and the answer is also a struggle. Does Feminism really mean having it all? Or does it mean choices? Or does it mean going against the grain? Maybe it means all three things.

This is just great fiction writing. I was truly impressed by the skill Fei exhibited in manipulating her writing style to fit the time, place, and person. It was one of the books where I occasionally had to set it down and just say out loud, "This book is so good."

I read this book as part of TLC Book Tours. Be sure to check out the other reviews posted about it.

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I'll admit right now that I don't know exactly what to say about Any Human Heart

. Weeks after finishing it I still don't think I have it quite figured out. It's a series of fictional journals written by Logan Mounstuart from 1923-1991. The book is really marketed by the span of time it covers--which was truly interesting. While Mounstuart meets many famous men and women through his years though, I think the true triumph of the novel is how easily it made me believe it was true. William Boyd is a master at creating journals. Nothing really happens in any of them, true to life, yet I couldn't put them down. Boyd really gets into the nitty gritty, sex, illness, death, flaws. It was all so realistic. I found myself frequently looking up this book on the Internet just to make sure it wasn't about a real man or that William Boyd wasn't just the editor of these journals. And it was confirmed repeatedly that this is indeed fiction.

I'd never heard of this book until Michael Kindness mentioned it a few times as his favorite book on Books on the Nightstand. I've read quite a few books he loves because his taste always seems to line up pretty well with mine. It seems like I know the reason now. I'm an avid reader of nonfiction and Michael really likes books that have real elements to them, like drawings by the characters or maps. So really what Michael likes is fiction that poses as nonfiction, which is probably why I like the fiction he recommends.

This one is really just a tough book to explain. Michael had a hard time explaining it too, and if he didn't have such a good track record with me I probably wouldn't have picked it up. I could tell you about characters who makes appearances in this book, Virginia Woolf, Andy Warhol, but that really isn't the point of the book. Monstuart was born at the turn of the century and is around twenty when the book starts. You get to see him make ridiculous mistakes throughout his whole life right before he dies at the end of the century. I'll be honest and I say I really didn't care for him much as a person. He was whiney, rude, oversexed, and lazy. I think not liking him made me enjoy the book more though-- it was like reading the diary of your worst enemy and finding out their life wasn't so great after all.

So there. I tried. You really ought to read it though, it's fantastic.

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I picked up Memory of Trees for no other reason than the subtitle A Daughter's Story of a Family Farm. I love reading about farms and agriculture, but it's rare that I see a story from the point of view of a daughter. I was especially intrigued because that is what I mostly write about-- Iowa agriculture from a daughter's point of view. Gayla Marty writes about her family's Minnesota farm during the sixties and seventies. She watches as the farms around her become more industrial and watches her own family's farm come to an end. She punctuates the end of each section with a little vignette on a tree from her life. The book is nonfiction, but its really poetry.

"North, east, south, west. North is the pasture behind the barn and the lane along the fence that leads the cows to the woods. East are the railroad tracks and highway. South is town, three miles away. You can see the white towers of the mill across the swamp and fields. West is Gramma's house, which is also Uncle and Auntie's; just beyond it is the woodshed, then the orchard, then the creek flowing under the road into the swamp. In springtime the creek is swollen, the swamp turns into a lake a quarter mile wide" (4).

I love stories about the Midwest but I never see them and I certainly never see them done well. Marty captures the essence of rural Midwest life so well it almost brought me to tears. I've always wanted a book that showed me my life and this was it. The one book that really captured it all for me. I had an extremely intense connection with this book because Marty was able to get the time and place of her story exactly right. By the end of the book I felt like I grew up with her.

Her exploration of place goes beyond the Midwest to farms in Switzerland and Tanzania where she traveled late in high school and early in college. She sees everything through the eyes of a farmer's daughter, and because I shared that bond with her I felt like I saw these places in the most realistic way.

There were a few issues. I thought the book was a little too slow in parts, although overall I thought the pacing was right on and the slowness fit well with the location. Most of my other problems were with Marty's decisions, which have nothing to do with the writing and really nothing to do with her either. It was more about me projecting my own desires onto her life.

This is a book I seem to be recommending to everyone lately even though I have a feeling not everyone will love it. If you're a farmer's daughter though, and you love that about yourself, I really think this is a must read.

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David Small's father was a doctor who thought he could cure him through radiation. Instead the radiation made things worse and gave his son cancer. Rather than telling David his parents sent him into the operating room where David emerged voiceless after a vocal chord was removed. He thought the surgery would just be minor. David expressed himself through drawing and years later you can tell it paid of because the drawings in Stitches: A Memoir

are some of the most beautiful I have seen in any graphic memoir.

You can imagine how many emotions are portrayed in this book and what is truly amazing is how Small does this without words. He uses negative space and tiny changes in body language to tell the reader how each character is feeling. There isn't a lot of writing in this book but I came away from the story feeling like I knew the characters just as well as those in my favorite novels. Even though many pages were wordless I found myself looking at each panel longer than I would have had there been words. I really explored the intricacies of every drawing to help me understand the story. In some ways I liked the wordless panels more.

Anyone interested in memoirs or medical stories should definitely read this, but even if you're not interested in either of those things I still think this one is worth a try. It really transcends those two labels--by which I mean it's just a beautiful story. Small pulls you into his world much like he pulls himself into the paper he's drawing on. He doesn't judge anyone in his family for their choices, even though it would be easy to do, and manages to make you sympathize with all of them. In this way he acknowledges the private lives and thoughts of every person and in turn the importance of giving each human a chance for understanding.

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I'm not much for mysteries or thrillers, but I love true crime and true mystery. It adds so much to the mystery when you know the events are true; it always makes me feel like I'm in on a big secret of some kind. Lately I've been listening to audiobooks of books I already have on my shelves in an effort to clean my shelves off faster. I have a lot of time to listen to audio while I am working, so I decided to do this with Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman because I wasn't sure I would really enjoy the book after hearing mixed reviews of it. The audio is read by the author, which was fine. He added a lot of drama to the story with his British accent.

The story is about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, but really more about one of its avid contributors. When the OED started they put out advertisements for readers. People who would read books looking for words and then write quotations where the word appears in an effort to trace the evolving definition of the word. You can see that this would be a tedious process, but the man in the story, Dr. W. C. Minor, had a lot of time. Because he was in an insane asylum.

Professor James Murray, the man in charge of the OED, becomes curious about the prolific Minor because of the volume of letters he sent to the OED. Murray has no idea the man is mentally unwell, and this is where the story really gets interesting.

I can't decide how I really felt about this book. It was a great story and something I'm interested in. There was a lot of drama and intrigue which made it fun and really different from what I expected, which was a straight forward account of the making of the OED. If you're interested in dictionaries and words then I'd say this is one worth checking out, but if you're really not I'd move on. The story got a little slow in parts and I didn't find myself running back to finish it.

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I'll admit right off the bat that I haven't quite finished Angelology yet, but I think this might be a good thing. The ending will be very important to this book as it is supposed to be a thriller of sorts, and it might end up clouding my feelings about the book thus far. And my feelings about this book are a little strange because this is so unlike anything I usually read. Sister Evangeline has found herself amidst an old correspondence between her convent's mother superior and the famous and wealthy Abigail Rockefeller. She isn't the only one trying to understand how the two are related, and in the process she is plunged into a world of secrets that forces her to reevaluate the way she sees the world. Angels do exist, and their descendants are amongst us. They are rich and beautiful, and some of them are well known.

This book has gotten a lot of comparisons to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, which I read several years ago. They are both very exciting books, but Angelology seems to be more well written. That said, Angelology does drag on a bit more because Danielle Trussoni doesn't repeat ideas like Dan Brown does. The book jumps around a lot. We see the story from multiple characters' points of view, we visit their pasts, and we read their journals. Everything moves seamlessly.

Angelology appears to be a very well researched book. I know very little about the Bible or angels, but I put my trust in what she said. There are several "realistic" elements to the book, like diaries, charts, and excerpts from books that actually put you in the adventure. As a lover of nonfiction I always enjoy it when a fiction writer includes these elements to their storytelling. While I said I put my trust in Trussoni I did find that I was wondering about angels as I read through her book. It definitely makes me want to go out and learn more about their history.

I probably haven't been very convincing, so be sure to check out some of the other reviews of this book from TLC Book Tours. I've been purposefully vague throughout this review because it would be so easy for me to ruin this book for you. If you're looking for something to pull you out of your reading slump or are interested in well researched thrillers I suggest you pick this one up. You might be surprised, as I was, by how much you like it. And I get to give two copies of this book away. If you would like to be entered in this giveaway please leave a comment with your email address and the name of one book you recently read that really knocked your socks off. The winners will be chosen randomly. You have until February 4, 2011 at midnight. This giveaway is only open to US/Canada. The winners of this giveaway have been chosen. Thanks to everyone who entered!

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog. I received a review copy of this book as part of TLC Book Tours.

There has been a lot of talk about memoirs lately, most of it has been negative. Even though I pride myself on loving nonfiction I'll admit I've moved away from memoirs over the last couple of years. There are just so many poorly written ones and too many celebrity publicity stunts. Devotion seemed like it could be different, if for no other reason than I was interested in the story. Dani Shapiro writes about her experiences trying to find her faith again, both in a religious and personal sense. I think a lot of people go through this drifting feeling, the kind of feeling that forces you to look for some answers. Somewhere. Shapiro has had a lot of loss in her life. Her father died early, she never had a good relationship with her mother, and she came scarily close to losing her son. When it seems like everything has gone wrong it's very easy to become faithless, which Shapiro does early on in her life. Through Yoga and meditation she begins to try and find some quiet, which eventually leads her back to the religion of her heritage: Judaism.

When I started this I was a little worried it would be another Tales of a Female Nomad fiasco. A book I wanted to like, but just couldn't bring myself to agree with. Instead I was inspired. They say if you didn't like a book it probably wasn't written for you. I could see a lot of people wouldn't like this book, but Devotion came to me at just the right time. While I haven't necessarily been struggling with religion I have been struggling with turning the constant worrying and anxiety off. I've had problems with turning into myself and figuring out what is going on. In short, I could really relate to Shapiro.

As I skim through this book and look at the sections I underlined, I realize I read this book as a kind of devotional. Picking out things I found inspiring, muttering to myself Remember this every day as I turned the page.

"Writers often say that the hardest part of writing isn't the writing itself; it's the sitting down to write. The same is true of yoga, meditation, and prayer. The sitting down, the making space. The doing. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Unroll the mat. Sit cross-legged on the floor. Just do it. Close your eyes and express a silent need, a wish, a moment of gratitude. What's so hard about that? Except--it is hard. The usual distractions-- the clutter and piles of life-- are suddenly, unusually enticing." (117)

I'm not going to pretend this is a book for everyone, because it certainly is not. But if you've found yourself grappling with any of the questions I mentioned above, if the passage I shared speaks to you, if you're just looking for a relatable read, I think you should give Devotion a try. You might surprised by it. Not everyone is interested in religion, but for me reading is a kind of meditation. Books are what I turn to when I need to figure things out. In that way I could really relate to Shapiro, and I thoroughly enjoyed her memoir.

The author of this book is very enthusiastic about doing Skype chats with book groups, follow this link if you are interested! To read more reviews of this book check out the TLC Book Tour schedule.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog. I received a copy of this book from the publisher as part of TLC Book Tours.

Anna Goderbsen has returned to English Major's Junk Food. After the emotional experience I had during the final book of the Luxe series I knew I had to have any book Godbersen wrote. When Bright Young Things

came out I was having a bad day. I had to go in for a series of doctor appointments and was discovering nothing. My mom and I stopped at the bookstore on the way home and she got this for me as a pick me up. I set the book on my nightstand, saving it for another day. A couple of weeks ago I was having a rough time of it, sick and tired, and I picked up Bright Young Things. I was immediately whirled out of my world of classes, deadlines, work, and responsibility. I sat in my bed and read for hours.

The book follows three 1930's girls in alternating chapters. Letty and Cordelia have escaped their small Ohio town to chase after their dreams. They both believe they were meant for bigger, better things. Letty wants to become a singer and she believes her dreams will come true immediately. Cordelia is a little more realistic about their possibility of success, but her desire to find her real father keeps her going. Astrid is a true New Yorker, though she doesn't live in the city. She lives with her wealthy family and attends magnificent parties with her handsome boyfriend. By the end of the book they have all been beaten down and changed.

I just loved this book. Beginning, middle, and end. It is exactly what I wanted from it. Godbersen's writing has gotten tighter, faster, more thrilling. She takes an extremely predictable story but still gets you to guess what happens next. Even more than that, I felt like Letty, Cordelia, and Astrid became my new friends. They began to fill the void the Luxe series left. Bright Young Things leaves me wanting more, and unfortunately I have to wait several months for the next book.

I'm not going to pretend these books are for everyone, I realize they are not. It doesn't really bring anything new to the table-- but a more well written, consuming young adult story I have not found. Give it a chance.

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The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank is a book I never wanted to admit I'd never read. I felt like it was something everyone read when they were much younger than me, thirteen or fourteen I figured. It's been on my TBR for a long time even though I've never owned a copy. Even though I'd never read the book, Anne Frank Huis was one of my must sees while in Amsterdam. Just because I didn't read the book didn't mean I didn't know the story. Unlike my experience with Dachau and The Book Thief, I was immediately overcome with emotion upon entering Anne Frank Huis. It's a totally different experience, and for me, a much more powerful one.

Anne Frank Huis does not have any furniture, but the walls are done like they were when the Franks hid there. In the center of the rooms are glass cases with artifacts from their time. What really got to me though, were the pictures of Anne Frank at the very beginning of the museum. She looks so happy.

Throughout the house there are quotes from her diary printed on the walls. It was as if she was telling her story to you, which I guess she was. The experience was also powerful for me because I had so many things in common with her. A love of reading and writing, nature, bicycles, and as a teenager I fought with my mother constantly and was extremely close with my father. When reading her diary I found it difficult to read the parts about her mother because I knew she would never get to experience the close relationship with her mother that I've had with mine.

I can't really review her diary, that seems unfair. It is slow in spots but overall a worthwhile read.

"The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy amid nature's beauty and simplicity.

As long as this exists, and that should be for ever, I know that there will be solace for every sorrow, whatever the circumstances. I firmly believe that nature can bring comfort to all who suffer."

I purchased my copy of the diary at Anne Frank Huis and also purchased The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography

as a companion. It is an absolutely wonderful companion because it tells the before and after of the story and gives insight into what other characters' experiences were like.

The artwork is more traditional than I thought it would be, but there are some seriously disturbing images of Anne and her sister after they were found and sent to a concentration camp. I think I got a little more emotional looking at those images than I did reading her diary. The experiences are extremely different. While reading the diary I thought about how normal Anne's thoughts were for a girl her age: boy, friends, ambitions. That was what made it difficult, she represents the every girl, which makes you realize something like this could have happened to you. Reading the graphic biography gave me a lot more insight and history into her family, the experience of being in hiding, and what happened to the family after.

If you've never read The Diary of a Young Girl, I would highly recommend it and I would recommend reading the graphic biography after. It seemed to be a more fulfilling experience. If you've read the diary, you might want to try the graphic biography-- it might answer some of your unanswered questions.

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I grew up on a farm, spent my teenage years in the suburbs, and now I live in a small city and hope to live in a larger city within in the next couple years. I've done most kinds of living in my 21 years of life, and while I remember my childhood in the country fondly I have to say that I am really into city living. I like city living for a lot of the reasons Edward Glaeser brings up in his book, Triumph of the City, specifically how I do believe it makes us smarter, greener, and healthier. It's no secret that I'm a huge proponent of environmentalism (I co-host an environmental book podcast and just started a new feature about environmental books here), and while I do love nature, I recognize that the best thing environmentalists can do for their environment is to live in an urban environment. As Glaeser points out, the common misconception is that being good to the environment means living in nature, being one with it, and all of that stuff. But as I can testify as someone who has lived in rural and suburban environments, "being one with nature" means hurting nature faster. You drive more, longer distances, and more frequently when you live further away from places you need to be. Places like the store, your job, and entertainment establishments.

Luckily, Glaeser is not too hard on the people who live in suburban environments. He even succumbed to the glory of them himself, leaving the city for burbs once he settled down with a family. Glaeser recognizes that it's not so much the people living the suburbs that are the problem, it's a lack of appropriate policies across that country keeping cities from growing. This often makes rents in cities high, forcing more people to move out of the city and into the burbs where it is cheaper for them to buy a home even if they are forced to drive to work every day. Which is one of the major problems with suburbs.

Triumph of the City is an engrossing book. I was constantly trying to find a time to read some more of this because it is so full of information. Honestly, nothing in Triumph of the City is that shocking. It's all pretty common sense, and the majority of the things he brings up I have thought of before. What makes it interesting is the way everything is presented in one place, with supporting evidence, and the argument works. For the most part anyway, there were a few things I disagree with Glaeser on (but I'm not going to nit pick with him. He's trying to encourage more people to live in cities and that is a-okay in my book). Even though I was intensely enthusiastic about this book, I could see that not everyone would love it. Glaeser is not necessarily entertaining, he lays out the facts for you in a controlled, purposeful manner. Even if you're not interested in the environmental aspects of this book, the first half offers a wonderful history of the American city and profiles the triumphs and downfalls of many cities across the country.

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Liesel Meminger steals books. It's hard to really classify her as a thief though, because she steals books from Nazi book-burnings-- and I could totally understand the desire to steal a book in a world where everything is censored. Liesel wants to know more about the world and what is happening, and she is experiencing the war unlike others her age because she is friends with a Jewish man who her family hides in their basement. All of these things are happening while Liesel learns how to read in The Book Thief

. Even though I know how to read, I was once again reminded how powerful books are and how important they are. After reading The Book Thief I wanted to see two things during my time in Germany. The book burning memorial in Berlin and Dachau concentration camp in Munich, the latter is strongly related to this book because Dachau is mentioned pretty frequently. Reading The Book Thief gave those things an added weight because I could imagine the characters from the book while I was looking at those sights.

The book is narrated by Death, which as you might guess makes it extremely bizarre. You actually sympathize with Death because you can tell he isn't choosing to take these people's lives, he is just doing as he is ordered. You can tell he is upset about what is happening, and he is tired from all the taking he has to do. In some ways I think this shows how people in Nazi Germany felt at the time-- like they were somehow forced to act in a way to support the Nazi party even if they didn't agree with it (possibly because they felt their lives would be taken from them).

Entrance to Dachau Concentration Camp.

I feel like this book has been widely read and discussed, but I'd like to talk about a personal experience with it. When I went to Dachau I expected to be overcome by emotion, but I wasn't. I don't know what other schools are like, but I have a difficult time remembering a year of elementary and high school where I did not learn about the Holocaust in an English or history class. Our education makes us deeply aware of what happened-- to the point where it becomes to difficult to look at the place where it happened and not be a little immune to it all. I did not feel unemotional or immune during The Book Thief. I was upset, crying, could not believe that this happened. I connected much better with this story than I did with any memorial I saw in Germany. I think that is a great testament to the power of books, which is what this book is all about. Going to the place where it happened, walking through a museum, they are important and wonderful things to do, but nothing makes me understand the Holocaust better than reading stories about it.

"I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant."

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I got If You Lived Here You'd Already Be Home

at the Twin Cites Book Festival for two reasons, it had an endorsement from Chuck Klosterman and the cover had stomach with random stuff in it.* Based on those two things I knew there would be something interesting in this book. Turns out it's a short story collection with story titles like Everyone Prank Calls the Clown, The Bog Body, and The Deadsitter. If you're not intrigued by any of those titles then there simply is no hope for you. The stories are mostly quick and quippy. The characters are most unlikeable, but relatable-- and the world they live in is our own, so when they get barnacles on their butts it's easy to believe. At times it is hysterical and other times pensive. Essentially these stories are the perfect balance of strange and realistic.

The story that sticks out in my mind the most is The Deadsitter. The premise is that a young boy died and his mother hires a boy who lives in her neighborhood to come to her house after school and pretend he is her son. Except the kid in this story isn't the first boy to do it, he's following in his brother's footsteps and he is getting a little old to play the part. His parents tell him he can't quit until he finds a replacement, and that is what he intends to do. Creepy, sad, bizarre, and kind of funny. I don't know why, but the image of a mother watching a child she knows is not her own but convinces herself is her child really resonated with me. I apologize for that confusing sentence.

That is just what John Jodzio's writing is like though (not confusing, the other thing). "Some forget that the sky is an easy option for violence, that the heavens can open upon you at a moment's notice. When it happens you'd like to think that God had something to do with it, that there is a plausible explanation, that if you looked up there would be someone there waving and yelling 'My fault!' (38)." This is a quotation from another of my favorite stories, Gravity, in which the main character finds dropping things on people's heads therapeutic. I had to stop and read this passage at least three times because it provided such great mental imagery and forced me to think about the humor of my own inevitable demise. So there you have it, Jodzio made me laugh about death.

*And the people who worked at Replacement Press were super nice and friendly.

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Michael Chabon's book Maps and Legends: Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands is 1. The most physically beautiful book I have ever read and 2. A manifesto about reading and writing which touts the importance of genre fiction and comic books. So take those last two things and combine them with my undying love of Michael Chabon and you have basically described a perfect book for Ash. I only had to read the first essay about the modern short story and find the following quotation before I really fell in love, "... I would like to propose expanding our definition of entertainment to encompass everything pleasurable that arises from the encounter of an attentive mind with a page of literature" (14). These are ideas that made me start my blog, but Chabon has a way of putting the ideas in my head into beautiful words on a beautiful clean white page in my McSweeney's copy.

The book is a series of essays about books, or reviews, depending on how you read them. He covers Shelock Holmes, The Road, The Golden Compass, and way more. Chabon gushes over is favorite writers, their techniques, their passion. It's a bit like reading blog posts by Chabon, which is exciting because you come away from the book with tons of book suggestions from an amazing author. If Chabon liked it I'm willing to give it a try. Since the book is a series of essay it's not really made to be a sit down and read for a couple hours book, but I read this over winter break and found myself finding excuses to escape and read... a book of essays? Is that even possible. It is my friends. Chabon writes so beautifully about books and connects them to the human experience so well that any bibliophile will drool over the (have I mentioned how beautiful this book is?) cover.

"... a mind is blown when something that you always feared but knew to be impossible turns out to be true; when the world turns out to be far vaster, far more marvelous or malevolent than you ever dreamed; when you get proof that everything is connected to everything else, that everything you know is wrong, that you are both the center of the universe and a tiny speck sailing off it nethermost edge" (93-94).

I just loved this quotation, possibly because I read it right after finals week and was feeling very much like I was sailing off the nethermost edge of my earth. But it is a really good example of how Chabon can work words and make a series of essays something that is incredibly captivating. I'm really not doing it justice, if you love to read you will at least kind of like this book.

And now I have to verbally drool over the cover a little bit. There are three parts to the book jacket, each depicting a different world. The illustrations are beautiful and if you need a break from reading you can always take one of the jackets off the book and explore that world for a little while. You can be entertained by this book without even reading. It's fabulous! The pages are nice thick paper and the most vibrant white I have ever seen in my entire life. Even if you don't like that book that much I'm sure you will squeal with delight just holding it.

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In Fables 1 we learned that all the characters from fairy tales, or Fables as they call themselves, are hiding out in New York City since their lands were taken from them. This, of course, doesn't include the animal Fables like the three little pigs because how are three pigs supposed to hide out in New York City? All of the nonhuman Fables were sent to a farm in upstate New York where Snow White goes to check on them once a year. This year she finds that the town is in complete unrest and there is a threat for an uprising. Since Snow White is rather gullible she doesn't notice what is happening right under her nose, but her sister Rose Red as an inkling for what is happening.

Bill Willingham draws quite obviously from Animal Farm and The Lord of the Flies to create this comic book, which is something most book nerds will appreciate. It was bizarre experience to read it because I wasn't sure if I was supposed to side with Snow White or with the animal Fables. It seems like the animal Fables are evil, but then at the same time I can see their point. It would really suck to be locked into upstate New York and never be able to live simply because you look like an animal and not a human. And while they make some rookie mistakes, they actually seem to be pretty smart. They figure out how to make guns they can use and they trick Snow White pretty easily. Snow White seems to be pretty dumb during this whole thing, and I have a hard time rooting for a dumb person.

The artwork is really some of the most beautiful comic art I have ever seen. The colors in this are outstanding. The pages are particularly bright because of the animals, as you can see from the cover design. They really pull you into this world where strange and unlikely things happen. I was also pleased with how well animal emotions were portrayed in their faces, which I think would be much more difficult to achieve in animals than it is in humans.

Fables Vol. 2: Animal Farm

is overall a much tighter story than Fables Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

. It helps create the world but doesn't spoon feed us information, we find out things slowly with the characters. It is some great world building. My only complaint is that the last fourth of the book seemed extremely rushed. I don't want to give away why I think that is because it would ruin a pretty important part to the story, but I think it's worth mentioning. I was satisfied with the ending because I felt it promised I would find out more in the next volume, but if I don't find out more I'm going to be pretty disappointed.

I give Fables 2 a B.

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Scott Pilgrim is 23 years old and has spent the past year trying to get over his last girlfriend. It looks like he is finally going to get over her when he starts dating a high school girl named Knives Chau. So... Scott is kind of a loser. The entire graphic novel is written in a video game style, with the specifics of characters listed as they appear on the pages. Scott is in a band and when they play the pages look eerily like the video game Rock Band. The entire book is basically Scott trying to progress to the next level, which includes finding out who this rollerblading, Amazon delivery girl Ramona Flowers is. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life

is basically a celebration of all things twenty-something and the culture that surrounds that generation. The best character is definitely Wallace Wells, Scott's gay roommate, and even he kind of turns into a jerk at one point in the book (and he only gets a 7.5 rating at the beginning, so we know he isn't perfect). Bryan Lee O'Malley does a great job of summing up their relationship in two panels that show their apartment. Everything in the apartment has a label on it and we quickly find out that most of the stuff in there is Wallace's and Scott just uses it, including Wallace's socks.

Which is probably why I really, really loved it. The language was spot on and not gluttonous like the language in Juno. All of the characters are pretty unlikeable, Scott is a loser, Ramona is kind of an oddball, Knives is gullible teenager, and most of Scott's friends are mean, but as twenty-year-old you recognize that most of the people in your life fall into these categories too. It doesn't have anything to do with hipster culture, as many have said, because, let's face it, if Scott Pilgrim was a hipster he wouldn't have any friends and he would have much better taste in clothes. Bryan Lee O'Malley's drawing style is also not hipster enough to create a graphic novel about hipsters. It's not manga but it's not what we typically see from comic book artists today. It's almost more like a webcomic style--which I was totally on board with.

The book moves rather quickly and I suppose at time it might be a little too fast. If you didn't understand the language or world O'Malley assumes you understand the book would probably be difficult to get through. I can't speak to that, as I did understand it. If you're a college student I don't see how you wouldn't understand it, at least a little bit. I really can't speak more highly of the first volume in this series, so I will just end by review and hope you all give Scott Pilgrim a try.

I give Scott Pilgrim an A.

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