SRP Book Review #21

Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire

329 pages

Not as good as Wicked, but I enjoyed going back to Maguire's Oz. It takes a little getting used to how adult his books are, and it's remarkable that he can pull it off with characters that we all have such preconceived notions and images of. Not so much in this book, since not many familiar Wizard of Oz characters appear.

I think the primary difference between Son of a Witch and Wicked (and Mirror Mirror and presumably Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister) is that since it's an extension of Maguire's own re-imagining of a well known tale, not based on a well known tale, it is somewhat less predictable. Not that the others were predictable, but you at least know enough to that in Wicked, when Dorothy shows up, Elphaba's on borrowed time.

A lot was left open at the end, somewhat frustratingly, but it really seemed like he was setting up for another book. If this is the end of Gregory Maguire's Oz saga, I'll be very disappointed, but I really doubt that it is.

SRP Book Reviews #19 and #20

Joy School 208 pages

True to Form 214 pages

Both by Elizabeth Berg

In these novels, Berg brings back Katie, the adolescent army brat from Durable Goods .

As Joy School opens, Katie is just getting settled in in Missouri, where she was headed at the end of Durable Goods. Katie makes a couple of new friends, and develops a serious crush on the manager of the gas station near her house. Cherylanne, her friend from Texas, makes an appearance on a holiday visit, and in a series of hilarious letters including life and beauty advice.

True to Form follows Katie over the next summer, through a recurring babysitting job, and a job helping an elderly neighbor with his invalid wife. She is admitted, with a scholarship, to a swanky private girls' school, and is temporarily seduced by the idea of fitting in with this new set of glamorous, popular girls. Cherylanne is present in this book, too, in person and through letters.

Katie's books are written in the first person, and I just love her voice. She is funny, and I can tell that Elizabeth Berg remembers so well what it is like to be 13. Although I could see Katie's mistakes coming and wanted to warn her, I could totally understand why she did everything she did.

SRP Book Review #18

Quite a Year for Plums by Bailey White

220 pages

This was just a nice little book. There is a large cast of eccentric characters, and it reads more like short stories than a cohesive narrative. It takes place in South Georgia, so I recognized some of the wildlife and geography, especially since there are a few visits to Florida. I did have some trouble keeping the characters straight, and I think if it was a longer book, I might have lost patience with the way the story kind of meanders around, not really being about any one person (or even two or three people) in particular, but it was nice and refreshing for a quick read.

SRP Book Review #17

Deception Point by Dan Brown

558 pages

Written before Angels & Demons and The DaVinci Code, this is a fairly non-remarkable thriller. Dealing with a politically charged NASA discovery, I could tell that Brown did his research regarding the scientific aspects of the plot. The characters weren't very original, but a book like this is all about a fast plot, anyway, and there were quite a few unexpected twists and turns here, including one that I didn't see coming until just a page before it happened.

Project Kookyway

Oh my gosh, is there any better place to find crazy people to put on TV than the world of fashion design? It's fantastic!

My favorite this season is Crazy Vincent. Crazy Vincent had a line in the 80's, but apparently cracked under the pressure. My theory is that he snapped and set fire to a big pile of turqoise and magenta rayon pouf skirts, and is ever so slightly brain damaged from the fumes. (How else to explain his insistance that a basket, apparently embellished with paper clip chains, would make a good hat. And then that giant sunglasses would be a good accessory to add. He has silly glasses and sillier hair, and was very proud of his sewing room's chalk board in the casting special. He's on crack. I love him. I hope he stops making ridiculous hats so that he'll stay around longer, because this man is good TV.

Oh, and according to his bio, he "enjoys truth." Kook!

SRP Book Reviews #11-#16

The Griffin and Sabine books by Nick Bantock

Griffin and Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence 39 pages

Sabine's Notebook: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin and Sabine Continues 44 pages

The Golden Mean: In Which the Extraordinariy Correspondence of Griffin and Sabine Concludes 40 pages

The first three books of the trilogy introduce, but never really resolve the mystery of how Griffin and Sabine are connected. Sabine can see Griffin's art, but they don't seem to be able to exist in the same geographic location. The art is beautiful, and the books are a fun format. A complicating force is introduced in the last book, in the form of a third correspondent.

The Gryphon: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin and Sabine is Rediscovered 50 pages

Alexandria: In Which the Extraordianry Correspondence of Griffin and Sabine Unfolds 51 pages

The next two books introduce new characters, who are somehow connected to Griffin and Sabine, as well as each other. Things get more complicated, and it appears that Egyptian mythology and artifacts are involved.

The Morning Star: In Which the Extraordinary Correspondence of Griffin and Sabine is Illuminated 46 pages

"Illuminated?" Oh really? I guess I would have been happier with this book if I hadn't been expecting some sort of explanation or solution. The book is very pretty, but on crack. I think it all has something to do with Jungian psychology and the collective subconscious, and if I knew more about Egyptian symbolism I might have a better idea, but really, it's just too confusing.

SRP Book Review #10

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

536 pages

I had been meaning to read this book for awhile, but never got around to buying it until several people with similar tastes listed it as one of their favorites of all time. It was much different, and better, than I was expecting it to be. The back cover blurb doesn't do it justice. And also, I think I wasn't expecting the main characters to be, well, cool. I was misled by their shoes in the cover photo.

I just finished it minutes ago, so I may need to do some processing and revise my review later, but I found it impossibly bittersweet and romantic, and was actually sobbing during the final chapters, which I don't usually do, even with very sad books.

How much do you love that Henry is a young, cool male librarian who's into punk music? Audrey Niffenegger must be friends with some librarians...I've read a few books with librarian characters, and she's the only one who seems to get us--to think it's cool. Even Alice Hoffman fell victim to some stereotypes.

It's almost as if the publishers were especially conscious of Henry's librarian status and Clare's paper art, because the edition I had was an especially nice book for a trade paperback. It feels a lot heavier than most books its size, and the paper it is printed in is particularly smooth and non-newsprinty. Nice touch.

SRP Book Review #9

Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich

306 pages

Typical of the series, although there's not much mystery this time because we know who the bad guy is and what his motives are pretty early on. Lula, Grandma Mazur, and Sally Sweet team up to form a band, and Ranger's daughter is in danger.

My favorite part of the series is reading what Stephanie feeds Rex the Hamster. This time: Cheerios, a bite of pizza, and, surprisingly, a carrot and actual hamster food.

Three Things:

1. Stepping on a slug barefoot is yucky.

2. Just becuase you are having blood drawn at a lab where all they do, all day long, is draw blood, doesn't mean that they will do a good job.

3. More things need to come in a size 7 1/2, because 7 is too small and 8 is too big. Specifically, Lands End water sneakers and Jockey french cut breifs.

SRP Book Review #8

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

406 pages

Prep chronicles the four year career of Lee Fiora, a scholarship student from the Midwest at an Ault School, an exclusive, expensive East Coast boarding school. As an outsider, Lee educates us the nature of such schools; the way money is never discussed but it's obvious who has it and who doesn't, the cliques, the difficulty of the academics. It's also a character study of Lee, who both desperately wants to fit in and actively takes steps to remain an outsider.

I didn't go to boarding school, but I did go to a very small college, and there were a lot of things I recognized here; the way everyone knew who everybody else was, even if they weren't friends or didn't hang out, how everyone was exceptionally smart and Lee, who was at the top of her class at home, struggled, and the descriptions of dorm living.

SRP Book Review #7

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

433 pages

Well, I'm not going to review Jane Eyre. That would be silly. I do understand the Jasper Fforde books better now.

Also, isn't Rochester supposed to be some literary hero that women love, like Mr. Darcy? I thought just about everything he did was pretty assy, myself. Sorry.

SRP Book Review #6

The Passion of Artemisia by Susan Vreeland

288 pages

(At left, Judith Slaying Holofernes, Artemisia Gentileschi, circa 1620)

Susan Vreeland is carving out a niche for herself with novels about artists--I enjoyed The Girl in Hyacinth Blue , and since I'd studied Artemesia Gentileschi in a couple of art history classes, I was pretty sure I'd enjoy this book.

One of my college professors was sort of obsessed with female artists who'd led difficult, remarkable lives. Artemisia Gentileschi was part of a triumverate of his favorites (along with Hildegaard von Binghen and Frida Kahlo). I was familiar with the story of Artemisia's rape by Agostino Tassi, a colleague of her father (also a painter) and subsequent trail (in which she was tortured to ensure that she was telling the truth. There was a french film made in 1997 that told the story of the events leading up to her rape, through the trail, which depicted the event as consentual. I guess it is really not possible to tell what actually happened, so this is a valid interpretation, but it kind of rubbed me the wrong way. Because of this, I was curious to see how her story would be treated here.

Vreeland made an interesting and effective choice by choosing to open the book during the trial. The first few chapters deal with the trial, but the rest of the book handles Artemisia's subsequent marriage, career as an artist in Florence, and relationship with her daughter. There isn't any ambiguity here about whether her relationship with Tassi was consentual, and it was interesting to see how the rape affects her art, personal relationships, and psyche over the next 30 or so years. The damage to her relationship with her father is examined in particular.

If you read the book, you are going to want to look at some of Artemisia's paintings. Here are some that are mentioned in the book. My professor was particularly fond of putting her Judith Slaying Holofernes next to Caravaggio's as an example of the differences between male and female attitudes towards the story and the representation of women in paintings.

Caravaggio's Judith Beheading Holofernes
Artemisia's Judith Slaying Holofernes, circa 1613
Susanna and the Elders
Allegory of Inclination
The Penitent Magdalen
Lucretia
Portrait of a Gonfaloniere
Judith and her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes
Self Portrait as Allegory of Painting