Non-Fiction Five Challenge

Joy from Thoughts of Joy has come up with another lovely book challenge that begged me to join it. I couldn't say no.

The Non-Fiction Five Challenge

The premise is to read 5 non-fiction books between May and September. At least one needs to be a different genre than the rest. I've had a few non-fiction books floating around in the back of my mind, so making the list was pretty easy. It's quite eclectic.

1. Playground Politics: Understanding the Emotional Life of Your School-Age Child by Stanley I Greenspan
2. When I Was Elena by Ellen Urbani Hiltebrand
3. Vegan: The New Ethics of Eating by Erik Marcus
4. Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
5. Control Theory in the Classroom by William Glasser

Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury is one of those books that was required reading for everyone in high school... everyone but me. I'm actually a little shocked that it took me so long to read. The Numbers Challenge gave me the motivation I needed.

The novel is a futuristic look at censorship. In the future firemen no longer quell the flames. Instead they use their massive kerosene hoses to ignite fires in the homes of those who hoard books. While the firemen are busy starting fires and the book hoarders are busy hiding, the rest of the people are busy living their lives in front of their television screens (which now take up all four walls in living rooms).

When a rogue fireman, Guy Montag, becomes entranced by books his life quickly becomes a whirlwind of confusion.

The scenario presented by Bradbury is an interesting look at the dangers of censoring intellectual freedom. To be honest, I'm still digesting all the implications of this novel.

In the afterward Bradbury talks further about his characters. In Beatty's words: "I ate them like salad, books were my sandwich for lunch, my tiffin and dinner and midnight munch."

Recommendation: Give this book the time it requires. Read it with a friend or when you have time for proper digestion.

Anatomy of a Boyfriend

I like the YA genre. And I've been enjoying the Young Adult Book Challenge. But... good golly, I need a break from this stuff. Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky was the book that helped me see that.

The book isn't awful. To be honest, I probably would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't had such a heavy influx of YA lately. However, it is heavily cliched... in the most annoying of ways.

Let's count, here we go: Girl meets boy in chivalric moment (1). Girl initiates online conversation with boy, eventually declares her love (after a week?). Boy does not respond, girl's life is over (2). Oops, just an internet error, boy likes girl too. Girl's world becomes boy (3). Girl changes interests to suit boy (vegetarianism, track, his dog) (4)...

That's just the beginning. I haven't even mentioned how they have sex for the first time on prom night. Really?

Perhaps another annoying feature of the book, is how closely it resembles my life at that age. Beginning a relationship in the last year of high school, freaking out about where to go to college, going to different colleges, trying to make it work even though you both know you're drifting apart, getting blindsided and dumped. All happened to me too.

But let's be clear... the cliche bits, did not happen to me. The general plotline, my life at 18.

Oh and... the book is dedicated to Judy Blume, and I suspect some extra raunchy bits were included in her honor.

Recommendation: It may be a decent book on its own, but don't read it in a string of young adult.

Slam

I was surprised to find out that Slam by Nick Hornby was a young adult novel...but that was okay with me...it went right on the list for the Young Adult Book Challenge.

In full disclosure, I happen to be a big Nick Hornby fan. How to Be Good, High Fidelity, A Long Way Down (review), Speaking with the Angel (review)... all are good. Hornby is so skilled at developing quirky yet realistic characters and his dialogue is superb. In fact, I think I'll put About A Boy on my to be read list (I think the only one I haven't read yet).

But getting back to Slam. Slam tells the story of Sam, a teenage skater living in London. Sam is experiencing a high point in his life. Not only does he have a beautiful girlfriend (sex!), he has his own "guardian angel", Tony Hawk. But true to life, when you finally realize that things are going right... it's about time for things to go wrong. The big wrong in Sam's case. His girlfriend becomes pregnant. Did I mention that Sam himself is the son of a teenage mother? Yikes.

Hornby incorportates both realistic and supernatural elements in Sam's life. The conflict that erupts post pregnancy... very real. Tony Hawk "whizzing" Sam into the future... not quite.

Hornby proves he's a writer for all ages. And honestly, reading along as Sam takes excerpts from Tony Hawk's autobiography as gospel... hilarious.

Recommendation: If you're a Hornby fan to being with, Slam is no exception. If Hornby is new to you, Slam is a decent first start.

Peaches

I first saw Peaches by Jodi Lynn Anderson on the shelf at Powell's. I like to browse the children's/young adult section from time to time. Ok, a lot of the time! I didn't think too much about it until I was revising my list for the Young Adult Book Challenge. I popped it on.

It's a cute book. The plot outline is pretty basic. Three girls. All different. Hate eachother. Overcome differences. Work together. Best friends! Of course there's a bit more to it than that...

Here's a quote from the back of the book: Together these three very different girls will discover the secret to finding the right boy, making the truest of friends, and picking the perfect Georgia peach. So you have to expect it to be a little sappy, right?

I could see girls in the 12-16 range really enjoying this book. And considering it's a national best seller, it seems like they do. There's also a sequel, The Secrets of the Peaches. I probably won't bother with it.

Recommendation: If you're a Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants fan (I'm not), you'll like the taste of these Georgia peaches.

Flipped

Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen was one of my choices for the Young Adult Book Challenge. I kept seeing it in middle school libraries and it seemed popular with the students. Having now read it, I understand why!

Flipped is told from the perspective of two different characters alternating between chapters. As soon as you think you know what happened, everything is "flipped", and you see it from the other perspective. I enjoyed this technique because it kept the narration from becoming stale (not that that was a concern), but it also made me think about all those times I've had embarrassing run-ins, and wondering what the other perspective might have been.

The story is told by Juli Baker and Bryce Loski. Juli has a mega crush on Bryce, and has since the first moment she met him. Bryce did not feel the same. The book focuses on the romantic angles, but throws in other issues as well. As the events progress a nice compare and contrast between families appears. I have to say, one of my favorite elements is Juli's relationship with a tree. It's a special tree that makes her feel alive in a special way. Personally, I seem to have this connection with trees as well. I'll admit to crying when they cut down the trees at my elementary school... even the one we played Little House on the Prairie under. And I'll admit to having a slight panic attack when I couldn't remember if "Nathaniel's Tree" had been spared... it was! (In first grade our school planted a tree to remember a fourth grader, Nathaniel, who was hit by a car). So we can say I had a deep connection to Juli.

Talking about this book with a 4th or 5th grade student (multi-age class, you never really know!), I found it interesting that one of the aspects of the book that I liked so much (the changing perspective), was a point of confusion for her. "I could never figure out what was happening... I thought I'd know and then it would change." She solved the problem by rereading (nice strategy!) and in the end really enjoyed the book.

Recommendation: If you like the somewhat unique delivery and don't mind running through all of your own awkward adolescent encounters, Flipped is well worth a read.

One Hundred Years of Solitude

One of my selections for the Numbers Challenge is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gariel Garcia Marquez.

For some reason I had a really wrong impression of this book. It was recommended to me a few years ago by a boy I sat by in middle school band when I was bumped from first chair sax to second. (At least I think that happened, I definitely sat at first far longer than deserved.) At the time of the recommendation I assumed the book had an Indian theme. (In my defense, he didn't tell me the name of the author...) So I had a little misinformation. The next thing I knew, it was an Oprah's Book Club title. If you've read this post, you know how I feel about that.

Regardless, I gave it a try. I'll be honest. I'm still digesting this book.

As I started to read the first few chapters, I struggled to explain the mood, the casual tone of the narrator, despite the many mystifying events. When I read Marquez's explanation, of course it made perfect sense. I must quote.

"The tone I eventually used in One Hundred Years of Solitude was based on the way my grandmother used to tell stories. She told things that sounded supernatural and fantastic, but she told them with complete naturalness."

He goes on to describe his grandmother's facial expression during her stories. It didn't change. He realized he had to tell the story with a "brick face."

But what is the story? One Hundred Years of Solitude tells of the rise and fall of the village Macondo through the lives of the Buendia family. There's love, death, war, incest... and miracles. Not to mention a fairly complicated and difficult to follow family tree due to the recycling of names and aforementioned intrafamilial hook-ups.

I found myself looking forward to whatever new fantastic occurrence would happen next and the family's subdued reaction.

Recommendation: If you enjoy long meandering books and surrealism, One Hundred Years of Solitude is definitely worth a look.