Blog Musings: How I Roll (and Ramble)

I very much enjoyed BBAW from the sidelines, celebrating great blogs getting well-deserved attention, getting to know people through interviews, and learning about different ideas and suggestions from many bloggers.  I was excited to see some of my favorites as finalists and winners.  Bravo!  

Sometimes, though, I end up getting the sense that I'm doing everything wrong!  Post often! Embrace social media! Brand yourself!  I would fail miserably on these points.  But, wait, I really don't believe there is a "wrong" way to execute a book blog.  My way is just different.  And as soon as I categorize myself as "different,"  I can almost hear others saying, "Hey, I'm like that too!"  Laid-back bloggers unite!

The diversity in the book blogging community is wonderful, both in the different niches and levels of commitment.  I enjoy them all.  You can post once a day or once a month, write answers to a meme or and in-depth review of a classic, tell me about your pets or the latest book your reading.  Pretty much if I like what I see, I'm sticking with you.  Long absence foreseen? No worries!  I'll be there when you get back, and if you never return, I hope life treats you well in your new adventures. 

Long absences notwithstanding, I have somehow managed to stick around.  But I've had to rework my blog in order to stay in this book-obsessed environment that I love.  Here's the way I do things "differently" that make it possible:

1.  Posting

In a nutshell, completely haphazard!  No regular posting for me.  This is my method:  There are several books that I'm pretty sure I would like to review someday, but every once in a while one stands out above the rest.  I pick a day to think about that book.  I read any notes I may have taken, look for things I've underlined, think about any thoughts the book generates in my head, look online for any historical context or information about author, etc.  And then just think about it.  It's my day to spend with one novel.  Like a date.  With a book.  While I'm cooking, cleaning, driving, sitting at boring school meetings, etc.  Sounds romantic, doesn't it?  I love this part!

Then comes the hard part, for me anyway.  Writing is very difficult for me!  It twists my brain and makes my eyes cross, and I feel like someone trying to rip my stomach out through my armpit.  There's no way I could go through this several times a week!   It's hard for me to take what my mind is thinking and get it down into words in exactly the way that I mean.  And if it's not exactly what I want to say, I get very frustrated.  But when the grey matter explosions actually transform into the right words?  Utter satisfaction.  Of course this doesn't happen all the time, but it's wonderful enough that I keep trying.  Sort of like gambling.  Which I don't do, so I have to get my thrills somehow.

And then, in about a week or two, I start the whole think, write, gamble process over again. When I'm done, I hit the "Post" button.  It's like taking a little happy pill.

2.  Twitter

One of the things I saw over and over again during BBAW discussions is the need to be on Twitter.  I get it, really.  I totally agree.  I'm on there.  Sort of.  The most activity I've had on there recently was when my account got hacked.  I also have automatic updates going through Goodreads and I'm pretty sure new posts on my blog show up. 

I just have never been able to make Twitter a part of my routine or my life.  Maybe it will happen someday.  I kind hope so, because I love the idea of connecting and sharing little tidbits of people's lives that you wouldn't normally discover.  But then I think I'm a little afraid of being too connected, and I have visions of being eaten a piece at a time by this cute little bird...

3. Visiting other blogs

This is where I must admit I need a little help, or a ten-step program, or something.  I'm afraid to count the number of blogs in my reader, there are so many. Here's my flawed process for reading them:  When I open Google Reader, even though I have categories and all, I hit "All Items."  And then I scroll through them all.  This is irresistible to me, because I have a completeness compulsion.  No, I don't actually read every word, but I skim, and then when something catches my eye, I read more thoroughly, and then if I actually have something to say, I open a new tab for the post, with the intent to comment.  

The problem is, at any number of time I have several tabs open and sometimes they stay up there for days.  And usually I have tabs open on two computers.  When do I actually comment on them?  Again, "haphazard" is the key.  I'm up and down at the computer here and there, and so I comment on a couple at one time, and a few another time, and some it takes so long for me to get to, I think it must be too late to comment and I close the tab in "silence."  There's got to be a better way, right?

4.  Memes

I don't do many memes.  Do I feel that I am above them?  Absolutely not!  I love reading them.  But when it comes to doing them myself, I don't.  Why?  Because I'm LAZY!  The idea of coming up with ten books that fit this theme or another and other such thing is another thing that brings on brain pain.  But I LOVE to read what others have put, so keep them coming!  When it comes to book discussions, I'm clearly and "innie" rather than an "outie." (BTW, when it comes to belly buttons, only 10% of the population have "outies.")

How did I get on the subject of belly buttons?  Needless to say, this is NOT a post that I've pondered deeply for a day or two.  I just drank a large cup of Mountain Dew Code Red (bad, bad, bad for the diet), so I think the caffeine is taking over at this point.  I'll rein things in now.

I suppose the bottom line with blogging is to figure out your purpose, and then do what you need to in order to fulfill that purpose.  If you need a large audience to make that happen, there are certain strategies you need to embrace.  But if you're like me, and are just looking for some personal fulfillment and book discussion, you can pretty much do whatever you want!  Nicely, of course.   And many, many thanks to those of you who come to visit me.  Simply put, it makes me happy!

How about you?  Do you operate in a way that makes you feel different from the mainstream bloggers out there?  Do you have any deep-seated fears of Twitter?  Is your Google Reader out of control?

(And here I will pat myself on the back for following a great blogging technique--asking your readers a question.  Do you know why I avoid this many times?  It's because I'm afraid no one will answer.  That would make me so sad.  Something like that happened once when I first started, but it resulted in a subsequent post with a picture of Aragorn from LOtR.  No harm done then, right?)

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Author: Lucy Maud Montgomery
Originally Published: 1926
Length: 272 pages
Source: Purchased from Amazon

Personal Enjoyment Factor: 4/5

Fear is the original sin. Almost all of the evil in the world has its origin in the fact that some one is afraid of something.  It is a cold slimy serpent coiling about you. It is horrible to live with fear; and it is of all things degrading.

I'm so grateful for "feel-good" books.  I love a good, heart-wrenching tragedy, and I'm okay with sad or ambiguous endings, but every once in a while I need the high I can get from a warm and fuzzy novel.  Sometimes the reading-induced tears need to be drops of joy and not gushes of agony.

Lucy Maud Montgomery is a great author to turn to for my happy fix.  It's interesting that Montgomery herself suffered from many bouts of depression while taking care of her mentally-ill husband and facing the demands of motherhood.  I presume that writing was her "drug", and perhaps she hoped to provide readers with an escape of their own.

In The Blue Castle, 29-year-old Valancy is unhappy and bored with her life under the thumb of severely micro-managing relatives.  For instance, it is completely unacceptable to sneeze in public.  Apparently you can suppress a sneeze by pressing your finger on your upper lip.  (I haven't tried it myself yet--I can only imagine what one must look like holding a sneeze while pushing a finger on their face.)   She flees from reality by daydreaming about her Blue Castle, a beautiful place that has grown up with her in her mind, and where she has been loved by a succession of imaginary beaus.  (I think I had a similar fantasy when I was younger, but it was more likely set in Middle Earth . . .)  But reality is never far away, especially when Valancy finds out that she only has a year to live, and the standard cure-all sworn to by her family, Redfern's Purple Pills, is not going to help her much at all.

She finds inspiration in the writings of her favorite nature author, John Foster, and decides that she will not live the rest of what remains of her life dominated by fear.  She breaks free from the conventions of her overbearing family, and starts spending time with the town reprobate, Barney Snaith.  Despite his hopelessly unromantic name, Barney ranks right up there with literary loveables like Mr. Darcy, Mr. Rochester, and Ron Weasley (a personal pick).  With her new life, Valancy tries to grasp a piece of that Blue Castle fantasy before she dies, and finds something even better.

This is such a sweet novel--not airy, cotton-candy sweet, more like warm apple crisp with vanilla-bean ice cream on top sweet.  It made me feel good, and I hope the writing of it had a similar effect on Montgomery herself.  The ending gets all wrapped up like a snazzy little birthday present.  While I wouldn't want every book I read to end so tidily, it is great getting a gift every once in a while, isn't it?

The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells

Author: H. G. Wells
Originally Published: 1896
Length: 160 pages
Source: Library
Challenge(s): R.I.P. VI

Personal Enjoyment Factor: 4/5

Poor brutes!  I began to see the viler aspects of Moreau's cruelty.  I had not thought before of the pain and trouble that came to these poor victims after they had passed from Moreau's hand.  I had shivered only at the days of actual torment in the enclosure.  But now that seemed to be the lesser part.  Before they had been beasts, their instincts fitly adapted to their surroundings, and happy as living things may be. Now they stumbled in the shackles of humanity, lived in a fear that never died, fretted by a law they could not understand; their mock-human existence began in  agony, was one long internal struggle, on long dread of Moreau--and for what?  It was the wantonness that stirred me. 

I find that I am developing and unlikely "thing" for H.G. Wells.  It's rather curious to me, because his writing itself doesn't seem like it would do much for me. The prose can be somewhat mechanical and plain and underwhelming, but then he takes it to another extreme with melodramatic scenes and campy images of horror.  However, as with a recent reading of The War of the Worlds, I find myself relishing it, and craving more.

In The Island of Dr. Moreau, Edward Prendick, a man who has "taken to natural history as a relief from the dullness of [his] comfortable independence" gets quite a break from the boredom when he is shipwrecked and ends up on an island where Dr. Moreau gets his kicks cutting up animals and giving them human characteristics.  They are given anti-bestial laws to follow, and are taught to deify their creator.  But their true nature is undeniable, and things end up getting pretty ugly. 

Speaking of ugliness, by the end of the book I wanted to cut Dr. M. up and give him a few more humane characteristics, but, alas, another fate awaited him. Other than fantasies of vivisecting the good doctor, this short novel brings to mind other thoughts.  How far should mankind reach in the name of science?  Do we "play God" for the sake of progress?  What distinguishes man from beasts?  What makes us human?  How strong are the effects of socialization?   Where can I get my hands on a scalpel so I can cut up this guy and give him a taste of his own medicine?

A more immediate question I'm asking myself now:  Which of Wells' books should I read next?  The Time Machine?  The Invisible Man?  The First Men in the Moon?  I can't wait to dive into another sci-fi vision (or nightmare) conceived over 100 years ago.

R.I.P. VI

Is it just me, or has this image gone positively viral in your Google Readers:

Or maybe it's this one:

Not surprisingly, there are going to be a lot of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril this year, thanks to Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings, and I will attempt to number myself among them.

I'm going for Peril the First, with a goal to read four books with the intended elements of mystery, suspense, horror and such.  Here are some options I'm looking at:

Unwind by Neal Shusterman
Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon
Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
The Skull Mantra by Eliot Pattison
The Monk by Matthew Lewis
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Drood by Dan Simmons
The Vanishing of Katherine Linden by Helen Grant

Have fun everyone!  I can't wait until the weather gets into the spirit this challenge. In Southern California, that usually happens a few days before it's over.

The Way of Kings Group Read (Part Four)

The readalong for The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson continues.  If you want to join in or find other thoughts on the book, check out the Polishing Mud Balls Readalong Page. 

Late again!  I had a book club last night that I had to cram in a couple hundred pages for, so I had put off answering questions and visiting others.  Sad.  But the book club I went to was fabulous, so I guess it's really all good.

Also, I keep forgetting to say this:  Spoilers follow!

I finished up Part 4 on Saturday night, and just had to go on to finish the book.  When you're looking at just 40 more pages (in the hardcover edition), it's really hard to stop.  I will keep from spoiling any of those 40 pages though.

Here are this week's questions, provided by Kailana: 

1. One thing that I have thinking about during the course of this book is what Brandon Sanderson is trying to say about religion. Jasnah is an atheist. Shallan believes, but is still trying to find herself. Dalinar believes strongly in the ‘Old Ways’. What do you think of this idea?

He hasn't really expressed anything definitive yet (that I can tell), but I find his exploration of religious faith very interesting.  Even though I am a religious person who attends church regularly, I have times that I struggle with faith.  I came into this world a skeptical person, and am constantly questioning everything about everything, religious or not (I think Jasnah would be proud of me--I'm not sure if that's a good thing...).  Because of this, I always try to focus on certain "things" that I know are true, because I need something to serve as an anchor in life. One of those things is that it is good to serve and love others and try to relieve suffering where possible.  The reason I bring this up is because I see each of the main characters in the book doing the same thing--some sort of a guiding principle even if they haven't figured out what to believe in.  Kaladin is unsure about a lot of things, but has a core belief that you save life when possible and you don't leave a man behind.  Dalinar clings to his ideal of honor and integrity through The Codes and what he is learning in The Way of Kings.  Jasnah finds value in knowledge as a source of truth, and that is what guides her life.  Shallan is an exception, because she seems to have the faith in the established religion, but is learning through Jasnah to question her beliefs, not in order to prove them false, but to expand her knowledge and understanding.  I know Jasnah is referred to as an atheist in the book, but she strikes me more as an agnostic.  All in all, I think Sanderson is trying to represent how characters live their lives while they try to figure out questions of faith.

2. The relationship between siblings is an important part of this book. Adolin has always been at the forefront of Dalinar’s two sons, but Renarin is important, too. What did you think of the two brothers? Going back a generation, what do think of Dalinar and our glimpses of his brother? Then there is Kaladin who joins the war to protect his brother and fails. And Jasnah whose brother is King. Or Shallan who puts herself in a dangerous situation to help her brothers out following her fathers’ death. What do you think of these relationships? Did any stick out for you? 

I feel like we've only just scratched the surface of these relationships, with little hints of more drama yet to be revealed, past and present.  I like Adolin, but Renarin intrigues me more.  I would love to find out more about Gavilar, especially since Navani makes a comment that suggests he was not necessarily an honorable man.  

3. Kaladin has been included in every section. Why do you think this was? Did you wish to have a break from him, or did you enjoy knowing he would be explored with every section?

Well, honestly, I have a little crush on Kaladin, so I don't need any breaks from him.  I'm good with the "exploring" and all ;-)  From a more literary stance, the continuity of one character gives such a long book a focal point and ties everything together a bit.

4. One of my favourite characters in the book is Syl. What do you think of her and her development throughout the course of this book?

I think we're far along enough in the book for me to confess that at first she reminded me of Tinkerbell.  This was not a positive thing for me.  Luckily she changed and matured enough to help me to let go of that image of her.  I like her more as she gains more wisdom, but at the same time it's somewhat poignant to see her grasp the dark side of life and of human nature. 

5. And, the big question, what do you think is going to happen in the last section? Any predictions?

I have already finished, but I will predict that I will be happily reading the book again before the next one comes out.

The Way of Kings Group Read (Part Three)

The readalong for The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson continues.  If you want to join in or find other thoughts on the book, check out the Polishing Mud Balls Readalong Page.

It is with great self-discipline that I put down the book before getting too far into Part Four.  Doesn't it just sound weird to say "Only 300 pages left?"  Kind of like getting excited that gas is now only $3.66 . . .

But of course I would rather read this book, even hundreds more pages of it, than fill up my tank.  I am finding Sanderson's doorstop to be such a page-turner, that I may even end up reading it while filling up my tank because I won't be able to put it down.

This weeks questions are brought to us by Memory: 


1. Part III reunites us with Shallan, who we haven't seen for a few hundred pages, and separates us from Dalinar and Adolin for a few hundred more. How do you feel about leaving characters behind for such long stretches? Did you lose any of your connection to them during the break?
Somehow it works for me, even though some of the story lines/characters are left for hundreds of pages.  I had mentioned somewhere that I didn't miss Shallan much during Part II, but when she returned in Part III, I was riveted.  Kabsal freaked me out and I was trying to figure out if he was up to something.  I just kept wondering what was up with all that bread and jam!  But then there are a lot of things that just don't seem to add up about Jasnah's explanation of the poisoning.  I seriously do not know who to trust!  If Jasnah is lying, why?  Is it just another "hands-on" lesson?  Did she do some soulcasting when she put her finger in the jam?  Does that mean that she has a functioning soulcaster or doesn't need one?  Or did she just simply want to smell the darn jam? At one point I even thought Kabsal was working as sort of a spy for Jasnah to find out more about Shallan.  I don't get that idea now.  I have a million more ideas and questions about this whole storyline, so I'll just stop here.
I also didn't miss Dalinar, but now that I am beginning Part 4, I'm just as enthralled.  There is so much I want to know about the visions. And still, why his memories of his wife have been erased.  For something that has only been mentioned a couple of times, it occupies a lot of my thoughts!

2. So far, how would you compare this to other epic fantasies you've read? Does it remind you of any other series?
It does strike me as different than the fantasy I've read.  I have felt more of a connection to our world in other books, whereas Roshar seems quite alien.  Maybe I haven't read enough other fantasy to compare, but The Way of Kings seems quite unique.  Originality jumps out of every page. 

3. How do you feel about the masculine and feminine arts? If you're female, do you think you'd be content to stick to scholaly pursuits, or would you rather do something physical, like go to war? If you're male, would you be willing to forgo learning to read, even if there were women around to read to you? What about the food? Does the spicy for men and sweet for women restriction fit your own tastes?

I think if I ate all those sweets I'd be fat and my teeth would fall out.  What guy would want me reading to him then?

4. What do you think of the flashbacks to Kaladin's childhood?

I look forward to them as they piece together the events in his life that have led him to his present condition.  He seems to have a pattern of depression that leads him to the brink and then he comes back even stronger.  Of course I wonder in each chapter of his past if we will finally find out the exact details of Tien's death.  I was a little vexed when that period of time gets skipped over and we return to the original battle scene from the beginning.  I liked the way we got a different perspective of the battle, and it made me appreciate more that the first time it was from Cenn's perspective. 

5. Do you have any theories yet as to where the story is headed? What do you most want to see in the last quarter of the book? 

In a nutshell, I want to see Kaladin and his group to escape, I want Dalinar's visions to be believed, and I have no clue what I want for Shallan.    But what I want may not be what's best for the story.  I'm sure Sanderson will play around a bit with what the reader wants to have happen, and what will actually happen.  I hope so.  I'm mostly hoping that at least a couple of things will have some closure, and that not everything is left for the rest of the series. 

At this point, still more questions than answers.  Love it!

Classics Circuit Tour: The Pastures of Heaven by John Steinbeck

Author: John Steinbeck
Originally Published: 1932
Length: 240 pages
Source: Library
Challenge/Event:  Classics Circuit Tour

Personal Enjoyment Factor: 4/5

Welcome to the next stop of the Steinbeck Tour!  The Pastures of Heaven is the first of Steinbeck's California works, set in the farm country near his hometown of Salinas.  Published in 1932, this work precedes his popularity and financial success, but introduces the reader to Steinbeck's style and the genesis of the themes that he explores in later, better-known novels.  In this collection of short stories, we meet a community of families living in a beautiful verdant valley full of promise, finding that life can be rather ugly, and their own imperfections and the pressures to conform to society don't help at all.

The most pivotal family in the region is the Munroe family, after their acquisition of the Battle Farm, which is believed by neighbors to be cursed or haunted.  Its previous occupants include an epileptic wife (who goes insane), her dour husband (who dies, simply of old age and a cough), their fanatically religious son (who gets bitten by a snake while trying to cast the devil out of it), and a reclusive family who disappears without a trace leaving a table set with moldy food and the rest of the house cleared of the furniture.  The people of the Pastures of Heaven look upon the abandoned, run-down house with wariness and superstition: 

 "It's good land," they said, "but I wouldn't own it if you gave it to me.  I don't know what's the matter, but there's sure something funny about that place, almost creepy.  Wouldn't be hard for a fellow to believe in haunts"'(12).

Imagine the talk when the Munroe family buys the farm and settles down in the area!  Defying his own previous bad luck and the expectations of the community, Burt Munroe becomes prosperous and optimistic, even popular.  Chatting with the farmers, Burt proposes that maybe his own curse and the Battle Farm curse fought each other and killed each other off.  Clever idea.  But one guy has a better one:

"Maybe your curse and the farm's curse has mated and gone into a gopher hole like a pair of rattlesnakes.  Maybe there'll be a lot of baby curses crawling around the Pastures first thing we know"(19).

How inventive these farmers are!  Not to mention foreshadowing that bonks you on the head and propels you to read on.   What follows is a collection of stories (or as Steinbeck describes them, "tiny novels"), each depicting a different family living in the Pastures, touched in some inadvertent, but disastrous way by those "lucky" Munroes.

Besides being engaging stories with superb characterizations and vivid descriptions of the setting, this short-story cycle is exciting to read because within are found the origins of Steinbeck's most powerful themes and landscapes that emerge in later and more celebrated works.  Included is a cast of flawed characters struggling against forces out of their control.  Their dreams and self-delusions crumble in the face of reality.  Even in a place with the such a promising name, the Pastures of Heaven offers little solace and satisfaction to its residents.

It's always a little scary for me to read the earlier work of a beloved author and risk disappointment,  but in this case my fears were unfounded.  I enjoyed it mostly for its entertainment value and its ironic, darkly humorous tone.  Steinbeck himself has this to say about The Pastures of Heaven:

". . .Of anything I have ever tried, I am fondest of these and more closely tied to them.  There is no grand writing nor any grand theme, but I love the stories very much."

I loved the stories very much as well, but I disagree with him about the writing and theme--I don't know about "grand" but both can surely be found in satisfying quantities within this short-story collection.