Annoying

So I just noticed that I have been very inconsistent with how I referenced book titles and the correct use of punctuation when doing so. After looking up how to do it... underline?  quotation marks? italics? I discovered that I should be using italics. I just went through all my blog entries to fix my errors. However, in the Jane Eyre post I accidently used the Edit button instead of just clicking on it and updating. Now it is at the top of my blog posts and dated today instead of the actual date that I wrote the post. Grrr..... I'm annoyed! I know that probably sounds very Type A and possibly borderline compulsive, but it does. If anyone knows how to fix this please let me know!

Jane Eyre

Today I finished Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I'm usually a little unsure starting a book considered "a classic", wondering whether or not I'm going to be able to enjoy it. Sometimes the writing is just too far over my head, sometimes I'm just not in the mood to think that hard, sometimes I just don't find them very engaging. Thankfully none of these were the case with Jane Eyre. If I were REALLY diligent, I should have kept a dictionary close by and looked up several words I didn't understand; but it didn't detract from the general story line, so I trudged on and made it through just fine. Overall I gave this book a 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads rating scale. I'm actually a little surprised I hadn't read it before now, it seems like a natural choice for a high school literature class.

Why did I like it? What did I like about it? Well, first of all I loved Jane's character - her strength and independence and forthrightness. I admired how her character spoke to others. She was very straight-forward and called "a spade - a spade", and did so without losing her composure. She also seemed to be able to ferret out the internal motivations of those she spent much time with, by listening, asking bold questions (for this time period especially), and thinking about the answers carefully. It seemed that most of the conversations held in her story were more honest than those I hear today. It makes me wonder if this was simply her writing style or if we have incorporated a more "politically correct" way of communicating with one another in modern times.

I also sympathized with her upbringing. As a teacher it reminds me that my students come from a variety of backgrounds, and they may be dealing with issues outside of school that have a profound effect on their self-image. How would my character be today if I was brought up under similar conditions? Would I have persevered as she did? I would guess that the very fact that I'm asking these questions is testimony to a successful novel. And that people who read it are still asking those questions 165 years after being published attests to its timelessness.

The only criticism I have is that of the "neatness" of the plot. Jane Eyre did not have a large circle of acquaintances, and yet they neatly create a full circle. Not something that would probably happen in real life, but it IS called fiction for a reason. I was very satisfied with how the story ended, so while I criticize her choice as being unrealistic, I'm glad she made it the way she did.

Now what book to pick up next? I read Jane Eyre as background for Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series starting with The Eyre Affair. I also would like to get caught up on Janet Evanovitch's bounty hunter books (#16 was the last one I read) and someone recently recommended a vampire trilogy starting with The Strain. Hmmmm..... we'll have to wait and see!

I'm a wimp.

It's official. I'm a wimp. I started reading The Strain last night while my daughter was spending the night with her grandma. The book is about vampires (I think). To be honest, I didn't even get far enough that they were labeled vampires, but these creatures sucked the blood out of people and brought them back from the dead, so I will assume they were vampires. Now I don't have anything against vampire books in general. I loved A Discovery of Witches. Matthew is a very agreeable and friendly vampire if you are on his good side. And I really enjoyed The Passage as well. So what was it about this book that made me unable to read anymore? Well, I guess the best way to describe it was creepy. If it were a movie (and I think one of the authors is a movie writer or director) I would be too scared to watch it I'm sure. About the time one of the newly changed humans-into-vampires started hearing the thrushing of his son and daughter's blood through their veins, after he had cleaned out the blood from the family St. Bernards, I absolutely had had enough. The last part that I read, he was chaining himself out in the shed using one of the deceased dog's collars because he was afraid of what he would do next. It was simply disturbing. No thank you.

So I have now started a new book called Little Bee by Chris Cleave. I can already tell this is more up my alley. It is about a Nigerian refugee that has just left a detainment prison in England and has called a man whom she last saw on a beach in Nigeria. She happened to have his business card in her possession and she called him to ask for his help. I'm sure there will be some sort of very sad story involved. An excerpt from the first chapter will show off adept my foreshadowing skills:

"In a few breaths' time I will speak some sad words to you. But you must hear them the same way we have agreed to see scars now. Sad words are just another beauty. A sad story means, this storyteller is alive. The next thing you know, something fine will happen to her, something marvelous, and then she will turn around and smile."

Now this is a story I can handle. I want to hear what fine things happen to her and even if they don't, the fact that she has the hope in her to believe they will is enough to keep me reading.

Satisfied again

Thank you Jasper Fforde for the creativity you expended in writing the Thursday Next series. The Well of Lost Plots was a welcome read after A Perfect Spy. Thursday does not disappoint in the third book as she goes on adventures in the bookworld. I would admit that I did like the first two better, but I still think she is one of my favorite female detectives. While I love to read, I have never been much of a writer, nor have I ever taken any classes on how to write much beyond an expository paper. Fforde does a nice job of sprinkling in references on how writing occurs, and as always has play on words and grammatical errors that I find an entertaining side note.

Here is a synopsis from the Goodreads website:
Jasper Fforde has done it again in this genre-bending blend of crime fiction, fantasy, and top-drawer literary entertainment. After two rollicking New York Times bestselling adventures through Western literature, resourceful literary detective Thursday Next definitely needs some downtime. And what better place for a respite than in the hidden depths of the Well of Lost Plots, where all unpublished books reside? But peace and quiet remain elusive for Thursday, who soon discovers that the Well is a veritable linguistic free-for-all, where grammasites run rampant, plot devices are hawked on the black market, and lousy books-like the one she has taken up residence in-are scrapped for salvage. To make matters worse, a murderer is stalking the personnel of Jurisfiction and it's up to Thursday to save the day. A brilliant feat of literary showmanship filled with wit, fantasy, and effervescent originality, this Ffordian tour de force is the most exciting Thursday Next adventure yet.


Overall I would give this book an 8 out of 10. If you are a lover of reading or the English language, I think you would find this book appealing. They do have several copies of the first book, The Eyre Affair, available at the Book Rack in Moline for a discounted price.

A Not So Perfect Read

I recently finished the John LeCarre novel A Perfect Spy. Here is a synopsis of the book from Goodreads:

Magnus Pym -- son of Rick, father of Tom, and a successful career officer of British Intelligence -- has vanished, to the dismay of his friends, enemies, and wife. Who is he? Who was he? Who owns him? Who trained him? Secrets of state are at risk. As the truth about Pym gradually emerges, the reader joins Pym's pursuers to explore the unsettling life and motives of a man who fought the wars he inherited with the only weapons he knew, and so became a perfect spy.


To be perfectly honest, I almost put this book down after the first couple of chapters. The reason I didn't was because I had already started and stopped five other books: Uncommon Grounds, The Magician King, The Forgotten Founding Father, Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell, and Ordinary Thunderstorms. I was determined to finish the next book I started.

I really liked the characters: Magnus, his wife Mary, his spy mentor Jack Brotherhood, and even his creepy father Rick. But the actual plot was buried underneath so many words. The timeline constantly bounced back and forth, and it was a little difficult to keep it all straight. I think it wasn't until I was 73% through the book that I felt it was difficult to put down.

I wouldn't say I hated it. I wouldn't say I loved it. I think I'll remember it well as it was rather different. But I won't rush out to read another of his novels in the near future. It didn't take me long to chose my next book. I immediately picked up the third book in the Thursday Next series, The Well of Lost Plots. Ahhhhh..... something familiar and comfortable. Plus, I need to finish all five before I go on spring break.

I've got so many on my list it will be hard to say what comes next.

Super Freaky

I finished the book SuperFreakonomics a couple of days ago. I had read Freakonomics when it first came out and remembered liking it a lot. I wish I were the type of person who had a better memory for details, because both of these books are chock full of interesting things that make great conversation. The book is written by a couple of economists (I think) that research some commonplace things (like prostitution, altruistic behavior and global warming) and then look at the research through different eyes. The eyes of an economist. Now from what I gleaned, apparently an economist has more scientific method than the scientists do. Much of the research was done by scientists testing a hypothesis, but these guys just interpreted the data differently, or compiled other data and added that to their conclusions. At any rate, it is very interesting to see how easy it is to spin the data to make it support whatever conclusion you hold near and dear to your heart. Being a math person, I know that statistics is the least "pure" of the mathematical areas precisely because of this scenario. John Allen Paulos wrote several books in fact that discuss how statistics are manipulated by the media to make their case and since the general public is not as numerate as they are literate, they tend to take the statistics for granted. They read the words written, assume the statistics are set in stone and that it is an irrefutable fact since it is in print. I can't say that I believe every single conclusion these authors set out to claim, HOWEVER I give them huge kudos for pointing out the fact that there are many factors to consider and to conduct many experiments, or look at many different groups of data before claiming one as truth. Another author who wrote several books that I put in this same category is Malcolm Gladwell. He wrote The Tipping Point, Blink and Outliers. Again, good fodder for those of us with a hint of conspiracy theory blood in our veins and who are willing to question the facts as presented to us.

I've been toying with the idea of adding my own rating scale. Being a math person, I want to choose a scale that will be meaningful. The scale from 1 to 5 seems to me to not have enough range to fully differentiate between the levels of "like" and "really like". So I think I will try a scale from 1 to 10 and see how that goes.

SuperFreakonomics
Finished February 1, 2012
Rating:  8
Comments: Easy to read and understand. Good bathroom reading if you are into that kind of thing.

To e-read or not to e-read

For those of you who are trying to decide whether or not to buy an e-reader I would be happy to share my thoughts on the subject. I have owned the first generation Kobo (was there even a second generation?) for a year now, and generally use it to read the classics that came preloaded on it. I had some hesitation before buying it and thought I would discuss it's pros and cons here on my blog. My first choice when it comes to choosing a book would be one that is a soft cover but the bigger size than a traditional paperback. My eyes aren't what they used to be, and I find the print in a smaller size paperbacks, well, too small. The e-reader is fantastic for this because I can adjust the font size and I find that I don't have to wear my glasses to read it. Definite pro. Also, it's so convenient when I know there is a book that I must have and start RIGHT NOW to be able to download it instantly to my e-reader. With a young child at home sometimes it is impossible to get to the bookstore when I want to. That is the second pro. The third pro is a little embarrassing to admit, but nonetheless I will share. When long books come out in hardcover, I actually find that it gets uncomfortable to hold the book while I read in bed. I know, pretty lame, but it really does make a difference when I can easily hold my e-reader in one hand. I suppose another possible pro is that it takes up less space on the bookshelf, but I sort of like being able to peruse my past reads, and ones that I haven't gotten to yet, and show them off to friends and family. It's a nice way to share with people a part of who I am and what I like. So I guess we better scratch that off the pro side and add it to the con side!

So, what are the other downsides? You may have noticed that I did not mention the price of books being any cheaper as one of the pros of owning an e-reader. I do not fully understand why, but they are not that much cheaper, especially when you consider the fact that they are considerably less expensive to produce. The economics definitely doesn't add up there. Usually the e-books are a couple of dollars less, especially if you shop around on Amazon or have a membership card at one of the big chain bookstores. Apparently you can borrow ebooks from the library, but I have yet to try this feature out. Ok, so back to my list of cons. My first con made itself known when I was snuggled in bed, about three-fourths of the way through a gripping murder mystery (don't remember the name right now) and my battery went dead! That never happens when reading a real book obviously. I was so pissed, I grabbed my blanket and went and sat at my computer desk with my blanket wrapped around me and finished reading it. Since then I have purchased a charger, and I have discovered that some chargers will do double duty for your cell phone as well. I wasn't quite that lucky though. The next con is also one I didn't consider right away, and it isn't a big deal, but being a big reader I often like to see what other people are reading too. When someone is reading on an e-reader, you aren't able to surreptitiously glance at the cover and, if the fancy strikes, start up a conversation about said book. Not a deal breaker, but an unintended consequence to be sure.

As I was reading SuperFreakonomics there were several passages I wanted to highlight and return to later. If I had been reading a hard copy, I would have turned down a corner of the page. My Kobo doesn't have a bookmark feature, but I've been told that some of the Kindle editions do, and some even offer a highlighter feature. I would never have thought about wanting this until the need for it arose. I was bummed. The last and possibly most annoying downside of the e-reader is the inability to be able to pick up the book and turn it over and read a synopsis of the story. Upon finishing one book, I often struggle with what to read next. I do not want to just pick up the next one off the shelf in a sequential order. It is a very important decision. If I do not choose correctly I run the risk of banishing that book to the "never to be read/finished" list simply because I wasn't in the mood for that kind of book. At the moment, if I want to choose from books on my e-reader I must check on my GoodReads shelf (if they are there) or Google the book if it isn't and find out if it's the right time for me to start reading that particular novel. It seems so impersonal. I like to hold the book in my hand. Get an idea of how long it might take me to finish it. I've been known to pick up as many as 8 or 10 books at Border's and sort them into piles based on reading a paragraph or so from the middle of the book. Can't do it with a Kobo. That puts a huge cramp in my book selection style. If anyone knows of a newer edition e-reader that has a capability similar please pass along the information. Quick, before I buy a new one!

Overall, I've been happy with my purchase. I bought the Kobo for $99 and it came loaded with 100 classics, so I feel like I got a deal at a $1 a book there. Yes, I know they are free to download, but if I didn't have the e-reader I would have had to buy them or pay the late fines to the library. I have learned to share my reading time to include my old, familiar comfortable reading habits while incorporating the wave of the future. They each have their good and bad sides. Like just about everything else in this world. My biggest question now is whether buying one for my Dad would be a good gift idea or if he would scoff at the idea..... perhaps I will take the chance that he too will find the benefits of owning and e-reader. And he will be a step ahead of the game since he didn't have to buy it!