TSS Week 29

After These Things is an excellent sequel to Only Human, Diski's novel about the biblical Abraham and Sarah. After These Things picks up with Isaac, their son, and his children and grandchildren. If you are familiar with the Bible, you know about Isaac and Rebekah, their twins, Jacob and Esau, and Jacob's adventures with wives Leah and Rachel. If not... it's pretty interesting reading.

It was done extremely well, just like the first novel, though at first I had a hard time latching on because I didn't like Isaac and Rebekah the way I liked Abraham and Sarah. Jacob didn't do much for me either, though of course I fell in love with the maltreated Leah, because what women without extreme coquettishness and beauty does not relate to Leah? The Bible says even God had pity on her.

I also liked that God was not a character in this novel. He was in the previous one, and he was anthropomorphic enough to be annoying. Although Diski introduced "the Editor" as narrator (which was an interesting contrivance), this character didn't do much for me and ultimately became a distraction.

Poetry Challenge: Rekindled

NaPoWriMo has been great so far, and it reminded me about my poetry challenge way back when. I need to take it up again, because it gave me the opportunity to really stretch my writing, not to mention to experience fantastic poets I hadn't read before. To recap:

1. Sappho

2. Omar Khayyam

3. Anne Sexton

4. Dorothy Parker

5. Adrienne Rich

TSS Week 28

I am still reading After These Things and I am enjoying it, but I do skip around a lot (in terms of books) so today I will talk a bit about the other ones I've started.

1. Twilight

People have been at me to read this series for ages. Everyone raves, regardless of age. I decided to bite the bullet when my colleagues started raving as well. I am sure I will like it because for all my literary pretense, I do enjoy pop lit (e.g. Harry Potter, The Da Vinci Code). Only about 25 pages in but it is good. I have seen the movie so no surprises in the book so far.

2. The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers

I was looking for guidance on how to structure my novel and I asked for advice from my local writing group, the Austin WriterGrrls. One person who responded recommended this book, and I just started working on it. It is fabulous! The author, Christopher Vogler, brings together Jungian psychology and the work of Joseph Campbell to isolate a story-telling pattern that has been around since the days of early myth and prevails, even now, in popular novels and films. It has served as a great guide for me and I feel it would resonate with anyone who is a consumer of pop culture. Still in the early stages, though, so we shall see!

3. Les Miserables

I have been reading this novel for a while now, but I recently let it go for a bit because I was frustrated with a lot of sections on French history that were hard to follow. I wonder if Hugo did not envision his novel as being a classic worldwide? Did he expect only his countrymen and women to read it, or was he trying to educate the rest of us? I have come to a point where I skip or skim the parts that are not relevant to the plot, so it is going well once again. Terribly interesting story, from what I can remember of the film.

Please note that I am not complaining about sections on Napoleon or the French Revolution, only the stories about mayors and small-time scandals. It doesn't interest me enough to do the work to look it all up, and from what I can see, it is not essential to the story.

Little Writing Tidbits

New York Times: H.P. Lowers Bar for Printing Glossy Color Magazines

I found this article very interesting. It made me wonder if this could be somewhere to take Della Donna in the future. I love the idea of laying out and printing a physical magazine, but I prefer to keep DD free and accessible to everyone, as it currently is.

Also, I think NaPoWriMo is genius! (More feasible than NaNoWriMo, for me at least.) I am a few days behind since I just found it but I have already started writing some poems.

Finally, I am also taking part in ProBlogger's free course, "31 Days to Build a Better Blog." It is really convenient, since one email comes to my inbox each day.

Book Meme

I found this meme over at The Bluestocking Society and thought I would give it a whirl. Feel free to take it and do it yourself too.

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?

I like both kinds of paperback, though I like trade slightly more.

Bookmark or dog-ear?

I bookmark to remember where I left off, and I dog-ear to remember what I want to reread and write down.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

I don't alphabetize. I'm more into how they look on the shelf (by size and all).

Keep, throw away or sell?

I only keep if it is life-changing (otherwise I would have more than I have room for). Otherwise I let people mooch or give away. What kind of person throws away books?

Keep dust jacket or toss it?

I'm not big on hardcovers but when I have them, I keep it.

Last book you bought?

I'm Not Scared by Niccolò Ammaniti. Impulse buy for $1!

Last book someone bought for you?

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga.

What are some of the books on your to-buy list?

I have hundreds on my to-read list, but to buy and own? I can't think of anything off the top of my head.

Collection (short stories, same author) or anthology (short stories, different author)?

Collections.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

Harry Potter!

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?

All day reading? :) But seriously... nighttime.

The books you need to go with other books on your shelves?

I'm not sure what this means. Honestly, the last thing I "need" is more books :)

Do you read anywhere and anytime you can or do you have a set reading time and/or place?

I carry books everywhere just in case. I mostly read before bed but I also read when I am waiting for someone or alone in a restaurant or something.

Do you have seasonal reading habits?

No, not really.

Do you read one book at a time or do you have two or more books going at once?

Multiple, multiple, multiple. Forget one or two, it is usually more like five.

What are your pet peeves about the way people treat books?

I don’t like checking a book out of the library and finding food on the pages. That skeeves me out.

Name one book you surprised yourself by liking.

"The Metamorphosis." I didn't expect to dislike it but I didn't expect to be so blown away either.

How often do you read a book and not review it on your blog? What are your reasons for not blogging about a book?

I'd say of ever 3-5 books I read, I blog about one. The reason is laziness.

TSS Week 27

Goodreads now has a way to blog your book reviews with a simple HTML code plugin. That is kind of cool. I might start doing that :) Here is the latest one:

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars

The New Yorker said that this novel depicts an India that is "like the Wild West on acid." I didn't get that at all. Honestly, I enjoyed the story and felt compassion for some of the characters, but I didn't enjoy this novel like I expected to. I am weary of all of the Indian literature out there that focuses exclusively on corruption and poverty, as if there is nothing else that India has to offer. I have read many Indian bestsellers and I would like to see the beauty of India for once. We have corruption in the United States too, but it is not what every American novel focuses on. Is there only a Western market for Indian tragedy?

I may need to move out of the realm of what is popular in order to find this. Suggestions are welcome!

I also started reading After These Things by Jenny Diski. I was pleasantly surprised to find it in the library one day, having read and enjoyed Only Human a while back. Only Human was a novel about the biblical Abraham and Sarah, and After These Things is a sequel of sorts, focusing on Isaac, their son, his wife, Rebekah and their twin sons, Jacob and Esau. If you are familiar with the Bible, you probably know all of the intrigue that surrounded these people and the stories. I was really excited to find this novel since I am a real sucker for Biblical fiction from secular sources. (They tend to humanize and make sense of stories I grew up with.) Anyway, I am 1/4 of the way through and enjoying it. I think that after I finish I may need to reread The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. I love that novel and it has been many years since I read it. It focuses on Jacob's daughter, Dina, so it seems like a natural next step in the saga.