Monday’s Minutes #41

Published on by Rachelle

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – for the read-along.
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling – for the HP re-read.
  • Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
  • The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

Joy Goblet Eleanor and Park Witching 

Finished: Doll Bones by Holly Black and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.  I’ll review both of these before the end of the month.

Doll Bones Frankenstein

DNF: The Magic Shop by Justin Swapp.  I tried.  I did.  I’ll write a DNF review before the end of the month.

Magic Shop

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update13

Total pages read: 644

Total # of books for the year: 69. Though I’m not counting it towards any of my reading challenges, or even my total number of books read for the year, I’m reading the short story, “The Wendigo” by Algernon Blackwood.  I found out about the story from Litha Nelle’s Mini Macabre Review Monday post.  I knew that Wendigos originated from Native American folklore, and I’ve seen the episode about the frightening creature on “Supernatural”, but I had no idea there was also a Classic short story about it.  I’m also adding Pet Sematary by Stephen King to my wishlist since the creature shows up in the one famous King book I’ve never read.  I doubt I’ll get to it this year, but I hope to read it next October.

What are you reading this week?

The Joy Luck Club Read-Along: Week 5 Recap

Published on by Rachelle

Joy

Welcome to the 5th weekly recap of The Joy Luck Club read-along!  Below is the schedule.  Each Saturday I’ll post a recap (with clearly marked spoilers for those who get a little behind).  The final review of the book will be on Saturday, October 24th.

This week, we read three chapters, each about one of the daughters.  So many feelings.  I’m not exactly sure where to start…

[Spoilers] So I’ll begin with Waverly Jong and her mom, Lindo.  “You don’t know my mother,” I said.  She never thinks anybody is good enough for anything.”  I was right there with Waverly until she and Lindo come to some bizarre understanding of each other.  I feel that, had I read this a few years ago, I would have believed that my mom and I had had one of those moments, and everything was better afterward.  We didn’t and it wasn’t, and so I’m skeptical about Waverly and Lindo having a better mother-daughter relationship.  I don’t think that much emotional damage and negativity can be fixed so easily.  I’m happy that Rose is finally taking back control of her life.  I know what it’s like to be in a relationship in which one person slowly gives up control of the decisions little bit by little bit until the other person is making all the choices.  My Ex came to see it as his right to decide on things without consulting me.  When I finally woke up to reality, my life was in shambles, and I don’t even know when he stopped caring.  It was a long process to put everything back together again, but, like Rose, it was exhilarating to be back in the driver’s seat.  I think Jing-mei has a long way to go before she comes into her own and gains back her self-esteem.  The hurtful words that come out of Waverly’s mouth during the Chinese New Year dinner make me like her a little less, but I can’t help think she learned her spitefulness from her mother.  [End Spoilers]

What do you think?  Comment away!  Just be sure to mark clearly any spoilers 🙂

Classics Club: Mary Poppins

Published on by Rachelle

Mary Poppins

  • Author: P.L. Travers

I checked out the audiobook edition from my university’s library.  I had wanted to read Mary Poppins for years.  I thought it would become a new favorite since I loved the Disney adaptation so much.  What happened is that my belief in Disney’s inability to stick to the original story has been reaffirmed.  Mary Poppins is not the sweetheart she is portrayed to be by Julie Andrews.  She’s often cranky, taciturn, extremely vain, and sometimes downright mean to the children in her care.

Mary Poppins isn’t the only character that gave me pause.  There is a scene where a mother and owner of a bakery literally breaks off her fingers to give to Jane and Micheal’s younger siblings to chew.  While it turns out her fingers are a different baked good each time, I couldn’t get over the creepiness of it.  She’s also emotionally abusive towards her two daughters and I’m not sure how her screaming at them about every little thing was supposed to be amusing.

Each chapter of the book brought a new level of bizarre to my ears.  I was repeatedly shocked that this was, and still is, considered to be one of the best children’s stories of all time.  While it certainly wasn’t the worst book I’ve read, I won’t be bothering to read any more of the series.  I’ll stick with the Disney film, thank you.

Mini-Review: Onyx Webb Book 1 (Episodes 1-3)

Published on by Rachelle

Onyx Webb

  • Authors: Richard Fenton and Andrea Waltz
  • ISBN: 9780990751816
  • Genre: Paranormal Suspense

I received this book from the authors in exchange for an honest review.

I decided to make this a mini-review due to already having written a review for the first episode, “The Story Begins”.  Also, even though this new edition includes the first three episodes, I don’t have much more to say than what I said in that review.  There’s more story, but it still didn’t get anywhere, and it took me less than a day to read it.  I’m left with lots of questions, and looking at the release schedule in the copy I received, I’m not sure if I want to invest that much time or money in getting those questions answered.  Perhaps if the episodes were condensed down into fewer books, I would be more interested.

I guess I was expecting the story to be like a tv show; perhaps slow at first, but intriguing, and each successive episode drawing me further into the story.  However, the setup for what happened to Onyx and how all the other characters tie into her story is taking too long.  All the way through to the end of episode 3, new characters are introduced with no way of telling if they’re important or not.  Most of my reading notes consist of a long list of names, just in case I would meet them again and need to remind myself who they are.  Despite giving the first episode four stars on Goodreads, I don’t feel there’s enough story in the remainder of this book to give it any more than three.

Review: Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy

Published on by Rachelle

Ophelia

  • Author: Karen Foxlee
  • ISBN: 9780385753548
  • Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy

The above ISBN is for the hardcover edition, but I listened to the audiobook I purchased.

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy is a perfect example of how to write a modern Middle-Grade fairy tale.  Ophelia isn’t sure of herself and doesn’t feel that she’s anyone special, yet she finds herself with the task of saving a boy from the Snow Queen.  Oh, and by the way, Ophelia, could you save the world in the process?  I loved every moment!  Every event made sense, whether it was fantastical or not, and no character, not even Ophelia, was suddenly capable of doing anything they weren’t already equipped to accomplish.  At the same time, the world of the story is full of magic, despite Ophelia’s belief that there is no such thing.

The Snow Queen is truly scary and wholly evil.  While she is not exactly the same as the White Witch in The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis, my thoughts turned to her the more I found out about the Snow Queen.  What I liked even more than that childhood favorite was the lack of religious allegory.  It also doesn’t head in the opposite direction as did the “His Dark Materials” trilogy by Philip Pullman.  The only point I found, besides being a beautiful story for its own sake, was that ordinary people can sometimes do seemingly extraordinary things, even if they have asthma and aren’t good at running.

Though the narrator, Jayne Entwistle, did a wonderful job, I know I would have loved the story just as much had I read the book instead of listening to it.  I know that sometimes makes a difference, but not this time.  I can safely recommend Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy in any format, especially if you’re a fan of Middle-Grade Fantasy, or you love the “Narnia” series.

#FitReaders Check-In #40

Published on by Rachelle
Geeky Bloggers Book Blog
  • This check-in is for September 28th – October 4th.
  • Even though I didn’t meet my goal of averaging 9K steps per day, I managed to get more steps than I did during the previous week.
  • If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
  • Yoga Workouts: 0/5
  • Steps: 41,939/63,000
  • Miles: 17.23/21
  • Flights of stairs: 89/70
  • Active Minutes: 182/210
  • Total Money Donated: $26.68

Monday’s Minutes #40

Published on by Rachelle

“Monday’s Minutes” is a weekly post in which I track my bookish life.  All book covers are linked to Goodreads unless otherwise noted.

  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan – for the read-along.
  • Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling – for the HP re-read.
  • Doll Bones by Holly Black
  • The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
  • The Magic Shop by Justin Swapp – a review book.
  • Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Joy Goblet Doll Bones Witching Magic Shop Frankenstein

Finished: Human Cargo by Caroline Moorehead, which I read for one of my classes.  I had to write a detailed critical review of it, so I might post it at some point.  I also finished Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers.  I’ll do a Classics Club review for it before the end of the month.  Awhile back I reviewed Onyx Webb: Episode 1.  The authors, Richards Fenton and Andrea Waltz, re-released the first six episodes in two books and asked me to review Book 1.  I’ll be posting it sometime next week.

Human Cargo Mary Poppins Onyx Webb

Challenges:

S&S Bingo2update13

Total pages read: 1,262

Total # of books for the year: 67.  I’ve finally broken my audiobook slump!  First, I listened to Mary Poppins, and now I’m making my way through Doll Bones, both of which I checked out from my university’s library.  I removed The Portable Dorothy Parker from my current reads because I know I’m not going to get back to reading it until January at the earliest, and I haven’t touched it in over a month.

What are you reading this week?

The Joy Luck Club Read-Along: Week 4 Recap

Published on by Rachelle

Joy

Welcome to the 4th weekly recap of The Joy Luck Club read-along!  Below is the schedule.  Each Saturday I’ll post a recap (with clearly marked spoilers for those who get a little behind).  The final review of the book will be on Saturday, October 24th.

This week, we read two chapters, each about one of the daughters.  I’m feeling a mixture of anger and sadness; anger towards the mothers, and sadness for the daughters.

[Spoilers] This week’s chapters brought up a lot of memories from my childhood, and also some troubling impressions of Chinese culture.  First, with Jing-mei, all I could think of was how I felt growing up and believing that I was never good enough in my Mom’s eyes.  The following quote says it all: “In all of my imaginings, I was filled with a sense that I would soon become perfect.  My mother and father would adore me.  I would be beyond reproach.  I would never feel the need to sulk for anything.  But sometimes the prodigy in me became impatient.  ‘If you don’t hurry up and get me out of here, I’m disappearing for good, ‘ it warned.  ‘And then you’ll always be nothing.'”   And how many times did I hear my Mom say what Jing-mei’s says: “So ungrateful.”?  As far as culture goes, what I’ve noticed, but couldn’t put into words prior to this, is that it seems like everything is expressed in negative terms.  The mothers brag about their children by complaining, and, in the next chapter, Lena’s Mom only ever predicts things that will go wrong.  I get that bragging and pridefulness aren’t good, but only thinking of things in terms of what is missing is no way to live.  [End Spoilers]

What do you think?  Comment away!  Just be sure to mark clearly any spoilers 🙂

Thursday’s Things #10: Banned Books Edition

Published on by Rachelle
1001 Things
Original Image: Viktor Hertz

Since it’s Banned Books Week, all of this “Thursday’s Things” are related to banned books.  I’ve also updated the Banned Books page to remove broken links so check it out for even more information about banned books.  Sometime during this month, I’ll do a second “Thursday’s Things” in celebration of all things Halloween.

Discussion and Link-Up: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Published on by Rachelle

Prisoner

Since it’s Banned Books Week, I’d like to take a break from the usual discussion to share with you some of the many challenges, bannings, and burnings of the Harry Potter books.  Before we get to that, though, this month’s featured post is about how Shaina @ Shaina Reads almost didn’t read the series.  Check it out to find out why and then add your own Harry Potter related posts to the link-up for your chance to be featured in next month’s discussion post.

 

1999
  • Douglas County, Colorado; Moorpark, California; and Buffalo, New York – Formal complaints against Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone were filed by parents in the school districts.  In 2000, another parent in Moorpark, CA stated, “It was a horrible book…It talked about death and killing.  It talks about drinking animal blood.  That is witchcraft, and as a religion it doesn’t belong in school.”
  • South Carolina – Parents requested Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone be banned from all South Carolina schools, stating it had “a serious tone of death, hate, lack of respect, and sheer evil,” and it was “trying to disguise things as fun and easy that are really evil.”
  • Simi Valley, California – A parent stated that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was “violent, antifamily, had a religious theme, and lacked educational value.”
  • Saginaw, Michigan – Bruckner Elementary School became the first school in the United States to remove Harry Potter from the classroom.  A parent complained, “the books are based on sorcery, which is an abomination to the Lord…I read a couple of chapters and felt like God didn’t want me reading it.” The school’s principal decided to ban the books from being read in class.
  • Zeeland, Michigan – School Superintendent Gary L. Feenstra directed school librarians to remove Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone from the shelves.  Later, he decided not to ban the book but restricted it by requiring students to have parental permission to check it out.
2000
  • Bend, Oregon – Parents asked school officials to ban the series from the district’s schools, stating the books referred to witchcraft and divination and would lead children to hatred and rebellion.  The school superintendent rejected the request and stated the parents couldn’t determine the reading materials for all of the students.
  • Band-La Pine, Oregon –  Parents requested that the school board ban the series, stating it “threatened the fundamental morality of students.”  The school board voted to keep the books.
  • Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Parents asked that the books be removed from school libraries because of its “romantic characterization of witches, warlocks, wizards, goblins, and sorcerers.” and, “These things by their very nature erode the morality of our children, and therefore ultimately our society.”
  • Salamanca, New York – The school board voted to keep the series in the elementary school libraries after parents complained about the dark themes in the books.
  • Whittier, California – A petition signed by 53 parents said the series “exposes our young children’s minds to black magic and…horrible experiences that our children don’t need to hear or read about.”  The review committee stated, “if books were to be banned from schools due to violence depicted, then stories such as Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, and the Three Little Pigs would need to be added to the list.”
  • Jacksonville, Florida –  The Public Library received complaints and was threatened with a lawsuit after passing out “Hogwarts’ Certificates of Accomplishment” to children who read all the books in the series at that time.  One parent stated, “We don’t want our children to be exposed to witchcraft. If they are going to pass out witchcraft certificates, they should promote the Bible and pass out certificates of righteousness.”
  • Pace, Florida – A resident requested that the series be removed from the school libraries on the grounds of glorifying witchcraft and the occult and opposing Biblical teachings. He stated, “I know a lot of parents and teachers love it because the kids are excited about reading.  But there’s excitement in drugs, there’s excitement in fornication, there’s excitement in crime, but that doesn’t mean they’re good for a person.”
  • Santa Fe, Texas – School principles voted to require written permission from parents before students were allowed to check out any of the books in the series.
  • Arab, Alabama – A parent requested the Board of Education remove the series from school libraries and stated she was speaking on behalf of other Christians.  She also stated that J. K. Rowling was a member of the occult, and the books encourage children to practice witchcraft.  “It was a mistake years ago to take prayer out of the schools because it let Satan in.  We need to put God back in the schools and throw the Harry Potter books out.”  The school board voted to keep the books in the schools.
2001
  • Rural, Pennsylvania – A burning of the Harry Potter books was conducted by a church.
  • Chester County, Pennsylvania – A former substitute teacher registered a formal complaint and stated, “Harry Potter teaches you it’s OK to get back at people.”
  • Oskaloosa, Kansas  – The Public Library canceled a Summer storytelling event after residents became concerned about their children being taught witchcraft.
  • Alamogordo, New Mexico – a church burned copies of the books.
2002
  • Cedarville, Arkansas – Angie Haney filed a formal complaint with the Cedarville School District in June of 2002.  In her complaint, she stated the books were objectionable because they teach children “parents/teachers/rules are stupid or are something to be ignored. That magic will solve your problems. That there are ‘good witches’ and ‘good magic.’”  The books were restricted and could only be checked out by students with parental permission.  The district court later overturned the school board’s decision, noting that the school board couldn’t restrict students’ right to read a book on the grounds of disagreeing with its contents.
  • Lewiston, Maine – A ceremonial shredding of copies of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was conducted the night before the film adaptation was released. The group had already done a book shredding in 2001 before the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released. The group originally wanted to burn the books, but city officials refused to grant the necessary burning permit.
2005 – 2007
  • Gwinnett County, Georgia – A parent claimed the novels were an evil attempt to “indoctrinate children in pagan religion” and should be removed from the schools. Despite not having read the books, she also stated the books were full of “evil themes, witchcraft, demonic activity, murder, evil blood sacrifice, spells.” and, “I don’t agree with what’s in them. I don’t have to read an entire pornographic magazine to know it’s obscene.”  She told the school board that she wanted “to protect children from evil, not fill their minds with it. The ‘Harry Potter’ books teach children and adults that witchcraft is OK for children.”  She also suggested the books be replaced by C. S. Lewis’s “Chronicles of Narnia” or Tim LaHaye’s “Left Behind: The Kids” series.  She appealed to the Georgia state Board of Education after the school board rejected her request.  After the Board of Education upheld the school board’s decision, she took the case to a state court, which also upheld the decision. She then threatened to take the case to federal court.