2015 Reading Challenge | September

Hello! Isn't it exciting, the BER months are here? If time indeed flies, it zoomed. I went back to what I've read so far and realized that no matter how fast I read, there'd be more books that I need and want to read. The pile just kept on adding up. Same old story, 'no?

Here are the books I've read last August.

• Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss - 3/5 stars - The author's last book and this my closure.
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - 5/5 stars - A reread. I still love it after so many years.
• A Bottle of Storm Clouds by Eliza Victoria - 3/5 stars - A short story collection from one of our local speculative fiction writers. I breezed thru this.
• The Universe Versus Alex Woods by Gavin Extence - 5/5 stars - A heartfelt tale of an extraordinary friendship. In spite of the expected ending, I was still caught off guard and cried. I can't entirely blame it on hormones.
• Slade House by David Mitchell - 5/5 stars - ARC. Releasing this October 27. The whole reading community should be very excited.

To cut off some books from my TBR, I've decided to read a book off my 2014 list and a book off my 2015 list simultaneously, starting this month. Although, I may add more along the way as time permits. This way, I can closely monitor how I'm doing. 

• Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill 
• All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

I'm currently reading Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier, a book club dare-to-read challenge. I'm terribly slow at it so I may take a while finishing. Meanwhile, TFG is reading and discussing Go Set A Watchman this September with FFP. Listened to it a week ago and Reese Witherspoon did a wonderful narration. 

Unexpected circumstances happened some time ago, and my commitments took a drastic change. It was because of these circumstances that I missed some book club F2F discussions.  Same reason why I have not been replying to most emails and review request lately. Forgive me for cutting down on requests.

Until next time! Meanwhile, have a wonderful September.

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THE GHOST WRITER by Philip Roth

Postmodernism or “pomo” has made itself an everyday name today. In my earlier reading experiences, I’ve never put much thought into the term. It is only recently I realized that I’ve read some really good postmodern literature and considered them favorites -The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, The City and the City by China Miéville, White Teeth by Zadie Smith, and To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf- just to name a few. Although I am skeptical touching some books even at arm’s length because I’ve been burned before by If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler by Italo Calvino and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, I still considered daring some selected authors. Philip Roth is one of them.

As it turns out, following Philip Roth isn’t going to be hard. Over the years, he had established a postmodernism framework through his Zuckerman Bound books. The character Nathan Zuckerman, a writer and a Jew will be a constant presence in this collection, albeit not always as the main character. Zuckerman is Roth's alleged fictional alter ego, which makes complete sense considering postmodernism obsess on self-reflection. The Ghost Writer is set in 1959, wherein the young Zuckerman is still in his twenties, enjoying a burst of success from his short stories, mirroring Roth’s debut on the path of postmodernism as his life career.

Nathan Zuckerman had a quarrel with his father, who was offended by the “Jewish humor” he employed in a semi-autobiographical short story he wrote. Hurt and seeking validation, he went to see E. I. Lonoff, a figure reputed for his literary somberness and observant understanding of Jewish experiences. He was treated with an afternoon of food, significant conversations, the affirmation of his own works, and firsthand experience of the Lonoff domesticity. Later, the night carried with it a snowstorm, bounding Zuckerman to accept further hospitality from the Lonoffs and spend the night over. In the fits of sleeplessness, his thoughts went back to Lonoff’s assistant, Amy Bellete, and her history, true or not, depend highly on Roth’s careful cleverness and audaciousness.

Standing with E.I. Lonoff over the disobedient arm of his record player,I understood the celebrated phenomenon for the first time: a man, his destiny,and his work – all one. What a terrible triumph!

The center of THE GHOST WRITER tackles the problem of a young writer confronted by a story that may affirm the anti-Semitic view of Jews as greedy and plutomanic people, a story that may ultimately hurt his family and community. Ironically, such a story nowadays is regarded as funny and normal Jewish life, a well-embraced sitcom on primetime TV, like The Nanny, The Goldbergs, Even Stevens, Rugrats, and Seinfeld. Whether Roth and other postmodernist author contributed to their successes, where even non-Jewish people appreciate the variability of normal Jewish life, depends entirely on the viewer.

People don’t read art – they read about people. And they judge them as such.

Roth wrote an engaging narrative. He managed to be brief, yet witty and thoughtful at the same time. His words will lug the reader through, allowing a significant slow contemplation. A reader will gain more in several sittings.

I am not sure when I can come back to this series, but I am glad to have experienced Roth’s writing. So, if you are considering taking up postmodernism as your next target read, do consider including Philip Roth’s Zuckerman Bound series on your list.

Book details:
Title:  The Ghost Writer
Author:  Philip Roth
Publication:  August 1995, 1^st Vintage International Edition
Genre:  Postmodernism
Rating: ★★★★

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Book Review | ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

ARISTOTLE AND DANTE DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE

Aristotle and Dante, #1
BY BENJAMIN ALIRE SÁENZ | PUBLICATION: FEBRUARY 2012
SIMON & SCHUSTER | GENRE: YA FICTION
RATING: ★★★★★

“There is something miraculous about the ordinary
— about friendship as liberation, about the bravery of discovering who you are,
about the tenderness of being seen.”

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Dante can swim. Ari can't. Dante is articulate and self-assured. Ari has a hard time with words and suffers from self-doubt. Dante gets lost in poetry and art. Ari gets lost in thoughts of his older brother who is in prison. Dante is fair skinned. Ari's features are much darker. It seems that a boy like Dante, with his open and unique perspective on life, would be the last person to break down the walls that Ari has built around himself.

But against all odds, when Ari and Dante meet, they develop a special bond that will teach them the most important truths of their lives, and help define the people they want to be. But there are big hurdles in their way, and only by believing in each other—and the power of their friendship—can Ari and Dante emerge stronger on the other side.

____________________________________________________________________

This was my first book by Benjamin Alire Sáenz, and I’m instantly a fan.

I’d like to begin by calling Aristotle (Ari) a lonely boy, but that wouldn’t be entirely fair. At the start of the story, he seems almost comfortable in his aloneness — steeped in bitterness, confusion, and a quiet resignation. He rarely speaks to his family, though his mother tries. His only brother is in prison, a subject the family avoids; his sisters are much older and already married; and his father keeps a distance built not of space but of silence. Ari has his own walls, too. He’s afraid of emotional attachment, of the responsibility that comes with being known. Yet beneath all that, he carries a storm of emotions — beautiful, sad, and aching to be released.

I had learned to hide what I felt. No, that's not true.
There was no learning involved.
I had been born knowing how to hide what I felt.
Dante, on the other hand, is a breath of fresh air. His worldview is relentlessly bright. He adores his parents and values their opinions with a kind of wholeheartedness that feels rare. He’s emotional, artistic, curious — a boy who reads deeply and feels deeply. When he meets Ari at the local swimming pool and offers to teach him to swim, their friendship forms almost instantly. Throughout the story, Dante keeps gently, persistently pressing against Ari’s walls of fear and uncertainty.

And it seemed to me that Dante's face was a map of the world.
A world without any darkness.
Wow, a world without darkness. How beautiful was that?
This is a slow but steady, character‑driven narrative, and the investment in these boys is its greatest reward. I loved watching the stark differences between them — and between their families — and how each boy influences the other toward honesty, healing, and self‑reckoning. The breaking down of walls comes with moments of self‑discovery, painful clarity, and quiet triumph.

"All this time I had been trying to figure out the secrets of the universe…
All of the answers had always been so close
and yet I'd always fought them."
Sáenz writes with a lyrical softness that’s easy to follow and even easier to feel. Not everything is humorous; Ari carries more heartbreak than he knows what to do with. But the novel still manages to make you believe in people again. There is something miraculous about the ordinary — about friendship as liberation, about the bravery of discovering who you are, about the tenderness of being seen. ARISTOTLE AND DANTE is a charming, reflective journey of two boys stumbling toward themselves. In the end, they learn that the secrets of the universe were never as far away as they feared.

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About the Author:

Benjamin Alire Sáenz is an author of poetry and prose for adults and teens. He was the first Hispanic winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award and a recipient of the American Book Award for his books for adults. He is the author of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, which was a Printz Honor Book, the Stonewall Award winner, the Pura Belpré Award winner, the Lambda Literary Award winner, and a finalist for the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award, and its sequel, Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World. His first novel for teens, Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood, was an ALA Top Ten Book for Young Adults and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His second book for teens, He Forgot to Say Goodbye, won the Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award, the Southwest Book Award, and was named a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age. He lives in El Paso, Texas. Photograph by Vantage Point Studios

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2015 Reading Challenge | August

Last month, I took a slow reading pace. Mainly, because I am ahead of the reading plan I set for myself this year. Two, because I wanted to focus on some ARCs and write my feedback. Three, because I need to finish the module for the Sunday School needed this conference year for our church. And yay, because somehow everything is lining up as it should be. But still keeping my fingers crossed *sigh*. 

Before you truly get bored with my life story, here are the books I've read last July:

• The Quiet American by Graham Greene - 4/5 stars - A razor-sharp exploration of moral conflict on both personal and social affairs. TFG's choice for July.
• Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty-Eight Nights by Salman Rushdie - 4/5 stars - A deep dive into strangeness, shattering all barriers between the jinn world and ours. Coming September 8, 2015.
• Everything You & I Could Have Been If We're You & I by Albert Espinosa - 4/5 stars - A beautifully flowing story with grief and hope at the center. The English translation is now available via Kindle.
• This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance by Jonathan Evison - 5/5 stars - Witty and charming. A character study reflecting on human goodness and flaws.  Coming September 8, 2015.
• Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar - 4/5 stars - A Middle-grade book that tackles how our defiance to have unlimited energy sources can be dangerous. Released today!

For August, here are:

• Ubik by Philip K. Dick - TFG's book for this month. Gosh, this one is really hard to put down. When I reached half point, there's no stopping. So, I finished it last week. But habit compels me to include it here. 
• Everlasting by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss - A favorite writer, and this was her last book before her early demise. The book was a gift from Maria, two Christmases ago. I just couldn't face the fact that this was KW's last book. So, I am reading this now as my way of closure. 
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee - A re-reading (or listening) is in order since TFG will be reading Go Set a Watchman, set on September of this year. I just purchased both audiobooks and I am good to go.

Hey, set aside some ample reading time. Remember,  

"Books don't offer real escape,

but they can stop a mind scratching itself raw."

~ David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas

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Book Review | FUZZY MUD by Louis Sachar

   

August 4, 2015;
Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Be careful. Your next step may be your last.

Fifth-grader Tamaya Dhilwaddi and seventh grader Marshall Walsh have been walking to and from Woodridge Academy together since elementary school. But their routine is disrupted when bully Chad Hilligas challenges Marshall to a fight. To avoid the conflict, Marshall takes a shortcut home through the off-limits woods. Tamaya, unaware of the reason for the detour, reluctantly follows. They soon get lost. And then they find trouble. Bigger trouble than anyone could ever have imagined.
In the days and weeks that follow, the authorities and the U.S. Senate become involved, and what they uncover might affect the future of the world. ~ Goodreads

Multi-awarded author LOUIS SACHAR stepped up and wrote a book that will challenge our dependence on industrialization, advanced technology, and consumerism, wherein we often sacrifice nature and human well-being.

In a taut series of events, readers will get to know Marshall, Tamaya, and Chad from Heath Cliff, Pennsylvania. They are students of the exclusive Woodridge School for young bright minds. The woods beyond the school perimeter is off-limits, but that’s exactly where the catastrophe started and had put everyone in Heath Cliff in peril.

Louis Sachar and his kind is a rarity –authors who write about middle graders and understand the issues they are going through –wanting to belong, bullying, and the need for a compassionate and sturdy family –things adults mostly overlook. Their writings remind people of caring for others and being accountable for their actions. Those are very evident here in his new book.

FUZZY MUD weaved suspense, school life, and friendship together into a cautionary tale about our uncontrollable yearning for energy sources and our total disregard for its adverse effects. I really love how this story turned into a sympathetic and accessible instrument for kids, despite the heaviness of the theme.

Head out and buy a copy on August 4.

Book details:
Title: Fuzzy Mud
Author: Louis Sachar
Publication: August 4, 2015; Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Genre: Children’s Literature (10 and up)
Rating: ★★★★

*Thank you Random House Children's Books and Netgalley for lending me a copy in exchange for this unbiased review.

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Book Review | This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance by Jonathan Evison

  

September 8, 2015;

Algonquin Books

With her husband Bernard two years in the grave, seventy-nine-year-old Harriet Chance sets sail on an ill-conceived Alaskan cruise only to discover through a series of revelations that she’s been living the past sixty years of her life under entirely false pretenses. There, amid the buffets and lounge singers, between the imagined appearance of her late husband and the very real arrival of her estranged daughter midway through the cruise, Harriet is forced to take a long look back, confronting the truth about pivotal events that changed the course of her life.

Jonathan Evison—bestselling author of West of Here, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, and All About Lulu—has crafted a bighearted novel with a supremely endearing heroine at its center. Through Harriet, he paints a bittersweet portrait of a postmodern everywoman with great warmth, humanity, and humor. Part dysfunctional love story, part poignant exploration of the mother/daughter relationship, nothing is what it seems in this tale of acceptance, reexamination, forgiveness, and, ultimately, healing. It is sure to appeal to admirers of Evison’s previous work, as well as fans of such writers as Meg Wolitzer, Junot Diaz, and Karen Joy. ~Goodreads

Widowed, Harriet Chance appeared to be content with her current life, viewed from a very considerable distance, in spite of the changes. It was only later that her life took a closer inspection… only when Bernard started showing up (again) unexpectedly, even in public… two years after his death.

Harriet and Bernard had been married for five decades. Their life had a pattern and it’s well-printed on Harriet. But there is more to Harriet’s life than just being married to Bernard –there’s motherhood, ambitions, regrets, and secrets, too. Darting to and fro through Harriet’s life, the story took a leisurely pace, picking some significant events and revealing the life-turns and corners she went through. All of them buried one on top of the other across time.

This is my first book by Jonathan Evison, and it is very evident that he already established his own voice in the literary world. He took Harriet and made a profound exploration of one ordinary life, yet intricate and compelling, with witticism and sting. I totally love the distinct choice of narration. For some reason, I kept hearing Edward Murrow’s voice as the narrator making another moral comment. Only this time he is crossing the divide between fiction and reality, using them here and then, to bring Harriet into a fully-realized character that we cannot easily forget.

However we see it–witty and charming or whimsical and profound- THIS IS YOUR LIFE, HARRIET CHANCE is an engrossing read that talks not just about forgiving others but for oneself as well; about rectifying things before it’s too late, and moving on. This is a fine example of a character study that reflects two sides of the coin in each person -each one is good and flawed, just like the rest of humanity.

I highly suggest that you put this on your TBR.

Book details:Title:  This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance

Author:  Jonathan Evison
Publication: September 8, 2015; Algonquin Books
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
Rating: ★★★★★

*Thank you, Algonquin and Netgalley for lending me a copy in exchange for this unbiased review.

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Book Review | Everything You and I Could Have Been If We Weren't You and I by Albert Espinosa

   

July 2, 2015;

Penguin Random House

Can you imagine a future where everyone has given up sleeping?

From the creator of the television series Red Band Society and author of the international bestseller The Yellow World comes this uniquely special novel.

What if I could reveal your secrets with just a glance? And what if I could feel with your heart just by looking at you? And what if --in a single moment-- I could know that we were made for each other? Marcos has just lost his mother, a famous dancer who taught him everything, and he decides that his world can never be the same without her. Just as he is about to make a radical change, a phone call turns his world upside down. ~Goodreads

What attracted me most about this book, when I saw it on NetGalley, was the simple but charming orange font. And the title was so unusually long, it has to have great meaning, right? Well as it happens, this is one of those books that have much greater content than what its title implied.

In the future, a drug was developed to eradicate human sleep. Marcos decided to join the great population, who gave up sleeping, after his mother’s death. For him, losing her is like losing all the beauty in everything. But just before he could inject himself, something much important, much bigger, than his plans took precedence.

The truth is that when I found out yesterday that my mother had left me,

I realized that I would leave the world.

I decided that the world had lost its best asset and I stopped believing in it, because nobody had held on to her; the world didn’t stop or even seem shocked by its loss.

It was Albert Espinosa’s keen prose that pulled me into the heart of this book. It has the ability to shake the reader and consider things we mostly ignore –sleeping, random thoughts, hugs, or unwanted affection. It’s interesting how he discussed minute things in profound detail. Imagine giving up the ability to dream, or reduce your existence to moving and be productive 24/7 and to have no escape from exhaustion or depression after each day. It’s so sad.

I burst into tears. I love that expression. You don’t say someone has burst into a meal or burst into a walk. You burst into tears or into laughter. I think it’s worth bursting into pieces for those feelings.

This book had a lot of things going on with grief and hope at the center of it all. The story figuratively and literally moves around, too. For a short book, it is tightly packed. The plot is new and strange, but nitpicking will only make it fall apart. And besides, you’ll miss the beautifully flowing story that it is.

Just like you laugh at somebody’s joke and you accept that their words make you happy, you shouldn’t fear telling someone that their skin, their eyes, their mouth make you feel something else. We have to decriminalize sexual acts, bring them into real life, everyday life, and tie them to life instead of sex.

I recommend that you read it too. Let us be reminded to view things without prejudice or malice.

Book details:

Title:  Everything You and I Could Have Been If WeWeren't You and I

Author:  Albert Espinosa

Publication:  July 2, 2015; Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial

Genre:  Fiction, Sci-fi/ Fantasy

Rating:  ★★★★

*Thank you Random House for lending me a copy in exchange for this unbiased review.

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