Beach Books: CHECK!

I made it to McKay's yesterday to look for some copies of The Phantom Tollbooth. They had two so I got them both. I am guessing Corey will get a digital copy, or we can pass them around or something. I am pretty sure I will be able to read in about a day or two, ha ha. I also got some other things to read as well... I hope these will be good. I've heard something about all of them, but I can't remember what it was, so I hope that it was good stuff! I better go ahead and put all these in the suitcase though, so I won't be tempted to read them all now!

Two Reviews

I haven't been doing much reading for my book challenges lately. I have mainly been reading my book club selection, and picking up random titles from the library. I read these two books over the past week and a half or so...

Cold Sassy Tree, by Olive Ann Burns

I am surprised that this one wasn't listed on the 451 Challenge...its a classic American novel of sorts. I remember reading it in the 11th grade as part of our American Literature class. It was one of the few things we read in that class that I enjoyed..not big on classic American lit...as we focused a lot on very early American authors. Anyway... Cold Sassy Tree is a "Georgia/southern life" novel. It was written in 1984 but is set in 1906, in Cold Sassy Tree, Georgia. Cold Sassy Tree, Georgia is apparently located near Commerce, for those familiar with the area. I guess our teacher chose it to give us something "local" to read. The description on the back of the book reads:

"Cold Sassy Tree, Georgia had never been a whirlpool of excitement. If the preacher's wife's petticoat showed, the ladies would make the talk last a week. But on July 5, 1906, things took a scandalous turn. that was the day E. Rucker Blakeslee, proprietor of the general store and barely three weeks a widower, eloped with Miss Love Simpson--a woman half his age, and worse yet, a Yankee! On that day, fourteen year old Will Tweedy's adventures began and an unimpeachably pious, deliciously irreverent town came to life."

I enjoyed reading this again! It has some really funny parts, and is also very real parts from the narrator's (Will Tweedy's) personal perspective. I noticed that there is was a sequel printed after the author's death...I will have to see if I can find it! You definitely leave this book wanting to know more about Will Tweedy and where he will eventually end up.

"A Woman's Place," by Lynn Austin

Lynn Austin is a christian fiction author that I always enjoy reading. She isn't quite as heavy as Francine Rivers, but is miles ahead of Beverly Lewis and Lori Wick on the "depth" scale. I like historical fiction like this... mostly story using history to enhance the plot. I don't enjoy historical fiction that reads like a textbook for pages at a time. ugh.
This is the story of four women who all take jobs at the local navy shipyard to help build ships for World War 2. They come from very different backgrounds and each chapter is titled by one of their names and tells a little about their life and perspective. Virginia: a bored and neglected housewife, Rosa: a girl who had a very rough childhood now living with her new in-laws during her husband's deployment in the war, Helen: a rich heiress, middle aged never married former school teacher, and Jean: an independent, spirited 19 year old girl who doesn't just want to settle down and have kids.
They all work together in the shipyard and the book tells about their friendships developing and their lives during the war.
I greatly enjoyed it. It isn't one of those "one big event" type books, but tells several years worth of events and trials in their lives.

Beach Read Chosen!

Okay...for lack of extreme opinions among the beach goers, I am going to go ahead and pick the winner: The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster. I will try to get up to McKay's to find some copies, but I think Corey will probably buy a digital version (though I think taking a Kindle on the beach is a bad idea....he won't be convinced). If anyone wants me to find you a copy let me know. I am hoping and guessing I will be able to find this book easily at the used book store. Looking forward to it...it should be a quick read. I may pick up some of the other titles as well for myself since I want to read several of them anyway. Don't start early!

Beach Read "Semi-Finals"

I decided to share more info on the books that were mentioned more than once in the beach read poll. I included a description and the approximate number of pages from the amazon ad, as well as how many mentions it got in the original poll. For comparison: Gone With the Wind has 1,024 pages. I started taking out all the blue linked words but it got to be too much trouble, so I left them. Also, I didn't include any books that any of us have read before. I also included if there is a movie version.

2 mentions
approximately 255 pages
animated film

from Wikipedia: "The Phantom Tollbooth is a children's adventure novel and a modern fairy tale published in 1961, written by Norton Juster and illustrated by Jules Feiffer. It tells the story of a bored young boy named Milo who unexpectedly receives a magic tollbooth one afternoon and, having nothing better to do, drives through. He finds himself in the Kingdom of Wisdom. There he accepts a quest to rescue the princesses of the kingdom, acquires two faithful companions, and has many adventures. The book is full of puns, and many events, like Milo's sudden jump to the Island of Conclusions, are the consequences of taking English Language Idioms literally.

2 mentions
approximately 560 pages
no film

from Wikipedia: "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values is the first of Robert M. Pirsig's texts in which he explores his Metaphysics of Quality. The 1974 book describes, in first person, a 17-day motorcycle journey across the United States by the author (though he is not identified in the book) and his son Chris, joined for the first nine days by close friends John and Sylvia Sutherland. The trip is punctuated by numerous philosophical discussions, referred to as Chautauquas by the author, on topics including epistemology, ethical emotivism and the philosophy of science."

3 mentions
approximately 400 pages
1962 film

from enotes: "Published in 1934 by New York-based publisher Charles Scribner’s Sons, Tender Is the Night is one of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s last works. Although the novel was generally well received and has come to be regarded as one of Fitzgerald’s most important works, it was less popular at its publication than his previous novels and was considered a commercial failure. More autobiographical than his other works, Tender Is the Night tells the story of American psychologist Dick Diver and his wife, the wealthy but psychologically unstable Nicole. Set largely in the small French coastal town of Tarmes between the years 1925 and 1935, the book portrays a cast of characters typical of Fitzgerald’s fictional universe: wealthy, idle, sophisticated, and, in many ways, “troubled.”

3 mentions
180 pages
film in production

from Wikipedia: "The Giver is a 1993 soft science fiction novel by Lois Lowry. It is set in a future society which is at first presented as a utopian society and gradually appears more and more dystopian; therefore, it could be considered anti-utopian. The novel follows a boy named Jonas through the twelfth year of his life. The society has eliminated pain and strife by converting to "Sameness", a plan which has also eradicated emotional" depth from their lives. Jonas is selected to inherit the position of "Receiver of Memory," the person who stores all the memories of the time before Sameness, in case they are ever needed to aid in decisions that others lack the experience to make. When Jonas meets the Giver, he is confused in many ways. The Giver is also able to break some rules, such as turning off the speaker and locking his door. As Jonas receives the memories from the previous receiver—the "Giver"—he discovers how shallow his community's life has become.

2 mentions
453 pages

from Wikipedia: "Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller, first published in 1961. The novel, set during the later stages of World War II from 1943 onwards, is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century. It has a distinctive non-chronological style where events are described from different characters' points of view and out of sequence so that the time line develops along with the plot. The novel follows Yossarian, a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier, and a number of other characters. Most events occur while the airmen of the fictional Fighting 256th (or "two to the fighting eighth power") Squadron are based on the island of Pianosa, in the Mediterranean Sea west of Italy."

2 mentions
560 pages
film in production

from Wikipedia: "The Book Thief is set in Germany before and during World War II. The story is told from the point of view of Death, who narrates the story and gives a whole new image to the "death" image we the people see. "Death" finds the story of the book thief, Liesel Meminger. Liesel's story begins when she and her brother are sent to a foster home by their Communist mother when she is interned in Dachau Concentration Camp. She later arrives at the home of foster parents, Hans and Rosa Hubermann, near Munich"
(this summary told the entire story, so I had to just cut it off randomly, lol)

A couple of these (I won't mention any names) seem a little depressing and heavy for the beach, so if they are chosen I will most definitely be bringing something else to read as well so I can sleep! ha ha! Make your voice heard again, and then we'll set up a final poll between the top two or three! :)

Alice in Wonderland (2010)

Corey and I had a date night tonight to go see the new Alice in Wonderland movie. We did see it in 3D. Alice is 19 years old and has dreams about the happenings of the original movies....

My thoughts are....... that it was just okay. We will not be taking the kids to see it at the theater. First and foremost, I think they would be bored. The beginning is very slow to get going and the plot would kind of be over their heads I think with her being rebellious about corsets and stockings, and then attending a party that turns out to be her engagement party. That doesn't ruin the plot I don't think. She eventually chases after the white rabbit and falls in the rabbit hole...etc., etc.

It was very much like the movies I have seen before..just different looking. The plot is a little different but several of the same things happen, but with less "childishness" about them.

My conclusion is that...it wasn't serious and deep enough to make it interesting enough for adults, but it wasn't childish and silly enough to make it fully appropriate for children either. The gruesome aspects (stepping on human heads to cross a moat, monster eyes being plucked out by straight pins) make it just too much for little kids, so then the lack of more makes it slightly too simple for adults. I think it should have gone one more step one way or the other.

It does look very interesting and beautiful. The 3D affects are great. There are some really funny parts with the Red Queen when she goes on her tirades, but I don't think kids would "get it." The March Hare is pretty funny. The Mad Hatter is typical of what you would expect with Johnny Depp playing that part. The White Queen is whimsical. There is a good message of good conquering evil and the Red Queen's demise. I even picked up on some easy to make comparisons between the overall story/characters/storyline and Christianity.

Overall...if I were rating on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being Mystery Science Theater level and 10 being like Epic Life Changing Films...I would give it a ....... 6. I would watch it again maybe, the story is good because the story was already good, but it will be hard to find the just right age for our kids so we can watch it together as a family. Better versions of this movie have already been made, in my opinion the Disney one is the best because it makes me laugh a lot! Even though they said it is not supposed to be "the original movie" it kind of is. A good version, but disappointed because it could have been so much better. I think the fault lies with whoever wrote the screenplay.

My take on the PluggedInOnline review:
I agree with most everything written in this review, although I think their take on the "sexual content" wasn't as bad as it sounded. The wardrobe issues weren't issues at all for me nor would it be for my kids. Any innuendo was extremely disguised and rare. The only really odd thing was with the people who all had exaggerated features to fit in with the queen's big head...there is the lady like it says in the review....which was just kind of trashy looking, for older boys it could be more inappropriate though the glimpses of that particular lady are just two very fast glances. The main part that strikes it out for me is the "Violent Content" it reviews in detail. It is definitely all as described if not more.

Cast Your Vote Please!

I just had a fun idea! I think that since my brother and I are both doing the 451 Challenge, and we are going to the beach at the same time in May, that it would be fun to read the same book and discuss it! Like a "beach reading challenge." ha ha. My husband and my brother's girlfriend also enjoy reading....

So..I am taking a vote/suggestions. Then I will create a poll for the suggestions...

Click on the 451 Challenge box at the top left, and read over the list (in the right column of that blog). Leave a comment listing the one you think would be the best read for a group consisting of a 21 yr old girl (girlfriend), 27 yr old guy (brother), 28 year old girl (sister), and TURNING 30 while we are there guy (my husband).

I will post my own choices soon...

Tess of the d'Urbervilles, by Thomas Hardy

I feel almost positive that we read this book when I was in high school at some point. The plot seemed slightly familiar to me but at no point in time did I really know what was going to happen, so I guess if I did read it, I did not comprehend or remember it very well at all!

This novel, by Thomas Hardy, is a tragedy. Not as much of a depressing and chaotic tragedy as Wuthering Heights, but just sad. The difference is that this book has many more happy parts than Wuthering Heights, so it isn't just one crazy thing after another, but one unfortunate thing after another, if that makes any sense.

Tess is the oldest daughter of the "Durbeyfield" family, who find out that they are actually descendants of an old knighted family by the name of "d'Uberville." The family reminds me a little of the family in Pride and Prejudice in that they have all these ideals after they find out what they used to be and try to get what they can out of it. Not that they are the same, but it just made me think of them a little but with the dad in this novel being like the mom in that novel in some ways.

Tess is sent to see if she can claim relations with some of their better off distant relatives and ask for help because their finances are in ruins. She is embarrassed but does it anyway because she is a very dutiful and obedient daughter. This begins the (for lack of a better word) Series of Unfortunate Events in the life of poor Tess. The novel follows her through many circumstances, acquaintances, and places. Her job for most of the book is that of a milkmaid. I found that interesting to hear all about the culture and the lives of milkmaids. It was a refreshing change after so many governesses in the Bronte books, ha ha. She is a very interesting girl and we watch her grow in many ways, but stay immature in some. I can't say much without giving away the plot, but I very highly recommend this book. I found it to be a little easier to stay interested in for myself than it was to stay interested in Bronte's Wuthering Heights or many other novels of the time that I have read. I think it is because of the shocking and extreme plot involved and to see how she handles it and how it plays out throughout her entire life. Thomas Hardy writes about sin and religion, including very unheard of views of marriage and divorce (for the time). It is frustrating to see the way Tess is treated and how unfair it is for her. If the Bronte sisters were shocking, then Thomas Hardy is appalling! I guess maybe it has to do with the fact that he lived all the way into the 1920s, so he lived to see the ushering in of an entire new generation of thoughts concerning what exactly should be tolerated and accepted concerning women and marriage.

I do wish that I had been able to get a copy of one with footnotes because there were expressions and some dialect that I didn't completely understand, but it didn't ruin the story or anything.

This is definitely a sad story with a tragic ending, but it wasn't depressing to me. I can't explain why it wasn't depressing without giving away the plot, but I would love to be able to discuss it with someone who has read it. It is just a good sad ending. I found the spark notes page helpful in enjoying some of the themes and symbols used in the novel. I linked to the spark notes page from the photo of the book above.

I was thinking of adding another Thomas Hardy to my list, but after reading about a few of his other novels, I think I will not. (they are all very tragic) I think I will go for more variety.

Overall: Read it. It's a good one.

My favorite quote from the book:

"When sorrow ceases to be speculative sleep sees her opportunity." Ch. 35