Blackbird House by Alice Hoffman

I can't begin to tell you how much I loved this book. Alice Hoffman is quickly becoming a favorite of mine. I was so immersed in the reading that I didn't want to take the time to stop and take notes or even mark favorite passages. So, I know I won't even be able to come close to doing the book justice. Hopefully, my profuse gushing will be enough to entice you to read it. Then again, it may simply want to make you scream. Blackbird house is a book of connected short stories. But instead of being connected by a particular character or characters, these stories are connected over a couple hundred years by a house.

The house is located in the remote reaches of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The house truly seems to be another character in the stories, sometimes the main character. For some, it is a dream come true. For others, it is a refuge. For still others, it is a place to hide. Of course, I liked some stories more than others, but I can honestly say that there is not one story that I didn't like, which is rare for me. As with most all of Hoffman's books, there is an element of magical realism. Sometimes this element doesn't always work for me, but Hoffman makes it work every single time. I never question it. Again, as with a lot of her writing, there is often a darkness to the stories in this collection.

The Witch of Truro is probably my favorite story. It's about Ruth, a young woman, who lives alone after her mother and father die of smallpox. Tragedy finds her again when her house burns down and she's left with literally nothing but her milk cows. She takes to living right on the beach until the women of the small town can stand it no longer. They put a plan into action. They begin by bringing her food and befriending her. After a while, they convince her to be the cook for Lysander Wynn who survived a storm at sea years earlier. Both Ruth and Lysander have been beaten up by life and are pretty much loners who end up finding some comfort from each other.

Everything that happens to these families in Blackbird House over the years makes me wish that I lived in an older home. I would love to think about the people who lived there before me. However, we built our house, so I can only hope that hundreds of years from now, someone may think about the original inhabitants of their home and wonder what our life was like.

Year End Reading Wrap Up

I know 2008 is not technically over, yet. However, I know how busy I'm going to be for the remainder of the year. So, I'm going to go ahead and do my end of year wrap up. I guess I was semi-successful with the reading challenges that I participated in this year. At least I was more successful this year than last year. That's progress, right? I completed the following challenges:


Maggie's Southern Reading Challenge

Carl's Once Upon a Time Challenge

Carl's R.I.P. III Challenge

I almost completed Andi's Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge. I finished every book through September. If I could have managed to read The Human Stain by Philip Roth, The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and a short story collection, I would have completed this challenge. But, I did read nine of the twelve books for this challenge. So, that's pretty good.

I did terrible with the Orbus Terrarum Challenge. There were nine books for this one, and I think I read four.

I also set myself the challenge to read 52 books this year. I know that isn't a huge number compared with some of you that I see in the book blogging world. But, with my schedule, that's a reasonable number -- one a week. I'm happy to report that I have actually surpassed that goal this year. As of right now, I have read 62 books! I know I will complete at least one more. I'm hoping to read three more before January 1. Either way, I'm happy with this number.

Some statistics just for fun:

Fiction: 59
Non-Fiction: 3
YA: 9
Poetry: 1
Classics: 6
Southern Literature: 6
ARC: 4
Graphic Novels: 2
Books in Series: 11
Own: 55
Borrowed: 7
Mystery: 3
Gothic: 4

Nothing really very surprising here. I always read a lot more fiction, and I love the classics and Southern lit. As you can tell, I also buy most of my books. The only time I borrow a book from the library or from someone is when it is for a book club and it's not something I would want to read otherwise. I guess the biggest surprises would have to be the graphic novels and the YA lit. Maus I and Maus II were actually the first two graphic novels I've ever read. I wasn't sure how I would like the experience, but I was pleasantly surprised.

I tried to come up with a top 5 for 2008, but it is absolutely impossible. So, I'm choosing a top 10 instead. I don't finish books that I don't like so I like everything that I read. Of course, I like some more than others, but it's still a difficult task to choose.

Here is my top 10 list for 2008 in no particular order:

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Speaking of Love by Angela Young
Light in August by William Faulkner
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

I like looking back over what I've read throughout the year. Thinking about a book I've read takes me back to the time and place when I was reading it. Now, I'm looking forward to the holidays, some well deserved time off work, and planning what I want to read in 2009!

The Secret Lives of People in Love

This is the September selection for the Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge. I had no clue what this book was about until I picked it up. It's a book of short stories that all deal with love in one way or another. Despite the title and the subject matter, all of them aren't "happily ever after" stories. The author looks at many of the complications that often accompany love in the real world. I read the stories over a period of a couple weeks and did enjoy most of them. However, now that I've finally gotten around to writing up a review, I don't really remember that much about any of them individually. I guess if I had to choose a favorite, it would be Snow Falls and Then Disappears. This is simply because of the way that the author (in just a few pages) lures the reader into thinking one thing and then slowly reveals the truth of the situation. It's quite clever. I found myself going back to reread the story to see if there were clues that I missed. I think these are the types of stories that would definitely reveal something new on each reading. So, I'll probably revisit some of these at some point.

Wilderness Tips

It seems that I've been on somewhat of a Margaret Atwood binge here of late. It started with the Handmaid's Tale, then Cat's Eye, followed by The Penelopiad. In addition, I ordered and have sitting on my shelves Alias Grace and the Blind Assassin. I finished my latest helping of Atwood a couple days ago. Wilderness Tips is a short story collection, which deals with a lot of the same types of themes that Atwood is known for in her writing. Women always play prominent roles. For the most part the women are strong or are struggling against oppression to exert their strength. There are ten stories in this collection, and I can honestly say that I enjoyed them all. It would be extremely difficult to pick one as a favorite. I guess if I had to single one out, it would be "Weight" simply because I continue to think about this story.

It begins with a woman trying to get a businessman to make a charitable donation over dinner. It's obvious that she's willing to do whatever it takes to secure his donation for her cause -- a battered women's shelter. In fact, she lets us know that this is not the first time that she's used her sexuality to get what she wants from a man. She's never married and doesn't think she ever will. She's not sure that she wants to. But there is some ambiguity there. As the story progresses, we learn that she and her friend, Molly, started adult life as young, idealistic attorneys who were going to help women and change the world in the process. She describes Molly as optimistic and caring -- someone who sees the best in others and believes that she can make things better for them. As the story continues, we learn that Molly eventually marries and has children, but things are not as they should be. She considers leaving her husband and discusses it with her friend. I can't really say any more about the story without giving too much away. However, I think it's interesting that the author decides to put an educated, middle class, feminist into this particular situation. I think society often assumes that women who find themselves in destructive relationships are often poor and uneducated. They stay with their man because they have no other options or don't know what else to do. That's one of the things that I really like about Atwood. She doesn't always follow the conventional wisdom. She looks at things from all angles and her characters are multidimensional.

Though feminist in nature, her writing doesn't paint all men as evil and all women as victims (thank goodness!). It's much more complex than that. No matter what I've read by Margaret Atwood -- novel, short story, poetry -- she always makes me think. I'm going to order another collection of short stories that I saw somewhere online the other day -- The Door -- and continue my Margaret Atwood feast.

Dream Angus by Alexander McCall Smith

This book is part of the Canongate Myths Series in which contemporary authors were asked to retell a particular myth in a new way. From the preface, "Myths are universal and timeless stories that reflect and shape our lives -- they explore our desires, our fears, our longings, and provide narratives that remind us what it means to be human." Alexander McCall Smith took the myth of Angus who is a part of the Celtic mythology of Ireland and Scotland and re-imagined him. He tells the story of Angus in a series of short stories going back and forth between the earliest days of Angus to the present day.

Angus is a relatively benevolent god who visits people in their dreams and reveals to them their true love. Everyone who sees Angus loves him. " And as they slept, Angus went round the room, stopping here and there, leaving a dream with this one and that one, generous in his dispensing."

The story entitled, "I Dream of You", tells the story of how Angus finds his own true love. Just as he does for others, his true love comes to him in a dream. This beautiful woman continues to come to him in his dreams, but he can't convince her to stay with him. He refuses to eat or drink and does nothing but sit and think about this woman. Until finally, his father, Dagda, was convinced to send people to seek out this girl before Angus dies from love sickness. They find the girl and take Angus to her village but refuse to let him see her right away. He must first consult her father who initially refuses to allow Angus to take her away. Dagda intervenes once again, and Angus is allowed to have her if she agrees. However, it turns out that she spends a year as a woman and a year as a swan. When Angus approaches, he immediately spots the most beautiful swan on the lake and knows that it's Caer. "Angus stood upon the shore. He stretched out his arms, and they were wings, great swan-wings, white to the pinions; he became a swan. She saw him, turning her neck as swans will do, and he flew to her. Then together they rose above the waters of the lake and circled its shore several times. The sound of their beating wings was the sound of a heartbeat, the sound of blood in the veins, the very sound of life; and they rose, and flew away to the north, to be together, lovers as swans, as man and woman. Angus, giver of dreams and love, now the recipient of both."

I've already ordered another title from the Canongate Myths Series entitled Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood. This is a retelling of the myth of Odysseus from the viewpoint of Penelope and her maids.

Reading Update

Well, I feel like I'm on track with my reading goals for this year. Yes, I realize that it's still just January. That aside, I'm progressing nicely with Great Expectations. I'm on Chapter 38 and will try to finish it in the next couple of days. I haven't had an evening at home this week, but I don't have anything planned for tonight. So, I will hopefully get in a good deal of reading. I'm not sure what I expected with this book. I think that's one of the problems with reading a classic at this point. Everyone else has pretty much read it and given their opinion on it. It seems that people either love it or hate it. So far, I'm really enjoying it. I'm reading the B&N classics edition, which is really nice. It has footnotes, which explain some of the more obscure words. There is also a nice introduction. But, enough about that. I don't want to get into too much more until I finish it.

Reading Challenge
I'm also reading Nocturnes by John Connolly as a part of the Short Story Challenge. I'm not going to do any reviews at this point, but I'll just say for now that I'm enjoying them. I've been reading these at night right before I go to sleep, and I've actually scared myself a few times to the point of scooting over closer to hubby. They aren't that scary, but they are disturbing in a fun sort of way (and yes, I am a big scaredy cat).

Early Reviewer
I was disappointed yesterday when I got a notice from LibraryThing saying that I didn't get an Early Reviewer book this time around. I figured I wouldn't since I've gotten three in the past, but I was still disappointed. So, imagine my delight when I got a message today that I had gotten one of the bonus batch books. The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur by Daoud Hari (Random House) is obviously non-fiction, which will be a nice change of pace for me. Here's the blurb from LibraryThing:

"I am the translator who has taken journalists into dangerous Darfur. It is my intention now to take you there in this book, if you have the courage to come with me.

The young life of Daoud Hari—his friends call him David—has been one of bravery and mesmerizing adventure. He is a living witness to the brutal genocide under way in Darfur."

Book Lusting
Finally, I have several books that I'm dying to get my hands on. But the one I want the most is The Serpent's Tale by Ariana Franklin. This is the second installment in the Mistress of the Art of Death series. This was one of my top picks from 2007, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that it was going to be a series. So, thanks Jenclair for alerting me to this one! I've also ordered They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell through ILL (thanks, Lara!) for the Cornflower Book Group.

That's all for now, but I'll have some book reviews and an update on my class soon.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout

(I received this book as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's program. The book that I received has a different cover, which I like better.)

Let me preface this by saying that I don't read very many short story collections. So, I didn't really know what to expect from this book. However, I knew from the very first story that I was going to enjoy this book. I especially like the way that the author loosely ties all of the stories together using the title character, Olive Kitteridge. This allows the reader the opportunity to see how differently people perceive themselves and others. The stories also progress over time. In the first story, Olive is a working mother, and in the last several stories, she is in her 70s and has lost her husband.

Though Olive is featured in each of the stories, she is featured more prominently in some, and these turn out to be my favorite stories. It would be difficult for me to pick a favorite story, but I think "Security" would have to be one of my favorites. In this story, Olive goes to visit her only son and his pregnant wife in New York. Olive feels very out of place and is devastated to learn that Christopher has issues with her and the way he was raised. The visit ends with Olive and Christopher having an argument and Olive leaving earlier than planned.

It's true that on the surface Olive seems to be an unpleasant person who speaks her mind without regard for the feelings of others. However, I think that the author does a good job of showing the complexities of this character. I feel like much of her brusqueness comes from insecurities. But for all of her rudeness and harshness, she does show kindness in unexpected ways.

Overall, this is a really great book of stories that does indeed read like a novel. I would highly recommend it. Thanks LT for this early reviewers program!

Happy Halloween

In the spirit of Halloween, take a few minutes and read a scary story or two. These are all available in the public domain and brought to you courtesy of defective yeti. Check them out.