The Harry Potter books have been a phenom that has swept the publishing industry, reigniting a passion for reading in young people. The current book craze among young adults can in my opinion be credited to this series. Rowling has created an engaging world that isn't simply fantasy. It is heavily grounded in our everyday realities. Who hasn't felt a little out of place at the age of 10? It depicts the typical or in this case not so typical experience of going away to school. I particularly love the way she draws parallels between the wizard world and the "real" or muggle world. She has created characters that are truly engaging and rootable. I feel like she has drawn on the tradition of the British classics like Jane Eyre by having it center on a young orphan who is poorly treated by his relatives. While not nearly as dark, it makes Harry just as rootable. You want him to succeed, to live and to prosper. This first book is a lot of fun because it establishes the parameters for the story. You know who your good guys are and who your bad ones are. This story has a strong plot that really emphasizes the concept of less is more. It's not riddled with a bunch of crazy twists in turns, but rather how the ordinary becomes extraordinary. She also has an engaging style that draws in readers of all ages. It's not simply a children's book, it's a book for all ages.

Unlike the last two books I've reviewed, I highly recommend you read this series. I can't wait to finish myself.

50 Shades of Crap

I like to give every book the benefit of the doubt. All the hoopla about this book made me want to read it. 50 shades is a problematic book that makes any proud bookworm feel sort of dirty for reading it. It's basically the literary version of being caught with a copy of Hustler.This book made me blush and cringe on the inside. It's not just that it has sexual descriptions. Nearly 80% of this novel is about sex and not just your average run of the mill sex, but some seriously twisted situations. We've all heard of BDSM, but after reading this you get an insiders view of what that really entails. Christian's red room of pain is frankly gross. Reading this makes me wonder what kind of sick twisted human being wrote this novel.

The premise of the novel is understandable: how a young women can let sexual desire get the best of her. If only this novel was the only one. The ending is appropriate, but I fear with 2 other books they are trying to sell the story of Christian and Anastasia as romantic. The story borders on abusive with Christian's random bouts of jealous rage and threats to beat her. Instead of delving into what exactly happened to Christian to make him this messed up or why he refuses to see his relationship with Mrs. Robinson as what it was (child abuse), the author just bombards us with kinky sex. The only person in the novel who seems to have any common sense is Kate who hates him from the get-go. This book would be an interesting case study in how young women get sucked into abusive relationships if it had been left as one book.

Another problem with this novel is the dialogue. Anastasia speaks quite normally, but Christian seems like he's been plucked straight out of a Victorian romance novel. His instance on calling her Miss Steal, his manservant who is always lurking around  and of course the vocabulary he uses. I feel like the author just sat there with a tattered copy of a Victorian romance and the thesaurus.

It's really unfortunate that this literary drivel is going to be turned into movie. It's twilight all over again.

The Bronze Horseman

I try to pride myself on my ability to finish any book no matter how bad it is and for the second time in my life I have failed. Ironically both books were set in Russia. The first was Tolstoy's  War and Peace. I just couldn't get myself to finish a 1000 pages on Russian imperialism and what amounted to really bad characters. I will give tolstoy this, the writing has some literary merit, unfortunately the same cannot be said of the Bronze Horseman.

I started off reading the book and thinking wow this has potential. I actually couldn't put it down for the first 160 pages then I just started to get mad. Tania, who I felt for at first, started to severely grate on my nerves. The mysterious Alexander turned out to be nothing, but a douchebag. He wouldn't know chivalry if it smacked him in the face. There is so much abuse going on in this novel that I just couldn't bring myself to continue.

I didn't even finish the book. I got to page 275 and quit. I no longer care what happens to Alexandra, Tania, her sister Dasha and those poor excuse for parents. If this is romance than no one should ever fall in love. Tania takes self-sacrifice to another level. Alexander is emotionally manipulative. He doesn't have to string either Dasha or Tania along. He could be honest and merely takes Tania's rejection as an excuse to punish her by forcing her to endure the knowledge that he has sex with her sister. The very sister with whom she shares a bed.
The writing style does suck you in, but the characters are so awful that it takes away from whatever else the book has to offer which isn't very much.

The Alchemist

I have been meaning to read this book for awhile now, but only recently got around to it. It's not a very long read, but it's rich with language, symbolism and enough metaphors to make your literature profs foam at the mouth. The story follows a young shepard Santiago who has a dream about going to Egypt. He basically decides to follow the signs that are telling him to go there and comes across a number of different figures. The story is at best confusing, but it doesn't really matter. The language is fluid and almost magical in and of itself. The author takes you on a lyrical journey that harkens back to a different time. In this age of consumption for the masses, it's difficult to find such a beautifully written novel. It's not that long, so one does not get bored, but it does require more than one read to fully understand the story. It's basically a coming of age and focuses on following one's dreams no matter the cost. It's a bit optimistic considering our time and the setting is almost other-wordly. It's hard to picture a Shepard boy who willingly visits a fortune teller and then decides to put everything at risk based on a dream. I do like that Santiago always yearned for travel and the dreams serve more as a catalyst rather than the reason for his journey.

It's definitely a book I would recommend.

Year in Review

It's that time of year when we go over the best of 2011. I had made a vow to read more, but I haven't kept to my promise. There are a few gems I came across this year that captured my heart.

The Hunger Games Trilogy

I kept hearing about this trilogy and I even tried to read it in February, but was not in the appropriate head space. I borrowed the books from a friend and was instantly hooked. The love story is beautiful, but more than that is the frightening world that Collins creates. It's definite must-read.

Persuasion-Jane Austen

Persuasion was the one Jane Austen novel I hadn't read yet and I'm glad that I finally picked it up. Anne is very likeable and it fills me with the warm and fuzzies. Austen's wit is spot on as usual and its definitely a book that everyone should read.

The Help

I really loved this novel. The movie was good, but it lacked the emotional punch that the book could deliver. I loved how it portrayed such delicate issues of race with tenderness and subtlelty.

My apologies

I'd like to apologize to all of my readers because I apparently suck at read-alongs. But, in my defense life got in the way especially school. I will be doing my review of each part starting next week. I promise.

Winter's Tale Read Along

Welcome to Week 1 of the Read-along for Mark Helprin's "Winter's Tale"

One thing that struck me while reading this first chapter was the writing style. This book is so beautifully written. I feel like Helprin's sentence structure is almost musical in its quality. It takes me back to the fairytales and the feeling I get when I read my favorite poem. He also creates beautiful imagery with the White horse in the backdrop of a city covered by snow. I also loved how he had the first chapter being told from the perspective of the horse. Yes, it's a little strange, but this is no Mr. Ed. It's like the horse sees the world much like we humans do. He is very aware of his surroundings and is as curious about what's going on as we are. This first chapter definately kept me engaged and interested.

Questions for my readers:

1. What was your favorite thing about the first chapter?
2. What images popped into your head as you read it?
3. What do you think of that final scene when Peter jumps on the horse's back and they escape together?