Dirt

DIRT: The Quirks, Habits, and Passions of Keeping House by Mindy Lewis


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I picked this up because I am obsessed with the Idea of keeping house. Which is not to say that I am obsessed with keeping house. Only that after 6 years of college I often wonder how it is that the thing I feel most judged by is my ability to keep house, which despite my continual attempts, I suck at. So I am always interested how people can have spotless homes and still have a life. I didn't gain much insight with this book, but there were some little gems in the rough.
Lewis tells us in "Abhorring a Vacuum" that she hates vacuums. Apparently, she hates editing too. There are about 30 too many essays to begin with--there doesn't need to be 8 essays about how the relationship with cleaning reflects your relationship with your mother, or 8 essays about maids, and most of the ones that are good still need some major editing-- there is a prediliction to share too much about one's junk when one is writing about cleaning.
In fact here is a list of essays worth reading--throw out the rest:
"Windows" by Kathleen Crisci, "A Portrait of Ten Bathrooms" Sonya Huber, "A Clean House, A Sad Home" Michael Hill,"Spring Cleaning" Mira Bartok, "The Walden Pond Cleaning Service" Richard Goodman, "The House We Keep, the Home We Make" Rebecca McClanahan.

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World's Fair

World's Fair by E.L. Doctorow


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is the sort of book that has you narrating your life in your head after you finish reading a chapter. Doctorow has great descriptive language. He tells the story of a young boy growing up in the 30's, admist the Great Depression and the looming World War. I love how he describes the day to day life, how rich he can make a day in the life of a 9-year-old sound. However, if you are looking for action, this is not the book you want. Nothing very pivotal happens, although since it is a coming of age book there is the "mandatory" sighting of a naked woman. The description of the World's Fair was particularly interesting.

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The Gum Thief

The Gum Thief: A Novel by Douglas Coupland


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I got this book because it sounded like a Nick Hornby book, and I was in the mood for some comedy. The description I read said something about coworkers at Staples writing diary entries to each other, and one writes his first novel, Glove Pond(a book inside a book). I thought it would be full of clever, witty banter and maybe some sarcasm and black humor. It's ironic that the would-be author of Glove Pond, says that he is trying to write a novel full of clever, witty banter; ironic because niether Glove Pond or The Gum Thief has anything remotely witty or clever in it. The characters are depressed, and though they write long and hard about the pointlessness of life, of how they are too old to do anything great anymore, or about how everyone in their life leaves them eventually, they don't seem to benefit from this cathartic journaling--instead, everything in their life just seems to get worse.
The book inside a book, Glove Pond, follows two absurd characters throwing a dinner party, and while slightly amusing, the characters are ultimately so tragic that all it leaves you with is saddness.
The whole book read like an off-off-off Broadway play. And not one I'd want to watch.

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The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This got 4 stars solely because it was the first real chapter book my 9 year old finished. That is cause alone to celebrate.
I read it and liked it. I really enjoy mythology, and this was a great way to introduce it to young readers. I liked how Riordan set the gods in modern time--really great stuff. And some of the adventures read just like a modern day Homer quest. Meeting Ares and Medusa were great scenes. Retrieving Ares shield was great, mixing the old myth with new technology. And the Lotus Casino was pretty good re-imagining, too.
However, I couldn't wholly rally behind the book, either. It lacked...gravitas. A monster attacks and he swipes his sword, and the monster dies. Just like that. And a lot of the plot lines are readable a mile away. A lot of the plot lines. And the author is not subtle at all in putting forth his agenda: "America is the best, but Americans don't appreciate or respect the earth and btw, NY is WAAAY better than LA".
But once again, this book is written for tweens and my tween loved it.


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Love in a Fallen City

Love in a Fallen City by Eileen Chang


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm not sure how this title ended up on my To Read list, but I'm glad it did. This was a collection of novellas and short stories by Eileen Chang, well known in China, but not in America, although she moved here in her 30's. All of the stories deal with love, marriage, and money or stature. I imagined she was China's Jane Austen, though the mood tends to be darker, and the endings don't always end happily--so perhaps it would be better to compare her to Edith Wharton.
I have to admit it wasn't the easiest read--I think some things were lost in translation. But the stories were well-told, intriguing, and beautifully written. In "Aloeswood Incense" where a poor country girl comes to live with her wealthy, worldly aunt to continue her education, (and receives an education of an entirely different type)--she finds a closet full of clothes that her aunt has made up for her. "Weilong couldn't go to sleep; as soon as she shut her eyes she was trying on clothes, one outfit after another. Woolen things, thick and furry as a perturbing jazz dance; crushed velvet things, deep and sad as an aria from a Western opera; rich, fine silks, smooth and slippery like "The Blue Danube," coolly enveloping the whole body." Or in "Sealed Off", a short story about Shanghi being shut down (Chang lived through the Japanese occupation): "The huge, shambling city sat dozing in the sun, its head resting heavily on people's shoulders, its drool slipping slowly down their shirts, an inconceivably enoromous weight pressing down on everyone." There are little jewels like that all over.
"Love in A Fallen City" is perhaps my favorite (and is also the happiest)but all of the stories are thought-provoking, well-written, and entertaining. No wonder she is a classic in her own country. Thanks to Kingsbury who translated these, perhaps she will become one here.

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The Hunt for Dark Infinity

The Hunt for Dark Infinity by James Dashner


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is the second (and latest) installment in the 13th Reality series by James Dashner. We bought both of these books for Tritan, and he really seemed to like them.
I faulted the first one for lack of orginality--it read like a Harry Potter knock-off. I can't say that about this one. It is one of the most imaginative books I've read in a while. The story is much more suspenseful and complex than the first one. In fact, it is so much more fantastic and involved, that at times it could be confusing. But Dashner works it all out in the end. In fact, I would predict that with a few more novels, he could be a first-rate story teller.
From a parental p.o.v., it is much darker than the first one, but it seems as though most YA literature is darker.
I am looking forward to finding out what happens to Tick and the rest of the Realitants in the next installment.

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The Journal of Curious Letters

The Journal of Curious Letters by James Dashner


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
It's hard not to compare every YA book with Harry Potter esp. since a lot of YA books read a lot like Harry Potter. This, too, is about a boy (Atticus, aka Tick ) who is awkward and nerdy who finds he is chosen (along with a smart aleck girl and devil-may-care boy) to help save lives by mysterious means. There are flying motorcycles, and a wise English elder (Master George), a giant, an annoying dwarf, and Tingle Wraiths. I suspect that even his birthmark that he covers up with a striped scarf, marks him as the Most Special of the special youths (not unlike a certain scar, ahem). But we will have to continue to read the series to find that out.
If that all sounds hauntingly familiar, it is. But there are differences, subtle though they may be. Master George is quick to point out that the special "magic" that is exhibited is not magic at all, but science (Quantam Physics) that is behind it all. Perhaps one of the most welcome differences is Tick's home life is loving and caring. Tick's father in particular is supportive and compassionate.
It's an OK book, with a good message and the fight scene near the end was actually exciting. It's not Harry Potter but it's as good of a copy cat as I've read. (And I suspect that most YA, for whom it's written, won't even care.)

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