Category Archives for literature

Currently reading: Absentia

At work, we have a section in the paper called “Western lit,” where my editor reviews books written by Nevada writers. This week, we covered a poetry anthology called Absentia by William Stobb. I haven’t read through a poetry book in a long time, but the poem we featured in the article really struck me so I’m reading through the rest of the book.

This book is largely inspired by the author’s time in Nevada. I can’t remember if I’ve read poetry by a Nevada author before, but I am enjoying it because I’m able to connect to the locations he writes about. His poems are funny, witty, touching, and insightful. I may have a new favorite poet.

So far, my favorite poem of his is called “At the Edge of Perfect Adequacy.”

Harsh and consoling, deeply roaming 
final precincts of oblivion and trials of encounter.

Neither unbounded singularity nor dread 
of solitude, best known unmasked, 
we emit organized sounds in the shape of X.

There is no complete echo. 
There is no unbounded animal.

Three roads meet between Thebes and Delphi. 
Conduct springs from wells deeper than 
a private tongue refusing any relation.

Inward eye to purchase wider than. 
Peregrine towards waking 
the persuasion of our fiber.

Our condition is stranger.

Listen to Stobb’s recorded version of his poem here. I love hearing poets perform their own work. I’ve always been pretty bad at reading aloud my poetry.

The lines I put in bold are my favorite, but I love each part of this poem. I’m enthralled with the idea of “no unbounded animal.” I’ve been thinking of concepts of tribes, natives, primal, nomadic lifestyles and ancient rituals for the book I’ve been outlining, and those lines seem to encompass an essence of restricted wildness, which is interesting. I’m still working through the meaning of the poem but the language and references to mythology stood out to me.

I’m preparing for NaNoWriMo this week, and I find that reading great poetry inspires me and gets me in the mood to write. I find it easier to read poetry than novels before embarking on my own writing. It helps me to be more conscious about each word I choose. It helps me to make each line count.

Fall reads

Now that the weather is cooling, I’ve been going through my e-reader and bookshelf to find some good fall reads. And the reality is that I’m a bit lean on good books I haven’t read yet, so I’ve been making a list of books I’ve been meaning to check out. I’m in the mood for thought-provoking nonfiction, juicy historical fiction, and a bit of mystery and adventure with elements of fantasy.

The Elementals by Francesca Lia Block

This book just came out today so I’m not late on getting this one (although I should have pre-ordered it). FLB has been one of my all time favorite writers for well over a decade by now, and I always look forward to her new books. I’ve heard this one is quite a mystery so it sounds like an intriguing story just in time for Halloween.

Lord of Souls by Greg Keyes

As I posted over the weekend, I just got this book from my boyfriend. It’s the sequel to The Infernal City, the first of the two Elder Scrolls books. I love that there are books based off of my favorite video game franchise, and these books are so interesting that I think even people who have never played the ES games would enjoy them. They aren’t super dense like other books based off of games, but incorporate a lot of the great lore while still creating an approachable story.

Joseph Anton by Salmon Rushdie

As an undergraduate student, much of my research was focused on literature pertaining to the culture/current events of the Middle East. Given that Rushdie was profoundly impacted by the backlash against his writing, and received a death sentence because of it, this is a book I’ve been anticipating for a while. As a writer, it’s important to me to know the struggles writers face in the fight to protect free speech. Plus, Rushdie is a beautiful writer so this should be a good read.

Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier

This book has been out for a while but I love any story set in 18th century London with real historical figures in the mix. Chevalier has written several books I love immensely, and I have yet to read a book of hers I didn’t love. She has a couple more I’ve missed over the past few years, so I’m hoping this one will get me back into her work.

Currently reading: Flight from Berlin

After finishing Anna Karenina–which I loved immensely, by the way (can’t wait for the movie)–I was definitely craving more historical fiction. I especially wanted WWII historical fiction–something juicy and compelling, but with some accurate historical context. I was at Barnes & Noble when this book called Flight from Berlin by David John caught my eye.

The synopsis:

August 1936: The eyes of the world are on Berlin, where Adolf Hitler is using the Olympic Games to showcase his powerful new regime. Cynical British journalist Richard Denham knows that the carefully staged spectacle masks the Nazis’ ruthless brutality, and he’s determined to report the truth.

Sparks fly when the seasoned newspaperman meets the beautiful and rebellious American socialite Eleanor Emerson. A superb athlete whose brash behavior got her expelled from the U.S. Olympic swim team, Eleanor is now covering the games as a celebrity columnist for newspapers in the States. While Berlin welcomes the world, the Nazi capital becomes a terrifying place for Richard and Eleanor. Their chance encounter at a reception thrown by propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels leads them into the center of a treacherous game involving the Gestapo and the British Secret Intelligence Service. At stake: a mysterious dossier that threatens to destroy the leadership of the Third Reich.

Drawn together by danger and passion, surrounded by enemies, Richard and Eleanor must pull off a daring plan to survive. But one wrong move could be their last.

This book was released in July, so it’s only been on shelves for a little over a month. This is the author’s debut novel, and I always love reading new work by new writers.

The review on the back of the book says, “Lovers of historical thrillers, World War II stories, athletic history and espionage novels will be mesmerized by this offering.” I think that is what sealed the deal for me.

And holy cow, this is a really good book. The two main characters are complex but relatable, and the book is written in a very approachable, clean, and matter-of-fact style. The story is rooted deeply in history of that time, and historical figures make frequent cameos. I enjoy the relationship between the protagonists, but I am also very interested in the world John has established, particularly how the Nazi party fought to gain control of Europe and the lengths it took to silence people who spoke against it.

I’ll admit that I’ve had a really hard time getting into books this year. I’ve always been a voracious, insatiable reader–it’s what has driven my passions and career choices. But I just wasn’t connecting with anything I was reading. Anna Karenina was a great read, but it was a slower reading experience than I’m used to because of the length and writing style of the book.

I will probably finish this book tonight because I could barely put it down, and I’m pretty sad about finishing it. But it just feels good to be in the middle of a thought-provoking but engaging book. Now I’m just trying to decide what to read next. I keep seeing a book called Istanbul Passage pop up as a related read, so I might check that out next.

Currently reading: Anna Karenina

Remember that post I wrote a while ago about the books I was reading and going to read? Well, I’m not really following that, since it’s hard for me to get into books I’m not in the mood for. And I guess lately my mood has been classical Russian literature. I’ve had Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy on my shelf for a couple of years now but never read it, and I thought reading something new was a better option than rereading my favorite Russian book Doctor Zhivago for the millionth time.

And I’m definitely loving it. I find old Russia to be really romantic, and this story is so richly written with interesting characters. I like love stories in the midst of class warfare. My favorite passage so far:

“It’s too much for me,” responded Levin. “Do try and put yourself in my place, take the point of view of a country person. We in the country try to have our hands in such condition as will be most convenient for working with. So we cut our nails; sometimes we turn up our sleeves. And here people let their nails grow as long as they will, and put on small saucers for cuffs links, so that they can do nothing with their hands.”

Stepan Arkadyevich smiled gaily.

“Oh, yes, that’s just a sign that he has no need to do course work. His work is with the mind…”

“Maybe. But it’s still strange to me, just as at this moment it seems strange to me that we country folks try to get our meals over as soon as we can so as to be ready for our work,while here we are trying to drag out our meals as long as possible, and with that object eating oysters…”

“Why, of course,” objected Stepan Arkadyevich. “But that’s just the aim of civilization–to make everything a source of enjoyment.”

“Well, if that it’s aim, I’d rather be a savage.”

There is an amazing miniseries based on Doctor Zhivago featuring Keira Knightley and Hans Matheson as Lara and Yuri, so I wanted to see if there was a good Anna Karenina miniseries made by BBC or Masterpiece Classics. And, lo and behold, there is a movie version of AK coming out this year starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson and Kelly Macdonald, all whom I love immensely. So I’m pretty excited. And I find it pretty coincidental that I just started reading it and there’s a new movie coming out soon.

Now I’m debating what to read next. War and Peace?

Summer reads

My friend, fellow Ashley and neighbor, blogs over at Writing. Love. Magic and wrote today about her summer reading list. I used to be a hardcore bookworm, but as a journalist and grad student in the whirlwind of research, everything I read now is generally academic or news writing. I try to incorporate some good fiction in when I can. I figure having an English degree kind of forces me to appreciate literature whenever I can. ;)

For some reason, I’ve been navigating toward young adult reads this summer. I think my brain is too tired to handle complex adult books. As I mentioned in my last post, I’ve been rereading one of my all time favorite books, Ecstasia by Francesca Lia Block. Whenever I reread it, I have such vivid memories of reading it for the first time and being in awe of how beautifully written it was. If you like poetic prose and urban mythology, I suggest checking it out, along with all of her other works. I think there was only one book of hers I didn’t like, but for the most part, I’m obsessed.

I’ve been making my way through the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld. I’m on #3, Specials. As a lifelong dystopian/post-apocalyptic fan, I figured I might as well read them. I enjoy them, but sometimes I feel like I’m too old for them. I’m a big supporter of the importance of young adult literature, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be critiqued with the same standards as adult literature. I like a lot of the ideas in these books, but I’ve had a hard time warming up to many of the characters, which makes it hard for me to be invested in the story.

Ready Player One was recommended to me by several of my friends, and it sounds like a must-read for geeks, so I got the e-book and will read it soon. Blood Red Road reminds me instantly of Resident Evil: Extinction (the cover look exactly the same as the movie poster). It’s YA, but I still have high hopes for it. If anything it sounds like a fun post-apocalyptic read, which I am always in the mood for. The Electric Michelangelo by Sarah Hall has been a to-read for a long time, ever since I read Hall’s incredible dystopian book Daughters of the North (also titled The Carhullan Army in the UK, I believe). She’s an amazing writer and I’m looking forward to exploring more of her work. Lastly, I’ve been wanting to read short story anthology Battleborn by Nevada writer Claire Vaye Watkins ever since we reviewed her book at work. It’s been receiving great reviews, and I love to read great writing about my state, and it’s always nice to see local writers get national attention (she’s also an alum of my university).

What are you reading? Got any recommendations? If you’re a Goodreads user, feel free to add me!

Book Review | A Feast of Ice & Fire

I was so excited when one of my favorite blogs, Inn at the Crossroads, announced that they were releasing a cookbook called A Feast of Ice & Fire: The Official Companion Cookbook for the Song of Ice and Fire book series, by George R. R. Martin (on which the popular HBO show Game of Thrones is based). It just so happened that their book was released right in time for Epic Fantasy Weekend 2012, so today during our Game of Thrones season 2 marathon, I tried out a few of the recipes. What better way to review a cookbook than by making its recipes, right?

In short: I can’t speak highly enough about this book. I’m not much of a chef–I generally stick to simple dishes with veggies and a bit of meat, and I rarely follow recipes. I’m also a terrible baker. But this book inspires me to research the food I enjoy, to think of it in the context of my favorite stories, and to get a bit creative with it on a regular basis. I sat down and read the book in its entirety over the weekend–it’s more than just a cookbook, it’s a book about history and literature. Well-written, funny, and sincere, this book is a great guide to Medieval cooking, and adapting it for the modern era. Plus, it’s beautifully designed, with great photographs.

While looking for recipes to make, I wanted something I could make with ingredients I already had around the house so I didn’t have to go shopping. This means that I had to adapt a few things here and there, but for the most part, I stayed true to the foods. I also made only Medieval recipes, not the modern ones (although I plan to try some of those soon too).

The menu:

  • Honey biscuits
  • Iced Milk with Honey
  • Onions in Gravy

Also on menu but not with recipes from the book:

  • Hashbrowns
  • Beef breakfast steaks
  • Hard-boiled eggs

Honey biscuits

I like these because they required no eggs or any baking–just mix it all together and fry it on a pan.

You’ll need:

  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tspn salt
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
  • Cold water
  • Olive oil or unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

I used wheat flour instead of bleached, and also opted for powdered cinnamon instead of ground, but I think ground would have been better.

I’m not much of a fan of wheat flour, but I rarely bake, so I keep it around the house just in case I need something for gravy or sauce. As a result, the biscuits were a bit on the blander side, but I think the original recipe would have been much better. Overall though, I enjoyed these as a simple and not overly sweet treat, and I’d like to make them again but add new ingredients like fruit or other spices.

Iced Milk with Honey

You’ll need:

  • Ice
  • Milk of your choosing (the recipe recommends whole or part-skim, but I used almond)
  • Honey
  • Cinnamon
Similar to the other recipe, mix the ingredients together, I started with the milk, and added honey, and then ice, with cinnamon on top. The recipe recommends chilling it for an hour.

I thought this would pair well with the biscuits, and it did. I used original almond milk and powered cinnamon, and this drink kind of reminds me of chai, one of my favorite drinks ever. I found it refreshing and the honey paired well with the biscuits.

You’ll notice how the honey sunk to the bottom, and I did not chill the drink enough so it separated quickly. My boyfriend recommended blending it, too, for a fun twist.

We were still hungry after our snack, so I decided to just make breakfast. Based on the ingredients I had at home, I had a go at the onions in gravy, which is in “The North” part of the book. I always identified with Winterfell and the Night’s Watch, and the food of the North matches my taste more than any other region. To make this into a proper breakfast, I also cooked some potatoes, steak and hard-boiled eggs. I’m calling this the “Woman of the Wall Breakfast,” since I would totally join the Night’s Watch.

This recipe was delicious. I love onions, and I love gravy, and I thought it made for a hearty breakfast food. The onions remain crunchy but the flavor is highlighted by the presence of apple cider and butter. Beef broth was the only thing I didn’t have, so I used a bit of salt water to compromise. Beef broth would help make this a great side dish for cold nights, but even in the summer, it was very good.

Even though these are some of the more simpler recipes in the book, cooking them while watching the show made me feel a part of the world in a completely new way. This cookbook is a must for any fantasy lover, even if you’re not familiar with A Song of Ice and Fire. In the meantime, also check out the website and browse the many other wonderful recipes. And let them know what you think!

Love is a dangerous angel

One of my all time favorite books is Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block (who has written several other of my all time favorite books). I like to invoke the spirit of Weetzie when I’m feeling a bit plain or overwhelmed. This weekend, I’m going to detox from my incredibly stressful week of work and finally read the new Weetzie book, Pink Smog. I might even read through all of my other favorite Block books while I’m at it.

“Wish on everything. Pink cars are good, especially old ones. And stars of course, first stars and shooting stars. Planes will do if they are the first light in the sky and look like stars. Wish in tunnels, holding your breath and lifting your feet off the ground. Birthday candles. Baby teeth.”

Weetzie could see him–it was a man, a little man in a turban, with a jewel in his nose, harem pants, and curly-toed slippers.
“Lanky Lizards!” Weetzie exclaimed.
“Greetings,” said the man in an odd voice, a rich, dark purr.
“Oh, shit!” Weetzie said.
“I beg your pardon? Is that your wish?”

“You are in my blood. I can’t help it. We can’t be anywhere except together.”

My winter break reading list

So I’m technically on “winter break” now since I completed my finals a few weeks ago and even though I still work full time, it seriously feels like I’m on a very nice break (it helps that I love my job). I haven’t read a book in a while, which for me is embarrassing since I pride myself on being a bookworm, so I charged up my e-reader and am ready to get back into some juicy literature.

I’ve been wanting to get more into nonfiction but I also just want an awesome story that will let me escape for a bit so I’m hoping to read a bit of both.

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond (I’ve had this book for a while and it’s just been sitting on my shelf!)
Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization by Lester R. Brown (I know there are newer versions of this available but I had a free copy from work)
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2011 edited by Mary Roach and Tim Folger (I’m hoping this will give me some inspiration for my work as an environmental journalist)
Knocking on Heaven’s Door: How Physics and Scientific Thinking Illuminate the Universe and the Modern World by Lisa Randall (I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. It’s great to have smart female authors tackling these topics.)
The Post Carbon Reader: Managing the 21st Century’s Sustainability Crises edited by Richard Heinberg and Daniel Lerch (more research for work but I’m also interested in learning more about what I can do personally.)
Urbanism in the Age of Climate Change by Peter Calthorpe (more research for personal and professional reasons.)
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan (I’ve heard great things about Pollan’s books by fellow foodies. I’m definitely late to this bandwagon.)
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood (I LOVE Atwood! Ahh! <3 I also think this cover is gorgeous.)
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin (I started listening to A Feast for Crows on audiobook before I read this one so I had no clue what was going on! Ha. But I love this series.)
Reamde by Neal Stephenson  (I LOVE NEAL STEPHENSON. More on that another time.)
The Dark Tower series by Stephen King (this will take me a while to get through but I’ve been told more times than I can count to check it out, so I’m going to!)
… and hopefully some graphic novels, like more of Fables (only read the first one but I loved it), The Walking Dead, and Sandman.
I also just ordered a bunch of programming books but those are more tutorials than, you know, something to read in the morning with a cup of coffee. But who knows, maybe I’ll just become that addicted to Java!
I probably won’t get through my list super quickly but I’m an efficient reader so I’m optimistic about the goal I’ve set–one book a week. I’m excited! And it gives me a chance to get some use out of my rad Nook Color that I definitely don’t use enough.
First on my list: The Year of the Flood. I’m a huge Margaret Atwood fan which I’ll talk about when I review it next week. I’m rereading Oryx and Crake as a refresher and hope to start Flood this weekend.
Gosh, I miss reading for fun! I read a lot for school and work but haven’t done it just for me in quite some time. There’s a reason I have an English degree, after all!
What book are on your nightstand lately?

Book Review: Wintergirls

“Dead girl walking,” the boys say in the halls.
“Tell us your secret,” the girls whisper, one toilet to another.
I am that girl.
I am the space between my thighs, daylight shining through.
I am the bones they want, wired on a porcelain frame.

I go through phases where I read a ton of fiction at once, and then I don’t read much for a while. Toward the end of summer I pulled a stack of haven’t-read-yet books off of my already-overflowing bookshelf to plow through before the year started. Many of these were young adult titles, as I still technically qualify as a young adult, and my teenage brother likes to pick out books for me that unfortunately take a back seat to the scholarly literacy-themed texts I have to consume for my studies. So for a few days, I read back-to-back stories about teenage girls in various predicaments that honestly seemed trivial to an almost-23 year old who lives independently and has Adult Issues like bills and debt and weighing the pros and cons about investing in property in this economy.

I preface this review of Wintergirls, by Laurie Halse Anderson, with this seemingly unrelated anecdote because I was a bit biased going into this book. Wintergirls had been on my must-read list for quite some time. I was a big fan of Speak when I was in high school (which sometimes seems long ago, other days it seems like it just happened). I also read Fever 1793 by Anderson and loved it. Generally I expect to pick up an Anderson book and like it. If this book had been at the top of my stack in August, I would have loved it right off the bat. But it was around fourth, and I think I was just burnt out on teen drama by then. This book is heavy – no pun intended, because it’s about eating disorders.

The older I get (and I’m aware I’m hardly that old, but the difference between 17 and 22 is astounding), the less tolerance I have for teen angst. While eating disorders cannot be attributed simply to teens, since adults and people of all genders and backgrounds experience them, I think this book rubbed me the wrong way at first. Lia, the protagonist of this story, has a very distinct voice. As a former teenage girl, I related to her right away – and that’s what initially pushed me away. I didn’t really want to relive that dark cloud that seems to follow around teenage girls. I wanted to read about happy 22 year olds or look at pictures about interior design or growing a garden. I guess I’m becoming domestic. Go figure. In any case, I started this book with the wrong frame of mind. I read about 30 pages and set it down.

This weekend, in the mood for something emotionally investing to delve into, I gave it another go. I recently had to reread Speak for a class I’m taking this semester about adolescent literature. Rereading Speak reminded me of how much I had loved that story, how frustrated I was with Melinda’s character, how enraptured Anderson made me into the lives of this fictional scenario. Luckily, Wintergirls had much of the same effect.

Much of the criticism on this book has been on the writing style. Anderson uses a strikethrough effect on many of the words to convey Lia’s secret thoughts, while also revealing context. I personally liked this, because it accurately captured the way a teenage girl writes in a journal or on a blog (at least, that’s how I wrote in mine). It showed how hard it is to be honest with one’s self at that age (or like, ever). I also thought it revealed how self-aware Lia actually was, but also how completely deluded. Like other stories about mental illnesses, it’s important to see the bean of sanity within an otherwise warped mind. I constantly evaluated if Lia was a reliable narrator. While her obsession over her weight, over food, over her deceased friend Cassie overshadowed many of her choices, I believe that many of her actions and word choices were calls for help.

I’ve never suffered from an eating disorder but I think it crosses every teenager’s mind at least once. While I thought Lia’s death would have been a haunting and powerful ending, I’m glad she pulled through. I wonder how much this book has effected girls struggling with anorexia. I’ve been meaning to do some research about that but haven’t had time yet.

Overall, once I got over my own hang-ups about this book, I really loved it. It was an easy read, language-wise, but difficult given the subject matter. I loved the grotesque descriptions of the body, of food, of death. Powerful writing that evokes some of what I love about Francesca Lia Block’s style. It almost could be an FLB book, since she also writes about eating disorders.

I recommend this book to fellow YA lit lovers – it’s definitely a must-read, given Anderson’s popularity and the importance of the subject matter. Although, to be honest, one of my favorite aspects of teen literature is how much it allows me to reflect on the happiness of being an adult.