Love, Stargirl - Jerry Spinelli

I've had this sitting around my house for a while because I got it from the library when I went and got All Clear.  For whatever reason it just took me a while to get into it, but when I finally did I read it in an afternoon (as I said, I have a lot of time on my hands just now).

I loved the Stargirl book when I was a kid and I think it's part of the stack of teen books my dad is letting me store at his place until some future time when I have the extra space.  Also loved There's A Girl In My Hammerlock by the same authour, though I couldn't describe exactly why.  But when I saw there was a sequel to Stargirl, I had to read it.

Unfortunately I can't say I loved it. It's good, no doubt, nice afternoon read. It's cool to re-visit the story, the character.  She's definitely an interesting character, and she comes through clearly in the book as if no time has passed.  This book is told from the perspective of Stargirl herself, too, which is cool as well.  I think the main reason I felt a little disappointed by it was because I thought it was going to be further on in time; that she and Leo would re-unite by the end, or be together as adults.  So it wasn't what I was expecting.  It's essentially more of the same but told by Stargirl rather than Leo.  At the end there's that same sense that they will be together again...at some point.  Definitely nice to get a bit more of the classic story though.

The interesting thing about the Stargirl story is that in my experience it's pretty universally well-loved.  I even stayed briefly with a bizarre girl in Calgary who had re-named herself Stargirl because she liked the book so much.  I find myself hoping she knows there's another and has read it, because I'm sure it would make her really happy.  Meeting her also made me wonder how many other real-life Stargirls are out there.

My favorite part of the book: the dedication.  Love, Stargirl is dedicated to the sixteen grandchildren Mr Spinelli and his wife have at the time of printing.  How great is that?

Sisterhood Everlasting - Ann Brashares

When I was almost done reading The Golden Compass, I was fired from the Swiss Chalet where I had been working for just under a month as a server.  I had been in 'training' the entire time and was only on my 5th shift serving tables by myself when they (the owner and her son) called me into the office at the end of it to say they didn't feel I was catching on quick enough and they didn't feel comfortable putting me on the night shift.  It was very, very awkward.  I've never been fired before, have never had someone say I wasn't picking something up, or even that I wasn't doing well (at anything)......so it was a pretty new experience.

When I walked out and got into my (freezing) car I also realized it was something of a relief knowing I'd never have to see those particular people again.  I have been very lucky in my working career to have always worked for (and with) exceptionally great people, and I know first-hand how valuable a fantastic manager is.  So I suppose it was only a matter of time before I had the polar opposite experience.  The upside to everything was that I've discovered that I really liked working as a server, and as a part-time job it definitely suits me (I love being busy, and working hard). So hopefully I'll find a position somewhere better in the near future.

Anyway, I mention all that because it is the reason I've had so much empty time on my hands lately.  That night I went home and finished Golden Compass; the next day I woke up knowing I wanted to do nothing but lay on my sunny couch and re-read this Sisterhood book, and let my wounded ego rest.

Every Wednesday I go and join a group of awesome girls in a shabby arena; huddled on unforgiving benches we gossip and watch our boyfriends/friends/brothers play hockey.  Before Christmas I caught a glimpse of this book in my boyfriend's sister's bag and had a conversation with her about how much I had loved it.  On Christmas day at her parent's house I was very very happy to receive it as a gift from her, and I've been wanting to read it again ever since.

My girlfriends and I all tore through the Sisterhood books as they came out when we were in our teens; I remember when the first movie came out we all skipped and went to see it together.  Brashares writes with so much love, and so much reality - everything her girls go through resonates with truth.  This is one reason my friends and I related so strongly to the stories; we could clearly see ourselves, and our friendship, reflected within them.

This last book is like an unexpected gift. It is a fantastic and unique experience to get to re-visit characters you 've loved for so long, and to re-visit them as adults is even better.  Yes, it's true, this book is heart-wrenchingly sad and chock-full of grief.  But that is something that resonates with me too, and sometimes it's a comfort to read what you've felt and lived through, even things that hurt.  I've always loved the lines full of grace and poetry that her books are full of.  I'm in the habit of folding up the bottom corner of pages in books that just ring through my head, and all my copies of her books are full of these bent pages.

This book was the perfect thing for my first day of semi-unemployment (I do work at a theatre but it's only for a few shifts a month).

So lucky for me that my love's sister is so very awesome.

The Golden Compass - Philip Pullman

I read this early last week, and have read several others since, failing my intention to write immediately after finishing a book.  I fear what it says about me to lose track so soon.  Especially considering the fact that I have been doing basically nothing the past week and have had lots of time to come here and write my impressions. I've thought about it so many times but just couldn't bring myself to do it til now. So here I am.

Read this early last week; it's one of the books I bought with my gift certificates from the local used bookstore just after the new year. I actually picked up the whole series in mass-market paperback, with great old-school covers, but I only read the first one; will get to the others eventually.  Now that they sit in my possession I'm just happy knowing they're there.

I first read the series back in high school. We had to read The Golden Compass for my gr 10 English class, and when I finished it I just went through and read the others because I always have to know what happens. I remember my teacher (who was generally disliked and heavily mocked by myself and peers) talking to my mother at the parent-teacher interview that year about how I had finished the rest of the series.  He was saying something along the lines that he hoped we had talked about it because he felt it was a 'dangerous' book.

He meant dangerous in the context of the fact that he is a Reverend and I guess wanted to make sure my mom wasn't letting me get any crazy ideas about religion from the books.  She said something about not censoring what I read, and he said something about 'well even so, you wouldn't want her reading something like Clockwork Orange' at which point my mother turned to me and said, 'have you read Clockwork Orange?'  The Reverend immediately blushed and said 'no, I wasn't trying to suggest that you'd let her read that - ' which my warrior mother nipped in the bud by saying 'I only ask her because I've got it on the bookshelf at home.'  And I quietly cheered.  And of course searched it out as soon as we were back home, and read, and loved.  It was one of my first experiences with the idea of people trying to censor children, or teenagers; with the idea of a book being dangerous, of an idea being dangerous....a concept which continues to enthrall and delight me.

Besides those other memories associated with this book, the strongest one was probably how much I had loved the idea of daemons, and how bad it made me want one.  The whole world is so clearly drawn, Lyra's character one you become quite attached to.  All the characters, really, including that of poor Roger.  I was very happy to find I enjoyed this book just as much as I did back in grade ten, and felt so satisfied re-visiting it.

Happily Ever After - Nora Roberts

After reading a few books in a row with heavier plots and some themes of destruction (Postmistress, Out, Blackout/All Clear -- even The Prestige was creepy!) I took a break by rereading this book because it is perfect girl candy, and I am, after all, a girl.

I read this series of four books (The Bridal Quartet) early last summer - perfect beach reading - and I must admit I loved them.  I've read one or two Nora Roberts books before, not usually my first choice though and I forget how I ended up reading these. I think probably a customer at work told me about them, and then I know I got them all from the library that was right at the end of my street at the time.  I remember that I read them out of order, and drove around the corner to the other close-by library to get the last one I needed to read when mine didn't have a copy and I had a random day off.  Yes, I'm a nerd.

But they're good books, soft and romantic, any woman I know would find them irresistible.  They're about four old-time friends who get to all live on the huge estate left to one of them by her parents, and together they run a wedding company called Vows.  Each woman takes care of a different aspect of the business, with one a florist, one a chef, one a photographer, and one a planner/organizer extraordinaire.  They live dreamy bliss, getting to live near their closest friends in a beautiful setting while enjoying plenty of success from their business.  Each of the four books tells the story of one of them falling in love with their dream guy.  This is what I mean by total girl-chocolate-candy goodness in book form.

I love the pretty picture that's painted, the setting really stirs my imagination, the friendship is so strong and well depicted; it reminds me of myself and certain women I am lucky enough to have in my own life.  I got all four of these (with one of my xmas gift certs!) from the used bookstore I discovered soon after moving to Newmarket.  Actually, that day that I came across it I met an old friend (but we haven't lived in the same city for many years, so we are in the process of re-connecting) on her lunch break - she works right near my place - and we went to a plaza across town where she needed to do an errand.  While waiting for her I discovered Starlight books, and one of the books I bought that day was a copy of Happily Ever After to give to that friend.  I love giving people impulsive gifts for no reason.  And I felt like she was maybe feeling a bit anxious about general life problems, and thought this book would be perfect for her to unwind with.  As I handed it to her, she lit up with 'I love Nora Roberts!' but she hadn't read the series yet so I felt like it was a good choice.

I'm sure I'll be reading these as a random pick-me-up for ages.

All Clear - Connie Willis

This book threw my whole week off because I was so happy my library had it I went to get it as soon as I could, and stayed awake til 3am reading.  Such a bad decision. Coming so soon after New Years, and in a week when I'm getting up just after 7 to drive my love to work before going to work myself...it just destroyed me.  I still feel like it was worth it to read that book in big chunks like that though. It was so, so good.  Love them both and already loaned Blackout to my stepmother, and have been telling almost everyone else I've talked to about the books.

All Clear picks up the story right away and carries it along with the same brisk pace.  The two books truly read like one story in two volumes, which is my favorite kind of series.  It is full of tension, mystery, suspense, heart-aching glimpses of history,  and surprising touches of romance.  It has a great ending that ties everything up well and has a nice little twist to it.

Blackout and All Clear come together as a strong story from start to finish with all kinds of great concepts and plenty of intrigue. Loved them!  --- I was just thinking I've been really lucking out with the books I've read lately, all the ones I've been reading for the first time have been just bloody fantastic.

Everyone Loves You When You're Dead - Neil Strauss

I was actually reading this weeks ago and was in the last chapter when I put it down to read The Prestige.  This isn't something I usually do; stop reading something.  But I had wanted to read The Prestige for so long, and I felt like I needed a break. The layout of the book made it easier to put it down for a bit too. I definitely meant to get back to it sooner than this week, though. Christmas happened, and I got Blackout from the bookstore, and it's taken me longer than I wanted to sit down and finish the Neil Strauss.  I kept renewing it from the library, and finally ended up finishing it earlier in the week when I was done Blackout and waiting to go to the library to get the sequel. But it wasn't that I wasn't enjoying Everyone Loves You.

Actually, it's one of those ones I'll probably buy at some point - it's just too good not to own.  Neil Strauss compiled from over 280 interviews a book full of little moments, heartbreaking, hilarious, utterly true moments.  The people with whom the moments happen is what makes it completely remarkable, not to mention compelling.  You can follow the authour into little encounters with almost any musical great, from almost any genre, as well as not a few with actors and other celebrities.  Each interview is like a little scene, and the book has been put together in such a way that they are able to be grouped together into larger pieces, those being the chapters, and then the entire thing fits together to tell a unique story through the combined effect of each little piece of an interview.  It must have been an incredible task, but it is fantastic to have this remarkable book to be able to read.

Reading the interviews with old-school rock stars like Robert Plant and Bowie made me want to listen to all these old records I've been carrying around for years. Unfortunately, when I cleaned out my mom's old house, I kept only a few of my favorites from her massive record collection, and didn't keep the record player.  I obviously wasn't thinking straight.  She loved those records.  I saw my dad a few days ago and mentioned to him this book and that it had made me take out the records I have to look at (I hadn't unpacked them yet from our move in November) and regret not having the record player.  Turns out he has had one in his basement this whole time. But I was grateful that after all this time I'll be able to listen to the vinyl again, and it came about inadvertently because of this great book I was reading.

I loved the way all the separate interviews came together as a whole. The dexterity with which the authour draws out the person (or people) he is talking to is amazing.  His interviewing and journalism skill is clearly apparent and calls for big respect.  I definitely want to read some of his other books; maybe starting with The Game, which I remember a male coworker telling me about: "I felt like such a slut even reading it."

In some ways, it is simply a book about the human condition. Hundreds of people, emotions like anyone elses', with extreme conditions surrounding them.  So many glimpses into scattered lives.  Many of the people have valuable things to say about creativity, passion, working, living...I felt it.  An excellent read.

Blackout - Connie Willis

I had made myself a promise (and one to my boyfriend) that I would only buy books that I had already read, absolutely loved, and had to own.  In his mind, it means less books infringing on his space over the years to come.  In mine, it means more space for the books I do completely love.  It's win win.  I have a little list that I'm slowly adding to my personal library with.

Now, I worked with a lot of great people at the bookstore, and one of the best things about it was that they were all huge book nerds too.  Though I don't miss the many hours of boredom, I do miss the conversations with my coworkers that would fill up some of the time.  What a group of smart, interesting people.  We would get talking about books and be able to show each other the ones we were talking about, having virtually anything we could want at our disposal.  I heard about a lot of great books this way.  I'm lucky because I will read almost anything, or maybe I should say I will read anything; anything that catches my interest.  I mean as opposed to a lot of people I've met who tend to prefer to stick to a particular genre.  But because I have such a wide range, talking with all the different people I worked with and being shown books from every genre imaginable just diversified my reading; having me dip into areas I'd never have come across on my own.

All that is somewhat besides the point.  I just wanted to say that it was through one of these book-talks with a great girl I worked with that I picked up this book for the first time.  Emily was reading it and told me enough that I was very intrigued and mentally added it to my 'to-read' list, which I hadn't actually started yet.  Later, just before I left the store, I saw the book again and actually wrote it down.  Last week, I went to the local used bookstore (which I just recently discovered, and is amazing, but I'll have to write about that later) because I got gift certificates for Christmas (yay!! more on that later too) and they were burning a hole in my pocket (as my dad would say).  It was there that I broke my rule about buying only books that I'd read because I found a beautiful hardcover copy of Blackout.  I want to digress for a minute and add that the price was $9.00 - originally it would have been $32.00, and it was in perfect shape.  Before I read it you wouldn't have been able to tell I hadn't bought it right from an Indigo.  This is why I love used book stores.

Anyway, I saw it, reflected on how much my friend was loving it when she first showed it to me so long ago, and got it for myself as a Christmas treat.  Everything else in my pile that day was something I had already read.  So I got to crack this open a few days ago after finishing Out, and hoped it would be able to follow up to that book, as it was particularly awesome.

It certainly did. This is an alternative history, which I haven't read in a while, and a large part of the book takes place during the Blitz of London early on in World War II.  After just reading the Postmistress, I had that satisfying feeling of information overlapping and complementing each other; of going back to a place I had seen something of.  However, it does have the added interest of time travel, which I love.  I loved this book from the first to last page; was so into it I was reading it when I came back from the club New Year's Eve and was too spinny to lay down and sleep.  It was good company.  Such a stellar concept - I will definitely be reading more Connie Willis in the future.

Her narrative alternates between following several different historians who have traveled from the year 2060 to observe certain events in the past as part of their 'assignments.'  Before they travel to the past they are equipped at their school with period costume, money, identity papers and anything else they might need during their stay, which can be days, weeks, months or even years.  While they are visiting the past they hold jobs or pretend to be anyone they need to be in order to get close to the people/events they want to observe.  I thought that was a really cool concept; these historians being able to go into the past undercover like spies; armed with their knowledge of the future.

As I passed the middle of the book and got closer and closer to the final pages, I had that panicky feeling as it dawns on you that there is no effing way the authour can finish the story gracefully in the amount of time left.  Indeed, it seemed as if the plot were twisting even more, which of course it was.  What Emily hadn't mentioned when she showed me Blackout and I hadn't realized at all is that Blackout is one of two books.  There is a sequel.  I was so relieved when I read the last paragraph and saw that the sequel is already out.  I hate having to wait for the next part of the book (although in this case it is understandable, as the story is 491 packed pages and there's no relief for the characters in sight).  This is one of those novels that gets you all concerned for the characters - I was saying to my boyfriend 'I'm so afraid for them! I don't know what's going to happen to them!' (to which he rolls his eyes, not being a reader) - and I was very glad to find that not only does my library have a copy of the sequel, All Clear; it is available.

And soon to be devoured by me.