Persepolis 1 & 2 - Marjane Satrapi

I first came across Persepolis in a friend's apartment. It was a tiny place and one wall had a huge poster with a scene on it that looked to me like it was right out of a graphic novel.  When I asked my friend what the poster was from, she said it was her roomie's and she thought it had something to do with a movie. 

I later read Nylon Road (loved it) when I was getting into graphics, which was just after I first started university (I don't know why I wasn't into them earlier...just never knew anyone who read them, I guess. I went out and just bought Sin City after I saw the movie because I loved it, and I've been hooked ever since).  The author of Nylon Road mentioned being inspired by Persepolis (which rang a bell because of that poster), and I made a mental note to read it somewhere down the line. 

Well, whatever, years passed....then I'm working at a bookstore and come September 20 parents a day are coming in looking for Persepolis because it's on some of the grade nine reading lists. It's hard for the customers to find because a. most parents shopping at the Yorkdale mall would have no clue where to find the Graphic Novels section even if they thought to read the signs and b. Persepolis is a memoir so it's shelved under Biography anyway. 

I had a few interesting conversations with parents about the book. Many were dubious about the idea of a 'comic book' being part of their kids' curriculum. I tried to tell them that a graphic novel is just a different way of telling a story.  Like a movie, it captures aspects of a story that words alone cannot. It forces the writer to use every once of skill in order to get the point across in fewer words, with fewer scenes. It is a tale condensed, distilled. At the same time an excellent graphic novel never feels like there is something missing. I love that they are becoming part of our kids' curriculum: what a great way to appeal to different kinds of learners, and to teach that there are many outlets for the human voice.  

I finally ended up reading the books after seeing them (both) in Starlight books not long ago and just buying them on the hunch they'd be worth the space on my bookshelf. My bookshelf that is still non-existent. But that's a whole other issue. I know that Persepolis comes in a mass-market type paperback that combines the two volumes, but I saw these at the used bookstore - cheap, beautiful, great condition and thought who cares. 

Graphic novels are great because they're so quick to read. I read this whole story in one afternoon and felt a little lost after because I got so into her (the author/illustrator's) life.  She describes her girlhood growing up in Iran on the eve of revolution, being sent to France by her parents for her safety, returning to Iran a lost and confused young woman.....Her story is unique because of her experiences in such a country and the people who surrounded her who allowed her own uniqueness to thrive. These books never would have happened without her parents being who they were. What remains is an often chilling, sometimes hilarious account of one woman's life (so far). I love when I read things like this and find it so utterly relateable. It seems no matter where, or when you are growing up or what happens to you there are just some things we can all understand. 

The only downside was the ending. I wanted to know more about her adult life, how she ended up being a writer, an artist, how she came to write her own story. As this was a few months ago now that I read these, I've since discovered Goodreads, the best website ever. I found out that Ms Satrapi has published another book titled Embroideries that I plan on reading at some point as well. 

(I can't get the photo to rotate, driving me nuts)

Thoughts on Nutrition

This should probably be titled Thoughts on Procrastination, or something better able to reflect the fact that I took these books out from the library probably February/March and am only writing about them now. I'm going to be super brief about it because there are a ton of other books I've read and want to write about to catch up to myself.

I was reading these books at about the same time in the late winter because I was feeling frustrated about food....feeling like every time I turned around there was something else saying this is bad for you, or that is an essential vitamin....and of course that is something we hear a lot.  I wanted to know more for myself, so I started reading various things about nutrition and whatnot. The End of Overeating I had noticed constantly while working at the bookstore and it had also been recommended by a coworker there, which is how I ended up deciding to take that out.  The Everything Nutrition Book I took out because I knew it would be the most efficient way to get the information I was looking for - the Everything and For Dummies series are really great - like starting with Wikipedia to get the basics of something, but with further depth and authority.

The End of Overeating was an interesting look at the rise of obesity, the inner workings of the food corporations, and the actual science of our thoughts about food. I was astonished to learn that consuming excessive amounts of sugar, salt and fat literally changes the pathways in your brain and thus the way that you even think about food. As our bodies don't need very much sugar, salt or fat (and the man-made types of all three are the major culprits in this) it doesn't take very much at all to be 'excessive.'  I had also never thought of the food industry before in the same way I think of most corporations. But they still do all get together at big corporate conferences and discuss all they've learned and better ways to keep people buying. Or eating, as the case may be.

After reading that book I tried a test: the authour talks a lot about sugar addiction and compulsive eating - I wanted to just kind of casually see how long I could go without eating extra sugar.  I have had some kind of extra sugary treat almost every single day since I first had that thought. I generally eat very well as a rule, but I just couldn't seem to not eat that cookie or donut or whatever. It amazed me. Still does, really, since I'm still saying 'let's not eat any sugar today' and still eating it. It really brought home a lot of the points made in the book, and has doubled my certainty that it is essential to let your mind control what you eat, rather than the other way around.

The Everything Nutrition Book was like a Human Diet 101. If you were from another planet and wanted to know what the dominant life form on Earth needs to eat to survive, this book would serve your purpose. I did end up skipping the chapter on minerals because I'm not planning on getting that crazy about my nutrition. I was more interested in what a proper serving of this or that should be (size-wise), how your body uses vitamins and whatnot. It was exactly what I needed and I also used the Canada Food Guide to get an idea of how many servings of fruit and veg, etc. I should be eating each day.  It's amazing how much less of everything we really actually need.

I was doing great for a while, during and after the reading of these books. They were (are?) part of my plan to get in overall better health. I started running again and significantly improved my cardio; I was working out at home and discovered yoga (omg I love it) and had lost five pounds......but then I started this new job and have gained back those pounds by eating cookies at work all the time. The whole thing is not about losing weight but it was a really nice way to show that everything I was doing was working....and probably a really good lesson about how easy it is to drop the ball.

Phase II will commence shortly, with a renewed effort to eat better and a return to running/regular exercise/quitting smoking. Now that I've gone back to write about these books it's refreshed my memory a bit, even though it still feels like I read them forever ago.

Sookie Stackhouse Love

I have been reading the Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire series in and out of all the other books I've been reading since around the end of December.  I finally finished the last available book in the series a few weeks ago and am now feeling that frustration of falling in love with a series and getting to the point where you then have to wait for your next piece of it.  Of course there are many others who have been waiting far longer than I will have to - the next book comes out this spring.

Those girls/women who were devoted fans of this series originally piqued my interest many months ago at (of course) the bookstore.  Many people came in either because they already knew the series and knew what they were looking for, or they had started watching True Blood and wanted to try the books.  From conversations with all these different people I had an image formed of the series and what it would be like - same as hearing a lot about someone you haven't met yet.  But I still thought 'vampires aren't really my thing' and brushed it off.  I should know better by now.

Because of that same vague anti-vampire resentment (fueled by watching all these teens come in everyday looking for nothing but vampire junk novels) I hadn't watched any of the True Blood tv series despite many people going on an on about it the past few years it's been out.  That all changed one night when I stopped in at my friend Tasha's place one afternoon in the fall.  I meant to visit for a few hours and ended up getting home around 3am.  I woke up on the couch the next morning to a disastrous hangover and the effort it took to find my glasses convinced me I wouldn't be going too far from the couch that day.  I should add that it wasn't a typical event for me.  It turned out that Adam and Tash had loaned me the first season of True Blood.  These friends work in the film industry and are always good for a recommendation, but I probably would never had ended up watching the series if I hadn't had such a good time with Tasha that night.  Watched half the first season that day.  And I knew I'd have to read the books.

When I went to hockey one Wednesday night just after Christmas I noticed my girlfriend was almost finished reading the first book, Dead Until Dark. I asked to borrow it and to my pleasure she finished the last few pages and handed it to me.  I was hooked right away.  There's so much to love about these novels.  I was consistently surprised as I worked my way through the series to find so much depth and realism to the story.  It reads almost like an alternate history; an America where vampires and shapeshifters have 'come out' to the general public and are now carefully orchestrating their assimilation into mainstream society.  Certainly a complicated task.

Ms Charlaine Harris has created some fabulous commentary on many issues that have plagued society probably for as long as we have been living in societies.  She breathes life into these characters and truly makes them walk.  Sookie Stackhouse is a wonderful everywoman kind of heroine.  The reader feels for her as she tries to navigate her job,  the never-ending work of home ownership, the currents that come with living in a small town, and a dating life complicated by the fact that all her beaus are supernaturals.

All of this is further complicated by her 'disability,' her telepathy.  Instead of this fantasy skill being jarring in contrast to the rest of her very normal-girl character, it seems to work in harmony with it and she comes across even more clearly as the regular girl next door. The way Sookie struggles with the problems created by her telepathy (like everyone who knows her thinking she's kind of slow/crazy, for example) somehow makes her come across in ever more vivid colour. This trick of Harris'; of taking something extraordinary and using it with such deft ability as to make it blend in realistically with the blandness of our familiar everyday lives is a huge factor in the success of her writing.

I would never have anticipated loving these books so much.  I love being surprised like that.  They are great for reading that's clear, fast, pulls you in but has depth to it.  They're full of action and mystery, but also hot and sexy -- and often completely hilarious.  Basically they've got it all, and then some.  Loved this little jaunt through Charlaine Harris' supernatural imagination and can't wait for the next book.

A Few Other Thoughts
- I originally thought the illustrated covers were strange, unattractive and childish.....knowing the plots of the books changes everything; they are perfect and they fit perfectly with the fairy-tale feel that underlies the series.  Sookie Stackhouse is a modern girl in a modern fairy tale - the girl who lives alone in an old house in the middle of a thick, dark wood, with all manner of creatures coming up to her front porch at night. I loved the sort of dark traditional touches that brush through in some places.
- I was impressed by Charlaine Harris' website (http://www.charlaineharris.com/) which is really well maintained and full of information.  At some point I'd really like to try her Grave Sight novels; they are now definitely on my list. She's also written tons of short stories set in the Sookie Stackhouse world; I'm going to try a few of those at some point too.  I liked that her dedications and acknowledgments always came across as very carefully thought out as well as heartfelt.
- Finally, these books have ruined the series for me.  Even my boyfriend had gotten into True Blood and we'd watched ourselves up to date but now I couldn't care less for the next season.  They've veered so far off the track laid out by the plots of the novels I know I'll just be frustrated when I watch again.  I hate when that happens.  They could have easily followed everything very closely and still had a great tv season without making up wild storylines. They've caught the characters very well but the situations they are in are very different.

The Sisters Brothers - Patrick DeWitt

I have some mixed feelings about this book. They may partly be due to the fact that it was so long between first coming across this book and actually getting to read it - a buildup of hype in my mind that overwhelmed the novel itself.  Or it might just be one of those ones that doesn't completely ring the bell for you.

The cover drew me in.  It first caught my eye the week it came out, sitting on a table in the fiction section in the store where I was working.  Bright, bold, intriguing - I picked it up again and again, touching it, reading the jacket, showing it to people. But for whatever reason, I didn't read it.  Then it was nominated for and won a whole bunch of awards.  Then I left the bookstore and moved to Newmarket.  Then I saw it was on my booklist, that tattered thing, and looked it up in the local library catalog.  There was one copy and fourteen people in the waiting list.  I added myself to that list and somewhat forgot about it.

Until I went in a few days ago, and the librarian told me my hold was in. YES!! I read it the next day in almost one sitting but still haven't taken it back for the next person (feeling guilty about that as it's here by my elbow as I write this).

Part of my initial intrigue about this book was my love of westerns.  My boyfriend introduced me to the western when we started dating, and now movies like Young Guns and the original Butch Cassidy are big favorites.  I had never read a western novel, though I'd planned on reading True Grit one day.  So this was a first in that way - and I found the book interpretation of the genre as satisfying as the movie versions.

The Sisters Brothers really stands out.  It is full of startling things and interesting contrasts.  The narrator has a unique voice, an oddly formal one that contrasts with his own depiction of his life and profession.  He is complex, compelling and rich.  His thoughts and narrative are peppered with startling bits of philosophy, poetry and love.  At the same time, his actions are unpredictable and there's no way to map them.  I was so engrossed with being in his head while he told the story.  

The book itself is unpredictable; characters appear fully formed for only a few minutes, their stories remarkable and their role intact.  Each page might bring sudden graphic violence or surprising affection.  The plot is meandering, taking its time, twisting like a river, bumping up over the rocks beneath the surface.  I loved the setting; the brothers are trekking through 1850s America.  They visit and somewhat take part in the beginning of the gold rush in California.  The settings are vividly drawn and the brothers move perfectly against them - this would make a great movie.

I said I had mixed feelings because when I finished the book I felt a little bit like nothing had actually happened.  Of course things happen, but as I say, the book kind of moves along at it's own pace, dropping startling moments/characters/events throughout and keeping you reading.  Siblings appear in various ways throughout the book and form a strong theme that is really at the heart of what gives the book such substance and has certainly earned it all those awards.  I think it's ability to startle the reader is a big factor in it's uniqueness. You can be completely unprepared for whatever happens next - whether it's making you just laugh (it can be very, very funny) or cringe at the sudden outburst of violence.

I think it just wasn't what I expected.  At the same time, I really, really enjoyed it.  I can definitely appreciate a book that surprises me and can keep doing it.  I also like the all-encompassing kind of story it is - a journey, dysfunctional family, secrets, greed, violence, love.....settings so vivid you can almost feel the dust coating your throat....

Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

Ever since I started reading Jane Austen's books, I think that each newest book I've read is the best one.  I started reading them just maybe two years ago, beginning with Mansfield Park.  My roommate had the film and we both watched it all the time.  Then I read Emma and thought I liked that one best.  Then Sense and Sensibility.  Now Pride and Prejudice.  I completely understand why so many hundreds of thousands of people over now hundreds of years have been reading and loving these books.  


I picked this up at the library for the Florida trip because I've somehow gotten into the habit of reading classics on vacation and I'd recently watched the movie version with Keira Knightly which had increased my wanting to read it.  I saved it for last, and didn't start reading it til we had begun the drive back home.  I took my time finishing it, too, taking breaks and reading other books, drawing it out.  Can't understate my instant love and affection for this book.  How crazy is it to talk about being affectionate about a book?  But that's how I feel.


During the time I was reading it I went into the local used book store I've been frequenting since I moved here and happened to take a look at what they had.  I'd been checking when I was in, because there are some books I know I'm going to buy and I'm just waiting for the right cover - I know I'll eventually have all the Jane Austens so I've been just picking them up over the years.  Anyway, they had this simply beautiful copy there of Pride and Prejudice and I took it home for $5.  So I'd started reading the library copy and finished with my own. 


Pride and Prejudice hardly bears description, and I'm going to just go on for a second about some of the things I love about it: Jane Austen's wit. Her tongue-in-cheek humour.  The Bennet family dynamic.  The luxurious settings of Pemberly and Netherfield Park.  Elizabeth Bennet's sharp intelligence.  Her controlled tongue she can wield like a knife.  Her blindness.  MR DARCY.  The sheer and utter delicious romance of this book. 


On Ms Austen herself: I did some reading after finishing Pride and Prejudice (with a satisfied sigh) and I was disappointed to find that the life of Jane Austen herself seems so sad in many ways.  It's tragic to think of how many of her letters have been burned and lost forever - I can't help wondering if they were burnt to protect her secrets or those confided in her - probably both.  Worse still is the fact that to our remote view her own life seems completely devoid of the kind of romance she writes about with such passion.  I am still full of curiosity about her and will have to find a good biography at some point in the future.


For now I'm drawing out the rest of my reading....I'm aware of having the one-time-only experience of being able to read a fantastic book for the first time.  It's different every time you read it after that, in a good way, but still never the same as the first time.  So I'll wait a while before reading Persuasion or Northanger Abbey.  Save them for later. 

A note on bookmarks: 

I used to fold the corners down, and collect but never use bookmarks.  When I started university I always had tons of postcard ads for various theatre productions I was working on or thinking about seeing, and I started using them as bookmarks.  Now I've progressed to the point where I have a manilla envelope full of stuff I've saved (tickets, postcards, birthday cards) or collected (cool business cards, drawings, whatever, oragami).  When I read a book for the first time and it doesn't have a bookmark I dig through my envelope and find one that fits with the book somehow (in my mind).  In this way I'm slowly working through my personal library and every book is getting a page marker.  It's turning out to be a cool way to save and give a purpose to all that little paper ephemera I like or want to keep.  The picture below is the bookmark I gave to Pride and Prejudice (it fits well folded up).  I still fold down corners; when I come across a line in a book that just hits my soul I turn down the bottom corner of the page. 

   

Twenties Girl and Can You Keep a Secret - Sophie Kinsella

When I was at the library getting books for Florida, it occurred to me that some Sophie Kinsella would be perfect for the beach.  It ended up being a good choice.  I read these two during the week we were there in a variety of places: lounging by the ocean, laid out on the couch in the apartment, curled up late in bed one night...


I'm putting them both here in the same post partly because I'm sick of this backlog and just want to catch up, and partly because all the Sophie Kinsella I've read so far is similar in feel if not in plot or substance.  I only just read one of her books for the first time last year after my curiosity was piqued by the sheer amount of women coming into the bookstore looking for her titles.  I read Remember Me and understood why. 


Kinsella writes completely hilarious books with scenes that border on outrageous while still managing to seem like something that could happen to you.  Though her books are definitely chick lit that is not to say that they don't have great twists and likeable characters you end up cheering for.  It seems that a common thread of her writing is the idea of being somewhat lost, with or without realizing it, and searching for one's self/purpose/jumping off point.  This is the kind of authour where you know you could pick up any of her books and enjoy it.  


I liked both of these and they were exactly what I wanted - a good story with a quick continuous flow that makes it a low-key read.  Her humour is just a fantastic bonus; I love Kinsella's real-girl heroines.  For some reason I picture them all as the girl from the Confessions of a Shopaholic movie, though of course they are portrayed differently and read as separate people.  I just can't shake the mental image kept picturing the characters as that one girl.   The Confessions series, which I haven't read, is very popular and those are probably Kinsella's most-read books.  She's a British authour with most of the books set in London and (fun fact) also writes under the name Madeline Wickham. 


Just some quick thoughts on the ones I read - Twenties Girl is a kind of modern ghost story, lots of very cool twenties detail thrown in, brings home that idea of never knowing everything about someone, even a family member, of there being so much to a life - of having to ask the right questions to know a full story. It made me want some vintage dresses so bad. 


Can You Keep a Secret was maybe a little more fast-paced and has some great scenes with semi crazy roommates - a good portrayal of the nuances of many different kinds of relationships and the perils of honesty. 

Juliet, Immortal - Stacey Jay

When I took the previous few books back the library, I was on a mission.  I was leaving for Florida the next day and I needed enough books to last me the drive there and back along with 7 days pure vacation. This sounds like a ridiculous amount of thought or caring to put into such a task but obviously, I am serious about my reading.  I wanted books for the 24-hour drive that would pull me in so deep I wouldn't be able to stop reading and the hours would fly by. It can be so, so satisfying to be able to just read a whole book through uninterrupted and I didn't want to end up with crap books that I would regret taking up room in the small bag I was taking.  


Unfortunately, a lot of the books I had in mind when I went in to the library that day were unavailable. To some extent, I had to wing it.  However, there was one book I had had on hold - it had been released the day before as I hadn't had time yet to come in.  I decided to start there and went up to the teen section to find it, thinking it would be perfect for the drive down.


Teen books have come a long, long way since I first started reading teen books.  I'm jealous of kids these days who now have ever-increasing square footage devoted to them in bookstores.  It used to be one pitiful row of shelves.  Many of the girls I used to work with loved teen books and we'd of course talk about them while we were working.  Juliet, Immortal I came across on my own while reshelving some books and the cover caught me (I'm starting to really see that that's a theme with me).  It's just gorgeous.  The jacket sounded promising, and I made a mental note to read it at some point.  


So, many months later, I'm in a car with my boyfriend and two friends of ours, trucking down the I-75 and I'm reading this book.  It has a really interesting premise that is a little foggy in some ways - essentially Romeo and Juliet existed, their original story closely follows the one we are familiar with except for a crucial detail: at the final moment, Romeo betrayed Juliet.  He murdered her in exchange for an eternal existence, flitting in and out through time.  What he didn't count on was that Juliet would be saved before her last spark of life could go out (by her Nurse) and would be offered a chance at a similar existence.  Think of Romeo working for the powers of evil and Juliet working for the powers of good, and them having to fight against each other for several hundred years.  This concept is part of the book that is very interesting, but could be much stronger. 


That is all setup for the main part of the story, which takes place in our present time with Romeo and Juliet occupying the bodies of teens in the same town and each working with a very different motive.


All in all, it definitely kept my attention, mainly because of the whole idea of Romeo and Juliet being immortal.  The best part, or most effective part, might have been the role of Romeo cast as an evil character. Still for all it's great bits and pieces, I would have loved to see this story fleshed out more, standing on a stronger foundation. It would have made a fantastic and possibly classic adult book, written in the right way.  It seems like there are a lot of teen books that are like this, and I'm not sure if that reflects publishers' greed or a general ambivalence toward the quality of what teens get to read or a little of both. Probably both with a leaning towards the former. 


Side note: for some reason I didn't even think to bring a book light, and was mostly finished when it got too dark to read. I was lucky that my friends had some mini flashlights in the car (partly because we're theatre technicians and it's the kind of thing you just have around, partly because they as a rule tend to be over-prepared).