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books, let's get literate! 2009

February was a month of two books. I read two books last month. On one hand: ridiculous! On the other, most of the month I felt like I was upside down and stuffed with slime. Appreciate your body and its ability to balance you! The more you know!

I did read a lot of One Piece, though, so whatever, it could have been worse.

Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi: I love the OMW universe like burning. I've found that these books are really great to kids new on the SF block (like me), full of accessible writing and really entertaining plots. I loved Last Colony and wondered if Zoe's Tale would bore me, but I couldn't have been more wrong. I was totally entertained and beat myself up for keeping it on my shelf so long. Zoe and her friends were just as mouthy and sarcastic as John and his friends, except more so and with emphasis on the mouthy. Although I knew what was going to happen, the perspective Zoe lent to much of the events made The Last Colony that much better in my memory, because while Zoe was doing one think I knew John and Jane were doing another and had no clue whatever that Zoe was doing. It feels like you're reading a secret.

I cried at one scene in this book. It was so amazing, I have never cried at one of John's Scalzi's books before but this one had me pressing tissues to my face and leaving them there just far enough down so I could continue reading, even though I looked like a freak. Thank the stars I was alone in my apartment. I absolutely recommend this entire series: Old Man's War, The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony and Zoe's Tales to everyone, even if you think you hate SF and want it to die in a fire.

John Scalzi is worth it.

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What They Always Tell Us, Martin Wilson: This is a book about two brothers, James and Alex, and set in the south with the bonus of no dialect written out anywhere. It's about how they come back together again after drifting apart; how they grow and change and learn and fit back together. It's also a romance (interracial romance!) that is so well done I kind o can't believe it's real? In other words, I think I want about two tons of happy-ending fic for the Alex and Nathen that I will daydream about but will probably never write myself because I am lame. It's a very quiet book: it's not trying to do anything amazing, so I'm not sure why I liked it as much as did. Especially considering how much sexism is thrown around in the male dialogue (hint: IT'S A LOT). I probably love it because the romance isn't about the guys freaking out about being gay. It's just there and they deal with it. Also, shower scenes don't hurt. I approve!

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The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins: I'm not surprised my fondness for the book came and went depending on what part I was reading. A big reason I read this book was because of the similarities between it and Battle Royale and the accusations of intellectual theft (lolz drama). I don't know if Collins read Battle Royale, but through the whole book I kept seeing things that made me uncomfortable enough to pause. Really? I would stop and ask. The general consensus is that she based it off Theseus and the Minotaur. Okay!

Katniss lives in Panem, District 12; the least loved district concerned with mining. Each year, every district must choose two kids to play Panem's Hunger Games. On the day of the reaping, Katniss finds herself taking the place of her younger sister and shipped off to prepare for next round of The Hunger Games with another tribute from her district, Peeta. The plot is pretty straight-forward after that and by straight-forward I mean: don't get attached to the world-building, this book is all about THE ROMANCE. Will they make out? Won't they? Will there be sexy times? Will Katniss stop being romantically dense? Will Peeta stop acting like Katniss should read his mind? Will Renay kill herself by banging the book against her head? Stay tuned!

Here's how Battle Royale is better and it doesn't really have anything to do with theft: the tension. Battle Royale gave me nightmares. The Hunger Games at best kept be attached to the book, but most of the time made me roll my eyes, because fuck, I knew when I started this book and the love triangle began getting rammed down my throat that there was no way the promised end to the games would happen. All the strength Katniss possessed, all the brains and the ability to think on her feet was apparently not enough to make her smart enough to see what was going on until she had been backed into a corner. I had a hard time swallowing that. It's an okay weakness, I suppose—a character can't be perfect, but I didn't want Katniss to fill that particular role. Love triangles are almost impossible to do well enough that I don't want to punch walls. This said to me that the love triangle was going to be important later on and that's really disappointing because I want more awesome world-buildng and less sexy times drama. Something was going to happen to change how the games worked: Collins codes the damn ending before the games even start. Battle Royale absolutely never did that, bad translation, weird perspective and all. Therefore, the "readbility" of this book the entire book blogging community is raving about in order to shill this title to everyone who might read it wasn't there for me. I read it over three days, only really attached during the actual games when Katniss was by herself. Maybe I'm being a stick in the mud, but I kind of wanted to love this book and came away...not disappointed but less than thrilled.

Don't read Battle Royale before The Hunger Games because I don't think The Hunger Games measures up, even though both are dealing and critiquing the same ideas and concepts. Battle Royale kicks ass in dealings with its themes. The Hunger Games is too busy shacking up its main characters. Theme? it asks. Here, Katniss, make out with your competition for some drama as men (don't think I missed that) steer you into appropriate sexual behavior that will get you rewarded. Is that actual critique of our reality-obsessed based entertainment, that the big corporate sponsors (men, in the form of Haymitch) bully and entrap people (girls) into doing stuff that maybe isn't so smart for fun times for other people? Maybe the whole thing works as a critique of something. Maybe I'm not the audience. Maybe I am a big old bummer who wants to dislike everything popular!

Also, the end was full of shark-jumping hilarity. The book is good, sure, but it's especially worth it to read the book just to watch the end of the novel unravel its last, ridiculous and "terrifying" event and make a joke of whatever tension and suspension it had. Am I the only one who found it to be just a little hokey and overblown? Outlook: likely. Probably I shouldn't have laughed at that part. I am a mean person.

It is a pretty readable book, though. Plus, the fanfic is hilarious.

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The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman: I loved this book.

Everyone loves this book. It won the Newbery, it won a Cybil, picture an award for kid lit and it was either in the running or took the award home. I am very lukewarm on Gaiman's prose work. American Gods confused me, I still really don't see the appeal of Neverwhere, I liked Coraline but I didn't gaze at it with the vision of Tenderheart during the Care Bear Stare like many people did. Basically: Gaiman's prose has been absolutely unavailable to me in most of his books. There's an emotional gap between me and caring about his characters; it's something about the sparse nature of the writing. I wish I could explain it or make it go away, because it feels as if there is something wrong with me. I really love him as a blogger but anything else...no good. I expected I would read The Graveyard Book and be mildly entertained, put it down and then forget about it because it hadn't affected me at all.

I was wrong.

Nobody Owens escapes a gruesome death as his entire family is killed by the man Jack and seeks refuge in a graveyard, where the ghosts decide to foster him. They use Silas, who can acquire clothes and food for him, and boy, did I love Silas. If he's not the most awesome godfather in literature, I'll eat my hat. All the ghosts that help raise Bod are interesting characters and I fell in love with the subtly some of the interactions boasted. Bod was a delight, himself, very sweet and kind. I just wanted to hug him. Each section was charming but I especially liked ti when Bod would get to know his fellow ghosts. Watching his go to school was also hilarious. Really, all these characters were amazingly drawn, especially Bod, who you can't help but cheer for.

Although the prophecy thing did feel a bit pasted on, but who cares: it's not like people need good reasons for doing bad things. Bad people do bad things for silly reasons all the time. The reason we care is that because Bod is awesome and we want him to flourish. Hearts!

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The Dust of 100 Dogs, A.S. King: I was very excited about this book! I have to be upfront, though, that I think whatever the author was trying to get across went over my head. This might not be the fault of the book, actually—it might simply be that I was disconnected from Saffron's story because she was very emotionally disconnected from her life as Saffron—she wasn't Emer, didn't feel like Emer, but she wasn't Saffron, either. She was in a place where she was, effectively, nobody, and she was attempting to reclaim items that would make her somebody and ditch the people who would use her for her body or for her mind, which I found interesting. The men in the past would rape her, use her as an object and her mother in her present would use her mind as a ticket out of hopelessness. She was always an end to someone's means for personal pleasure, either sexual/financial and it's a cheap feeling. It's objectification either way, and doesn't lend to anyone feeling particularly human. I think the antagonist of the story was attempting to show how Saffron could have gone bad—but she had the strength of character to chose a different path and become someone new, divorced from her past and her present: Saffron 2.0.

There are a lot of thinky issues in this book and I don't think I caught them all. I am not certain how I felt about the end, since I knew it was coming. Of course! Of course it was coming. I think I expected more adventure (there were adventures but it was less showing and more telling about them) and less Deep Thoughts On Identity. Surprise! Books can take you off guard. Who would have guessed.

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Now for a useless poll! PLEASE HELP ME FIND SOMETHING TO READ. I am so undecided and unhappy. One Piece always does this. Nothing can measure up!

[Poll #1359975]

I cannot believe so many books are boring me lately. What is wrong with me! Honestly, self. Honestly.