What I Read – September 2009

September was a good reading mojo month.  With a few hiccups (I’m looking at you, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) I found a lot of great reads this month.  Links take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com and *’s mark the books I found truly outstanding.

*Song of the Sparrow, Lisa Ann Sandell

The Edge of Impropriety, Pam Rosenthal

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, Barbara Kingsolver
(Note: this book made me so angry, that I was trying to come up with a symbol to denote books that I wanted to hurl against a wall, run over with a car, and then stomp to an inky pulp.  Hopefully this is the only book that will ever make me THAT mad.)

Cooking Up a Storm, Emma Holly

**I Shall Not Want, Julia Spencer-Fleming

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, Richard Wrangham

A Little Bit Wicked, Kristen Chenoweth

Prairie Tale: A Memoir, Melissa Gilbert

What did you read last month?

What I Read: June 2009

Reviews take you to Goodreads.com and *’s denote particular favorites.  Looking back at the June books, it looks like I didn’t really rate any one very high.  I think I was in a bit of a reading funk since there are two DNFs and it’s pretty rare that I don’t finish a book.

A Wild Sheep Chase, Haruki Murakami

Kushiel’s Justice, Jacqueline Carey

Kushiel’s Mercy, Jacqueline Carey

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski

What I Read – May 2009

What I read for the month of May.  This was a better month for breaking outside of the romance genre.  Links take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com.  Asterisks mark books that were really good reads.

Indiscretion by Jillian Hunter

*Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins

Mister Pip by Lloyd James

Shift by Charlotte Agell

What did you read recently?

What I Read – April 2009

Hmmm … didn’t read much this month.  Went on another romance novel bender and sucked down Jillian Hunter books like they were going out of style.  I’ve got a couple non-romance reads started and I think I may actually be ready to read outside of the genre.

The Love Affair of an English Lord, Jillian Hunter

The Wedding Night of an English Rogue, Jillian Hunter

The Devilish Pleasures of a Duke, Jillian Hunter

The Sinful Nights of a Nobleman, Jillian Hunter

No stars this month.  These books were all good reads, but nothing too outstanding.  Though one could probably write a dissertation on the ridiculous titles of these novels.

What Girls Want: Follow Up

Since first sharing my thoughts on the Twilight books back in December,the initial bruhaha surrounding Twilight has calmed.  But every now and then, to my delight and dismay, Twilight rears its ugly head.

A friend recently sent me an awesome blog post from the ever brilliant Jessa Crispin, over at Bookslut.  Unfortunately I can’t track down the original post and link, but here’s a transcription of the post.  (Jessa, if you’re out there, can you tell me how to find the link — and subscribe to the RSS feed on the Bookslut blog?  Thanks!)

Back to matters at hand.  The Post from Jessa Crispin:

A few days before Valentine’s Day I got a little overly optimistic about my social skills and found myself at a lunch with a group of women I do not know. The conversation mostly revolved around whether or not one girl’s boyfriend was going to propose on the big day. The others were sure he would, despite the woman’s protest that he was resisting moving in together. I sat on my hands and concentrated very hard on not jumping up, saying “Maybe he’s just not that into you!”, cackling madly and fleeing out the door.

But then they asked me for book recommendations for their book group. I asked what they had read recently and liked, and she said, “Twilight.” My one ally at the table tells me I visibly sneered. I think I snapped something about Mormon celibacy and pathetic female roles, until mercifully my phone rang and I had an excuse to leave the table.

Maybe I’ll print out this smart Jenny Turner essay on Twilight, and just hand out a copy when someone asks me what I think of the books. Because it keeps happening, and I have to keep apologizing to my friends for sneering at people they know.

It can be a challenge to feel like the lone voice of dissent over popular fiction.  You become a touchstone to all those around you who want to point out who is not hip, or a stick-in-the-mud.  (I know this well, I was one of those constantly touting Harry Potter to those who ‘just didn’t get it.’)  Well, this unhip, stick-in-the-mud sticks by her opinion that while I wouldn’t outright forbid anyone reading this book, please, for the love of all that is good on this earth, understand that Bella and Edward are the ANTITHESES of a healthy, adult relationship.

Take a moment and read the Jenny Turner article.  It’s spot on with her assessment of the weaknesses of Bella’s character, the cultural issues at stake in the novel, and the obvious (and not so obvious) parallels and comparisons to pop-culture and Brit Lit.

Here’s a little teaser:

Bella’s character, in accordance with the conventions of the most finely mashed romantic fiction, has no features at all, apart from a mild emo-ish dysthymia (‘I didn’t relate well to people my age. Maybe the truth was that I didn’t relate well to people, period’) and an accident-prone streak, causing her to need a lot of rescuing (clumsiness, ‘most characteristically tripping’, is according to Toufic often a sign that a person may be ‘crossing the threshold’ to the ‘altered realm’). As Helen Fielding did with Bridget Jones, Meyer has hitched a ride on the Mr Darcy plotline, but without bothering to give her heroine any of Elizabeth Bennet’s spirit – raising a reprise of the Bridget question, why would a man of any style or substance fall for a lummox like her?  To which Meyer offers two answers, one conventional and one less so: because she’s the avatar of the audience, which has paid its pocket money for the privilege of indulging itself in a bit of the something-for-nothings and a dab of the it-could-be-you’s; and because Edward’s superhuman sensorium is irresistibly attracted – with a carnality both erotic and murderous – to the special ‘smell’ of Bella’s ‘throat’.

What I Read – March 2009

Here’s the past month’s booklist.  Asterisks mark books that were especially powerfull/enjoyable.  All links take you to my reviews on Goodreads.com.

Chocolat, Joanne Harris

*Exit Music, Ian Rankin

Hush: An Irish Princess’ Tale, Donna Jo Napoli

Growing Herbs, Richard Bird

*Kushiel’s Scion, Jacqueline Carey

*The Geography of Bliss, Eric Weiner

I also re-read Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and Miracles.   I liked Miracles more the second time around, and the Sutras make a lot more sense once I was introduced to a few other translations/interpretations.

What did you read this past month that you really enjoyed?

What I Read – February 2009

A run down of the rules if you’re new to this.  Links take you to my (mostly) brief reviews at Goodreads.com.  Asterisks mark books that were particular favorites.

A Deal With the Devil, Liz Carlyle

* The Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan

Wild At Heart, Patricia Gaffney

A Wicked Gentleman, Jane Feather

The Seduction of an English Scoundrel, Jillian Hunter

I picked up and put down Mark Helprin’s Winter’s Tale.  It’s a beautiful and haunting novel, but I just can’t bear to read anything set in a deep, dark, never-ending winter.  I’m living it and want some hot, steamy escapism.  I wonder if that’s why I tend to read more romance novels in the winter than the summer?  Food for thought …

What I Read – January

Links go to my reviews on Goodreads.com.

Went on a bit of a romance novel bender this month.  A coworker introduced me to a great new author, Liz Carlyle, and I’ve really been enjoying her books.  It’s also been nice to take a break from the heavier yoga-centered reading and be entertained.

Asterisks (*) mark books that I really enjoyed.
*Flowers From The Storm, Laura Kinsale

My False Heart, Liz Carlyle

A Woman Scorned, Liz Carlye

Miracles, Stuart Wilde

Anatomy of Movement, Blandine Calais-Germain

The Love Poems of Rumi, Mawlana Jalal-al-Din Rumi

What A Scoundrel Wants, Carrie Lofty

Beauty Like the Night, Liz Carlyle

A Woman of Virtue, Liz Carlyle

No True Gentleman, Liz Carlyle

*The Devil You Know, Liz Carlyle

What I Read – December

Here’s the booklist for Decemberwith a little something extra: stars [*] to denote favorite titles/highly recommended titles.  These are books I’ve found to be exceptional.  As always, reviews are on Goodreads.com.

The Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

*The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran

The Constant Gardner by John le Carre

Slut! Growing Up Female With a Bad Reputation by Leona Tanenbaum

Anyone read anything good over the holiday break?

What Girls Want – Response and Rant

I have problems with Twilight.  Big problems. Big enough that I picked it back up and finished it.  Yup.  I hated the book so much that I forced myself to re-read it, just so I could defend my point of view from all those out there who love the book with a hot, shimmery, flower-breathed, teeny-bopper kind of love.