February Goals Recap

Well, March came in like a lion this year for me. The month started off awesome with a trip to Boston that I will blog about later (I am in the middle of a serious love affair with Boston). I ended the awesome trip with the flu. Can I just tell you that the flu officially sucks as an adult? I feel like a 90 year old smoker who just ran a marathon. It has taken me a week just to recover from having the flu, not to mention the week that it ravaged me like a plague. The good news is I am (almost) back to 100%.

More good news: I accomplished my February Reading Goal! I reviewed 5 books on the blog, which is actually harder than it sounds. Well, harder is not quite the word, maybe more like time-consuming. Believe it or not, I do not just sit down and write whatever comes off the top of my head. And y’all should be thankful for that. I do not think any of you want to read a review that comes from the comparative literature part of my training. Well, maybe a few of you would, but for the majority it would be too much like school and I want you to try the books I recommend, not run screaming because you are suffering from PTSD due to high school English.

Anyways, I tried to review books that did not fall into the same genre. It is nice to read things outside of your comfort zone. It makes you a better thinker, better reader, and a better person (most times). I have a bit of a reputation of being really smart; the reality is I am really well-read. That in and of itself covers a multitude of shortcomings. Try it sometime. Start a sentence with, “I heard on NPR…” and see if people’s perception of you doesn’t change. I chose to review one nonfiction book, one classic retold, a YA fantasy, a book of short stories, and then the best book I have read in a long, long time. If you have time to read only one book this year please, please, please read Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. I am posting the link to the reviews (though I am sure all of you already read them) below so you can check them out. I hope it encourages you to read a book that you would never have picked up, whether it be one of these 5 or one that has been recommended to you or one that has an interesting cover.

Next month’s goal has been one of my reading goals for the past 3 years. Will I finally manage to accomplish it? Stay tuned to find out :)

Books Reviewed

• Uprooted by Naomi Novik
• Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
• Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari
• Jane Slayre by Charlotte Brontë and Sherri Browning Erwin
• Trigger Warning by Neil Gaiman

Jenny Reviews: Trigger Warning

 The Vitals

 Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
 Release Date: 3 February 2015
 Page Count: 310
 Genre: Fantasy/Horror/Poetry
 Target Audience: Adult
 Series: No
 Source and Format: Purchased :: eBook
 Amazon | Goodreads

Summary (From Goodreads) 
In this new anthology, Neil Gaiman pierces the veil of reality to reveal the enigmatic, shadowy world that lies beneath. Trigger Warning includes previously published pieces of short fiction—stories, verse, and a very special Doctor Who story that was written for the fiftieth anniversary of the beloved series in 2013—as well “Black Dog,” a new tale that revisits the world of American Gods, exclusive to this collection.

Trigger Warning explores the masks we all wear and the people we are beneath them to reveal our vulnerabilities and our truest selves. Here is a rich cornucopia of horror and ghosts stories, science fiction and fairy tales, fabulism and poetry that explore the realm of experience and emotion. In Adventure Story—a thematic companion to The Ocean at the End of the Lane—Gaiman ponders death and the way people take their stories with them when they die. His social media experience A Calendar of Tales are short takes inspired by replies to fan tweets about the months of the year—stories of pirates and the March winds, an igloo made of books, and a Mother’s Day card that portends disturbances in the universe. Gaiman offers his own ingenious spin on Sherlock Holmes in his award-nominated mystery tale The Case of Death and Honey. And Click-Clack the Rattlebag explains the creaks and clatter we hear when we’re all alone in the darkness.

Notes on Trigger Warning

Let me start off by saying that short stories are not my favorites. I am a drawn to completeness and to characters, both of which are hard to manage well in short stories. More often than not a short story has a comprehensive, cohesive narrative or it has well-devolved characters; it is very difficult to accomplish both. Neil Gaiman is an author who has worked long and hard on his craft, constantly pushing himself (and his readers!) by exploring all sorts of storytelling formats so I knew that if there were short stories for me I would more than likely find them here. Are all the stories and poems wonderful? No, but that is okay. There is much good here to be read.

Overall, I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. There are a lot of stories and poems that make it worth the price and time. Not everything has the same format or the same genre, though the majority would be classified under fantasy. The introduction alone is worth the price of the book (yes, I read introductions and yes, you should too). It would be nice if he developed it further into a talk or paper. It has the potential, in my opinion, of being very influential in literary and academic circles. Plus, it is something that needs to be said and he says it very well and very kindly, which goes a long way in getting people to listen. If you get the chance to read this, whether borrowed or bought, I highly encourage you to do so. 

Some of my favorites:

• "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains..." - I am not sure why I like this one as much as I do. I think because the narrator is so compelling. Plus, the twist at the end is awesome. 
• October Tale from "A Calendar of Tales" - A sweet story about love, obligation, and contentment. This one is very profound for being so tiny. 
• "The Case of Death and Honey" - A Sherlock Holmes story that is, in my opinion, flawless. It would fit seamlessly into the Conan Doyle canon.
• "The Sleeper and the Spindle" - This has been turned into a book with wonderful illustrations. Probably my favorite, it is a retelling of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty (y'all know how I love retellings!) and I am going to buy it on its own so I, too, can have the illustrations.
• "Feminine Endings" - This one was not one of my favorites but the title is, hands down, one of the most perfect titles I have ever come across. It actually enhanced the story for me, which I do not think has ever happened.

I fully admit that this book will not appeal to everyone, but if you are looking for something out of your comfort zone or just something different, then you should give it a try. 

Memorable Quotes:

"What we read as adults should be read, I think, with no warnings or alerts beyond, perhaps: enter at your own risk. We need to find out what fiction is, what it means, to us, an experience that is going to be unlike anyone else’s experience of the story."

“Better to have flamed in the darkness, to have inspired others, to have lived, than to have sat in the darkness, cursing the people who borrowed, but did not return, your candle.”

“In my family ‘adventure’ tends to be used to mean ‘any minor disaster we survived’ or even ‘any break from routine’. Except by my mother, who still uses it to mean ‘what she did that morning’. Going to the wrong part of a supermarket car park and, while looking for her car, getting into a conversation with someone whose sister, it turns out, she knew in the 1970s would qualify, for my mother, as a full-blown adventure.”

Top Ten Authors Jenny Would Like to Meet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is top ten authors you would like to meet. The timing of this topic is funny because Lesley Anne and I just went to a book signing/author interview with Sarah J. Maas. It was the first time I have done something like that and it was really enjoyable (of course there is a blog post to come). I will not get into literary theory and the postmodern view of the "author" - I can see all the relieved looks on your faces now - but suffice to say that I believe learning about an author is beneficial for a reader. (Which is why I am not a postmodern scholar!) As the lovely ladies at the Broke and the Bookish did not say whether the author had to be alive or not, my list is full of dead people. They are even more intriguing, to me, because of all the stuff we will never have the opportunity to know/ask.

P.S. - I will probably start asking everyone I see this question from now on. I really like it. Get ready if you have the dubious pleasure of being in my presence for more than 5 minutes.

1. The Beowulf scribes/poets. Like y'all didn't see that one coming. I have SO MANY QUESTIONS. My thesis ended up being 75 pages of me trying to answer one question I have. As they were most likely monks, I am hoping to corner them in Heaven one day.

2. J.R.R. Tolkien. I would love to sit down and just listen to him talk about Old English and Old Norse literature. The essays he has written on different pieces of literature are so insightful it is as if he were able to become part of whatever culture he was writing about for a short while, so well did he understand the mindset.

3. C.S. Lewis. I do not know if I would actually be able to form coherent sentences if I were able to meet him, but just to get a peak into his mind, in person, would be amazing.

4. Marie de France. No one is exactly sure who she is, but she wrote some of the most clever fables of the Middle Ages. Every time I read them I am struck by something new I had not noticed before. If I were an author I would want a style like hers.

5. Neil Gaiman. The way this man's mind works is fascinating. I feel that any conversation with him, be it about books or not, would be enlightening, entertaining, mind-blowing, and enjoyable. (Wow, that is a lot of pressure I just put on him. I firmly believe he is up to the task, though.)

6. Deborah Harkness. She is a scholar and an author and I so admire how she is able to make her books smart and readable. She does not sacrifice realities of history for the sake of plot. I am dying to know what she is going to write next, now that she is done with her All Souls Trilogy.

7. Desiderius Erasmus. If you do not know who this is, google him. He was one of those people that the made the world a poor place when he died. His work, The Praise of Folly, is what every modern satire aspires to.

8. Ovid. This one is weird, I know, but he was such an interesting character. All we have of him, really, is his own works. I would love to know the man behind the pen... quill... whatever.

9. G. K. Chesterton. Talk about some astute social commentary. He saw the world in such a clear way, much clearer than most of us. Check out his thoughts on Jesus's mirth and then think on that for a while.

10. Elizabeth Kostova. She has only written two books and I want to know WHY. Her stories and her way with words are the best. The creativity, depth, and settings of her books draw you in and do not let you go. I want to talk to her about travel and why she needs to write at least one book every two years.

Top Ten Books on Jenny's Spring TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is books on our Spring To-Be-Read list. Pretty straight forward and an easy topic as my TBR list is always overflowing. These books are not in any particular order other than the fact that they are highest on my list.

1. Shadow Scale | Rachel Hartman
2. The Praise of Folly | Erasmus
3. All the Light We Cannot See | Anthony Doerr
4. The Cloud of Unknowing | Anonymous
5. Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald | Therese Anne Fowler
6. Prudence | Gail Carriger
7. The Gracekeepers | Kirsty Logan
8. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch | Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
9. Antigone | Sophocles
10. The Canterbury Tales | Chaucer

Jenny Reviews: American Gods

The Vitals

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Release Date: 19 June 2001

Page Count: 541 (in the edition I read, which included extra stuff not found in the original)

Genre: Hard to say, exactly. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery

Target Audience: Adult

Series: American Gods #1

Summary (From Goodreads)
Days before his release from prison, Shadow's wife, Laura, dies in a mysterious car crash. Numbly, he makes his way back home. On the plane, he encounters the enigmatic Mr. Wednesday, who claims to be a refugee from a distant war, a former god and the king of America.

Together they embark on a profoundly strange journey across the heart of the USA, whilst all around them a storm of preternatural and epic proportions threatens to break.

Notes on American Gods
Oh. My. Gosh. Why I have I not read this book before? I am almost mad that I am just now reading it. This is everything I love in a book- mystery, mythology, beautiful prose, plot twists, and unforgettable characters. It is really a genre-defying book. It has won several major awards in the science fiction/fantasy world and a horror award. Don't let that scare you away- I don't like horror myself. I feel that there is no way for me to possibly convey to you, faithful reader, how much I love this book in a coherent manner. There is too much to talk about in one blog post. Go read it for yourself and then try to describe why you love it. I personally think magic is involved somehow.

Memorable Quotes
“What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore it knows it's not fooling a soul.”

“All your questions can be answered, if that is what you want. But once you learn your answers, you can never unlearn them.”

“Fiction allows us to slide into these other heads, these other places, and look out through other eyes. And then in the tale we stop before we die, or we die vicariously and unharmed, and in the world beyond the tale we turn the page or close the book, and we resume our lives.”

Overall Diagnosis

  

*Disclaimer*

This book is what Lesley Anne calls literary fiction. I call it a reader's book (can you tell she did lots of P.R. work in her degree?). It is not fast-paced and has some weird scenes in it. I do not want you to think you are reading the next Divergent or, heaven forbid, 50 Shades of Grey. It is a book for thinkers and Gaiman spends a lot of time setting up scenes and giving readers food for thought. It will take you a bit to put the pieces together because he does not spoon feed you. Just wanted to let you know so you don't go into it thinking it is a beach read... though it was my beach read and I loved every minute of it!