H00t #25 The Book Thief

I am pleased to report that I have finally finished reading The Book Thief.

Firstly, can I say that Markus Zusak is lovely, cute and funny. I loved hearing him talk about writing at the Fremantle Children's Literature Centre last year.

So, I WANTED to like this book. I know that MANY people love it and much has been written about it, so I'm going to be brief in explaining why I don't.

• The narrative point of view, while original, didn't really do much for me. I found the foreshadowing unnecessary and disruptive.
• This was a LONG book which needed editing. Apparently it started out as a novella but ended up at 584 pages!
  
• While I loved some of the characters, Rudy and Max, I struggled with Liesel. I'm not really sure why.
  
• Another book on the holocaust? Really?
  
• The colour of the sky- WAY too many times.

So, opening myself up for all sorts of derision here, what was it about The Book Thief that you loved? I'd really like to know because I start teaching it in a little over a week :)

Until then, happy tales,

Barking Owl

Quick update

It's nearly been a month without posting, and the last one was a cop out post. I blame the world of work...

So I've been reading quite a lot, just not teen fiction. Unless you count The Book Thief beloved of many, I'm just not one of them... I'm not sure what the block is with this one, but I'll have to suck it up because I start teaching it in about a fortnight. I think it needed editing down to about a third of its size.

I've also read the latest Alexander McCall Smith The Double Comfort Safari Club which was lovely, as usual.

And Lolita which was disturbing and beautiful all at the same time.

And Ian McEwan's Solar which I really loved. A lot of the negative reviews you might be reading miss the satire, in my humble opinion.

So, there's a quick round up. I have The Ask And The Answer waiting for me, and this book promo has me wanting to get into this series too:

nature sounds site

Someone called Andris found my humble little blog and would like me to promote his website.

I've had a go and it looks legit. The sheep sounds cracked me up. Only a Kiwi might find listening to them relaxing!

He says:

Sometimes it is hard to read if surrounding environment is noisy. In such situations it helps to use earphones and listen to some kind of white noise. It is known that sounds of nature work better as white noise comparing to music because of its two factors:
* lyrics which tend to distract thoughts
* varying volume of music which makes white noise either too quiet or too loud.

So I have made a free tool http://www.naturesoundsfor.me with which you can create a composition of nature sounds, save it in WAV file and listen to it via portable audio player for example when reading in public transport or while waiting in a doctor's office.

http://www.naturesoundsfor.me

Give it a burl, or not :)

Book Hoot #24 The Knife Of Never Letting Go

Todd Hewitt is the last boy in a town of men. Prentisstown is a new settlement on a planet where because of a virus everyone can hear everyone elses thoughts and all the women have died. When Todd and his talking dog Manchee (you can hear the thoughts of every living thing in this world) stumble across some 'quiet' while out looking for apples, his world begins to change. He has discovered a girl.

The Knife Of Never Letting Go is the first in the Chaos Walking trilogy and it is an amazing beginning. I haven't been gripped by a book like this since Hunger Games. Apparently the Chicago Tribune labelled the novel as “a read-alone, stay-up-way-too-late book.” It is brimming with suspense and tension. There are moments of humour and tenderness also. Todd's relationship with Manchee in particular is lovely.

The noise is metaphorical, of course, of how many distractions there are in our everyday, how difficult it can be to stay focused and remember what's important. Todd repeats his name to himself, reminds himself of how close he is to his 13th birthday and sings a song from childhood all to block out the noise. How rare, but how important it is to find those pockets of silence and peace.

Viola, the girl with quiet from the swamp, turns out to be far from the damsel in distress. In fact she saves Todd a few times in their flight from Prentisstown. Quite the kick ass heroine!

I think if you like suspense, action packed reads, you'll like this one. The ending is open, of course because of the whole trilogy thing, but the good news is that part two is in the stores! I'm off to buy number two tomorrow!

Happy tales,

Barking Owl

Book H00t #23 The Girl Who Fell From The Sky

This novel has won the Bellwether Prize (an award for literary fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships) but it doesn't read like a 'worthy' book. And by the way, what a great cover illustration.

I enjoyed Rachel's story. She is the sole survivor of a fall which claims her mother, brother and baby sister. How and why they fell from a rooftop is the spine of the narrative. Rachel's father, an African American GI, and her Norweigan mother's relationship is complicated by alcohol abuse. So there are issues of racial identity on top of having to come to terms with the accident and the expected trials of adolescence.

Adding more layers to the narrative are two more viewpoints; one from a boy who witnesses the fall, the other from a co-worker of Nella (Rachel's mother). We also have brief, probably too brief, comments from Nella's journal. Rachel comes to live with her grandmother, and there are a lot of humourous moments to relieve some of the tension. The story resolves sentimentally with readers wanting more from what is quite a brief novel.

Happy reading, happy tales,

Barking Owl

Book Hoot # 22 When The Hipchicks Went To War

When I picked this up, I was sceptical. How could a 16 year old find herself performing for the troops in Vietnam? But, I went along for the ride. And I was really glad that I did because when you get to the author's notes at the end, you realise that not only was it possible, that it did happen.

This is a well researched and tightly written narrative by Pamela Rushby which sensitively explores issues surrounding the Vietnam war.

Kathy is ready to leave school- but the possibilities open in the 60s are limited. She is frustrated setting perms at the local salon, her friends are heading in different directions and she dreams of breaking free from her insular town. The first step is a job as a go-go dancer, but the real opportunity comes in an audition to entertain the troops in Vietnam. So Kathy flys off with two other girls who make up The Hipchicks. They come back to earth awfully quickly.

As well as looking at this fascinating period in history, there are other themes that the novel touches on: what happens when your best friend is protesting against conscription and you're essentially earning a living from war, the tricky relationship between mothers and daughters and all the drama of first romances.

A very satisfying read, recommended for 14-16 year olds.

Happy tales,

Barking Owl

Book Hoot #21 Eating Animals

Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals is certainly a difficult read for those of us who do, eat animals that is. There are some passages that I flicked over, I just couldn't have those images in my head before sleeping, but there are also some enjoyable moments here too. I find Foer's writing so clever and emotive and insightful.

While this is a book written by a vegetarian, its not a polemic. Foer moves through the unacceptable factory farming practices used for fowl, cattle and pigs. After reading this, you will think again about what goes in your mouth.

The parts I enjoyed the most were the comments about traditions and the role that food on the table plays in these ceremonies. Foer asks us to consider if a tradition like Thanksgiving, for example, could be the same without the turkey. The kindness in the personal moments in this story act as a counterpoint to the cruelty in others.

So, this isn't an easy book to read, but if you love animals it's essential.

Happy tales,
Barking Owl