Cover to Cover

‘The Lost Symbol’

Written by Jenni on August 6th, 2010

cover_the_lost_symbol By: Dan Brown
Year: 2009
Genre: Mystery

Find this book at Amazon.com

Ahh… Dan Brown. If you have ever read any of his books, you know that he is smarter than you and that he is always right. Brown knows everything about American history, Catholicism, the Bible and the Masons. What do you know? Yeah, not much and Brown wants to make sure you know that. Just incase you didn’t feel inferior while reading his novels, take a gander at the smug expression in his jacket photo. You’ll realize it’s true that Brown knows more than you.

In this book, we find hero Robert Langdon rushed to Washington, D.C. for an emergency speaking engagement. He is supposed to speak to a group at the Capitol building but is stopped short by a phone call and mysterious severed hand. We are taken on a fantastical romp through the hidden world of our nation’s capitol, stone masons and, of course, Christianity. Oh, yeah, I have you chomping at the bit, dying to know the plot of the book, right? Well, let me just let you down quickly: This was a stupid book.

The plot was so convoluted that I’m still not sure what it was about. Apparently some nutjob wants to bring down the entire United States government unless he uncovers some great, earth-shattering revelation in stone masonry all at the expense of destroying the life of the director of the Smithsonian who played a role in this nutjob’s life. Oh, and the Smithsonian director’s sister has found out the truth about God and that nutjob wants her dead and her research destroyed.

I read this book despite the fact that Brown 1) has an obvious agenda and 2) is a terrible writer. I truly believe the only reason he is so popular is that people love hidden messages and love hearing that our faith has secrets that have been kept from the common masses. His stuff is fiction and as far as I can tell his “facts” only share one side of a story where there are compelling facts to the contrary (want some fun? Head over to a seminary and say, “That Dan Brown! What a fantastic author who presents honest and actual facts about the bible and Christianity.”).

Let me tell you what I came out of this book with:

Dan Brown hates Catholicism. Of course this was obvious from “The DaVinci Code.” As much “knowledge” that he claims to have about the bible, he really just knows what’s popular conspiracy theory, not biblical fact. He also does what really ticks me off: Catholics are Christians. He hates Catholics. So he hates all Christians. Considering that he is—with “incontrovertible” proof—able to deny the existence of God, I don’t think he looks to favorably on any one who does believe.
I want to visit Washington, D.C. I’ve never been there and have always wanted to visit. Through Langdon’s late-night travels through D.C. and the semi-historical facts behind the buildings, I want to visit the city more than ever. As I was reading this paperweight, I kept looking up facts online and really want to see this amazing city.
Dan Brown can’t write. Really. His solution for sharing past events? To have the person pause dramatically and remember the event or person. It was entertaining to visualize these scenes and the dramatic pauses that must have totally disrupted any conversation. Real people don’t talk or act like that. Brown doesn’t understand how people talk or interact with each other. He doesn’t understand how a good story is built.
Dan Brown’s books don’t sell because they’re factual. They sell because they’re sensational and people love a good conspiracy.

So, I thought this was a stupid book. I gave it a low rating. Know what? I’ll probably read more of his junk. I believe I’ve read all of his books. They’re entertaining enough. I’ve noticed he has become more pompous, though, and that makes each successive book less entertaining and more stupid. We’ll see what he offers up in the future.

My rating: 2 out of 5 stars

Posted in 2 Stars, Mystery, Review | 1 Response »

‘To Kill a Mockingbird’

Written by Jenni on July 28th, 2010

Mockingbird By: Harper Lee
Year: 1960
Genre: Fiction

Find this book on Amazon.com

Sometimes you read a book when you’re younger and it’s one of the best books ever. You spend several (okay, several several) years telling people that it is one of the best books of all time. Then you decide to read the book again. What? How could that book you loved not really be that good?

“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee is not that book.

After so many years, this book is better than I remember. “To Kill a Mockingbird” takes place over several years in the South during the early 1930s. The story is told from the point-of-view of Scout, the daughter of the town lawyer. We follow Scout through the first day of school, summers playing with her brother Jem and neighbor Dil, town relations, a rabid dog, trying to get a view of mysterious neighbor “Boo” and, of course, racism.

The turning point in this book is just over half-way through the novel. Scout’s father, Atticus Finch (who she refers to by his first name, not “dad” or “father”), has been selected as the public defender of a young black man accused of raping a poor white woman. This is a sensational trial and Atticus defends the young man to the best of his ability. Lee is very good at making sure we see the entire story through Scout’s eyes. When Scout is asked to leave the courtroom during the trial, readers never know what happened during that time. It’s refreshing to read a first-person novel that is truly first person, not first person with the all-knowing-story-filler additions.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is really divided into three sections: Life before the trial, life during the trial and life after the trial. Things are so much different in town before and after the trial and we witness Scout’s changing understanding of the world through this event. She is forced to grow up in ways that aren’t always explained to her.

According to my internet searching on this book, Harper Lee wrote the character of Atticus loosely based on her own father. As an adult reading this story, I realize this book is a love letter to Lee’s father. The rape trial is the center (and turning point) of the story, but it doesn’t come until well after the halfway-mark of the novel. Prior to that, Lee shares with us a series of seemingly-unrelated events in Scout’s life. I now realize those stories are not unrelated or unimportant. They are instead creating an image of Atticus Finch as an honorable and honest lawyer who happens to be a single father of two very intelligent children. We need to know what kind of person Atticus is before he is assigned the rape case and we need to know what kind of person he is as he and his children live in the aftermath of the verdict. Atticus Finch is truly a hero.

This book is part of my summer reading list (here). Fifty years after it’s publication, “To Kill a Mockingbird” is still on the challenged book list of local libraries today. Why? According to the American Library Association, this book is challenged because of language and racism. Of course it has racism … that’s what this book is about. It is a difficult book to read and not one that I will probably hand to my 10-year-old daughters. But I hope my ninth-grade-son reads it (sooner rather than later). We should be made uncomfortable by aspects of this country’s history. And we should be asked to consider how much different things really are now.

Since getting my library card, I’ve been very stingy on how I spend my money on books. This is one that I will be purchasing and one that I will not be waiting so many years between readings.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars (Excuse me, but why are you still reading this and not getting this book right now?)

Posted in 5 Stars, Fiction, Review | No Responses »

‘Handbags and Homicide’

Written by Jenni on July 24th, 2010

0758243227_0758243227 By: Dorothy Howell
Year: 2008
Genre: Mystery

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Haley Randolph is in debt. She is addicted to designer handbags and has no impulse control. When she sees a bag, she must buy that bag (and we’re not talking $200 Coach bags). Because of her addiction, Haley has had to take a second job working at a local department store chain. She hates her job. She hates the people she works for and… what?!? Someone is killed on her shift and Haley finds the body as she slacking off in the back room. On top of that, Haley is on leave (read: fired) from her day job at a law firm. All-in-all, Haley’s life is a mess. Add to these two mysteries a handsome man who turns out to be very rich and powerful, a mother who is very rich and trying out a new career-of-the-month and a friend who may not be what he seems to be (plus Haley’s own unbelievable narcissism and debilitating debt) and we have a pretty standard murder-mystery.

Haley stumbles through this novel. She doesn’t really care about anything but how to buy her next handbag, though there are glimmers through the novel that Haley does care about some people in her lives and is interested in their well-being… well, as it has to do with fashion. I was really surprised that she was even able to solve not just one, but two mysteries. She just doesn’t seem that observant. Haley is considered a suspect in both mysteries and knows that things will get better if only she can clear her name. I’d like to write more about the plot, dissect it like I try to do… but really, this is a very fluffy book. It’s an easy read. There isn’t an investment in the characters or their plight. I personally didn’t care too much for Haley and have no idea why the love interest in this book is interested in her (come on, you had to know there was going to be a love interest. I bet you also know that he and Haley don’t get along for most of the book and their relationship “grows” despite stupid miscommunication).

“Handbags and Homicide” is a good summer book. It’s cute, it’s distracting, it’s easy to read. Yes, the main character is whiney and selfish but I gotta admit, she thinks the things we probably all do at times (maybe even more than we’d like to admit). Generally I’m not a huge fan of “chick lit” because I think so often it’s insulting to women (apparently we’re stupid and just looking for love in that perfect way that doesn’t happen in real life) and men (they’re just there for looks). I’ve tried a couple of chick lit books this summer and had to return them after just a couple chapters. This isn’t much better, but it has no deeper meanings. There is no pretending Haley is deeper than she is. She is exactly as shallow as she appears. For a chick lit novel, that’s refreshing.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Posted in 3 Stars, Mystery, Review | No Responses »

Libraries+Old Spice guy=Awesome

Written by Jenni on July 14th, 2010

Okay, so you know I love libraries, but did you now that I also love the Old Spice commercials? I do. Apparently the Old Spice guy is doing call-out YouTube videos based on Twitter requests. Here is the Best. Video. EVER!

Go ahead. Watch it again.

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‘The Forest of Hands and Teeth’

Written by Jenni on July 10th, 2010

The_Forest_of_Hands_and_Teeth_pb_cover By: Carrie Ryan
Year: 2009
Genre: Teen

Find this book on Amazon.com

It’s pretty clear early on what this novel is: a post-apocalyptic zombie book aimed at teens. Mary is living in a small village surrounded by tall, chain-link fences. And zombies. Well, “Unconsecrated” as they’re called in this book. Once a year they have marriage ceremonies for those few young people who get married. Mary’s “true love” is marrying another and no one seems interested in her. Right away, Mary’s mother is bitten by a zombie and sent into the “Forest of Hands and Teeth” (you know, because aside from trees, there are biting and scratching zombies). She is sent there because Mary can’t stand to have her mother killed. This action causes Mary’s brother to disown her, making her homeless so she must go live with the “Sisters” who run the village. Much goes on quickly: Mary sees a woman arrive from the forest who is not a zombie. Mary talks to this woman, Gabrielle, through paper-thin walls and learns she is from another village and that the ocean (which Mary has only heard of through her mother’s stories) is real. Eventually, we see that Gabrielle was somehow turned into a zombie. The reason why and the explanation of how are never addressed though we’re lead to believe it was the Sisterhood for some reason. Gabrielle is a lightening-fast and extra-vicious zombie and eventually breaks through the fence. Without giving too much away, Mary and her companions escape through a system of gates which keeps them safe from the Unconsecrated. The book is the story of her experiences.

It is here that I have to admit something: I didn’t like Mary. She is self-absorbed and selfish. Her quest to find the ocean directly leads to the death and injury of friends and family. Mary keeps to herself important information. This obsessive secret-keeping leads to many of the problems in her life. She is passionately in love with a boy from afar. While we are led to believe they were friends as children (it is a very small village), Mary doesn’t appear to know anything about him. She is in love with an ideal and a LOT of pain comes from that idealized love. It is written from Mary’s point of view. Since she is a loner, there are not many conversations to fill the book. It really is everything as Mary sees it.

This book is labeled “teen” but that seems to be a distinction only by the publisher. There really isn’t an indication of Mary’s age. I assumed she was in her late teens while a friend thought she was 16. Neither of us have any real foundation for those ages. This book is easy to read though some parts are pretty graphic. I guess that makes it a teen novel.

This is the first book in a series, but I have no desire to read the rest of the books. While the story was interesting enough for me to want to finish it, I don’t care what happens to the characters or Mary’s family (there was an excerpt of the next book in the copy I had. It is told from the point-of-view of Mary’s daughter, so she must have found some happiness). This is not a new story nor is is the best re-telling of an old, “heard it before” story. There is no depth to any of the characters, there is no growth, there is no learning or evolution. The way Mary is at the beginning of the book is the way Mary is in the middle of the book is the way Mary is at the end of the book.

I may be alone in my review of this book (though not really because of the reviews on Amazon, 13 people only gave it one star). If you check out the link above to Amazon, there is an “Amazon Exclusive” review of the book plus an interview with the author. Reviewer Scott Westerfeld obviously loved this book and found much more depth than I did. According to the review, this novel tells of the teen plight against authority and traditional roles that stifle American youth of today. I have to say, reading Westerfeld’s review made me want to love this book. I would have loved the book he described. Instead I think author Ryan gives us an old story in an old format with an unlikable character. She also made backhanded stabs at organized religion that I find insulting and all-too-common in today’s society.

This wasn’t a terrible book. It was interesting and written well enough. I just didn’t like Mary and I didn’t care what happened to her. I’ve read better teen books and much better zombie books.

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars (because really, I’ve read worse)

Posted in 3 Stars, Review, Teen | No Responses »

Return on Investment

Written by Jenni on June 30th, 2010

If you follow my blog at all, you know I started writing to keep track of books I read with my brand-new library card. All of my life I’ve loved books and I’ve loved libraries almost as long. I remember going to the downtown library as a little girl and hearing “I don’t know why she swallowed a fly” read out loud. When I was old enough for my mom to let me bike where ever I wanted, my #1 destination was the neighborhood library. I remember sitting in that tiny, little library—in the far back corner where the children’s section was—and picking through books to take home. When I was in junior high, I was allowed to “work” in the school library where I was excited to be allowed in the “back room.” In high school, as I had free periods in my schedule, I again worked in the school library mostly repairing damaged books and getting new books ready to be added to the system. When I was in college, I spent hours in a neighboring college’s library because it was huge and had stacks to wander through. Even today, when I get a chance to wander through the cramped stacks at Luther Seminary’s library, I do so.

I love the smell and feel of books. I wander through shelves with no particular book in mind. Looking at the interesting titles, being drawn to the jacket design. Hearing the creak as a hardcover book is opened for the first time. Reading something new. And in this economy where I don’t have the funds to buy new and different books, the library offers me the opportunity to read something I might otherwise never pick up.

I’m in love with my local library system. Hennepin County has an amazing Web site. It tracks what I’ve read. It allows me to search it’s entire collection and request a book be sent to my neighborhood library from anywhere in the county. I have a list of “wanna read” books just waiting for me to move to the request list. I can renew online. I can even ask a question of a librarian through e-mail or via instant messaging (of which I’ve done both and they are nice and helpful).

So today it was with interest that I read a link (from my favorite author’s Twitter feed) that began,

“For every $1 spent on the library, a community sees an average of $4 in return” (Find that page here)

WOW. That is an amazing ROI (return on investment). I don’t know too many businesses that can wave numbers like that around. You have to watch statistics found online (and I have no idea where that information is really from) but even if it’s not that big of an ROI, numbers like that should stop and make every resident think. While I adore the library for it’s books, the library is more than that. You can get business information. You can use computers. You can take classes, meet authors and hear books read out loud.

It made me a little sad to find out today that I missed Library Advocacy Day: A day dedicated to telling our government how important our local libraries are (which in case you didn’t get, I believe 200 percent). Thankfully, there is a second chance to participate: Virtual Library Advocacy Day! According to the site,

By calling and/or e-mailing your elected officials in Washington and asking them to vote for libraries, you can make a difference. Just five minutes of your time will help support and strengthen the efforts of the library supporters in Washington rallying on June 29. If you cannot call or e-mail your elected official on June 29, please do so sometime between June 28-July 2.

That’s what I’m doing tonight. How about you?

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‘The Earth, My Butt and Other Big Round Things’

Written by Jenni on June 25th, 2010

The earth By: Carolyn Mackler
Year: 2003
Genre: Teen

Find this book on Amazon.com

Virginia has successful, athletic parents. She has successful, athletic siblings (an older sister and an older brother). They’re all successful. They are all educated. It’s not uncommon for the family to speak only in French around the dinner table. By contrast, Virginia is 15, overweight and while she is a great student, Virginia can’t speak French to save her life. Add to that a best friend who has moved away for the year, a mother who is embarrassed about her weigh and a girl in the school who would rather be dead than weigh as much as Virginia, and you have a young woman who binge eats and self-mutilate.

This was the first book I read on my summer reading list. This was one of the top “challenged” books in libraries for 2009 because it’s sexually explicit and for language (among other reasons). Of all the things that happen in this book, language and sexually explicit story lines are not the first I would have ever answered to the question, “Why shouldn’t kids read this book?”.

The story is told in first person. Readers are taken along as Virginia deals with with a mother who is so ashamed of her own overweight childhood that she acts and speaks to her overweight daughter in ways that are devistating to a 15-year-old psyche. She has a father who says those words every overweight girl has heard (and which has killed every one of them a little each time it’s said), “You would be so pretty if you lost a little weight.” Her sister has moved out (and across the world) and her brother is the Big Man On Campus in a nearby college. While they had been close, Virginia’s brother doesn’t have time for her any more. Eventually everything comes crashing down as Virginia’s brother makes a choice that shakes the whole family and leaves his own future uncertain. Her parents treat this as a little bump in the road, though, and not the tragic event it really is. This doesn’t leave any room for Virginia to process everything and heal. She doesn’t have any friends at school. She doesn’t have any friends at home. She kind of has a boyfriend, but she keeps him at arm’s length because Virginia is sure he wants nothing to do with an overweight girl. Slowly, we see Virginia take control of her life the only way she can: Through not eating (if she was thin, Virginia believes, she would be loved by her family and liked by her friends) and self-injury (like burning her hand on a candle and pinching the fat on her body until she is black and blue from head-to-toe).

So, if you asked me why shouldn’t kids read this book, my answer would be a resounding, “They should read this book if they’re over 13.” Shielding teens from books like this doesn’t stop kids from feeling the way Virginia feels in this book. Keeping this book off the shelves in the library isn’t going to stop kids from wondering about kissing a boy. It isn’t going to stop girls from eating disorders. It isn’t going to stop kids from feeling alone in their own families. Parents of teenage girls probably should also read this book. If school has taught me nothing else, it has taught me that the teen years are not like they were when I was a kid. This book may be fiction, but really, it’s not.

Obviously I would recommend this book, not just to teens, but their parents as well. Aside from the topic, this is also a well-written narrative. Mackler writes to a teen audience, but she doesn’t talk down to them. The topic is serious, but this could be a great jumping-off point for conversations with your teen. I hope you find a reason to read this “challenged” book!

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Posted in 4 Stars, Fiction, Review, Teen | No Responses »

A librarian’s letter

Written by Jenni on June 14th, 2010

I just found this blog entry a few days ago. Though it is from 2008, I have to share it. This librarian wrote a letter to a patron who challenged a book’s inclusion in the children’s section. The librarian replied in a respectful way that I wish all people discussing difficult issues would use. While there is no question on where the librarian stands on the book’s inclusion in the children’s section, there is no demeaning language in his reply. In fact, the librarian is appreciate of the patron’s request and her belief system.

One of my favorite parts is towards the end where this librarian writes,

I fully appreciate that you, and some of your friends, strongly disagree with its viewpoint. But if the library is doing its job, there are lots of books in our collection that people won’t agree with; there are certainly many that I object to. Library collections don’t imply endorsement; they imply access to the many different ideas of our culture, which is precisely our purpose in public life.

AMEN! Take a moment to read how controversy discussion should happen. Librarians rule!

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‘Alice in Wonderland’

Written by Jenni on June 11th, 2010

cover By: Lewis Carroll
Year: 1865
Genre: Children

Find this book at Amazon.com

It’s hard to not know this story. I grew up watching the Walt Disney movie of “Alice in Wonderland” (1951). Alice is charming, the Cheshire Cat iconic and the music memorable. With the new release of “Alice in Wonderland” (with Johnny Depp), I figured it was time to read the original book to see these characters in their real environment.

Here is what I came away with: Alice is kind of a snot and this is a really creative story with no real thread of a plot. Alice is sitting next to her sister on a hot sumer day. As with most tellings of the story, Alice becomes bored, sees a white rabbit and begins to follow him, eventually following him right down a rabbit hole. It’s difficult to summarize this book because there isn’t a traditional plot (hero, problem, solution, ending). Alice falls down the rabbit hole, finds a room of locked doors and proceeds to drink potions which maker her larger and smaller until she is the size she needs to be to get through the door… drifting on her own tears along with a room full of other animals we didn’t see before. They tell Alice strange stories and she begins to wanter through Wonderland peeking into the lives of it’s inhabitants. That is what this story is about: peeking into the strange world that is Wonderland. Alice slips into and out of these lives barely observed though treated as a participant in their weird lives.

We are introduced to the characters who have become familiar: Tweedledum and Tweedledee, Cheshire Cat, the King and Queen of Hearts, the caterpillar and the Mad Hatter. The activities of these characters are familiar, but different. Modern story-telling has captured the basics of the story but to grasp how truly absurd the world Alice is visiting, the book should be read. Despite it’s age, the story is still fresh and fun. There are words and poems that would be unfamiliar to my own kids, but not so much that I believe they wouldn’t enjoy reading this story.

I find interesting the wealth of writing, theorizing and media that has been created about “Alice in Wonderland.” The edition of the book I have—which includes the sequel, “Through the Looking Glass”—contains a lengthy introduction (and shorter endnotes and information at the end). As someone who has her BA in English and has spent a LOT of time trying to find the author’s deeper meanings (as I work toward my MA, I have to do the same thing but with the Bible. They call that exegesis), I spend a lot of time reading and not looking for the deeper meaning in my fiction. On the surface, this seems like a fun story an author created for a little girl over the summer (which is what it is according to the introduction) which makes it difficult to see where the deeper meaning is in this story. Sometimes I wonder if those really smart educated folk are putting meaning where there isn’t any.

You should read this anyway—and read this for what it is: a fun, weird, easy-to-read book

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Posted in 4 Stars, Biography, Children, Review | No Responses »

‘Drops Like Stars: A Few Thoughts on Creativity and Suffering’

Written by Jenni on June 8th, 2010

drops-like-stars By: Rob Bell
Genre: Religion & Spirituality
Year: 2009

Find this book at Amazon.com

I’m new to the world of Rob Bell. He is a Christian speaker, pastor, author and creator of a video series called “NOOMA.” I’ve watched a couple of his videos (I’d watch more but I don’t have easy access to them) and have found them moving and thought-provoking. Bell is such a popular author that it’s difficult to get his books from the library.

I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. I didn’t expect a picture book that took me 15 minutes to read. It’s starts out unexpectedly: There is no copyright information, there is no introduction. There is just the title pages followed by, “I know a man who has two sons.” From there, Bell begins to tell the story about suffering in this world through short sentences, stories and images.

You see, suffering causes us to take a look at the world around us. Writes Bell, “It compels us to eliminate the unnecessary, the trivial, the superficial.” Our life is full of problems and pain. From that pain we find creativity. We find community. We find Christ.

I really like Bell’s writing (and speaking) style. It’s quiet. He is a great storyteller and brings a sense of calm to this crazy, noisy world. This book is no different. Reading this book, it really did bring a sense of quiet (I was waiting for my son’s bus while reading this) to my always-anxious mind.

This isn’t a new theology to me (finding God in relationships and through suffering) and I personally would rather read something more expansive on the topic (heavy-duty stuff like Dietrich Bonhoeffer or more user-friendly stuff like Andrew Root a professor at Luther Seminary). This is a great introduction, but I would hope the reader would want to dig deeper into these concepts.

This is also an expensive picture book without the glossy paper. Published by Zondervan, the cover price on this book is $34.99. It’s an oversized, full-color book but is not printed on glossy paper. This book doesn’t feel worth $35, although the photography and layout are beautiful. (Oh, and the copyright information, introduction, table of contents and such are at the end of the book. How very artsy.)

I would like to own this book. It is a simple and elegant introduction to suffering in this world. I enjoy Bell’s voice. But I would not purchase this book new and at full-price. I believe in supporting authors but this seems a little like a vanity project the author is expecting me to pay for. Because of the lower perceived quality for cost, I’m lowering my rating.

My rating: 3 out of 4 stars

Posted in Religion & Spirituality, Review | No Responses »

...A glimpse into the books I read