Different Class, by Joanne Harris

Posted on January 30, 2017 by Thistle

different-classRoy Straitley has been a St. Oswald’s teacher for over thirty years. He’s not easily ruffled, and he survived the events of the previous year. St. Oswald’s isn’t doing as well after those events, though, and there’s a new crisis team and headmaster come to help out. Change is never easy, but it’s made worse when the one initiating said change is a nightmare from Straitley’s past come back to haunt him. He’s not so sure he’ll survive this year the way he did the last.

I first heard about this book at Beth Fish Reads. Her brief description intrigued me because it sounded like it might be set in the same school and with the same teacher as one of my favorite books, Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris. A quick glance at GoodReads showed that indeed it was St. Oswald’s and Straitley in this book, and I put the book on hold at my local library at once. It came last week and I rushed through it. Then I read it through a second time more slowly.

The book alternates perspectives between Straitley, the dusty old Latin master, and a student diary from nearly 25 years before. Decades of history are explored – scandals within the school, accusations and mental illness, conflicts between progress and tradition, the trials of aging. Most of the present-day conflict in Different Class is quite relevant to today’s world – sexuality, bullying, the use of religion to push personal agenda. I don’t want to give any more details that might take away from reading the book, but I will say that Straitley, as a mid-60s old-style conservative school master, is a fascinating narrator in a world that is becoming more open and outspoken about subjects like homosexuality. He’s faced with things that he never even imagined through the course of his teaching career, and I adore the way he finds his stance in the classroom and in life.

A note on these being related books: Different Class takes place a year after Gentlemen and Players. Both books are standalone, just sharing a few characters and a setting in common. There’s apparently a third book set in the same town that I have yet to read. These books – at least the two I’ve read – can be read independently of each other, while also providing depth to this fictional little world. I will say that I’m anxious to revisit G&P in the near future! Also, only time can tell, but my initial impression is that I prefer G&P to this book. Of course, I didn’t expect G&P to become one of my favorites when I read it – it just sort of stayed with me – and maybe this will do the same. It didn’t quite live up to G&P, though. Having said that, it was still a marvelous book, and I think the biggest reasons for the difference in my mind has to do with my personal experience reading the book: reading it too fast; reading it in print instead of on audio**; diary entries never being my favorite form of writing; seeking out the misdirection rather than just going along for the ride. Again, time will tell. I look forward to having this one in my personal collection one day, and to many rereads to come.

**I really wanted to experience this on audio the way I did G&P the first time. However, when I search for the audio copy, I get redirected to an Audible page that tells me that the book is no longer available to me at this time. It was released in April last year, but I’ve been unable to find any information as to why it no longer exists.

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Sunday Coffee – Fight, Flight, Freeze

Posted on January 29, 2017 by Thistle

img_7361Not long after my sixteenth birthday, my mom moved us to a new house across town. My sophomore year wasn’t quite over, and it was a big upheaval that I dreaded. Part of moving in was to bring all our many pets to the new house. Among them were two dogs, one of which was a large mutt with lots of energy. Because I was the oldest, I had this dog on his leash. When we got out of the car, a chihuahua from across the street ran over to us, barking. I strained to pull my big dog away, until he suddenly stopped, ducked backwards out of his leash, and attacked the chihuahua. I have no idea how everyone else reacted. My reaction was immediate. I fell into a crouch, back to the scene, hands over my ears, eyes screwed tight. My mind blanked, and I could not move a muscle.

Freeze – the lesser known sibling of Fight and Flight, two well-known responses to sudden emergency situations. Jason is a fighter, completely at odds with his normal personality. When faced with a sudden emergency, he reacts with swift action before he even has time to think. I, on the other hand, react by freezing, often going immediately into a crouched semi-fetal position and my mind going blank. I’m absolutely no good when it comes to quick-thinking situations. (Even in non-life-threatening situations – like improv drills in theatre, or being faced with something unexpected and uncomfortable – I clam up and start tripping over myself, my vision going white and time slowing to a crawl.)

There doesn’t have to be an emergency, however, for this freeze reaction to come out. Sometimes, your body is under high stress for so long that the simplest things can be processed as emergency. Example: In early 2015, after going through eight months of daily hell that was only getting worse day by day, I was so incapacitated by anxiety and panic that it took all my effort to do something as simple as wipe a kitchen counter or walk out the front door to grab the mail. Once while in that state, Jason was shredding potatoes in our food processor. He used the butt of a knife to press the potato down – a common thing he did – and went too far, causing the blade of the processor to smack into the knife with a loud clang and some sparks. This would regularly cause me to jump, as any loud, unexpected noise might do. Instead, I screamed, fell into my crouch, and was unable to get up for almost half an hour.

five-of-wandsSo, Manda – what does this have to do with anything? Well, I’m no where near the state I was in two years ago, but I’m also not terribly healthy and strong, either. The last three years have been constant battles, never-ending, from all directions (see Five of Wands –>). I’ve had little chance to rest, much less recover. And over the last two months, I’ve reached the limit of what I can handle. The current political climate terrifies, angers, disgusts, depresses, and otherwise incapacitates me. There is just so much. Everything that man does makes me want to simultaneously scream and bury my head in the sand. I’ve watched as so many of you share news, speak out, read books, go marching, sign petitions, make phone calls, fight…and I can’t. I can’t bring myself to even read beyond the headlines most of the time. I can’t do anything. I’m so battle-weary right now that I’ve considered simply disappearing again to escape, as a child might pretend the world outside them doesn’t really exist.

And so, rather than being that child, I’ve instead turned inward. I won’t be posting – here or any other social media – about politics. I won’t get into arguments, debates, or even discussions with the like-minded. I’m avoiding the headlines and the articles and probably social media in general. I’ll post about books and wellness and stupid things like my internal debate on whether or not to shave my hair off. It’s not because I don’t care, because I do care, deeply, about the travesty that is happening in this country. It’s just that I’m not strong enough to fight, and when my strength is used up, I freeze.

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Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Thistle

half_the_sky_bookSubtitled: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

This book explores gender inequality around the world, focused primarily on sex trafficking, violence against women, and maternal mortality. It also discusses potential solutions and gives accounts of some successes and failures in attempts to provide aid in these areas.

Half the Sky was published in 2009, and in my early years of blogging, many of my fellow bloggers were reading and raving about it. I chose not to read it, partly because I struggle with nonfiction generally, and partly because I knew much of the content would be extremely difficult to handle personally. Indeed, I want to lay out from the beginning of this review, there are definite trigger warnings that need to be attached to this book. Half the Sky discusses rape, forced prostitution, abuse, genital mutilation, addiction, honor killings, and gruesome medication conditions/procedures. When I finally picked up the book, it was because I decided that the need to educate myself was greater than my fear. This was a personal decision and by no means am I saying that everyone should make it. For me, it was time – the current climate of our country put me over that edge – and though it took me several weeks, I’m glad to have learned what I could.

I’m honestly not sure how to write this review. The book covered so much material in so little time – a mere 252 pages on a huge swath of topics – that at times it almost felt like the authors were trying to stuff in too much! That’s a flaw I can forgive, though, because the material is so important and crucial, and we have too little focus on it in this part of the world. I admire the authors for their attempt to get the information out there. I do admit that I wish the book had been less biased in places. For example, at one point a footnote sets out to explain a discrepancy between an agency name and its acronym, but instead of just explaining it, it says, “The UN is so wretched at public relations that it can’t even match its abbreviations with its organizations.” Those kind of inflammatory statements undermine the reach of the book, and are especially unnecessary on a subject that is already so charged with emotion.

Still, I feel like despite these flaws, the book taught me much and gave me some ideas about things that I can do from my little part of the world.

Posted in 2017, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Top Ten Creature Characters

Posted on January 24, 2017 by Thistle

I’ll admit, I’m not usually a fan of talking animals and the like in books. However, some authors really think outside the norm and have made me fall in love with all sorts of creatures over the years. Here are some of my favorites:

patternPattern – a spren from Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. Generally the spren are interesting characters in this series, but Pattern is my absolute favorite at this point.

Taggle – the cat in Plain Kate by Erin Bow, who can talk for specific magic reasons, and who is brilliantly cynical.

Iko – an android in the Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Supposedly, Iko’s chip is faulty, causing her to behave unlike androids, but Cinder considers her more of a friend, with a distinct personality that has grown out of her life experiences. Iko remains constant whether she’s inhabiting the body of beautiful-woman-android or a spaceship.

skullThe Skull – a haunted talking skull in the Lockwood & Co series by Jonathan Stroud. Lucy, narrator of the series, is the only person who can communicate with this very rare kind of ghost, and the Skull is often irascible, rude, whiny, manipulative, and dangerous. Still, he’s saved her life a couple times, and I’m unaccountably fond of him.

Nightblood – a sentient sword in Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Nightblood was created to destroy evil, but has no concept of what evil is, and is quite a cheerful little destructive beast.

Wanderer – the alien creature living inside a human body in The Host by Stephanie Meyer. Because she lives in a human body, Wanderer (or Wanda) appears human in many ways, even in personality and thought, but is also distinctively her own species.

bovrilBovril – a perspicacious loris in the Leviathan series by Scott Westerfeld. He’s a bizarre created-in-a-lab creature with excellent wit that made me smile every time he started talking.

The Cat – an unnamed cat in Coraline by Neil Gaiman. In the regular world, the cat is just a stray cat on the properly. In the other world, he can speak, and acts as a mentor for Coraline.

TenSoon – a kandra from the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. I won’t talk about TenSoon’s role in these books as it would be major spoilers, but regardless, I completely fell in love with him!

Mirko – a rapion in Firstborn by Lorie Ann Grover. Rapion bond with their humans over a single year, growing into human size and eventually able to communicate both with gestures and telepathically. The connection is so intricate that if one half of the pair dies, the other will as well, as if the bond is something physical as well as emotional.

What are some of your favorite creature-characters?

topten

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.

 

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Sunday Coffee – Looking for a Book

Posted on January 22, 2017 by Thistle

img_7353Two weeks ago, a vague book plotline popped into my head. Ever since then, I’ve been trying to puzzle out what book it’s from. Unfortunately, the plotline in question is background to the book, taking place before the book began and only serving to affect the narrator’s psychology throughout the actual events of the novel. More unfortunately, I remember absolutely nothing about the main plot, except that it was a thriller or mystery of some kind. Honestly, I’m not even sure I read the entire book, or if I gave it up partway through, which would account for it not being including among my blog posts and GoodReads lists.

It’s really bugging me, though, so I thought I’d send a little plea of help out to the book world just in case any of you know what book I’m talking about. Here’s what I know. None of this is spoiler as it happens before the book begins and is revealed very early on:

The narrator is a woman who at one point in her life was a teacher or in some way employed by a high school. Some time before the book began, someone broke into her home, and she shot and killed him. Though charges weren’t filed and no one considers her at fault, she feels extremely guilty for shooting the intruder, and much of her current psychology is affected by the trauma of that night.

That’s the non-spoilery bit. More about that night is slowly revealed, though again, I’m not sure how long the book takes to reveal it as I’m not sure how far into the book I read. For all I know, the rest of this may not be spoiler at all. However, just in case it is, I’m going to white out the next two paragraphs. This is the rest of what I remember:

[highlight to read] The intruder was a former student at the school where the narrator worked. He wasn’t a good student and it’s possible he dropped out at one point. The narrator continues to let him use the band room to practice music. The kid is in a band and always talks about making it big in the music world, but the narrator internally observes that he’s a terrible musician and not really improving despite practice. At one point, she comes to the school at catches him stealing instruments (a drum set, I think) for one of his band’s performances. She gets angry. He tells her he was planning to return the equipment after the show, but she tells him she’s already putting her career in jeopardy by letting him practice in the school after hours when he’s no longer a student. In her anger, she tells him to grow up, stop whining, that he’ll never be a real magician because he has no talent. He goes blank, stops pleading, and leaves.

Years later, it’s that kid who has broken into her house. I don’t believe she recognizes him at first, but it turns out he has become a criminal, regularly breaking into houses. He didn’t pick her house at random. He tells her that she took away his dream with her words, and now he wants to do the same, and is going to kill her. She shoots him in self-defense, but in a sense, he does destroy her dream as well, because she believes she made him into the monster he became. [End spoiler.]

I know there’s only the slimmest chance that one of my readers might have also read and recognize this book, but I thought I’d put the plea out there anyway. Help?

Posted in Book Talk | Tagged | 11 Comments

Sorcerer to the Crown, by Zen Cho (audio)

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Thistle

sorcererFrom GoodReads: At his wit’s end, Zacharias Wythe, freed slave, eminently proficient magician, and Sorcerer Royal of the Unnatural Philosophers—one of the most respected organizations throughout all of Britain—ventures to the border of Fairyland to discover why England’s magical stocks are drying up. 

But when his adventure brings him in contact with a most unusual comrade, a woman with immense power and an unfathomable gift, he sets on a path which will alter the nature of sorcery in all of Britain—and the world at large…

I’ve been intrigued by this book for a long time now, but my library in San Antonio didn’t have an audio copy, and my library in Wisconsin doesn’t have an audio copy, and I really, really wanted to listen to this one on audio. Jenny Sterlin – one of my favorite narrators – reads the audiobook, and I had the sneaking suspicion that listening to her read it would make this book even more magical than it would normally be. Finally, I gave in and bought the Audible version, knowing that if worse came to worst, I could always return it. That will not be a problem. This book was awesome!

I can’t review this book without first remarking on a few similarities. As this is British historical fantasy, with a conflict between various magical ideals, I was reminded in many ways of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Not enough to feel that this was derivative or anything, just enough to remark on, like a nod of respect to Clark’s book. It was the same with the other similarity. The magic – kinda inexplicable and random – reminded me so much of Diana Wynne Jones (and I’m sure Jenny Sterlin’s narration increased that comparison for me, since she read the Howl books). This book didn’t feel like a copy of these in any way. Just like that nod of respect, as I said. Just enough to note.

Because the book was definitely unique. Yes, magic-in-Britain has been done many times, but Cho took that trope and used it as the opener for a discussion. Zacharias Wythe, Sorcerer Royal, is insulted, thought incompetent, accused of crimes, and generally dismissed by his government, fellow magicians, and the public – because he’s black. Prunella, probably the most magical person in the story, is treated as a serving girl and undeserving of magic because 1) she’s “half-caste” of uncertain Indian origin, and 2) she’s female, and women can’t and shouldn’t do magic. There’s classism – the lower classes, including women, can do menial magic, but can’t actually learn proper magic, of course! – and imperialism – Britain’s interference in Malaysia – and a general relationship with magical creatures that leans toward slavery. The book is full of politics, but not in a way that stuffs them into your face. You can read deeper, sure, or you can simply read what is quite a fun story of clashing magicians.

My favorite part about the book and what makes me really admire Cho’s writing is the way she handled her main characters. So often in fiction, characters are very likable or they’re unlikable in the extreme. In my experience, it’s rare to come across characters who are lovable but not necessarily likable. Think Howl from Howl’s Moving Castle, or Captain Jack Sparrow. They aren’t exactly people you’d want to hang out with in real life, yet you fall in love with them anyway. Some of these characters were the same. Prunella is loud, rude, and ruthless, but absolutely lovable. Mak Genggang is an absolute tyrant prone to violence, and I adore her as well. And so on. The ability to create characters like this, walking that fine balance between love and hate, is in my opinion the mark of an excellent writer.

Though it’s a series, Sorcerer to the Crown is completely standalone, and could be read on it’s own without ever reading further. I have no idea what’s to come in the second book – what parts of magic or the world Cho will explore or what problems magicians will face – but I certainly can’t wait to find out!

Performance: As already stated, Jenny Sterlin read this audiobook, and she’s already one of my favorite narrators. This was, as expected, an amazing performance.

Posted in 2017, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Wellness Wednesday #42: Fitness Test

Posted on January 18, 2017 by Thistle

buttonOne of my health goals this year is to improve my overall strength. I’ve lost a lot of strength as I’ve gained weight and since my foot prevented me from doing many exercises. I need to get that back, and to evaluate my progress, I took a specific fitness test. This fitness test is one I first came across in May 2013, back when my weight was still all trim in the 150s. Since then, I’ve taken the test six times, including this past weekend. Before this last test, the last time I took it was at the beginning of 2015. In all my previous tests, my weights have ranged from 158 to 170 – in other words, far below my current 225 lbs. That, of course, affected many parts of this test, especially the exercises that involved pushing/pulling/holding up my entire body weight. Still, I was surprised to find that despite the 60 lbs of gain, I’m not doing too badly in terms of strength.

pullup-2

(look at me back then!)

Pull-ups: I knew this one would be severely affected both by my heavier weight and by my major abdominal surgery in 2014. Indeed, my highest pull-up count was just before surgery with 4, and I haven’t been able to do more than 1 since then. I’m currently unable to do any, so I took my hanging time instead. It’s a paltry 12 seconds. I really want that to improve!!

Push-ups: Ditto the body weight thing. I could only do 8 push-ups. Previous tests have ranged from 15 to 32. I have a long way to go!

Toe touch: This is one area in which I’ve improved – yay yoga! I can reach 7 inches past my toes with straight legs, and hold it there no problem. Previous tests show in the 3-4 inch range.

V-crunches (no hands): This is another one affected by my abdominal surgery. My abs are just not what they used to be. Still, I managed 16 of these without putting hands or feet down, and previous numbers were only around 21, so I’m not doing as bad as I thought here!

Wall squat: I expected to last less than 30 seconds on this exercise. When I hit 1:09, I was extremely surprised. The highest time I’d gotten previously was only 1:23, and my time today was longer than almost every other test score. Woot!

Arm curls: This is a to-failure exercise, and you have to estimate the poundage to use. When I first started taking these tests, I used 10 lbs in each hand and could only do 14 curls before my muscles gave out. I later upped the weights to 15/hand as my strength grew, but I knew that wouldn’t work out now, so I dropped back to 10. Still, I got 23 curls in before failure, so my arms are apparently stronger than they were at my lowest weight of these tests. Again, yay yoga! I’m guessing all those downward dogs are improving my arm strength, haha.

There were two exercises I had to skip on this test – vertical leap and a jumping jacks heart rate test – due to my foot injury (nothing high impact! jumping is out!). Generally, though, I have a good baseline to work on, with a plan to re-take this test on a quarterly basis.

Posted in Wellness | Tagged , , | 14 Comments

The Stories That Have Stayed With Me

Posted on January 17, 2017 by Thistle

Back when I was writing about Words of Radiance two Sundays ago, I got to thinking about how some books really resonate and stick. Some books just seem to come at exactly the right time, and influence your life so much that they become a permanent part of you. I’ve come across so many wonderful books in my life, and I thought I’d bring together a list of the books, series, and stories that have stayed with me. In no particular order:

  • Words of Radiance – Brandon Sanderson
  • the Mistborn series – Brandon Sanderson
  • the Raven Cycle – Maggie Stiefvater
  • The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
  • The Unit – Ninni Holmqvist
  • Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susanna Clark
  • The Host – Stephanie Meyer
  • Howl’s Moving Castle – Diana Wynne Jones
  • Catch-22 – Joseph Heller
  • the Harry Potter series – JK Rowling
  • Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
  • The Omnivore’s Dilemma – Michael Pollan
  • The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
  • Gentlemen and Players – Joanne Harris
  • Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte
  • Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
  • The Awakening – Kate Chopin
  • Possession – AS Byatt
  • The Egypt Game – Zilpha Keatley Snyder
  • The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

Not every book I read and love ends up sticking. But some books simply worm their way in and become part of me in the long term. If I created a “me” bookshelf, these are the books that would make it up – a hodgepodge mix of classics and fantasy, of adult and YA and children’s books, of heavy philosophical reads and whimsical fun stories. Y’all? This is my ideal bookshelf! One to look at and bring me 100% joy!

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Sunday Coffee – Comfort Things

Posted on January 15, 2017 by Thistle

img_7269Coffee.
Family.
Bubble baths.
Libraries.
Pizza.
Kitty-snuggles.
Harry Potter.
Chocolate.
Board games.
NCIS.
Massage.
Sunsets.
Spaghetti.
Friends.
Audiobooks.
Stiffs Inc.
Thrift stores.
Geography.
Lists.

Posted in Personal | Tagged | 5 Comments

My Unscripted Life, by Lauren Morrill

Posted on January 13, 2017 by Thistle

my-unscripted-lifeAfter receiving a rejection from a summer art camp, Dee feels like the whole course of her future is suddenly off track. She jumps at the opportunity to intern for a small-production movie that’s just come to town, and finds herself drawn into more than she expects.

I’m currently reading a very heavy nonfiction book (Half the Sky) with some disheartening and gruesome stuff in it. To counter that, I needed comfort, and that’s where Lauren Morrill comes in. First I reread one of my favorites of hers, Meant to Be, and right when I finished that one, the library finally got a copy of My Unscripted Life to me. The reads were exactly what I needed – light, comforting, sappy (in a good way!), and happy. I admit, this particular book was a teensy bit over the top in terms of believability for me, so it won’t join Meant to Be and The Trouble With Destiny as favorites. However, I’m still a huge Morrill fan and don’t mind the over-the-top-ness all that much. It was just what I needed at just the right time!

Posted in 2017, Prose, Young Adult | Tagged | Leave a comment