Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint

Title: Memory and Dream

Author: Charles de Lint

Pages: 400

Finished: November 24, 2019

First Sentence: Katharine Mully had been dead for five years and tow months, the morning Isabelle received the letter from her.

Summary: A book of artists, magic, memory, and abuse. Isabelle has turned her back on her previous work, her abusive mentor, and most of her friends. But when a letter from her now dead friend shows up right around the same time that that same friend's books are about to be republished, Isabelle's past comes roaring back.

Thoughts: Whew. This is the first "normal" de Lint I've read in a while. His normal stuff is lighter than the books he wrote under his pseudonym, but they're by no means light.

The story is engaging and the characters really multifaceted. While you get the idea that the bad guy is the bad guy, the amount of mind games he plays and the way he plays them really makes the reader second guess what's happening. In fact, there was definitely a point where I didn't feel I could really trust anyone. Of course things come around again.

The non-linear storytelling is interesting too. The story starts in 1992. The reader knows little other than Isabelle has received a letter from her friend Katharine, something bizarre considering Katharine died five years ago. The reader also knows Isabelle's painting style has taking a 180 degree turn and she has reservations about painting in her old style. Then the story shifts back to 1973 and we start to see Isabelle's beginnings with her mentor, the controlling and abusive Rushkin. From the beginning, we hear about various events from Isabelle's past in the "present day" section which are then slowly revealed in the past section.

Isabelle, herself, is an odd person. Throughout the novel, things happen, and it becomes clear that she may or may not be telling the full truth about stuff. She may be rewriting history. Whether she truly believes it, or not, it in question through much the story.

The book was published in 1993. It always amazes me just how sensitive and completely properly de Lint manages to peg things like abuse and sexual assault. He writes the characters so convincingly. He writes the feelings so convincingly. There's a point where a girl is dealing with the after effects of reporting a rape, and it could have been written today.

We met quite a few of our favorites again though. Jilly plays a role, which makes sense considering this is a book about artists. The Riddell brothers have a passing role. I really like how characters keep showing up in Newford. And the geography. It's fun to hear about the same streets or restaurants. The world building is fun. Also, he namedropped Jane Yolen. It is interesting to me, too, how he usually has a character that in some way seems to be an extension of himself. Very meta.

I did find one thing about the writing to be... I wouldn't say annoying... but it pulled me out of the story. Let me just quote a bit to show you what I mean. To give some context, Izzy's mentor hit her in a fit of rage, but then they talked about it. Then the following happened:

She was in such good spirits as she took the bus back to the university for an afternoon class that she completely forgot about what had happened in the studio earlier that day. Until the next time he hit her.

de Lint used this technique a lot in this book. A foreshadowing of types, but it felt clumsy. Or something. Like I said, it took me out of the experience the few times I was reading. 

I enjoyed reading this though. Yes, there was darkness, but in general, things turn out okay in de Lint novels. I like how he sets up the fantasy in a real world setting. In fact, because the rest of the world is so real, it makes it all the more believable. While Dreams Underfoot is still my favorite so far, this was quite a good addition to the world of Newford.

Read for my Newford challenge.

Emma by Jane Austen

Title: Emma

Author: Jane Austen

Pages: 495

Finished: November 14, 2019

First Sentence: Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her.

Summary: It's a Jane Austen story. Social graces, foibles, happy ever afters. The specific story for this one includes Emma, the rather spoiled daughter of the hypochondriac Mr. Woodhouse. She has a very high opinion of herself and will happily stick her nose in other people's business. And in the end, she happily finds herself a husband.

Thoughts: This is my least favorite of Austen's completed novels, and even with that distinction, it's still one of the better books I've read this year. The social commentary is on point as ever. So many of the characters are utterly ridiculous. Miss Bates and her constant chatter, which Austen writes out quite will to show the point. Mrs. Elton and her hypocrisy. Mr. Woodhouse who is endearing even in his silliness simply because of Emma's devotion to him.

This is one of those books where iI feel the side characters are better than the main. I don't like Emma. I just... don't. She's very reminiscent of a friend I had in high school. Unlike the other main characters in Austen novels, she's incredibly selfish with little to recommend her. Of course she comes 'round right in the end, and I suppose her devotion to her father is endearing, but how little regard she shows to others is frustrating. On the other hand, it perhaps makes her one of the most believable Austen heroines around. She's 21 after all. Hasn't had full brain development yet.

I did feel like I caught way more subtext this time around. Of course, I do know the story, so it was much easier to catch. I really wish I could read this again for the first time NOW rather than when I was a teenager. I think I'd catch so much more!

One of my favorite books this year so far. Read for Classics Club and Austen Challenges even though I've pretty much given up.

Daniel Deronda by George Elliot

Title: Daniel Deronda

Author: George Eliot

Pages: 800

Finished: October 29, 2019

First Sentence: Was she beautiful or not beautiful? and what was the secret of form or expression which gave the dynamic quality to her glance?

Summary: Two separate stories intertwine with each other through the book. We start with Gwendolen Harleth, a spoiled young women who's always had everything she wants. She flirts shamelessly, and doesn't seem to care how she hurts people. And then her family loses all their money and she's forced to accept a marriage proposal from the sleazy Henleigh Grandcourt. What follows is an unhappy marriage and a woman who clearly wants and NEEDS out.

At the same time, Daniel Deronda struggles with who he is. He suspects Sir Hugo is his father, though he isn't sure. One day, he saves a woman from committing suicide in the Thames. The young woman, Mirah, happens to be Jewish. As Deronda helps her find her brother, he starts learning things about himself, his past, and who his people are.

Thoughts: Like most Victorian literature, this is a book with a whole lot of pages to discuss few plot points.

Interestingly enough, when the book started, I was very much done with Gwendolen. I found her to be completely unlikeable and really didn't want to read anymore about her. Daniel's story was significantly more interesting. He also had a better temperament that made him more likeable. However, around book 4, the story line became bogged down. I found myself thinking, "Yes, we get it." more often than not.

The final two books sailed by pretty quickly though. I don't know if it's because the plotline picked up or because I realized I was close to done and just wanted to get there.

In general, I liked the bones of the story. The individual hooks caught me. It was interesting to read a Victorian novel viewing Jewish people in a sympathetic light. However, the wordiness without the Dickens sarcasm to temper them a bit made the book difficult for me to get through. Of course, I'll admit that could simply be due to basically my entire brain this year. I feel like most of my books have been duds.

This book counts as my Classic by a Female Author in the Back to the Classics Challenge AND it also knocks another book off my Classics Club list. 

The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman

Title: The Secret Commonwealth

Author: Philip Pullman

Pages: 633

Finished: October 24, 2019

First Sentence: Pantalaimon, the daemon of Lyra Belacqua, now called Lyra Silvertongue, lay along the windowsill of Lyra's little study-bedroom in St. Sophia's College in a state as far from thought as he could get. 

Summary: 20 years after the events of La Belle Sauvage, and 8 years after the events of The Amber Spyglass, we meed Lyra again. This time 20-years old. Things are not as good as one may have thought though. The Magisterium still has authority over everything, and now they want more. Policies are being put in place to make Lyra more accessible to those who want to hurt her. And oddly enough, rose plantations in the Far East are being attacked. On top of it, Lyra and her daemon, Pan, are quarreling. As things get more and more unstable, Pan leaves her, and it's up to Lyra to go find him, and figure out what Roses have to do with everything.

Thoughts: This is a complex book. Where as His Dark Materials was a bridge between Middle Grade and YA, The Book of Dust Trilogy is firmly YA. Politics play a much bigger part in this story. It's set so specifically in Lyra's world. And it just goes to show that, just because you stop one threat doesn't mean they're all gone.

I feel the need to start with the fact that now was not the right time for me to read this book. I really wanted to like it, and I think I would have if I had read it maybe three months earlier or ten months later than now. But being pregnant, it was just heavier than I find myself wanting to read at the moment. On top of it, there were things that mirrored what's going on in my world a little too closely that made it very uncomfortable. It wasn't an escape so much.

A few quotations:

"The other side's got an energy that our side en't got. Comes from their certainty about being right. If you got that certainty, you'll be willing to do anything to bring about the end you want. It's the oldest human problem, Lyra, an' it's the difference between good and evil. Evil can be unscrupulous, and good can't. Evil has nothing to stop it doing what it wants, while good has one hand tied behind its back. To do the things it needs to do to win, it'd have to become evil to do 'em." 

"Revealing the truth in the way I've described it would not work. There are too many habits, ways of thought, institutions, that are committed to the way thins are and always have been. The truth would be swept away at once. Instead, we should delicately and subtly underminde the idea that truth and facts are possible in teh first place. Once the people have become doubtful about the truth of anything, all kinds of things will be open to us."

Those two quotes were absolutely chilling. Here's the thing. As I am writing this review, Donald Trump is President of my country and there is a serious call for impeachment. And these two quotes just remind me of every bit of his presidency so far. Even if he's not smart enough to delicately and subtly change the idea that truth and facts are possible, those around him are. There was a whole thing about Alternative Facts at the beginning of his term. And that man is certainly bull-headed in his ideas that he is right. His side is right. And that there's absolutely no wrong way to go about it. Ugh. I feel gross just typing all this. Needless to say, the book was really close to home in a lot of ways, and I wasn't really up for that at the moment.

But let's get to the rest of the book, shall we?

One of the things that was rough for me, though I should have expected it considering, is that I wanted everything to be okay after the events of His Dark Materials. Lyra and Will allow the flow of Dust to keep going and learn how to close up the gates to other worlds. Except... and here's the thing I missed... it's great for the BIG PICTURE and does nothing to the nitty gritty of Lyra's world. the Magisterium still exists and still needs complete control over everything.

On top of it, there's the tension between Lyra and Pan. It was tough. Overall, I found myself wanted to shake Lyra and tell her to "just listen to what your other half is telling you!" For someone who was so sure of everything that happened, it was so hard to see her turn her back on it all for the "reason" of the philosophers she was reading.

Also, while I knew this was not the final book, I did find myself getting frustrated when nothing was answered by the end. It's an absolute doorstop of a book. Lots of ideas and issues were brought up. And there was always a TON of pages left. And then, all the sudden, the number of pages left weren't enough to tie-up the story. I get it. It suffers middle book syndrome. Still frustrating.

And all that makes it sound like I hated this book. I really didn't. I actually can't wait to read it again once I have some time away. And perhaps better headspace. Perhaps when the next one comes out, I should read it the way I read Harry Potter - reading all the ones beforehand. We'll see.

Not sure what I'm reading next or when another review will go up. I hope to get through at least four more books this year.

The Good News!! And Updates

Guys! Guys!! I'm pregnant! Due May Day. !!!!!!! 

Which is completely, totally, and amazingly awesome! I'm finally feeling human again after the first trimester. My 4-year-old is so excited to be a big sibling. Really it's great.

Except one tiny little thing... my focus is absolutely nil. I remember this with my first pregnancy. I ended up reading what I would call popcorn literature because it was about all I could focus on. (Seriously, I ended up reading all the Sookie Stackhouse books.) 

So looking at my goals and my reading challenges, I'm calling it quits. I want to read all these books, but now is not the time. Even the book I was super looking forward to reading is taking a long time to get through. 

If anyone has any recommendations for light reads, I'm all ears. 

The Five Love Languages of Children by Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell

Title: The Five Love Languages of Children

Author: Gary Chapman and Ross Campbell

Pages: 212

Finished: October 4, 2019

Summary: Gary Chapman, along with colleague Ross Campbell, outline the 5 Love Languages Chapman came up with and discuss how they exhibit in kids, how parents can use them to fill their kids' love tanks, and disucsses how this affects things such as anger, dicipline, etc.

Thoughts: This book... We'll start with the good. The idea of the five love languages is an attractive one. I can say right now, I feel way more loved when my husband sets up the coffee maker for me before he leaves for work, or when he decorates the house for a holiday than I do when he gives me hugs and kisses. Basically, I can go through the five languages of love and see how I prefer one to the other.

So with this book, the authors discuss how our children also tend to gravitate more towards one language than the other four, and if you "speak their language", you'll help fill their emotional love tank which will help them be more stable.

It sounds good. And the idea that unconditionally loving your child will help them be more regulated isn't a new one. I don't even have a lot of issues with the idea of categorizing different ways of expressing love. It's very helpful to see examples of the ways love can be expressed in ways that aren't useful for me personally, but could be for my child.

But I had some big issues with this book.

1) It's super religious. Like, instead of referencing any sort of studies that could potentially further their claims, the authors cite bible passages. Once the bible citations started, I noticed there was a definite more conservative Christian bent to the book. Wives were more likely to be home. Some discussions about kids that honestly didn't seem healthy even as the book is claiming to be about your child's emotional health. How teens having sex is a way of disobeying their parents and eing passive-aggressive. After doing some research, I realized Dr. Gary Chapman's doctorate is in philosophy. He's a marriage counselor, but none of his degrees are in counseling. He's also a pastor at a Baptist Church. Dr. Ross Campbell was harder to find information on, but he seems to be an actually psychiatrist. However, he's also SUPER religious and it really shows.

With decent critical thinking skills, it's possible to pull out decent information from the book, but the lack of studies and the constant leaning on the bible and other bits of Christianity made me question a lot about this book.

2) A lot of their stories about people discovering their kids' love languages sounded like things you'd read on r/thathappened. Yes, some of it was likely true, but they all felt embellished to be the best they possibly could. Perhaps I'm being cynical, but really, it was interesting.

Like any parenting book, there is some decent information in here. However, I don't know that I'd necessarily recommend it to someone unless I knew they had the critical reading skills to read it. The religion could be a huge turn off to non-believers, to people of other religions, and to Christians who just don't believe what the authors believe. I also think it really reads a little fear-mongery. I didn't get scared. Mostly I was able to look at my own behaviours towards my child and say, "Yeah, we can do better here." But I can see some... many parents could read this and go, "Yep. I'm the worst parent ever. I don't have time for any of this."

TL:DR Some good ideas buried under a lot of padding and religion meant to tug on heartstrings. 

2019 Goals Quarterly Check-in 3

1. Read 45 Books - Progress: 28 / 45 +8
2. Finish my Lord of the Rings in Chronological Order project - Progress: 100%
3. Back to the Classics - Progress: 6 / 9 +0
4. To Be Read Challenge - Progress: 2 / 3 +1
5. Newford Part 1 - Progress: 4 / 12 +1
6. Austen Challenge - Progress: 1 / 7 +0
7. Other Books Read:  2

Top 3 Books This Quarter

Newport, Cal - Deep Work

Tolkien, J. R. R. - The Fellowship of the Ring
Christie, Agatha - And Then There Were None

Top 3 Books This Year

Austen, Jane - Sense and Sensibility
de Lint, Charles - Dreams Underfoot
Arden, Katherine - The Winter of the Witch

This quarter was really uninspiring. Which is basically the theme of the year. However, I did finish one of my goals for the year. LotR is finished and I can wait another ten years before rereading them. The three books in my top three for the quarter were the only three I really enjoyed which is really frustrating. And as of yet, none of the books I've read have topped the three in my first quarter which are still at the top of the year.

So.... three months left and I have ALL of these books to read if I'm going to finish my already revised goals:

1. Emma by Jane Austen (1815) (495 pages) (BttC) (PRC) (Home)
2. King of Elfland's Daughter by Lord Dunsanay (1925) (301 pages) (BttC) (LinkInn)
3. Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip (2002) (304 pages) (TBR) (EPL)
4. Memory and Dream (novel) (400 page) (Newford) (EPL)
5. The Ivory and the Horn (collection) (338 pages) (Newford) (WorldCat)
6. Trader (novel) (352 pages) (Newford) (LinkIn)
7. Someplace to Be Flying (novel) (384 pages) (Newford) (EPL)
8. Moonlight and Vines (collection) (384 pages) (Newford) (EPL) by end of October
9. Forests of the Heart (novel) (400 pages) (Newford) (LinkIn) (EPL)
10. The Onion Girl (novel) (512 pages) (Newford) (EPL)
11. Tapping the Dream Tree (collection) (541 pages) (Newford) (EPL)
12. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen (1814) (536 pages) (Austen) (Home)
13. Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (1817) (280 pages) (Austen) (Home)
14. Persuasion by Jane Austen (1817) (312 pages) (Austen) (Home)
15. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen (1813) (408 pages) (Austen) (Home)
16. Letters from Pemberly by Jane Dawkins
17. Five Love Languages for Children

Clearly that's not happening. So, I'll just start reading and see how far I get! Not going to read in a certain order or with any priorities in mind. Will just go how my mood takes me and we'll see what happens. Wish me luck for the end of the year!