[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding My Son ]
Still porting

I first fell in love with this story when I saw the movie when I was much, much younger. I indentified so strongly with Olan. (I don’t know what that says about me.) When Oprah picked this for her book club, I thought, I must read it. (I am not a big book club follower – I read either too quickly or two slowly)

And I am very glad I did. The story of Wang Lung has some very moralistic overtones, if you leave the land, bad things happen, but the true heroine of the piece is Olan. It is her struggles and matter of fact practicality about life that allow Wang Lung to succeed. It is only after Olan has gone, that he realizes exactly what she was, yet even then, he can not bring himself to love her.

It’s a truly brilliant book and everyone should read it.

[  Mood: Cool ]
[  Currently: Watching My husband knock down some baby furniture ]
Again, I am porting some old posts from another blog I used to have.

So first off, let me admit this, I am a huge fan of this long running British Soap Opera.

This book preports to be a novelization of the entire run of the series. It does cover the major plot points, focusing on the very popular and log running characters such as Ken Barlow, Emily Nugent/Bishop, Bet Lynch, Elsie Tanner, Len Fairclough, Rita Littlewood/Fairclough/Sullivan and Gail Potter/Tilsley/Plat/Hillman. Unfortunately they leave out the entire McDonald Clan, not to mention the entire fabulous Battersby clan, who are turned into bit players except for Leanne’s involvement with Nicky Platt. This means that one of the best stories of the last few years, the Dennis/Eileen/Janice triangle, is missing. And Mavis is only in the story as a spear carrier. There is no mention of Derek or Arthur the gnome. There are also some factual errors in the book, such as Des Barnes dying of a heart attack, when he, in fact, was murdered.

Overall though, the book is a satisfying read and helps fill in some missing pieces for the new fans, as well as give the long time fan a bit of nostalia.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
I am porting some old posts from a blog I used to have to this one.

As you can see from the book cover, I have chosen to use the French title of the book so not to freak out the web sensors.

I heard about this book on the CBC Radio program "C’Est La Vie".

The book caused quite a controversy in Quebec when it was originally published in French as "Putain" (that would be the French word for Whore). And after reading it, I can see why.

Don’t read this book if you are looking for cheap dime store thrills, or bad Harlequin sex scenes. Arcan has chosen to write this book in a stream of consciousness style. It is not a plot driven novel, but more of a collection of thoughts about the main character, Cynthia’s life as a whore.

It is an interesting work though, with Cynthia’s reflection on why her clients visit her (they are all fathers who want to have sex with their daughters, but since they can’t, they hire her), why she is a whore, what lead her here, why whores will always exist, and why Cynthia can’t have a normal relationship. There are also some facinating looks at her patrons, Michael the Dog who wants to be dominated, and Mathieu, whose youth cause Cynthia to question her value in a youth based profession. There is also Michael the Jew, who is remarkable in that he stands out in a crowd that Cynthia admits is faceless and nameless, there are so many.

One of the things I find missing from this book is taking of personal responsibilityby the main character. Her entry into prositution is put on the shoulders of her parents. Her mother has apparently spent much of her life in bed, slowing spreading out. Her father, a very religious and dour man, never the less has sought comfort in the arms of other women, both paid and not. He apparently taunted his wife with this, and his wife openly discussed this with Cynthia. It is their fault, Cynthia contends, that she now is paid to have sex with men. No where is the concept of free will or personal choice adressed. Cynthia never really admits that although she may have come from a horrible background, that she made the choice to enter into this life. She does admit that she finds it hard to leave as she is addicted to the material lifestyle her career has brought her.

It is a very interesting book though. I recommend it to anyone interested in the real world of prostitution over the Julia Roberts sugar coated view. It is also wonderful for me, an English Canadian, to have access to modern, relevant literature from the other solitude.

[  Mood: Cool ]

Tanya Huff has produced the next gripping installment in the saga of Gunnery Sergeant Torin Kerr. Assumed dead, Kerr wakes up in an underground prison camp. The problem is that the enemy has never taken prisoners before. Kerr quickly realizes she must escape the prison before the malaize that has affected those who arrived before her.

Leading a ragtag band of marines, Kerr must find a way out of the prison. In doing so, she encounters a group of enemy combatents who are also trying to escape the prison. Kerr and her group must work with the enemy in order to escape their mutual prison.

Author Huff has produced another wonderful look at the life of the non-coms in a large military force. Kerr is a tough, believable professional soldier who is good at her job and takes it personally when she fails. This book is not to be missed, both for the Tanya Huff fan as well as the fan of military SF.

Go get this!

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]

Aza is an ugly duckling in a kingdom full of beautiful people. Even though she is able to sing like a lark, she is harshly treated by those outside her adopted family. Yup, she is an orphan who was left in the room of an inn. Luckily for her, the innkeepers adopted her and raised her as their own.

So Aza works in her parents’ inn, hoping not to be noticed by the customers. If she is seen, rude commemts usually follow. Yet despite this, Aza is asked by a duchess to act as her companion at the king’s wedding. There, Aza finds herself thrust into a world of palace integue where her secret talent is both valued and cursed. Through it she befriends a handsome prince and runs afoul of the Queen.

Author Gail Carson Levine has created a lovely adaptation of Snow White, with interesting twists and turns. The world she has built, full of music, is enchanting. (There is even a tie in to Ella Enchanted with the return of the "good" fairy Lucinda.) Aza must grow as a yong woman in order to overcome the challenges that are thrown in her way.

This is a great book for the junior to intermediate set. Heck, it’s fun for adults too. It will be in an upcoming, What to Read After Harry. Go get it!

[  Mood: Confused ]
[ Currently: Breastfeeding my son – Situation Normal ]
Wow – it’s been awhile.

Between editing a podcast all week and getting a stomach virus on Staurday, I haven’t been very active at all.

Now the boy is sick.

Thank God we both have a doctor’s appointment this morning. It was supposd to be for the flu shot, but now we will be discussing baby vomit.

Fun!

[  Mood: Amused ]
Read this artcle on EOnline. He is so one of us.

Quickly, invite the man to your local con.

Alan Benett is the playwright famous for The Madness of King George III. In this new novella, he turns his attention to another British monarch, the reigning Queen Elizabeth.

While out walking the corgies, Elizabeth stumbles across a mobile library. She borrows a book out of a sense of duty, but very quickly finds herself immersed in the world of literature. The Queen finds herself ignoring duty in order to find time to read.

This was a lovely piece of fiction. The examination of the addiction to reading and how books change a person was so worth the time. The fact that the person happens to be the Queen is an added bonus. In fact, it was easy to see myself in her given my addiction to reading.

Go get this.

Simon Kirby-Jones is a gay, Southern vampire who moves to Britain. Once there, the biographer by day and mystery and romance novelist by night, finds murder in his new village. The body of the bossy and very nosy postmistress is found in her home. Twenty-four hours earlier this same postmistress revealed that she posessed a play with all the scandelous gossip of the village thinly veiled.

And so Simon begins to investigate, trying to find out who had killed the nosy woman.

The vampires in this world are of the cuddly variety. A pill taken a few times a day means that drinking humans blood is no longer necessary. Rather, those vampires who insist on continuing to hunt humans are "dealt with" by their bretheren.

A fair mystery with supernatural elements.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]