Sunday, January 20, 2008

A Good and Happy Child Book Review

I have a friend at work who is a fellow book lover and we swap and trade books constantly. She found this book as a pre-published copy and loved it, so passed it to me.

I read it very quickly, only taking a few days. The plot was enticing and it cited "The Secret History" as a book similar in its power for gripping the reader in suspense. I just read "The Secret History" before Christmas and it did do a number on me.....chilling and completely unnerving. So I dove into A Good and Happy Child.

The story chronicles a boy's life after his father's mysterious death. Eleven year old George is awkward and chubby and has difficulty making friends at school. To make matters worse, his mother is a feminist and activist that doesn't appear to mesh well in the small town they live in. As George tries to cope with his father's death and his and his mother's grief, he becomes plagued by a "friend" that appears to him in his dreams. George fears that he is going crazy and is miserable and lonely until the voices he is evading spirals out of control causing a bizarre accident that leads to psychiatric treatment. The real thrill of the story is this; is it a demon or mental illness? Or both? The story leaves you reeling with your own questions and thoughts; which would be worse? What do you believe? And if you simply believe it, does that make it true?

A thought provoking and thrilling read by a talented author.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Week by Week: A Year of Reading and Reflecting

I have decided to attempt a reading challenge, much like the one that Sarah Nelson embarks on in her book So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading. I read her book last fall and enjoyed peeking at her bookshelf and learning how she came about reading the books she reads, one a week, for a year. Any seasoned reader would snicker at her "double-booking rule" or her "first 30 pages rule." We all seem to have some sort of outline or self imposed boundaries in our minds of when you call it a loss or you resolve yourself to go back later for a second try.

One of the reasons I would like to record my reading weekly is because, like Sarah, I read a wide variety and there is no rhyme or reason to which genre or author I will pick up next. And sometimes, there is a story just in the telling of the who or how you came upon a book you love. For me, if it is one of those truly delicious books that will forever remain in the recesses of my mind, ones that I recall the memory when I want a sweet treat, to recall a character I loved and feel as if I am reuniting with an old friend-those can become even more precious depending on the when or how I received the book.

Another aspect of reading that Sarah so aptly highlights is matching our reading experience with our personal one, "and trying to see where they match up and they don't". I love this introspective glance at not only what we read, but how what we choose to read, and what books we love in some ways defines who we are. In my book journal I generally give a small review of the book; mini plot summary, themes, my personal reflections, whether I liked it. But I realize in retrospect that I do not always include what was happening during my life that may have an impact on whether a certain book resonates loudly in my heart or makes me furious at a character I relate to oh so well.

Lastly, let us not forget the way one book can mention some minute detail or refer to an obscure figure in history and you filter this detail through your mind as you read; insignificant, details of a story, yet while you are reading your next book, there it is, it pops up surprising you in black and white, right there on the page! of the next book you are reading, and you are thinking "What a coincidence!" yet two books later there it is again. Does this happen to anyone else? My books sometimes just by fate mention something or have a connection to a previous book I read and it seems so insignificant, yet linked some way in my mind.

Okay, enough said, I am eager to begin, and I will do my best to post some of my reviews as I move along.