Classics Spin #14 book: Little Women

Monday was spin day for Classics Club Spin #14. I dutifully put together my list of twenty books. (See list here.) When the die was cast, No. 1 won and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott claimed that spot. So I shall be reading this classic book by an amazing American author by December 1st. As in the past I plan to blog updates throughout my reading.

When I was young, I think I was in 5th or 6th grade, I read an abridged version of Little Women in the Great Illustrated Classics series. It is only 240 pages and no doubt abridged so much making it accessible to young readers, maybe as young as eight. Only recently I put together my reading habits as a kid and realized all these classics I remember reading in elementary school were actually part of the Great Illustrated Classics series making me want to go back and reread the full version of the book now that I am an adult. Other classics I read as part of this series were Jane Eyre, David Copperfield, Pride and Prejudice, and the Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Now I have a chance to fall in love again with a book I've loved almost my whole life.

The version I shall be reading is published by the original publisher, Little, Brown, and Co. It has 502 pages. The author Anna Quindlen, said in the book's forward, "I won't temporize. Little Women changed my life. Up to that time, age 10, she had only read fairy tales where all of the characters were either good or bad; ugly or beautiful. "At the time Little Women seemed to me to be the first naturalistic work of imagination I had ever read."

Little Women has spoken to girls since its publication. It said to girls they didn't have to be girlish and care only about the home arts. They could be writers, or some other career, and they could use their skills to take care of themselves. Not exactly ground-breaking messages today, but in the 1850s it was unheard of.  I have always loved Jo March and identified with her gumption. I also adored the whole March family, their closeness and bonds with each other and their neighbor Laurie. I look forward to jumping in.


I also have a copy of the audiobook version which I will listen to in part, a mix with my print book.
The audiobook I have was part of the free Sync download during the summer. It was published by Penguin Random House Audio Books and read by Kate Reading. I love listening to books so I'm sure I will enjoy the book in this format, too.

TTT: Ten Literary Villains that I love to hate!

Top Ten Tuesday: The Broke and Bookish

My Top Literary Villains (in no particular order)
(Repost from original 2010 blog post)

1.  The White Witch (Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis)- the first literary villain that I was actually afraid of as a child because of what I believe that she represents.

2.  Lord Voldemort and other Death Eaters (Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling)-Duh!  Bet just about everyone will have these guys on your list.

3.  Durza (Inheritance series [Eragon] by Christopher Paolini)-there are lots of villains in this masterful series, Durza is just one that comes to mind right now.

4.  Mrs. Coulter (His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman)-I know that she does show some kindness along the way but she was conducting experiments on children to see what would happen if their daemons were detached...very evil and self-centered.

5.  Mayor Prentiss and Mistress Doyle (Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness)-both thought the other was evil and were blind to their own manipulative ways.

6.  Valentine Morgenstern (Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare)- similar to Lord Voldemort, the ultimate evil in the magical world.

7.  King Leck of Monsea (Graceling by Kristin Cashore)- the ultimate mind-control villain.

8.  Bob Ewell (To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee)-the evil racist who who attacks Scout and who wrongly accuses Tom Robinson of raping his daughter.

9.  President Snow (Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins)-Shows how cruel and petty he is by retaliating against Katniss when she bested him by beating the Hunger Game rules.

10. It (A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle)-is the biggest bully in the universe by targeting the weak and making them submit or he'll (it'll) destroy them.

11.  The Wicked Witch in Sleeping Beauty-of all the Fairy Tale witches this one was always the most scary to me.

The above villains are from my original list created in 2010. Here are some additional villains I now add to the list in 2016:

12. Humbert Humbert (Lolita by Nabakov)- is the ultimate creepy, creepy guy.

13. Inspector Javier (Les Miserables by Hugo)- he pursues Jean Valjean for 19 years.

14. Miss Trunchbull (Matilda by Dahl)- She is mean, mean, mean to little kids.

15. Big Brother (1984 by Orwell)-Just because he isn't real doesn't mean he isn't despicable.

16. Queen Levana (Cinder by Meyer)---she is the most spoiled and self-centered of all villains.

Who are some literary villains that I missed?

The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, a book club discussion guide

This month I was hostess for book club. Hosting means preparing a treat for club members to eat and conducting the discussion on the month's book. Our book selection was The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. We try to make our book selections month in advance so that those of us who prefer to not buy the book will have plenty of time to get it from the public library. I put in my library hold early and got the print edition of the book in June, just in time for vacation. But when we got to Whistler I didn't feel like reading a dense and serious book. I wanted the equivalent of beach reading even though we were in the mountains, so I shoved The Sympathizer off to the side and returned it by its due date to the library when I got home. Little did I realize that another turn at the bookwas not forthcoming due to it's popularity. I couldn't get it by the club deadline.  Audible.com was the only available source of the audible version of the book.  This ended up being a good decision. Out of eight women who regularly attend club, only two of us finished the book. We both enjoyed the book very much but Margaret said it was a difficult book to read because of the way it is formatted without proper punctuation. I didn't have any such issues with the audio version.

In a nutshell The Sympathizer is about a nameless captain in the South Vietnam army who is really a double agent and sympathizer of the North. The book begins during the Fall of Saigon, moves to refuge camps, to the USA, and eventually back to Vietnam. The captain, our narrator, is writing the book as a confession.

As I was preparing for the club discussion on the book I went looking discussion for questions and was surprised that all the sources I looked at only had the same four questions. They are good ones, however, and I decided to use them if I needed them. Next I went searching for a good review of the book. My favorite was written by Philip Caputo for the New York Times. I highly recommend you read his review if you also are charged with the job of leading a discussion on this book. I took notes as I read and from those notes I had my talking points and was able to formulate some questions of my own.

Here are some of the ideas I got from Caputo's article, which I've formulated into questions or thoughts to provoke a discussion"

• Viet Thanh Nguyen (pronounced 'win') was born in Vietnam and came to the US in 1975 as a child. He is a professor at the University of Southern California. The book, written from the Vietnamese point of view, is actually ground-breaking. How does this make you feel?
• Literature coming out of powerful countries, like the US, usually feature storylines focused on characters from that country. So there are lots of stories about Vietnam, but most deal with what is was like to be an American soldier in the war, etc. Can you think of any example of those books? A favorite of mine is The Things They Carried. Have you read any others from the POV of the Vietnamese? Since the publication of The Sympathizer several have been published. An example is The Mountains Sing.
• The book won just about every book prize out there, including the Pulitzer prize.  What does it mean to you when you learned it won them. See list here. React to this statement: The Pulitzer committee lauded The Sympathizer as "a layered immigrant tale told in the wry, confessional voice of a 'man of two minds' -- and two countries, Vietnam and the United States."
• What universal themes did The Sympathizer explore.
• React to the opening line, "I am a man of two minds" and the nameless narrator's duality.
• React to the names that characters were given and then used, even overused, including why the narrator went unnamed. 
• Discuss examples of overwriting examples. 
• Discuss this excerpt from the book and how it relates to the story: "The blood of friendship is thicker than the water of ideology."
• Black humor or satire? Examples.
• Discuss the conclusion and how your feelings/thoughts about Vietnam have changed because of the book.
• Discuss the quote "Vietnam was the first war where the losers would write the history instead of the victors."
• React to this quote from the NYT review of The Sympathizer -- " [it] fills a void in literature, giving voice to the previously voiceless while it compels the rest of us to look at the events of 40 years ago in a new light" (Caputo).

The trick for any book club wanting to tackle this excellent book is getting the members to actually read it. I recommend the audio version, expertly read by Francois Chau. It solves the problems my group members had with the dense text. Whatever you decide, it is worth the effort.

Sunday Salon, October 2

Chihuly glass chandelier

Weather: Cloudy with a chance of rain, or sun; temperature feels quite brisk. Who knows what the weather will do today?

It was a bad week: On Monday night we got a call that my husband's father had passed away while on a vacation to Arizona. He was diagnosed with congestive heart disease earlier this year but had still been able to handle a modified schedule in his life. His death came so suddenly we were completely shocked. Here is a literary tribute I wrote for my father-in-law. While still in shock and grief about Chet, we learned that my brother's cancer has spread and will knock him out of the possibility of the experimental treatment they thought he could get. I am clinging to the hope that the same treatment that cured Jimmy Carter will be available for my brother.

The light at the end of the iPad tunnel: at the beginning of the school year I entered a dark tunnel known to many as iPad Hell. I am finally nearing the end of the tunnel and can see the light. After launching iPads to nearly 2000 students we have had a steady stream of students with problems with their devices. At one point I think there were something like 200 iPads piled up for the Tech to attend to. As he would fix one, another one would come in the door with a similar problem. Two thing were at play. The district decided to go with a managed Apple ID, if student logged in with any other Apple ID it would shut down the device requiring a reset. The other issue outside our control was the launch of Apple IOS 10 at the moment we were getting the iPads in kids hands. The new operating system had (has) some glitches that don't sync well with the district network. If a student updated his device, a trip to the library to have it reset or returned to the lower IOS was required. It has been a long, long month. We are finally down to under 20 devices needing attention and about that same number of devices that still need to be checked out. Finally! I will be able to do something other than work on iPads like get books into student's hands!?

It has almost been a month since I posted in the Sunday Salon: I don't think I've ever gone that long without my weekly update. In that time we have traveled to Eugene twice for football games and for family gatherings; Don traveled to Virginia for an Army JAG conference; and I don't what else. When one is enveloped in grief it is hard to want to blog.

Books I have read since Sept. 11th, my last weekly update:

• The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen---this month's book club selection. I listened to the audiobook and think that is the perfect format for this book. I hope to blog about it and the book club discussion we had over it soon.
• Flannery by Lisa Moore---a YA selection and a delightful coming-of-age tale. Flannery thinks she is in love with a boy so she is willing to overlook all his faults. This causes all kinds of troubles for her. When she finally wakes up she realizes she needs to love herself not some dream of another person.  Good message for teens.
• The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian---another YA selection and an audiobook. I didn't care for this one. The serious situation was handled in too trite of a way. I won't recommend this for anyone to read.
• The Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse---another YA and audiobook. This one is set in occupied Netherlands during WWII. The main character gets caught up in trying to locate a Jewish girl and learns about the horrors of the Holocaust. The Mystery is quite compelling.

Currently reading:

• Out of Africa---yes, I am still plodding along on this book. I've made it through 75% of the book. At this rate, I'll be done by Christmas!
• The Reader by Traci Chee---a YA fantasy novel about the power of books and reading and all other adventury types of things. When I have felt like reading this week, which hasn't been often, I have enjoyed the escape this book allows. 25% done.
• The Cracks in the Kingdom by Jaclyn Moriarty---a YA audiobook, the sencond in the Colors of Madeleine series. It is odd I would be spending my time right now on this series since the book has been out for over a year, but I want to read the third book as a potential Printz book and don't want to read them out of order. It is a very imaginative series but so far I like the first book better. At the 50% mark.
• Hondo by Louis L'Armour---the book I picked up at the used bookstore yesterday to read in tribute to my father-in-law who loved westerns. 10%.

Skimming for solace and hope:

• Jesus Calling by Sarah Young---daily devotions of positive nature which help me focus on giving God my pain and despair and to relax into his love. Here is a one thought from the August 23rd entry: "Entrust your loved one to me; release them into my protective care. They are much safer with Me than in your clinging hands. If you let a loved one become an idol in your heart, you endanger that one---as well as yourself."
• Psalms for Praying by Nan Merrill---reworded Psalms into prayers. Many have touched my heart this week. From Psalm 6: "Be gracious to me, Heart of my heart, for I am sad and weary. Surround me with your healing Light, that my body, mind, and soul might heal." I am praying that one not only for myself but for my brother.

Classics Club spin is tomorrow: I always look forward to the spin because I am "forced" to read a classic book which I always end up enjoying.  Check out my post which has the list of the 20 possible books and the details.  Join me if you like! You will notice that all of the books on my list are authored by females.  That was my commitment to read female authors of classic books this year. I've done pretty well. So far I have read five books which fit the category, with this one and Out of Africa I may make it to seven for the year. Not bad!

I really recommend you watch this video by comedian John Oliver. I actually think it is helpful in comparing the scandals of Clinton and Trump. They aren't equal.

Classics Club Spin #14

It's that time again for the Classics Club Spin.

What is the spin?

It’s easy. By October 3rd, Monday, list your choice of any twenty Classic books you'd like to read.

This is your Spin List. You have to read one of these twenty books in October and November.  So, try to challenge yourself. For example, you could list five Classics Club books you are dreading/hesitant to read, five you can’t WAIT to read, five you are neutral about, and five free choice (favorite author, rereads, ancients — whatever you choose.)

Next October 3rd, Classic Club will report, and I will report here, a number from 1 through 20. The challenge is to read whatever book falls under that number on your Spin List, by Dec.1st . 

My list:

	Title	Author
1	Little Women	Alcott, Louisa May
2	Bastard Out of Carolina	Allison, Dorothy
3	Agnes Grey	Bronte, Anne
4	Kindred	Butler, Octavia
5	Death Comes for the Archbishop	Cather, Willa
6	Murder on the Orient Express	Christie, Agatha
7	The Optimist's Daughter	Eudora Welty
8	Jamaica Inn	DuMaurier, Daphne
9	Middlemarch	Eliot, George
10	Cranford	Gaskill, Elizabeth
11	Interpreter of Maladies	Lahiri, Jhumpa
12	Breathing Lessons	Ann Tyler
13	Anne of Avonlea	Montgomery, L.M.
14	Suite Francais	Nimerovsky, Irene
15	House of Mirth	Edith Wharton
16	Gilead	Robinson, Marianne
17	Wild Sargasso Sea	Rhys, Jean
18	Mrs. Dalloway	Woolf, Virginia
19	To the Lighthouse	Woolf, Virginia
20	So Big	Edna Ferber

I know some of these books are not exactly CLASSICS in the true sense of the word by I am attempting to read all or most of the Pulitzer Prize winning books authored by females and I am interested in knocking many of the books off the 102 Greatest Books by female authors list.

Heavy Heart

My beloved father-in-law died last Monday night. He and his wife were in Arizona for a quick vacation and he collapsed and died while taking a shower in the evening. My heart is just broken.

Chet (blue coat) and his brother, Bill, at Rita's wedding in 2012.

Chet was such a strong, loving man. It seemed like he was going to live forever. When other people aged, he seemed to be just the same, strong and vital. It seemed that way until earlier this year when he started having trouble with his heart and yet it still seemed like he would have surgery and all would be well, again. He did have a pacemaker installed and it really didn't help him. We were all coming to terms with his mortality but we weren't prepared for the abruptness of his passing. Now we are left with the hard work of grieving.

As I think about Chet it is hard for me to think of him without a book in his hand. He loved to read. The books he read, however, were the types of books no one ever talks about including him. I think most of them were of the western or spy thriller genres, but I am not sure. When he and his wife would visit us they always wanted to go to our used bookstore. They would buy the bargain books on the 50 cent table so they wouldn't feel bad about reading the book and then abandoning it wherever they were when they finished it. I picture a wake of used paperbacks trailing behind them, left behind on cruise ships, in vacation condos, and tourist hotels. They also bought books for their little mini-lending library outside their home. I am pretty sure that Chet built it and his wife kept it stocked with used books she thought the neighborhood teens and children would like. I love it that they were book lovers.

One time when we visited Don's childhood home, I was prowling around looking for something and I
opened a closet door thinking I might find what I wanted inside. I was shocked at what I found. It was a closet full of Louis L'Amour books, hundreds of them.They were well organized almost as if the closet was a tiny Louis L'Amour bookstore. It makes me smile to even think of it today.

As a tribute to my father-in-law today I am going to read my very first Louis L'Amour book. I'll have to drop by our local used bookstore to find one. And while I'm there, I think I'll pick up a few books to feed the local mini-lending library in hopes that some child drops by and is delighted by the books within.

Rest in peace, Chet. Thanks for the memories.

Friday Quotes: Girl in the Blue Coat

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from the book.
The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56.

Check out the links for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Participants don't select their favorite, coolest, or most intellectual books, they just use the one they are currently reading. This is the book I'm reading right now---

Book Title: Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

Book Beginning:

A long time before Bas died, we had a pretend argument about whose fault it was that he'd fallen in love with me.

Friday 56:

Mr. Kreuk is a good man. He pays me fairly. He gave me my other, secret job, which pays even more.

Comment: Everyone is talking about this WWII Holocaust story set in Holland. I hope to listen to the audiobook this weekend as we are taking a bit of a road trip.

TTT: Audiobooks!

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten audiobooks I want I hope to listen to soon!

Yay! Finally a topic after my heart. I love listening to audiobooks. I am always searching for good books in the audio format.  And because I am a big believer in libraries these must be available free of charge with my library card. This is not always an easy task.

Here are a few books I hope to listen to soon:

1. Girl in the Blue Coat by Monica Hesse

Click on the audio link under the photo of this hyperlink to hear a sample.

I actually bought the CD-set of this audiobook and it arrived today. It will be my next book.

2. Gulp by Mary Roach

Click on link for a sample

I started this audiobook last year and wasn't able to finish it before I had to return it to the library. I want to finish it.

3. True Grit by Charles Portis

Sample.

This book has been on my TBR forever and I keep thinking if I can find an audiobook I'll finally consume it!

4. LaRose by Louise Erdrich

Sample

I am a Louise Erdrich fan. I want to listen to her latest book.

5. The Perfect Horse: The Daring American Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis by Elizabeth Letts

Sample on Soundcloud

I just heard about this book and it is the type I love to listen to.

6. Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsberg by Irin Carmon

Sample

My husband and daughter listened to this audiobook and recommend it.

7. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri

Sample

I always enjoy listening to books with multi-cultural themes.

8. Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

I haven't found a sample but I hope I do. This is a perfect type of book for the audio format.

9. When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Sample on Soundcloud

Sometimes these serious books are best for me if I can listen rather than read.

10. On the Edge of Gone by Corrine Duyvis

Sample on Soundcloud

Fantasy and Science fiction are good audio selections. I am looking forward to this one.

What books are looking forward to listening to?

YALSA's Backlist Reading Challenge

Check it out! YALSA is hosting an awesome reading challenge: to read award books you may have missed from past years.

Between now and Nov. 15th attempt to read five books to create a BINGO, or if you have nothing else to do, go for a BLACKOUT!

Here is a link to the YALSA Website which contains links to all the YALSA AWARD and BOOKLISTS.

Since I am still focused on reading potential Printz Award candidates for this year I do not want to pick up a new challenge myself but I wanted to see if I could actually fill in all the blanks from past reading since I do attempt to read the award winners every year and I did it. Check out my list below of books I have already read. I scored a blackout (but did all my reading before this challenge actually started.)

All the Light We Cannot See/Doerr (Alex Award 2016)	Ghosts of Heaven/Sedgwick (2016 Printz Honor)	Dreams of Gods and Monsters/ Taylor (Amazing Audiobook 2015)	Audacity/ Crowder (Top Ten BFYA 2016)	Nimona/ Stevenson (Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers 2016)
The Fault in Our Stars /Green (2013 Odyssey winner)	Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda/Albertalli (2016 Morris Award winner)	Bone Gap /Ruby (2016 Printz Award winner)	Rotters/ Kraus (Odyssey 2012, outside my comfort range)	Nimona/ Stevenson (Great Graphic Novels 2016)
Brown Girl Dreaming/ Jaqueline Woodsen (2015 Coretta Scott King Author Award)	Love Dictionary/ David Levithan (2016 Edwards Author Award Winner)	FREE	Eleanor and Park/ Rowell (2014 Printz Honor)	Speak/ Anderson (Popular Paperbacks 2015)
Gabi, a Girl in Pieces/ Quintero (on both Quick Picks and BFYA 2015)	Looking for Alaska/ Green (2005 Printz Award; reread in 2014)	The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time/ Haddon (Alex Award; reread in 2014)	We Are All Made of Molecules/ Neilson (Rainbow Book List 2015)	The Carnival at Bray/ Foley (2015 Morris Honor Book)
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2013 Pura Belpre Winner)	Jackaby/Ritter (BFYA 2015)	Porcupine the Truth/ Konigsberg (Stonewall Award 2016)	The Unlikely Hero of Room 13-B/ Toten (Schneider Family Book Award 2016)	Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War/ Sheinkin (YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction 2016)