Book Beginnings.

This is my first time participating in this meme.  How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you're reading. Then, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence. The link-up will be at A Few More Pages every Friday.

From Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohen and David Levithan (YA-c.2010)

Imagine this.
     You're in your favorite bookstore, scanning the shelves. You go to the section where a favorite author's books reside, and there nestled in comfortably between the incredibly familiar spines, sits a red notebook.
     What do you do?

Well, I would take a look.  Wouldn't you?  I'm intrigued to find out what is in the notebook...though I suspect it is the book of dares mentioned in the title.  This is an excellent opener for a book since YA books need to start off with a bang or a puzzle or some grabber to get teens interested in reading.  I ready to keep going.

Friday!

Today's meme from Crazy for Books is:

"What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?"

Plot might entice me to pick up a book but characters keep me reading.  My book group had an excellent discussion on this topic after we read the book Olive Kitteridge.  Olive is not a very likable character yet the book,  a series of vignettes all involving Olive, is excellent.  Is it possible to like a book if you don't like the main character? If you think your answer is no, think about the book Lolita.

What I'm Reading and Want to Read

I just learned that WWW Wednesday is no longer a weekly meme on the book blogosphere so I decided to just do my own thing or I will try this meme at Book Journey. Hopefully a few of you followers out there will let me know what you are reading and either let me know in the comment section or post a link so I can take a look over at your blog. Here goes...

I am currently reading: 

The first two chapters of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  I call them the Christmas chapters.  It has been a long time since I read this book and decided to just reread this small portion. I'm "into" Christmas stories and books right now!

I am currently listening to on audio-books:

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner.  This is the sequel to the very exciting YA dystopian/adventure book, The Maze Runner.  I'm on the last disk and things are coming to a climax.  This is the 2nd book of a trilogy so no doubt I will be left hanging.

I just finished reading:

The Human Stain by Philip Roth.  This was our book club selection for the month and it was the first time since we started meeting that we were unanimous in not liking our book selection.  We did, however, have a good discussion about it and decided it would be a good book for a college lit class...lots of symbolism and things to discuss and dissect.

What is my next book:

Dash and Lily's Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. I'm going with the Christmas theme again.  I'm looking forward to reading another book by this winning duo. 

Top Ten Tuesday: New books in 2011

Today's meme at the Broke and Bookish is:  What books do you eagerly look forward to reading in 2011? I have spent the night contemplating this question and decided that with so many books on my TBR pile that it is hard to be excited about up-coming attractions. So instead of books for myself I've decided to answer this question as books for my students/for my library. Many teenagers seemingly "live" to read the next book in their favorite series or from their favorite authors. Here are a few that kids have already asked me about (in no particular order):

1.  Ranger's Apprentice, Book #10: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja by John Flanagan.  It is due out in April 2011.  I have more devoted readers to this series than any other.  Both boys and girls love it.

2.  House of Night, Book #8: Awakened by P.C. and Kristin Cast.  Due out January 4th.  I'd better order this book today because girls will want this book the minute they get back from Winter Break.  This is the series that many girls went to after they had finished the Twilight series.

3.  Blue Bloods, Book #6: Bloody Valentine by Melissa De la Cruz.  The publication date is December 28th but I won't be at school then so I will count this one in the 2011 list.  Girls also go to this series if they aren't sick of vampires, yet.

4.  Shiver, Book #3: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater.  I don't often read more than the first book in a series but I really liked Shiver so I think I'll give Linger (#2) and Forever a try.  This is the love story between a girl and a werewolf, which sound hokey but it works.  It is not due out until July.

5.  Blood Ninja II: The Revenge of Lord Ota by Nick Lake.  I just discovered that this book has already been released so I will order this one immediately.  I have a few devoted followers of this new series and they'll be glad to see a new installment.

6.  Something new by Stephenie Meyer.  Anything?  I can't find anything in the works except An Illustrated Guide to the Twilight series due out this Spring.  Does anyone else know anything?

7.  Inheritance Cycle (Eragon series), book #4 by Christopher Paolini.  I have no idea how to write a short book so I shouldn't be critical of an author taking his time writing a long, complicated book but fans of the Eragon series, including me, are impatient for the last book in this marvelous series. Will it be out in 2011?

 8.  Bridge of Clay by Marcus Zusak.  This book is supposed to come out in February but I wonder if that means it will be published in Australia at that time not in the USA yet.  Anyway, I'm eager for a new Zusak book.  Aren't you?

9.  Beka Cooper Trilogy, Book Three: Mastiff by Tamora Pierce.  Ms. Pierce has a very devoted following and it will be nice to have the conclusion to this excellent trilogy.  It is set to be released sometime in 2011 though I don't see a publication date anywhere.

10.  The sequel to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie.  I know he's writing it.  I heard Alexie read the first chapter.  Will it be done and out in 2011.  I sure hope so.

What books are waiting for and hope to see in 2011?

Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick

Argh! The selection of my favorite book for the Mock Printz Workshop was just made more difficult by the reading of this excellent book, Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick.

A boy sits in a cold, bare shack somewhere north of the Arctic Circle, alone but for his father's body lying on a table, frozen both by rigor mortis and the manner of his death. The boy's older sister and stepmother have gone for help. And then there is a knock on the door: outside is a giant of a man asking for the boy's father.


This is as stark a beginning as you can imagine. And it gets worse. The giant is convinced that the dead man has stolen his gold. He isn't going to leave without it – and he has a gun. But so in a way does Sig, the boy. -Mary Hoffman for The Guardian.co.uk

Revolver  is a very short book, just 200 pages. It can be read in one sitting, which is good because it is so taut and tense I never wanted to put it down.  Every word in this psychological thriller seems necessary and purposeful.  It's opening line sets the stage for the tension that follows: "Even the dead tell stories." Sig must discover what his dead father has to tell him in order to survive himself.

Several reviewers say that this is a coming-of-age story.  I don't disagree though I think of it more as a survival story and so much more. When asked by students what the book is about I tell them it is about a revolver, a gun, which plays as important role in the book as any other character. Obviously the title, Revolver, will attract male readers, which I'm always looking for, but I think it will have general appeal to all readers, including adults.Whether this book wins a Printz Award or not in January, I will be purchasing additional copies to place on my Nifty-Fifty Book Cart. I hope by doing this as many students as possible read this book.  You should, too!

Amazing Peace: a Christmas Poem by Maya Angelou

I will let the poem speak for itself and encourage you to pick this book up because of the amazing paintings/illustrations that go along with the poem.  Snuggle up and read it together as a family and try to live it in the new year. Yes, I know the format is in a Children's book but the topic is universal. (My book includes a CD of Maya Angelou reading the poem.) Peace!

Amazing Peace: A Christmas Poem   

By Maya Angelou

Thunder rumbles in the mountain passes
And lightning rattles the eaves of our houses.
Flood waters await us in our avenues.

Snow falls upon snow, falls upon snow to avalanche
Over unprotected villages.
The sky slips low and grey and threatening.

We question ourselves.
What have we done to so affront nature?
We worry God.
Are you there? Are you there really?
Does the covenant you made with us still hold?

Into this climate of fear and apprehension, Christmas enters,
Streaming lights of joy, ringing bells of hope
And singing carols of forgiveness high up in the bright air.
The world is encouraged to come away from rancor,
Come the way of friendship.

It is the Glad Season.
Thunder ebbs to silence and lightning sleeps quietly in the corner.
Flood waters recede into memory.
Snow becomes a yielding cushion to aid us
As we make our way to higher ground.

Hope is born again in the faces of children
It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets.
Hope spreads around the earth. Brightening all things,
Even hate which crouches breeding in dark corridors.

In our joy, we think we hear a whisper.
At first it is too soft. Then only half heard.
We listen carefully as it gathers strength.
We hear a sweetness.
The word is Peace.

It is loud now. It is louder.
Louder than the explosion of bombs.

We tremble at the sound. We are thrilled by its presence.
It is what we have hungered for.
Not just the absence of war. But, true Peace.
A harmony of spirit, a comfort of courtesies.
Security for our beloveds and their beloveds.

We clap hands and welcome the Peace of Christmas.
We beckon this good season to wait a while with us.
We, Baptist and Buddhist, Methodist and Muslim, say come.

Peace.

Come and fill us and our world with your majesty.
We, the Jew and the Jainist, the Catholic and the Confucian,
implore you to stay awhile with us
so we may learn by your shimmering light
how to look beyond complexion and see community.

It is Christmas time, a halting of hate time.
On this platform of peace, we can create a language
to translate ourselves to ourselves and to each other.

At this Holy Instant, we celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ
Into the great religions of the world.
We jubilate the precious advent of trust.
We shout with glorious tongues the coming of hope.
All the earth’s tribes loosen their voices to celebrate the promise of Peace.

We, Angels and Mortals, Believers and Nonbelievers,
Look heavenward and speak the word aloud.
Peace.
We look at our world and speak the word aloud.
Peace.
We look at each other, then into ourselves,
And we say without shyness or apology or hesitation:
Peace, My Brother.
Peace, My Sister.
Peace, My Soul

Christmas in Plains by Jimmy Carter

In a beautifully rendered portrait, Jimmy Carter remembers the Christmas days of his Plains boyhood- the simplicity of family and community gift-giving, his father's eggnog, the children's house decortions, the school Nativity pageant...and the poignancy of his black neighbor's poverty. (-From the book jacket)

Jimmy Carter, the 39th President of the United States of America, is quite an accomplished writer/author. Quite often he writes about political things, which seems like a dumb and obvious thing for me to say, but sometimes he writes about his life as a young child growing up in rural Georgia during the Depression. Christmas in Plains is one such book. In this small book Jimmy Carter recalls stories of long ago Christmases in an America very different that today. As I read through his stories and recollections I felt like I was listening in on a conversation with him. It was as if I had sat down with President Carter and asked him to tell me what Christmas was like during the Depression or what it was like living on a farm. And once he was done telling me those stories he told me about what Christmas was like in the White House. The stories were simple and plain and told without a lot of elaboration or dramatic moments. The conversational tone of the book was very endearing.

Both of my parents were born and live through the Depression so I enjoyed his tales of simple Christmas traditions and happy memories but I think that the average reader would think that the book bordered on boring-not enough drama or humor to keep the average reader reading. I do believe that people my parents age would appreciate this book much more than the set I hang out with...teenagers.  And for contrast I actually really like his book: An Hour before Daylight : Memories of a Rural Boyhood  much better than Christmas in Plains. In that book he talks about what it was like to live in the segregated South during his childhood and how his best friends, until he was school-aged, were black.  His stories are fuller and more detailed which gives them some depth and tremendous insight. I found that book to be fascinating and eye-opening.

 So I hope that you do decide to read something written by Jimmy Carter, I just don't think that Christmas in Plains is the one you should "cut your teeth" on.

A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd

Which came first the movie or the book?  I pondered this question as I picked up A Christmas Story by Jean Shepherd the other day. I hate it when a book isn't any different than the movie. Why should I even bother reading it if they are the same? Fortunately that is not the case with this book which has just catapulted itself near the top of my Favorite Christmas books list.  Let me explain.

Apparently Jean Shepherd, a humorist and radio monologist, wrote several semi-autobiographical essays about his early years during the Depression.  He had these essays published in a book called In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash in 1966.  Later he used four of these essays (and one from another volume) to co-write the screenplay for the 1983 A Christmas Story movie, which has become standard fare during the holiday season in America today. This book, published in 2003, contains the five essays that "Shep" drew material from for his screenplay. (From the Publisher's notes.)

The essays, like the movie, are funny.  Really funny. They are also read aloud good.  I found myself taking the book around with me wherever I went, reading passages aloud to whomever would listen.  I carried it to the lunchroom at school and regaled teachers with excerpts from this little gem of a book.

Shep's essays are not only funny they are superbly written. The essay Duel in the Snow, or Red Ryder Nails the Cleveland Kid was the only Christmas story. It contained the bits in the movie about Ralphie pining for the Red Ryder BB gun and the visit to Santa at the department store.  I was most familiar with the material in this essay.  The other four contained the stories about the Ovaltine decoder ring, the leg lamp, the school bully, and the Bumpus dog caper. All were a delight. Here is just a tiny, teaser excerpt from the essay Grover Dill and the Tasmanian Devil:

The male human animal, skulking through the impenetrable fetid jungle of Kidhood, learns early in the game just what sort of animal he is. The jungle he stalks is a howling, tangled wilderness, infested with crawling, flying, leaping, nameless dangers...He daily does battle with horrors and emotions that he will spend the rest of his life trying to forget or suppress. Or recapture. (81)

Now I need to run out and rent the DVD so I can watch the movie from the beginning-something I've never done before-and you need to get yourself to the bookstore or library and pick up this book.  Do it today.  You won't be disappointed.  I promise.

Friday Blogger Hop

Question of the Day:    
"What very popular and hyped book in the blogosphere did you NOT enjoy and how did you feel about posting your review?"

 I am always very conflicted about posting a negative review.  In fact, I have basically decided that I will follow the Mrs. Thumper rule:  "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  So even if I don't like a book much I try to find and mention some positive aspect of that book.  An example of that is my review of Evermore by Alyson Noel.  I didn't care for the book, but my students like it.  That is the aspect I will focus on.

Holiday # Readathon Challenge

WhoRuBlog.com

#1.WhoRuBlog.com is hosting a  #Readathon this week-end. Several other blogs are participating by hosting giveaways/prizes.  Each site then asks a particular question as proof of participation.  I won't try to join each of the mini-challenges but I will participate in a few.  For #1, I pledge to donate to a charity of my choice $5 per books I finish this week-end. The charity I choose is Greg Mortensen's Pennies for Peace (Three Cups of Tea.) Update: Thanks to this pledge I completed two books this past week-end and will be donating $10 to Pennies for Peace.


#2 The YA Addict is hosting a mini-challenge for the Holiday #Read-a-thon. For it, she's asking us to imagine how a character in our book would celebrate the holidays. I just finished reading the memoir The House at Sugar Beach by Helene Cooper. Helene was born in Liberia, West Africa.  She and her family were forced to moved to the United States when she was 14 years old because of the civil war in Liberia.  I imagine that Helene's first Christmas in America must have been very depressing.  I also picture the family marveling at snow and the cold weather.  Perhaps Helene and her sister sang a variation of the Christmas carol White Christmas: "I'm dreaming of a GREEN Christmas, just like the ones I used to know."

#3 Reading Vacation mini challenge is to tell about a crazy, weird, funny Christmas gift I've received. My funniest Christmas present was a pair of Scottish tartan underpants. My mom and dad went to Scotland and thought I would enjoy wearing a pair of tartan in our family tartan.  Ha-ha.  I guess I was supposed to cover my butt like a good Campbell.

#4 Courtney Reads mini-challenge: describe a place in the world where you'd like to go for a special Christmas vacation. I would go for a family Christmas vacation to Yellowstone National Park. A friend did this with her family and she said it was like stepping back in time...taking a horse-drawn sleigh ride, seeing the park when it is isn't overrun by tourists, snowshoeing up to Old Faithful, etc..

#5 JaneAustenAddict Author Laurie Viera Rigler is offering a mini-challenge to report on a favorite holiday comfort book. Since I was a young girl every Christmas season my mother read aloud the book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson.  Now that I am the mother, I read it to my daughters.  It usually takes three or four evenings to read it.  We cuddle up on the couch together as we read it.  We laugh at the same lines year after years. It's not really Christmas without it.