Thursday 27 May 2010

Armchair BEA: A Bookworms Childhood Memory of a Book Expo

armchairBEA

I have a precious memory from when I am 7 or 8. It is precious to me because it is one of the true manifestations of my total and utter book geekiness.

Every year in the city where we lived when I was little, Gothenburgh, they have a Book Expo called Bok och Bibliotek Göteborg Book Fair. One year my grandmother took me to it for the day. I was in heaven. Everywhere I could see there were tables with books. Lots and lots and lots of books.

ArmchairBEA Bok och biblioteksmässan 20100527 Image Credit skrivanet

At that point I didn’t know about freebies, and ARCs and other lovely things that one can acquire at the these types of events. I was just so incredibly excited about the amount of books. Think of all those stories you have yet to experience! All those new characters to meet! The smell of new books (not quite as lovely as the smell of old books but still heady for a small child). I was convinced that this was the most magical place on earth. A place where everything was awesome. I didn’t mind the crowds (I usually do). I didn’t mind the noise or the jostling. I was in my kinda place.

I honestly can’t remember if I got a book that day (in all likelihood I did, my family has never denied me books) but what I do remember is the absolute sense of being in the best place ever. I have wanted to go back ever since but it never seems to work out (we moved shortly after) but this year, this year I WILL be going back. Knowing full well that it wont be the same as then. I honestly think it will be better. More awesome. Just more. Because now I can share that experience with others in a way I couldn’t back then. So look for plenty of posts about this event at the end of September. I have some speakers I really really want to see. So although I am insanely jealous of all those at BEA, I also know that theirs is almost over and I still have mine left to look forward to.

Anyone else going to be in Gothenburgh September 23-27 2010?

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Wednesday 26 May 2010

Book Review: In The Bleak Midwinter

in the bleak midwinter 2 In The Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

Category: Crime Fiction

Challenges: Thriller and Suspense Challenge

Synopsis: Reverend Clare Fergusson has only just started her new job as the priest of St. Albans Episcopal Church in Miller’s Kill, upstate New York. One cold winters evening when she is heading out for a run she finds a new born baby abandoned in a box on the church step. This is the start of a mystery that will bring new people into her life and also grave danger.

My Thoughts: I read this book on a recommendation from someone who thought I would like it because I like J.D. Robb’s In Death series. Although the two series are quite different I really like this one as well.

The first thing that struck me about the book was the similarities between Miller’s Kill (where the book is set) and my own home town. Many of the same social and economic issues are present. Although here it is not necessary to have money for college (we do not pay tuition) it is still the issue of there being very little future for those who do want to stay here. The inclusion of the social problems that the lack of a future cause really show the real problems faced by many people in the western world.

These social problems also become the backdrop for the crime Reverend Clare Fergusson and Police Chief Russ Van Alsyne are tasked with solving. The discovery of an infant on the steps of the local church and then the finding of the body of a young woman in the forests surrounding the town bring to the forefront the tensions in the town between those who have and those who do not. By using the social problems and the tensions they great Spencer-Fleming manages to create a town that feels, at least to me, very very real. It could easily have taken place here, half a world away.

I also liked the way Spencer-Fleming used the elements, the cold winter, to mirror the reception that Clare gets to many of her initiatives. It isn’t just there to heighten the the tension, but it also adds its own layer to the story. Actually many of the different places where the story takes place helps to make the story richer.

This book did suffer a bit from being the first in the series. There were a couple of instances of information dump that felt a bit much, a bit unorganic, almost repetitive. One example of this is the continued focus on the fact that Clare is the first female priest in the town, almost every single new character had to remark on it.

I did like that Clare believed in the basic goodness of people. She truly believed that people at their core are good. So often when you read crime novels the basic assumption is that people are bad, not that they are good. This is a truly refreshing point of view.

I am really curious to see how they play out the relationship between Clare and Russ. So far they definitely have a connection but at the same time Russ is married. I worry a bit about how Spencer-Fleming will portray this relationship. I really like these two characters and I don’t really want it to be sordid, and if it isn’t I also don’t want it to take forever for them to get together. Quite frankly I get enough of that from every single tv show I watch (yes I am looking at you Castle and you Bones!)

I liked this book so much that I have ordered the rest of the books that have been published in the series.

Purchase In The Bleak Midwinter from BookDepository.

CymLowell

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Tuesday 25 May 2010

Armchair BEA: Author Signing

armchairBEA

Today at Armchair BEA we are doing BEA related topics. I’ve chosen to write about a recent book signing I went to.

While those who are currently at BEA were making lists and checking them twice as to which signings they were planning on going to I went to a signing. One of my favourite photographers is a man called Lennart Nilsson. He is the photographer who takes pictures of foetuses in utero, actually of the whole process. I have loved him since I was a little girl and my parents bought the book and used it to explain where babies came from.

On Friday the new Museum of Photography was opened in Stockholm and since both my visiting friend E and I are big on photography we thought it was a great opportunity to combine sightseeing with something we loved. 

Nilssons exhibit at the museum was amazing (as was the one by Annie Leibovitz). Seeing foetuses in utero that close up is incredibly cool and humbling, especially right now, as my sister is pregnant (she is due in July).

As part of the museums opening they are currently having photographers sign their books pretty much every day, and on opening day it was (luckily for me) Lennart Nilsson who was doing the signing.

Ems visit 001 We had the opportunity to have the newest edition of his book signed.

Ems visit 076

To meet one of my favourite photographers like that was an amazing experience. He was so nice. He didn’t talk much but he did smile the whole time and seemed to genuinely enjoy meeting people.

We managed to get into the line quite quickly and were some of the first people to get our books signed. The girl in the picture above got both a book and a poster signed. She was explaining that the poster was for a local children’s hospital and he was more than happy to sign it for her.

Ems visit 077

For me though it was just so big to meet him even if it was just for a few minutes and to see his pictures. They are truly amazing!

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Thursday 20 May 2010

I’m A Guest Today

The only boy for me my cover I’m Guest Posting today over at Aarti’s B O O K L U S T about one of my all time favourite books, The Only Boy For Me by Gil McNeil, as part of her Reverent Hands Feature. I love this feature because it shows off more unusual books, which Aarti does well normally as well! Please head on over to learn about one of my all time favourite books. It always makes me laugh!

 

 

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Wednesday 19 May 2010

Book Review: Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers

mystics, mavericks and merrymakers Mystics, Mavericks, and Merrymakers: An Intimate Journey Among Hasidic Girls by Stephanie Levine

Category: Non-fiction

Challenges: World Religion Challenge, Women Unbound

Synopsis: Stephanie Levine, Harvard Ph.D student, spends one year with girls from the Lubavich branch of Judaism. She gets to know the girls, their hopes, dreams and worries. What comes out of this study is a thoughtful and thought provoking portrait not just of the girls, their religion but also of girlhood in general.

My Thoughts: This was a thoroughly engaging, interesting and informative read. Levine’s portraits of the young girls touches upon some of the central aspects of growing up, aspects that are similar to girls in most of the world, while at the same time showing the differences between the girls in this community and the secular world, AND the differences between the girls themselves. She manages to draw important conclusions and highlight aspects where those of us in the secular world can learn from these deeply religious girls.

The book is part of Levine’s graduate study in American studies and as such reads like an academic paper. It is essentially divided into three sections: what she hopes to achieve and her methods; an introduction to the community and then the girls themselves; and finally the lessons she feels that the secular world can learn from her study.

As a student of humanities I loved her method discussion. She discusses previous studies that has impacted on her choice of method. The method chosen for this study is in depth interviews that follow no previous script, but rather flow, dependent on a relationship between the interviewer and the interviewee. This caused Levine to live within the Hasidic community in Crown Heights, Brooklyn for a year. I loved both the discussion of the methodology chosen and the way it worked. I can definitely understand how and why she got such detailed portraits of each of the girls. You can tell from the way she writes about them that they became her friends, that she cared deeply about them and their lives. This came across in the writing and made me want to know more about the girls, what happened next, did they fulfil their dreams etc. I do hope that Levine follows up with the girls in ten years time.

Some of Levine’s discussion regarding her findings are highly relevant for me as a future teacher and they are definitely something I will take into consideration in my future career. She discusses creating spaces for girls to be themselves without the competition both with boys, and with other girls for the attention of the boys. Lubavitch girls live a life with strict gender segregation and although this partially offends my feminist sensibilities I can also see the advantages, especially amongst teenagers. Levine argues that many girls lose their authentic voice as teenagers due to the tensions that are created in mixed gender settings, as someone who has spent time with teenagers I can only agree. In Sweden we often end up with gender segregated classes in high school because of the track system we have. For example Barn & Fritid (the Child & Recreation) program attracts a lot more girls than boys, conversely at the school where I do my placement we have a class on the mechanic/trucker program with only boys. These classes often have very different dynamics to those classes that are more evenly matched. Levine goes to great length to point out that gender segregation isn’t for everyone, or something that should be ongoing, but rather argues that it could offer girls especially a way to find their own voice. Setting it up as something temporary with support once it changes. It is an idea I can buy.

For me it was interesting to learn about the Lubavitch because I had never before come across evangelical Jews. The Lubavitch work to increase the observance amongst Jews. Although a large concentration of Lubavitch Jews live in the Crown Heights area many also live in Chabad houses around the world. These outreach houses are there to help local Jews to become more observant. The Lubavitch believe that Jews following rituals will call forth the Messiah. The Lubavitch have in the past been lead by the Rebbe, a spiritual leader whom some believe was the Messiah or will return as the Messiah.

If I have one criticism of the book than it is the choice of girls. Levine does comment that it was often easier to get the girls on the extremes of religious acceptance to talk to her. The very religious girls were willing to talk to her in order to increase her faith whereas the “rebels” were willing to talk because they liked hearing from someone outside of their faith. Although she does include some “normal” (their own word) girls, I personally felt that the book could have benefited from more of them. From what Levine says in the opening chapters and what she alludes to throughout the book, these girls often shape the community, and I never felt that I got to really see one of them.

One of the aspects of the Lubavich culture that Levine found fascinating, as did I, was the emphasis put on self examination. Not navel gazing, but “how do I fit in in the bigger picture”, “how does my actions impact on the goal”. Levine rightly points out that in much of secular society this type of reflection does not exist, or is at least not encouraged. Part of the Lubavich faith is the belief that each holy action brings the Messiah closer. It could be an action as simple as lighting the Shabbos candles that brings him into the world. Because of this the girls are encouraged to examine their actions and their faith on a regular basis.

I found the book incredibly interesting. There were things in it that informed me about the religion that is at the centre of these girls. And there were other things that I felt I could use in my future profession. And further things that allow me to see humans in general in a different light. It is a book I highly recommend for anyone who is interested in different cultures and in what makes people who they are.

Purchase Mystics, Mavericks and Merrymakers from BookDepository.

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Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North.clip_image001This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

CymLowell

Tuesday 18 May 2010

Teaser Tuesday: The Unlikely Disciple

Teaser Tuesday Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

the-unlikely-disciple-cover1

If social networking sites had existed in Margaret Mead’s day, she wouldn’t have had to do all that messy field research in the South Pacific. She could have logged on to the Samoa network, browsed some profiles, poked the chieftains, and formed her conclusions, all from her neighborhood Starbucks” (pg 67).

From The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinners Semester at America’s Holiest University by Kevin Roose

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Monday 17 May 2010

Book Review: The Forbidden Daughter

the-forbidden-daughter The Forbidden Daughter by Shobhan Bantwal

Category: Fiction

Challenges: South Asian Author Challenge, 2010 Challenge (Win! Win!), Women Unbound, POC Challenge

Synopsis: Isha and her husband Nikhil are expecting their second child. When an ultrasound reveals that the child is a girl, just like their older daughter, Isha’s in-laws start pressing the young couple to have an abortion. When Nikhil dies under mysterious circumstances tension between Isha and the in-laws reach breaking point and she must make decisions to protect her girls.

My Thoughts: Books or discussions about selective abortion never fail to get me riled up. Although I am staunchly pro-choice I believe that every abortion is a tragedy. I find it especially repugnant when abortions are done on basis of gender, no matter what that gender is. I thought the book dealt very well with the arguments used both for (weak as they are) and against gender selective abortions. It shows how people who can appear to be one thing are really something else entirely.

Gender selection is perhaps the main theme of the book, however, another strong theme is relationships and when we choose to lean on those with whom we have relationships. Isha, the main character in the book, loses her husband to, what appears to be a senseless act of violence. This causes her already tenuous relationship with her in-laws to break down completely. Alone in the world with one small child and another one on the way she seeks refuge with the nuns in town. Here is where I start having problems with parts of the story. Isha is perfectly happy accepting the help from the nuns, but she is initially resistant to accept it from both her sister-in-law and from the doctor she meets, except she isn’t really. These instances of reluctance seem to be present to portray Isha as both independent and unwilling to accept charity. For me there is nothing wrong with accepting charity when you need it, which Isha clearly did. But her initial reluctance followed by quick acceptance felt forced and contrived.

I got the same feelings from the conclusion of the story. I don’t want to spoil but I will say that the ending felt like Bantwal went, “oh dear I can solve this problem by doing this but it doesn’t solve this one, and really I must have some excitement…” For me she could have left of the excitement she chose. There was plenty of it anyway and it introduced a new character far to late in the story and to me, honestly made it seem a bit like a bad soap opera.

What I did enjoy was the growing relationship between Isha and the doctor. It was sweet and touched upon some interesting ideas regarding moving on when you lose a spouse. It presented some of the cultural aspects of arranged marriages that I had little understanding of in an easy to understand way.

In addition to this Isha overall comes across as a strong character. She stands up to her in-laws when they abuse her daughter. She works hard to provide for her daughters, she feels a sense of duty to those whose lives she matters in.

The subject matter of selective abortion touched me, the story in the book felt rather pedestrian. I felt that parts were rushed, came out of left field and the characters were rather flat. I would have like to get to know Isha better. But it felt like it jumped from crises to crises without any depth.

Overall I did like the book. It was a quick, entertaining read with a very important main subject matter. I felt the story itself could have been a bit better told.

Purchase The Forbidden Daughter from BookDepository

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Sunday 16 May 2010

The Sunday Salon: Getting Back in the Groove

The Sunday Salon.com

So the past few weeks have been über busy with finishing up my thesis and starting my summer job. Add to that a big @ss thunderstorm that left us without power, phone and water and I’ve actually got a lot of reading done just not a lot of blogging. That will hopefully change next week. I am insanely busy the next 7 days with work, running races and visiting friends but I do have some post scheduled and some books ALMOST done so hopefully there will be some activity on the blog this week and then loads starting the following week. This is all my way of saying sorry for the radio silence.

Spotlight Series

I don’t have anything much to talk about today but I do want to point you in the direction of something close to my heart. The Spotlight Series is on this coming week and Aarti at B O O K L U S T has a great preview. Head on over there and check it out! I so wish I had take part in this one!

armchairBEA Armchair BEA logo by Puss Reboots

Are you, like me, not able to go to BEA and/or the Book Blogger Convention? If so why not join in the Armchair BEA? This is a great idea born on Twitter and I am sooooo going to join it! For more information head on over to Florinda at The 3 R’s and join in the fun!

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Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North.clip_image001This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Tuesday 11 May 2010

Teaser Tuesday: The Only Boy For Me

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The only boy for me other cover “’All right then, let’s go for the old-fashioned approach. If you speak to me like that again I shall slap you hard, and then you’ll be sorry. Just tell me what you want to do next, or shall I get them to build a nice big track while you have a little think?’” (pg242)

From The Only Boy For Me by Gil McNeil

 

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Sunday 2 May 2010

The Sunday Salon: Reading as a Stress Buster

The Sunday Salon.com

Very short little salon today because I am very busy working on my thesis. My thesis advisor caused me a great deal of stress this past week by not getting back to me in a timely manner. Once I had gotten the essay back I came across an article in a fitness magazine that I thought I would share with you guys. It is very short, not really an article but here it is (my translation).

A Good Book Gives Peace for Your Soul

Let go of the netsurfing, dust bunnies and racing thoughts and devote yourself to a heavenly moment in company with the literature you prefer. It gives peace.

When we are captured by a good book it helps us move focus from our problems and let them go , a study from Mindlab, University of Sussex, England, shows.

Just six minutes with a gripping or exciting book is enough to reduces stress levels with more than two thirds. According to psychologists the reason is as simple as when the brain concentrates on reading it gets distracted and the body “forgets” to tighten heart and muscles. If you don’t have time to read, you can achieve the same calming effect with an audio book.

From iForm number 7/2010

What do you like to read to relax? Any particular genre or author?

Due to the great work load I have right now with my thesis things will be very quite here on the blog until mid-May. I hope to be back to normal by then. Hope you all have a great time in the mean time!

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