Wait, what did I miss?

It won't give anything away to say that at the end of the book, one of the characters mentioned that the time she had spent with her siblings had an unfinished quality to it. That's pretty much how I felt about the whole of Letter from Point Clear, and apparently that fit Dennis McFarland's intentions. I enjoyed reading the book, but I kept waiting for something to happen -- for a real conflict to arise. There certainly were problems, some of which found resolution, but it felt like the book never found its reason for existing. Was the author commenting on religion? family dynamics? homosexuality? Or just a chance for some lovely writing and interesting characters to get together, without anything much actually occurring?

Acceptance is an important step

I have no problem with chick lit and other various forms of brain candy. But a book should just accept that it is fluff and not try to pretend that it's highbrow. Ann Packer's Songs Without Words thinks it's a bigger, more literary book than it actually is. The story isn't bad, but the characters are overdone; ironic, since the characters periodically discuss how one ought not categorize people as "the smart one" or "the creative one." And yet the book's people so neatly fit into those generalizations: Troubled Teen, Soccer Mom, Artsy Friend with Issues. Songs Without Words: It's what happens when good fluff goes bad.

And by the way, it's not symbolism if you have to spell it out. It's just annoying.

Lost in America

OK, I admit it. I've apparently developed a little crush on Neil Gaiman. But could his stuff be any more fabulous? After reading American Gods, I'm quite convinced that when he finished writing it, he had to have just sat back and thought, "Yes, I am that good." There's so much going on in this book, and it's quite different from his other books I've read so far -- it's darker, with considerably more depth. I can't imagine the research and energy that must have gone into this novel. I rarely take books to work, because I never have time to read there, but I kept sneaking chances to read more of American Gods. When I was finished, I was left thoroughly satisfied and yet wanting more. Go read it, if you haven't. Don't bother to find out what it's about first; just jump in. You'll find yourself immediately immersed.

Balancing the right

The religious right, that is. Tom Perrotta's The Abstinence Teacher is a very interesting look at what happens when liberals clash with Christian conservatives, and also what happens when being "born again" doesn't quite stick. The character of Tim is an intriguing mix of pothead-meets-evangelist, and you can imagine how well that's going for him. I'm not sure whether Tim is meant to show that not all Christian conservatives are extremists or just that when normal people mix with extremists, it doesn't work so well. Ruth, on the other hand, is a standard liberal single mom, nothing so novel there. Her career is more interesting -- she was forced to switch her teaching from sex ed to an abstinence-only curriculum (the most useless coursework ever invented, but that's another rant).

I find I can read Perrotta's books very quickly, though they are far from mindless. There were so many characters in this one that I'm not totally sure they were all completely fleshed out. Ruth's daughters' actions, for example, seemed rather random -- the motivation was never totally clear. Nonetheless, the story is compelling while the writing remains intelligent.

Finally!

Poor little neglected blog. Life goes crazy and the blog goes dormant. I finally, finally finished a book, though whether I have anything intelligent to say about it remains to be seen.

I love Ann Patchett. I've read all her books, so I was very excited to see that Run was being published this fall. And... I liked it. I'm not sure I loved it, though the presence of Patchett's writing style does lead me to believe I ought to have loved it. The whole story takes place over 24 hours, which I might not have noticed if I hadn't read it on the jacket flap. In truth, I probably noticed very little about the book and should just give up talking and reread it. Thanks to the hectic insanity of the past few weeks, I didn't absorb nearly enough of it.

The cover art was lovely, as is the British version (which seems to have considerably more to do with the plot than the U.S. cover).

These little furry folks, who we found in our backyard, are among the many things interfering with my reading time lately. While they certainly are the cutest of my distractions, they are also considerably higher maintenance than everything else that has been getting in the way. If you know anyone looking for a kitten, send them my way!

My first tag!

This is indeed a departure from the read-a-book, write-about-a-book plan for this blog, but since I've never been tagged before, I'll play.

Four Jobs I Have Had in My Life
1. Bagel shop worker (all two weeks of it)
2. Church receptionist (another super-short stint, filling in for a friend)
3. Clothing salesgirl
4. Woodshop intern

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over
1. Notting Hill
2. Sense and Sensibility
3. The Princess Bride
4. Serendipity

Four TV Shows I Like to Watch
1. House
2. Gilmore Girls
3. Grey's Anatomy
4. Good Eats

Four Places I Have Vacationed
1. Reno
2. Aruba
3. Germany
4. North Dakota

Four of My Favorite Dishes
This is too hard, so I'm doing ingredients. It's my meme; I'll cheat if I want to!
1. Basil
2. Tomatoes
3. Bread
4. Chocolate

Four Websites I Visit Daily
1. Yahoo Mail
2. Gmail
3. Weather.com
4. Stuff on My Cat

Four Places I Would Rather Be
1. On a beach
2. In our new house (the one we haven't bought yet)
3. Greece
4. At the lake

Four Bloggers I Am Tagging
1. Elly Says Opa!
2. Joelen's Culinary Adventures
3. Suzy’s Not a Homemaker
4. Then There Was One

Real imagination

I love the way Neil Gaiman combines reality and fantasy in Neverwhere (which is, by the way, such a lovely title) -- the combination of human truths and creative adventures is, well, fantastic. The unraveling of the plot came a little early, I thought, but there were still enough trials for the characters that it didn't feel anticlimactic. I loved the ending: satisfying without being completely predictable.