Reading Roundup: November 2007

Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

I'd always assumed this book was from the nineteenth century until I checked it out and realized that it was written in the 1970s. I also realized after reading it that I probably would have loved it when I was ten. Instead I read it in about an hour and wasn't all that impressed. It was an intriguing premise, but the book felt like it could have done so much more with the idea.

She Got Up Off the Couch (And Other Heroic Acts from Mooreland, Indiana) by Haven Kimmel

I really liked A Girl Named Zippy because it was so ordinary, not like so many recent "problem memoirs" that seem to try and outdo each other with how horrific the authors' lives were. Even though Kimmel here reveals more about her family than I expected based on the first book, I still found this to be a very positive book. I loved the fact that she can look back on her childhood and still see things with a child's eyes. She presents the world in the way she saw it at age nine, and I think that really resonated with me because my life has often been the same way. Looking back at my life I can see things that were very different from how I perceived them at the time, but I'm glad I had my rose-tinted glasses on as a kid. This is one of the best memoirs I've read in a long time, and Kimmel's mom really is heroic.


The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less by Barry Schwartz

This book was a lot easier to read than I thought it would be on first glance. His central thesis is that our abundance of choices actually wastes time and contributes to anxiety and depression because we have to spend so much time wading through information. I thought his links between choice, the illusion of control, and depression were pretty interesting. Some parts of the book I didn't totally agree with, but I thought it a good read with some useful practical applications as well.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Halfway through this book I realized that I should have checked it out in the original Spanish. I really don't know why I got the English version. The translation felt pretty solid, but I just kept getting bugged by little things that I'm used to reading in Spanish (like foods--"omelet sandwich" just hurts my ears). I thought this was a pretty good, but I wasn't blown away like many people seem to be. It feels a lot like five or six other recent Spanish novels I've read, and it's not the best one of the lot.

The Storyteller's Daughter by Saira Shah

This book was quite compelling, especially as a memoir and exploration of personal myth and identity. If you are looking for concrete facts about the history of Afghanistan this isn't really the best source, but I enjoyed it and found her story quite intriguing.

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Well, now I can finally say that I've read this book. I can understand now why it made such an impact at the time of its publication as well as why it continues to do so. It's well written, and it's been around long enough to become a "classic". At the same time, I've read enough YA fiction about cynical, alienated adolescents to feel somewhat bored with this book. I guess I didn't catch it at the right time in my life.

There's No Jose Here: Following the Hidden Lives of Mexican Immigrants by Gabriel Thompson

I thought this was a very interesting look at the friendship between the author and a Mexican immigrant in New York. The author gets to know Enrique and his family and even travels with them to Mexico for several weeks. However, unlike the implication of the subtitle, I didn't feel like the book did much to draw conclusions or comment on generalities of the immigrant experience. There is some commentary about immigration, but the book itself was mostly personal. And I kept feeling bad because I had hoped the book would dispel some of my stereotypes of Mexican men as overly macho men who use profanity and drink too much. Unfortunately it didn't.

Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls by Rachel Simmons

Although I can see some of the critiques of this book as valid, I still liked it quite a bit. As several reviews pointed out, it shouldn't be the only book you read on female behavior or adolescent behavior. It did make me very grateful that S-Boogie's preschool is already teaching her basic relationship and problem-solving skills. I never experienced much bullying or aggression in school; I wasn't even close to the popular crowd and I'm generally oblivious to all but the most overt aggression. I still drew a lot of lessons from this book, although it scared me to death thinking about my daughter growing up.

Nine Parts of Desire: The Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks

I think this book is most effective as a memoir rather than as a definitive text on Islam and women. In the first place, it covers only Muslims from the Middle East--which is where Brooks' experience lies--but the majority of Muslim women live in Africa and Asia. Also, it was published over ten years ago and some parts of it seem rather dated. At the same time, I found it well-written and engaging. I feel like I learned a lot more about Islam than I knew before and got to know a variety of interesting women.

Movies

The Lives of Others
I already mentioned this one shortly after seeing it, but I don't mind recommending it again. The story was fascinating, the acting excellent, and the cinematography well-done. A very thought-provoking movie.

Capote
Philip Seymour Hoffman does a fabulous job channeling Capote and the movie is an interesting commentary on the relationship between author and subject. But I thought it was a bit on the slow side. Beautiful, but a bit boring.

Elf

We were in the mood for a silly movie, but this really didn't work for us. There were a few funny moments, but the characters were all too stereotypical and the ending didn't feel right at all.

Sense and Sensibility

This movie was my first introduction to Jane Austen and will always have a soft spot in my heart. It's been a few years since I've seen it and I was glad to find out that I still enjoy it. The actors do a great job and I especially love all the details in the costuming, set design, editing, dialogue, and music.

Ong-bak: The Thai Warrior

This is the perfect sort of movie to watch after Thanksgiving dinner. It was a lot of fun and the action sequences were awesome. Plus I found myself really liking the main characters and the story itself was fairly compelling as well.

Head On

Mr. Fob wanted to watch this movie after hearing about it in a class he is taking on immigration in Europe. It was really good; the characters are interesting, the story has a lot of twists and turns, and the cinematography is innovative and original. The violence of a few scenes had me cringing, but other than that I quite enjoyed this movie.