Where I've Been...

I wish I could say I haven't been blogging because life has been wildly exciting and there just hasn't been time. Unfortunately, a sudden influx of excitement into my life isn't the reason behind my lack of blogging. Well, unless you count the excitement of new books, in which case there has been excitement aplenty. Spoiler alert: this one's all about books.

Back in February, the Scottsbluff Public Library started a new women's book club called, "Not Your Mother's Book Club." One of the librarians that I know invited me to join, saying that we would be reading newer and edgier books, and that the first book selected was really entertaining. For anyone who's known me even a little while, it shouldn't be a surprise that I jumped at the chance to read new books and discuss them with other folks. And for those of you who haven't known me long, just browse back in this blog to the post about my apartment and count the bookshelves. So I showed up for the first meeting, the books were passed out, and we talked about what we wanted from the book club.

The first book was "Bonk: The Curious Science of Sex and Coupling" by Mary Roach. It. Was. Hysterical. I don't remember the last time I laughed that much while reading a book, let alone a non-fiction book, unless it was Mary Roach's "Packing For Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void". "Bonk" looks at the history of sex research and the history of the physiological study of sex, much of the research having been conducted by, you guessed it, men. There have been some pretty crazy experiments conducted through the study of sex, not only in humans, but also in other animals. I know it doesn't exactly sound that way, but I would consider everything I read in "Bonk" to be PG-13 at the highest, and definitely fine for high schoolers and some middle schoolers to read, depending on maturity level.

If you're looking for highly entertaining and factual scientific non-fiction, look no further than Mary Roach. Both books were full of interesting facts, fun stories, and hilarious footnotes the showcased Roach's wry sense of humor. I tell you this, more kids would stay interested in science if Mary Roach oversaw the writing of science text books. Or if teachers just passed out her books instead of the textbooks. If this was what the book club offered, I couldn't wait for the next book in the queue.

March's book was "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky, which has recently gained new fame with the release of the movie adaptation last year. Although very different from "Bonk", I still really enjoyed "Perks". It's the coming-of-age story of Charlie, a fifteen-year-old in his first year of high school. The story is written as a series of letters that Charlie is writing to someone, although we never learn who that person is. In the first letter, Charlies explains that one of his close friends in 8th grade has committed suicide, and that this has changed his (Charlie's) look on life.

One of Charlie's classes is shop, in which he meets Patrick, a senior. Through Patrick, Charlie meets Sam, Patrick's step-sister, and these two become Charlie's friends and introduce him to their group of friends. Charlie's favorite class is English, and his teacher takes a special interest in him, assigning him books to read and write reports on outside of class. Some of the books Charlie reads were "Catcher in the Rye", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "A Separate Peace", "Peter Pan", and "Hamlet". While my high school experience was very different from Charlie's, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

April brought us "Little Bee" by Chris Cleave, published in the UK as "The Other Hand". "Little Bee" is the story of Little Bee, a young Nigerian woman who is seeking asylum on British soil, and a British magazine editor, Sarah, who lives with her husband Andrew and son Charlie (aka Batman). Little Bee met both Sarah and Andrew in Nigeria and the circumstances of this meeting are revealed throughout the story. The book alternates telling the story from Little Bee's point of view and Sarah's point of view. Little Bee's story begins with her release from the immigration detention center in England while Sarah's begins a few days later with her husband's funeral.

I'm not a fan of book reviews that tell you "we can't give you details about this book because it will spoil the book for you", and here I go writing one of those. However, with the way Cleave has constructed his narration, you really can't describe what happens in the novel without giving everything away. Suffice to say that this novel made me angry, made me cry, made me think very hard, made me want to stop reading, and made me want the book to never end. Once again, an excellent selection.

Our current book is "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. I'm guessing some of you have probably read this book, or read others of Maguire's books. I first read "Wicked" close to ten years ago, and remembered it as a good read, although nothing really stuck with me. That was the mindset with which I started reading this month's book. And now, almost 300 pages in, I find myself reading this story in a completely different light. At it's core this book examines how someone becomes wicked, and whether they start off that way, or gradually become that way.

Elphaba, the future Wicked Witch of the West, is born an outcast: a green-skinned child in a world of flesh tones. As a teenager she attends a boarding school in Shiz, one of the larger cities, where she is roomates with Galinda, who becomes Glinda the Good Witch of the North. The two become friends over their first year, and gather a motley crew of friends, girls from their school and boys from a nearby school. This is laid against the backdrop of Animal rights* being taken away by the Wizard, who is not the kindly man of Baum's book, and a high stakes political game in which these girls have become unwitting players. While you all probably know how the story will eventually end (yes, Elphaba still will die), the route this version takes is winding and enthralling.

*Animal rights as opposed to animal rights. For C.S. Lewis fans out there, think of it as the distinction between talking animals and non-talking animals. Animals can talk, teach, hold jobs, etc...at least until the Wizard takes their rights away.

We have our books selected for the next five months or so, although I don't remember which titles are listed except the last month when we're reading Art Spiegelman's "Maus". The last time I took part in any type of book club, aside from reading works by C.S. Lewis with a group from All Saints Church in Peterborough, NH was the Junior Great Books group I was a part of in elementary school. I don't remember what we read in that group, but I'd wager that the books I'm reading now are probably more interesting and better written. While I'd recommend any and all of the books I've read thus far, I suggest instead you wander down to your local library and check them out because as LeVar Burton says, "You don't have to take my word for it."