Review: The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudycz Lupescu

One of the 5-point categories in the Summer Book Challenge is to "read a book chosen based on its cover."  While surfing Amazon.com for cheap or new books, I found The Silence of Trees by Valya Dudycz Lupescu, for 99 cents.  I was very intrigued by the cover of the book, which features a pysanka, a Russian painted egg.  I once painted pysanka in a high school art class (although my mom accidentally dropped and destroyed mine).  So it worked out perfectly for filling that category in the SuBC.

The Silence of Trees' heroine, Nadya, is sixteen years old when a Gypsy fortune-teller warns her that she will have to leave behind great sadness and pain to reach her destiny.  Returning home that night, she finds her home burned and her entire family gone -- victims of the German army, which has come to Ukraine in the Soviet invasion during World War II.  Nadya flees for her life with her sweetheart, Stephan, but tragedy separates the two of them, and Nadya makes the decision to continue on with her life and try to find happiness in her survival.  Fifty years later, Nadya is living in Chicago, Illinois with her husband, surrounded by children and grandchildren.  She appears to have a happy life, but she is still haunted by what she left behind in Ukraine, and the ghosts of her unhappy past, which she has never revealed to anyone in her family.  Spurred on by their whispers, Nadya begins to tell the tales of her life in the Ukraine, hoping that by letting go of the past, she will be able to finally move into the future.

I have mixed feelings about this book.  While I loved the history (the German invasion of the Soviet Union) and the traditions that Nadya tried to hard to keep alive with her family, I felt that the story jumped around a lot.  This might have been more a technical issue with the book (it was downloaded onto my Kindle, and I have found that sometimes there are typos or issues with spacing in Kindle books).  There weren't larger spaces between Nadya's memories and her real, present-day life, which could get confusing at times, especially since several of her children were named after people she had met when she lived in Ukraine.  Without the obvious change in font or space, it would be confusing for several lines before I would realize where and when that part of the story was taking place.  Nadya's memories and stories were much more interesting to me than her present-day life in Chicago -- which I suppose is to be expected, considering that in Chicago she was an old woman with a very peaceful life, so different from her violent past in Ukraine.  It also dragged a little bit in parts.  This book was short (only 312 pages) but it took me almost five days to read.  

I would recommend it to someone who really likes Soviet history, or Russian folklore, and who likes exploring the emotions of their main character.  That's really the majority of this book.

Rating: ***

Currents (January 20, 2011)

I figure once in a while, every so often, I'll do a "Currently..." entry, about reading, knitting, life in general, etc.  Since I'm between books right now (more on that in a minute), and sort of in a funk lately (more on that too), I figured today was as good a day as any to start.

Currently Feeling...down.  I'm not quite sure way.  Part of it might be due to the fact that we're getting (more) snow tomorrow.  Most of New England has been buried in snow for the past week, and on Tuesday we got a clean sheet of ice covering everything.  There are icicles the size of my husband hanging outside our windows (I'm really not exaggerating)!  And tomorrow...the forecast isn't fantastic either: we're currently expecting 4 - 9 inches.  Fun fun fun.

Ugh.  Sounds like a blast.  Also for some reason, I've been feeling sort of down about the whole "almost-30, no direct life path yet" thing.  Everyone keeps telling me I'll shake out of it.  But I can't stop feeling like my quarter-life crisis arrived two and a half years late.

Currently Reading:  Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

I feel like I am the LAST person on earth who has read the Hunger Games series.  I know I'm not (mainly because most of my friends haven't started reading them...yet), but still.  Everyone and their mother has recommended these books to me.  My cousin Jennifer sent me the first book, and it's sequel, Catching Fire, last night, on my Kindle (I think I'm also the last person to figure out that when you send someone a book on Kindle, you get to keep it -- I stupidly thought they were a loan, and can't tell you how excited I am that I get to keep them!).  I cracked open Hunger Games right before dinner.

Oh.  My.  God.  I can't put it down.  I really, really, really can't put it down.  I read last night until I passed out.  I read this morning before work.  According to the little ticker at the bottom of my Kindle screen, I am 48% finished with the book, and I can't wait until I start reading it again.  I'm not usually a fan of YA literature (the kids in the 8th grade at the school across the street are reading this right now as part of their curriculum), and after Twilight *shudder*, I am wary of any series of books that everyone goes crazy about.  But nearly halfway into Hunger Games, I am certain that I'm reading a winner.

More gushing (I'm sure) to follow when I've finished reading it.

Currently Knitting: Still working away on Saroyan -- I'm half a lace leaf away from finishing the mid-section and starting on the decreases.  I'm so excited about this project -- it's definitely giving me more confidence in my lace-knitting abilities.  

My goal project, my "magnum opus" if you will, is the Rose of England shawl (Ravelry link).  The page calls it a table cloth, but I can't even imagine ever putting food on that gorgeousness.  Look at it!  It is a Thing of Beauty.  Considering my love of history -- especially English history -- that project and I seem somewhat fated to be together.  I traveled to York, England, with my best friend Leni when I was 22 years old -- five years ago, although it seems much longer now -- and I have a pendant of that exact rose, in white with green leaves, from the beautiful city, one of the prettiest in England.  I haven't gotten up the gumption to tackle this yet.  Maybe a few more smaller lace pieces and I'll be ready for it.

Currently Thinking...that I'm hungry, and that I really want to bust open my Kindle and finish Hunger Games.  I'm also trying to figure out what to make for dinner for me and the husband before he goes off to his evening EMT course.  Steaks?  More chicken?  Not sure.  I'll figure something out.

What are you doing today?

I won something!

Well, look at that.  Three weeks into the year (and into my reading challenge) and I won my first book giveaway from Pixel of Ink.  For those of you who aren't familiar with POI (I wasn't until a friend tipped me off a week ago), it's a great website for people who use the Kindle e-reader.  If you friend POI on Facebook, you'll get live updates on your feed about what e-books Amazon.com has on their limited time offer or temporary free release list.  Also, they sponsor authors who run free giveaways of their books to subscribers.

I decided the other day, what the hell, might as well take a chance.  And I was one of the five winners!

The book in question is Sin and Vengeance, by C.J. West.  I don't know much about this book, because, like I said, I saw a contest and decided what the hell.  If I read it and end up hating it, well...it was free!  But there's always the chance that I read it and end up loving it!

The description of this book on Goodreads is as follows:

When his knee shatters on the playing field, Charlie Marston is plunged into turmoil. His perspective suddenly shifts from sports superstar to regular (albeit wealthy) winemaker. He enters the world of work by way of the family winemaking business. The closeness of day to day operations with his parents illuminates qualities in them that he had consciously denied until now...moreWhen his knee shatters on the playing field, Charlie Marston is plunged into turmoil. His perspective suddenly shifts from sports superstar to regular (albeit wealthy) winemaker. He enters the world of work by way of the family winemaking business. The closeness of day to day operations with his parents illuminates qualities in them that he had consciously denied until now. Soon his youthful passion seeks a new outlet to replace the football career he's lost and he finds a new friend named Randy Black. Randy is part stunt-pilot, part Casanova, and part drunken Pied Piper. Randy leads him into terrifying predicaments that become more exciting and more dangerous with each passing day. Charlie doesn't resist until an ill-conceived stunt, compounded by drunken judgment, explodes in consequences that chase Charlie and Randy back home to Massachusetts. Charlie must eventually decide where his moral boundaries should be drawn as he contends with the after-effects of a half dozen mistakes that threaten to engulf him and his family.

 

I have quite the number of books on my must-read list right now, so it will be a while before I am able to get around to this.  But it's nice to know that it's on my list, waiting for me to get to it.  Right now I'm in the middle of two books: The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet (love it thus far!) and Labor of Love: A Midwife's Memoir by Cara Mulhan (good, but like other reviewers on Goodreads, I was hoping for more about the philosophy and action of homebirthing and midwifery than of the childhood of the author).  So a lot on my plate right now, but I can hardly complain; it's all very enjoyable!

Review of the Kindle case, and what I'm knitting now

The world is still buried in snow, but not to the point where I couldn't venture out to the mailbox at my parents' house and pick up Amazon's Kindle cover with light, which arrived yesterday during the snowstorm.

It's better than I even expected.  The case is made of sturdy leather (which has that fantastic "new car" scent to it), and the inside cover is very soft, almost felt-like, which keeps the Kindle screen from scratches and damage.  The elastic cord wraps around the case to hold the cover in place, whether you choose to close it, or hold it open behind the Kindle for easy reading. 

The light is somewhat difficult to pull out of the case the first couple of times.  But it is so worth it, and I am now so happy that I can read at night in bed without the overhead light on.  I haven't used it long enough to see if it really does drain the battery as quickly as a few of the one-star reviews on Amazon.com, but I have high hopes for it.  I can't wait to use it on trips -- I've had difficulty reading at night in the car because using the car light distracts David while he's driving. 

All in all, I think it was a great investment.  It was a little more expensive than I would have liked, but I think it was really worth it.


On Sunday, on a whim, after seeing it on SpillyJane Knits, I decided to cast on for Saroyan, a truly beautiful little scarf-shawlette made with worsted-weight yarn.  I chose to go down a size in yarn and needles, because I have two hanks of Socks That Rock Heavyweight in "Rose Quartz" that I really wanted to use. 

So far?

Well, I think it's coming along as well as can be expected!  (Sorry about the cat in the picture -- our kitty Tempest has a hard time steering clear of any knitting project, and also from the fleecy blanket that I have placed the knitting on.)

The leaf lace pattern on the edge of Saroyan pops beautifully in the STR yarn.  I'm really happy to use it for this project.  I love the color, it's soft and light and very pretty.  I'm not quite halfway done (this is a long scarf, and the middle stockinette portion can be downright dull, although it lends itself well to television knitting).  I'm looking forward to wearing this as a late winter/early spring scarf.  It's got just enough ruffles to be flirty and pretty, but not too many -- it doesn't look froufy.  I've had trouble knitting lace or lace edges in the past...let's knock on wood that those are over, at least for this project.

Updates of the not-very-literate kind

All of New England is going be getting a snowstorm tomorrow.  I can't express how happy I am to work at a job where I'm not required to be here if it snows, and to have a boss whose motto seems to be "If it snows, go (or stay) home."  With the expected snowfall of anywhere between 8 and 20 inches, I'm very much looking forward to a day of sleeping in, watching TV, knitting, and reading.

This snow day is coming at a most auspicious time, considering that I went to the doctor yesterday about my back and was diagnosed with scoliosis and early-onset arthritis of the spine.  The picture here shows what scoliosis looks like.  My back x-rays, which I got to see, look a lot like this picture.  Scoliosis is when the spine is angled to the side.  Looks fun, doesn't it?  Blech.  As for the arthritis...when I told my mom that I was diagnosed with it, she told me that my pediatrician had predicted spinal arthritis when I got older, for whatever reason.  I guess they never thought I needed to know about it!  (Well, truth be told, I didn't, since it's not exactly something that can be easily avoided...).

Right now I'm on painkillers that are so weird that I can sometimes feel my heartbeat in my face (just go with it), and knock me out for 10 hours at a time.  Good stuff.

Reading, unfortunately, has been slow going.

I have never, ever gotten my butt kicked by a historical biography as I have by Richard the Third.  Not even kidding -- it is SLOW GOING.  I love history, I really do, but this book is dry.  And I've never blanched at a book as much as I did when Paul Murray Kendall admitted that no part of this book (save for Appendix I) would speculate as to whether or not Richard III murdered the Princes in the Tower.  Probably the biggest mystery of his reign, and Kendall glosses over it.

And yet, I'm still intrigued.  This is the book that those who believe in Richard III's innocence  have been looking for.  Kendall crushes speculation of the diabolical rumors surrounding Richard, Duke of Gloucester's life as "Tudor tale(s)" and tries to explain the reasons behind Richard's seizure of the English throne after the death of his brother, Edward IV.  The villain in Kendall's biography isn't Richard, it's Queen Elizabeth Woodville, wife of Edward IV and mother of the Princes in the Tower, the lovely commoner who dared not only to marry a king, but to push her family into places of power they did not deserve.  Seeing Richard painted in a positive light is unusual and refreshing.  I've got about 200 pages left to go.  I'd love to finish it either tonight or tomorrow and have a complete review.

I have a few other fiction pieces on deck, since I know histories and biographies aren't for everyone.  But I'm not allowing myself to read anything but Richard until I'm finished with it (it's the only way it's going to be done).

Finally, I caved in and ordered a cover for my Kindle!  I've been carrying Annabelle Lee (yes, it's from Poe; yes, I took some artistic license with the spelling) around in her box ever since I got the Kindle for Christmas, but I've been planning on buying a good, sturdy cover since that day.  I was planning on buying the cheaper version of Amazon's cover, but a lot of reviews said that it short-circuited the Kindle when used, so I spent the extra $20 to buy the more expensive version.  And this one has the book light, which (though it says it will drain the battery faster) will be useful for night reading, especially when David and I drive to and from his family's home in Massachusetts.  He hates it when I turn the inside light of the car on to read (says it distracts him), so now I won't need to do that.  Unfortunately for me, the cover won't come until tomorrow, according to Amazon.  And since I don't trust the mail at our apartment, and it's going to my parents' house...and we're getting a snowstorm...I probably won't be able to get it until at least Thursday.  Boo.

Oh well.  I've waited more than three weeks for it, I can wait a day more :)

Review: Sweetie by Kathryn Magendie

I don't know about you, but for me, it's difficult to break out of my regular reading genre and go for a book that may not immediately pique my interest.  I've been scouring Amazon.com for free books for my Kindle, and just picking up anything that sounded even the slightest bit interesting, knowing that I'd probably get a few bad apples.

I.  Love.  This.  Book.

Proof?  I started reading it yesterday morning, before work.  I finished it in the afternoon.  It was THAT good.

Granted, at 216 pages, it's a rather quick read.  No matter.  I would have torn through this little gem regardless.

Sweetie is the first-person narrative of Melissa, a chubby, stuttering, nondescript girl whose wanderlust-driven father and hypersensitive, nagging mother have moved her all over the country in search of her father's "inspiration".  Recently moved to a small town in Appalachian North Carolina, Melissa finds herself the butt of every joke at school, until she befriends the skinny, blonde, uneducated, free-spirited girl who has no other name than "Sweetie."  It is Sweetie who encourages Melissa to "breathe slowly" and learn to stop stuttering, and leads her on an adventure all over the mountains of their little town.  Over time, Melissa develops her own self-confidence and begins to question everything around her, including the secrets that Sweetie is holding close to herself.

Any girl who has ever been teased or tormented at school (including yours truly, I feel compelled to admit) will relate to Melissa, and if they hadn't already, will wish that they had had a friend like Sweetie.  I loved this book, and I'm hoping Ms. Magendie writes more, so I can read those.  I'm so glad that I took a chance on it.

Rating: *****

Up next?  Well, I have a few on deck.

Oh, Richard III.  You absolutely devious S.O.B.  Why must you be so compelling for me to try and figure out?  I'm still sad that Alison Weir, my favorite author of all things English royalty-related,  has never put out a book about Richard the Third.  I read her book The Princes In The Tower last year, and it was good, but that was more about the luckless Edward V and his brother Richard of Shrewsbury, with very little about Richard except that he was totally evil.

My parents bought me Paul Murray Kendall's Richard the Third for Christmas this year, and I cracked it open last night.  It's long (608 pages), but I'm already to Chapter Three and the action is pretty good (how could it not be, at the forefront of the War of the Roses?), so I'm going pretty fast.  Admittedly, Kendall is a bit more dry than Weir, but we can't have everything in life, can we?  I'm hoping for better insight into the life of the man who is known as England's most wicked ruler.

And, on my fiction plate...

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson.  A play on the classic Sleeping Beauty fairy tale, set in medieval Germany, Apprentice is the story of a woodcutter's daughter named Rose, the apprentice of the town healer who is determined to prove herself and become a healer herself, to avoid marrying a lecherous old suitor.  I'm about 10% into this one, and I started it last night.  This looks like it's going to be another quick read, but considering that I'm reading it at the same time as Richard, I don't know if I'll finish it as quickly as I did Sweetie.

Finally, because I really want to start tearing through everything and anything by Jane Austen, and at my sister's suggestion, I have begun Pride and Prejudice, that quintessential of pre-Victorian romances.  I'm not far into it at all (maybe 2%), but I'm mostly listening to it on the text-to-speech function on my Kindle (how I love that thing).

Happy reading!

In praise of the Kindle

Those of you who have Kindles, or any electronic readers, will know exactly to what I refer with this entry.  I have, for quite a long time, wanted an e-reader, and very much to my surprise, on Christmas Eve, I unwrapped one, a gift from my husband David and my parents all together.  It was the gift I wanted most for Christmas, and, as I'm sure you can imagine, it was very well-received, to the point where I was almost afraid to turn it on and start it up, so excited was I to receive it.

It did not disappoint me.  In the first evening, I downloaded one book (stupidly at full price) before I remembered Project Gutenberg, and realized that I had all the classics I could ever have wanted to read at my fingertips for virtually free.  I downloaded two, and the next day, five more. 

I can't say enough in praise of the Kindle.  My own Kindle (who I named "Annabelle Lee" -- with some spelling creativity -- after the subject of my favorite poem by Edgar Allen Poe) is light and portable and easy to carry, though she is desperately in need of a protective cover and I carry her around in the box she came in, until I pick one out.  I have to say that I am most partial to this one, especially since it's kitted out with the one thing I find the Kindle lacking in: a built-in book light for reading in the dark.  But my favorite feature has to be the "Text-To-Speech" function, which allows me to read, write, or even knit while listening to the book of my choice.  I can't tell you how much this has changed my productivity.  It's nearly impossible to knit while reading, since reading requires at least one hand, and knitting, at least two (though sometimes it seems like more!).  But this morning, I was able to "read" while knitting a mitten for a friend of mine, an activity that can't  be done with a book in your hands.  I have a feeling this is going to change my life.

With a whole world of books and reading at my fingertips (and at my ears), I've discovered The Nest Book Club, and have set what I think is a reasonable but challenging goal for myself this year:

I don't know if I can do it, but I'm certainly going to try.  I have quite the list on my Kindle of free books to read, along with three paper books that I received for Christmas from family members (and an entire bookshelf of already-read books to work my way through).  I'm determined.

The first book on my list?  One I should have begun years ago.  Jane Austen's Mansfield Park.

I began it two days ago, and so far, I'm enthralled.  I've developed a new love for Jane Austen, and plan to work my way through most of her work.  I only wish I'd "discovered" Jane ten years ago when I was a teenager going through the ins and outs of juvenile relationships, rather than as an "old married woman" (I laugh at this, seeing as I haven't been married for even two months yet) in her late twenties.

Wish me luck, and happy reading!