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#240 ~ Raven Stole the Moon

Raven Stole the Moon by Garth Stein

Published by: HarperCollins

Published on: March 9, 2010 ~ reprint

Page Count: 440

Genre: General Fiction

Format: Review copy sent by Sarah at Terra Communications

Availability: paperback and eBook

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If you are interested in reading this novel, please check back later this week.  Thanks to Sarah at Terra Communications, I will have a copy to giveaway.  Stay tuned for more details. Update: I’ve posted the giveaway, which will be open until 11:59PM EST on 3.18.10.

My Review

Jenna lost her son, Bobby, in a tragic drowning while on a business-related vacation with her family at a soon-to-be-opened wilderness lodge.  Two years later at home with her husband Robert in Seattle, Jenna has yet to recover.  She’s seen numerous psychiatrists, but has yet to come to terms with Bobby’s death and the changes their loss made to their marriage.  After a fight at yet another business related event, Jenna takes off in Robert’s car.  At first she just wants to get home.  In the end, she just keeps driving, running away from Robert by default.  Eventually, she ends up headed on the ferry to Alaska, the home of her Tlingit grandmother and the place where Bobby died.  Can returning to the source of so much pain in her life help her move forward, or will it send her further into depression and despair?

The first half of this novel had all the makings of a great episode of “The X Files.”  After Jenna lands in Alaska after leaving Robert, she has the most creepy experiences. Because she doesn’t completely trust her sanity, she’s not sure if she believes what she sees.  What she may have experienced is creepy and kept me on the edge of my seat.  I loved the potential of kushtaka, the otter people gifted with the ability to shift their shape and “convert” souls.  When Jenna wonders if the kushtaka are real and if they may have some connection to the death of her son, I could just imagine Mulder and Scully investigating and having a field day with all the possibilities.  During that first half, I was in heaven.  I felt that I could relate to Jenna and I wanted her to find her way to where ever it was that she needed to go.

The second half of the novel didn’t work as well for me.  I grew impatient with Jenna and her attitude about anyone other than herself.  The story became much less suspenseful because it featured Robert and his attempts to find Jenna more prominently.  This weighted the novel down and was distracting.  I wanted the novel to be about Jenna and her discoveries.  I wasn’t so much concerned about Robert.  It’s not that he didn’t matter, but I wish there could have been more  a more concise way to bring him back into the story without the play by play.  Robert also put enough normalcy and reality back into the story that when the kushtaka arc built back up, I missed it.  I was no longer prepared for it.  Had I recognized it immediately, the end of this novel really would have packed a punch.

My  Final Thoughts

I didn’t like this novel as much as The Art of Racing in the Rain. However, Raven Stole the Moon was more challenging and in some ways more interesting. I enjoyed the Alaskan setting, history, and spirituality that were infused throughout.  I liked that Jenna and Robert were a mess and were prone to making rotten decisions when under stress.  It made them human.   The highlight for me was the section where Jenna relives her last moments with Bobby.  They were incredibly heartbreaking and powerful.  Had Stein maintained the same pacing and level of suspense consistently throughout, this novel would have been absolutely incredible.

Please Benefit from My Experience…

One would think that a person who loves books as much as I do would pay attention to the copyright information.  One would be wrong.  I dive right to the story and don’t look back.  I also apparently assume that a novel published today takes place in modern time unless explicitly told otherwise in the context of the story.Yeah, well that bit me in the back-end while reading Raven Stole the Moon.  From the very beginning I had a lot of niggling questions about why Jenna and her lack of a cell phone and why Robert didn’t just go online and check his bank and credit card accounts when Jenna was being so illusive.  Eventually, there were some Seattle musical references that finally clued me in to where I was in time.  However, had I bothered to read the copyright information I would have clearly seen that this edition is a reprint, not the original publication.  Stein published this novel originally in 1998.  Copyright information is your friend, people. LOL!

#234 ~ A Reliable Wife

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

Published by: Algonquin Books

Published on: March 2009

Page Count: 291

Genre: Historical Fiction / Gothic Fiction

For Consideration: graphic sexuality

Format: paperback review copy from the publisher

Availability: hardcover, paperback, eBook, audio

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My Review

Ralph Truitt, a man who is the virtual king of his small Wisconsin town, put an ad in the the paper looking for a “reliable wife.”  Although he has all of the wealth and power he could ever need, he can’t get away from his past.  He spent many years celibate and sober in hopes of making right the mistakes he made with the wife of his youth and their children.  Ralph, now at a distinguished age, wants to try a different tactic.  For that, he needs an honest, simple wife.  Catherine Land answers Ralph’s ad for her own reasons.  She uses deceit to get what she wants, believing that the transition from living in 1904’s Chicago to Ralph’s rural community worth the sacrifice to satisfy her needs and fulfill her fantasies.  Despite the best laid plans, things do not go as planned for Ralph or Catherine.  They both find that when you use someone to reach your own ends, things get messy.

A Reliable Wife is a book that requires discussion.  There are so many themes and topics ripe for conversation and debate.Thankfully I have been able to participate in a thoughtful Twitter book club as well talk about it in more depth with a friend.  I think I could be happy spending hours talking about the interplay between Ralph, Catherine, and Tony, the distinction between nature and nurture, and the role of weather, gardens, and dark sexuality.  As much as I want to dig down deep into every little crevice, the story is enjoyable and accessible at the surface level.

I couldn’t have been more than two chapters into A Reliable Wife when I wondered where it had been all my life.   I was drawn into the characters immediately and my interest never let up for a moment.  The writing was beautiful throughout and I consider its conclusion to be among the best I’ve read.  I relished every bit of this novel, finishing it with a sense of satisfaction that can only come from the knowledge that I will read it again many times over.

#226 ~ The Glass Room

The Glass Room by Simon Mawer

Viktor and Liesel Landauer are newlyweds in a plum position in Czechoslovakia prior to the stirrings of World War II.  They have land given to them by Liesel’s parents.  That, along with Viktor’s wealth from his automobile company, provides them the opportunity to conceive of and bring to life their dream house.  It is the architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe who brings their vision of perfection to life, a house predominately of glass and steal.  When people know what to think of the house, they are amazed.  The glass room, which has panels that will completely slide down to the lower level of the house, is especially impressive.  The Landauers host parties and support the arts through the use of their house.  In such minimalistic surroundings, there is no where to hide.  They take pride in house in that it requires them to live a transparent life with no secrets.  It doesn’t take long, however, before there are plenty of secrets.  Viktor takes a lover and, after the near fatal birth of their second and last child, Liesel finds solace and comfort in her friend, Hana.  Both women are young, sophisticated Czechoslovakians, both of whom have married Jewish men.  Despite the upheaval Viktor’s affair brings to their marriage, the Laudauer family must flee together to escape the Nazis, leaving their future and their home to fate.

I found The Glass Room a fascinating novel.  It was about the house, which could have only come into existence because of the relationship with Viktor and Liesel.  Regardless of what they were trying to portray, their minimalistic home was a reflection of their sparse relationship.  They were not compelled or forced into their marriage, yet I never got a real sense of why they wanted to marry in the first place.  While they claim that the lack of walls allows for no secrets or deception, I found it to really say that there was no structure or support for their marriage or themselves.  Could the house have been brought into existence by a couple in love or did the house create an atmosphere that simply didn’t foster what could have otherwise been a warm, loving marriage?

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this novel is that it is based upon, Villa Tugendhat, a home actually designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.  The fact that there was such a house and an onyx wall really captured my imagination.  Not only was I able to see how the Laudauer’s Glass Room shifted and changed as it was lived in and used over time, I was able to read about what happened to Villa Tugendhat as well.  As with Loving Frank, I loved how this novel combined historical fiction along with architectural history.  I really love that in a novel and that surprises me a little.  I’m not otherwise someone who is curious about architecture.  Perhaps because it gives the story structure as well it just makes sense to me.

I cannot say enough about The Glass Room.  It was one of the last books I read in 2009 and will be listed among my favorites.  I enjoyed the stories of the people populating the Glass Room as much as I enjoyed spending time there. This is my first novel by Simon Mawer and I found him to be an excellent writer and story teller.  That this novel was shortlisted for the 2009 Man Booker Prize does not surprise me at all.  It was just that good.

******

I would like to thank Tony Viardo from BlueDot Literary, LLC for sending me a review copy of this novel.

#223 ~ The Secret Speech

* This post is brought to you by the nearly 2 feet of snow Mother Nature brought our area over the weekend. Since I couldn’t be out doing last minute Christmas stuff, I spent some time catching up on my reviews. *

The Secret Speech by Tom Rob Smith

I don’t know about you, but every so often I’m in the mood for a thriller.  I don’t read  them often, but there comes a time when the only thing that will do to read is a thriller.  If that thriller has anything to do with Communists, it’s all the better.  Just such a time hit at the end of October and I was so glad to have a review copy of Tom Rob Smith’s The Secret Speech on my shelves.  It picks up on Leo Demidov’s story after Child 44.  He is raising two adoptive daughters with his wife, but he doesn’t feel very successful about it because of his past in the MGB.  Zoya, his oldest daughter, blames him for the death of her birth parents.  Zoya’s not the only reason why he regrets his MGB past.  He soon figures out that his former comrades are being murdered one by one in an organized fashion shortly after receiving a copy of a secret speech about Stalin’s brutality leaked by the new Khrushchev regime.  When Zoya disappears by the hands of the group responsible for these murders, Leo must fight for the daughter who hates him.  He must keep his unlikely family in tact.

When reading this novel, be prepared for action.  This novel primarily takes place in Russia,  but there is an important section that takes place in Hungary.  I ‘ve never read fiction taking place in Hungary and it was interesting to see the differences between Hungary and Russia during that time period.  My favorite part of this story was following the path of revenge against the state and its agents.  I cannot imagine the terror and paranoia one must have felt living under Stalin.  When he died, it must have been equally difficult to move forward.  Forgiveness would be unthinkable.  For some, basic human morality would be, too.

I have heard some wonderful things about Child 44.  I haven’t read it and I wish that I had.  It’s not that Smith didn’t do a wonderful job catching readers like me up on Leo and his past.  He did.  I didn’t actually realize The Secret Speech was a sequel until after I read it.  I’m wondering if I might have felt more connected to Leo had I followed him through his time with the MGB.  He felt cold to me and as I read I felt removed from the heart of what was going on.  I was interested in the story.  I found the implications of Khrushchev’s Secret Speech intriguing.  I just wished that I felt more invested in Leo and his family.  I might have been had I read Child 44.

Tom Rob Smith can definitely right a thriller and I could see his post-Stalin era world.  There were aspects that I found predictable.  At the same time, there were twists that caught me way off guard.  Despite not feeling as connected to the characters as I had wanted, this book really hit the spot.   I stayed up later than was wise one night to finish it because  I couldn’t put it down.  The next time I’m itching for a political thriller, I will be looking to Smith.  If I enjoyed The Secret Speech this much, Child 44 must be amazing.

Other Voices

Novel Insights
You’ve GOTTA Read This!
Coffeespoons

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A special thanks to Miriam from Hatchette Book Group for sending me a review copy of this novel.

#221 ~ The Mistress ~ DNF

* This post is brought to you by the nearly 2 feet of snow Mother Nature brought our area over the weekend. Since I couldn’t be out doing last minute Christmas stuff, I spent some time catching up on my reviews. *

The Mistress by Philippe Tapon

I signed up for the War Through The Generations 2009 Challenge at the beginning of the year, figuring that it would be easy to read six books about World War II.  When I went back earlier this month to see if I could manage to pull this off before the end of the year, I realized that I read four books (see list below).  That left two books to read.  I had wanted to read The Diary of Anne Frank, but I wanted to be realistic about reading another book as well.  One of the books I picked up this year through PaperBack Swap was The Mistress.  At 186 pages, I was certain I could breeze through, leaving plenty of time to read Anne Frank.  In the end, I never made it past page 56.  I had difficulty following the story for several reasons: The writing is choppy, the narration or at least focus shifts frequently (for example, the Emile is either referred to by name, as the doctor, or, by the narrator, as his grandfather), and sections seem to be missing altogether because I could barely follow along with a simple conversation.  The summary sounded so promising, but I couldn’t continue in hopes of what might come.  It isn’t often that I do not finish a novel, at least not without skimming my way to the end.  This novel was nearly incomprehensible word for word, there was no point in trying to skim.

This is my fifth review for the War Through The Generations 2009 Challenge.  I have also read and reviewed:

Coventry by Helen Humphreys
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by  Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
The Story of a Marriage by Andrew Sean Greer

#220 ~ Chemistry for Beginners

Chemistry for Beginners by Anthony Strong

Dr. Steven J. Fisher is an intelligent biochemist, working for Oxford University.  His previous work with bonobo apes brought him to where he is today – studying the female orgasm in hopes of finding a cure for female sexual dysfunction.  While Dr. Fisher is brilliant about things the size of molecules, he is your stereotypical scientist.  He is nerdy and unable to pick up on the dynamics between men and women.  When his lab takes on Ms. G., a final subject for their testing of his chemical breakthrough, KXC97, Dr. Fisher finds himself attracted to her and he doesn’t know why.  In desperation to keep her as part of the stud, he agrees to teach her chemistry.  All the while, this scientist who notices every nuance of what happens beneath a microscope, misses all of the drama surrounding him in the lab.  It takes a major biochemical breakdown for him to see his world for what it is.

I doubt I’ll ever be able to hear the word biochemistry without thinking of Diane Court from the movie “Say Anything”.  The way that the school principal annunciates “b-i-o-chemistry” during her introduction at graduation cracks me up.  It’s as if he cannot believe that of someone from his high school.  In many ways, Ms. G reminded me of Diane Court as a graduate student – if she hadn’t found Lloyd Dobler in high school.  She is an attractive and intelligent woman who is tired of being someone’s trophy and wants to be on equal footing with her partner.  She isn’t interested in sex, but perhaps that is because her English professor boyfriend has definite expectations of what she will like and how she will enjoy it.  She turns to Dr. Fisher’s study because her boyfriend threatened her if she didn’t.  I found it interesting how she found her passion in all possible ways as a result.

I very much enjoyed Chemistry for Beginners.  I connected with both of the main characters and the way that the story was told in the form of a scientific  paper.  There were a few things that didn’t work for me, though.  There are sections of the novel that are compilations of email and I found the repetition of the email addresses and signatures irritating.  Although the novel isn’t long, there was a point where it felt long.  I can’t remember the exact point where I began to feel that way, but it was after Ms. G began studying with Dr. Fisher and his team.  The novel definitely picked up again once there was competition for her affection.  These things were not so bothersome that I didn’t like the novel.  Far from it.  They do keep me from giving my highest recommendation.

This  is the first novel I purchased because of the narrator, Simon Vance.  I have loved him from Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy, so when I found myself with an Audible credit to spare, I searched on books that Vance narrated.  This was one of the more recent novels.  I did not go wrong.  Chemistry for Beginners is a great farce.  There were more times than I counted that I laughed out loud.  In particular, the scenes where Dr. Fisher believes he is paying an actual Ph.D. for “clinically proven” ways to get a woman in bed were some of the funniest I’ve read in a long time.  Anthony Strong has written an entertaining love story about nerds, for everyone.  I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good laugh and isn’t squeamish about the workings of sexual biology from a clinical standpoint with a vibrating apparatus or two added to the mix.

*****

I purchased this novel from Audible.com.

#219 ~ The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Charlie is the misfit of his family.  His older siblings, a football star who has gone on to play for Penn State and a socially popular sister, have seemingly made a success of their high school careers.  Charlie has had a more difficult time.  The death of his maternal aunt has had a huge impact on his life and his mental stability.  Despite having to deal with the death of a close loved one and the things he’s seen as a result of having older siblings, Charlie is painfully naive.  At the same time, his intuition is good.  He runs into a stroke of luck when he becomes friends with Patrick and his half-sister Sam.  These unlikely friendships provide Charlie with a larger, much more experienced social group.  They become the framework through which he comes to terms with his past and embraces his future.

If there was one section of this book that spoke to me of my own adolescents and made me want to take Charlie in my arms for a long hug, it was the Secret Santa.  Being a newbie to this group of friends, the Secret Santa meant so much to him.  He took pains to select just the right things and his desire to please his friends was not necessarily returned.  You feel like such a fool when something like that happens.  You’re exposed as if you have played all of your cards.  I know I did. One year that I spent all of my money buying gifts for each of the girls in my circle of friends. Unfortunately, if I got anything from most of the girls, it was a candy cane.  The disappointment isn’t about not getting anything in return.  It is just a hard way to learn that your feelings are not returned.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower contains course language, sexual content, drug use, and violence toward women, but these very adult topics are not glamorized.  You see how miserable the older sister or friend is when she is mistreated.  You see how drugs have paralyzed people’s lives.  You see how everyone’s heart can be broken, be they hetero or homosexual.  While reading this novel it’s pretty clear that the worst thing you can do is to repeatedly make the same mistakes, never learning from them or coming to terms with yourself.  Just because you’ve fallen in a trap doesn’t mean you are stuck there. I understand the concerns around this novel.  Read the book.  It opens the door to a great deal of conversation.  If only you’re ready, you can learn a lot about where your children are emotionally.  If you’re open, they might just learn a lot about you, too.

I purchased this novel after it was removed from the library of William Byrd High School in Vinton, VA.  I would personally like to thank disgruntled parent, Mr. John Davis, for bringing this novel to my attention.  This book was for me what The Catcher in the Rye never was.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and the conversation it fostered with me and some of my best friends.  I can only imagine how this book might impact me if I were closer to my adolescent years.  Young adult novels do not have to be benign or puritanical to be appropriate.  So much is happening emotionally during high school and fiction is one of the safest environments in which to explore new feelings and ideas.  I think we ought to give teenagers more credit when it comes to comprehending and responding to fiction.  This is definitely one challenged book that I would challenge you to read.

Other Voices:

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Books, Lists, Life
The Book Lady’s Blog
Bart’s Bookshelf
Reading Thru the Night
things mean a lot
books i done read
Hey, Teenager
Piling on the Books

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#216 ~ The Girl Who Played with Fire

The  Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

When we last left Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, one of my favorite novels of 2009, they were on the outs.  When The Girl Who Played with Fire, Mikael didn’t understand why and Lisbeth has been spending time out of Sweden, especially in the Carribean.  Although they continue to think of each other, they both move on with their lives.  Mikael is involved in a large project at Millenium, which is focused on shedding life on the ugly underground world of sex trafficking.  Lisbeth, finally back in Sweden, has decided to get used to the money at her dispense.  She’s bought a beautiful condo and, after rekindling her mainly sexual relationship with Miriam Wu, she lets her stay in her old flat so that she can continue to receive mail at her old address.  It isn’t long, however, before circumstances surrounding the brutal murders of Nils Bjurman, Salandar’s corrupt legal guardian, and two of the people working with Blomkvist on the trafficking story make it impossible for the two to avoid each other.

This novel picks up the intensity of the The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and never lets it go.  Lisbeth is an immediate target and is branded as a “psychotic lesbian SM satanist.”  Safe for a while in her new posh condo, she is forced out of hiding and into action when Miriam, living in her old apartment, is caught in the crossfire.  All of Sweden believes that Lisbeth is a serial killer except Mikael.  Given Lisbeth’s path and “all the evil” she has experienced, the reader is also kept guessing about so much.  It was another excellent novel to listen to on audio for all of these reasons.  Simon Vance is once against a consummate narrator, making the murders, the chase, and Lisbeth’s past come to life.

I loved this novel.  Lisbeth, breast implants and all, is such a complex and strong character.  She deals with hardship as it comes along and refuses to be mastered by it.  I love how her abusive childhood and all it entailed was translated from the Swedish to “all the evil.”  Such a simple phrase, but it conveys her situation to perfection.  With this second installment, I continue to be as entranced by Stieg Larsson’s Milleium trilogy.  I cannot wait until Reg Keeland’s English translation of the last book in the series is available in the United States next year.  The only thing stopping me from buying a copy of The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest from overseas is the fact that I want to finish the series with Simon Vance.  This is a series I know I will revisit over the years, wondering what would have happened to Lisbeth and Mikael had Stieg Larsson lived long enough to finish this project, which was meant to continue on past the first three novels.

Other Voices:

Redlady’s Reading Room
S. Krishna’s Books
MYSTERIES in PARADISE
Crime Scraps
Reactions to Reading
Bailey’s and Books
Confessions of a Bibliophile ~ I had a great time talking to you about these books at lunch!

++++

With this review, I’ve finally posted about all of the books I read to complete my first R.I.P. challenge.  Thanks so much for the hosting this really fun challenge, Carl!

*****

I purchased the audio version of this book using my monthly credit from Audiobooks.

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#215 ~ Stardust

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

Tristran Thorn has an interesting background.  His father was born in Wall, behind it’s wall.  His mother was born in Faerie and has never been to Wall.  The closest she came was to the Market that resides just outside of Wall every nine years.  When Tristran was born, he was left by the wall with only his name.  His father and his new wife took Tristran in and raised him.  Tristran grows up in Wall not knowing of how he got there.  On the brink of adulthood, he falls in love with the most beautiful girl in Wall and, in an attempt to win her love, he vows to go out into the world in search of the star they saw fall from the sky.  Stardust is the story of Tristran’s journey through Faerie and back.

Stardust did not capture my imagination and heart the way that The Graveyard Book, Neverwhere, or even Coraline did.  I liked Tristran’s character and what woman wouldn’t want a man to promise to go out and bring back a fallen star to her as proof of his love and worthiness?  For whatever reason, something was missing for me with this novel.  It had such imaginative people and places.  I thought the sub-plot with the nasty sons of Lord Stormhold was interesting and I liked how that story and others were weaved into Tristran’s travels.  It even contained the tree that Neil wrote for Tori Amos.  It isn’t that I didn’t like the book.  I just never got into it the way I had hoped.  There isn’t one concrete thing I can point to that explains this.  Perhaps it’s just that I don’t typically read four books by the same author in such quick succession or that I’m tired in general.  All in all Stardust may not have been the strongest Neil Gaiman I have read this month, but it is as good if not better than much of what I have read this year.

To enter for a chance to win the prizes for this theme month, leave a comment here and then go to the Neverwhere and Beyond page and use the following code: N&B-R4.

Other Voices:

The Bluestocking Society
Becky’s Book Reviews

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#214 ~ Coraline

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Coraline, a vivacious and curious only child, has moved with her parents into a large old house that has been subdivided into four units.  She has odd neighbors whom she occasionally visits, but she feels alone for the most part.  Her parents, although home, seem always to be working, and there are no other children around.  It is while following her father’s suggestion of counting windows and doors throughout the house that she discovers a little locked door in the one room in the house that is rarely used.  Her mother finds the key, but it opens only to a brick wall separating sections of the house – or so Coraline thought at first.  What Coraline later finds in the dark and without her parent’s knowledge is that this door leads to her other world.  Coraline’s other world is ruled by her Other Mother.  At first, she is charmed by her Other Mother and Father even though their eyes are simply black buttons.  They take great interest in her and make true home-cooked meals.   While she might enjoy the attention, she soon discovers how sinister Other Mother is and she is forced to save herself and her true parents from the world through that little door.

Coraline was a much different reading experience for me than The Graveyard Book or Neverwhere.  While Other Mother is a creepy, evil character, she isn’t developed in the same way as Gaiman’s other villains.  Her edge comes from her physical presence, while the ghouls or Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemaar make themselves apparent through their dialog.  I found more delight in the Vandemaars and Bishops of Bath and Wells, but writing the Other Mother this way did bring spunky Coraline firmly front and center.   What wasn’t there for me in the way of banter, Coraline made up with her bravery and ingenuity.  She is not afraid to get up and chase a shadow through a strange house and, when push comes to shove, she puts others before herself.  She takes responsibility for her own problems and throws a thrilling tea party, too.  In those ways, she was very real to me.

Who can remember daydreaming about having the perfect parents?  I most certainly can.  The parents in this fantasy fluctuated from kings and queens to Luke and Laura (yeah, I’m dating myself here).  While I never had a problem with my mother’s cooking like Coraline did, there were many things that my Other Mother would have done better and with more finesse.  What Coraline points out so beautifully is that often the characteristics and actions we prescribe to our “perfect parents” would in fact prove detrimental to us, at least to some extent.  One of the things I remember longing for in my parental dream team was the permission to stay up as late as I desired.  Had my parents allowed me to do that, they wouldn’t have been parenting at all.  There’s no possibility that I could have performed at my best at school if I was exhausted all of the time.  Regardless, getting whatever you want eventually loses its luster precisely because it’s not what you really need.  You need parents who love you, take care of you, and provide you with the discipline you need to lead your most healthy, productive life.

Coraline reaffirmed my preference for reading a novel before seeing the film.  We rented and watched “Coraline” a couple of months ago.  I enjoyed the movie a great deal and loved what Tim Burton did with the animation.  However, there was a character in the movie that played a prominent role that did not exist in the book.  I spent a third of the novel waiting for him to arrive on the scene only to realize that he would never come.  It was a distraction and I wished that I had come to this novel with a clean slate.  Nevertheless, I enjoyed this novel a great deal and read it in less than 24 hours.  I look forward to the day when I can read this with my daughters – and not just to put the fear of the Other Mother in their hearts (hey, they probably think they’ve already got one… LOL!)

To enter for a chance to win the prizes for this theme month, leave a comment here and then go to the Neverwhere and Beyond page and use the following code: N&B-R3.

***

I won my copy of this novel from a contest hosted by Bermudaonion’s Weblog.  Thanks, Kathy!

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