With lots of time on my hands, I’ve discovered lots of wonderful things on the Internet – including the GoodReads website. So how do you use it? (This is what I did…)
To begin:
1. After a simple signup, I selected some the genres of books I like reading.
2. Then, I added some of the books I have read, both recently and in the past – a reminder of what I have enjoyed reading.
3. I also added some of the books I am currently reading to another list.
4. From this, I have been given recommendations for other books similar to these – which I might like or already have (and I tagged them appropriately).
Then I compiled an ever-increasing ‘to-read’ list, which is good to remind me of the the piles (both physical and virtual) of books I am yet to read.
5. Finally, I sent invites to friends to let them know about GoodReads because it also has a social element to it, in that you can invite other readers you know to create their lists, and share their love of reading too. Just send email invites to friends and colleagues, or simply choose them from your FaceBook or Twitter contacts, and get them started. Of course, it helps if you have something to show them on your lists, so that they get the idea of how thngs work from your example.
This will sit quite well next to LibraryThing, which we already use for new additions to our school library – with the added benefit of a personalised network of people with whom you can share great books.
You can see in the side bar, a list of books I intend to read, or view my GoodReads here.
Why not try compiling your own lists, invite your friends along also – you may be surprised at how much you have read – and how much more is out there!
‘Still Alice’ was a book I stumbled on at the airport, after I quickly returned another book ‘Little Bee’ since I had already read it under another title, ‘On the Other Hand’. (Another review, another time?) So it wasn’t my first choice, but it turned out to be a great choice – though I finished it far too soon, as you often do with a good book. I had wondered about whether I would enjoy the read, dealing with early on-set Alzheimer’s disease, but I found it a captivating tale.
It is told from the point of view of Alice, a well-renowned psychology professor, who begins to find increasing memory losses creeping into her well-ordered life. For someone viewed as a world expert in her field of linguistics, the tragedy of losing basic words in conversations and lectures, and even forgetting to be at lectures, is immense.
At first, Alice refuses to consider that the changes she is experiencing are anything but a temporary symptom of her busy lifestyle. So she remains quiet and ignores many telltale signs of deterioration; which also remain invisible to her busy family as they come and go. Finally, her inability to make sense of the series of lists she creates for herself, and an increasing inability to keep track of things in family conversations, force her to consult medical advice.
Lisa Genova has written a thought-provoking account of what it could be like to feel yourself slipping away from reality. While in the beginning there is clarity in Alice’s thoughts and actions, as time goes on, it becomes clear that what she ‘remembers’ is often far from what actually was happening to her.
There is a sensitive portrayal of the confusion and frustrations that can be experienced, as Alzheimer’s takes its toll on both the sufferer and their family members. Because of the way it it told, the story gives the reader true experiences of the confusion that Alice has to deal with. It also demonstrates the way in which some family members may be too close, day-to-day, to notice the subtle deterioration in the sufferer, except in hindsight.
‘Still Alice’ has received a lot of praise from reviewers, some of which have had personal experience with dementia within their families. It is written as though you were inside the mind of Alice, as the disease takes hold and changes everything for Alice and her family. Endorsement by the National Alzheimer’s Association is high praise for Genova’s writing, and a continuing blog on Alzheimer’s by the author further endorses the quality and authenticiity of this tale, and the mastery with which it has been written.
Listen to Lisa Genova discuss the beginnings of her first novel, inspired by her grandmother’s onset of Alzheimer’s, and the importance for her to tell this tale.
As a neuroscientist-turned-novelist, Lisa Genova has opened a door for us to view these changes, and perhaps, to help us to understand some of those around us – parents, grandparents, friends or neighbours, who may be affected. Thus, even though it would be considered an adult novel, I wouldn’t hestitate about recommending to younger readers who might need some understanding about people known to them fighting the disease.
Smoky Mountain. Piles of trash. Kids as young as 3, sifting through rubbish, to retrieve anything of value. Life, as it is for many poor children from developing countries around the world, is grimly portrayed in Andy Mulligan’s tale, Trash.
The story is told from varying perspectives, dependent on whose point of view is most valuable at the particular stage of the story. There’s Raphael, a dumpsite boy who scours the trash to help support his extended family, since he lives with his aunt’s family and, of course, cousin Gardo. He is fairly street smart, with good survival skills, but not as confident as Gardo.
Gardo is Raphael’s best friend, and outwardly much bolder, though far more serious. They share everything, so of course, Raphael has tell Gardo of his discovery at the dumpsite. When the police come questioning the dumpsite kids about whether they had found anything unusual, they both know something sinister is afoot, and they seek help among their own.
Rat (or Jun-Jun) is their unlikely hero. Younger than both boys, he is infinitely more streetwise, and incredibly adept at detecting dangerous situations – as he moves effortlessly and invisibly about the slums of Behala.
Banded together with the discovery of the small leather bag in which the police are obsessively interested, they become engaged in an adventure of mystery, intrigue and danger. But together they are determined to right past wrongs and overcome some of the elements which rule their miserable existence in the slums.
Andy Mulligan has worked as a teacher in a school near the dumpsite in Manila, and has thus experienced the sounds, smells and squallor of the nearby slums, and reflected these in his book, Trash. At no time in the novel is it specified that it is set in Manila, however, and as he has pointed out, there are many such squallid locations found around the world. And in these dumpsites, there are thousands of children living the life portrayed in ‘Trash’ - collecting rubbish to survive in poverty.
Thus in this adventure, the reader has to struggle with the knowledge that though this a fictitious tale, it is based in what is a reality for many young children around the globe, through no fault of their own. Their daily struggles and how they cope is far removed from our own existence, told as it is through the eyes of young yet resilient children, simply after a better life.
As food for thought, it may also have great impact in the form of a movie, (which is meant to happen) and would be great reading for any young teen searching for challenge and adventure. For now here’s the book trailer… or listen to the author speak here.
If you’ve always wanted to trial an audiobook, but hadn’t yet got around to it, then perhaps now is the time.
I’ve just discovered a post 20 Popular High School Books Available as Free eBooks & Audio Books on Open Culture. Here, there are links to all sorts of classics like Huckleberry Finn, the Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird and Pride and Prejudice – all available as FREE audiobooks.
This would be immensely valuable to students covering some of the classics in their school studies, as well as for those of us who would like to revisit a golden oldie but with limited time to do so. Just visit some of the suggested links to upload to your mobile device and start ‘reading’!
Kathryn Stockett, born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, has written a book about an author living in Jackson, Mississippi, writing a book about Jackson. The difference is that Miss Skeeter lives in times of prejudice and intolerance – and to write about these things at this time is both risky and challenging.
Eugenie Skeeter, however, takes up the challenge and invites others to find the courage to tell the tales of life during the civil rights movement – importantly, from the points of view of ‘coloured’ house maids. As a dissatisfied writer, she yearns to do something meaningful with her life – which is devoid of any real friends in Jackson. Returning home from college, she provides her mother with angst (with no husband-propects on the horizon), but as a keen observer, she now sees relationships at home with new eyes - ‘where black maids raise white children, but aren’t trusted not to steal the silver’.
When she finally convinces maids Aibileen and Minny to begin telling the tales of their lives as second class citizens, a momentum builds. At the same time, tension and conflict rear their ugly racist heads, as social climbers in the community work to maintain the status quo – and to keep the downtrodden in their place.
Eugenie’s friendship with two black maids is dangerous; writing a book about their experiences even more so. The outcome and whether the whole exercise is worthwhile, considering the potential harm for all those involved, creates a constant tension throughout the story, and the risks are great for all those involved.
The voices Stockett has created are immensely believable, and full of humanity. As each character (Aibileen, Minny and Miss Skeeter) tells her story, the frustrations and pressures for each of them is real and considered. Little by little, their lives are painted before us, and the impact of the prejudices of small town gossip and traditions make our hearts ache for those involved.
We feel for little Mae Mobley whose (white) mother neglects her, leaving her in the care of her maid, Aibileen. We fear that Minny will be again moved out of a much-needed job, if past employer Miss Hilly finds out where she is – that is, if Minny’s husband, Leroy, doesn’t beat her senseless before then. And then, there is the constant worry that Miss Skeeter’s writing activities will be uncovered and demonised by Miss Hilly, the young socialite, who wants to keep the blacks in their rightful positions for her view of society.
Stockett has created a strong believable story, with courageous women in a time of trouble and strife – a modern day ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ scenario – blacks guilty before being tried, dealing with trashy white attitudes – people demanding respect from family staus rather than any true accomplishemnts in life. Though ‘The Help’ has now been made into a movie, I resisted seeing the movie before reading the book, which absorbed me fully into the lives of 3 brave women at a historic period in America. having ‘heard’ their voices, I can now look forward to what has been a well received adaptation of the book:
“The Help” is a delicious peppery stew of home-cooked, 1960s Southern-style racism that serves up a soulful dish of what ails us and what heals us. Laughter, which is ladled on thick as gravy, proves to be the secret ingredient — turning what should be a feel-bad movie about those troubled times into a heart-warming surprise. – Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2011.
As mentioned in an earlier post, I have been ‘reading’ (via a CDs-and-book combination) ‘the Inheritance of Loss’ – a book by Kiran Desai which won the Man Booker Prize in 2006. I had picked it up in my search for books reflecting issues of globalisation.
Set mainly in the foothills of the Himalayas, it tells the stories of several characters interwoven by family and work relationships, amid the legacies of post-colonial India, and the local struggles for political independence. Position, power and politics all play a part in this tale – with some predictable outcomes - and a perspective into cultures quite different from my own.
Since finishing (and enjoying) this book, I have searched to see how others had reviewed and found a mix of praise and criticism for the prize winner. Some reviews were quite effusive in their compliments, while others decried Desai as using too many stereotypes and betraying the culture of many Indian people groups.
Comments used in reviews include:
a series of parallel stories… each quixotic
‘literature of tourism’ – a fascinating introduction to a particular time and place
overwhelmed by detail
gripping stories of people buffeted by the winds of history, personal and political
the book gets under your skin
a bleak view of the clash of the ‘first world’ with the ‘third world’
It’s interesting to see the polarisation of reviews which often occurs with awarded books. These also made me wonder how the book might be received differently based on your ethnic background – would people who lived in, or knew the ethnic cultures, be accepting as I was of the way characters were portrayed and acted in the tale? Is that where the acceptance or rejection of the novel diverges greatly? Perhaps based on our own cultural baggage?
‘Reading’ using an audio production may have had an input to my enjoyment of the novel, read as it was by experienced narrator, Sam Dastor. This gave accents and voice to the characters which my personal reading-from-the-page may have missed. It certainly gave me things to laugh at in the car, as humour was interwoven with the daily struggles of Sai, Biju, Noni and Lola, and the Judge. And the language Desai uses is, at times playful, at other times precise, reflective and colourful. Perhaps that is why I also felt the need to purchase a physical copy of the book – and to see the shape of her words, and to see the names of the people and places in the tale.
I recommend picking up either copy (audio or book), or, as I did, try both! As usual comments and feedback welcome!
I have recently been looking into audiobooks through some of the free options offered by the Sync community for Young Adults. Through this option, I have been able to trial both contemporary and classic novels suitable for teenagers.
One of several books I have downloaded and enjoyed recently is ‘Chanda’s Secrets’, written by Allan Stratton. It is a tale that follows a young African girl facing the challenges and impacts of AIDS, both in her family and community.
It begins with Chanda, as a 16 year old, organizing a funeral for her baby sister. Her mother (Lillian) is grief-stricken, unable to cope with Sarah’s death, and her sister’s father is incapacitated (or drunk, or both). This is one of the many things Chanda has to deal with, as we slowly begin to understand how life is for the poor underclass in the shanty towns of many African countries.
As the eldest surviving sister, she cares for her both her mother and her young siblings, Iris (6) and Soly (3) who fail to understand that Sarah is dead – mamma hasn’t told them. Life for Chanda has involved a number of father figures – her mother moving from one abusive relationship to another. And, in that, there have been big consequences for Chanda.
Life is hard. Her best friend, Esther seems to be taking the easy way out – ‘befriending tourists’ while putting herself in dangerous situations – an occasional bruise or cut being testament to that. But Esther is an orphan with a different perspective to Chanda, which Chanda both questions and almost accepts – unlike many others in the small community of Bonang.
Routines for many families in Chanda’s world include funeral and burial activities. Indeed, Chanda regularly visits the graves of her father and brothers at the local cemetery, and that of her neighbour, Mrs. Tafa’s, first husband . Unfortunately, it’s all just part of life. Also part of life is the unwillingness of the community to put a name to the sickness that is claiming many of its people. However, they are quite happy to shun any family members with a hint of that curse.
‘Chanda’s Secrets’ is all about family loyalty, pride, love and caring. In the end, Chanda feels ‘ashamed of being ashamed’. Her mother travels back to Tiro, where Chanda was born, and where her extended family still lived. But when Chanda goes to find her mother to bring her back to Iris and Soly, she learns even more about how harsh the world can be.
To hear the story told, rather than read, from Chanda’s perspective gave me time to think and see things from her point of view. Clever presentation also helped to provide different voices for each of the other characters in the story, and to bring the story alive. It still could have been helpful to have a physical book to check now and then, even if only to check how words, like places and names, were spelt, and to provide an idea of how far into the story the reading had gone. However, the whole audiobook experience was an enjoyable one for this particular book. (And previously, for Kirin Desai’s ‘Inheritance of Loss’).
Some books, but not all, will lend themselves well to the audibook experience – which books would you like to ‘read’ in this way? Are there any you don’t think would work?
## Chanda’s Secrets has been made into a movie, titled ‘Life, Above All’… See the ‘offcial’(sic) trailer below. It is also followed by a sequel by Allan Stratton called ‘Chanda’s War’ – reviewed by ReadPlus here.
” ‘ We have a new student starting today. Are you here…’ he consults a note, ‘ Dan Cereal?’
Some snigger at the name.
‘Cereill.’ I say. ‘It’s pronounced “surreal” ‘.
He touches his tongue to the trim under-edge of this moustache and sizes me up. Am I a troublemaker? Am I ridiculing him? He can’t decide.
‘If you prefer,’ he says. ‘Cereill it is.’
Thus begins Daniel’s first day at a new school. No longer at a private school, no longer amongst his friends, and no longer in a home with two loving parents. Now, his mum struggles to makes end meet – by making wedding cakes, and his dad lives elsewhere, since announcing his status as a gay man. Daniel plans to lay low and not draw attention to himself at his new school – a hard task for someone as bright as he is (nerd-boy), and one who is immediately targetted by one of the school bullies.
Dan’s a likeable and believeable character, reflecting many of the torments faced by teenagers adapting to change in their lives and in the first throes of love. Estelle is the one positive he finds when he and his mother move to her great-aunt Adelaide’s house (a smelly abode bequested in her will) – she lives next-door and he has an impossible crush on her from the very first sighting.
Author Fiona Wood has added some interesting elements to Dan’s story – an ‘attic connection’ crucial to the unwinding of the story; an inherited but soulful dog (or is he an intuitive guardian angel?); along with peripheral characters who come to the rescue at just the right moments. Thus, she has artfully placed historic momentos, gifts from the past and even plants and animals in the right locations and times in Dan’s new life. But not always…
There are of course, times when he goes from one embarrassing moment straight to another. Times when he simply can’t understand the way his mother is functioning (or not), and times when he really needs to scream at his father (though he hasn’t spoken to him since he left). Throughout, Dan updates his list of six impossible things. He’s quite perceptive for a 14 year old boy – but he doesn’t get everything right – or does he?
“Dan Cereill is an odd sock and an absolute sweetheart.” Simmone Howell
At a recent gathering of the Writers’ Group, we discussed the many things needed to inspire one’s writing, and one thing which came through strongly was the need to read. Indeed, this was one of the many things emphasised by this week’s major winner of the Australian Book Industry Awards for 2011, Ahn Do.
‘The Happiest Refugee’ is Anh’s memoir – his journey from Vietnam as a young child, to a far away country. It reflects the struggles, torments and challenges faced by a refugee child.
For someone who had trouble reading and writing at school, to win not one, but three awards is a major achievement. In his acceptance of the awards, he credits much of his success to developing a love for reading; which was well supported by his mother (including buying second hand books from Vinnies). This must have been a vital step to learn his second language, English.
In an interview transcribed on the ABC’s AM site, Anh Do spoke about rising above early problems he had in school, and the determination to do well in his new homeland, encouraged by his family. Now, he is also encouraged by people who have enjoyed his book, which is a mixture of happy and sad events. It seems his story of rising above life’s many challenges speaks to many.
While it has been suggested by some that Anh had a ghost writer, he explains that he did have help recording and organising his thoughts and experiences for the early drafts of his book. Credit has been given to journalist and writer, Michael Visontay, who has been acknowledged in the book. However, Do and his publishers state that the final manuscript is his work.
In view of the ABIA accolades and past awards* received for ‘the Happiest Refugee’, the final word remains with the author, Anh Do:
“(So) to win Book of the Year after being a kid who had issues with reading and writing it means that maybe I’m not so bad at it.”
# Think about it, why is it important to read as a writer? What sort of books do you read that influence your writing?
* other awards include the Indie Book of the Year Award 2011 and being shortlisted for the 2011 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.
Postscript – I just came across another blog which talked about the importance of reading for your writing – see those ideas here.
‘When I was a child, I did not love fairytales…They frightened me almost as much as they fascinated me (but) when I grew up, I came to love fairytales for all the things that had frightened me as a child…’ writes Isobelle Carmody in the introduction to ‘Tales from the Tower: the Wilful Eye’.
This collection of 6 short stories by renowned fantasy authors revisits classic fairytales to give them a modern twist. At the same time, each of the stories reflects the differences and nuances of individual authors.
Carmody invited the authors to explore fairy tales of their own choosing. Some chose familiar tales (like Rumpelstiltskin and Beauty and the Beast) as their foundation; others worked with slightly less well-known stories. All have moved away from the Disneyfied versions known to modern children, and have provided some interesting and varied scenarios.
Indeed, a binding feature of the stories is the way in which traditional tales have been transformed, as they move away from their traditional audience of young children to a much more mature one. Already the tales have raised some controversy, many questioning whether they even suit a young adult market. (But then, this may just give the book greater appeal and material for exploration and discussion?)
We are forewarned of the nature of the book in both its blurb and Carmody’s introduction:
‘Characters are enchanted, they transgress, they yearn, they hunger, they hate and, sometimes, they kill.
Some of the stories inhabit a traditional fairytale world, while others are set in the distant future. Some are set in the present and some in an alternative present. The stories offer no prescription for living or moral advice and none belong in a nursery.’
However, the depth and detail, and the twists and turns which each tale takes, inspired by fairy tales of old, makes this book well worth the study – particularly for students in years 11 and 12 Extension English. That some of these stories touch on controversial issues, or that others are dark and enchanting, is nothing new to the world a fairytale appropriation, or indeed to many dark fairytales passed down the generations in the past – after all, many children have been frightened by fairytales, as attested to by Carmody herself.
