Three Review Quickies

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I adored this book. I love that Celia and her beloved Marco got a happy(ish) ending, and so did Bailey and Penelope (Poppet). I'm still sad and little horrified by the story of Tsukiko and Hinata. The straight white people got to be together, but the queer women of color were horrifically separated. The one LGBTQ+ male character of color in the book, Chandresh Christoff LeFevre, only gets an unrequited love.

Chandresh loves Marco. Isobel loves Marco. Celia loves Marco. Everybody loves Marco.

Now I need to know what happened to Isobel after she left the circus. And what happened to her engagement before she met Marco. Basically I need an entire book about Isobel.

I purchased this audiobook on CD from a library used media sale with my own funds. I was not obligated to review it in any way.

Don't Sing at the Table: Life Lessons from My Grandmothers by Adriana Trigiani

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I had mixed feelings. I really loved the first chapters, full of really good sensory details surrounding the author's memories of her grandmothers. The latter chapters also had some beautiful writing, but they were advice-heavy. The somewhat judgmental tone marred an otherwise moving true-life portrait of two 20th century Italian-American women.

I borrowed this book from my mom. I was not obligated in any way to review it. Full disclosure: Adriana Trigiani and I are both graduates of St. Mary's College, although in different years.

When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another book I don't know if I can do justice with my words. Miranda is a thoroughly likeable heroine - she gets steadily more likeable throughout. Her adventure may not be on as grand a scale as Megs' in A Wrinkle in Time, but it is still an enjoyable journey.

I bought this book from Better World Books with my own funds and was not obligated in any way to review it.

Literary Links to Love

I have opinions on Sara Esperanza's "Stephanie [sic] Meyer's Unforgivable Insult to William Faulkner." Esperanza argues that Bella Swan's characterization of "Bronte, Shakespeare, Chaucer, Faulkner" as "fairly basic" and "boring" is unreasonable, given that a 17-year-old is highly unlikely to grasp the complexities of a writer like Faulkner. On this, I'm sure we can all agree.



I would, however, like to once again thank my American Literature teacher, the late Mr. Tom Gerencher, for not inflicting Faulker on me as a 16/17-year-old. From Esperanza's description of the writer's work, it seems overwrought and pretentious - and, yes, probably boring as well.

Thanks to Kala, a.k.a The Dork Mistress, for introducing me to this awesome poem, "Femme Fatale" by Jeannine Hall Gailey. I'll quote one line, just a sample:

"the whiskey of their tongues already forgotten"

...So follow the VerseDaily link embedded in the poem's title and read it. You won't regret it.

On a sad note, Erica Kennedy, the author of the novels Bling and Feminista (a modern take on The Taming of the Shrew), passed away unexpectedly this past week at the young age of 42. Unconfirmed reports are that it may have been a suicide. Read more about her in the New York Times.



Even though I said I was going to get The Thin Red Line and Whistle from the library, Better World Books (not just a bookstore - a literacy project! Support if you can) had a sale on Thursday I couldn't resist. I also got a copy of a book I've never read, but really should get around to: Jane Eyre. I should read it and then read the upcoming Jane Eyre Laid Bare by Eve Sinclair. It's the erotic version. I don't know if it's a mash-up; according to this Bookseller article, it was written as fan fiction.



On an episode of Jeopardy! this week, none of the contestants knew that Charlotte Bronte wrote Jane Eyre. They guessed Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Jane Austen and Emily Bronte.

Speaking of fanfics, I am loving this explicit Rinch piece by Katica Locke. I think maybe Reese-Carter is my OTP (one true pairing), but I can't decide. I don't want to decide. Fictional characters are flexible like that.

I'm on page 128 of From Here to Eternity, and you know what's a bad fictional pairing? Prewitt and Violet. I know he's a Southerner in the 1940s, but when she brought up the possibility of marriage, did he have to go off on a rant about how his white-guy sperm is too good for her eggs (Violet is Japanese-American)? Prew is such a racist, he doesn't even like Italian-Americans. It reminds me of the Virginians in Adriana Trigiani's Big Stone Gap novels who keep referring to Ave Maria and her mom as "ferners" (foreigners) because the mom is from Italy.

Robert E. Lee Prewitt is from eastern Kentucky, near the West Virginia border. His father was a coal miner - so he actually has something in common with Katniss Everdeen. His father wasn't killed in a mine collapse, but his uncle was shot to death by sheriffs in a miners' strike. I'm gathering that, in writing the film version of The Thin Red Line, Terrence Malick used a little bit of Prewitt in creating his version of Bob Witt. Clearly, they are essentially the same character, although I suspect Prew is dead by the end of FHTE. Prewitt is the one who witnessed his mother's death, struggling to see the eternity in her.

By the way, the slim, sophisticated Frank Sinatra seems like an odd choice to have played dumpy, hairy  Maggio in the 1953 film.

This is not Prew and Violet, but Milt Warden and Karen Holmes. Karen is a bitch, but I get why. Her marriage to Dana Holmes is pretty miserable.

On YouTube, I quoth (three weeks ago), "No one has any respect for James Jones anymore. Twice this month, "What is From Here to Eternity?" has been a Jeopardy! question, and no one got it right either time. For the love of 20th century American literature, someone - anyone! - please read the From Here to Eternity/The Thin Red Line/Whistle trilogy. If I get one person to read it, I'll die happy."

Yesterday, I got back, "I just ordered From Here to Eternity on Amazon - it's not every day you get to help someone die happy : ) "

Thank you, http://www.youtube.com/user/v2krpl37dh. Now I can die 1/3 of the way happy. Not soon, I hope.

So, what are YOU reading and commenting on this weekend?