Over the Clover

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

When I first started reading Geek Love I realized two things pretty quickly. I had no idea what geek really meant or where it came from, and this was going to be a difficult book to keep reading. 

This is a book that asks one fundamental question: How much of who we are is tied to our appearance and our very physicality? The author Katherine Dunn explored this topic in an impressive array of plots and subplots.

The main storyline is about a man, Al Binewski, who "engineers" his family's physical features by having his wife take poisons and do other dangerous things to modify the body of each fetus. He owns a carnival and what better way of running a "freak show" than by creating your own?

There is also the subplot of the man who tries to murder the Binewski family only to become disfigured and ends up working with the carnival. Only some of the family is aware of who he really is.

Then one of Al's children (the brilliant, egotistical, "aqua boy" Aurtoro) creates his own cult where the "chosen" opt to have their body parts removed surgically over time.

If that's not enough, there is the parallel story line of one of the other children, Oly, the narrator and herself a bald, humpbacked, albino dwarf, who is now grown and has befriended a woman she intends to kill. The woman is wealthy and coerces beautiful women to make themselves less desirable to men through arranged disfigurements. She convinces them this freedom is the only way they can become successful in life.

And actually, it's even more complicated than that, but I'm glad I struggled through the first half and kept reading. Not only is this one of the most unusual books I've ever read, but it looks at topics like disfigurements, "normalcy", family love, etc.,  in a way that makes the reader think about his or her own opinions and biases in new ways.

The book offers no real answers to any of the questions if raises except to leave one with the impression that sometimes our ability to think and reason can be as much a hinderance to our happiness, success, and ability to love as shortsightedness ever has been.

Reading Challenge for 2012

I really enjoyed the reading challenges I took part in last year, so I'm going to continue this year with another one: 

The goal is to read one book for 12 different genres and I think it will compliment the reading list I created for this year (which always has 12 books as well). Twelve books, twelves genres, all for 2012.

There will be some overlap, and some of these will be a stretch as they are genres I tend to avoid (such as mystery fiction and romance), but here's the tentative list for now:

Genres

1. Literary Fiction = Within a Budding Grove by Marcel Proust
2. Crime/Mystery Fiction = Out by Natsuo Kirino
3. Romantic Fiction = Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy
4. Historical Fiction = The Invention of Curried Sausage by Uwe Timm
5. Young Adult = Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
6. Fantasy = Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
7. Science Fiction = 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America by Albert Brooks
8. Non Fiction = Laws of Simplicity by John Maeda
9. Horror = American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
10. Thriller /Suspense = The Secret History by Donna Tartt
11. Classic = Castle Rackrent by Maria Edgeworth
12. Short Stories = The Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf

 

2012 Reading List

This is the fifth year I'm making a list of books I *must* read in the coming year. While that must becomes softer each year, I'm still going to do my best to get through these this year. The theme of this year (if there was one) would be things-I-can't-seem-to-start-or-finish. Fittingly, about half of the list will be books I did not complete last year.

The 2012 Reading List:

1. Within a Budding Grove-I have spent the last three years not making time for this second volume. So this year it goes at the top where I can't so easily forget about it.
2. 2030: The Real Story of What Happens to America-Dystopian choice for this year.
3. Corrections-Just as this one sat on my shelf for years, I'm now having a hard time finishing it. While I've enjoyed parts of it, the writing and the plot give me anxiety.
4. Razor's Edge-Been looking at this one on the shelf since 2006.
5. Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf-Was about halfway through this book somewhere back in 2008 but never finished.
6. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes-Reading the first 12 stories. Finished the first 4 last year.
7. Man's Search for Meaning-I've started this book at least 3 times. I never get halfway. But I do always lose my place and never know where I left off. Not that it matters. It's rough, rough subject matter (almost nothing is harder for me to read than things related to the Holocaust) but it's one of those I know I have to read at least once in my life.
8. Reasons to Live-Short stories from last year's list.
9. World War Z-For the obligatory October read.
10. Member of the Wedding-It's still about time I read something by McCullers.
11. Castle Rackrent-A classic read. Short and returning from last year's list.
12. Laws of Simplicity-Small nonfiction book I picked up on a trip and I often wonder why I haven't actually sat down and read it by now.

So, this year is about wrapping up loose ends, bookwise.

End to reading 2011

And I thought last year was a tough one to find time to read. I had no idea how much busier I would get in 2011! Due to this I did not get through my list of 12 books this year. Well, technically. I did read 30 books in all, but only six from the list of 12 I chose. Other books kept coming my way from recommendations, book club meetings, and books my husband and I chose to listen to while commuting.

The good part of all that is it gave me a chance to re-evaluate my book list intentions. While it's the first time in 5 years I haven't made it through my to-read-by-year-end-list, I think I've learned something this year. Not necessarily from the book list per se, but it definitely applies.

Sometimes a deviation from the original path is ok, even necessary. It might not be what I envisioned. It might not even be what I would have chosen, but that doesn't mean there are no lessons to learn. In fact, it's those situations we never imagine ourselves in that usually teach us the most. 

So, I'll just add the 6 books that didn't get read (or finished) this year to 2012 and move forward.

My top 3 reads for the year:

1. Bossypants – Tina Fey
2. Let the Great World Spin – Colum McCann
3. Await Your Reply – Dan Chaon

Here's to whatever 2012 has in store, be it books or otherwise.

Reading Challenges

I was taking part in three reading challenges this year.

Reading Challenge #1 = Read 30 books in 2011

I finished this one yesterday. I challenged myself to read more books this year than ever before. Now the challenge for next year will be trying to decide to stay at the number or change it. To see the complete list, click here.

Reading Challenge #2 = Read at least one book by Haruki Murakami

I read The Elephant Vanishes. It was my first short story collection by Murakami. It's now my favorite book by the author.

Reading Challenge #3 = Read as many short stories as possible in one year

I always say I'm going to read more short stories but then inevitably they shoved to the bottom of the pile. Not this year. I haven't tallied the number of individual stories yet, but I have finished:

• Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
• Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
• Rashomon and other Stories
• The Elephant Vanishes
• Zombies vs. Unicorns

And I'm still reading the original Sherlock Holmes stories.

My informal reading list challenge will probably not get completed this year. More on that soon.

Book Club, Part 5

I got involved somewhere along the line this year in two more book clubs. One is more a social group and has all but decided to do away with the book part of the book club. I did read and discuss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (and my regular group was reading that as well) and then we moved onto The Hunger Games, but the group decided not to meet to discuss that one.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks was fascinating. I think it changed me in some way, but I'm not entirely sure how--it probably has something to do with the subtle ways that poverty and racism have affected our lives in the U.S. We usually talk about overt situations and consequences of these problems, but this story showed a completely different manifestation. It was powerful for sure.

The Hunger Games was a much lighter read--and because it's a young adult novel, a bit emotionally tedious at times--but overall thought provoking enough that I plan to read the rest of the trilogy.

Meanwhile, back at the regular group we read Let the Great World Spin. I thought I'd hate this book, so I know I would never have read it without the book club. But this turned out to be one I'm now placing on my favorites list. A book about a high wire that is and isn't about 9/11. It explores the idea, from different angles, that one event can alter many different lives in many different ways. It demonstrates how everything we experience is part of some giant ripple effect. I enjoyed the way the author weaved the stories together. It seemed fitting for such a topic.

The next book was a book I chose because I've been told to read it for a few years by a couple I know. Case Histories is a noir from a female writer. I enjoyed the writing and a woman's take on this familiar genre. The book still haunts me and turned that familiar genre a bit on its end. I will long remember this one for its dark imagery, devastated characters, and the microscopic examination of how we just keep on no matter our experiences because what else can we do?

Then we moved on to Superfreakenomics. An OK book. I never read the original but this one was interesting enough. I liked the different approaches to looking at global warming and prostitution. It was worth reading the book for the history lesson about hospital hand washing if for no other reason.

The regular book club decided  to read a lot of non-fiction in the last part of the year. I'm ok with non-fiction here and there, but four books in a row was a bit too much to muster. Being so busy, I decided to skip Gardner Heist and Lit. I'm hoping we'll be back on track with fiction by January.

The third book club is one is a spin-off of the regular one (in a way) for me. I was introduced to it by someone from my regular club. They only meet every six weeks, so the pace is a bit more relaxed. The two books I read with the group were both thoughtful, more literary pieces than what we usually read in my regular group. I liked The Gate at the Stairs and The Housekeeper and the Professor, but not enough to really spend time discussing them. The former was about coming-of-age and the second was about the meaning of love. Good reads.

 

Connecticut's First Book Festival

  I attended the first annual Connecticut Book Festival last weekend. It was put on by the University of Connecticut Hartford campus in West Hartford, and it was a lot of fun. Authors gave talks over two days and signed books. People were able to browse and buy from tables set up across campus. There were also a few food vendors, a strange dancing mime troupe, and some activities for kids.

The campus, which I had never been to before, was so lovely. I hope to have time to get back to the festival next year. And I hope it continues for years to come as the state really does need more events like this one.

Book Club, Part 4

I started out by missing the next three books: The Forgotten Garden, The Scent of Rain and Lightning, and Then We Came to the End. I hope to find time to go back and read then eventually. The I got back on track as we read:

The Collected Works of T.S. Spivet-Besides having an awful name, this book felt really disjointed. There were three sections that all felt completely different and it the story became more fantastical and psychophrenic as it went on. Also, it was another precocious, child genius story so that put me off from the beginning.

Await Your Reply-This book was great. I loved the exploration of identity and how the stories all melded together--even if I figured out the twist pretty early on. If a story is good it doesn't really matter if you see through the method.

For the next six moths we have a few non-fictions title on the list as well as fiction, so we'll see where this leads us.

 

Trying my hand at a couple reading challenges

I've never joined a reading challenge before, but this year I'm trying a couple.

I have read at least one Haruki Murakami book every year for the past three now, so I decided to see how many I can read in one year.

 

And I normally limit my short story reading to one collection a year. I have mixed feelings about short stories. If I love a short story it is over too soon, and they tend to blur together and be mostly unmemorable for me. But, I've decided to dedicate the year to as many short stories as I can muster--for a change of pace.

Reading List for 2011

So, it's a new year again and time to look over my shelf for a must-reads list.

This is what I plan to read in 2011:

1. Brave New World-Dystopian novel I started to read in high school, got distracted and never got back to it
2. Rashomon-Sort of returning from last year. I read the short story last year, but I later realized I have two books that both include it in a collection of short stories. I'm reading the more recent one with an introduction by Haruki Murakami.
3. Corrections-One that's been waiting around on my shelf for years.
4. Persepolis-A literary graphic novel about being a woman in Iran
5. Perfume-Kept hearing about it a lot a couple of years ago but never got around to reading it
6. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes-After seeing the movie "retelling" in 2010 I suddenly have a new interest in Sherlock Holmes. I'm hoping to finish all 24 stories before the sequel comes out sometime this year
7. Razor's Edge-Haven't read anything by Maugham before
8. Reasons to Live-Curiosity. People seem to love or hate it but are hard pressed to understand why
9. Vampyre-For the obligatory October read
10. Member of the Wedding-About time to read something by McCullers
11. Castle Rackrent-A classic read
12. Sound of a Wild Snail Eating-Have been fascinated by this book's concept

This year's focus is more modern than the last few years. Other than two I believe all the books are 20th or 21st century reads. Also there are a lot more short stories than I usually read in a year.

Not specifically on the list but I also hope to get to the second volume of Proust. And I'd like to start a four-volume set of classic short stories. OK, here goes...