Go Ask Alice

Young Adult > Realistic Fiction

Why I Read It: The YA/Sci-fi librarian at work talked me through the entire section, and this was one of the books she picked out for me.
Suitability: PG-13(some language, sex and drug use)
Rating: 2/5

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall

-"White Rabbit", by Grace Slick

This book, written in diary format and supposedly based on a true story, details the story of an anonymous teenaged girl who gets caught up in the world of drugs. The writing style was easy to read, and it seemed realistic enough, but I can't quite figure out what about this book rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe it was the abrupt, almost cliched, ending, or perhaps it was the sheer predictability. At any rate, when I finished reading the last page, I was left with a feeling of emptiness. My needs, as a reader, weren't fufilled. Emotionally, I was left unaffected. That bothered me, especially because this book in particular depends upon manipulating your emotions. While I think that this is a book that everyone should read once, if only for the warning contained within, as simple pleasure reading goes it doesn't even compare.

Lipstick Jihad - Azadeh Moaveni

Nonfiction - Memoir

Rating: 3.5/5
Why I Read It: I don't know. Really, I have no idea. My only defense is that I work at a library.

What would it be like to grow up in America, constantly feeling excluded because of your Iranian heritage, and then to return to Iran, and to feel excluded because you grew up in America? Moaveni spins a moving tale of her treatment in Iran, her relationship to her relatives who lived there, and her fight to forge an identity for herself when she felt torn between two worlds. In Iran, women lack the basic rights that us Americans take for granted. I could take a walk outside in sandals, a miniskirt and a halter top if I so decided, but in Iran that isn't the case. I can't remember how many times a friend or relative had to tell her "But Azadeh, you're not in America!", or something of the sort, because she took those freedoms for granted. We all do. No matter how much I whine and complain about our dear president tapping phone lines, at least I can wear a bathing suit at the public swimming pool without being arrested.
Moaveni is a journalist. So not only is she female, she is also constantly poking her nose in places that the rulers of Iran would really rather her not. This causes all sorts of conflict, and much of the book is her coming to terms with the limitations and abuse piled onto her by the Iranian government.
I read another Iranian memoir, Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, a while ago. A strange coincidence is that Lolita(to the best of my knowledge) ends in the mid-90s, while Jihad picks up in the late 90s. This coincidence led to an interesting sort of continuity between the two stories, despite their different perspectives.
A fault I found in Jihad(and, in fact, I found the same fault in Lolita) was that the writing tended to jump between events in such a way that I wasn't sure what came first, second, third, etc. I had difficulties putting events in order for the first part of the book, until Moaveni started writing in a linear fashion. Despite this, I enjoyed reading this account of life under an oppressive government. I've never been more thankful for the government I have, no matter who's the leader.


Related:
Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi, at ReadThisNow

Talk to the Hand - Lynne Truss

Nonfiction

Rating: 2.5/5
Why I Read It: I enjoyed her rant on punctuation - Eats, Shoots & Leaves - and decided that her rant on manners might be an interesting read as well. At least, that's the official reason. More on that later.

First off, let me go on the record as saying that I always hold the door for people on the way into work. It's a really heavy door (thank god they're rebuilding the back entrance this year), so once I manage to get it open I consider it common courtesy to let others take advantage of my hard labor. Of course, seeing as some people (not to be stereotypical, but it tends to be middle-aged men), when faced with a 15-year old female holding the door for them, attempt to be polite as well. This leads to a standoff, with both of us trying to make the other go through the door, blocking the way for other patrons. This usually happens at least once or twice a month, but I'm rambling and that's not the point of this paragraph.
To get back on topic, I do feel slightly annoyed when people rush through without saying 'Thank you'. I understand if you have a 2-year old, who you're trying to keep tabs on. But if you're by yourself, just wandering through, and I hold the door for you, what happened to 'Thank you'? Is it that painful? When I read the quote below, I actually caught myself envisioning the scenario playing out behind the library. So, minor digressions aside, what we have here is a grammar rant, plain and simple. Truss(oh, the horror of referring to someone much older than me without a title!) wrote a rant, and published it because her last rant sold a bunch of copies. Eats, Shoots & Leaves actually was a how-to guide, though, even through the rants. And the rants were more amusing than the ones found in Talk to the Hand. I laughed at the horrible lapses in punctuation, while the grammar horror-stories got more of a roll of the eye and a shake of the head. Maybe it's because I'm a member of the (Truss-dubbed) 'eff-you' generation, but it doesn't bother me that much. Politeness taken to the extreme makes me uncomfortable. If the world was as she wanted it to be, I'd be holed up in my house all the time. Of course, seeing as she sees that as amazingly rude, I'd be in violation anyhow. A girl can't win.
And now, the promised story of why I read this now. I'd heard it wasn't that good, so I wasn't intending to read it, but then I got recruited for a shifting project at work, in the new non-fiction section. This book happened to be in the way, in such a way that everything would line up perfectly if it just wasn't there. So, I fell back on the tried-and-true method (actually used by my supervisor Mike* when he was a CA shelving juvenile fiction, but we won't go there) of walking up to the circulation desk and having someone check it out to me. I figured that I'd read it as a light relief from the heaviness of Stephen King's The Stand, and I wasn't disappointed in that respect. It was a rant that I didn't have to think about, one that I could just sit back and absorb. Nothing that would change my life.

* Not a real name - I protect the innocent (or not-so-innocent, as it may be).

Quote: "No wonder we shout after people, "A thank you wouldn't kill you!" It's amazing we don't wrench doors from their hinges, run after people, and say, "Here! Open it yourself next time, OK?"

Thud! - Terry Pratchett

Novel - Fantasy Series
Discworld - unordered


Rating: 4.5/5
Why I Read It: Discworld is awesome, and it was a city watch book. Plus, it's called Thud!

The Ankh-Morpork city watch have their hands full as it is, but with a full-fledged species war between the dwarves and the trolls brewing it's time for trouble. This starts out as a murder mystery, then quickly escalates into a race to find an ancient relic of the Battle of Koom Valley(historic battle between the trolls and the dwarves) before it is destroyed. And, what's more, Vimes(commander of the city watch as well as (reluctant (ooh, nested parenthesis!)) duke of Ankh) has to put up with a vampire in the watch. Apparently, the species wasn't fairly represented.
As always in the city watch books, the lovable Carrot (a 6-foot tall dwarf), vertically-challenged Cheery Littlebottem (a real dwarf), Detritus (a troll), Nobby Nobbs (species uncertain) and other members of the city watch are present.
I really don't have much to say about this book, other than it's really good and you should read it. I did have "Is this my cow? It goes NEIGH! It is a horse! This is not my cow!" stuck in my head for days after finishing this book, however. I actually believe Pratchett wrote a childrens' book on that concept, and I should look for it the next time I'm at work.

Quote: "But this Ankh-Morpork, Captain. And murder is Murder."
"Yes, sir."
"And we are the City Watch," Vimes went on. "It says so on the door."
"Actually, it mostly says COPERS ARE BARSTUDS on the door at the moment, but I've got someone scrubbing it off," said Carrot.

A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby

Novel - Realistic Fiction


Rating: 4/5
Why I Read It: Because it got good reviews and the plot appealed to me.


Take three very different people: Martin, a talk show host; Maureen, a mother; JJ, an American musician and Jess, a teenager (enough said). Put them on top of Topper's House, a popular London suicide destination, on New Years Eve. Now, watch the drama unfold as all four try to end their lives.
Firstly, I will go on the record as saying that this book contains the most profanity I have ever enountered in a printed, bound sheaf of paper. Yes, even more than the Anthony Kiedis (I checked my spelling of his (impossible to spell) last name with the wikipedia. If it's wrong, someone please go edit the Red Hot Chili Peppers article.) biography (I actually hadn't believed that possible, but yet I have the proof right here).
One of the ways that this book really shined was character development. There isn't that much of an actual story arc - most of it is character development and determining why they're trying to kill themselves. Not that there isn't a plot - far from it, in fact. There is a definite beginning, middle and end to the story. It's just that narrative plot has taken a backseat to the development of characters. And Hornby actually managed to do amazing character development without the use of flashbacks (I believe so, at least. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.), something which I have yet to master.
As for the characters themselves, I thought Martin was irritating and profane, yet entertaining at times. Jess was a loose cannon - god might not even know what that girl was going to do next. She was also quite profane. JJ was funny, I liked him. His favorite word began with F and had four letters. Maureen was quite prudish, and I didn't like her really. I didn't exactly dislike her either, it was a very neutral feeling. She heard the F-word as F---, which amused me to no end.
Read this book, it's funny and develops characters very well. Well, the book doesn't, Nick Hornby does. But you get my point.
I have a special message for Tori, over at Read This Now. I seem to recall you blogging this at some point, and I enjoy your witty titles for your blog entries, but I can't (in Maureen-O-Vision) f---ing find the post that way! I'm not really sure how you'd go about fixing that, but I just thought I'd register my disgruntlement.


Quote: "But we gotta do something," said JJ. "We can't just sit around waiting [spoiler text removed]."
"Typical American," said Jess. "What do you want to do? Bomb some poor country somewhere?"
"Sure. It would take my mind off things, some bombing."

Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman

Novel - Realistic Fantasy


Rating: 4.5/5
Why I Read It: Because Neil Gaiman rocks.

OK, apologies for the genre up there. I am aware that realistic fantasy is quite the contradiction, but hear me out! It's realistic in the same way American Gods is realistic - it takes place in a world that is like our world and (mostly) follows our world, but several crucial plot points take place in a fantasy-like setting. So it is fantasy, I guess, but not in the same way that Wheel of Time is fantasy, or Discworld, or *shudder* Eldest. No, it's realistic fantasy. And if you have a problem with my labels, just...well, shut up because this is my blog and I can call the books whatever I please! At any rate, moving on...
Anansi Boys has been marketed as a sequel to 2001's American Gods. It really isn't. It only shares one character, Mr. Nancy, who is a nod to the Anansi spider (the trickster) legends. Mythology doesn't play as strong of a role in this as it did in American Gods. You don't constantly run off to the dictionary to look up Russian gods, for example. All the information necessary to understand the book is in the text itself, which was refreshing. American Gods made me research too hard.
Above all, this is a book about family. And how that family doesn't really get along too terribly well. When Anansi (aka, Mr. Nancy) died, he left his two sons as his legacy to the world. Chaos ensued, because it's a well-established fact that two siblings cannot work together for any length of time, especially when they're as different as these two are.
And to clear up name pronounciation, Gay-m'n, straight from the mouth (well, keyboard) of the man himself.


Quote: "Things. They came up. That's what things do. They come up. I can't be expected to keep track of them all."

Eldest, Christopher Paolini

Novel - Fantasy

Rating: 2/5
Why I Read It: I'd read Eragon(didn't like it), and I have an interest in what Paolini does, since he was the first young writer to really get a lot of press attention.

Paolini totally ripped Tolkien off. The only battle that was even half-decent was the final 'climax'; the rest were kind of blink-and-you-missed-it. But the last battle, I was halfway though it and was thinking "hey, how'd he get so good at battle construction?", and then I saw the line "look, here come the dwarves!". The hell? Can you say Riders of Rohan? I mean, Paolini even had the freaking boat. Many authors rip off Tolkien, but they usually are much less blatant about it.
Alas, much as I would love to poke fun at his lack of plotting ability, I could find no discernable plot holes. Speaking of plot, I suppose I should have started off this review with a basic summary rather than a rant about ripping Tolkien off(shame on you, Paolini).
Eragon and his dragon, Saphira, have saved the Varden from certain destruction(oh!) at the hands of the evil king-whose-name-shall-not-be-pronounced-or-spelled, ruler of Alagaesia. Now, he must journey north into the even-more-unpronouncable land of the elves to complete his training as a rider.
Not only does Paolini write awkward battle scenes, but his romance is decidedly lacking as well. If one is going to introduce a romance side-plot, one must actually have something happen in it. The same thing happening over and over again for several chapters while the author kills time isn't very entertaining at all.
One of the few bits I liked was what happened to the little girl that Eragon blessed at the end of the last book. That was totally awesome, and much more sadistic than I ever had Paolini pegged for. I have hope for the man yet.