Month: June 2016

Book Review: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews2 Comments

I try to be pretty light on my possessions, but I can always use more inspiration to clear more stuff out.  So I was curious to read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo–though not so eager that I couldn’t handle waiting when 400 other people were in line at the library before me!  The book got to me eventually, and it was interesting…though a little odd too.

A fairly slim book, Kondo lays out her method for clearing out possessions, and why her views are different than some of the conventional wisdom.  She advocates for one massive tidying-up, and promises you will then be so inspired to keep things tidy that you will never have to do this again.  It starts with discarding–but rather than choosing what to throw out, she recommends going through your possessions by category (clothes, books, papers, kitchen items, etc), picking up each item, and keeping only those that give you “a thrill of joy.”  Naturally this means a radical reduction in what you keep.  At that point, find a place for everything, and keep it that way.

At the root, I think she has some good ideas, though she gets rather hyperbolic about the universal and absolute success rate of her methods.  Still, certainly cutting down possessions is key to keeping a home neat, and I absolutely believe in a neat home for inner serenity (or, as Gretchen Rubin says, “Outer order contributes to inner calm.”)  I like the idea of only owning things you love…except Kondo doesn’t make much allowance for things like, say, a cutting board.  I don’t love it, but that doesn’t mean I don’t need it.

But maybe Kondo loves all her practical belongings too.  Which leads me to where it gets a little odd.  Some of this may be cultural differences or translation problems, as the book was originally written in Japanese.  Kondo waxes very enthusiastic about loving all your possessions, and also waxes enthusiastic about the way they love you back.  Right down to your socks wanting to serve you, and you should place them properly in the drawer so they can rest when you’re not wearing them. Continue reading “Book Review: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” →

Favorites Friday: Story Pet-Delights

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations6 Comments

I’ve written about book pet-peeves before, and today I thought of writing about the opposite–though I’m not sure what those would be called!  I’ve written often enough about the kinds of books or characters I like, such as strong heroines and slow-burn romances, but those are fairly broad concepts and (fortunately) fairly common!  So here are a handful of more specific and more unusual things sure to delight me when I find them in a story…

1) Cross-book references: I love it when I’ve read the same book as a character I’m reading about, and the more obscure the better.  It gives me a little thrill of commonality.  So naturally I loved the Libriomancer series (so many references! SO many!) and Breadcrumbs.

2) Settings I’ve visited: I always get excited when a book goes to somewhere I’ve actually been (or when I can go somewhere that I’ve read about).  The more specific, the better.  London is nice; Kensington Gardens is better; the bench closest to the Round Pond when walking south on the Broad Walk is the best.  (Thank you, J. M. Barrie, that’s a real example!)

3) Narrators who talk to me: Speaking of J. M. Barrie, he’s the master of a narrator who addresses his story right to the reader–and Catherynne Valente is just about as good.  Of course, this only applies to friendly narrators.  One of my pet peeves is the flip of this, narrators who talk to the reader but are hostile or insulting (I really don’t know why anyone ever writes this way, but sometimes it comes up…)

4) Villains who think they’re heroes: There’s something marvelous about truly awful, ruthless characters who staunchly believe they’re in the right.  Because I think that’s how people really are!  To pull an example from TV, Gul Dukat on Deep Space Nine is the best for this.  Those Bajorans just didn’t appreciate his guidance while he was running the military occupation of their planet…

5) Heroes who think they’re villains: This can go too far with angst, but when done right I love a character who is so clearly good but doesn’t believe it.  This is a variation on my “brooding heroes with hearts of gold” character type that I enjoy so much.

6) Under-valued kids: Delight might not be the right word since these are always kind of sad characters, but I have a big soft spot for kids who seem to be unappreciated by the adults around them.  Usually these are kids who are imaginative and introverted and really want to make their parents/teachers/guardians happy, but said-authority figures just can’t fathom how much or why they’re struggling to do that.  Hazel from Breadcrumbs, Sym from The White Darkness, and Sophie from The Freedom Maze are all this kind of character (and would probably do better if they could meet each other!)

7) Common sense: Some absurd situations repeat across literature–for example, a stupid misunderstanding separating lovers, so easily cleared up if they just talked to each other.  So I’m delighted when characters actually use common sense (and possibly, use their words!) in defiance of cliche plot lines to solve unnecessary problems in sensible ways.

8) Cameos in history: A little like the cross-references above, I love when real people show up in historical fiction.  Fiction based around a real person is one thing, but it’s a fun little treat when a story is mostly about original characters except, say, Dickens wanders into the pub one day.  Extra points for literary historical figures!

9) Easter eggs across books: I love it when authors drop references or connections across disconnected books.  Gordon Korman used the name “Gavin Gunhold” in three different unrelated books, and Terry Pratchett’s Death, while mostly a Discworld character, also turns up in Good Omens and a short story I can’t recall the name of!

10) ??? – I really wanted to do ten, but I got stuck at number nine!  So I need your help…what’s your favorite book pet-delight?  Maybe you’ll come up with something I love too! 🙂

Book Review: Breadcrumbs

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews2 Comments

We’re a long way into the Once Upon a Time challenge, and I’ve finally read a fairy tale retelling!  Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu was recommended to me by Katy (AKA, A Library Mama) long ago, and she was absolutely right.  It was a wonderful retelling of the Snow Queen–loosely, though a lot closer than Frozen was!

Hazel and Jack have been best friends since they were six years old.  But now they’re eleven, both facing challenges at home, and their friendship is changing.  The adults say this is just normal drifting apart, but Hazel doesn’t know how to live in her life when the only place she feels she belongs is with Jack.  When Jack disappears and Hazel hears a story that he disappeared into the woods with a mysterious pale woman, she sets off to rescue him, whether he still wants to be friends or not.

I loved Hazel.  I often read books where the hero/ine is fine but doesn’t especially grab me.  Hazel was one who grabbed me.  I have a soft spot for kid characters who are sensitive and imaginative and unappreciated by the adults in their lives.  Hazel is a good kid trying to be a good friend to Jack, and not always making the “right” choice.  Both kids are dealing with things that I think are even tougher than they realize themselves.  Jack’s mother has serious depression, Hazel’s father recently left her and her mother, and neither kid fits well in a school that doesn’t value imaginative thinking. Continue reading “Book Review: Breadcrumbs” →

Best Things About Being a Book Lover

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations5 Comments

I have met people who don’t read.  Like, ever.  I don’t understand them.  But the idea got me thinking about the wonderful things about reading–and the best things about being a person who reads.

1) Expanded Knowledge: I’ve learned about history from historical fiction, science from science fiction (slightly dicey, but some real science), and human nature from every genre…which doesn’t even touch all the random information I’ve picked up from nonfiction.  For example, most recently, I’ve probably been slightly annoying on the subject of decision fatigue and energy depletion–but it’s fascinating!

2) Expanded Life: Or, as S. I. Hayakawa said so well, “It is not true we have only one life to live.  If we can read, we can live as many lives and as many kinds of lives as we wish.”  And recent studies have backed him up–the brain actually views real experiences and imagined experiences as the same thing (or maybe they’re just close–I don’t care, I saw the article and concluded my brain feels I have really ridden dragons and been to Prince Edward Island!)

3) Pleasant Commutes: It’s a good day when I walk out of my office and think, “Oh good, now I get to spend half-an-hour listening to my audiobook!”

4) Easy Entertainment, Always Available: What do non-readers do on their lunch breaks?  Seriously.  I have no idea.  Also helpful for long grocery store lines.

5) Instant Escape: See above.  And it’s not that I need to escape my job exactly, but getting out my book does immediately take me out of my work mindset for half-an-hour.

6) Instant Connections: I have rarely had a friendship that didn’t involve bonding over books on some level.  Notable examples: I met one of my best friends in high school because we were both reading Tamora Pierce, and would have been too shy to talk to each other without that bridge; second, I have never connected so immediately with someone, before or since, as I did at a party when a complete stranger and I realized we both considered (again!) Tamora Pierce’s books to be life-changing.

7) Readily-Available Friends: I saw a meme on Facebook a while back (which I can’t find…) which said, to the best of my memory, “I always carry a book, not because I expect to read it but because then I know I have a friend always with me.” Yes.

But the best thing of all was best said by C. S. Lewis: We read to know we are not alone.  Because nothing’s better in reading than stumbling across an idea or a feeling or a weird quirk that I recognize instantly but have never seen anyone else admit to, and knowing that somewhere, someone else felt it too.

What are your best things about being a book lover?  We might find out we’re not alone in our favorite, quirky thing!

Book Review: Here, There and Everywhere

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science FictionLeave a comment

Here, There and Everywhere by Chris Roberson was the rare book with such an amazing concept that, despite other reasons it really shouldn’t have worked, it completely did and I loved it anyway.  I found this one looking for parallel universe books, and it is that—with a vengeance.  I think it wins for sheer number of parallel universes involved, with time travel thrown in besides.

When Roxanne Bonaventure is eleven years old, a dying woman gives her a silver bracelet she names the Sofia.  When she’s sixteen and having a very bad prom experience, she wishes to be somewhere far away…and finds herself confronting a Tyrannosaurus Rex in a prehistoric jungle.  Thus begins a lifetime of using the Sofia to travel through time and space and parallel universes.  There’s a lot of quantum theory involved, and a whole lot of adventures.

The novel is structured almost as a series of short stories, as Roxanne travels to various eras or alternate pasts or futures.  Roxanne (and the Sofia) are the connecting thread, but the plot connections are very loose.  Mostly, that’s okay.  On some level the book lacks an overarching drive or purpose, but at the same time…each adventure is SO interesting that it didn’t matter that much to my enjoyment!  Roxanne travels to Victorian London to hang out with a Sherlock Holmes-inspired detective, and to the Egyptian desert for an Indiana Jones-inspired clash with Nazis. Continue reading “Book Review: Here, There and Everywhere” →