A Heroine to Love

Outlander by Diane Gabaldon is a very long book. The book was so long that I almost put it back at Barnes & Noble. Then I thought what a chicken I was for letting a really long book intimidate me when I’m suppose to be an avid reader. No book was going to get the best of me. So I bought it and I loved it.

While the book was long and there were way too many descriptions of the environment (really, I can only deal with so descriptive words for a forest or a rock), I loved the heroine in the novel. In so many romances, where seemingly “headstrong” girls with little backbone when it comes to the loves of their life lead the book pack, Claire was a refreshing surprise. Claire is a grown-up woman who has been thrown into an unrealistic situation (she time travels to 18th century Scotland).

Below are four reasons why Claire is an atypical heroine and why I loved her for it.

Age

In typical books, the lady in the novel is always a lot younger than her male counterpart. The girl is always 18, fresh out of “school” and looking for some old guy to “tame” her. Okay, not really an old guy, but many times the guy is like 300 years old (like in vampire books) or is like 32. Either way, that’s not 18.

Claire, on the other hand, is in her thirties and her love interest is in his early twenties. Shocking. Amazingly shocking. The age difference works in Outlander because in 18th century Scotland where people are dropping like flies, a male in her early twenties is prime settling down material.

Sex

How many novels have you read where the guy is way more experienced than the girl? In typical romance fashion, the guy is always showing the girl how to do what and where. Not so in Outlander. The hero, Jamie, is a bit clueless when it comes to sex and Claire is more than happy to show him how it’s done. Cougar action is full swing.

Smart

In Claire’s normal time period (1950’s), she is a nurse and into herbs. She carries that knowledge with her into the past and uses it to the fullest. While Jamie may be better at basic survival skills; Claire is handy at healing. A perfect combo.

Equality

Throughout the story, there is a sense that Claire and Jamie are equals and partners. They learn from each other. Jamie didn’t just take care of Claire, but she took care of him as well. So many times where the female is a bit clueless on how to get through life, Claire is refreshing as over and over again she helps Jamie through difficulties. She is a true heroine, not just someone who needs to be saved.

After reading Outlander, I can see why so many women fell in love with the book (and the series). Claire and Jamie seem to have a partnership that is ideal for marriage. Marriage, for them, is the beginning of their story, not just the end. Where so many happy stories end with a wedding, Outlander was a welcome surprise and well worth it’s size.

Book Source: Barnes & Noble

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The Sunday Salon: Doing What Comes Naturally

The Sunday Salon.com

Today I finished Stephen King’s book about writing. On Writing is part memoir and part writing advice. Stephen King goes through the first part of the book reviewing his life and what brought him to writing. The other part of the book is about the actual craft: how King spends his days, how he writes, and also some writing techniques for a better final draft.

On Writing by Stephen KingThe part of the book that struck me from the beginning and continued throughout the book is that King has always loved to write. Writing was a part of him since childhood and he kept the writing passion alive throughout his adult life. King was born to write.

King says that competent writers can become good writers, but if you are a bad writer, you have no chance. There is a piece of writing that is intuitive and either you have it or you don’t. There are so many authors that I have listened to describe the point in the writing process where the characters take on a life of their own and you are a vessel that they go through. While writing takes a lot of work and effort, there is a part of it that either comes naturally or it doesn’t. And not everyone of us has it.

There are points of On Writing that everyone can use if they write…ever. Such as, don’t use the passive voice, get rid of adverbs etc. There are many things that we are taught in school about being grammatically correct without thinking about is we are writing an interesting sentence. So what, it’s grammatically correct, but is it interesting? Diablo Cody’s Candy Girl is a good example. There are many sentences in that novel that I question as legitimate, but Cody’s voice is so clear and hilarious that I don’t care if they are sentences. Candy Girl is a good book.

At the end of the novel, King has a list of books that he has read and really enjoyed. Originally, I was going to post that list, but frankly I’ve only read five of the ninety-something books on the list. Obviously, King and I don’t have a lot of reading material in common; however, I do enjoy King’s novels. To make me look smarter, here is the list of all of King’s novels and the ones that I have read.

1960 – People, Places, And Things – Volume 1
1964 – The Star Invaders
1974 – Carrie
1975 – Salem’s Lot
1977 – The Shining
1978 – Night Shift (stories)
1978 – The Stand
1979 – The Dead Zone
1980 – Firestarter
1981 – Cujo

1981 – Danse Macabre
1981 – Roadwork
1982 – Creepshow
1982 – The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
1982 – Different Seasons (novellas)
1983 – Christine
1983 – Pet Sematary

1983 – Cycle of the Werewolf
1984 – The Talisman
1985 – Skeleton Crew (stories)
1985 – The Bachman Books
1986 – It
1987 – The Eyes of the Dragon
1987 – Misery
1987 – The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three
1988 – The Tommyknockers
1988 – Nightmares in the Sky
1988 – Dark Visions
1989 – The Dark Half
1989 – Dolan’s Cadillac
1989 – My Pretty Pony
1990 – The Stand
1990 – Four Past Midnight

1991 – Needful Things
1991 – The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands
1992 – Gerald’s Game
1993 – Dolores Claiborne
1993 – Nightmares & Dreamscapes (stories)
1994 – Insomnia
1995 – Rose Madder
1995 – Umney’s Last Case
1996 – The Green Mile
1996 – Desperation
1997 – Six Stories (stories)
1997 – The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass
1998 – Bag of Bones
1999 – Storm of the Century
1999 – The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
1999 – The New Lieutenant’s Rap (limited edition)
1999 – Hearts in Atlantis
1999 – Blood and Smoke
2000 – Riding the Bullet
2000 – The Plant
2000 – Secret Windows
2000 – On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
2000 – Dreamcatcher

2001 – Black House
2002 – From a Buick 8
2002 – Everything’s Eventual: 14 Dark Tales
2003 – The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
2003 – The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla
2004 – The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah
2004 – The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower
2004 – Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season
2005 – The Colorado Kid
2006 – The Secretary of Dreams
2006 – Cell
2006 – Lisey’s Story
2008 – Duma Key
2008 – Just After Sunset
2009 – Stephen King Goes to the Movies
2009 – The Little Sisters of Eluria
2009 – UR
2010 – Under the Dome

Book Source: Purchased at Barnes & Noble

Posted in Blog Days, Book Reviews, Nonfiction, The Sunday Salon | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The People We Don’t See

Push by SapphirePrecious Jones is the exact opposite of your typical literary heroine. She is overweight. She is black. She is poor. She is illiterate. She is sixteen and pregnant with her father’s second child. Push by Sapphire is the exact opposite of escapism. Push is the deepest, darkest of realities that no one wants to think about or look at. Yet, Precious Jones is the kind of heroine that every person aspires to be; the kind that fights to overcome all odds.

At sixteen, Precious is kicked out of high school for being pregnant. The school sends her to an alternative school that will help her earn a GED. In this school, Precious discovers Miss Rain and all the mending that writing and reading can bring to her soul. Miss Rain pushes Precious to do more, to be more and she is the one person that Precious has been longing for and needing.

Push is a quick read, but it is hardly the type of book that you can put down and not think about. Precious’ blunt descriptions of the abuse by her father and mother left me completely uncomfortable. However, the book is suppose to make you uncomfortable; the book pulls you out of whatever safe hovel you’ve been living in and makes you look really hard at the life of someone who has been sexually abused. It is ugly, uncomfortable and tragic.

While tragedy meets Precious over and over again, there is hope in this novel. Precious’ anger at her situation and her need to be more left me with hope. Throughout the novel, Previous always pictured her inside self as a beautiful white girl; but, at the end of the novel, Precious begins to see her outside as her inside, both of which are beautiful. There is movement toward acceptance with her image of self, yet rage over her situation. Precious is fighting and her journey is far from over.

I always thought I was someone different on the inside. That I was just fat and black and ugly to people on the OUTSIDE. And if they could see inside me they would see something lovely and not keep laughing at me, throwing spitballs…But I am not different on the inside. Inside I thought was so beautiful is a black girl too.

Push will definitely be one of my favorite all time novels. The way Sapphire forces the readers to look at someone who we spend our whole lives pretending not to is riveting and unsettling. Sometimes it’s good to be shaken up; it’s the only path to change.

The movie Precious is based on the novel Push. I have yet to see the movie, but after reading this book, it is definitely on my radar for must see movies.

Watch an excerpt of Katie Couric’s interview with Sapphire.

Book Source: Borrowed

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Saving Self Through Writing

Recently, I read the book that the movie Precious was based upon. The book Push by Sapphire is one of the most moving books that I’ve read in a long time. The book is about a sixteen year old girl who is pregnant with her father’s second child. Precious is illiterate, black and poor, and the odds don’t look good for her. But, Precious keeps fighting for a better life.

In the book, one of the ways that Precious regains her self is through writing. In the beginning of the book, she cannot read or write, by the end she is writing up a storm. Here is one of the poems that she writes in the novel.

everi mornin
by Precious J
Everi mornin
i write
a poem
before I go to
school
marY Had a little lamb
but I got a kid
an HIV
that folow me
to school
one day.

My favorite part of this poem is the usage of a typical childhood rhyme and then places Precious hard, gritty life into it.  The images are so contradictory that is makes both of them striking. Mary Had a Little Lamb becomes completely absurd next to Precious problems, yet Precious retains some sense of humor by allowing her problems to follow her to school…as the lamb did with Mary.

Stay tuned, my review of the book Push will be posted tomorrow.

FreeVerseFreeVerse is a weekly meme created by Ooh…Books. The idea behind the meme is to celebrate poetry is some way or fashion. Write your own or share a poem that you love. All is welcome with this meme.

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The Sunday Salon: My Online Life

The Sunday Salon.com It’s been awhile since I’ve posted. I can’t say that I’ve been particularly busy. I’ve been in a bit of a writing slump. I’ve been reading like crazy, but somehow writing any thoughts down seems like a struggle. I blame it on winter. It’s February in Minnesota and the snow can’t to disappear fast enough. Granted, it has been warmer here this week, but it’s not 80 degrees and frankly, I don’t think I’m going to be happy until it’s 80 degrees and I’m at the lake.

I’m faced with reality, summer isn’t any where near and I need to kick my butt into gear. So I’m back to writing and organizing my online life (since I can’t really go outside without thermal underwear on and I don’t feel like putting them on…not even for the dog). So I’m going to continue to sit around, get thicker around the middle and update all of my profiles.

I’m on Twitter. I will admit that I’m not that great at “tweeting.” I’ve never really got the hang of it and somehow telling people what I had for lunch doesn’t seem that interesting to me, so I figure no one else will either. My fingers start crippling at the thought of telling someone what I’m doing at that exact second. I do send tweets about interesting articles I’ve read, riveting online broadcasts (I’m a complete public radio junkie) or will share interesting tidbits on life at the library.

Yule Time Reading is also on Facebook. I really started this page as a test to see how to start a fan page and, right now, mostly my family are fans, which makes me entirely grateful to have a family because nothing is better than the people who you have completely taken for granted will still make the effort to cheer you on because they love you that much. On Facebook, I post interesting literary buys, reading nooks, and a hint of some amazing books that I’ve read recently.

Finally, one of my all time favorite sites is Goodreads. This is the place where I keep track of all the books that I want to read, the books that I have read, and the books that I am reading. Usually, I’ll post shorter reviews of all the books that I’ve read. The reviews are by no means as engrossing as the ones that you’ll find on this blog, but if you have a slight case of ADD, this might be the place to read reviews.

These are the three places that you are likely to find me. When I’m fraught with the inability to write, I usually head to one of these three places to get me in the mood.  However, sometimes it doesn’t work. At those times, I turn the computer off, put on my pjs, climb into bed and read; nothing is more inspiring than a good book.

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