Monday, June 9, 2008

Southern Sass, Faith-filled Imagery and English School Shenanigans

Sometimes I read a book that I honestly don't have much to say about. Write a whole post? Just a blurb? It's a quandary. Such is the case for "Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank: and other words of delicate Southern wisdom" by Celia Rivenbark. It was a collection of essays by a humor writer from North Carolina. It had its funny moments. She writes with a pretty hilarious twang and I could relate to some of the ridiculousness of hyper-mothers of this day and age. The essays on Southern Silliness were probably my favorite. But I can't really recommend it, especially with the newest Fablehaven out there waiting to be read. So don't bother.

The other book I read that I don't have much to say about is "Skellig" by David Almond. It's full of imagery, references to faith and is an uplifting lyrical read. It's about a boy who's premature baby sister's health is in danger, the strange man he finds in his garage and the friend he makes. It's a Young Adult book, which I usually love, and was a quick and lovely read. I can recommend it, but I just don't have that much to say.

The last book of my most recent stack is "What I Was" by Meg Rosoff and that I can definitely recommend with much enthusiasm. I made a big mistake, though. I started out reading it and was starting to wonder if this was going to be worth reading, so I skipped to the end and read a snippet. Huge mistake! Finding out the ending has colored the entire reading experience! I never read endings. I think it's a big fat cheat to do so, but I didn't want to waste time on this book that I didn't think was going to be all that great anyway when I had some other cool books waiting for me in my bag. I wish I could turn back time and not read the ending. Stupid me! As I got further along in my reading, I discovered what a really cool story it was. It's about a sixteen-year-old boy at a boarding school on the eastern shore of England. It's a dreary place and the boy has been sent there after being kicked out of other schools for the crime of making no effort. He settles into his life of non-conformity until he meets a boy who lives in a hut right on the ocean. He's fascinated by the boy's ability to live on his own, not go to school, and do as he wishes. He wishes he was that boy, and so begins his efforts to become more like his new friend, Finn. The whole story is about examining who you are and becoming something else. It was excellent writing and I think Meg Rosoff will make it onto my list of author's that need to be explored some more.

Well, I have the first Libby Bray novel waiting for me, so I'm off to the next literary conquest.

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