The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau

Seeing as Pope Joan (Donna Woolfolk Cross) is one of my most favorite books ever, I had to jump on this one. There's just something about 16th Century England that is so appealing to me. Could it be all of those scandolous attempts to overthrow the monarch? Could it be all of the lying, cheating, backstabbing people who are treacherously evil to their own family and friends? How about all of those illicit affairs, arranged marriage proposals to secure the safety of a country, and the pomp and circumstance of the wealthy? Could it be the devout faith people had back then and the inner-conflicts they confronted in choosing to follow their faith or to follow what is humanly and morally correct? Could it be the lore and mystery of ancient, religious relics? Could it be the architecture and descriptions of the old monasteries and churches and priories and the customs and habits of the faithful? It's all the perfect recipe for chaos, religious and moral conflict, and suspense.

The Crown takes us through the tangled webs of the life of Joanna Stafford, a Dartford Priory novice who escapes her Dominican priory in attempt to somehow save her cousin, Margaret Bulmer, from being burned at the stakes. But both Joanna and her father are captured amidst their heroic efforts and are imprisoned in "The Tower." As a bargain for their release and safety, Bishop Gardiner, directs Joanna Stafford to return to Dartford Priory to find "the crown," an ancient relic hidden within the walls of the priory and believed to be worn by Jesus Christ. But re-entering the priory and re-assimiliating to its culture is not so easy. Joanna soon finds herself on a vast adventure encompassed by scandal, murder, and history.

This read was truly fascinating. I loved it! It's suspenseful, full of history, mystery, intrigue, suspense ~ everything an historical fiction novel about 16th Century England should be.

The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew

For someone who felt overwhelmed in her high school and college history classes (why did I have to memorize so many dates and the names of so many battles?), I just love to read historical fiction! It's fascinating to live life vicariously through characters from another place and time.

This one brought me to the segregated south in the 1950s. It sort of has that feeling of reading The Help ~ upper middle class white family, African American maid who works for said family, characters doing horrible and manipulative things to each other. But whereas The Help had a little humor thrown in for fun (I need not mention the chocolate pie, but how could I resist), this one does not. The Dry Grass of August is completely serious.

The writing style is also very interesting. The story is narrated by a 13-year old girl (Jubie) whose experiences parallel that of her 48-year old black maid (Mary) and slavery in general. At first you think you're reading a young adult novel, but then you begin to see why it's not; and then again you question why it isn't. And in the end you think: Does it really matter if the storytelling drives home the point intended ~ and that point being that strong link among Jubie and the other characters. I don't want to give any spoilers away, but I think readers will see that connection and symbolism with Jubie, her father, and slavery.

Did I like this one as much as The Help? Well, no. But I really felt that this book was successful in making a statement of its own.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

As someone who majored in English and has taken courses in analytical theory and has deconstructed a text well beyond (I'm sure) the author's original intent and purpose, I was interested in this novel in a bookish, nerdy sort of way. Deconstructing any piece of literature is ambitious in its own right. But when an author manipulates a plot based on analytical theory and bounces back to literature in support of and in reference to that theory, it really sends your head spinning. Whoa. . .

This one definitely will not be for everyone. I'm still debating whether or not it was even for me. I love books; I love to read; and on occasion ~ not often but on occasion ~ I will revert back to my analytical theory training and think more deeply about a text.  My thinking on this text, however, did not involve theory ~ probably because it was so bluntly thrust into my face. Rather, my thinking involved the whole irony of the title and the actual content of the book.

The irony of The Marriage Plot is that it really didn't have a plot. The entire novel is built around character development with not much else happening. And once again, irony slaps me in the face with its characters. For a novel that spends so much time developing these characters, they are really not easy to relate to. I don't necessarily have to love a character to love the plot. Let's face it. There are some characters that we just love to hate. But I couldn't connect with a single one of these characters on any level. I can appreciate what Eugenides was trying to do here with analytical theory and weaving a "modern-day" romance around it; and I enjoyed reading the references to classic pieces of literature that I have read. But the novel left me searching for the plot. Maybe I should start thinking about all of those analytical theories that I studied in college. Perhaps that would allow me to connect more deeply with these characters and see the "plot" more clearly. And I guess the irony in reading this book and writing this blog post is that I am thinking more deeply about the novel and my approach to reading . . .

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Yes, I'm aware that I'm the last person on the face of the planet to read this one, but I resisted it because of its genre. I have a really difficult time reading fantasy. For me to love a book, the story has to be believable and the characters have to find a way to my heart. A large part of my reading experience involves visualizing the story as I'm reading. When it comes to fantasy novels, I have a tremendous amount of difficulty visualizing the events and setting. It takes a pretty darn good author to convince me that the events and setting are plausible. Therefore, I avoid these types of books and happily get lost in time with historical fiction, or gasp over the trials and tribulations of someone's life in a memoir, or work my way through a realistic/contemporary novel because I know there will be characters involved in real-life situations that I will hopefully never have to endure (and maybe a few that I wish I could).

So coming from someone who couldn't get past the first 10 pages of Harry Potter and coming from someone who refused to even look at the book covers of the whole Twilight series and join the cult, The Hunger Games went surprisingly well for me. Surprise ~ surprise!

Had I looked a little closer at the author's name, however, I probably would have surprised myself sooner rather than later. About five years ago, I had been a teaching intern at Suzanne Collins's daughter's school. And I just so happened to be working one on one with a student in her daughter's class the day that Mrs. Collins had come in to talk to them about a recent book she had just published, Gregor the Overlander. Honestly, I remember thinking that this too was a book that I would never read because of its genre. But I found Mrs. Collins to be extremely giving of her time and generous with the answers she provided to her daughter's classmates. Over the last couple of years working in that same elementary school and a few others, I noticed that students were eating up her books. They were really enjoying them. They were giving these fantasy novels a chance. . .and I wasn't.

Suzanne Collins, thank you for writing the one fantasy novel that I have actually enjoyed! For the most part, I found the novel believable and I could visualize the characters and the post-apocalyptic setting. I will say, however, that I did have trouble visualizing the whole attack scene towards the end of the novel involving the muttations and the cornucopia. (Is this cornucopia sitting on its side? Is it standing upright? How are the characters hanging on to it? Are they inside of it? Outside of it? How are they shielding themselves?) But I shocked myself with this one. I really did enjoy this novel. I guess I'm breaking out of my shell (or cornucopia) for the new year.