Prostituting My Literacy :o)

"Hello everyone. I'm Mandy, and I'm a readaholic."

"Hi Mandy", the support group chimes in...


It has been requested that I post a blog of recommended reads. Actually, it was intimated that both Allen & me would write a blog of that nature. This, my dear friends, is crazy talk. While Allen is incredibly intelligent, he'll only read things that either have pictures or are directly related to something that he can watch (ie. movie info), thus, he's not going to be much help. His suggestions would include any X-Men comics, cereal boxes and, of course, abysmal sports stats (please see earlier blog on antropov).

***Speaking of sports, before I go any further, I really have to digress for a moment - Andre Agassi. For those of you who don't know, he retired this weekend after being defeated by someone he totally would have had calling him daddy mere years ago. Even injured, he almost spanked this guy to move onto the next round. However, in the end, he was unable to push himself any more. His sportsmanship on the court and articulate nature make him a favourite among fans (though, winning all the time didn't hurt either!). He is one of the best tennis players of all time, certainly the best of his generation and will be inducted into the hall of fame at their earliest convenience. Notably, his wife has an even more impressive list of achievements (get used to it boys, the girls will often over-shadow you). Lucky for him, he never had to compete against her. He will be greatly missed and we're hoping that he and Steffi have their children on some rigorous tennis-training program. Read up on him if you feel compelled: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Agassi

Ok, back to books. Being a Chapters biotch has given me the opportunity to read a truly offensive amount of books. Seriously, I couldn't name them all if I tried. However, I will pass along the best of the best that I've read this past year. They are in no particular order:

The Adrian Mole Series
by Sue Townsend
~ There are 6 books in this series and I read and LOVED every single one. They are as follows:

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole
True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years
Adrian Mole: The Cappucino Years
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction

This is a series of Adrian's diaries beginning at age 13 & 3/4 and continuing until age 35. He is a self-proclaimed intellectual who is blissfuly ignorant of the fact that he is a pain in the ass to everyone, especially his dysfunctional family, and it is hilarious. The books get funnier and funnier as he ages, but in order to truly appreciate the latter ones, you must have the foundation of the first ones. Totally worth the read. Light, fun and enjoyable. They are written by a British woman and set in England, so some of the humour would be even funnier for anyone who has ever lived or visited there, of course (which is why it was so popular there that they even started a tv series). READ IT!
Check it out at http://www.adrianmole.com/

Birdsong
by Sebastian Faulks

In all likelihood, this is the best book I've ever read. I connected with the character and story so much that I felt more like I was watching a movie than reading a book. When the novel begins, you meet a young Stephen Wraysford in 1910 staying with a family in France. It is here that decisions are made and actions are taken that propel the rest of the plot. When WWI hits a few years later, we are alongside him again, and let me tell you, you really feel like you're in the trenches with him. The writing is incredible! You picture everything perfectly, yet Faulks doesn't drone on and on in descriptions. I suggest you pay particular attention to the first portion of the book (the 1910 portion) as certain descriptions will be contrasted when war hits and his use of foreshadowing is excellent. A friendly warning to all that there are a few steamy love scenes in the first portion of the novel that may deter some, but I assure you, if you can get past that, it'll be worth it.


The Kite Runner
by Khaled Hosseini

This is not a book I ever would have picked out on my own. Mom thrust it into my hand (rather forcefully, I might add) before we flew back to Vangroovy after our last visit home. Since it was much better than the book I had brought to read on the plane (I'll come back to this one below), I figured I had nothing to lose. Oh my goodness, SO GLAD I read it! To quote the author's site, it is "an epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendships and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afganistan's monarchy to the atrocities of the present." That's really all you need to know, and it's more than I knew when I read it, so just get the damn book and thank me later, ok?

***My reading on the plane experience - Allow me to paint you a picture...Mandy is sitting all cozy in her seat just after the excitment of take-off has worn off. As she sits, gazing out the window at the ground pulling further and further from her, she is reminded of the fact that gravity has been proven to her far more often than whatever physics allows a plane to fly. She tries not to think about it. She turns to her boyfriend, who might as well be sitting on the couch at home for all being a million feet from the ground bothers him, who's reading "Calvin and Hobbes: Attack of the Killer Snowmen". Mandy's wondering what she's going to do to pass the time when they announce the movie - King Kong. Mandy lets out an annoyed sigh. She's in for a looooooong flight! She'd rather be tied to the bumper of a car and dragged naked through a field of broken glass than watch that movie. Excitedly, she recalls that she brought a special book she'd heard was a great read with her. Saturday by Ian McEwan is revealed from her bag and she promptly cozies up to her window to begin reading...Chapter One...a plane crashes...CRASHES!?! CRASHES!! Are you frigging kidding me?! Welcome to my life. Needless to say, I did not finish this one until I was on the ground. For a quick review, there were about 75 pages that were excellent and the rest was a "I want the readers to know how smart I am" load of crappola. I wouldn't recommend it unless you enjoy pedantic, pontificating and ostentatious means of expression. Personally, it annoys the hell out of me.


Before I Wake
by Robert J. Wiersema

This is the most recent addition to the "Everyone Needs To Read This" list of mine. I had the priviledge of listening to this author speak at a Random House event where I not only got a bunch of free books (BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!!), but I even got my first edition copy of his signed! Oh YEAH! He said that his book was about "miracles in an age without faith", which I thought was a fascinating premise. It's about just that. A 3 year old girl from a non-religious family is struck by a car and in a coma. Those around her begin to think she has healing powers. Her parents then are forced to weigh any evidence and make a call on what to do about this while battling religious zealots, contending with the "pilgrims" that arrive on their doorstep, and attempting to cope with the terrible strain all of this has put on their marriage. It's an excellent book about what people can endure if they must and the grace with which some are able to deal with the challenges in life. While there is religious content, it does not advocate a stance on faith in any fashion, rather shows many different elements of faith. I read this almost-400 page book in less than 5 hours on friday night. When I say it's worth the read, I mean it. It was just released a couple weeks ago so it'll be easy to find.


Consolation
by Michael Redhill

This was one of the books that I got before it's release date from Random House (I love you RH!). This novel has an excellent story, real characters that you can identify with and gives a rich history of Toronto, which is fascinating. David Hollis is a geologist who proposes that something of great value was lost when a ship sank in Toronto's harbour some 150 years ago. With the shoreline drastically changing over that time period, he proposes that these valuable artifacts will be excavated accidentally during the building of the Air Canada Centre (called Union Arena in the book for obvious copyright reasons). He is discredited and with his failing health, takes his own life. His wife, in an attempt to gain closure, seeks sanctuary in a hotel, over-looking the dig site and waits...This novel does an excellent job of moving between the time periods seamlessly. I highly recommend the read, especially for anyone who is familiar with Toronto. An excellent story.


Fugitive Pieces
by Anne Michaels

Otherwise known as, old faithful. I've been singing this book's praises for YEARS! I've read it at least a dozen times and I love it more and more every time. Anne Michaels is a Canadian poet so her novel is very lyrical in nature. She is incredibly articulate and uses the english language the way it was meant to be used. The words are very sparse, and yet each word is so perfect that you picture everything clearly. It is so beautifully written that I've been known on more than one occasion to read sections of it aloud when I'm alone. I consistently have quotes from this book wandering through my mind...it's incredible. It's about a young boy, Jacob, who is hiding in his favourite spot when he hears the sounds of violence coming from elsewhere in the house. Terrified, he doesn't dare step out until he is nearly suffocating from smoke - the house has been set aflame. He steps out of the hiding spot and sees his parents dead, his sister nowhere...it seems WWII has finally reached his house. So he runs. He runs into the forest and hides for days until finally, unable to tolerate starvation any longer, he approaches a lone man who appears to be digging nearby. In the only phrase he knows in more than one language, he yells while pounding his own chest, "dirty jew, dirty jew, dirty jew". Athos, the old man Jacob has so bravely approached, hides Jacob within his coat, hires a car and flees with him to Greece. It is here that the story really starts. A story about the strength of human character, about surviving, adapting, coping, bravery, friendship and love. A truly remarkable story.


Ok, I think that gives everyone enough to read for now. Let me know what you think of these if you get a chance to read any of them! Until then, happy reading! :o)