Short Stack

I haven't done this list in a while since the Washington Post has not kept its end of the deal to provide me with stimulating and interesting Short Stack topics. Instead, we've gotten "Books with a Moral Purpose," "Books that Tell More About D.C. Than You Might Think," and "Books with Memorable Graduation Scenes. " Blah. I'm not big on moral purposes in leisure reading (I prefer escapism), haven't read a lot of books that reveal much about D.C., and I can't think of one book with a memorable graduation scene. So, instead, I offer you "Five Books to Turn Your Brain to Mush."*
(1) Warped Passages by Lisa Randall. I heard an appearance by Randall on NPR's Talk of the Nation and I was enthralled by her descriptions of her particular area of physics, string theory. She was on the show to promote Warped Passages, and the book was billed as a sort of string-theory-for-the-common-man. Yeah. I've made it through about the first 50 pages. Turns out there's a reason I'm a lawyer.
(2) Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. This book makes the list because after you read it you'll wonder how humanity has survived the last 50 years of food production and you will realize that, if you are what you eat, your brain (and the rest of your body) are already pretty much corn-based mush.
(3) Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Now, I know you're saying, "Wait a minute! You already used that book in a previous list!" I did. It's a big book and I devoted a substantial portion of my reading life to it. Thus, I feel justified in using it on more than one list. This book was dense and intricate story with lots and lots and lots of words. And lots of words I didn't know and have since forgotten. Thus the mush.
(4) Paul Revere's Ride by Shana Corey. This is an early reader version of the Paul Revere story that Garion chose from the library a couple of weeks ago. And he LOVES it. And I have had to read it about a 745,390,234 times in the last two weeks. Did you know that Paul Revere's dog was small because during that time in Boston there was a law that no one could have a dog over 11 inches tall? Yes, that is one of the terribly important historical facts now etched into by brain, FOR ETERNITY.
(5) Midnight Bayou by Nora Roberts. Some time ago, we were visiting our friends Chris and Anali and Chris revealed that he had just finished a Nora Roberts book. Chris has a masters degree in English Literature and Nora Roberts is about the last thing I ever expected to hear him talk about. He said he picked up the book because Nora Roberts sells so well and he wanted to see what her books were like. So, of course my curiosity was piqued and then I wanted to know what Nora Roberts' books are like. So I checked this one out from the library and it was exactly what I expected her books to be like. There were two main characters--a man and a woman--and, guess what? They get together at the end. I think there was also an old spooky house and some ghosts. And now we are all up to speed on Nora Roberts.
Okay, your turn--what books turn your brain to mush? Or, if you prefer, toss in some titles that fit the (ahem, crummy) Washington Post themes.
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*Just to clarify, these aren't necessarily bad books. I'd still recommend reading Warped Passages, Omnivore's Dilemma, and Cryptonomicon. They are great books that just happen to induce mushiness.

All Things Books

I have, on this blog, pledged to do all sorts of book related things and have not delivered. Sigh. I am not the world's best blogger. I believe that I am two months behind on the Book of the Month challenge, so I'll start there.
February's theme was "heart." I read Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. The book is set sometime in the future about 70 years after earth has been attacked by an alien race identified only as the "buggers." The main character is Ender, an enormously bright and empathetic child who is recruited into an elite battle school at the tender age of 6. I read this book when I was in junior high or high school, but I found it to be a completely different experience as an adult. Being the mom of a 5 year will definitely change your perspective. What does this have to do with "heart?" Well, the book, in a nutshell, revolves not only around Ender's extraordinary intelligence, but his equally extraordinary capacity for empathy, i.e. his heart. See how I pulled that altogether? Aren't I clever.
March's theme was "craft." I read Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl. This was a hum-dinger of a book with a whopper of a twist at the end. The main character is Blue VanMeer, a 17 year old girl in her senior year of high school. She gets involved with an odd group of kids an a nuts-o teacher and an intricately plotted mystery unfolds. The book's prose is snappy and littered with literary references that constantly made me wish I had paid just a little bit more attention in college. How does this relate to "craft"? This was one of the most well-crafted mysteries I have read in quite some time (ha!).
So, by now you might be thinking that instead of choosing a book to fit the Book of the Month theme and then reading it, I read whatever I want and make it fit the theme. And you would be right. I feel a little bit bad about that and am considering reforming my ways for April. Although April is almost over and I don't know what April's theme is. So maybe I'll reform in May.
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I've also been remiss on the Short Stack reports. This is partly because the Washington Post has not produced list topics to which I can easily relate and I was too busy/lazy come up with my own. But! This week they had a good one: Books to Climb Into. These are the books that created a world you didn't want to leave, or you felt like you were part of, or pulled you into an intense reading experience. I liked the editor's list, and I'd recommend checking it out.
For my own list:
(1) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. I loved this world and Meg's family. When I was younger, I wanted to be Meg's mother when I grew up. She could do chemistry and cook dinner at the same time. I also wanted to hang out with Meg, Calvin, and Charles Wallace, they are my kind of people and I know we would have been tight.
(2) The Farseer, Liveship Traders, and Tawny Man trilogies by Robin Hobb. These books created an intricate, detailed world that I found fascinating and totally enjoyed. They were some of the first fantasy books that I read of my own initiative (after Moses sucked me in by getting me to read the Lord of the Rings trilogy).
(3) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. This is on the Washington Post list, so I feel like a dork for including it on mine, but what can I say, this is a book I've wanted to climb into, so here it is.
(4) Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. This book is big enough that you could almost literally climb into it. Okay, not literally, but less figuratively than the other books. This book jumps between World War II cryptographers and modern day computer hacks (for lack of a better term) and was so complicated that I can't really remember the plot but I know I liked it. I can't say that the worlds in this book creates are ones I'd actually want to live in, but this book delivers that sort of absorbing, suck-you-in-until-you-can't-find-your-way-out reading experience that I think qualifies it for this list.
(5) A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith. Also not a world that I want to live in so much as one that was totally real to me while I was reading this book.
So, time to give it up--what's on your "Books to Climb Into" list?

Short Stack

This week's theme in the Washington Post was "overlooked novels by great authors." I thought and thought about this theme and decided that I am not well read enough to come up with a list. I've read a lot of novels by a lot of authors, many of them great, but I don't think I'm tuned in enough to know which ones qualify as "overlooked." So instead, I'm providing you with my 5 favorite books on Garion's bookshelf:..

(1) How I Became a Pirate by Melinda Long: a young boy joins a crew of pirates for a night, learns how to speak pirate, and teaches the pirates how to play soccer.
(2) Skippy John Jones by Judy Schachner: a young siamese cat pretends, much to his mother's consternation, to be a chihuahua and has outrageous adventures.
(3) Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems: hard to describe without giving away the plots, but these books are about Trixie and her very precious Knuffle Bunny (Stacy, if you haven't read the Knuffle Bunny books, I highly recommend them. Izzy's a little too young to really truly enjoy them, but they'll make you laugh...and really, story time is all about the mom).
(4) Edwina, the Dinosaur who Didn't Know She was Extinct, by Mo Willems: Reginald Von Hoobie-Doobie tries to prove that his town's beloved dinosaur, Edwina, is actually extinct.
(5) Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram: because this was the first book I ever read to Garion and we still pick up our dog-eared, chewed on, drooled on, run over copy every once in awhile and Garion and I have a "guess how much I love you" contest. (Garion: I love you all the way to Jupiter! Me: Oh yeah? I love you all the way to Pluto!, etc., etc.)

So, my bookish buddies, what are your favorite overlooked novels by great authors or favorite children's short stories?

Shameless Imitation

The Washington Post has a great weekly feature called The Short Stack. Each week a writer or editor posts a lists of five books that fit within a particular theme. For the most part, I find these lists fascinating and I love the lists that readers post in the Comments. Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I am going to shamelessly steal weekly themes to provide you with my own short stack each week. Or at least I'm going to try for each week. If I'm feeling really creative, I'll even come up with my own themes! And, of course, I want to hear what's in your short stack too.

This week's theme: Books I'm Afraid to Re-Read.
(1) The Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery (forgive me, Anali). I loved these books when I was somewhere in the 12 to 14 age range. I'm afraid though that a re-read as an adult might ruin them. What if Anne's annoying? What if Gilbert isn't as cute? What if it makes me roll my eyes?
(2) Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. Because I know it's sad.
(3) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Same reason.
(4) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I went through a period in high school when I thought that Ayn Rand was brilliant and the world should be run according to her philosophy. After growing up a bit, I came to see her way of thinking as stark and in many ways cruel, and realized her world isn't one I'd want to live in at all. I'm tempted at times to re-read her work as an adult because I think it'd be interesting to compare my more experienced perspective with my idealistic adolescent notions. On the other hand, I'm afraid to discover just how dumb I was.
(5) Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. This was a dark book and though I know I'd get a lot more out of it on a re-read, I'm just afraid to go back.

So let's hear it, what are you afraid to re-read?