Book of the Month: January

I read a lot of books. I read 80 books last year and my goal this year is actually to try to limit myself to only reading 50 books this year so I will give myself more of a chance to work on other projects. It is only February 3rd and I am already ahead of schedule. I think the only way to keep within my allotted number of books for the year is to read some really long ones...

Every month there is a guarantee that I will read at least two books: one for my in-person Women Reading Women book club, and one for Emma Watson's online feminist book club. Anyway you look at that, it means I will be reading several books per month and while I think it would be a great exercise to write reviews for every single book I read, that just doesn't seem very likely. Some books warrant longer discussions than others. Also, I'm not a huge fan of writing long, drawn out accounts of books I didn't particularly enjoy. To me, that feels like not enjoying it twice. Instead I've decided to pick one book each month that particularly stands out of all the books I finished that month. That way, at the end of the year, I will in theory have a list of my twelve favorite reads of the year. We shall see how this actually turns out but it is worth a shot, right?

I finished six books in January. Most of them were quite enjoyable. (If you want to see how I felt about all six books, you should follow me on GoodReads.com) My favorite book for January was the book I read because of Emma Watson's book club. Gloria Steinem's, "My Life on the Road," was a beautiful tale about how traveling has shaped her work and her views about the world. The majority of her travels were within the United States so she was able to see firsthand what was important to different people and different areas. Steinem has been a revolutionary in a time of continued revolution. She participated in the civil rights movement of the 1960s, she has been an advocate for women's rights of all kinds, she is the co-founder of Ms. magazine, she has also advocated for Native American and gay rights. She is a person for people and as such an advocate, she has facilitated many town hall discussions to enable ordinary citizens to make their voices heard. In this process, Steinem has found the huge discrepancies between what the media says that Americans want and what average citizens tell her they want.

What I most loved about this book was Steinem's positive outlook about the impact travel has upon a person. It is difficult to remain ignorant to the struggles of ordinary people when you are looking them in the eye. The only way to truly know a place is to actually talk to the people who live there and have lived there for generations. While single women especially are dissuaded from traveling on their own, Steinem argues that travel of this kind is essential for a person's growth. An unexplored life is a wasted opportunity.

I would encourage anyone who has traveled or wishes to travel to read this book. Not only does this book tell the tale of the fight for feminism and civil rights in this county, but of the individuals who helped make change possible at a micro level.

Ending Wars With Crossword Puzzles

 

I've spent a good portion of the last two months thinking more about unbreakable codes, WWII, and word puzzles. In fact, more time than I've ever spent with this particular subject before. It was really more accidental than planned that I happened to finish reading Neal Stephenson's "Cryptonomicon," a week before THE IMITATION GAME was released in my area. The book has sat on my shelf for nearly a year because I found it to be a bit intimidating at just over 1,100 pages but I've started leaving my book choices up to random selection. (I placed slips of paper with the titles of every book I own and have not read into a jar and when it comes time to pick a new book, I draw a slip from the jar.) So random selection and some somewhat slow reading due to the holidays, I got two heaping spoonfuls of code breaking and Alan Turing action and I'm now totally hooked.

I'm married to an amateur World War II scholar. The first movie we saw after moving in together was "Inglorious Basterds." Luckily for me, he's much more interested in all the behind-the-scenes work that was done during the war and all the technological breakthroughs than he is in actual boots on the ground stories. (Though we did see FURY which I can't really recommend and it is REALLY violent. It's an extremely well-made movie I never have to see again.) Due to his interest in the subject and my interest in Benedict Cumberbatch, THE IMITATION GAME was on our radar very early on. It was on the "Must See," list. 

"Cryptonomicon," is a work of fiction based off the activities at Bletchley Park during WWII as well as the American WWII code breakers, the Japanese code creators and modern encryption and decryption specialists. While it is fiction, it is clear that the author did quite a bit of research. Though the book is quite long, and in some parts quite complicated, the story is wholly engrossing from beginning to end. I absolutely recommend that anyone with even the vaguest interest in cryptography should read this book. I have even been pushing it on my non-fiction loving husband and maybe one day he'll crack under the pressure. 

If you are not at all familiar with the Enigma Code or the work that was done at Bletchley Park, "Cryptonomicon," is a good introduction to that world and the great deal of pressure these scientists and mathematicians were under. Because of their incredible code breaking skills, thousands of lives were saved. It is very rare in a war-type situation that the work of a small group of individuals has such vast impact on the outcome.

THE IMITATION GAME only focuses on the English code breakers in Bletchley Park where Alan Turing was inventing his code breaking machine which later became known as the computer. While this group of individuals and Turing specifically, were not the entirety of this story, and even large chunks of their own story were left out, they were a critical piece to the puzzle that broke the Enigma codes and halted the Axis powers. This was an incredibly well-made movie. Both Benedict Cumberbatch and Kiera Knightley deserve to win awards for their performances. I am always amazed by how well Cumberbatch can completely immerse himself in a character, leaving any part of his own personality undetectable. He was amazing. Even though how the story progresses and eventually tragically ends is well-known, it was incredibly touching and brought us to tears on more than one occasion. This is a movie that makes you want to read the book it was based from. (This book.) It makes it clear that there is so much more to the story and it makes you want to crave that knowledge. 

In conclusion, whether you ingest these two products together or separately, I strongly suggest that you treat yourself to two fantastic examples of storytelling. Turing's is a story that needs to be told if only to prevent his fate from being bestowed upon others. A man who saved thousands should not have died as he did. 

The Hunger Games

Young Adult Literature is a very special beast. It has to be a very specific blend of wholesome and exciting. It needs to be a quick read to keep teens hooked and it needs to be both simple enough to not frustrate a kid and also sophisticated enough that it makes the kid feel smart. There are very few authors who perfect this mixture and those who do, sell millions. As much as adults like to yell about how kids these days are distracted and no one reads books anymore! This just isn't even remotely close to reality. If teens find a book or a series of books they are passionate about they will scream about it to every single one of their friends, relatives, teachers, bus mates and random people in the grocery store. They will ridicule their friends for not reading the books and generally make life hell until they do. Teens have passion and talking about books that speak to them is far more important than adults seem to remember.

I grew up in a group of severe Potterheads. The only excuse for having not read any of the books was if someone's parents wouldn't allow them to and this was a fate to be whispered about in hushed tones. We would eventually accept that some people could read a couple of the books and just not get into them. We were pretty sure they were secretly actual wizards and just didn't want anyone to suspect. Having a book fandom like Harry Potter was so important to my youth. Instead of being out late at parties in high school, I'd be in costume at the opening night of the newest Potter movie or at the bookstore for the midnight release party for the latest book. My friends and I would call each other to tease spoilers for goodness sake! There is nothing worse than realizing that you were the one person in the group who decided to sleep after getting your new copy instead of staying up all night to read. This stuff is important to kids.

This is why I am thankful for "The Hunger Games." After Pottermania died down, there was a lot of anticipation about what the next thing would be. There were the dark days of "Twilight," which I will not even speak of and then "The Hunger Games" peaked over the horizon. These books are intellectually stimulating, packed with adventure, insight some feelings of rebellion and really make the reader think about their priorities and how they view the world around them. This is a very solid trilogy with an unambiguous beginning, middle and end. I think it is important for teens to have to think about a post-apocalyptic world. Who knows what the future may bring? They are the only ones who can make the world they'll live in. The have to be able to see consequences. I think this should be on every 15-year-old's reading list.

All of this being said, I have to admit something. I HATE Katniss Everdeen. She is a cold, whiny, brooding little twit. She doesn't deserve all the help and positive attention she gets and she should never have had the chance to choose between Gale and Peeta. She's an awful person and she doesn't deserve either of their love. Someone should have just let her die. I think Peeta would have been better off that way. The only person she shows any unabashed love for is Prim and Prim is the only person who even begins to make Katniss an almost likeable person. It's really a shame that Katniss was the narrator. I would have loved for her to be killed off in the middle of one of her little pity parties about how the government is using her.

So if you have a young adult in your life or if you need a quick and exciting read, you should definitely check out "The Hunger Games." The problem you will soon have is then trying to read any book after. Reading a book about modern, simple cooking in your Hunger Games Voice gets a little bit weird. No one has ever been that violent toward broccoli before, I'm sure.

Hot Nerd Friday: Marian Call

Marian Call is smart, funny, nerdy, talented, pretty, sweet.... I could go on and on and on... She is fantastic and I appreciate her. She is at ComiCon right now, so if you are there, please go tell her she's wonderful.

I discovered her through a podcast about six months ago through a podcast and I am so hooked on her. She writes about a variety of things from her home in Alaska, Jane Austin, Firefly and just being a nerd in general. 

She is the type of nerd who I would like to see gain much much more success. If you ever have a chance to go see her live, do it! And then tell me about it.