Green Books Campaign: Paris Times Eight - Deirdre Kelly

Title: Paris Times Eight
Author: Deirdre Kelly
Published: 2009 Pages: 304
Genre: Memoir/Travel
Rating: 4.5/5

Before I begin, this review is part of the Green Books Campaign organized by Eco-Libris. Today 100 bloggers are posting reviews at the same time of books that were printed in an eco-friendly manner. It is a worthy cause, so be sure to check out and the other participating blogs. Paris Times Eight is printed on FSC-certified, acid-free paper.

Paris Times Eight is Deirdre Kelly's memoir of growing up as a Canadian with a deep love for Paris. Throughout her young adulthood and as an adult she traveled to Paris eight times and each time her experience was shaped by the events that were happening in her life: from the first time when Deirdre traveled to Paris as an au pair in her late teens and falling in love with the city for the first time but feeling like an outsider to later slowly feeling the embrace of the city in her other visits as a news correspondent or as an adult seeking refuge from the craziness of her life.

I really loved this book. I fell in love with Paris along side Deirdre and I loved seeing how her mindset at each point in her life gave her a different outlook to the city. For Deirdre Paris is a city of intrigue and mystery, comfort and connection, heartache and loneliness. Each time she visited she learned a little more about herself and her desires. Paralleled with her travels to Paris are the events in Deirdre's home life in Canada with a difficult mother and a career as a journalist that sometimes took her sky high and sometimes to rock bottom. Deirdre Kelly takes great care in writing about all of her experiences and made me feel like she was pulling me into an intimate embrace.

Two quotes. The first comes from the first chapter and the second from one of the later chapters. The quotes parallel one another and show how the city treats her on each visit. In the second she is with her fiance, Victor, who has never visited Paris before:

"In Paris it seemed I would always be on the outside looking in. No matter how much I wanted the city to embrace me, it would always keep me at arm's length while wagging a finger in my face. I had rarely fit in--at home, at school, among my peers. But in Paris that feeling of alienation intensified. I didn't belong there, either" (46).

"I thought of the times I had wandered there alone, feeling lost in thought if not in purpose. I remembered that Paris, on previous trips, had sometimes made me feel alienated, isolated, alone. I felt Victor's arm around my shoulders, holding me tight. There was a logic to Paris when seen from above, close to the clouds. The streets had an obvious order that made them easy, all of a sudden to navigate. I told Victor we should go back down into the city to explore it for ourselves" (231).

I really recommend this book, especially to those who love armchair travel or memoirs. Kelly's writing style is fairly straight forward but she writes with such a raw honesty that it was impossible not to feel a connection to her. Due to the span in years this book covers, the growth that Deirdre accomplishes is also easy to feel and recognize. She shows such passion for Paris as a city but also Paris as a feeling and a way of life and I love how varied the city is, like a living organism that is constantly changing and growing and evolving. Just as we all are.


Again, thanks to Eco-Libris for sharing this book with me and allowing me to be apart of their Green Books Campaign.




I am an Amazon Associate. If you purchase Paris Times Eightthrough this review I will receive a small portion of the purchase.

Ethan Frome - Edith Wharton

Title: Ethan Frome
Author: Edith Wharton
Published: 1911 Pages: 181
Genre: Literary Fiction/Classic
Rating: 4.25/5

Set in the early twentieth century in a remote and wintry part of Massachusetts, Ethan Frome is a tragic and heartbreaking story of love and betrayal. At the beginning of Ethan Frome, the unnamed narrator encounters Frome and other townspeople who know Frome and the narrator pieces together the events described in the book. Frome, a quiet man, lives with his sickly wife, Zeena, who is several years his senior. Zeena's cousin, Mattie, also lives with them and she is young and beautiful. Ethan takes quite a liking to Mattie and while Zeena leaves town to seek treatment for her ailment a quiet affair between Ethan and Mattie ensues.

Even though I hosted the Classics Challenge, I have been terrible at reading classics lately. This is the first I've read in months and reading it made me want to toss everything else aside and seek refuge in classics for the rest of the year. Wharton's writing is spellbinding. The story is a simple one and even the writing is fairly simple, but the heartache is palatable in the book. Ethan is such a complicated character torn by his emotions for Mattie and his duty to Zeena. Even though this is such a short book, Wharton's descriptions are so impactful. The sexual tension between Mattie and Ethan is on the one hand subtle and hardly existent, but the richness with which Wharton describes Ethan and Mattie's encounters tore at my heart:

"The sudden heat of his tone made her colour mount again, not with a rush, but gradually, delicately, like the reflection of a thought stealing slowly across her heart. She sat silent, her hands clasped on her work, and it seemed to him that a warm current flowed toward him along the strip of stuff that still lay unrolled between them. Cautiously he slid his hand palm-downward along the table till his finger-times touched the end of the stuff. A faint vibration of her lashes seemed to show that she was aware of his gesture; and that it had sent a counter-current back to her; and she let her hands lie motionless on the other end of the strip" (95).

The above comes from a fairly long passage and I wish I could include it all, but I don't want to give too much of the event away. But even as almost nothing happens in this passage there is still an electricity that can be felt through Wharton's description. Love it. The only other book I've read by Wharton is The Age of Innocence and I don't remember it having quite the same passion (all I remember really is that the ending ticked me off).

If you're looking for a short and engaging classic, I would recommend Ethan Frome. I read this within a few hours, and because I read it for the readathon I'm sure I missed much of the depth, but it is one that I would love to go back to one day. And it certainly makes me eager to read more of Ms. Wharton's works. Any classic that has me wanting more is definitely a good one in my book!

One more thing but since this contains spoilers, don't read on if you haven't read the book. When I closed the covers for Ethan Frome I was struck by how messy the book ended. It seems nowadays that everything needs to be wrapped up in a neat little bow, but I loved how tragically unhappy this book is. Doesn't that sound strange! It almost killed me when Ethan and Mattie drove for that tree in order to be together, but for all three of them to end up in the same household together is almost unbearable. I'm not really sure what to make of any of this--I guess just an observation--but it isn't often that such powerful endings are found in modern literature? Of course they're there, but maybe just not as often? Ramble over.

What was a classic you've read that had you reaching for more?

Hope everyone's having a good week so far!



**Edith Wharton is actually going to be on tour in January via the Classics Circuit! Be sure to check out the fun!

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks - E. Lockhart

Title: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Author: E. Lockhart
Published: 2008 Pages: 342
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Rating: 4.25/5

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is one of those books that I heard about all over the blogosphere and finally grabbed my own copy at Borders Bookstore from one of their bargain shelves. I'm kind of funny when it comes to reading reviews--I don't read a lot of summaries and I have a terrible memory, so I often go into books not knowing very much about them except that others really liked them. The case was the same for this one--and what a delightful surprise!

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks besides having a terribly long title is the story of Frankie Landau-Banks during her sophomore year of high school when she decides to take down the school's secret society. After living in her older sister's footsteps during her freshman year, Frankie finally makes a breakout during her sophomore year and becomes involved with some of the cooler and older kids at school. One of the seniors, Matthew, begins courting her and thus begins a whirlwind romance as well as her secret involvement in the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, the secret male-only society. Upset about the continual lies, deceit, and hypocrisy, Frankie decides to take down the Loyal Order one prank at a time.

Mostly this book was just a lot of fun. Although Frankie is not the narrator, the narration focuses around her thoughts and actions, so we get to know her really well throughout the book. Frankie is a little insecure and eager to be accepted among her peers. Her mother still thinks Frankie is her little "Bunny Rabbit" and is constantly undermining her abilities and intelligence. Even in her involvement with Matthew, Frankie shows how important it is for her to make a name for herself and to be taken seriously.

The meat of the book comes from Frankie's growth and development throughout the book and her desire to become her own person. Frankie shows that she is every bit as clever and quick-witted as her male counterparts, but she must do most of this through a covert cover and the leader of the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds, Alpha, quickly takes credit for Frankie's work--even as the pranks become more and more serious. My favorite bit about Frankie, though, is her playfulness with the English language:

"[Matthew] got up from the desk, walked over to the couch on which she sat, and kissed her on the lips. There was nothing else around.

'Mmmm,' she whispered. 'Now I'm gruntled.'

'What?'

'Gruntled. I was disgruntled before.'

'Why?'

'It's drizzling, there's nothing to do but study, the vending machine's broken. You know, disgruntled.'

'And now you're...'

'Gruntled.'" (110).

Frankie is such a likeable character, and while some might be annoyed by her antics, I think Lockhart portrays Frankie as many teenaged girls are--someone who is just looking to become a part. My only regret about the book is the ending when although Frankie has learned a lot and accomplished a lot, she's still the teenaged girl who second guesses herself. This book has received some mixed-reviews, but generally I would recommend it. I certainly really enjoyed it!




On a side note: I'm taking a bit of a blogging break. I'm tired of whining about blogging, so I'm making this announcement kind of quietly. And who knows--maybe in a few days I'll change my mind. Ideally I'd still like to get my pending reviews written and posted, but I fear that otherwise I might be a bit sparse around the blogosphere. I've felt that blogging lately has become a lot of pressure and I'm trying to alleviate some of that pressure (mostly self-induced) and until I can figure that out...I'm in a state of avoidance. :)

Happy Halloween Eve!

Happy Halloween!

Ok, so it's not Halloween yet, but I don't normally like posting on Saturdays and with the way my week has been if I don't schedule this post now it won't get posted. I made this cake for my work Halloween party--the tombstones are made from Milano cookies, the ghosts from marshmallows speared by pretzels, the trees from bigger pretzels piped with frosting, the bones and skulls are little candies, and of course the beloved pumpkins (although I think Brach's changed their recipe!). The cake is vanilla because I don't like chocolate cake and refuse to make it, but the icing is chocolate (which strangely I do like).

It's a little busy and I don't know how we'll cut and eat the cake, but I'm pretty excited to have made my first cake where a teacher wasn't telling me what to do. Doesn't it look yummy??

We don't have any plans for Halloween yet. We'll have some company this weekend, but other than that I hope for a quiet weekend where I can catch up a bit on life. The house is a wreck, laundry needs to be done, I need to do some serious running, and of course blog stuff. Hopefully aside from all of that I'll have some time to curl up with Hunger Games!

What plans do you have for the weekend?

Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

Title: Rebecca
Author: Daphne du Maurier
Published: 1938 Pages: 386
Genre: Literary Fiction/Classic
Rating: 4.5/5

Can you believe that a year ago I'd never heard of Rebecca OR Daphne du Maurier? The book began to creep up on the blogosphere and to be honest I thought it was a cheesy romance novel. It wasn't until my friend Laura read the book that I became really interested, and I quickly added it to my shelf collections. I was so thrilled when Amanda from The Zen Leaf asked me if I'd be interested in doing a buddy review with her this month.

Summary:
Rebeccabegins when the young narrator (we'll call her Narry) meets a wealthy widow, Maxim de Winter, and an unlikely friendship and courtship ensues. After a few weeks of spending much time together, Narry accepts Maxim's proposal of marriage and they have a quiet ceremony before moving to Manderley. At Manderley, Narry soon realizes that Maxim's first wife, Rebecca, who has drowned in a tragic boating accident, continues to haunt the house and the lives of those left behind. Rebecca doesn't haunt in the traditional sense of the word (no ghosts or anything like that), but the magnificence of her character continually overshadows the meek and innocent Narry. Throughout the novel, Narry is in constant battle with Rebecca's legacy and must fight in order to maintain her rightful place as mistress of the great Manderley.

Buddy Review:
Amanda and I conversed back and forth about our thoughts on Rebecca. We split our conversation in half, so you can read the first half over at The Zen Leaf (I recommend going now and coming back as our conversation will make more sense that way). We tried to avoid spoilers wherever possible--you can tell below where I start to get a little cryptic and squeamish in trying not to give anything away! I'll start with the last sentence of my part of the conversation just for transition's sake.

Trish: What did you think about the characters in the book? Any that you'll be remembering for a time to come?

Amanda: I agree that Mrs. Danvers is probably one of the most creepy characters I've ever read! Two scenes with her in specific really made me shudder in horror. I think you're right, all the characters were fantastically drawn, but I think Mrs. Danvers and even Rebecca, despite being dead, were the best. It begs to be compared to modern horror books, which don't seem to realize that creepy can be achieved without a lot of blood and guts. du Maurier left so much to the imagination, and used so many psychological tricks on her characters to make them nightmarish, though realistically so. It was just perfect.

Okay - so I have to ask, because I've harped on this in recent reviews - what did you think about the crime aspect of the novel? I don't want to reveal spoilers, so all I'm going to say is that a crime takes place at one point, and the characters are trying to escape justice, and they feel the crime was justified. Do you believe it was justified, and that they were justified trying to escape punishment? I have to admit, even though normally I would automatically answer NO, I really empathized with these characters and wanted them to go free.

Trish: Well, let me put it this way--when I read your paragraph I immediately thought "crime? what crime?!" Does that basically answer your question. Yes, of course a crime was committed and it was a horrible crime. Can it really be justified? I think you start stepping into some pretty soggy ethical ground when you begin debating whether or not the crime should be committed. Look at us dodging these spoilers--if I hadn't already read the book I'd want to now!

You've asked a really great question, Amanda, and I don't think I have the answer. The moral side of me wants to think that there could have been other actions taken before the crime was committed to have prevented the whole mess that occurs in the second half of the book. In the end, though, I just don't think it would have been quite the same if the characters had all been carted off in handcuffs at the end of the book. Throughout the book Maxim exclaims that Rebecca has won--as if the two were in constant battle during their lives together. In the end, do you think Rebecca did in fact win or have the others gained the upperhand?

Amanda: I think in the end, neither really gains the upperhand. In one way, sure, they got away with the crime - but do they ever really go free? They've lost so much, they have such heavy hearts, and with that abrupt end (Agh!!!), you never really know if they recover. The little hints at the beginning of the book say almost nothing. I suppose, in conclusion, I really thought this book was masterfully pieced together. It's ethically grey, it's romantic and tragic both, and there is no clear conclusion. Not to mention the incredible atmosphere we talked about above. I can't wait to read more by du Maurier! How about you? Any final thoughts?

Trish: I think you sum the book and your feelings up really well. I was a little concerned going into the book that there would be a lot of heavy imagery and that the story would be a little dull (those first two chapters were a beating!), but in a word this book was exciting. At any given point du Maurier only allows you to have just one little piece of the puzzle so that things slowly begin to come together, but she withholds a lot from the narrative in order for readers to make up their own minds with what happens. And like you said, this book really is a psychological thriller. I love that there are still questions left at the end--Rebecca really is a haunting book. I'll definitely be reading more du Maurier in the future and am glad to have discovered her.

Don't forget to check out the "beginning" of our conversation over at Amanda's. And if you've never been over there--shame on you. You'll love both her and her blog. :)

Have you read Rebecca? What did you find creepiest about this book? Do you think psychological thrillers are more frightening than the blood and gore type of thrillers or do those scare the wits out of you, too?

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne

Title: The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
Author: John Boyne
Published: 2006 Pages: 216
Genre: YA Fiction
Rating: 3/5

My poor brother has been asking me to read this book for months now (he's thirteen). I'm always reluctant to borrow books from people because I know my turnaround will never be as quick as if I loan out a book. There's so many I've obligated myself to read for challenges or for authors/publishers, not to mention the giant shelf of TBR books. I promised him I'd read BSP for the readathon and I'm so glad I did. When I texted him that I had finished the book he texted me back "it's about time." Yup, it sure is.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas begins with nine year old Bruno and his family who live in a nice big five story home in Berlin. Bruno's father is a very important person, though, and has been asked by the Fury (Hitler) to take post at a strange camp in a far away place called Out-With (Auschwitz). Bruno is upset because the house is much smaller and his sister Gretel (a Hopeless Case) refuses to play with him. As Bruno begins to explore the new home, he discovers that there is a giant camp across the yard with lots of men and boys all wearing the same striped pyjamas. In his exploration, he meets a boy sitting by the fence of the camp whom Bruno befriends.

What I loved about The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas is the simplicity and innocence. Bruno doesn't understand why his parents have moved, he doesn't understand the camp beyond his home's yard, and he doesn't understand why his friend can't come across the fence to play or why Bruno can't go to the other side of the fence. There is something so sweet about Bruno's innocence and refusal to judge those who are a little different from him. I also have a tough time believing, though, that the son of a Commandant who is overseeing one of the largest concentration camps in the world doesn't know what a Jew is and whether he is a Jew or not. That aside, Bruno's innocence came across as genuine.

"What exactly was the difference? [Bruno] wondered to himself. And who decided which people wore the striped pajamas and which people wore uniforms" (100).

This is a short book that can be read within a couple of hours, and while I do recommend it, it isn't as powerful as some of the other books I've read about the Holocaust or World War II. Could this partly be because it was written for young adults? I don't know--I've read some pretty powerful young adult books (The Book Thief is one I highly recommend). I guess the unbelievablity of the story continued to tug away at me. I was shocked by the ending of the book, and even though it's not hard to guess this book would not have a happy ending, it left my heart hollow.

Have you read this book or seen the movie? How did you feel about it?




Join Cym Lowell's Book Review Party Wednesday!

Read-a-thon: Hours 23&24 and End of Event Meme

UPDATE FOR HOURS 23&24

Pages: 160 (Fun Home)
Time: 65 minutes

TOTALS:
1005 pages read (105 over goal)
766 minutes/12.76 hours reading (2.25 under goal)
150 minutes/2.5 hours blogging (includes twitter)
370 minutes/6 hours cheerleading (2 over goal)
17 mini-challenges
300+ comments (stopped counting when I stopped reading)
2 caffeine beverages
3.5 books (.5 under goal)
2 prizes won (Woohoo!
3 vlogs
1 happy ending football game (Texas A&M v Tech)

I'm such a faker:


1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
20 was the hardest and when I stopped reading to cheer for 2 hours.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
All! Especially Frankie Landau-Banks and Fun Home

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
I really liked the "dead hour" cheer squad--could fine tune for next year! Also, have mini-challenge hosts put ending times in the readathon hours rather than their time zones.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
Everything was so smooth this year!

5. How many books did you read?
I read 3 and a half and chapters of 4 others. Kind of had a tough time in the middle picking a book!

6. What were the names of the books you read?
Boy in the Striped Pajamas; The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks; Ethan Frome; Fun Home (half)

7. Which book did you enjoy most?
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks

8. Which did you enjoy least?
None--but About a Boy, Animal Husbandry and Hunger Games were ones I abandoned temporarily

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
Pre-write some really fun cheers. Also with so many participants try to figure out a system of how to tackle as many as possible

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Um, VERY LIKELY! I'll do it the same way I did this time--mostly reader with heavy emphasis on cheering.

Can't wait until April!!

Read-a-thon Hours: 21&22

UPDATE FOR HOURS 21&22

Pages: ZERO (spent the last two hours cheering/dancing/tweeting)
Time: ZERO minutes

TOTALS:
845 pages read
701 minutes reading
140 minutes blogging (includes twitter)
345 minutes cheerleading
17 mini-challenges
288+ comments (stopped counting when I stopped reading)
2 caffeine beverage

Ok, here's the deal. I'm taking this video down as soon as the readathon ends--so get your fill of my highly embarrassing video now. This will most likely be my last vlog of the night. :) Edited: Video has been taken down. You'll have to wait until April for more embarrassing Trish vlogs.

And no Mountain Dews were harmed (or actually imbibed) in the making (and that banging noise is me running into a paperbag). The song is Somewhere After Midnight, which you can listen to on the Youtube video below. Sorry it's such a crummy video, but I love the song... Get up and dance to it!

Read-a-thon: Hours 19&20

UPDATE FOR HOURS 19&20

Pages: 64 (Hunger Games)
Time: 82 minutes (Ugh!)

TOTALS:
845 pages read
701 minutes reading
120 minutes blogging
145 minutes cheerleading
17 mini-challenges
218 blogs visited (comments left, not individual blogs...)
1 caffeine beverage

Memory's Picturrific Challenge states that we need to find pictures that define our current reads. Well, I'm reading Hunger Games and eating ice cream. Perhaps because I'm hungry? And see the Maggie cut-out (you can see real Maggie peeking her head up)--well, could that just be a silly game? Maybe a stretch but I'm going with it:


I'm fading fast and Hunger Games is too complicated for me tonight. It's taking too long and I don't feel like scouring the shelves for another book. Wish I had started it earlier! I'm not jumping ship but I don't know how much more reading I'll get done. This will mean I won't meet my reading goals, but oh well. I'll have fun with the community. :) Maybe I'll re-read Fun Home.

Read-a-thon Hours 17&18

UPDATE FOR HOURS 17&18

Pages: 52 (Ethan Frome - Finished!!)
Time: 70 minutes (my reading is definitely slowing!)

TOTALS:
781 pages read
619 minutes reading
115 minutes blogging
140 minutes cheerleading
15 mini-challenges
213 blogs visited (comments left, not individual blogs...)
1 caffeine beverage
3 book finished: Boy in the Striped Pajamas; Frankie Landau-Banks, Ethan Frome

Shanra's Drabble Challenge

Oh readathon how do I love thee, let me count the ways. One two thing four…oh whatever. You get me all pumped up and excited so much so that I feel like shouting READATHON every five seconds. Kind of like someone with terrets READATHON! And then you get here and I can’t sleep in past three in the morning. I drink several cups of coffee and get all jittery, finish a couple of books and feel great, eat too much junk food and get the rock feeling in my tummy. But oh you books. I love you. Squeeze you. READATHON.

And back by popular demand (aren't you guys sick of this??):



Ron, Ron Ron WEASley. Dumbledore! Still haven't figured out what happened to his clothes.

And for those of you who asked, I'm in Central time zone--it's almost 1:00 AM (holy crow it's Sunday!). Scott has gone to bed so now are the quiet hours. He also turned down the AC so I'm freezing my butt off.

How YOU holding up??