Jewish Literature Challenge

I joined this one a couple of years ago and had a fairly extensive list for it. I'm older, wiser, and over challenged now but I still want to join Callista's Jewish Literature Challenge. The rules are easy: read a book or books by a Jewish author or about Judaism. Read said book or books between Purim and Rosh Hashanah. That's it. Dead simple, right? Like I said, I shouldn't be joining more challenges but I'm going to anyway so at the very least I will exercise some restraint and commit to a whopping one book: Sex, Drugs and Gefilte Fish edited by Shana Leibman. Should be fun.

Review: The Gin Closet by Leslie Jamison

This is a dark and troubled story. Stella is a bit adrift in her life. She works as a personal assistant for an inspirational writer who is more of a barracuda in her out-of-the-spotlight life. She's dating a married man. And she spends her evenings at alcohol and drug soaked parties in New York City. She's never quite decided what to make of her life, marking time until her indomitable grandmother starts to fail. Giving up her unsatisfying existence in the city to be the caretaker for her grandmother, she discovers that her mother had a sister, Tilly, about whom Stella knows nothing. After her grandmother's death, she feels honor-bound to tell Tilly face to face that her mother is dead and so she sets off to find this wayward aunt, estranged from the family for so many years. Tilly has had a hard life. She's a serious alcoholic, living in a trash-filled trailer, hoarding gin and she is reluctant to let Stella into her life. But Stella pushes her way in and Tilly and Stella create a fragile family as Stella tries to help Tilly finally get her life on track.

Stella and Tilly both narrate the story alternately, offering the reader glimpses of their broken souls. Tilly's back story, her time as a prostitute, the birth of her son Abe, her inability to break her dependence on alcohol, and the secrets and lies that drove her out of her family are all powerful and terrible stories. Stella is not quite a counterpoint to Tilly's unrelentingly bleak and doomed person. She details her own disappointments and the mind-numbing stagnation of her life. And Abe, Tilly's son, adds his own layer of sadness to the story. Really, the misery and dysfunction that infuse this novel is a bit overwhelming. Jamison has captured the despair and pain of alcoholism, the death-grip with which the addiction holds its sufferers and she has accurately portrayed the futility and hopelessness that can thread its way into the lives of the people around the alcoholic. This is not a comfortable read. It is not a happily ever after. It is tragedy on a personal scale. And it can be hard to read but equally hard from which to turn away.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

This meme is hosted by Sheila at One Person's Journey Through a World of Books.

Books I completed this week are:

Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show by Frank Delaney
The Girl Next Door by Elizabeth Noble
You Suck by Christopher Moore
The Mediator 6: Twilight by Meg Cabot
The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes by Randi Davenport
Billie's Kiss by Elizabeth Knox
Hardly a Husband by Rebecca Hagan Lee

Bookmarks are still living in the middle of:

The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye
Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
Great Lakes Nature by Mary Blocksma (this is going to take me all year as I read her year's entries on the corresponding days of this year)

Reviews posted this week:

A Rather Lovely Inheritance by C.A. Belmond
Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden
Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You by Dorian Cirrone

Books still needing to have reviews written (as opposed to the ones that are simply awaiting posting):

The Gin Closet by Leslie Jamison
The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff
Venetia Kelly's Traveling Show by Frank Delaney
The Girl Next Door by Elizabeth Noble
You Suck by Christopher Moore
The Mediator 6: Twilight by Meg Cabot
The Boy Who Loved Tornadoes by Randi Davenport
Billie's Kiss by Elizabeth Knox
Hardly a Husband by Rebecca Hagan Lee

Giveaway on the blog this week:
The Ocean Between Us by Susan Wiggs ends TODAY so get your entries in quickly!

Monday Mailbox

Another week of me being spoiled in terms of great-looking new books. Don't these look just fantastic? This past week's mailbox arrivals:

Whiter Than Snow by Sandra Dallas came from Anne at Authors on the Web.
I have enjoyed the previous books of Dallas' which I've read and this tale of children buried in an avalanche while on their way home from school and the town's handling of this terrible event sounds marvelous.

Up From the Blue by Susan Henderson came from the publisher.
A woman facing her past and the truth of her mother's crippling depression as she prepares to have her own first child, this should be a riveting read.

The Blessing of the Animals by Katrina Kittle came from the publisher.
A look at marriage and love in its many stages, this novel about a veterinarian and the animals who help her heal, this sounds like an interesting and different take on coupling and uncoupling.

The Queen of Palmyra by Minrose Gwin came from the publisher.
This one is getting raves around the internet and I'm curious to see this take on the personal level of the civil rights movement.

Sweet Dates in Basra by Jessica Jiji came from the publisher.
1940's Iraq, a beautiful young girl, and a forbidden love. How delicious could this one be?

The Lovers by Vendela Vida came from the publisher.
A recently widowed woman goes to Turkey, where she and her husband honeymooned to try and heal her grief, but she is ensnared in the lives of the people around her and the place she to which she has fled. Since my husband and I also honeymooned in Turkey, this one appeals to me not only for the story but for the tug of memory it is sure to evoke in me.

As always, if you'd like to see the marvelous goodies in other people's mailboxes, make sure to visit Marcia at The Printed Page and enjoy seeing how we are all doing our part to keep the USPS and delivery services viable.

Sunday Salon: April wrap-up and Polysyllabic Spree

I had a rather banner month reading-wise. My kids' spring break fell during the month and with the lack of commitments, I powered through a bunch of books I might not otherwise have gotten to so quickly. May isn't very likely too be as productive. I was significantly less productive on the reviewing front for the month, suffering from an odd attention deficit every time I settled in to write a review. Hopefully that problem will dissipate as this month goes along. And despite reading so much, my unread stacks still expanded rather than shrank. Oh well! I am happy to be surrounded by books. For those who like brief stats, I'll take a short page out of Nick Hornby's book and let you know how my numbers stacked up last month but because of space constraints, I won't bore you with so many titles.

Books read: 24
Books bought: 17
Books otherwise acquired (sources include review copies, books from my mother, and from my local pusher friend Carin): 33

So I'm at a net gain of 26 books for the month. Not likely I'm going to reverse that trend for next month either as I've already been less than virtuous and it's only two days into the new month.

So where have my book adventures been taking me this week? I spent time hearing about a traveling show in Ireland. I eavesdropped on neighbors in a NYC co-op building. I revisited the crazy undead and then took a detour into the land of ghosts and their mediators. Finally, I suffered with a mother who tries to rescue her unique son from a deep psychosis.

Review: Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You

My daughter is a dancer so when I stumbled across this book in the pile of books awaiting parent reviews in the middle school library Book Buzz stack, I snagged it. I personally have two left feet but I have now watched enough dance classes, recitals, and competitions to feel like I know a little something about the whole thing. Cirrone did a nice job using the dance world to highlight teenaged body image issues and societal expectations and pressures surrounding bodies, especially but not limited to girls'.

Sixteen year old Kayla is a ballerina. She works hard and is quite good. But Kayla doesn't look the expected part of a prima ballerina. In short, she is very busty. Her dance instructor at school suggests a breast reduction, even going so far as to give Kayla the name of a surgeon. And Kayla is passed over for a plum role in the production of Cinderella, reduced to the comedic roll of an ugly stepsister because the outside choreographer refuses to look past her shape and recognize her talent. As Kayla agonizes over whether or not to submit to surgery that would allow her to better chase her dream of a career in dance, she is also faced with a typical teen fledgling romance with Gray, the good-looking new boy in school, and the usual girl conflict with a fellow student exacerbated by the competition for parts.

While Kayla battles her own insecurities, her older sister faces the censorship of her senior art project, which is partly inspired by the body issues that Kayla is facing, and red pointe shoes start showing up around school with the message that "dancing in red shoes will kill you" causing a flurry of panic and an investigation of the threats. Of course, when the shoes start appearing, no one knows yet who will be wearing the red shoes in the production but it turns out that it will be Kayla, the other ugly stepsister, and Cinderella's mother.

Cirrone ties together the various plot lines nicely with each adding to the commentary about societal expectations and body image. She manages to do this without coming across as preachy and also without making Kayla seem inauthentic for a sixteen year old. The characters are definitely left-of-center off beat but they are still kids, even with their occasionally over-earnest discussions. Although the secondary characters aren't as fully developed as Kayla and act mainly as foils to her, staying within their prescribed roles: entertaining best friend, serious and advice-laden older sister, etc., they are still enjoyable to read. The pacing of the plot is good and the resolution of the mystery, while somewhat anti-climactic, reinforces the theme of the whole.

The one wrong note that did strike me is when the girls receive their pointe shoes for the production. While renting or borrowing the rest of the costumes for the show, it is pretty inconceivable that the local dance company would send shoes as well. Pointe shoes are very individual (my daughter, admittedly a difficult case, probably tried on 20+ in her size before she was properly fitted) and it would be very unlikely for the girls to dance in borrowed shoes that weren't fitted to their particular feet. But that's a minor quibble and those with an interest in dance or in feminist issues like the body will find much to enjoy in this middle grade novel.

Saturday Shout-Out

On my travels through the blogging world, I find many books that pique my interest. I always add them to my wish list immediately but I tend to forget who deserves the blame credit for inspiring me to add them to my list (and to whom my husband would like to send the bill when I get around to actually buying them). So each Saturday I'm going to try and keep better track, link to my fellow book ferreter-outers (I know, not a word but useful nonetheless), and hopefully add to some of your wish lists too.

Turkish Wedding by Judith Reynolds Brown was mentioned on Book Dilettante.

What goodies have you added to your wish lists recently? Make your own list and leave a comment here so we can all see who has been a terrible influence inspiring you lately.