Katie Stew

My darling brother gave me the newest Terry Pratchett novel for my birthday this year. It is “I Shall Wear Midnight” and it was a fun little book.

“I Shall Wear Midnight” is the latest in Terry Pratchett’s unbelievably large Discworld series. The series consists (currently) of 38 novels. They all take place on “the Discworld, a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants which, in turn, stand on the back of a giant turtle, Great A’Tuin.” It is an improbable world (obviously) full of witches, wizards, gnomes, werewolves, and just about any other weird or mythical creature you can think of. I am proud to say that I have read just about the entire series, maybe the entire series. Who can keep track of so many?

If you are interested in the Discworld series, you don’t have to start at the beginning. In fact, I believe you could pick up any of them and enjoy them. However, there are a number of series within the Discworld. This book is the 4th in the Tiffany Aching series, within the Discworld series. The Tiffany Aching series belongs within the larger scope of the Witch books. There are also series of books surrounding the City Watch, who are the police of Ankh-Morpork, the largest city on the Discworld. The character of Death has his own story line and series of books, as do the Wizards of the world. All the story arcs are fun.

Death and Granny Weatherwax are probably my favorite characters in the Discworld. With that being said, it makes sense that my favorite Discworld books are probably “Wyrd Sisters”, which is a parody of Macbeth in the Witches story arc, and “Soul Music”, which is in the Death story arc and is about the discovery of Rock and Roll on the Discworld.

In “I Shall Wear Midnight”,  Tiffany is still a young witch who is still trying to find her footing in the world. In the Discworld, witches are in a position of respect. They are wise women who make sure everyone is taken care of and everything runs smoothly. Unfortunately for witches everywhere, something terrible has been unleashed on the world. A creature from long ago that poisons people’s minds against witches. Tiffany must defeat this evil creature before it takes her over and takes down witches everywhere. Luckily, she has the help of many a fun character, including the Nac Mac Feegles, a rowdy group of tiny blue men who love to drink, brawl, and generally cause trouble. They are a terribly amusing bunch of pesky fairies.

All the books in the Discworld series are fun. Terry Pratchett writes books full of wit, humor, and charm. He pulls from legend, folklore, and pop culture. This one is no different. It was a fun read and I enjoyed it immensly. It makes me want to get back into the series. Check one out!

I was a fan of the True Blood television series for the first two seasons. The third season has been insanely stupid, but that is another story. Anyways, when searching for books that I can read on my Droid, I found an app that had the first 9 of the book series that the show is based off of available to read. I found this app last week. I’ve already finished the first two books.

Talk about a rollicking, cheesy, good time. The books are fun little fluff books that I’ve quickly become addicted to. And having watched the show that is based off of them before reading them, made for an extra fun experience. I’ve heard some complaining by people who read the books first, that the show is a poor representation of them. I have to disagree. If anything, I think the show is more interesting because they were forced to develop a large and interesting crew of side characters to fill the weekly tv time slot.

Anyways, “Dead Until Dark” and “Living Dead in Dallas” are the first two in Charlaine Harris’s “The Southern Vampire Mysteries”. There are currently 11 books in this series, which I find hilarious. I can only imagine they get weirder and weirder as they go.

The series follows the character of Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress in Bon Temps, Louisiana that falls in love with a vampire named Bill Compton. In the world of these books, a synthetic blood source has been discovered. With this discovery, vampires have come out into the open and shown the world they exist and can live alongside humans, now that they don’t have to live off of them. Sookie and Bill encounter all kinds of obstacles to their love and come across a variety of other “supes” or supernatural creatures that also inhabit the earth, but aren’t quite “out of the coffin” yet.

Wackiness ensues.

I don’t think there is much point in getting into specific plot points, because there isn’t a terrible amount of plot to speak of. Everyone is just always running around and getting into and out of trouble. (and into and out of bed, if you know what I’m saying.) However, the characters are entertaining, the story is silly, and it is certainly a fun read. This series is the perfect thing to pick up if you don’t want to think too hard, if you’re needing a book for a plane ride, or you are headed to the beach. Just like just about every other vampire book out there these days.

So, if you’re looking for a cheesy read vampire book, there are certainly worse ones out there. Indulge in a few silly hours and check out one of these.

Next week, September 25-Oct 2, is the annual “Banned Books Week”, created by the American Library Association.

I love Banned Books Week. In fact, I love checking in on their lists throughout the year. They keep track of the most banned and challenged books of the year and of Classics. The idea of banning books is so insane to me. I appreciate that the ALA takes the time to celebrate our first amendment right of free speech by calling out to all those books that get a bad wrap. They are most often challenged for the following three reasons.

Usually, these books are challenged in an effort to “protect” children from unsuitable material. But reading over the list of books, you have to be amazed at what people think is harmful to children. For example, the number one book that has been banned and challenged in the last 10 years is Harry Potter. Harry Potter? Really people? A series that sold more copies than any other and inspired a new generation of children to love reading? Also on the children’s book front, in the top 25 is “The Giver”, which was actually a Newbery Medal winner and I think is one of the most wonderful books out there.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m sure many of the books on the list are inappropriate for children. I read “Lolita” last year, and I don’t think it was appropriate for me. But, I think it is up to parents to decide what their child should or should not read. The idea of banning a book is perverse. Everyone should have the right to choose.

I’m also amazed at the number of books that I read in high school that are on the list. “Lord of the Flies”, “To Kill a Mockingbird”, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, and the number one banned classic? “The Great Gatsby” (which I could easily live in a world without, but that is another story).

Celebrate Banned Book Week by finding one of these controversial books and enjoying it. Many are beautiful and are favorites of mine. “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”, “Gone with the Wind”, “1984”, “Slaughterhouse 5”, “James and the Giant Peach”, or “Flowers for Algernon”.

Celebrate Free Speech and stand against censorship of the creative mind.

Bet you didn’t think that reading was such a patriotic act.

To learn more, visit the ALA website and learn more about Banned Books Week. http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/bannedbooksweek/index.cfm 

I would love to know what your favorite banned books are. Feel free to comment.

Last night, I finished Pat Conroy’s epic novel, “The Prince of Tides”. Pat Conroy is now my new favorite author. I loved this book.

More precisely, I was moved by this book. Touched by it. There are times that I thought that his prose was rather dense and long, but the stories told in the novel are brilliantly woven together. The characters leap off the page and sit down on the couch next to you. You can see where they are, you can smell the flowers coming in through the window and hear the waves crashing on the shores of South Carolina.

This book chronicles the lives of the Wingo family as told by Tom Wingo. His sister, Savannah is in a mental hospital in New York after her most recent suicide attempt. Tom goes to New York and works with Savannah’s psychiatrist to try and figure out how to save Savannah from herself. He does this by telling Dr. Lowenstein every gruesome, heart-wrenching story from their childhood.

The childhoods of the Wingo children were not pretty. There are many stories that were painful to read, but also many that were beautiful. This book is a story of survival. A story of loss and grief. This is a story of the madness of a poet. The ambition of a housewife. The brutality of a shrimp boat captain. The helplessness of a man who has forgotten how to live. And a story about a brother who believes the world is a better place than it is.

This book was beautiful and a pleasure to read. I would like to provide a paragraph for you to enjoy. To give a sense of what descriptive writing this is.

“It was growing dark on this long southern evening and suddenly, at the exact point her finger had indicated, the moon lifted a forehead of stunning gold above the horizon, lifted straight out of filigreed, light-intoxicated clouds that lay on the skyline in attendant veils. Behind us, the sun was setting in a simultaneous congruent withdrawal and the river turned to flame in a quiet duel of gold… The new gold of moon astonishing and ascendant, the depleted gold of sunset extinguishing itself in the long westward slide, it was the old dance of days in the Carolina marshes, the breathtaking death of days before the eyes of children, until the sun vanished, its final signature a ribbon of bullion strung across the tops of water oaks. The moon then rose quickly, rose like a bird from the water, from the trees, from the islands, and climbed straight up- gold, then yellow, then pale yellow, pale silver, silver-bright, then something miraculous, immaculate, and beyond silver, a color native only to southern nights.”

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it isn’t that his prose is too dense, because the prose is beautiful. Perhaps is is more that the characters are so interesting, and the foreshadowing was so intense, that I had a hard time slowing down to enjoy the poetry of the prose at times, because I desperately wanted to know what would be revealed next. Patience is not one of my strong points when reading.

I think Pat Conroy is a poet novelist and I look forward to exploring more of his collection. I also appreciate him specifically as a Southern writer. Though the south of South Carolina and that of Arkansas are not the same, his writing still touches a place in my heart that makes me think of my homeland. Makes me long for the South. I think he provides a perspective that makes the South more understandable to people not from it. Half of the story in this book takes place in NYC. I think that through the comparisons and parellels between the two places, the author comes to show us that everyone is damaged. Everyone has problems.  We are all just people trying to figure out what we are supposed to be doing and that applies to the Park Avenue Manhatten-ite as much as it does the shrimp boat captain.

Go get the book. Discover your new favorite author.

I recently finished “Time Enough for Love” by Robert A. Heinlen. It was the last book in this round of book club books. We decided on it when one of our members described it as his “favorite book”. I was intrigued. A book called “Time Enough for Love” that is loved by a dude? I’m in. We pick the book and move on. 8 or so months later, it is time to read it. The first copy I see, has this cover:

I’m thinking, oh my. What am I in for? I know you aren’t supposed to judge a book by its cover, but come on. It looks like some dude in a hospital gown in front of a time machine with two naked chicks. I saw this cover and cracked up laughing. This is his favorite book? I’ve got to know more.

About a week later, I pick the book up. The cover of mine wasn’t quite so… interesting.

Anyways, I have to say that I loved this book. I couldn’t believe it, but I do. Completely. I absolutely judged it wrong by its cover. (although the cover designers could have done a better job. I mean, come on.)

The book is about Lazarus Long, longest living human being at over 2,000 years old. The book takes place far in the future, after humans have colonized hundreds of other planets. Lazarus was born in 1916 and lived through the exodus of Earth and has lived many lives. He claims there isn’t a profession or an experience that he hasn’t had. When the book begins, he is tired of life and has decided that it is time to die. But he then meets some people who try and interest him in life again and end up succeeding.

Throughout the book, he tells many stories of his life and people he has known along the way. He tells of loves and losses and common errors of humanity. The title of the book first comes up in the story where Lazarus was talking about regular people with short lifespans (like people today). He says that the saddest thing about them is that “their little lives rarely held time enough for love”.

The book feels fresh and new even though it was apparently written in 1973. The vision of the future is exciting and feels plausible. The views on relationships are interesting. There are far less taboos in this future. Polyamy and nudity are common and natural. The family structures are more fluid, with the only concern in mating being gene compatibility instead of the taboos of incest or promiscuity being important.

The thing I like most about science fiction, is the capacity of authors to come up with these amazing views of the future. Sometimes the future is bleak, sometimes it is hopeful, other times it is amazing. The capacity for variation is so interesting to me because often the visions all seem so plausible! It just seems to depend on which part of our humanity we let rule. No one knows what the future holds, but if there are any clues, they might be found in the Sci-fi section of the bookstore.

This book had interesting characters, tons of anecdotes, fun stories, love stories, lessons on life, and a vision of the future that was really entertaining. I would recommend it completely.