A Separate Peace

Alan urged me several times to check out John Knowles's A Separate Peace before I actually picked up the thin novel. I was immediately mesmerized by the opening; the writing in that first chapter is phenomenal. The rest of the novel continues to be well written, but there is something special about that first chapter. The story is set in the early years of the second World War and tells the tale of a young man, Gene, and the complications of his friendship with Phineas. There's not much more to say without spoiling anything except that the novel deals with themes of jealousy, drive, guilt, identity, and friendship. It's short and well written, making it accessible and definitely worth checking out.

Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure

I'm technically a part of a book club, but I've never attended a meeting or even met any of the other members of the group. I responded to a flyer about a book club that would read only high-quality books. Mostly the books are classics and the meetings are in the evenings, which typically don't work well for me. My reading time these days is not what it once was so I'm much more selective of what I read and generally speaking, classics aren't making the cut. I know that they are well written and full of virtues that make them beloved for years and years, but nineteenth century prose is too slow a ride for me these days. I did (somehow) manage to get through John Cleland's Fanny Hill, or Memoirs of  a Woman of Pleasure... though it took me months to do so.

I was intrigued by the novel when I learned that it is considered the first erotic novel ever written. (The book club organizer offered it as a literary alternative to Fifty Shades of Grey.) At first it was a fun novelty: an erotic novel that is written with the primness of the nineteenth century's language. However the characters seemed flat, making it an arduous read. I wasn't sure that I would actually get through it, as it seemed rather pointless to me after a while. It's a short novel though and I kept thinking about how I endured this much of it, what's a little more, so I eventually did finish it. The novel is certainly nothing I can recommend though, unless you are looking for an erotic novel with flimsy characters and a questionable plot-line.

A Sand County Almanac

I somehow own two copies of Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac: With Essays on Conservation From Round River. I'm not quite sure how that happened, but having not one but two copies of a book I hadn't read was enough for me to pick it up. I immediately fell into a trance; Leopold's writing is simple and beautiful. I'd be lying though if I said that my feelings didn't shift as I continued reading. The book is divided into different sections and the entire first section: A Sand County Almanac, was absolutely lyrical and beautiful. I liked the second section: The Quality of Landscape and the third section: A Taste for Country a bit less. The final section: The Upshot was probably my least favorite. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the entire book, but there is something extraordinary about that first part of the book. But it's all well written, offering the reader a nice portrait of different landscapes and is a wonderful ode to nature. It also raises the challenge of conserving our natural resources, something that I always find appealing. It's definitely a worthwhile read.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing

Adam needed a break from the heaviness of the second Harry Potter book, so we took an interlude for some fun Judy Blume: Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. It was not as good as I had remembered from when I was a kid. (I had loved this book!) I was surprised to discover that it's a character driven novel; surprised because books written for children these days seem largely plot driven. (Likely because books have a tough job these days competing for a kid's attention with all the video games, etc. Thirty years ago books were a form of entertainment, regardless of how gripping the plot-line... I can't help but wonder if it was Judy Blume that got me hooked on character driven novels?)

I wasn't overly impressed with my rereading of this child classic, but Adam and Noah sure were. We read the novel over a couple days because the kids kept begging me to read more and more. They found the book hilarious and are so excited that there are sequels to read. It's so special to watch a child get hypnotized by a book, pulled in and not want to leave the characters. Judy Blume books seem to have that effect on children. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing was the perfect novel to take Adam's mind off the darkness of Harry Potter for a while.

Vagina: A New Biography

I picked up Naomi Wolf's Vagina: A New Biography when I saw that she was following me on Twitter. I was ecstatic when I saw my new follower. Naomi Wolf?!? I love her! I kept thinking. Then to prove it, I rushed out to get her latest book, one I had meant to read since it came out but hadn't gotten around to actually picking up.

I am grateful that I did and grateful for Wolf and her insanely insightful book. Wolf set out on a journey to understand the vagina and its connection to the female brain after suffering from a medical crisis. She discovers a wealth of information about female sexuality and creativity and shares it along with cultural history and her own personal experiences. The result is a book that is intelligent and wise, personal and engaging and one hundred percent worthwhile to read. I feel as if I understand myself better in a comforting way, a hey, maybe I'm not crazy, maybe that was a biological response kind of way. This book is a wealth of important information, so much I am tempted to start summarizing some of it... but everyone (male or female) should check it out for themselves. Or at least the last chapter. Wolf gives men the lowdown on pleasing a woman that more or less condenses all the information from each chapter into segments such as "tell her she's beautiful" or "gaze into her eyes." It's a definite worthwhile read, even if you just take the Cliff Note version in the last chapter. I will likely be rereading it myself in the future.