The Fault in Our Stars

Read this book, it just rocked my world!
(I cried a lot.)

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I can read!

I finished two books recently that I can recommend wholeheartedly: Shanghai Girls and Dreams of Joy.

It took me a little while to get into the first of the two books (probably because I had to travel back to 1937 and pre-war China) but once I was in, I was hooked. Lisa See is good. She developed several tangible characters that really came alive for me. She also impressed me with her portrayal of family ties, and especially the sisterly bond between Pearl and May.

I liked how Jane Glenn Haas put it:

"Basically, Lisa See writes about families. Love themes. Mothers and daughters. Children and parents. Romance. Love of country. Of place. The story itself must be so strong, so enthralling, the history helps it to play out."

Also, I don't remember the last time I was seriously taken aback by a literary development. Part of the conclusion of Shanghai Girls blew me away. I seriously did not see THAT coming. Dreams of Joy was absolutely not predictable either.

I couldn't put either book down (or my iPad I mean, I read them both with Kindle) and truly enjoyed these reads. They took me on a journey...that kind of journey that's a big bummer when you turn that last page.


What do I read now? Suggestions?

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Hunger Games

I would also like to share that I have recently gobbled up The Hunger Games Trilogy. 

I had never heard of the books at all until I saw a preview for the upcoming movie. Lars wanted to give the books a try before the movies came out and I followed suit. Lars was out of town while I jumped into the series and I basically did not jump back out until he was home. I got soo sucked in. LOVED these books.

Meredith and I definitely have shared uncertainties about the conclusion...but I don't dare to discuss that until you guys have had a chance to check them out as well!

DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED!
I am really looking forward to seeing the movie....next year. Uff da.

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Dream Heart

Yesterday I finished a beautiful book--Ghost Heart by Cecilia Samartin. I read it in Norwegian and it's titled Drømmehjertet which translates literally to "dream heart". I'm not sure why they translated it that way but I feel like Dream Heart works better. But then again, I loved Samartin's writing style so I shouldn't really dis her title.

It starts in Cuba right before the revolution. We get to know young Nora and Alicia, cousins and the best of friends, as they grow up on Cuban beaches, turquoise waters and coconut ice cream. The girls are forced to grow up fast as Castro comes to power and the Cuba they know slips away from them. Nora's family eventually moves to the U.S. and over the 414 pages and letters back and forth, Nora travels back to her homeland to visit Alicia. Only then do they really realize how much has changed--both to the island they both call home and to each of them as individuals.

I started it on Saturday and finished it yesterday. I gobbled it up! It really captured my heart and I just couldn't put it down. Any of you that are nearly as interested in Cuba as I am, have studied Spanish, got sucked into Kite Runner or just have been craving a book that'll move you--do yourself a favor and read this book! And do it slowly. I'm telling you, you're not going to want it to end.

I also recently finished Beaufort, a book about the horror, camaraderie, and absurdity of war, by Ron Lesham. I dug this book too, but it moved me in an entirely different way. I suppose in many ways it was equally as tender, but I can't recommend it as openly as Ghost Heart. That kind of dark humor is just not for everyone. Only a sick bastard like Ethan would gift someone a book like that.

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Recent reads.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. John Boyne. The story is told from the naive eyes of a 9 year old German boy who is moved from his lush Berlin home to a temporary house outside of Out-With (Auschwitz, which is one of the many words he mispronounces). This book is a controversial one, as the boy's naiveté and general ignorance of what was happening around him really irritates people that have been fighting Holocaust deniers for the greater part of their lives. I agree that this is a dangerous line to walk, but I liked Boyne for that. What can I say, I like danger, I like controversy. Plus it was precious to see how his young brain tried to grasp such evil, even if the realism of the story is questionable. Plus the ending rocked. I laughed, I cried, I liked it. And then I watched the movie. Liked that too.

Read it and decide for yourself if Boyne took a good chance here or if the book is a "profanation" as it has been called by critics. Mostly I am just waiting for Ethan to read it, so I can hear how pissed off he gets. Just do it Ethan, it's a short read.




The Other Hand (published in the US as Little Bee). Chris Cleave. This one pleasantly surprised me. I guess that's because I was a bit skeptical and didn't really have any expectations. Hard to have any really, especially when the back of the book says only "We don't want to tell you what happens in this book...we don't want to spoil it" and you bought it based on the cover design. I guessed it was a marketing trick, but I knowingly fell for it in the bookstore. And I was not disappointed.

We meet Little Bee in a Refugee Detention Center after she has narrowly escaped from violence in her homeland of Nigeria. She tries to "speak English like the Queen" and make a life for herself in England. She seeks out the only English people she knows, whom she met tragically while they were on vacation in her home country. The story was powerful, beautifully and poetically written and explored topics that will hopefully be a part of my career someday (I want to work with refugees).

Most of all, I loved it because it reinforces something we all know and something by which I try to live my life: we all have something to learn from each other, despite where we come from, what language we speak or the color of our skin. I laughed, I cried, I liked it.

The Book Thief. Markus Zusak. Elisa sent me this book for my birthday, and a great present it was. Again, powerfully and poetically written, with intense and complex characters that I fell in love with immediately. Plus, how often is it that you get to read a story told by Death? And would you ever expect to like said narrator? I almost feel like I lost touch with Death a bit in the middle when the Book Thief's story really took over, but luckily, he was always lurking so I didn't miss him too much. I mean the book is set in WWII after all, so he had a lot to do. It was equally uplifting as it was devastating. The style was refreshing, with super short chapters, not your typical foreshadowing and really not too many surprises. Death let us in on his doings. I laughed, I cried, I liked it. I thank Elisa for it and I recommend it.

Now I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo a.k.a Menn som Hater Kvinner. So far I've read only about twenty pages or so and I haven't felt the gravitational pull yet... but am looking forward to getting caught up in it.

I am thinking for the rest of this month I will spend more time painting than reading. Or at least that's a thought...

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The Help

I'm not gonna lie, I haven't been much of a reader lately.

It's funny too, because I remember laying in my room for hours and hours on end when I was younger reading and rereading books that I loved, books that were boring, books that I didn't understand or books that were way too easy for me--absolutely anything and everything I could get my hands on I read.

I loved the escape into another time or place, the feeling of being in another person's shoes. I loved getting to know the characters and giving my brain a workout. I plain 'ol loved reading.

Nothing has really changed. I get sucked into books and don't really come back to reality until I can finish the story. But lately I just haven't picked up anything that's clicked. And I haven't really tried that hard either.

I started The Island, by Victoria Hislop in Norwegian (Øya). It didn't do much for me. I think the book is actually pretty good, but the combination of having reader's block, the book including lots of terms and names in Greek and of course the entire story being written in Norwegian did not pan out well for me. So I stopped reading it. Yes fellow readers, I quit a book.

And moved on to a book the lit me on fire: The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

Set in the 1960's in Mississippi, this story explored themes I love reading about: injustice, ignorance, racism, unwritten rules, bravery, cowardice. I absolutely devoured and LOVED this book. I don't even really want to tell you much more about it, but that it's good and it will touch your heart. Read it.

And there. Just like that, reader's block was no longer. Guess The Help really did help.

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The Polygamists

One of my career aspirations when I was a little girl (and also about two to three years ago) was to become a National Geographic photographer. Yeah yeah, animals are cool and what not, but it wasn't pictures of Simba and company by which I was so inspired; it was those social-anthropological shots that really took my breath away. As a single young person with few attachments, there was nothing I could imagine as a cooler job than exactly that--traveling extensively, hanging out with new people, learning about their way of life, creating art out of their everyday and then getting paid for it? Seriously, what a sweet gig.

My love for NG led me to subscribe last year (and get a free embroided NG fleece sweater!) and I have been happily flipping through the pages ever since, admittedly mostly just looking at all the kick-ass pictures. The most recent issue, however, really got me reading.

The article that really caught my eye was a 25 page spread written and photographed by Scott Anderson and Stephanie Sinclair titled "The Polygamists". The article delves into the life and beliefs of Joe Jessep and his approximate 6,000 member clan that live in Hildale, Utah. Jessep is the patriarch of a 5 wives, 46 children, 239 grandchildren family:

Hildale and the surrounding area are known as the birthplace of the Fundamentalist of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), a group that broke with the Mormons in the 1920's and 30's to continue practicing plural marriage.

I myself am in no way an expert on the lives of FLDS members; I am only relating what I know from what I have read in NG and elsewhere. I believe there are sites created by members of the faith themselves, if you are interested in hearing more. With that said, the FLDS Church teaches the doctrine of plural marriage. It is generally believed that a man should have at least three wives, all of whom should be subordinate to their husbands. They also practice what is known as placement marriage, where women are assigned husbands by the prophet according to the husband's "worthiness". As a general rule, women do not wear make up or have short hair. They do not wear pants or any skirt above the knee and usually wear hand-made prairie dresses. Men wear plain clothing as well and neither gender are allowed tattoos or piercings. Property is owned by the church and children are home schooled.

Most Americans associate FLDS (and Mormonism in general subsequently), with the April 2008 raid on a compound in West Texas known as the Yearning for Zion Ranch. That raid was spurred by a 16 year-old's phone call to a domestic violence shelter where she claimed she was being abused by her middle-aged husband. The calls were later determined to be a hoax but were taken seriously at the time by the authorities as the "prophet" of the YFZ Ranch, Warren Jeffs, had been convicted in Utah court for officiating at a marriage of a 14 year-old girl to a much older church member in 2007. After much confusion and media attention, Jeffs and eleven other church members, were indicted on charges ranging from bigamy to having sex with a minor.

It is, for many, a lifestyle that is easy to criticize. The FLDS, as NG puts it "is seen (by critics) as an isolated cult whose members, worn down by rigid social control, display a disturbing fealty to one man, the prophet Warren Jeffs--who has claimed to be God's mouthpiece on Earth." Members of the faith, however, describe their lifestyle as idyllic and wholesome--an environment free of junk food, social pressures and excessive television and an environment that emphasizes old-fashioned devotion and community cooperation. Additionally, something I personally took away as positive from the lifestyle was the FLDS' devotion to being a self sustaining group; they grow their own food, harvest it themselves and use volunteer work to complete projects around town.

But just a few things don't quite sit right with me. Okay, a lot of things don't sit right, but I am not here to fully elaborate on my opinion on FLDS, Mormonism or religion in general. Simply put, I just wanted to point out a contradiction within some philosophies here, particularly when it comes to Jeffs and the followers' trust in him.

Jeffs claimed that God guided his every action, no matter how small. And I quote from Jeffs' diary:

"The Lord directed that I go to the sun tanning salon and get sun tanned more evenly on their tanning beds".

Really? Did God really take time to tell Warren Jeffs to get a more even fake tan? I understand that I am not a member of the FLDS and maybe thus I cannot understand, but come on. Tanning? Really?

Overall the article was an insightful portrait of this defiant group of believers. I do not mean to insult all the members of the FLDS, but when it comes to Jeffs it is hard for me to find a way to reason with his actions or his beliefs.

To me in general, it is hard to reason with religion. I find much that I cannot grasp. It has been that way for some time and I expect it will continue to be the way for even longer.

One thing, however, that is quite certain, is that we will be renewing our subscription to National Geographic.

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SOLD

About an hour into my journey across the Atlantic I finished a book called Sold, by Patricia McCorkmick. The book was almost poetic in structure so that explains why I whizzed through it so fast (besides of course the well-known fact that I am both an insanely fast reader, and a genius).

I recommend the book. It was a moving tale that made me think, inspired creativity and stretched my mind. It was easy for me to connect to the main character, 13 year old Lakshmi, and I would think it would be easy for almost anyone to do the same (assuming you have a soul).

Here is a summary of the book that I borrowed from TA Book Log:

...Thirteen year old Lakshmi lives in the mountains of Nepal with mother, baby brother and step-father. Her family is so poor they cannot afford a tin roof like the other families in the village. Lakshmi wants to go to the city to work so that she can send money back to her family but her mother wants her to stay in school. After a horrible monsoon that washes away the crops and destroys the already tattered roof, Lakshmi's step-father says that she is to go to the city to work. Lakshmi is happy, proud that she will be able to help her family. She soon learns that her job in the city is not the maid job she thought it would be. Lakshmi's step-father has sold her into prostitution and now she is stuck in India forced to pay off the price that was paid for her. Lakshmi struggles to make it through the nightmare her life has become and dreams of the day she will be free again.

I of course, will not give away the ending. Let me know if you check it out.

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Lisa Lately

When I haven't been waiting tables lately, I have been staying up late-- scoring over Norwegian job sites, searching for work permit worthy jobs. And reading books. And stressing about packing all my stuff across the Atlantic and missing my family. And watching movies. And missing Lars, and learning some new recipes. And catching up with old friends, connecting with new ones and dancing the night away to live music. And changing diapers, and handing popsicles number seven and eight to my grandma (who definitely doesn't remember eating numbers one through six). And kicking ass, and taking names.

There isn't too much time left before I leave the country and I think subconsciously I have been trying to do as much as possible, prolonging bed time until 3 or 4 in the morning to make the most of the 24 hours in each of the few days I have left.

My plan isn't working, however. I need my sleep. And thus I end up sleeping late in the day and then puttering around for an hour or so before realizing that it is basically time to get in the shower and try to put together a work-appropriate ensemble (nice, but not too nice) since all my usual work clothes are dirty.

It's a vicious cycle, and one that I probably won't break anytime soon. So I will instead leave you with some recommendations: Read The Lovely Bones--it honestly changed my life. My Sister's Keeper was good too, although I feel like I should have cried but never did.

Watch 17 Again (if you're in the mood for a feel-good flick) and if you don't expect much, like I didn't, you just might be surprised with Zac Effron--he is actually talented for a teeny-bopper. Duplicity is also worth your time. I watched My Life in Ruins, which I don't necessarily recommend but for which I don't have a lot of negative criticism to offer either. The Proposal was pretty darn funny. Bullock is getting hotter as she gets older, and I finally was able to take Reynolds seriously. DO NOT see Couple's Retreat. Instead, watch the preview. That's basically the entire movie.

As for me, I'm prolonging bedtime and watching Slumdog Millionaire.

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A long, hard ride

I have awesome friends.

Just when I was looking for something classy to read, a huge box was waiting for me in the Hamar post office containing just that. The package was addressed to me from a one Melissa Huggins (maybe with a little help from a Colleen Silcox as well?) and came all the way from Tacoma, WA. It included among many other scrumptious treats, a very sophisticated novel entitled A Long, Hard Ride. I am sure that these two ladies included this novel as a joke (and it definitely got Lars laughing) but I have taken this as a serious recommendation of literary genius and have began reading the little saucy gem of a book. I will proudly admit that I am 115 pages into the tale and it is everything (and more) than I could have ever expected.

The box also included 3 bags (yes 3!) of the most delicious, Easter edition of Reese's goodness, the individually packaged chocolate\peanut butter eggs, which are one of my favorite treats. The plan is to bring one bag up to Tynset to share during the Easter festivities and maybe to share another bag with my soccer team or 'coworkers'. Eating them all by myself, while a definite possibility, is probably not the healthiest option. ;)

There was also some peanut M&M's, our favorite chip and dip combo, mini tequila and Malibu rum bottles, some Twilight themed Sweethearts, some Target earrings (which unfortunately need some repair after the overseas journey), a funny kids Easter book, Phase10 the card game and last but certainly not least a plastic sea shelled bra!

It was a wonderful, incredibly thoughtful package sent by wonderful friends, and I am very grateful.

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The Bomber (edited)

I was pretty stoked when I got a library card a couple weeks back. The first book I checked out was an ambitious pick: Krakow was it's title, and it was in Norwegian. I chose the book because it wasn't overly long, seemed like an interesting tale about a woman's experiencing adapting between cultures and I hoped that it would be a good way to further develop my norsk skills. It turned out to be a dud however. On top of being difficult to read because of the writing style and the foreign language element, it was depressing. The book was centered on this woman's feeling of loss after her newborn died right after birth. I read 2\3 of the book, and finally gave up, something that is very rare for me to do. Usually I have to see it through to the end.

The next book I checked out was called Nowhere Man by Alexsandar Hemon. I haven't even given it a chance yet. It seems like a more interesting story and more like what I was looking for when I stumbled across Krakow. I am just not sure if I have the energy to tackle a novel in Norwegian right now however.

So on a whim one sunny afternoon I wandered into the library and this time into the English literature section. I basically chose a book at random, checked it out and went home. I pulled our chair out onto the balcony and sat and read until I lost the sun (which has now dissapeared altogether). The book was titled The Bomber by Liza Marklund. I got hooked into the story right away and was attracted to the strong female protagonist\journalist. I appreciated that she wasn't a perfect hero and that she was genuine. So I kept at the paperback, devouring the thriller page by page trying to find out who was responsible for the Stockholm bombings. I was totally immersed in the story and finished the book last night. Or at least there are no more pages. I am not sure if the story is actually finished.

Page 394 ends (*spoiler alert*) with our protagonist being trapped beneath a large stadium, in the bomber's grasps and with dynamite strapped to her back. She somehow manages to call the newspaper she works for without the killer catching on and so, on pg. 394 we are with the editor at the police station as they are trying to track the call. A systems technician is explaining how the tracking works etc. Let me quote the last bit of the book, and you tell me if you think it is a conclusion or not. (Schyman is the main character's boss and editor, btw).

He turned his back on Schyman and the cop sat on his chair. He clattered away on his keyboard for a couple of minutes, then gave a sigh. 'I can't find it. Are you sure the call came from her cellphone?'

Schyman's pulse quickened. Hey couldn't screw it up. He felt confusion mount within him. Did these people even know what had happened? Did they know how important it was?

And that is the end. Needless to say I was confused, and disappointed. I really am wondering if I am completely missing something, or if there are physically pages missing.

Can anyone recommend a good read, with a good ending?

< *EDIT* I just found out with a little bit of online sneakery that the book is indeed missing pages. 15 to be exact--15 pages missing from the end of the book?!?! Oh yes, that would mean that where I ended off was right at the climax of the story. That's a big pain in the ass.

But then again I know the book was relatively popular in the U.S. so it must at least have a semi-happy ending. Guess I can just fill in the blanks for myself: she lives, gets promoted, the bomber is captured, her and her family have a happy Christmas, and so on and so forth, happily ever after. ;) >

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Hamar Kino

First of all, k's in Norwegian are usually pronounced like shhh and not the typical sharp k sound we are used to in English. So the word kino, or movie theater is pronounced shino, not kino like we would say it in English. Or if you are familiar with IPA, the Norwegian word for the movies would be like so: çiːno.

Now that we have that straight and you can successfully read the title of the post, I have to share a bit about Lars and I's recent experience at the kino. This story is a few weeks old, but even so, it just keeps spinning around and around in my head and making me laugh so I have to share.

First some background--for Christmas, my sisters sent me the Twilight series straight out of Forks, WA that I was doing my best to avoid. The whole vampire-teenage-angst-werewolf love triangle situation just didn't really seem all that appealing to me. So I was a bit surprised when the package that I ripped open in excitement was full to the brim with these lengthy books. I should have known they would suck me in because the fact my sisters Cori and Chris were hooked was the best indication of an addictive series; my sister Cori reads all the time and has great taste in novels. She has successfully recommended books to me for years. Chris, on the other hand, doesn't really read books--ever actually. So the combination of Chris's, Cori's and my sister-in-law Ashley's reaction to the books should have been enough to get me on the wagon.

So against my own wishes I started reading, and I was instantly happy they sent them to me--I was hooked immediately. I read the entire series in less than a week and my life was absolutely consumed by the books. I didn't want to do anything else until I could finish the story!

Even though I personally really enjoyed the impossible love story, it is also easy to understand why someone else might not. The books are a bit young, and they center on a love that if you are to analyze it, is a bit unhealthy and obsessive. I would argue however that they are books that should not be interpreted for much more than they are, and instead just enjoyed on the adventurous and mystical level that they reach us on. With that said, I found this hilarious Twilight bash online (click here to read) which actually made me laugh out loud. The author does admit to being as obsessed with the books as anyone else, but I think she also tries (in vain) to separate herself from the rest of us crazed fans (because that makes her a stronger woman, right? Right? Guys?). Even though I think she is holding back a bit, I also completely and one hundred percent agree and sympathize with the author's uh, frustration, or maybe it is better to just go ahead and qualify her frustration as a sexual frustration. I won't give any more away, except to say if you are also a Twilight fan that was waiting and waiting and waiting for the sex scene, than you might need to check out that link there. So funny.

But back to the movie theater...I was planning on meeting a girl named Imli (who may or may not be the biggest Twilight fan in the world) at the movies one Sunday afternoon\evening. I had finished the series, and wanted to see if the movie could even compete. It was Imli's 5th time seeing the movie since it had arrived in the Hamar Kino. Lars made the choice of his own free will to be nice enough to come with me (although I think he regretted it instantly later).

So we are sitting in the very front row, with quite a few unoccupied seats on either side of us. In Norway (and most European countries to my knowledge) the seats are numbered. There is no free seating like there is in the U.S.--each ticket has a number that corresponds with a seat. So a lady came walking in front of us, completely focused on finding Plass Nummer 6; it was obvious that it was of the utmost importance for her to be in the proper seat. Plass Nummer 6 happened to be directly on my right. Then a group of four girls came who were hoping to fit in the seats to the left of Lars, but as he and I were in seats 4 and 5 there wasn't enough room for all of them. They came down to ask the woman next to us if the three of us could just move down one seat to make room for the group of friends. The woman wasn't having it. She was insisting, louder and louder I might add, that she was in the right place and that she wasn't moving and that those were the rules! The young spokesgirl for the group of friends was slightly embarrassed as she walked away, and I felt a bit helpless watching as they were trying to decide who was going to sit on the floor so they could all drool over Edward's sparkly good looks in unison.

So I made a decision that Lars will probably never forgive me for (haha) and asked the woman if it was possible for her to just move one seat down so the girls could all sit together. The woman responded to me like no one had ever talked to her so nicely in her life, and agreed readily. I instantly made a new best friend that wanted to talk to me for the rest of the movie. Great. So maybe I regretted the decision a little as I had to repeatedly ask the woman to be quiet because we had to watch the movie and to stop asking me questions because I was trying to watch. But I was polite. As polite and as patient as humanly possible. It always feels good to reach out to someone who is obviously a little (or a lot) off the mark on the 'normal' scale and try to make their experience a little more enjoyable.

I was polite all the way through the previews mind you. It wasn't until about halfway through the movie that I couldn't hold back the laughter anymore. You see, this woman had been sporadically reading the Norwegian subtitles out loud to herself as the actors were speaking them on screen. I am pretty sure I was the only one who could hear that...but I am positive that the entire audience (which was packed full with 14 year old potential Norwegian supermodels and sometimes their obliging boyfriends, mind you) could hear her randomly yelling, and I mean yelling out key lines in the movie: 'Bella!' 'Edward!' She was yelling the characters names, and sometimes their emotions but I think I actually choked on a salty piece of popcorn when she started ad libbing the film with her own romantic interpretations.

All in all, it was a hilarious experience. Lars and I have interesting luck in movie theaters. When we went to see Stepbrothers in Tacoma this summer we witnessed a family meltdown which resulted in them getting kicked out. And then our recent mall purchases got stolen. And then the ninjas attacked. But I didn't find five dollars.

Also, if any of you are interested in reading an illegally posted (but now recognized by the author) link of Midnight Sun... vær så god. It is another version of the first book in the Twilight series as seen through the eyes of Edward...Come on, I know you all want to get in his head. ;)

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