North of Beautiful
North of Beautiful
by Justina Chen Headley
373 Pages
Young Adult Fiction
Little, Brown and Company
February 2009
We all have things that we would change about ourselves, ears, nose, feet, something. What if you could cover up what haunted that image of perfection that you had? Terra, the heroine of North of Beautiful has always done just that. Beautiful, tall, blond, and incredibly fit, but she will never be good enough-all because of the port wine stain on one half of her face. Her mom has taken her through many painful laser removal treatments that have had no impact on the intensity of the mark on her face. Over the years she has just learned to cover it up and really, what no one knows can't hurt them- or Terra. She is known at school for her jock boyfriend, and that she hangs with the popular crowd and none of them have ever seen her without her mask on.
Through some interesting events Terra meets Jacob, makeup or no make up he has the ability to see right through the image she is trying to live. He seems to know her before she has even said a word. This is disarming to Terra, as not even at home is she able to be honest. Terra's father is verbally abusive, her mother takes the brunt of any mistake the kids make- Terra isn't allowed to be imperfect. Will honesty feel too uncomfortable after so many years in hiding?
I have a HUGE claim to make and maybe to some even preposterous. All that Twilight gets so wrong- North of Beautiful gets just right. This, not Twilight, is the book I think teens should read. Forget the sickly-super-vamps and feeble-minded-females, this Young Adult novel is worth its paper and much more. Justina Chen Headley rocked the world of Young Adult Literature when she typed this one up. I can't say enough about it. The writing is great, the characters are flesh, the truth is true and there are no mind games. This one goes in my 'must keep' pile.
North of Beautiful brings the message to kids that imperfection isn't what we should hide, but what we should be proud of. Beauty comes from security and knowing that you are just as you should be- no matter what way our world goes. Beauty-shmooty...who is the judge of that?
And with easy, relaxed strides it takes my Stellar Five Chicken Award. This is what Young Adult should be like!
Author Justina Chen Headley Links:
Blog: Wordlings by Justina
Website: Justina Chen Headley
Other Young Adult Books You'll Eat Up! Enjoy.
The Hunger Games
The Boy in Striped Pajamas
The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Plants Don’t Drink Coffee
Plants Don't Drink Coffee
by Unai Elorriaga (in original Basque)
Translated by Amaia Gabantxo
208 Pages
Fiction
Archipelago Books
July 2009
In Plants Don't Drink Coffee the reader follows the story of four very diverse yet intersecting people while enjoying a ride of lightheartedness and depth. Tomas a young boy with the desire above all else to be intelligent, is the star of this novel or maybe one of the stars. He is precocious and witty and incredibly funny to read. When reading his thoughts you can hear him saying these things in a pre-adolescent, high-pitched and non-stopping excited sort of way. There is a main story which unites all four people that is clever and has a mystery feel to it, or adventure.
This book for me was a complete success. Unai did everything right in his writing and the translation was incredible as well (by Amaia Gabantxo). It was one of those books where you feel the need to keep reading it through the chapter breaks, and every time you sit down you want to lap it up. Reading about the Basque culture was very interesting to me, as it is a people group that intrigues me in their strength and resourcefulness.
I took this with me on the plane on my trip to Spain and it was the perfect read to keep my attention all through the long hours of sleeplessness on the plane, and then to help me pass some of my jet lag mid-night reading sessions after we arrived. Plants Don't Drink Coffee never failed to impress me, I loved most the honesty of the voice, the transparency of failures, the clever voice of a child and the witty actions of everyone. It is one of the best books I have read this year. Loved it.
It is my honour to bestow upon Plants Don't Drink Coffee my 'can't cluck enough' chicken award!
Other Lives
Other Lives
by Andre Brink
316 Pages
Fiction
Sourcebooks Landmark
September 2008
Three men living in South Africa whose lives are intertwined to a degree in the matter of hours change their identities, they loose what perceptions they had of themselves. The man that is white awakes to find himself staring in the mirror at a black man, the man who has not been able to have children gets home after a days work to find that he has kids and a different wife! The way this story is told creates mystery and introspection in the reader. What would it be like if you lived in a nation filled with racism, struggling through apartheid to find yourself the other race? What if something you had tried for for years were suddenly there, but you felt guilty in having it?
The concept of the book is good, well, no- it is amazing! However it didn't live up to the hype it set in the first couple chapters for me. I was thrilled to think it was a mystery, but then bummed to realize that it was more a situation created to cause the reader to think, and not really a book that ended with a conclusion to its own plot. Still, it is very well written, the characters are precise and you could swear they were made of flesh and bone, and the interweaving storylines really is intriguing. But, it just wasn't my delight, too much idea and brilliance and not enough of what sells me books-a story that has beginning, middle and end. The beginning was there, the middle was too and the end...I guess that was left up to me. Maybe it is my imagination that is lacking!
Make sure you check out what the NY Times has to say, because I enjoyed reading it:
The Kitchen God’s Wife
photo by John Foley
The Kitchen God's Wife
by Amy Tan
544 Pages
Fiction
Stellar Five Chicken Award Book
For over fifty years two women, Winnie and Helen have guarded some of the worst possible secrets. When Helen confronts Winnie telling her she just can't keep the secrets anymore, Winnie must come clean. Interestingly the person Winnie most wanted to shield from the truth was her daughter Pearl, but Pearl has secrets of her own to disclose as well. After years of holding in the truth Winne is forced to endure the painfulness of remembering so that for the first time mother and daughter can understand each other as a whole, not just the pretty parts. The true question is, are their bonds strong enough to endure the truth, after having been taught generation after generation to hide the truth and put up a fake front?
I had never read Amy Tan before, I have seen people love her and I can't believe I was so slow to jump on the wagon. I grabbed up this read because it was just sitting there staring at me in the library, and it was an audio book. I love listening to international fiction audio books because I enjoy the accents and voices. Plus, yes, I have always liked being read to just as much as reading a book myself. After reading (listening to) The Kitchen God's Wife, I have a new author to stalk, yes a new favourite. I have a couple of her other books sitting on my shelf calling me right now. She is one of my new favourite authors.
In The Kitchen God's Wife Amy brings up women's issues in old China, she dispels some myths, she tells an amazing story and that she told flawlessly. The book is pretty dark at places, and the characters suffer much at the hands of those who claim to love them. It is hard to read at times, but even though it is intense I could not stop reading it. This read rocked my boat and could not have been better-the only thing was that I had wished it would have gone on for a little longer after the secrets were out, but the book was already 544 pages...so that probably wasn't an option. Maybe The Kitchen God's Wife part 2? ha!
Here I go again, giving out my most precious award. However Amy Tan takes it by a landslide. The Stellar Five Chicken Book Award is well deserved, very well deserved.
Have you read other books by Amy Tan? Which gets your highest recommendation? Why do you enjoy Amy Tan?
A Love To Last Forever
A Love to Last Forever
Brides of Gallatin County Series Vol. 2
By Tracie Peterson
368 Pages
Pioneer Historical Fiction (Christian)
Bethany House Publishers
Published April 2009
Growing up Beth Gallatin has only been able to put down short roots in a community before she was moved along by her father. Just as she fell in love with a place their father would move them on to the next stop, he did have legitimate reasons, work, a house, a better town, a safer place for his daughters, still she resented it. She has made a secret vow to stay in one spot, with one man and raise a family in one community for the rest of her life. A Love to Last Forever is a story of roots, love, lasting promises and forgiveness, and learning the lesson that you really don't always know what is best for you.
I can relate to Beth in this book and it was fun to go through the process that Tracie Peterson took me on. Her writing was good, the characters worked for me, but it was slow for me and it didn't capture my attention until the mid-point. I don't mind a good Christan fiction book from the pioneer days, but this just wasn't it for me. It is the second in a series and I think I will pick up the third book sometime, but I make no promises. It was okay, just not spectacular. I had high hopes as last year I read two really good books from Bethany House. A Love to Last Forever just didn't do it for me.
55/100
Here are two Christian Fiction books that I really enjoyed:
From A Distance by Tamara Alexander
Deep in the Heart of Trouble by Deeanne Gist
What are some Christian Fiction books that you have loved? How did they win you over?
The Islands of Divine Music
The Islands of Divine Music
by John Addiego
256 pages
Unbridled Books
Fiction
A generational story of a little girl, Rosari, who has to flee with her family from Italy because of her collaboration in a crime. She wrote a kidnap note for some coins, a choice that would change her life forever. The Islands of Divine Music contains the history in her family from that day forward. Filled with deep character development, as each member of the family is a story by him/herself. The chapters are set up to narrate one individuals life, to share the choices they made, their thoughts and hopes. It is character development at its best! The Islands of Divine Music was truly a unique book. There are some minor twists and turns, but mostly it just isn't predictable enough to really even need them in order to keep the reader going.
John Addiego wrote a book in which the plot carries itself so well that it might as well be a non-fiction read. The story seams real, not made up. There is a family tree in the beginning, and as the chapters move through the reader can understand where each individual is being added in. I had no idea how much I was going to enjoy this John Addiego's novel. Each subject comes up out of the type and you think of them for days after the book is finished. John Addiego is an excellent writer. I highly recommend this read to people who like a good storyline, a great plot, with good detailing and history to back up the family and to those who enjoy superb character development, this is your read!
Have you read The Islands of Divine Music? What were your thoughts? Did you like how he did the chapters, having the reader get to know one family member at a time?
Some of my other recommendations for good books filled with character development and beautiful details, so make sure you check these out if you enjoyed The Islands of Divine Music:
The Vanishing Moon by Joseph Coulson
My Antonia by Willa Cather
The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
Into the Beautiful North
Into the Beautiful North
by Luis Alberto Urrea
342 pages
Published by Little Brown and Company
Fiction
Luis Urrea is a master story teller at its best. He effortlessly interweaves mystery, intrigue, heartache, love and humor in a way that shows his true ingenuity as an author. In Into the Beautiful North he tells the story of Nayeli, and a group of her close friends and an adventure they are determined to live out. When they realize their town is lacking in male companions and defenders (after watching the Magnificent Seven) they take it into their own hands and head across the boarder to the US where so many of their men have gone for work with the intention of bringing some back. The town of Sinaloa is on the verge of being attacked by narcs and other such lawless men who have also been noticing the lack of men. Nayeli and her clan must be quick, but the boarder patrol has other plans for them.
Into the Beautiful North brought me from far away lands of wonder in little towns in Mexico to discovering even the country I live in under a new hue. The theme of illegal immigrants is a big one in this read, and I enjoyed that Luis Urrea refrained from putting himself on either side of the debate, mostly he just allows the reader to simply learn of details of illegals without feeling the need to defend ones stance. I like learning just through people, seeing the picture just a little better through someone elses' eyes, mostly the emotional side of it impacted me this time.
The plot and story are so fun and interesting to read but the characters are also very well developed, I enjoyed every second of Into the Beautiful North and I know I will be coming back to read more books by Luis Alberto Urrea very soon. I thought It was going to be a book of hardship and darkness, because so much international fiction seems to be used as a way to open the world's eyes to the deadliness of the world, this book was so far from gloomy while never neglecting reality. I applaud Urrea for this amazing novel, which shatters stereotypes of international fiction. Let me say though, that just because of the lightness of the book, that does not mean it is lacking in depth, the characters go through scary times.....but it is the overlying theme of endurance and purpose that strings the reader from page to page just to get to that very last drop. ENJOY!
90/100
Do you love international fiction too? Please share! Could you give me some other titles that are hopeful like Into the Beautiful North? I get the point of bringing up heaviness in novels, but after you have read a lot of them you either become jaded or you can't stop crying. Maybe that is just me, is it?
Oh, make sure you check back in for some author event photos of when I got to meet Luis Alberto Urrea in person! I'll give you the whole scoop on him, check back tomorrow.
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