BOOK: Maus I and II by Art Spiegelman

Maus I and II: A Survivor's Tale by Art Spiegelman

Graphic Novel Challenge, in their shoes, What an Animal!

Maus I: My Father Bleeds History


Spiegelman tells the story of his father's ordeal during the Holocaust, in graphic novel form. The Jews are mice, the German's are cats, and the Poles are pigs. It's a neat technique, and the story is all too familiar. It is partly Vladek's tale up to his internment in Auschwitz and partly his son's coming to terms with being the son of a survivor. Overall it is very well done and shows the build up during the war of sanctions against the Jews in Poland and the measures people had to take in order to survive.

Maus II: And Here My Troubles Began

The story continues here as Art's parents have been sent to Auschwitz. This part contains a little more present day as Spiegelman gets the story from his father. He includes his own frustrations with his father and the amazing story of both his parents' survival.


Obviously both stories are very moving and at the same time, it was very frustrating to see the level of torture and degradation that occurred in the Death Camps. The comic style makes it very easy to read, other than the content. The art is very well done and any one interested in holocaust stories should definitely read this.

BOOK: Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

Running With Scissors by Augusten Burroughs

in their shoes challenge

Many of the quotes on the back of the book describe this as 'hilarious', 'wickedly, ridiculously funny', and 'insanely funny', but I didn't find it funny. Burroughs horrifying life with insane parents and then a foster family was tragic. He retells it with a casual, flippant attitude which is why readers find it funny I guess, and he himself only knew the crazy life so it was normal to him.

At one point Burroughs' guardian, who happened to be his mother's psychiatrist, arranged a fake suicide attempt so he didn't have to go to junior high school any more. There was no body looking out for this poor kid's life. At thirteen, Augusten also carried on a homosexual affair with a thirty-three adopted brother in the guardian family which some family matters thought was inappropriate, but no one did anything to actually stop it. And a warning to some readers, there are some pretty graphic descriptions of their activities.

I didn't hate the book but the insanity of his life was more sad than anything. He had a great attitude in some ways, in that he just learned to deal with it and nothing bothered him too much. Have you read this book? What did you think? Leave a link or comment.

BOOK: A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

A Long Way Gone: memoirs of boy soldier by Ishmael Beah

African Reading Challenge: Sierra Leone; in their shoes; notable books challenge

I wanted to make sure that the author's picture was included with this review. His beautiful smile makes such a contrast to the life he has led. I remember seeing Beah on The Daily Show last year and wanting to read his memoirs of his life in Sierra Leone. However, the similarities between this book and The Cellist of Sarajevo are making me crave a much lighter book. Each of these books has been excellent, and worth while and I would recommend them, but the whole civil war with civilians in the crossfire while nobody does anything is beginning to make me ill. The idea that a group can decide it's alright to kill everyone is just so unfair. Where does all this hate come from?

Beah starts the book as an eleven year old interested in rap, walking to his buddy's house with some friends. The rebels start attacking and this group of young boys end up living in the woods, trying to survive. They can't go home and there is no where else for them to go. Villagers are scared of them, the rebels and the army are all trying to kill them. Eventually they end up recruited and saved by the army, but with a price: they are now soldiers. I imagine he glosses over the worst of the atrocities, but there are still terrible descriptions of killing in this book. Just when I wasn't sure if I could read any more, UNICEF and some NGO's step in and get the boy soldiers to rehabilitation camps. Beah tells his story up to his escape from Sierra Leone to the United States.

I'm glad I read this book, I am glad that the UN is working to save these boys, I am glad that Beah survived and has written this book about his amazing life.

BOOK: The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

What's in a Name Challenge: weather event; in their shoes challenge, Cardathon challenge; nonfiction five 2008

I haven't laughed out loud while reading a book in quite a while, but Bryson certainly tickled my funny bone with this book. It says memoir, but it is just as much a look at the good old days, the 1950s in America. Bryson makes the argument that the 1950s in Des Moines, Iowa were the best time ever! I loved how Bryson used the exaggerated memory of youth to describe events - there were 800 kids outside, everyday. Part of it is how we always exaggerate when remembering our youth - the scab he nurtured that was one and three quarters inches thick-, so maybe that's why the old days were the best times.

Bryson alternates between his childhood and family, amusingly exaggerated, with the detailed research I associate with Bryson to explain America during times - the economy, the world, Communism and the threat of atomic bombs, and the role of farming in Iowa. He sneaked facts and information into his narrative and left me with an understanding of how we came from the good old days, with the slower pace and easier life, to the fast paced hectic life now.

I grew up in the 1970s and life certainly had changed, but I can see the same relative amount of change today from my childhood. I felt many parallels to Bryson's life: I too led a very happy childhood, nothing traumatic ever happened, I spent the summer outdoors with 800 other neighbourhood children, and the Saturday afternoon matinee was still going on in the 1970s. This was a great read and lots of fun, but also an informative look at how America has changed since 1951.

BOOK: Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi

in their shoes challenge, themed reading challenge

Isn't it interesting how, even if you don't plan it, the books you read go in themes? Reading Reading Lolita in Tehran so soon after Persepolis makes me feel I have just taken a course in Iranian women and the effect of the revolution on their lives. And it certainly makes me appreciate my freedoms and the rights we have to think and live and dream in North America. Added to the Iranian history are the books discussed in Reading: Lolita, The Great Gatsby, Jane Austen's, and Henry James, all of which I have read in just the past year or so (except James').

in 1995, Nafisi started a small discussion group with a few young women after she was fired from her University job as English Literature professor. In the safety of her home they discussed, argued, and dreamed. Nafisi's book is divided into four sections: Lolita, Gatsby, James and Austen, and each section uses those books and authors to parallel and support her discussion of life during the revolution.

There were parts of the books I really liked, most notably the direction comparisons in Austen's books to their lives, and her student's trials and tribulations. There were a lot of big themes and ideas: modern novel, revolution, reformers, democracy, imagination and some sections I am sure my eyes read over but my brain did not comprehend. Nafisi is into 'real literature' and her references and allusions went over my head on many occassions. Her passion and honesty and intelligence come through, and it was a good book, but it was a hard read in that the ideas take some thought and when my poor brain was getting tired, the book dragged. But when I would pick it up full of energy, I would enjoy it. Luckily it was broken into little chapters within the sections, making it easier to pick up and put down.

Here's an interesting post written by doppleganger at 50 books about the famous cover of Reading Lolita in Tehran. I think that post was where I first got the inkling to want to read this book. (I hope I credited that article and post alright)

ps: I need my spellcheck and soon.

BOOK: Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda

Never Have Your Dog Stuffed by Alan Alda

in their shoes challenge

Like most people, I've always liked Alan Alda, and this memoir does nothing to change that view, if anything, my opinion of him has risen. What an interesting life he has lead, from growing up in vaudeville and burlesque, to his success in MASH and movies, to campaigning for the ERA (which I can vaguely recall. He and Phil Donahue have the same feminist, intelligent, humorous vibe. I wonder if Phil has written a book?) Alda seems so intelligent, and the book is his life journey to make sense of his strange childhood with a mentally ill mother, to how to deal with his questions and insecurities.

It was amazing that someone with a such disjointed childhood would be able to have one wife, happily married, and provide a stable childhood for his own daughters. There is a picture in the book of a newspaper article from the Toronto Daily Star of 1938, at two, smoking a pipe, and hamming it up. His parents had no compunction of using him to help promote their show. The media has changed so much, as children of stars today would not be able to grow up in the relative anonymity that Alda did.

I enjoyed his insights into acting and the steps he took to become a very good actor. He has always been a writer, of jokes, scripts, plays, and now books. I recently saw him on The Hour with George Stepanopolous and his sincerity and humor in real life are written into the book. This is a man who feels he was born to entertain, and this book does that, very nicely.

BOOK: Persepolis 1 & 2: Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood
Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return
by Marjane Satrapi

in their shoes challenge

This was my first graphic novel, and I am very impressed. This memoir of a young girl's life before, during, and after the Iranian revolution was very powerful. Part of the reason is that I am about the same age as Marjane, and I can remember the eighties, and the American view of what was going on. The war now in Iraq is even more relevant when you can see what happened twenty years ago to set it up. I had a student join my class in September from Iran and it is enlightening to read what his parents would have grown up in. One of the reasons his family left was so that he would not have to join the army, as all young boys must.

The first volume is from 1979, just before the revolution, until 1984, when Marjane left Iran. If more people read books, and could read what happens inside a country during a war, I'm sure there would be less of it. It is so easy to get an image of a country and its people from the news, but that shows us so little of what is going on. Satrapi's family is not represented in my past view of Iran, and I am so glad to have read this, and realize that many people in the country did not support the revolution, and also to get an appreciation for the history of Persia.

This teenager was wanting to fit in with her sneakers and punk music, wanting to be political and protest, and yet, wanting to survive as well. Her family was rebellious and cautious at the same time, eventually deciding to send their daughter away, for her survival and education.

Book 2, The Return, chronicles Marji's years in Vienna, trying to fit in as an Iranian in Europe, and then her return, an Iranian who has been away. She can't win. Her struggle to know herself resonated with me, and most women, as we balance our roles within society's expectations. Add living in a a Fundamentalist regime, having the length of your head scarf measured, and being taken in front of a Commission, on top of general life, and this story elevates to a different kind of struggle. But she is still trying to be feminine, meet boys, get educated and figure out who she is, mistakes and all.

Marji so impressed me, as she spoke the truth, except for a few cases with men! and stood up for her beliefs. She is a wonderful example of a strong woman. This memoir will stay with me for quite a while, and has opened my eyes to the possibilities of a graphic novel. I heard it is being made into a movie. There are two levels of this book - the woman and the country, and both are equally interesting.

Much like The Kite Runner showed a different side of Afghanistan, letting westerners see what the people were like - just like us, Perspolis has changed my view of Iran forever.

BOOK: Brainiac by Ken Jennings

Brainiac by Ken Jennings

Cardathon Challenge, in their shoes

Answer: Brainiac
Question: What's a really good book I got for Christmas?

Sorry, I had to do that.

Not only did I get this book for Christmas from my sister, I gave the same book to my sister for Christmas. She was reading it while she was over for a visit, and reading out questions and quotes, intriguing us. I couldn't wait to get started. And I started using the Book Darts she gave me while reading this book. Thanks sis.

Some people apparently have a sponge-like brain that sucks up information and detail almost from birth, through some perfect-storm coalescence of curiosity, compulsiveness, and innate talent. These people are indiscriminate information gourmands, driven by inexplicable urge to scrawl every scrap of knowledge that comes their way onto their blank chalkboard of a brain. We did not choose trivia. Trivia chose us. p 7

I should confess my trivia history: we are a trivia (trivial?) family. We love trivia: my husband and parents and I played in a bar league before the children were born, and we won one season. In university, my roommate and some fellows from the boy's dorm had an ongoing Trivial Pursuit game until we knew all the questions before they were even read. Jeopardy! of course is still very big: we keep the daily calendar in the bathroom. My husband's siblings and their spouses are perennial champions at the Blueberry Festival annual summer Trivia Contest held in the local rink. So Jennings is preaching to the confirmed here. We Love Trivia!

The book follows Jennings' improbable run of winning 74 games on Jeopardy! but more than that, he investigates the rise of trivia games, the history of the popularity of trivia. Each chapter, titled for example What is Audition? (the applying for Jeopardy! process) or What is Composition? (writing good questions) also include about ten questions in them, with answers at the end of each chapter. Jennings has a very winning style, and is very funny. If you haven't been reading his blog, Confessions of a Trivial Mind you are missing out on an amusing read.

From the first trivia books, to the first radio and television shows, to the College Bowl games, to the town of Stevens Point annual 54 hour radio trivia contest, all manner and types of trivia are analysed. I particularly liked Jennings telling of his Jeopardy! experience, not revealing anything he couldn't - legal confidentiality clauses, but his winsome, charming, self deprecating manner makes this book a wonderful, overall, enjoyable read.

I'll leave with my trivia questions I throw out to my classes when time is short:

What is Chef Boyardee's first name? Hector
What three words best describe the Grinch? stink, stank, stunk
Where do you find the Sea of Tranquility?the moon
highlight the space after the question for the answer.