The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama (abridged audio, read by the author)

There is no doubt about it: Barack Obama is an incredibly likeable man. His down-to-earth attitude, his (apparent) honesty, and his hope for the potential in all of us make me proud that he’s the face of America today. I loved to listen to The Audacity of Hope, which he wrote five years ago as junior Illinois Senator. I was delighted every time I remembered that he’s now the President, and able to see some of his hopes come to light.

I only wished, as I listened, that there was more of it. Only when I was nearly finished listening did I realize it was an abridgement of a longer book. (I hate it when that happens.) Still, there was something doubly wonderful about listening to President Obama narrating himself his hopes for the future of America. I’m not sure I would have loved it as much if I’d read it. Continue reading »

Two Neuroscience Books (Proust was a Neuroscientist by Lehrer and Sacks’ Musicophilia)

When I joined the 2009 Science Book Challenge, I didn’t intend to focus on neuroscience, but it turns out that that branch of science is absolutely fascinating to me. These two books I read really have convinced me that science and art are inextricably related each other, for art is perceived and appreciated by the brain.

I think I’d say the Lehrer was my preferred of these two, only because I hadn’t realized the Sacks was abridged. At any rate, I enjoyed both books and would love to revisit either other again in the future. Continue reading »

The John Cheever Audio Collection

I really like audiobooks sometimes because it gives a book a new edge. I absolutely loved listening to a selection of John Cheever’s stories via audiobook. The John Cheever Audio Collection was very well done.

As I listened to the stories, I kept recalling my time reading the short stories of Chekhov and Maupassant last year. Cheever’s stories reminded me of theirs, but it’s been so long since I read Chekhov and Maupassant that I couldn’t figure out exactly why. Maybe it’s because Cheever, like the others, focuses on normal people in regular, realistic situations.

Of course, Cheever stories take place in 1950s and 1960s suburban New York, among the upper-middle class society. His stories try to determine what would be the natural result of a given situation, and they often felt sad in the end.

After I put down some of these thoughts, I found that Wikipedia claims Cheever is “the Chekhov of the suburbs.” At least I’m right on that! His stories did remind me more of Maupassant’s stories, but still, the title fits him. Continue reading »

Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts

I like history and I always want to know more about American History. But in all the nonfiction and fiction about the Revolutionary War, it’s rather limited to dead white guys who fought the battles and otherwise founded our nation.

Enter: Founding Mothers by Cokie Roberts. In a conversational tone, Roberts shares some of the stories about the women who founded the country. She, too, had been tired of hearing about how remarkable the men were founded the country: what about the women? This, then, is full of some of their stories. Roberts’ conclusion was (interestingly) that the women behind those men were no more extraordinary than you and I: they simply did what was asked of them.

The book had plenty of flaws. Most of the author’s asides and explanations were rather distracting, and it sometimes felt rambling and off-topic. I do wish it was better written or at least better organized. The casual tone made me feel like I was listening to random anecdotes rather than a comprehensive historical account. It didn’t feel comprehensive, nor did it feel like a true historical record. It was a collection of stories about women, full of sometimes extraneous detail. And there were a lot of women!

However, because I was listening to the audiobook in short intervals, such an anecdotal format was okay for me. And the details did make it interesting.

Continue reading »

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

There is something to be said for close, careful reading.

I must have read Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar with the rest of my tenth grade class, but I honestly didn’t remember any of it. I decided to read it this month as a part of the Martel-Harper Challenge, for which Yann Martel chooses “book[s] that ha[ve] been known to expand stillness.”

Reading Julius Caesar just once didn’t do anything to help “expand stillness.” I was confused: it started in the middle of a dramatic scene. I didn’t know who the characters were and why they were making the choices they made. Why did Caesar consider Brutus a friend? Why was Brutus called “honorable” when he was committing murder? What is “honor”? Did any of this really happen?

But as I spent a few days rereading portions of Julius Caesar, listening to the audiobook, watching the movie, and reading various commentaries about the play, I was enlightened. I think it did encourage “stillness” because I wasn’t just reading to turn pages; I was reading to learn and experience. I seriously loved the experience of truly reading Shakespeare, even by myself.

Note that this post contains “spoilers.” Continue reading »

The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman

I enjoyed The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman, a Newbery-winning novel. Cushman believably created a 1300s scene, and I liked learning about midwifery and superstition in the middle ages. While modern girls won’t face trials as extreme as the girl’s in the novel, they still must develop self-confidence and determine what their own dreams are. The story is therefore highly relevant to pre-teens today, and I only wished it had been longer and more fully developed. Continue reading »

Abandoned Book: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley on the 101 Great Books Recommended for College-Bound Readers list, and I know I’ve seen it on many other “must-read” lists. I never read it in high school when many people apparently did, so I thought I should give it a go now. But I just cannot.

I’ve listened to three chapters of the audiobook, and I have yet to meet a solid, identifiable character. The dialog is forced and the setting is an unrecognizable scene many hundred years in the future. Huxley has spent three chapters “telling” me about the setting and characters. Thus far, it reminds me very much of Foundation by Isaac Asimov, which I disliked when I read it a few months ago. Continue reading »

The Green Knowe Chronicles by L.M. Boston

Green Knowe is a medieval castle in the English countryside, and it is full of enchantment and ghosts. L.M. Boston’s chronicles about the manor house are full of child-like delight.

And yet, describing the series as a whole is challenging. They all, but one, involved magic of some kind. They all, but one, focus on a mid-twentieth century child or children having adventures. They all, but one, focus on Green Knowe itself as the center of action. Half of them focus on a mysterious connection with the past. All of them have some delightful characters, but one does have a disturbing, wicked character.

As a series, then, the novels do not always feel to be connected to one another. All the same, I enjoyed the visits to the mysterious manor house, and I knew that adventures of some kind were waiting. While I enjoyed some stories more than others (and one I would never recommend to a child), I think most children will enjoy the stories of a time when children could play freely by themselves, all summer long, in an old castle and the grounds surrounding it. Continue reading »

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis sets out to share what he believes the core of Christianity is. He makes it clear in the introduction that he is not sharing doctrines of a specific faith, but rather Christianity in general.

I hope no reader will suppose that “mere” Christianity is here put forward as an alternative to the creeds of the existing communions-as if a man could adopt it in preference to Congregationalism or Greek Orthodoxy or anything else. It is more like a hall out of which doors open into several rooms. If I can bring anyone into that hall I shall have done what I attempted. But it is in the rooms, not in the hall, that there are fires and chairs and meals. The hall is a place to wait in, a place from which to try the various doors, not a place to live in. For that purpose the worst of the rooms (whichever that may be) is, I think, preferable. (I apologize I don’t have page numbers; I had to return the book to the library.)

In the end, I certainly appreciated C.S. Lewis’s analogies and explanations of Christianity. It encouraged me to ponder my own understandings and determine what I believe. It reminded me of lots of things I should do to improve myself. There are so many quotable analogies! Continue reading »

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Often, I consider superior writing to be more important than a superior story: if it is written well, I don’t care so much about the story because the powerful writing can carry my interest in the book.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding, however, failed that test. I loved the writing: Golding’s prose is magical as he describes the tropical island. All description is incredibly powerful, and his writing and characters are strong throughout the novel. Golding was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1983 and I believe that is probably well deserved. But in the beginning, the middle, and the end of Lord of the Flies, I hated the story. To be honest, I had a queasy feeling in my stomach as I listened to the audiobook, and I listened to the last two-thirds with absolute horror. Continue reading »