Earlier this month I made a tentative plan to spend the rest of the year trying to read books I already have — review copies or bought copies — and limit books from the library to try and make a dent on the piles and piles of books that are starting to weigh on me.

Of course, I wasn’t going to pull myself off the lists of holds I’m on at the library, which foiled my plans: Both The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides and The Magician King by Lev Grossman arrived for me on Tuesday. Curses, effective library system! (I kid, I kid!).

Of course, I dropped all my other reading plans to start those, since I haven’t figured out my library’s renewal policy exactly and would be deeply sad if I had to send them back. I finished The Marriage Plot yesterday — mini review: I loved the beginning, thought it got a little meandering through the middle, but unexpectedly loved the ending — and immediately wanted to start The Magician King.

However, I got about 10 pages in and realized I couldn’t remember anything about The Magicians, Grossman’s first book in the series that I read last year, except that it was like Harry Potter but darker. It was like there was this gaping hole in my brain where a summary of The Magicians should go. I even went online to try and find some clues, but it seems that the Interwebz is entirely devoid of a comprehensive plot summary of The Magicians. How is that possible?

Anyway… I decided I couldn’t read The Magician King without refreshing my memory. It just wasn’t going to be satisfying, and I am over-the-moon excited about this book. If I lived in a town with a bookstore, I would have gone out and bought a copy immediately. Luckily, my small local library came through in a big way again because they had a copy of The Magicians in stock and on the shelves!

I had to brave our first winter snowstorm yesterday to go cover a story anyway, so I made a detour to the library first to pick up the book. I got home from working at about 6 p.m., ate dinner, and settled in with the book for the evening at about 7 p.m. I don’t know what got into me, but I read that book amazingly fast. I’ve only got about 50 pages left in a 400 page to finish this morning! I read fast, but not normally that fast.

I’m not much of a re-reader, so this particular super speed-reading experience was novel. It made me curious whether it’s possible to read faster when we’re re-reading because there’s a subconscious familiarity with the the book? Or, whether the fact that I’m mostly re-reading The Magicians as a plot refresher rather than diving into it for the first time meant I was reading less deeply and therefore more quickly? Has anyone else had this experience? Thoughts?

I had a request on Twitter today to share some more recent pictures of my darling cat, Hannah. I got Hannah almost two years ago from the Humane Society. She was stray, abandoned along with a few other young cats.

Honestly, I’m not sure how she got up there. Mysterious!

Hannah is my first real pet, so I’ve had a bit of a learning curve trying to figure out what she does that’s normal cat behavior and what’s part of her own persnickety personality.

[continue reading…]

Title: When She Woke
Author: Hillary Jordan
Genre: Fiction
Year: 2011
Acquired: Library
Rating:

Review: I love Margaret Atwood. The Handmaid’s Tale was the first book of her’s I’ve read, and I’ve been a ridiculous fangirl ever since. I also have a special place in my heart for The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne. I actually really love all of that early-American, semi-Puritan nutty literature, if only because I love turning those stories into soap operas in my head.

I tell you that because those to facts make me the perfect reader for Hillary Jordan’s new book When She Woke, a sort of futuristic mash-up of those two stories where people who commit crimes have their skin dyed to match their crime as a form of punishment/entertainment.

Hannah Payne has been a devoted daughter and member of her church for her entire life. That’s what makes her conviction for murdering her unborn child so unexpected. When Hannah refuses to name the man who got her pregnant, her sentence as a Chrome is extended. When She Woke is the story of how Hannah, a woman stigmatized by society and abandoned by her family, tries to take control of herown life and find a place in a world where faith and love are political tools and crime is entertainment.

Even if I hadn’t been reading When She Woke during the October Read-a-Thon, I’m pretty sure I would have dropped everything to read it straight from cover to cover. This is a remarkably engaging and addicting book that brings together the best parts of the literature that inspired it while setting the story in a world uncomfortably similar to the one we live in now. There’s tension, romance, adventure, and political commentary centered around a protagonist that could be almost anyone.

I can’t say enough good things about this book and highly recommend picking it up.

Other Reviews: S. Krishna’s Books | Fizzy Thoughts | Literate Housewife | Erin Reads |

If you have reviewed this book, please leave a link to the review in the comments and I will add your review to the main post. All I ask is for you to do the same to mine — thanks!

Despite how much I’ve been writing here, I’ve actually been doing some posts in other places around the Interwebz, which I wanted to take a moment to share.

First up is a review of Jim Lehrer’s book about his time moderating presidential debates, Tension City. I thought this book was a delightfully nerdy and awesome look behind-the-scenes at an event so many people watch but few people understand. Here’s a couple paragraphs to get your interested:

Through the television screen, presidential debates have a sense of gravitas and cool organization about them. But writing from the perspective of the moderator’s hot seat, Lehrer is able to reveal the pre-debate political maneuvering, serious preparation and unexpected snafus that characterize any live, televised political event.

It also helps that Lehrer is charmingly self-deprecating as he reflects on his own prodigious impact on each debate. He’s not afraid to share his pre-debate rituals — including going with his family to buy a new tie before every debate — and admit his own mistakes.

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