#8 The Waters and the Wild

by Francesca Lia Block

The Waters and the Wild is a strange little book where the protagonist, Bee, comes to believe that she is actually a fairy changeling. She get's bad grades, is left handed, and feels like an outsider. In that sense, Bee certainly seems to qualify although that would mean many teenagers qualify. Her two friends, Sarah and Haze, also feel like outsiders and identify themselves as the reincarnated slave girl and a half alien, respectively. What's not clear in the beginning, however, is whether any of them is anything other than a semi-normal teen.

That ambiguity of purpose - is it a story about an actual changeling or is it just a metaphor the character uses- is one that Block fosters to good effect. There is a dream like quality to the prose that only half resolves in the end. It was a quick read and had Block's trademark beautiful use of language and myth to create a richly textured sense of character. At 113 pages long, why not read it?

#7 The Night Circus

by Erin Morgenstern

Most of the time, I buy my books from used bookstores or check them out from libraries. Occasionally, I borrow one from a friend or coworker. I only rarely buy them new. I discovered The Night Circus while teaching. One of my usually-on-the-ball students was hiding something under her desk and ignoring the class discussion. I walked over expecting to confiscate a cell-phone and instead walked away with temporary possession of this novel. This, of course, led to a pretty interesting discussion about the book.

The Night Circus is billed as a "love story for adults" and I guess that's true but I think that's over simplifying the case. In reality, it's a story about magic and control. There's even a whiff of philosophical musing running under the surface. It's about what true immortality does to a human and it's about people pulling together to save each other. Surprisingly, it's only tangentially about romantic love at least as far as I'm concerned.

The best thing about The Night Circus is the richly developed world of the circus. It's otherwise set in the late 1800's and travels from location to location. The circus though is pretty much what I always wish circuses were. Miraculous things happen here. There are contortionists, acrobats, a bestiary, fortune tellers, and impossible structures full of clouds and wishing trees. It's a spectacle and it's the playing field to two dueling magicians: Celia and Marco. Their battle, committed to by their teachers when they were children, entangles the lives of everyone involved in the circus. Eventually it all starts to fall apart and it threatens everyone's life.

Great book. Totally worth collecting.

Unannounced Hiatus

Dear Reader,

I apologize for my unannounced hiatus. Several time-consuming things all collided unexpectedly about three weeks ago. As a result, I haven't had much time to sit down for regular meals let alone pick up a book. However, it's been a highly productive time:

• I finished my practicum binder for teaching certification. Probably the most time-consuming of all the things listed here and certainly the event that pushed my out of my groove. The binder is about 5 inches thick and fully indexed. It's the kind of thing that isn't really hard, only tedious and fully of picky details. I'm glad it's over.
• I led a school trip to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. Which, if you are local and haven't been lately, are well worth a look. In the last ten years, the Gardens has put together a number of inventive exhibits and artistic collaborations to entice the public. One of my favorites was the Chihuly exhibit in 2004. The current exhibit, "Imaginary Worlds," consists of amazing botanical sculptures. I actually saw several of the sculptures when they were still wire work and scaffolding. The transformation was amazing and the kids had a great time trying to figure out how the sculptures were constructed.
• Brian Wilson & Jeff Beck Concert in Chastain Park October 4th. For those unfamiliar, Brian Wilson was one of (arguably the) the major creative forces behind The Beach Boys and Jeff Beck was a similar force to the Yardbirds. The show was split between these two power house starting with Wilson whose music I was already familiar with. Beck I was not so familiar with and was shocked by the sheer compositional richness. I guess it could be described as a rock version of instrumental jazz. It was amazing and surprising and very, very loud.
• Paid-Off my student loans. Yay. See ya Sallie Mae. (Of course with my luck I'll end up with new loans through Sallie Mae when I go to grad school.)
• Started my stint as Junior Varsity Boys Basketball Assistant Coach. It's a new role for me and I can't say whether I'm excited or trepidatious, but I know it will be interesting. 

Luckily, life moves on and the hectic times are past for a time. In the aftermath, I'm trying to reestablish my reading routines and have reduced  my massive pile of "to-read" lists into a short list of 10 books.

1. Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
2. The Elementals by Francesca Lia Block
3. The Frenzy by Francesca Lia Block
4. The Waters and the Wild by Francesca Lia Block
5. The Irregulars: Roald Dahl and the British Spy Ring by Jenet Conant
6. Forgotten Garden by Kate Morten
7. The All New Square Foot Garden by Mel Bartholomew
8. Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
9. The Toss of Lemon by Padma Viswanathan
10. Monster of God by David Quammen