Jennifer Holzhausen's Homework Blog

July 30, 2008 My Latest Reading Update

Well, I finished All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve.  I finally got past the time period and the fact that Shreve was writing from the perspective of a man.  The book is about a man who is absolutely obsessed with a woman he meets during a fire.  He falls madly in love with her, and after following her all over the place, she reluctantly agrees to marry him with one very clear caveat:  She does not and will never love him.  Well, it lasts about 14 years.  At that point, he becomes jealous of a male friend she has who comes to them as a blast from the past.  The rest is just a big 'ol mess.  The book was okay, but it certainly wasn't my favorite Shreve novel.  If I had to choose characters to play the main parts, it might be John C. Reilly (Never Been Kissed, Magnolia and Talladega Nights) and the female lead was... hard to picture.  At times she was described like a tight-lipped, small blonde (maybe Renee Zellweger or Cate Blanchett) but at other times, she was tall, dark, and mysterious, more like Catherine Zeta Jones or one of the Evas.  It was difficult to imagine her because her personality and the descriptions of her kept changing. 

Other books I've read/been reading at this point:

The Last Best Hope by Ed McBain

This book was interesting to me because it looked like it would be a fun, cheesey murder mystery set in a tiny beach town in Florida.  Well, apparently, I have been out of the loop for years, because I had never heard of Ed McBain, but he has a zillion other crime novels.  Many of them are set in the 87th precinct of Chicago? I think? Maybe New York... but anyway, this was set in Calusa, Florida.  I think he made up the town because I was just down there in the area (twice) this summer and do not remember seeing Calusa on any maps.  I especially don't remember it near Sarasota, but I could be completely off-base on this, too.  Highly possible.  Anyway, one of the characters from the other books has settled down there in his "retirement" I think.  At least that's how I understood it.  Anyway, it isn't too appropriate for my students and it wasn't quite a Grisham novel, so I am not likely to go out and buy the next McBain novel I see at the bookstore.  I'm definitely not going to put it on the bookshelf at school.  I don't know, though.  If there was another one set in Florida, it might make another good read while I'm down there sometime.  Who knows?

Currently, I am FINALLY reading The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory.  I haven't seen the movie, and do not intend to watch it until I finish reading the book, but I did check it out from the library today (just in case).  For some reason, I'm already not sure about the casting choices for the movie.  I am interested to see how Scarlett Johansonn played the role of Mary, the main character.  It is set in the 1500s, but, surprisingly, the language and tone of the novel are modern enough that they do not pose an intellectual threat in any way.  Thank goodness.  There is nothing I hate more than to pick up a book I have been dying to read and then discover that the author must have been one of my professors in college.  You know the ones I am talking about... the ones who open their mouths and appear as if they are talking about something very important but nothing they say makes any sense to you??  That's what that Virginia Woolf book, Mrs. Dalloway was like.  It just rubbed me wrong from the beginning.  However, THIS book isn't like that at all.  It is written in plain, easily understood English, and I think that is what really drew me into the book.  I really wasn't so sure at first, but after the first page, I was hooked.  I've only read the first 90 pages.  Only about 500 more pages to go!  :)  (It's a long one!)

More updates coming soon! :)  Stay tuned!

 

July 7, 2008 - What Books Are You Reading?

Mid-summer reading update:

Well, at this point, I have read a few books, and I wanted to create a list somewhere so I can keep track of them. :)

This is what I have read so far:

1.  Silent No More by Rod Parsley - Politics by an ultra-conservative pastor.  I found some of the historical information regarding religion as it was present in the founding of our country especially interesting for purposes of research for teaching American Literature. I may be able to pull a few things out of this book to use in class... sparingly. 

2.  Seaglass by Anita Shreve - This book was purely for fun.  It takes place during the Great Depression in a beach house on the coast of New England.  I love Anita Shreve's work, so it was a pleasure to read. 

3.  The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve - Another book purely for fun.  This book takes place in the same house she used in Seaglass.  It is set in modern times and pulled me in because my husband works for an airline. I also had several friends and family members who had read it and recommended it highly.  I loved it.

4.  90 Minutes in Heaven by Don Piper - In this nonfiction account of a near-death experience, Don Piper writes of his experience in heaven as well as the accident and recovery before and after.  The best part of this book is really in about the second chapter.  He only spends about 3-4 pages writing about his 90 minute experience in heaven and spends most of his time processing the whys of his accidental death and his long road to recovery. 

Currently, I am reading All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve, but I can't get into it too much. I don't particularly care for period fiction, and it takes place in the early 1900s on the campus of a New England college.  It is also written by a woman from a man's perspective.  I just can't get excited about reading this one like I did the other two books by Shreve... it's not quite the same when it's a book written by a woman who so wonderfully captures the essence of being a woman when it's from the perspective of a man, I guess.  I don't know.  I always tell myself to read 50 pages and then decide if I want to keep reading or give it up.  I tried reading a couple of other books, Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins and Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf.  I wouldn't bother with either one unless you need something to help you fall asleep.  One of my favorite movies is 50 First Dates and, in the movie, Drew Barrymore reads Still Life With Woodpecker every morning in the cafe.  In the special features on the DVD, she talks a little bit about the book and why it was appropriate for the movie.  So, I thought I would give it a shot.  Well, honestly, although I love her, I don't think I will take Drew Barrymore's advice on literature anymore. :(  Mrs. Dalloway inspired the movie, The Hours with Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, and Julianne Moore.  I really liked the movie, but the book was just painful to try to read.  I'd say stick with the movie if you want to just get a taste of Virginia Woolf and her depressing take on literature.  Try the book if you want to get a leg up on graduate-level required reading. 

     I hate saying this (more than you know) but we are more than half-way through the summer at this point.  I will try to post another update before the end of the summer.  I borrowed a book from Mrs. Knecht, and I need to get on that one sometime in the next week or two.  I'll let you know what I think.

     Have a great July! :)