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Apr
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April Reading Wrap-Up
2010 at 12pm Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
Another month, another batch of fantastic books. Covers are linked to my reviews, but, of course, I’m behind on reviews, so they’re not all hooked up yet.
I love it when I’m able to balance fiction and nonfiction evenly, as I did this month, and there’s not a single one in this collection that I wouldn’t recommend. Sure, I didn’t love Beatrice and Virgil, but the book is nothing if not discussable, and for that reason alone, it’s worth a read. (Smart money is on it as the book most likely to have book club members fighting this year.)
Of the fiction, The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors and Day for Night are going to stay with me a long time, and I can’t wait to tell you about Orange is the New Black when I review it next week.
So, no favorites this month because they were all good. A great problem to have!
What’s the best book you read this month?
Giveaway: 16 x 20 Canvas Print from UPrinting.com
2010 at 8am Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
Several months ago, I won a giveaway at Dawn’s blog for business cards from UPrinting.com. They turned out beautifully, and I’m happy to announced today that I’ve entered into a blog sponsorship program with UPrinting.com so that I’ll be able to offer giveaways for customer printed products like the business cards I recently won and the canvas prints you see in the image above. I’ll also receive products for review and will display a UPrinting.com badge and link in my sidebar.
I entered into this partnership because I know that I love custom-printed material, and the possibilities for we bookish folk are virtually limitless—business cards (for BEA and Book Blogger Con!), bookmarks, custom bookplates, and more—and I’m excited to extend the opportunity to win custom-printed giveaways to my readers.
Now that the businessy stuff is out of the way, let’s get to the goodies!
One lucky reader will win a 16 x 20 canvas art print of a photo of his or her choice. So those vacation photos you’ve been wanting to frame or that adorable picture of your dog that you’re looking for an excuse to display in your home? Picture them large. Here are the deets:
- One randomly selected winner will receive a 16 x 20 rolled canvas print
- Free UPS Ground shipping in the USA
- You must be 18 years old in order to enter.
To enter this giveaway, leave a comment here about the photo you will choose if you win the giveaway and what you’ll do with it (display it in your home, give it as a gift, etc.). I’ll be receiving a canvas print of my own for hosting the giveaway, and I’m thinking about putting this (our tulips in full bloom last spring) on the freshly-painted bright green wall in my bathroom.
The canvas print giveaway is limited to US shipping addresses only and will be open until midnight EST on Friday, May 7, 2010. The randomly selected winner will be announced Monday, May 1oth.
Good luck!
First I'll get verklempt, and then I'll get jiggy with it…
2010 at 11am Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
Does anybody still say “getting jiggy with it?” Talk about a short-lived cultural phenomenon.
Also: this post is not at all book-related. Much as I love books, there are other things in my life that I like to write about sometimes. There. You’ve been warned.
Anyway, on to the main event.
My sister is getting married this weekend. My little sister. My sister who used to steal french fries off my plate when I wasn’t looking, who once threw a seatbelt at me in frustration and gave me a huge goose egg right smack in the middle of my forehead, who has the biggest heart of anyone I’ve ever known. And I’m not just saying that because she’s my sister.
I’ve had a year and a half to prepare for this (Tim proposed on Thanksgiving 2008), but really, it’s something I’ve been thinking about, in one way or another, for as long as I’ve known that someday she would find that one right person, and I would have to find a way to get through it all without doing the ugly cry too much.
Because let’s be honest, folks, the ugly cry is going to happen. Now it’s just about controlling how bad it gets.
There were times (actually, there were years) when I worried that this would not be an event that made me happy. Before Tim, I never liked a single one of Sarah’s boyfriends, and that’s not just protective big sister-ness talking. I’ve sworn eight ways to Sunday that I won’t enumerate her exes’ shortcomings, and I intend to make good on that, but I just have to tell you, interweb, that she picked a good one this time!
Seriously. I haven’t liked a guy my sister has dated since her very first boyfriend. She was five. His name was Jonathan. They were going to grow up and raise pigs together.
After Jonathan came a string of boys (and that’s what they were) who said all the right things. They knew they were *supposed* to like strong women who had their own ideas and opinions. They knew they were *supposed* to like confident women. They knew they shouldn’t be intimidated by independence and outspokenness. They gave great lip service to all of those ideas, but when push came to shove, they couldn’t hack it.
And then there was Tim.
Sarah and Tim, fall 2009.
And people, let me tell you, Tim gets it.
He sees all of the wonderful things in my sister—her strength, her honesty, her selflessness, her wicked sense of humor—and he loves them. He embraces everything about her and gives her the space she needs to learn and grow and create the life she’s dreamed of. And he’s totally not intimidated by the fact that ninety percent of the time, Sarah is the funniest person in the room.
Together, Tim and Sarah have created a relationship built on all of the things you’re supposed to build a relationship on. For good measure, they’ve added a childlike playfulness and sense of fun (those of us who have heard them have water fights while they’re supposed to be brushing their teeth can vouch for this), added patience for each other’s quirks (Sarah has learned that “you can’t just throw things into the washer willy-nilly” when doing laundry), and an abiding commitment to laughing as often as possible.
There was a moment a few years ago when Bob and I were out to dinner with my parents and Tim and Sarah, and I looked around the table and realized, “This is our family.” It was a beautiful feeling, and I’ve been reflecting on it quite a bit as I prepare for Sarah and Tim’s wedding and for the toast I’ll try to give without getting too verklempt (this post is a way to draft it and get my thoughts out). I can’t say enough how happy I’ve been to have Tim in our family for the last six years and how much I’m looking forward to seeing the life he and Sarah will continue to create together.
I feel privileged to be a part of it.
Here’s to a lifetime of love, friendship, laughter, and family for two of my very favorite people.
Oh, and their dog Angus. He’s good, too.
Now let’s get to the party where we dance like crazy!
Just Read It: THE HOUSE OF TOMORROW by Peter Bognanni
2010 at 10am Posted by Rebecca Schinsky
Published March 2010 by Amy Einhorn Books (an imprint of Penguin Group)
Sixteen-year-old Sebastian Prendergrast lives with his grandmother in central Iowa in a geodesic dome. Isolated from the outside world except for the occasional trip into town to run errands for Nana, Sebastian’s only contact with people his own age occurs sporadically and usually depends on tourists who pull off the highway to see “the house of tomorrow” and local parents dragging their unwilling teens for a tour they hope will be an educational experience. Sebastian’s home is large, but his world his small, and his Nana has created it to be that way.
Nana idolizes futuristic philosopher Buckminister Fuller, whom she calls Bucky and with whom she claims to have had an affair decades earlier, and she believes that she is raising Sebastian to change the world, to fulfill Bucky’s vision. So she homeschools Sebastian herself, limits his use of technology, and does not allow him to be exposed to any of the cultural and social experiences we expect for typical teenagers. Sebastian has little interest in girls, virtually no knowledge of sex, and seems only semi-aware of the fact that he should be going through some MAJOR changes both physically and emotionally. Sebastian gives off that uncanny feeling that he really is just a little adult, but he also seems robotic in some ways, and stunted in many others.
But everything changes when fellow sixteen-year-old Jared Whitcomb and his mother show up to tour the dome one day, and Nana has a stroke. Sebastian finds himself hurled into the world beyond the dome, and he doesn’t know what to make of Jared—who chain smokes, wears a lot of black, and is obsessed with punk rock—and his family, who communicate in what seems like an entirely different language and actually display some signs of affection for each other. Jared mocks everything about Sebastian—his clothing, the way he speaks, his social awkwardness—and introduces him to punk rock, rebellion, bad language, and girls.
And that’s all I’m telling you because I really want you to go read this. I might not have picked up The House of Tomorrow on my own, but I’ve learned that when Jen and Heather both rave about a book, I should just listen to them, and this was no exception. The House of Tomorrow is a coming-of-age story, but it is so much more than that. Sebastian’s narrative voice is quirky and humorous and incredibly sympathetic, and it was the highlight of the reading experience for me. Bognanni’s use of punk rock and the adolescent discovery of music as an outlet for emotion are well-drawn, and he works in the punk rock references perfectly.
The voices in this book ring with authenticity and leave you feeling like you know the people within its pages, and you care what happens to them. Bognanni’s dialogue snaps and crackles with the angst and tension of teenage identity crises and family turmoil, and it’s all just kind of perfect. Other reviewers have discussed The House of Tomorrow as a YA book, but I agree with the publisher’s decision to sell and market it as a work of adult fiction. While the central issues of the book will appeal to teen readers, adults who have the benefit of grown-up perspective are more likely to appreciate the narration, humor, and spot-on awkwardness.
I found The House of Tomorrow to be unexpectedly delightful and almost impossible to put down, and it’s only by the beauty of the book blogging community that I decided to read it in the first place, so I’m hoping to pass on the spirit of book evangelism that Jen and Heather bring to our little “triumvirate of awesome” by encouraging you to read it too. You needn’t like (or even know anything about) punk rock. You only need to remember what it’s like to feel like an outsider discovering a whole new world. 4.75 out of 5.
Also: The House of Tomorrow would make a great movie. I could see so many of the scenes as I read them, which is a true testament to Bognanni’s descriptive powers.
Since thanks to Jen and Heather for handselling me The House of Tomorrow on Twitter. I’m so glad I listened!
Hey, FTC: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
I am an IndieBound affiliate and will receive a small commission (used for blog-related expenses) if you purchase The House of Tomorrow through one of my links.
