It's Monday and the Readathon is on its way!

Hey dudes and dudettes. What is happening?

We spent a rainy Saturday afternoon wandering around our town's harvest festival. We brought home some delicious barbecue, kettle corn, and a jar of cupcakes! (Is it still considered a selfie if you have to fit in the whole family??)

Somehow I read three books this week, which is a very rare occurrence. I'm feeling pretty accomplished but also like I'm not ready to start a new book yet. Is this a reading hangover?

Dewey's 24 Hour Readathon is this weekend and I am so excited. You are joining in the fun, right? If you haven't signed up yet, go here right now! The Readathon is fantastic and no, you don't have to read for all 24 hours.

Read This Week:

Gutenberg's Apprentice
By Alix Christie


Bittersweet
By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore


Goodnight June
By Sarah Jio


Bedtime Reading This Week:
      
Spot Goes to the Library for BG
The Little Prince Deluxe Pop-Up Book for D


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
Reviews of Emma, The Empathy Exams, and Gutenberg's Apprentice


Reading Now:

How We Learn
By Benedict Carey


Up Next: The readathon is nigh. I'm going to try to finish How We Learn and catch up on reviews before Saturday. I will show you my readathon pile on Friday!



What are you reading this week?

Review: Gutenberg's Apprentice

Gutenberg's Apprentice

By Alix Christie

Harper September 2014

416 pages
Received for review from TLC Book Tours and the publisher

Peter Schoeffer is angry when his foster father pulls him away from a growing career as a scribe in Paris. Back in his hometown, Johann Fust shows his son the new project he has invested in. The reclusive Johann Gutenberg is crafting a revolutionary new method for creating books. Peter has the unique opportunity to be a part of the team that builds and operates the first printing press. But the tension between Peter's two father figures over the creation of art and the necessities of commerce threaten to tear the entire operation apart.

In Gutenberg's Apprentice, author Alix Christie shows a love for printing on every page. Readers will not be surprised to learn that she was an apprentice like Peter and now operates her own letterpress. The history and practice of making text is obviously important to Christie. It permeates every aspect of this book, including the actual pages which are decorated with illuminated letters. 

Peter, his family, and Gutenberg lived through one of the most turbulent times in history. The people of the city of Mainz, Germany are indebted to the various guilds, depending on what kind of work they do. The church is divided between the pious and the power-hungry. The Protestant Reformation is on its way and the choices that they make about business, art, faith, and the printing press will impact the future of the church and the world. 

Historical fiction at its best mixes big events that impact nations and the day to day lives of individuals. While Gutenberg's Apprentice is about a world on the precipice of big changes in the church and in communication, it is also about Peter and his relationships. We see his pain when Fust and Gutenberg use him as a pawn instead of appreciating him as a son. We meet the love of his life and watch him lose her. The joy and pain of loving other people creates the base of this interesting story.

In spite of this, the book reads slowly. It's not one of those books where you put things off to read a few more pages. I think this is because of a lot of technical talk and because we don't truly get to know anyone other than Peter. While we see the impact of their choices, both Fust and Gutenberg remain enigmas to Peter and to the readers.

Gutenberg's Apprentice is a book that celebrates the importance of faith and the written word in the midst of one of the most turbulent and important times in history. 

You can read more reviews of Gutenberg's Apprentice over at TLC Book Tours!

Review: The Empathy Exams

The Empathy Exams: Essays

By Leslie Jamison

Graywolf Press April 2014

226 pages

From the library

We read non-fiction for one of two reasons. We read it to learn, like our reading of a biography to learn more about a person we admire. And then, sometimes, we read to think. In this collection of essays, Leslie Jamison challenges everything we think about empathy. Pieces about gang violence, terrible diseases, and time in prison ask why we empathize with people, what we want from others when bad things happen, and how to walk the line of acknowledging pain without glorifying it. 

In each essay, the research is apparent as we are moved by the plight of prisoners and grieve for sick people who feel like no one could possibly understand what they are going through. Intertwined with each piece are the author's musings about her personal pain. Jamison is unafraid to ask tough questions of herself and her readers, even when her answers embarrass her. I found myself nodding in recognition as she asserts that empathy does not come naturally and that there is nothing wrong with admitting the personal work it takes to feel grief for other people's problems. The Empathy Exams is both intensely personal and incredibly universal. 

The one essay that fell a bit flat for me was "The Immortal Horizon," where Jamison chronicles a race that is basically impossible to complete. In this essay, the people suffering have decided to inflict the pain on themselves as they attempt to run a course that is basically unmarked wilderness. But in this essay and others, Jamison asks if someone's pain is less important just because we deem it so. If we all make bad choices at one point or another, how can we show compassion instead of condemnation?

“Empathy isn't just listening, it’s asking the questions whose answers need to be listened to. Empathy requires inquiry as much as imagination. Empathy requires knowing you know nothing. Empathy means acknowledging a horizon of context that extends perpetually beyond what you can see.” 

It's presumptuous to say that a book can change your life. Books can certainly accomplish that, but the books that resonate with me may not be world-shaking for you. The Empathy Exams may be one of the few exceptions to that rule. Because Jamison is so brutally honest in questioning herself, you have no choice but to ask the same questions as you read. This incredible collection of essays is a challenge to each of us to be more open, more aware, and to show more kindness. That can only be a good thing. "Sure, some news is bigger than other news...But I don't believe in a finite economy of empathy; I happen to think that paying attention yields as much as it taxes. You learn to start seeing."

Review: Emma

Emma

By Jane Austen

Penguin Classics October 2011, Originally published in 1815

392 pages

From the library

Emma Woodhouse is committed to a few things - taking care of her father, spending time with her friends, and playing match-maker. Emma herself has decided that she will never marry, but she knows she is the perfect person to find a husband for her protegee Harriet Smith. Her friend Knightley tries to dissuade her, but Emma is determined to help. When everything goes wrong, is it possible for relationships to be repaired?

As per usual with Jane Austen, Emma is a satirical look at the construction and limits of class. But this book is a bit more on the nose than some of her others, so the satire can be difficult to see it if you don't know what you are looking for. Emma is forever concerned with appearances and what is appropriate for each person to do. While this story is obviously about Emma herself, it is also about an entire community. We are introduced to many other memorable characters, including the constantly worried Mr. Woodhouse, the talkative Ms. Bates, and the vain and self-centered Mrs. Elton.

Because we see the story through Emma's eyes, the reader can either choose to take what she says at face value or look a little deeper. She is always positive that she knows best, even as it becomes apparent that what she believes is not always accurate. Her stubborn insistence gives her room to grow and change as a character, though. Emma has great realizations throughout this book about her knowledge of herself and the people in her life. She is one of those characters that cause people to take sides - either you adore Emma and think she is one of the greatest characters ever written or you wish that she would wise up already!

In this book, Jane Austen has a very clear message to get across to readers. Her characters are varied, by class and personality. How do we react when presented with people who look and act differently than we do? Some characters react with haughty cruelty because they believe themselves to be better. Emma is the story of one woman learning to truly see the people around her and treat them with love and compassion.

It's Monday and I am ready for some sleep!

Oh wow. (Coincidentally, this is one of our little girl's new favorite sayings...)

You know when you have a really long week and everything hurts? Yup. That was our week. It has been lots of fun, but it has just been one thing after another. I am hopeful that everyone will get a few good nights of sleep and maybe these next few days will be slower. 

How was your week?

Read This Week:

The Empathy Exams
By Leslie Jamison



Broken Monsters
By Lauren Beukes


Bedtime Reading This Week:
      
Ladybug Girl Loves... for BG
Guardians of the Galaxy: Rocket and Groot Fight Back for D


Posts from this Past Week:
It's Monday
September Wrap-Up
Review of Skylight Confessions


Reading Now:

Gutenberg's Apprentice
By Alix Christie


Up Next:

Bittersweet
By Miranda Beverly-Whittemore


What are you reading this week?

Review: Skylight Confessions

Skylight Confessions

By Alice Hoffman

Back Bay Books February 2008

288 pages

From my shelves

Arlyn Singer is mourning the death of her father and vows that she will love and marry the next man she sees. When John Moody asks her for directions, they begin a passionate but tempestuous relationship. Together they move into "The Glass Slipper," an architectural wonder that is the Moody family home. The arrival of their son Sam does not bring them closer. Instead, John becomes more obsessed with his work and success and Arlyn and Sam are tragically lonely. After the birth of Blanca, Arlyn is diagnosed with cancer. Can this fragile family survive the pain of life and the hurt that they cause each other? 

Alice Hoffman is well known for her novel Practical Magic and she infuses her stories with a bit of magic. This book is no exception. From the opening pages, Arlyn is captivated by the idea of fate and true love. Her grief over losing her father is enormous but she is certain that she is about to meet the man she will love forever. As she reflects on her dad, she remembers the stories he used to tell her about people who could suddenly fly away in moments of danger. Images of birds and flying linger around the edges of the rest of this story - Arlyn's son Sam often sits on the roof as if he might fly away and the characters find bird feathers scattered around their home.

While there is magic on every page of this book, it is also achingly real. Arlyn and John have a broken relationship and their children suffer because of it. When Arlyn gets cancer, she knows that her children will not get the love and support that they need from John. A sense of loneliness lingers throughout this story, as the characters cannot or will not provide what their family members need from them. No magic spell can save them from the mistakes they make and the repercussions that will resonate through generations of the Moody family.

Skylight Confessions is the perfect read if you believe that magic is in the everyday and the barrier between life and death is not impermeable. This modern-day fairy tale shows readers the possibility of magic and the strength of love. 

September Wrap-Up

source

So September is over.

That went quickly. I guess it's time to settle in and enjoy fall! I see lots of apple cider and crockpot dinners in our future.

So how was reading in September? It was fine. I'm reading at a normal pace but find myself having trouble with the review writing sometimes. Apparently it is an affliction that is striking many book bloggers lately. At least I'm in good company!

Books reviewed in September: 9
Pages read: 3,720
Fiction/non-fiction: 8/1
Female authors/male authors: 8/1
My books/library books/books for review: 2/3/4
Most-read September review: Someone Else's Love Story
Favorite September read: Tigerman


How was your September reading? What was your favorite book?