update!

Oh god, it's been a really LONG time since I last updated this blog. Now that I'm on summer holidays, I promise that things will be different.

In other news, I've read 49 books for the "50 Book Challenge", and am highly considering challenging myself to 100 books this year!

Briefly below, I'll tell you about two of the books I've recently read:

• Men and Dogs (Katie Crouch) - Men and Dogs looks at a slightly screwed-up thirty-five year-old woman, and her return home after her marriage fails. The overarching mystery of the novel is whether or not the woman's father, who vanished more than twenty years prior, is still alive. 

To be honest, while the plot was not overly original, I really enjoyed reading this novel. Crouch was able to capture the mood of the deep South effectively, and this mood resonates throughout (slightly southern gothic). It was an easy read, and one that made me laugh.  3/5 

• Back on the Rez (Brian Maracle) - This was an autobiographical account of a man's move to the Six Nations' Reservation in Ontario. Maracle examines rez politics, social structure, traditions, et cetera, while reflecting on his own life.

The book is divided into brief topic-driven personal essays, and are told in chronological order. As an English teacher, I'm tempted to incorporate some of Maracle's musings and observations into my Grade 12 Canadian English course; I feel that these essays offer invaluable insight into life on the Iroquois rez, and can help students to understand Aboriginal perspectives.   4/5

While my grade twelves were writing their final English exam, I sat down and read Holidays on Ice, by David Sedaris. Some of these essays were amazingly funny. Indeed, during several parts, I found that  I was in quiet hysterics. I'm pretty sure my kids thought I was laughing at their own personal exam hell. Such are the immense powers of works such as "SantaLand Diaries" and "Six to Eight Black Men".

So yes, really really really funny book. Check it out if you like sarcastic essays that point out the absurd nature of today's society.

The only thing I thought was weak about this book was in the inclusion of Sedaris' short stories. Quite frankly, I feel that Sedaris tried a little to hard to make his short stories 'amusing' and 'hilarious' for his readers, and it didn't work. They actually made me yawn. Seriously. 

But I'd buy this book just for its essays.

3.5/5 

Information:

Holidays on Ice David Sedaris Back Bay Books (2010), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 176 pages

Book One of 2011

I don’t really know how to describe my experience reading Dead Man Walking.  

Draining? Sort of.

Stunning? Yes.

Informative? Certainly.

This book explains Sister Helen Prejean’s, a Catholic Nun, experiences with two different death row inmates in Louisiana. What begins as a simple pen pal exchange with one (Patrick Sonnier), turns into a life-altering experience for Prejean. Prejean, quite simply, learns not only about crime, but also the role that society has played in creating crime.  She sees these prisoners not as violent offenders but as the people that they are. She grows to understand that the death penalty is not the best way to retaliate against their crimes, and that often justice in the name of religion isn’t justice at all.

I suppose Dead Man Walking managed to shock and horrify me. I read poverty and violence statistics that I had never seen before, and I was ashamed that a country like the United States could be that unjust.  People need to know about this structural violence, and they need to take action. As Prejean proves, even small actions can create huge crescents of change.

While heavy on information, this book is a quick read. I suggest that anyone with interest in social activism, Christianity, or criminal justice take the time to check this out.

5/5

Information:

Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States Helen Prejean Vintage (1994), Edition: 1st Vintage Books ed, Paperback, 288 pages