Review: The Hobbit

The Hobbit

by J.R.R. Tolkien

While The Hobbit isn't my favorite Tolkien story, this is the one I recommended to everyone. Of his work, it seems to have the broadest appeal or, at the very least, does not take a lifetime to finish. This is the litmus test for the rest of Tolkien's work. If you finished and enjoyed The Hobbit, then venture further into Middle Earth with "The Lord of the Rings" and other stories where the text becomes much more dense and detailed. (Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review: The Birth of Venus

The Birth of Venus
by Sarah Dunant

A lot of interesting elements at play in this book, but the story as a whole did not come together for me. It took a few days to get hooked, so it was a slow start. The mysterious plot twists and gruesome history of Florence carried my interest throughout. It felt like a Jack-the-Ripper novel set in Italy, but neither the plot nor its conclusion is a full-fledged murder-mystery. Plus, the main characters were too mysterious. I did not get to know them enough to care. The narrator, her mother, and her lover were interesting but something about them felt like outlines. They were characters never completed especially when compared to the detailed backdrop of Italian history. (Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

Review: Remarkable Creatures

Remarkable Creatures

by Tracy Chevalier

I can see why this story can be thought of as boring – it is a subtle story. It's about friendship that exists in the absence of the friends themselves. It describes the tedious effort it takes to work with fossils and that it takes to make a friendship between introverts. The title, Remarkable Creatures, refers to the ‘monster' fossils excavated from English beaches in the early 19th century. It also refers to the two main characters - Mary Anning and Elizabeth Philpot. Mary's a small town oddball yet widely known as lucky and, eventually, talented fossil hunter. Elizabeth is a fellow oddball but is well-read and well-connected. The characters of Mary and Elizabeth are real characters, known to history because the dinosaur and fish specimens they contributed to British and French science institutions. But the core of Chevalier's story is their friendship and their loneliness. In this story, evolution is a both a theme and a force. As a theme, evolution is introduced into public opinion as Mary's fossils spark discussions about extinction. As a force, evolution exists in Elizabeth's and Mary's private relationship. Their friendship evolves – they part ways but can't forget each other - and each woman's reputation changes as they carry out separate (yet connected) lives. There are layers in Chevalier's style and they can be hard to spot – much like the fossils and geology in which her story is rooted. (Originally posted as SquareSpot on PaperBackSwap.com.)

For a nonfiction account of Mary Anning’s life, check out The Fossil Hunter: Dinosaurs, Evolution and the Woman Whose Discoveries Changed the World by Shelley Emling

Quote: Avoiding Chores

“...TV was entertainment of the last resort. There was nothing on during the day in the summer other than game shows and soap operas. Besides, a TV-watching child was considered available for chores: take out the trash, clean your room, pick up that mess, fold those towels, mow the lawn... the list was endless. We all became adept at chore-avoidance. Staying out of sight was a reliable strategy. Drawing or painting was another: to my mother, making art trumped making beds. A third choir-avoidance technique was to read. A kid with his or her nose in a book is a kid who is not fighting, yelling, throwing, breaking things, bleeding, whining, or otherwise creating a Mom-size headache. Reading a book was almost like being invisible - a good thing for all concerned.”

― Pete Hautman from Libraries of Minnesota