Fairytale ending? No thanks

Fairytales are often spoken of as something wonderful, the happy ending everyone wants. But when you sit down and analyze them, it quickly becomes obvious that this is not the case.

My daughter is really into fairytales right now, so we read at least a couple of them every night at bedtime. The version we read are modern re-tellings. The princess in The Princess and the Pea, for example, rides a motorbike.

Recently I read the book's version of Hansel and Gretel for the first time. At first I didn't think anything of it, but when I re-read it the next night, I was struck by how absurd the story is.

In this version, the witch/stepmother places a spell on the father to get him to ditch the children in the forest because they can't afford to feed them. I do like the spell explanation better than the original story, in which the father just agrees to do his new wife's bidding. Bad form, Hansel and Gretel's dad.

As we all know, the first time he isn't successful because Hansel leaves a trail of white stones. The second, he leaves bread crumbs and they get eaten up so they can't find their way back. Instead, they find a cottage made of goodies. There's a witch there, and she puts Hansel in a cage and enslaves Gretel. The plan is to eat Hansel. Why, I don't know. She has a house made of cake so you'd think she had enough to eat. This is supported by her efforts to fatten Hansel up by feeding him treats.

Hansel fools her into thinking he's still skin and bones by holding out a bone every time she comes to feel his finger. This is ridiculous on so many levels. First of all, since when can the witch not see anything? Secondly, how is a finger a good indication of someone's weight. She should have been feeling his belly or his leg or his arm. Thirdly, how can she not tell that there is no flesh on this bone? Any idiot could tell a bone from a finger.

Eventually, she gets tired of waiting for him to get fat and decides to eat him anyway. That's when Gretel tricks the witch into sticking her head into the oven and pushes her in. Hansel and Gretel are free, but before they leave they search the witch's house. They discover lots of money and jewelry. You would think that with all that money, she would have been able to go to the butcher's and buy a hog or something, but no, she apparently preferred cannibalism.

Hansel and Gretel stuff their pockets and lo and behold, their father arrives to save them! The spell has been broken because—dun dun DUN—the witch was their stepmother. In the original version, the kids just head back home. That's silly, because if they couldn't get home before, how do they suddenly know the way now? Also, if I were those kids, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't share the money with the people who had abandoned me. I'd move right into that house made of cake and live happily ever after.

The most ridiculous part, however, is the fact that the witch and the stepmother are the same person. If she was loaded and had a house made of cake, why didn't she bring her money with her when she married the father? If she had, they wouldn't have had to send the children into the woods. Unless...she did it on purpose because she wanted to eat the kids.

I had to know if this was how the original story ended, so I did some research. It turns out that it is implied (very vaguely) that the stepmother and the witch are the same with the line, "...and now they had nothing to fear, for their wicked stepmother was dead." Interesting.

And so, for all my over-analysis, I came to the conclusion that it's all just symbolism. With the stepmother out of the way, their troubles at home were over and they could return home. No matter how you look at it, though, it still doesn't make all that much sense.

Book Review: Anna and the French Kiss

Le sigh. Oh, Anna and the French Kiss, how I wanted to love you. And oh, how disappointed I was.
First I should say that this is not a bad book. At the start I really enjoyed it. It was very charming and I found myself laughing out loud. As it got into the middle of the book, I found myself wondering if something interesting was going to happen. Unfortunately it didn't. By the end, I was pretty annoyed with the characters, and the "he loves me, he loves me not" story line had worn thin.
I realize I may not be the intended audience for this book. I read it on the recommendation of friends who loved it, so I expected to love it, too. Plus it was set in Paris! It had to be awesome! But I should have paid more attention before rushing to get it through inter-library loan. Young adult contemporary romance just isn't my thing. It's cute, and sweet, but lacks substance. I do enjoy some fluff now and then, but this was a little too fluffy.
I think the issue was compounded by the fact that I started reading it on the same day I started reading Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I know they're not really the same, since Before I Fall isn't a romance, but Before I Fall was just so much better. I couldn't put it down. In a way I suppose it was good for me to see the contrast because now I know what I'm looking for in a YA book. That sounds kind of silly, but the YA genre is fairly new to me. I avoided it pretty much at all costs until I read The Hunger Games. That series opened up a whole new world to me that I am still trying to navigate.
Now that I'm done wanting to choke Anna and Etienne, I've moved on to Shift, by Hugh Howey. I have a general phobia when it comes to series, but Wool got me hooked and I need to read more. Soon Dust will be here! I can't wait.

Dust is coming soon!

I'll admit, I can be a bit impulsive at times, especially when it comes to shopping. Last night I made an impulse buy, but I'm pretty sure it won't be one that I'll regret.
I had seen something earlier in the day about the launch of Hugh Howey's new book, and the opportunity to pre-order signed copies. Dust, the third installation in the Silo saga, is scheduled to come out August 17. I was planning to buy it, but figured I'd wait and buy it in ebook form. Unfortunately it looked like it wasn't going to be available for Nook right away, so I would have to wait even longer. That would be fine, since I haven't gotten around to reading Shift (the second part of the Silo series) yet (it's next on my to-read list).
On impulse, I clicked on a link Howey posted on Facebook about the autographed copies. "I'll just see how much they cost," I said. When I found that, with shipping, I could get a signed copy for under $25, I couldn't resist. I think it will be worth a lot more than that someday.
I watched some of the live feed of Howey signing his books and packing them up with the help of his mom last night. I was probably much more amused by this than I should have been, but I love that Hugh Howey is the type of guy who does this. He seems really down to earth, like one of us.
In my opinion, Hugh Howey is a rising star. When I read Wool I, I was blown away. It had the feeling of an old Twilight Zone episode. Who was this guy, and why hadn't I heard of him before? A lot of people know who he is now, but I find there are still a lot who don't. Not to mention the people who, when I say that Wool is Sci-Fi, wrinkle their noses and proclaim their dislike for the genre. Look, I get it. I really do. I used to be one of you. But I've started to open my eyes a little bit and I realized that I do, indeed, like Sci-Fi/Fantasy. Not all of it, but there's some really good stuff out there. I'm particularly fond of books that take our normal world and throw in something weird.
I also admire Howey because he did this all on his own. Wool was first sold as a self-published ebook. Self publishing often gets a bad rap. And yes, I agree that there is crap out there, but I think there's a lot of crap that gets published traditionally, too. (Each person's definition of "crap" is, of course, subjective.) I think a lot of people bash self publishing because it's changing the publishing industry. This is an industry that let Hugh Howey slip through the cracks by not publishing him.
Although I support self publishing, as a writer it is difficult to change my mindset and accept self publishing as a good choice for myself. A big part of it is the stigma. I see a lot of comments online from people about how they read some awful self-published work and how they'll never make that mistake again. It's not logical if you think about it. Would you ever say you read a book published by Random House that wasn't any good and you'd never make that mistake again? I highly doubt it. So, even though I realize there are many benefits to self publishing, I haven't been brave enough to take the leap for myself.
So, if you haven't read Wool yet, do it. If it's not in your comfort zone, take a step outside and give this one a chance.

It's been a very long time since I've posted here. I'd like to try to revive this blog, and focus on book reviews and my own writing.
This year I've read 36 books so far, which is equal to what I read all of last year! I started out with a modest goal of 25 books, but achieved that very easily and upped my goal to 50. I should meet that easily as well. I like having a goal to keep me reading, but I do find that I sometimes get impatient when a book takes too long to read.
Two books on my list have received five stars this year: A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, and I, Zombie, by Hugh Howey.
I love Hemingway. I make a point to read something by him every year around Memorial Day. There is just something about Hemingway that makes me want to read his work in the springtime. A Moveable Feast is about the time Hemingway spent living as an expatriate in Paris with his wife Hadley and their young son. His circle of friends there is impressive, from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Gertrude Stein. None of us will ever really know what it was like to be there, but A Moveable Feast does an amazing job of making you feel like you are. I felt a strong emotional connection, so strong that I found myself weeping over F. Scott Fitzerald and his wife, Zelda. As a writer, I also relished much of what Hemingway says about the process in this book. I felt like I was getting advice from a master. That's priceless. A Moveable Feast has earned its way on my list of favorite books of all time.
My other favorite book of the year so far is Hugh Howey's I, Zombie. I know all the buzz this year is about Wool, and I loved that, too, but in my opinion I, Zombie is even better. Howey puts a new spin on the old zombie tale, by taking us inside their heads. Howey's zombies retain all their thoughts and memories, which makes them especially terrifying. Some of the characters in this book still haunt me. Read it and you'll see what I mean.
My most recent read was Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. I'm fairly new to YA, having only started reading it a couple of years ago when The Hunger Games was all the rage. I've read some very disappointing ones that had a lot of hype surrounding them (looking at you, Fifth Wave), but Before I Fall was excellent. It's by far the best YA book I've ever read. It follows Samantha Kingston, who relives the same day over and over again following an accident. I had a few minor quibbles with the plot: I had a hard time believing that a snobby teenager could come that far in a few days, but overall it is very well done. I couldn't put it down.
I'm currently reading Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I think it was a mistake to read this and Before I Fall at the same time. Compared to Before I Fall, Anna and the French Kiss seems overly fluffy and insignificant. I have about 100 pages to go and I'm getting tired of the, "OMG, I loooooove him" storyline. That's really about all the substance there is to this book, unfortunately.
I'm also reading Sutton by J.R. Moehringer for my book club. It's about a bank robber who is released from prison after many years. I'm not very far into it yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes.

It's been a long time

It's been a long time since I've written anything here. I kind of figured no one was reading anyway. But it is fun to look back on my old posts so maybe I should start up again?
My Jane is no longer a baby - she is a big girl! She is walking, forward and backward, running, talking a lot, eating big people food, and recently kicked her bottle habit. We celebrated her first birthday in October and now have our sights set toward her second Christmas. It's hard to believe that one year ago we had a little two-and-a-half-month-old Janie to bring to our Christmas celebrations. She has changed so much but is soooo much fun! She's a quirky little character and we get a kick out of her every day. Words she can say now include "puppy, kitty, mom, dad, whoa/wow, book, bubble, and apple. She took her first steps on Sept. 17 but did not start walking full-time until she was almost 13 months old. At her one-year checkup she weighed just over 22 pounds and was 30.5 inches tall. We're very much looking forward to the weeks ahead and celebrating Christmas with her. I love how every day is a new adventure for her. She will be so surprised and excited, and it makes me excited to be part of that.

First trip to the Cabin

Here in Minnesota, people vacation in a place called "up north" at "the cabin" by "the lake." If you visit northern Minnesota, this begins to make sense to you. There is an abundance of lakes, and therefore an abundance of cabins. It's where Minnesotans go for a little R&R.
I've been fortunate to have a cabin in my life since I was little. It was first my grandparents', then my dad's and my aunt & uncle's, and now my dad's and my sister and brother-in-law's. They are kind enough to continue to let us go there, and we love it. There's nothing I enjoy more than a few quiet days at the cabin.
It was exciting to bring Jane to the cabin for the first time. Of course, she's too young to remember anything or to really get that magical cabin feeling, but I was ecstatic to share the source of so many magical childhood memories with her.
While there, Jane had her first boat ride (which she disliked because of the life jacket we made her wear), first swim in Lake Marion, and first trip to Zorbaz (our favorite pizza place). I can imagine that in a few years, she'll be spending hours playing in the sand or floating on an inner tube in the lake, just like her mom did. I can almost feel that cozy, floaty, post-swimming sensation now.

She's growing so fast!

Some months I am a little slow to update Jane's baby book. I should have done it a couple of weeks ago but I just got around to it this weekend. Early on, it seems like there wasn't a whole lot of change from month to month. These past couple of months were big ones. Jane has learned to crawl, pull up to standing and cruise along furniture, has begun to sample more solids—the real thing!, learned to wave "bye-bye," knows "so big" and "patty cake" (even if she is selective in who she shows these tricks to—she does what she wants when she wants!). She has also gotten five teeth, two on the bottom and three on top. She likes to dance. She has a favorite blanket she sleeps with every night. She's a beautiful, smart, stubborn little custard. We are amazed every day at how she has grown and changed.

This weekend I made something new for her room: a bow board. I picked out fabric and ribbon last week. It was a really simple project. The fabric just needed to be cut to size, stretched, and stapled onto a canvas frame. Then I started with the ribbon. The bow board can be either vertical or horizontal but we chose horizontal. I alternated two kinds of ribbon, measuring between them so they are the same (or close; I'm not great at these things), once again stapling them to the back. I had a third color of ribbon which I wove horizontally along the top through the vertical ribbons. That was it. I had a daisy hair clip that I used in one corner of the top. Then I attached Jane's hair bows and it was done! It's a really fun project and didn't take much time at all. We used fabric and ribbon that coordinates with the colors in her room and it really adds a lot, I think. It also will keep her bows in one spot so that we are not constantly losing them. Not that I spent a lot of money on any of them, but I still hate to lose them and have them all over the house. This way they are all in one place and look cute besides!