Book Reviews: First 5 Books of 2017

So my resolution to review the books I read has not gone all that well thus far this year, lol. I thought I'd do a little catch up here with a few reviews. If you're not into this type of post, don't worry - the sewing and knitting will continue shortly :)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is an interesting look into the mind of a boy with autism. The story is told completely from Christopher's point of view, a young English boy who lives with his dad because his mother couldn't handle their family dynamic and left. Christopher's father told Christopher his mother wasn't coming back, and allowed a lie to grow into Christopher believing his mother is dead. His world is turned upside down when he discovers letters from his very alive mother hidden in his father's room, which sparks an adventure where he runs away to live with her.

The story is interesting even just for the way it is written. Christopher is a mathematical genius, but he can't handle interacting with people. He also hates certain colors and can't process information like those around him. I've heard some say this book was contrived to deliberately be popular, and I've heard others say it really is accurate to how an autistic person operates. Personally I enjoyed the story and Christopher's adventure through his eyes. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Joy On Demand is written by Chade-Meng Tan, a Google programmer who has become an advocate for Buddhist teachings in a secular environment. This book teaches the ins and outs of basic meditation practice without all the Buddhist religion you usually have along with this info. While I picked up many good tips from Chade-Meng, one of my favorites is to lift your mood by simply focusing on someone else and inwardly hoping they have a good day, or that things are going well in their life. Just that quick little altruistic thought can brighten your spirits so much, because it pulls you out of your own petty problems and helps you focus on someone else with no thought of personal gain. That's just one little tidbit in an overall wonderfully explained book. Even if you are completely new to meditation, this book will help you being and get better control of yourself. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

You Are A Badass by Jen Sincero was one of those "the right book at the right time" situations for me. This book worked on me exactly as it is designed - to be a kick in the ass to finally do something about the things you don't like in your life. Jen is a "life coach", which has always sounded ridiculous to me, but she has some very valid points and certainly seems to know what to say to cut through your crap and get you to really see your life for what it is. I listened to the audiobook of this, so I had the added fun of having the author read me the book, which made this more like a sarcastic therapy session with great stories and examples. This book got me to try running (!) - yes, ME! That's huge. That's a manifestation of how well this book works if you are tired of being unhappy and ready to change. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - What can a person really say to describe what makes this book so great? I don't know if I should even try. I will say that this book confirms my love of Tolstoy. He always manages to use believable comparisons of very realistic characters to bring you around to contemplating the meaning of life. I completely understand why this book is at the top of books you must read in your lifetime. It's a huge undertaking to get through, but very much worth it, and the story is so interesting that I never felt bored. Personally I love that in spite of all the terrible things the characters endured, they all look back and say how they wouldn't change anything because it made them who they are now. We all have tragedies in our lives, whether large or small, and it is our attitude about the experience that shapes our future lives and happiness. I definitely agree with the sentiment of Natasha and Pierre - I am grateful for the things I have lived through because I can better enjoy and appreciate the life I have now. In my opinion this book is worth reading just to have that fully sink in. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides is the story of the sad suicides of an entire family of girls in the 1970s. The story is told as an investigative project long after the event done by some neighbor boys who had a strange obsession with the girls. The story leaves you to contemplate what causes suicide to become an option for the very young, but doesn't offer up an answer. The book just lays out the events leading up to the tragedy as well as the aftermath for those left behind. The book is depressing, there's no doubt, but it is an interesting idea to contemplate. I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Book Review: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Anna Karenina is one of those classic stories that you would think really needs no introduction - at least that's what I thought before I read it. I've seen 2 different versions of the film of this book, the one with Vivien Leigh and the ones with Keira Knightley, and neither of them was a very good representation of the actual story.

Anna Karenin is the wife of a well known political figure in St. Petersburg, Russia. She leads a normal life for a woman of her position in the late 1800s, and she has an 8 year old son. One day when visiting her brother in Moscow, her life changes. She was in Moscow to convince her sister-in-law not to divorce her two-timing husband when she meets the man her sister-in-law's younger sister is in love with, Count Vronsky. Vronsky and Anna have an immediate and unexplainable attraction that they can never shake. They begin an affair in spite of Anna's marriage. Anna feels extremely guilty for what she's done, but can't separate herself from Vronsky. After much turmoil, the affair eventually causes Anna to lose her place in society and drives her into such a deep depression that she throws herself in front of an oncoming train.

That is the story that most people think of when anyone mentions Anna Karenina - inexplicable deep love and personal torment. This story is of course what the book is named for, but not what I would identify as the main point. The story is not just about Anna and Vronsky (gasp!) - the story is sort of split in two and shared between time to describe Anna's life as well as Constantine Levin, the man who is in love with Anna's' sister-in-law's younger sister, Kitty. Kitty is head over heels for Vronsky and all is going well until Anna shows up and unintentionally steals him away from her. Kitty is devastated. She had just refused an offer of marriage from Levin in hopes that Vronsky will ask her only to have him toss her to the side like nothing. Vronsky never feels remorse for this. He's a very self-centered man who is only out to please himself. Kitty and Levin then break for a while, understandably. Levin becomes very deep in work at his farm (in spite of his social status, he enjoys the manual labor of farming), and just goes on with life - but he never really forgets Kitty. Kitty grows up quite a bit, and quite a while later (I believe it's over a year later), she and Levin meet again and become engaged and get married.

It is safe to say that the story of Levin is to serve as a contrast to the story of Anna. If Anna's life is about throwing aside everything in the name of love, Levin's' story is more along the lines of good things come to those who wait. Both stories have one chief concern: the pursuit of happiness. Levin is a very good (and very stereotypically Russian) man, and he not only loves Kitty deeply, but he also devotes a good deal of his life to being a better person. He is on the quest for the meaning of life, and while he doesn't really learn "the meaning", he realizes a great deal about man's relation to God and why it's important. Levin is a very level headed and realistic person, while Anna is wrapped up in being what she believes Vronsky wants her to be, which aids her paranoia that he will up and leave her. She is so codependent it's crazy. She is obsessed with being attractive at all times, spends time reading books on subjects she knows Vronsky is interested in, and can't stand to be separated from Vronsky even for an evening. This mental state would drive anyone nuts, and eventually Anna decides that Vronsky's life would be greatly improved if she wasn't in it, so she kills herself. Levin, on the other hand, achieves healthy and sustainable happiness. He works for what he has and appreciates it, never taking any of it for granted and always striving to achieve more.

I realize this is a very small snippet of what the story actually conveys - it was an incredibly long book. I really enjoyed the entire story though. Not only is it a story about love and happiness, it's also a great look into Russian history in the time that lead to the crazy events that would change Russia forever. It's very interesting to get into the minds of those who lived in that time, and it really does make the Russian revolution in 1912 make much more sense. This was an excellently written book as well - I was quickly struck with how modern the writing style is in spite of it publication date. I can completely understand why this book has been cherished for its entire existence and it is really worth adding to your list. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

WIP Wednesday

 Well, this week has held quite a bit of knitting :) Clue #5 for the Fuzzy Mitten Mystery Knit-Along came out on Friday and it looks like this:

This is my kangaroo's body. I got it knitted, but I have yet to sew it together. Just for a visual, here it is with the other pieces:

Pretty cute, huh? I'm excited about the pocket :) I've also finally found and ordered mini buttons for the cardigan. They are called micro mini beads and I got them from Joann's (they had $1 shipping yesterday!) - Joann's was literally half the price of even Amazon, I was quite surprised. I got a few different color packs so I can decide once they arrive.

I started a last minute birthday gift for my brother last week too. I borrowed Knit Your Own Zombie  from the library just to give it a look through. When I showed my mom, she started talking about how much my brother would love something like this, and I knew she was right. His birthday is April 6th and he will be 16 - what 16 year old doesn't need an interactive zombie doll?! lol So, I raided my stash for the perfect colors and got to work knitting.

I have all the body parts and pieces knitted - now I just have to start sewing and embroidering - yikes! This just goes to show that I love my little bro - look at all those seams! The pieces are all assembled like if you were folding a box out of paper - there are tabs that wrap over the edges and miter at the corners to for a box. The limbs then have red sleeves that will poke through holes in the "skin" layer to look bloody. I went with green for the skin to be more decomposed looking, lol.

I seriously love all the holes. It made for a ton more work, but the fact that you can see bloody wounds makes it all worthwhile.

I also combined the Classic Zombie pattern with part of the Zombie Rockstar pattern to include a removable brain. This is the head pieces and the "brain pocket" along with my partially finished brain. How cool is that? You can have the brain pop out! Or you can have a rat crawling out of its head!

And here is the stomach set up - the purple is the "stomach pocket" - I made it purple to add to the rotten effect. I made the stomach and intestines out of burgundy yarn to differentiate between the "blood" and the "organs". I'm going for authenticity here, lol.

Another awesome aspect of this project is that the head and torso are attached with velcro - so you can remove the head or rip the body in half! To add to the gross-factor, I hunted down some red velcro, lol. The pattern also has you use bugle beads for the toe and finger nails, so I got black ones, lol. One of my favorite parts of the pattern is its eye ball - the original uses a glass eye bead and it's attached with red embroidery floss - so it looks like the eye has popped out and is barely hanging on! I searched all over locally to find the eye beads, but even Joann's didn't have anything close. So, I turned to Amazon. I have some beads on order, but I don't think they will arrive before Briggs' birthday - so I'll just have to improvise a severed sinew in the meantime. Anyway, as you can see I have great plans for this project. To be honest, it's much more involved then I anticipated when I began. Also the directions are really not that great. Mostly I just have to look at the picture and break down the best order to attach everything myself. I'd better get cracking though since his birthday is on Sunday! Lots of work...

I finally had the crochet urge again this week - the zombie proved to be more thinking than I wanted to do, so I started a nice brainless crochet project. This will be the Turtle Lunch Tote from Amigurumi On The Go by Ana Paula Rimoli. I've had this book almost a year an still hadn't made anything from it! A sin, I know. They are all so cute! My nephew has reached the age where he really likes putting things in bags and then unloading everything, so I figure this would be a useful gift for him.

Just to warn anyone else who is making any projects from this book - you have to stitch through both loops. I've gotten used to stitching through the back loop only like I do all my animals, so I made the whole base that way ... only to get to the part where it changes from the base to the sides and read "crochet through the back loop only". This is why we read patterns through before beginning, folks. The switching from regular stitching to back loop only gives the turn definition and without this the base was just a big dome. I had to pull out the entire thing and start again. Live and learn.

I also just started reading Anna Karenina today and I'm already impressed with the writing style. I've read lots of other "classic" novels before, but they always have a tone that is typical of their time. Not so with Anna Karenina. It's written just like any modern book I've read. I really like it thus far :)

So that's what's going on with me this week :) I'd better get to stitching! Head over to Tami's Amis' Blog to see what others are working on.