2017

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

Life:

Ugh. Can I get a do-over for last week? I spent almost all week sitting around my house or lying in bed, with a cough/cold/flu that just refuses to go away. I never thought I’d say this, but I’d rather be back at work!

What did I read last week?

Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg: I absolutely loved this YA novel, which is the sequel to another book I loved, Openly Straight. Check out my review of Honestly Ben, here.

Mortal Fire by Elizabeth Knox: I liked but didn’t love this story of family, love, magic, and secrets — disappointing, but I adored this author’s Dreamhunter Duet, and had hoped to feel the same about this one.

Final Girls by Mira Grant: This new novella is everything you’d expect from Mira Grant — a fast-paced, hold-your-breath, scary, compelling blend of horror story nightmares and modern-technology-run-amok disasters. A terrific read.

West With the Night by Beryl Markham: I’ve had this book on my shelf for YEARS… and I can finally say I’ve read it! Sometimes, it takes a commitment — like my book group discussion coming up this week — to force me into reading something that I’ve had pending for so long. A fascinating memoir! Unfortunately, my foggy head left me perhaps not in the best frame of mind to fully appreciate it, but I enjoyed it anyway.

Pop culture goodness:

Anyone else watching 13 Reasons Why on Netflix? I’ve only watched the first two episodes so far, but it’s good! I read the book years ago, but the details have really faded for me, so most of the plot of the show feels fresh and surprising. I hope the rest of the episodes are just as powerful.

Fresh Catch:

I treated myself to books 4 and 5 in the incredible Expanse sci-fi series:

I still need to start #3, but hey, it doesn’t hurt to plan ahead!

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

I’m bouncing back and forth between two very different books at the moment:

The Book of Etta by Meg Elison: A follow-up to the powerful post-apocalyptic The Book of the Unnamed Midwife (review).
Miniatures by John Scalzi: A collection of short fiction by one of my super-favorite sci-fi writers.

Now playing via audiobook:

Hamilton! I’m continuing to feed my obsession by listening to the audiobook of Ron Chernow’s definitive biography of Alexander Hamilton. The audiobook is about 36 hours, so… this is going to take a while.

Ongoing reads:

My book group is reading and discussing Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon — 2 chapters per week — with an end date coming up in June.

Outlander Book Club’s group read of One Hundred Years of Solitude continues — although I’m not sure how long I’m going to last. I read about 50% of this book 20 years ago, and always swore I’d go back to it. Well, now I’m at about 50% again, and I’m just not having fun. Trying to stick it out…

So many books, so little time…

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13Apr2017

TV Reaction: An outing on Survivor

Posted in Pop Culture by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Pardon me while I amble away from books (shocking!) for a moment while I ponder one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever seen on TV.

If you follow TV news at all, then you’ve probably seen the headlines all over social media last night and this morning. In a nutshell, on last night’s episode of Survivor, one contestant outed another as transgender at tribal council, in a desperate and despicable attempt to show to their tribe mates how “deceptive” the other player was.

It’s been over 12 hours since I watched the episode and I still can’t stop thinking about it. This was truly stunning TV.

The stupidity of Jeff Varner, and his lame attempt to link the other contestant’s personal history to somehow being an untrustworthy alliance member, is astonishing. And I think he realized it within minutes of it all coming out of his mouth — but again, perhaps he was simply unprepared for the outrage he’d stirred up and was operating in CYA mode.

On the positive side, it was uplifting and gratifying to see the other players’ uniformly harsh reaction to Varner. Zeke, who was outed, was absolutely supported, and all the others basically tore Varner apart. Host Jeff Probst did a great job of letting the drama play out, giving Zeke time to compose himself, and refusing to let Varner off the hook by accepting his ridiculous excuse of being desperate to stay in the game.

In the end, in what really seemed like an unprecedented situation, Varner was shown the door and kicked out without the usual ritual of a vote. As Probst noted, a vote was unnecessary. They all wanted Varner gone.

There are some astute and well-written pieces out there already about what happened and what it meant. I have nothing but admiration for Zeke, who managed to show grace toward Varner, who didn’t deserve Zeke’s kindness.

It should be noted that this round of Survivor was filmed last summer, so that all involved had time to prepare for last night’s episode. Zeke wrote a thoughtful and moving piece about his life and his determination to compete on Survivor, and I recommend checking it out, here.

I do wonder, though, why the producers didn’t either a) cut the outing from the episode or b) explain why it was included. I can envision a few different scenarios. Did this tribal have a huge impact on game play going forward? I’d imagine that Zeke’s teammates’ loyalty and support of him was magnified by Varner’s behavior, and might be an important part of the storytelling going forward. If future episodes have the outing and the impact on Zeke as a storyline, then the tribal is highly relevant. Likewise, if Zeke makes the finals (as I’m now really hoping he does), surely the events from last night will be a big piece of his Survivor story — the narrative that finalists pitch to the jury in a bid for the $1 million prize. Further, Zeke and the producers may have discussed the tribal together and reached an agreement, with Zeke’s full cooperation, in terms of what they chose to air.

I’m not pointing fingers at the producers at this point, but I do feel they do their viewers a disservice by simply airing the episode without including any explanation of why those chose to do so and whether Zeke had a say in the decision. Yes, Varner is the one who outed Zeke — but the Survivor production team decided to put it on the air. I’d just like to know why, and I hope with all my heart that Zeke will confirm that he was a part of the decision-making process and gave it his blessing.

In any case, that was a shocking moment, unlike anything I’d seen previously on TV. For my household, it was also a great catalyst for discussion. I watch Survivor each week with my 14-year-old son, and we have fun speculating on strategy, mocking ridiculousness, and cheering for our favorites. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that an episode of a reality competition show would spark a discussion of transgender rights and identity, but it did. The kiddo and I talked about Zeke, what his life must have been like, his courage, and why the outing was such a travesty and betrayal. And the kiddo really gets it, which was gratifying for me to see.

As the day progresses and I read more pieces about this Survivor episode and the fallout, it does seem as though Zeke was deeply involved in the process of bringing this episode to the air, with the Survivor production giving him support and agency in determining how his story was told. I certainly hope that’s the case, and I applaud Survivor overall for its sensitivity to key social issues and flashpoints. (I can’t help but wish that this had been made clearer during the episode itself — even via a text screen at the end — rather than leaving viewers hanging until more statements dribbled out.)

More than anything, I’m filled with awe and admiration for Zeke’s humanity and decency in a moment of shock and betrayal, and for his bravery in sharing his feelings over a matter he had the right to choose to keep private. Prior to watching yesterday’s episode, I was kind of “meh” about Zeke — he’s a fun player to watch, but I wasn’t necessarily rooting for him to win. But now? Team Zeke, all the way! And I suspect I’m far from alone.

For more on the events on yesterday’s Survivor, here are a few thoughtful pieces:

New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/opinion/outed-as-transgender-on-survivor-and-in-real-life.html
New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/arts/television/survivor-contestant-transgender.html?_r=0
Vulture: http://www.vulture.com/2017/04/cbs-defends-airing-survivor-trans-outing-episode-zeke-smith.html
E Online: http://www.eonline.com/news/843440/survivor-s-handling-of-zeke-smith-s-outing-proves-it-just-might-be-the-most-lowkey-progressive-reality-tv-series-around

12Apr2017

Thursday Quotables: The (unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah

Posted in Thursday Quotables by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

The (unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah by Moshe Rosenberg
(published 2017)

I admit, this is an unusual choice for a Thursday Quotables post! I bought a copy of the Hogwarts Haggadah before Passover this year, and while my family didn’t use it during our Seder, we did think it was quite cute and entertaining. Here are a few choice bits:

From a section called Destroying or Defanging the Wicked?:

Ron could not understand why Harry, after rescuing the diadem of Ravenclaw and escaping the trap set by Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, would risk his life to go back and rescue Draco from the fiendfyre let loose by Crabbe in the Room of Requirement. But Harry, like Dumbledore the year before, saw more than a Death Eater-in-Training in Draco Malfoy. He believed that there was good in Malfoy that was worth saving, if only one could get past the threatening exterior.

The same attitude characterizes the treatment of the Wicked Son by some commentators on the Haggadah… [some technical numerology stuff goes here]… Take away the threatening but superficial fangs of the Wicked Son and you will see his true righteous potential beneath them.

Slavery Foretold – Prophecy and Choice:

At the end of Book Five, when he finally reveals to Harry the existence of the prophecy that Voldemort sought, Dumbledore makes clear to Harry that he need not fight Voldemort simply because the prophecy declared that “Neither can live while the other survives.” Harry still had a choice and, to him, that made all the difference. The very same point is made by Biblical commentators who ask why Pharaoh deserved to be punished if his enslavement of the Hebrews was foretold to Abraham. The Rambam (Maimonides) replies that Pharaoh was not bound to fulfill the prophecy, God could see to its fulfillment one way or another. Pharaoh had total freedom in choosing his path.

Bitterness: Where Do You Put It?:

Harry had much bitterness in his life. Deprived of his parents as a young child, his life at the Dursleys was misery. At Hogwarts, he was the target of both students and teachers through no fault of his own. And, of course, he was in constant life-threatening peril from the man who had killed his parents. If anyone had the right to feel embittered, it was Harry. And yet he showed that you can experience bitterness without becoming embittered. You can take the lessons of your suffering and use them to appreciate your blessings and spare others suffering. Voldemort and Snape would have done well to learn this lesson from Harry.

This could be a fun and cute way to share Passover with the young’uns, especially (obviously) if they’re HP fans.

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
Add your Thursday Quotables post link in the comments section below… and I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week too.
Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

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12Apr2017

Book Review: Honestly Ben by Bill Konigsberg

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Ben Carver is back to normal. He’s getting all As in his classes at the Natick School. He was just elected captain of the baseball team. He’s even won a big scholarship for college, if he can keep up his grades. All that foolishness with Rafe Goldberg last semester is over now, and he just needs to be a Carver, work hard, and stay focused.

Except…

There’s Hannah, a gorgeous girl who attracts him and distracts him. There’s his mother, whose quiet unhappiness he’s noticing for the first time. School is harder, the pressure higher, the scholarship almost slipping away. And there’s Rafe, funny, kind, dating someone else…and maybe the real normal that Ben needs.

If you’ve read my blog at all in the last couple of years, then you’ve probably seen me rave about Openly Straight (review), Bill Konigsberg’s amazing, touching, funny, sweet story of a gay teen trying to recreate his life on his own terms. In Openly Straight, we see the world through the eyes of Rafe, as he enters private school determined to shed his previous life as THE gay kid — completely out, giving talks, mother head of PFLAG, etc — and just see what it feels like to be one of the crowd. However, things get complicated when Rafe falls in love with his best friend Ben, who is startled to discover his own feelings for Rafe. In a nutshell, Ben doesn’t know Rafe is gay, so he believes that they’re exploring new ideas and options and feelings together, and feels completely betrayed when he learns what Rafe has been hiding from him. Seriously, this book made me laugh and broke my heart and was just so powerful!

But then we were left hanging… what happened next?

Well, thank you, thank you, thank you to the author for creating this beautiful sequel! Honestly Ben picks up just a few weeks after the events of Openly Straight. In Honestly Ben, Ben himself is the narrator, and we start to see more deeply into Ben’s life and world, and to understand what drives him and what scares him.

Ben grew up on a farm in New Hampshire, where working hard and not embarrassing the family are the values drilled into Ben and his brother from a young age. And when Ben starts to shine as a student, he’s not praised, but warned not to get a big head. For all that, Ben does succeed, and lands a scholarship to Natick, the poor boy among rich peers, striving to fit in and to do well enough to earn a scholarship to college. Ben keeps his head down, and tries to be what everyone wants him to be — a decent guy, a good baseball player, a top student — fitting in, but not one to call attention to himself.

Ben’s feelings for Rafe changed everything he understood about himself. In Honestly Ben, he digs deeper. Is he gay? The label doesn’t seem to fit. Bi? He doesn’t think so. He’s never been attracted to boys before, and his fantasies are generally about girls. Is he, as he puts it, just “gay-for-Rafe”? After the initial anger wears off, Ben and Rafe cautiously inch forward with their friendship. Ben is thrilled to reconnect with Rafe, but it’s a struggle for him to understand what this means. At the same time, he’s also facing pressure academically that threatens his scholarship, and he struggles with learning the truth about a former student whom the school idolizes — for all the wrong reasons, as Ben discovers.

The book’s exploration of labels is deftly handled. One of the Natick boys comes out as gender fluid, which takes much courage on his part, as well as a lot of explaining — but he’s determined to start living his authentic life. As Ben tries to understand himself in the context of a relationship with Rafe, even well-meaners try to push him into claiming an identity he’s not comfortable with. Why does he need to put a label on what he is? He knows who he loves — why isn’t that sufficient?

Ben’s eyes are finally opened by a girl he briefly dates, who gets him to start to understand what he loses by hiding behind a front that doesn’t reveal the real him:

I’ve been doing some reading. This woman talks about vulnerability, and she says that it’s basically the key to everything. Vulnerability is allowing people to see you exactly as you are, which is really hard, because when you’re vulnerable you can get hurt. Most people armor up with bravado or something, but those people are missing out, because without allowing yourself to be vulnerable, it’s tough to have, like, any emotional experience at all.

The characters are just as wonderful as in the previous book. It’s touching to see Ben’s life through his own eyes and to understand the constant pressure he feels to be what he isn’t. The writing is outstanding, conveying both the challenges and the joys of Ben’s ongoing experiences and really capturing the sense of wonder that comes with sex in the context of love.

Obviously, I highly recommend this book! It’s a wonderful look at the inner lives of teens, and for those who read Openly Straight (which, really, you must do), it’s a terrific reunion with characters we absolutely love and care about. Check it out!

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The details:

Title: Honestly Ben
Author: Bill Konigsberg
Publisher: Arthur A. Levine
Publication date: March 28, 2017
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Library

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11Apr2017

Shelf Control #77: Pioneer Girl

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to Shelf Control — an original feature created and hosted by Bookshelf Fantasies.

Shelf Control is a weekly celebration of the unread books on our shelves. Pick a book you own but haven’t read, write a post about it (suggestions: include what it’s about, why you want to read it, and when you got it), and link up! Fore more info on what Shelf Control is all about, check out my introductory post, here.

Want to join in? Shelf Control posts go up every Wednesday. See the guidelines at the bottom of the post, and jump on board!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: Pioneer Girl
Author: Bich Minh Nguyen
Published: 2014
Length: 296 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

Jobless with a PhD, Lee Lien returns home to her Chicago suburb from grad school, only to find herself contending with issues she’s evaded since college. But when her brother disappears, he leaves behind an object from their mother’s Vietnam past that stirs up a forgotten childhood dream: a gold-leaf brooch, abandoned by an American reporter in Saigon back in 1965, that might be an heirloom belonging to Laura Ingalls Wilder. As Lee explores the tenuous facts of this connection, she unearths more than expected—a trail of clues and enticements that lead her from the dusty stacks of library archives to hilarious prairie life reenactments and ultimately to San Francisco, where her findings will transform strangers’ lives as well as her own.

A dazzling literary mystery about the true origins of a time-tested classic, Pioneer Girl is also the deeply moving tale of a second-generation Vietnamese daughter, the parents she struggles to honor, the missing brother she is expected to bring home—even as her discoveries yield dramatic insights that will free her to live her own life to its full potential.

How I got it:

I bought it online from a used book site.

When I got it:

Over a year ago.

Why I want to read it:

I think it sounds terrific! The contemporary storyline — with its connection to both Vietnam and Laura Ingalls Wilder — sounds totally appealing. As a fan of all things Little House, I’m really looking forward to finding out how the different elements fit together.

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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link in the comments!
If you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and…

Have fun!

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10Apr2017

The Monday Check-In ~ 4/10/2017

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Life:

Tonight is Passover! It’s actually one of my very favorite holidays — and I’m super excited that we’re doing our own Seder at home this year.

What did I read last week?

Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey: I absolutely LOVE this series so far! Caliban’s War is the 2nd book in the Expanse series (now an awesome TV series on Syfy), and I’m just blown away by how intense the storyline is while also keeping the characters relatable and exciting. Can’t wait to start #3 — although I’m going to make myself read a few other things before diving back in.

We Are Okay by Nina LaCour: A sad, powerful young adult novel about family, love, and friends. Excellent use of San Francisco (and especially Ocean Beach) as a setting!

I also read one novella:

Openly, Honestly by Bill Konigsberg: A touching, funny little novella that takes place between the events of the excellent YA/LGBT-themed novel Openly Straight (review) and the new follow-up novel, Honestly Ben. (See below…)

Fresh Catch:

Fun stuff this week:

It’s the newest volume of Saga, and an (unofficial) Hogwarts Haggadah! I don’t think my family will actually be using the Hogwarts Haggadah at our Seder, but it’s definitely fun to look at.

Also, Mira Grant’s newest novella was released this week, and I’m so excited!!!

What will I be reading during the coming week?