Bout of Books 21 (January 8-14)

via GIPHY

BOUT OF BOOKS 21

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins at 12:01 am on Monday, January 8 and runs through Sunday, January 14 in your time zone. Participation is low pressure and challenges and giveaways are completely optional. Visit the Bout of Books blog for official info and updates.

Totally wingin' it on this one. Let's see how it goes!

Starting by switching between three books because each (for different reasons) is hard to handle all at once.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff

Monday, January 8
Introduce yourself #insixwords
Lavender farmer - loves books, cats, popcorn.

Tuesday, January 9
Share your 2018 reading goals #2018readinggoals
Read 200 books
Buy and read mostly books by women and POC authors

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

★★★★⭑
Mainly dismissed when it was published in 1937, the book was rediscovered in the 1970s when Alice Walker wrote about her quest to find, and put a marker on, Hurston’s unmarked grave.

“Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.”

There isn’t a whole lot of action, except for the last few chapters, as the story is focused on Janie’s inner life, on her quest for personal growth, on finding her own voice. 

Raised by Nanny, who wants to see her future safe and secure before she dies, Janie is hustled into marriage to a wealthy old man. She tries to make the marriage work, but feels nothing for her husband. Before long, a stylish man passes through town and catches her attention. He’s got big dreams and wants her to run away with him. Without bothering to divorce her first husband, she does. 

“The morning road air was like a new dress. That made her feel the apron tied around her waist. She untied it and flung it on a low bush beside the road and walked on, picking flowers and making a bouquet.” 

Jody insists on putting Janie on a pedestal, keeping her separate and protected from anyone but him. His jealousy and need to control her chafes at Janie. She wants to experience life, not sit in a glass display case, admired but unheard. 

“All dis bowin’ down, all dis obedience under yo’ voice—dat ain’t whut Ah rushed off down de road tuh find out about you.”

Finally, Janie finds a life partner in her third husband, Tea Cake. She tells her friend, Pheoby, “Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is a love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine.”

Though Janie never gets her happily-ever-after ending, her journey brings her full circle, where she finds herself.

Read it slowly. This is one to savor.

Wednesday, January 10
#BookSpineRainbow
My rainbow consists of books by women. Some I've read and loved; some I hope to read and love this year.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood

★★★★★

This is my favorite of Atwood's novels.  Set in a dystopian society where right wing religious fanatics have taken over the government, it provides a chilling reminder about why it is so necessary to separate church and state.  

In a time when fertility rates have dramatically fallen, young women who have previously had children are prized as breeders, but have absolutely no rights.  The story is told by Offred, a woman who has been separated from her husband and young daughter and given to a childless married couple.  The monthly babymaking ceremony is absolutely revolting, made even worse by the bible reading that accompanies a glorified rape.

The most frightening aspect of this novel is how easy it was for fundamentalists to take over the country.

Every time I reread this, Atwood’s chilling vision seems closer to current reality. 

“Better never means better for everyone. It always means worse, for some.”

Friday, January 12

The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See

★★★★⭑

4.5 stars. Gorgeous writing and comprehensive research. I learned quite a bit about the tea industry. 

Li-Yan is a member of the Akha, one of many Chinese minority tribes. Her tiny village is remote and the people eke out a living by picking tea leaves. A stranger arrives from the modern world, in search of the rare Pu’er tea made by her mother from the leaves of an ancient tree that has been cared for by the women of her family for generations. 

She falls in love with a boy of whom her parents do not approve and ends up pregnant and unmarried. According to the tribe’s traditions, her child should be killed immediately after birth. Instead, Li-Yan gives birth to a daughter in the secret grove. She leaves the baby in a cardboard box in front of an orphanage, a tea cake made from the leaves of the ancient mother tree tucked into the swaddling. 

By the time she returns to the orphanage, the baby (renamed Haley) has been adopted and sent to California with her new family. 

Tea plays a foundational role in the lives of both mother and daughter as they wonder about each other and search for a reconnection that may never come.

Saturday, January 13
Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam #1) by Margaret Atwood

★★★★

MaddAddam trilogy, book one. 

In a world destroyed by bioengineering and corporate greed gone mad, Snowman appears to be the last man on Earth. He tells his story through a combination of flashbacks and his interactions with the Children of Crake. These genetically-engineered beings are the new humans, created by Snowman’s lifelong friend, Crake, in an attempt to usher in an era of peace. 

As in Atwood’s other speculative fiction, this is a world that is eerily close to the path we’re already on.

Sunday, January 14
Didn't finish anything today. Reading in progress included in final stats:
Fire and Fury by Michael Wolff (275 0f 336 pages read)
The Year of the Flood (MaddAddam #2) by Margaret Atwood (218 of 431 pages read)
The Vegetarian by Han Kang (125 of 188 pages read)

FINAL STATS:
Books started:7
Books finished: 4
Pages read: 1,950