Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo

Because of Winn-Dixie

by Kate DiCamillo

Candlewick Press, 2000

192 pages

Sorry about the posting delay, all. I've been working through a very fractured-attention-span time, which leads to significantly less reading (I haven't read anything since this book) and less ability to write a coherent review, too. This may not get everything I wanted to say about this book, but I figured that a little review is better than no review at all.

This book is lovely. It's well-written. It's a little capsule of sweet and sad all rolled into 192 pages, and it is a perfect book club read for my parent-child group.

India Opal Buloni has moved to a small town in Florida with her single-parent father, a pastor at a small evangelical church. We meet her immediately as she is meeting Winn-Dixie, the titular dog, in the supermarket of the same name. He's causing quite a disruption, and she manages to convince everyone that he's hers, and she also manages to convince the pastor that they need a dog. Through the rest of the book, we follow India through her summer as she meets some very interesting people in the town, and starts to connect them to each other in ways they may not have foreseen before a girl and her dog showed up.

More than being about the hijinks between India and Winn-Dixie, though, this is a story of connection and friendship, and a story about loss and sadness, too. Which doesn't mean it's a sad book, or a downer in any way -- not a chance. But it is a book about the lives people lead that don't always show on the surface, and how beautiful and difficult those lives can be. I suppose in some ways, some of the characters might read like a heavy-handed moral -- "don't judge a book by it's cover!" and that sort of thing -- but I think DiCamillo handles it skillfully and gently, in a way that doesn't talk down to her readers. I enjoyed this book as much as an adult as I think the kids will enjoy it.

I definitely recommend this book for reading together. I think it's a fine read-alone for kids, too, but I think that there are a lot of themes that can be addressed here, making it an ideal read for the book club. I'd also recommend it for a light and quick, but not entirely fluffy, read for adults, too. DiCamillo writes in such a way that I could picture the southern atmosphere, I could feel the summer heat, and I could smell the wet dog. The story is simple, pleasant, and kind, but not without its touch of sadness, which I think makes the whole thing sweeter.

The City and the City by China Miéville

The City and the City

by China Miéville

Del Rey, 2009

312 pages

And now back to our regular programming. Seriously though, everyone, the battle for book ownership isn't over yet -- if you haven't ever thought about who actually owns that book you're reading on your screen of choice, you should really start thinking about it now. And deciding what you think about how much you're paying for a license rather than ownership.

Okay, really, now back to our regular programming.

In a mind-bogglingly ironic move, here we have it: my first e-book reviewed on this site. (It isn't a HarperCollins book, mind you, but Random House, who so far have behaved rather admirably in this brave new world. I'll be buying this book. Maybe even in hardcover.) And it was kind of an accident; I didn't mean to read it, at all. I intended to download it as a test from the library's e-book collection, and then figure out how to return a borrowed e-book early, so that I can then train people on that in the upcoming weeks. It was to be a dummy book, a guinea pig book. Only I downloaded it and thought, I wonder what Miéville's writing is actually like. I've heard good things. So I decided I'd read the first page.

And then it was suddenly Chapter 9 and I was in no way planning to return that book until I had finished reading it, thank you very much. It took me three short days of staring at my computer screen, because I haven't purchased an e-reader yet, and sitting in an uncomfortable position staring at the screen didn't even register with me most of the time. I haven't been feeling well lately, and even that didn't really register while I was reading.

This book. If you haven't read it yet, my god, what are you waiting for? It is a brilliant piece of work, and I don't say that lightly or use "brilliant" as hyperbole. It's brilliant in the sense of incredibly intelligent, and brilliant in the sense of a shining example of great writing, great plotting, great character development -- all of these, in fact, out of the ordinary. Though I'm not sure I would call it "brilliant" in the luminous sense, as that would be misleading; this is a somewhat dark book, a tense book, a gritty mystery that can delve into the uglier side of humanity.

It's hard to write a summary without giving anything away. Part of the joy of this book is the way the layers are peeled back slowly for the reader, the way we start out as we would with a regular genre mystery, with the discovery of a woman's body and a detailed, grinding investigation, hints of drugs and prostitution and seedy back alleys. Inspector Tyador Borlú is our first-person guide, an experienced and immediately recognizable police detective. We don't know exactly what country we're in, or what city, or what laws and customs we're dealing with. Some of the terminology is a bit skewed and unfamiliar, and the names almost Eastern European. We know very quickly that Borlú and his colleagues don't converse in English. And we realize slowly, with the unfolding of both the plot and scenery, that nothing is as it seems. Both grow, at first imperceptibly, to something larger and stranger.

Things are never so strange, though, that the reader becomes lost, and we never really lose sight, thanks to our dedicated detective, of the plot: this is a murder mystery. But by the time we are well into the mystery, we are also well into the world Mieville has created to house it, and it is a fascinating, dangerous, foreign, strange place. Things Borlú knows are mentioned, dropped like clues and sometimes never picked up. But it all contributes to the flavour of the story and the world.

What I think I loved most, aside from everything, was the solution to the mystery. There are labyrinthine twists and turns throughout the whole story, red herrings aplenty, some of which are immediately discarded by both the reader and the Inspector, some of which are discarded by one or the other, and some of which are believed in doggedly until they are simply clearly not plausible any more. Barrelling towards the conclusion, even right in the climax, no one is quite sure what or who to believe anymore -- not the Inspector, and not the reader. I was in total suspense. And I don't think I can tell you anything else without ruining something, so I won't. But if anyone has read this book and wants to tell me what you thought of the way the crime is solved and what really happened, by all means do so in the comments. Rest assured that the way Miéville handles his story is perfect in every way. I am still marveling over it days later.

Most remarkable in all of this is that while this book is a fantasy, and couldn't be what it is without the fantastic elements, it's absolutely at heart a gritty murder mystery and conspiracy thriller. If you don't like fantasy, or are scared to try it, try this book anyways. It may not change your mind about fantasy, but you will have read a superlative mystery.

So, as you can see, highly, highly, highly recommended. An absolutely remarkable book. One of my best reading experiences in ages, and that is saying something. I will not only be buying it for myself, but I'll be buying it for several people I know, too.

on the HarperCollins/OverDrive lending limits

I don't like to get political here, and I think I've maybe only done it one other time in the past two years that I've been writing this blog. But because of the timing of all of this, and because I think e-books and digital libraries a lot (ask fishy) I have a multitude of thoughts on the whole HarperCollins/OverDrive fiasco that is being plastered all over the library social media world today. I think Jessamyn over at librarian.net does a better summary and round-up than I can, so I point you in that direction.

But there are a couple things I want to say. First of all is that anyone who reads books, be they paper or electronic, needs to take note of this. Yes, those of us who don't have e-readers yet, who still love our paper books, we are safe from idiotic moves such as those by HarperCollins, Amazon, MacMillan and Simon and Schuster to limit lending and/or ownership rights for e-books. But let's face it: the way the world is changing, e-books are here to stay. And that means that paper books, while I doubt they will disappear entirely in my lifetime, are going to become harder to find and more expensive to purchase. Unless something dramatic changes, I don't think it's fair to ourselves to pretend this is not the case.

So cases like this, where publishers want to put heavy restrictions on the use of e-books, are important. They set precedents. And while I think it's in the best interests of the publishers to stop copying the music industry heavyweights by panicking and doing things that are counter to good business practices (and then blaming the rise in piracy on Those Damn Kids) I also think that we as consumers do bear some responsibility for letting them get away with it. The fact that Amazon, despite their innumberable sins against intellectual freedom and property rights, are still North American market leaders in e-reader and e-book sales is my case in point.

Not that I think libraries are coming up roses in this either. The immediate reaction among many has been to set up a boycott of HarperCollins until the situation is resolved. Counterproductive, in my opinion, not to mention counter to everything libraries stand for. I'm not wild about a boycott at this stage for two reasons, the first of which is key for me:

1) We limit patron access because of an "internal" (to the world of books) dispute. While some patrons may understand why, the vast majority won't care beyond the fact that they can't get the latest title when they want it. Along with the fact that I am philosophically opposed to limiting reader access for any reason, as should any professional librarian be, we will damage our own standing with our patrons by voluntarily limiting access. Alienating the people who pay our wages and provide the money to build our collections? It's both hypocritical and bad business.

2) The speed with with this boycott call has happened screams kneejerk reaction. It is an adversarial stance, furthering the problem rather than solving it. While a boycott may be an appropriate tool at some stage in negotiations (though again, see my first point), at this point it reads like a playground fight: "You stole my ball! I am kicking over your sandcastle!" We need to give HarperCollins good reasons to get along with us, rather than screaming bloody murder. It is to libraries' detriment when publishers die; it is (though many don't seem to believe it yet) to publishers' detriment when libraries die. Kneejerk boycotts are not helpful in getting this point across forcefully.

Yes, that first point of mine handicaps libraries by taking away a key bargaining chip. But no one said that being a professional librarian would be easy. I'm not suggesting we sit by and weep and gnash our teeth and whine about how mean the publishers are because they won't play with us, either.

There's a really excellent document being disseminated through the library blogosphere right now, and I'm going to post it here. It's not the whole solution, but publicising the problem -- taking it beyond library walls and to the people who this sort of problem really affects, the readers and the future readers -- this is one way to make it clear that we believe that there's a better way. This is not how e-books are working now, but it's absolutely how I believe they should be working.

I originally saw it on the Librarian by Day blog, but have also seen it since on Information Wants to be Free and Confessions of a Science Librarian. The original document was written by Sarah Houghton-Jan of the superlative Librarian in Black blog.

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The E-Book User's Bill of Rights

Every eBook user should have the following rights:

• the right to use eBooks under guidelines that favor access over proprietary limitations
• the right to access eBooks on any technological platform, including the hardware and software the user chooses
• the right to annotate, quote passages, print, and share eBook content within the spirit of fair use and copyright
• the right of the first-sale doctrine extended to digital content, allowing the eBook owner the right to retain, archive, share, and re-sell purchased eBooks

I believe in the free market of information and ideas.

I believe that authors, writers, and publishers can flourish when their works are readily available on the widest range of media. I believe that authors, writers, and publishers can thrive when readers are given the maximum amount of freedom to access, annotate, and share with other readers, helping this content find new audiences and markets. I believe that eBook purchasers should enjoy the rights of the first-sale doctrine because eBooks are part of the greater cultural cornerstone of literacy, education, and information access.

Digital Rights Management (DRM), like a tariff, acts as a mechanism to inhibit this free exchange of ideas, literature, and information. Likewise, the current licensing arrangements mean that readers never possess ultimate control over their own personal reading material. These are not acceptable conditions for eBooks.

I am a reader. As a customer, I am entitled to be treated with respect and not as a potential criminal. As a consumer, I am entitled to make my own decisions about the eBooks that I buy or borrow.

I am concerned about the future of access to literature and information in eBooks. I ask readers, authors, publishers, retailers, librarians, software developers, and device manufacturers to support these eBook users’ rights.

These rights are yours. Now it is your turn to take a stand. To help spread the word, copy this entire post, add your own comments, remix it, and distribute it to others. Blog it, Tweet it (#ebookrights), Facebook it, email it, and post it on a telephone pole.

To the extent possible under law, the person who associated CC0 with this work has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to this work.

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*re-read* The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

The Wee Free Men

by Sir Terry Pratchett

Random House, 2004

317 pages

I love this book. I don't think there's anything much else I can say; I love it. I love it as much this time around as when I first read it, and was finally convinced that perhaps the Discworld was a place I might like to spend significant brain time in.

My book club, the one that reads genre fiction, is reading this. This is definitely one of the big advantages of running a book club where the members are basically all, "You pick! We'll try anything once!" It has come at a fortuitous time for me, when I'm not really feeling like reading at all and when I am in the need of something to cheer me. This book cheers me, but not in a sappy or vacant way (not that there's anything wrong with books that do that -- I am all for a sappy, vacant pick-me-up sometimes). It is funny, very funny, and it is linguistically a pleasure to read, and it is also touching and thoughtful. One of the few books that has made me both laugh out loud and cry a little. I didn't cry this time because I knew what to expect, and I was on lunch break at work. If I had been at home I think it probably would have been a different scene.

Upon re-reading, I am so pleased to report that it holds up to my initial adoration. Tiffany is the character I remembered, a little too clever but sometimes only nine years old, and well aware of her oddness; the Nac Mac Feegle are incredible and hilarious and both very wise and very unwise and extremely not-human. This time through, I picked up more on the themes of belonging and loss than I did the first time, I think. The inevitable passing of time and change and loss and how difficult it is, but also how universal. And while a book dealing with that might seem a little too heavy to be cheering, it's also very much about making full use of the time that we have -- enjoying it thoroughly, and making our mark in whatever way is available to us.

And did I mention this book is funny? I have not encountered too many authors who can get that perfect balance between the serious and the absurd, the funny and the sad. Not in a way that gives full honour to both sides of the coin, rather than deprecating one at the expense of the other. The humour isn't dark, it is full of amazement and joy, and the sadness isn't silly or played down. Because of this, the book feels real, despite its fantasy setting, in a way that sometimes other fantasy does not. This book is one of the best arguments I have for taking fantasy seriously.

I'm not exactly sure what we'll talk about at the book club. The discussion questions (and there are some!) are very geared towards the YA audience, and not really meaty enough for this group that I have. One of the members has the illustrated version; I can see discussing whether or not her reading experience was different. We have some fantasy fans and others who have never picked up a fantasy in their lives; and we have some who grumbled a little (very politely) about reading a YA book. So I'd like to see if this bucked expectations, or entrenched the Pratchett neophytes in their relative positions. I am a little nervous that someone (or all of them) might have hated it, although I can't really see how that would be possible. I suppose if they did, discussing their reactions will lend me a little bit of perspective I clearly don't have!

Overall, my gushing from the previous time I read this book stands. I love it; I think everyone should give it a chance and read it once, whether you think you like fantasy or not. It stands out for me as one of the best books I've ever read in my life, from many different perspectives (writing, characters, content, philosophy), and I would recommend it to anyone with an open mind.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

The Thief

by Megan Whalen Turner

Puffin Books, 1996

219 pages

I have been hearing about this book, and this series, for years. As long as I've been reading book blogs. It crops up throughout the blogosphere every once in a while, which is a fair bit of staying power for a YA book; when I first heard about it, I expected it to be a recent publication. Turns out it was a Newbery Honour book in 1997, which is about the time I would have read it happily as a teen if I had known it existed.

I think, unfortunately, there were a few expectations in play here. I have not heard anything from anyone who dislikes this book, and plenty from people who adore it and Gen, the main character, unreservedly. The praise is well deserved, as the book is excellent. It's not that there was anything wrong, or bad. I just didn't fall in love with it the way I had hoped to, which is always a bit of a disappointment.

So. We meet Gen as he is called out of prison into the magus' office, where he is recruited for a secret mission to steal a jewel so old as to be mythical. He has made a boast to the wrong people: "I can steal anything." And he backed that up with stealing something he shouldn't have on a dare, and then bragging about it publicly. After a too-long stint in the king's prison, he and the magus, the magus' two apprentices, and a soldier head off into the mountains, into the wilds of the enemy country of Attolia, to find and steal the jewel.

It's a simple adventure/quest storyline, and its success is in the telling and the world-building. The world is based, we are told in the author's note (which happily appears after the story, as is always preferrable), on ancient Greece. Reading this so shortly after reading Libraries in the Ancient World made the world seem almost sharper and more real to me; the smells, the sights, the baking heat, all of which I already had on the brain. I suspect that the world is strong enough to stand on its own without help, though, strengthened by the myths sprinkled liberally throughout the text. These are given to us as stories told to the characters by each other, and it worked really well.

It's hard for me to write a lot more about this book without spoilers, and believe me, you do not want spoilers. I had carefully avoided reading any myself, and I'm not about to ruin anything for anyone reading this. Suffice to say that what Turner set out to do, she accomplished magnificently with me, leaving me at the end of the book to admire her skill and forethought with what I can only describe as awe.

Despite the fact that I didn't love it the way I wanted to, I do recommend this book to anyone, really. It will be enjoyed by teens through adults, particularly those who like either history or fantasy, but I don't think either are a requirement. Gen is a bit of a prickly, slippery character, but a fascinating one without good analogues in other fantasy I've read lately. It's always good to discover something new, and I'm glad I did. This book deserves the accolades it gets, and I am not surprised at all at its staying power.