Sci-Fi Book # 19 & Horror Book # 68 - The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells

Unlike Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells tells the story of a man who is literally invisible. One day a small inn takes in a man completely covered in bandages. At first everyone assumes that the man has had some kind of accident. After some unusual crimes people become suspicious and the invisible man's secret gets out.

Much like Wells' War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man shows normal people encountering something that seems unbelievable and the result is panic.  I enjoy Wells' style and can imagine how groundbreaking his work was when it was published. This one gets an A.

Book # 7 - The Fellowship of the Ring (The Lord of the Rings Book 1 of 3) by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings is a book that most people are already familiar with... so there isn't a need to recap the story. There's Frodo and the ring, Gandalf the Wizard, Gollum, Aragorn... etc.

This will be the third time that I've read this book and after reading The Fellowship of the Ring it the most enjoyable time so far. There is just so much information throughout the book that Tolkien just casually throws out there that it can be hard to take it all in on a first (or second reading). Seeing the films multiple times also helps. This is a book meant to be read several times... and it is well worth it. There will always be new details to be picked up.

Did I mention that this is one of my favorite books of all time? The first book gets an A+.

Mystery Book # 36 - Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers

While reading Strong Poison I knew that it was part of a series of books... what I just now realized is that FIVE of those books are on my mystery reading list. The series follows Lord Peter Wimsey, a British gentleman that solves mysteries in his spare time. In this book he is following the case of Harriet Vane, a woman accused of poisoning her ex-boyfriend. He believes that she is innocent and sets out to solve the case before Harriet is convicted... and he also falls in love with her.

The book was entertaining. Maybe I'd have liked it more if I didn't start with a book from the middle of the series. It reminded me of one of those Masterpiece Mysteries that Lucinda is always watching. It is definitely very British. I'm glad I enjoyed it since there are four more books on this list. I'll give it a B+.

Book # 48 Remembrance of Things Past (Part 4 of 7)- Cities of the Plain by Marcel Proust

Volume one of Remembrance of Things Past was great. Volume two was entertaining and moving. Volume three started to get on my nerves but was still worth reading. Volume four was tough... and took me a year to slowly get through. All I can say is that it is incredibly boring.

In Cities of the Plain the Narrator has become a part of French high society and attends a lot of parties. And he details all of the people me meets and their snobbish behaviors in great great detail for hundreds of pages. Probably three quarters of the book is just his descriptions of some gathering of people gossiping about other people (and it isn't a short book either). As for the other quarter of the book, I actually enjoyed it when the Narrator talked about his evolving feelings about his friend Albertine and his thoughts on random stuff in life.

It is kind of hard to give this one a grade. Some parts are incredibly well written and beautiful... but most of it is snobby French people talking about other snobby French people. I guess a B-. It makes me think that anyone that lists Remembrance of Things Past as the greatest book ever written is a bit pretentious. Also, the book mentions Don Quixote and Anna Karenina

Book # 104 - Perfume by Patrick Suskind

According to Wikipedia, Perfume inspired songs by both Nirvana and Rammstein. I also saw where someone compared it to a mix of Victor Hugo and Anne Rice. I'd say that seems accurate since it reminded me of both Les Miserables and Interview with the Vampire at times.

Perfume tells the story of Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an 18th Century French orphan that is born with an acute sense of smell  but no personal scent. Of course the life of an 18th century orphan isn't easy and Grenouille is a pretty strange guy... so the story gets a bit weird. One day while walking around Paris he smells a young woman and becomes obsessed with her odor... so much so that he kills her and just keeps sniffing her body. From there he decides to learn how to be a perfume maker so that he can replicate her scent. This leads to a lot more deaths and perfume making.

I didn't know what to expect from this book... but I really loved it. It is just so unusual and the story takes a few unexpected turns along the way. The book has a fun pulpy feel to it and is full of interesting characters. Plus Suskind goes overboard on describing the different scents of things throughout the book... which only adds to its strangeness. I give it an A and recommend it to any of my friends that listen to Nirvana or Rammstein.

Book # 80 - Native Son by Richard Wright - Banned Books Week Edition part 2

It is a bit surprising to see that most of the books on our list have been challenged at one time or another. Another book that has great literary merit and historical significance but is frequently challenged is Native Son by Richard Wright... usually for "violence, sex, and profanity."

Native Son tells the story of Bigger Thomas, a young black man living in 1940's Chicago and struggling to figure out how to get by in life. His mom forces him to take a job as a chauffeur for a rich white family and then there is a huge plot twist that I somehow didn't see coming. Sometimes I don't like to know too much about something before I read it and in this case it paid off... anyhow I wouldn't want to say what happens next because it would be a huge spoiler. Let's just say that Bigger gets in trouble and most of the book is him trying to figure out what to do.

What is unusual is that Bigger is not in any way a likable character. I think it would be fair to say that most readers would be rooting against him. The point of the book seems to me that you shouldn't feel sympathetic towards Bigger, but that people need to realize that the social conditions of poverty and racism will create people like Bigger...the long term solution for a better society isn't to continually lock up people like Bigger but to fix our society so that everyone gets a chance and someone like Bigger never gets created. At least that's what I think Wright is trying to get across... I could see a pretty good discussion in an AP English class in which some kids would disagree with Wright's viewpoint.

At the time he wrote it, Richard Wright was a communist and Native Son definitely reflects that. Besides just showing racism, the book also shows how communists were discriminated against and targeted by police. Near the end of the book Bigger's lawyer gives a long speech that gets kind of preachy about how American society is partly responsible for Bigger's crimes and indirectly argues against capitalism. Whether or not you agree, I still think it is interesting to take in someone's viewpoint (as long as it isn't as long winded and heavy handed as Atlas Shrugged). Surprisingly none of the challenges on the book are for promoting communism.

I enjoyed the book... partly because I kept being shocked at how the main character kept getting more and more unlikable. It also has a strong political viewpoint and gave me something to think about and debate in my head. I'll have to give it an A.

Book # 73 - The Color Purple by Alice Walker - Banned Books Week Edition

As someone with a degree in Library Science I feel somewhat obligated to mention that it Banned Books Week. Every year the American Library Association compiles a list of books that were "challenged" by people wanting them removed from public or school libraries. Yes, there are still people out there that get enraged enough by a book that they make a written complaint to a librarian asking for the book to be removed. Of course librarians as a whole are against censorship but I think they also find it somewhat humorous that they receive these complaints... how is it that The Chocolate War is still getting complaints? This probably explains why they get so excited for Banned Book Week and put out huge posters and displays of books that were challenged.... be a rebel and read The Catcher in the Rye!

One of those books that often gets challenged is The Color Purple by Alice Walker. The Color Purple is a book that I wouldn't have ever thought to read if it wasn't on our list. So this is one of the times where reading something from the list really pays off... this book is great (but a bit depressing for the most part).

The novel is made up mostly of letters written by the main character, Celie, that detail her life. And her life is full of difficulties... First her father sexually abuses her and sells her children, then she gets married off to a man that physically abuses her and pretty much treats her like a slave. Her husband then allows his mistress, Shug,  to move in with them! However Celie and Shug become great friends and Celie eventually builds up the strength to stand up for herself, leave her husband and start her own business. She also finds out that her sister has been writing to her for years and she discovers what happened to her children.

From the very beginning the story is captivating and I felt bad for Celie's struggles. Near the end it looks like the book could go with either a totally sad ending or an uplifting ending... and I'm glad it ended the way it did. As a whole it was entertaining and very thought provoking. I'll give it an A.

For a listing of challenges to The Color Purple you can check out http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics/reasons which lists the challenges several classic books have received in the past. Even though it does have great literary merit, I can see some why some parents might complain if the book was given as assigned reading, but trying to completely remove it from a library is just ridiculous.