brush of the gods. lenore look. meilo so. (172)

my friend chrissie posted on my facebook wall, an npr article, 8 picture books that make us wish we were a kid again. lenore look and meilo so's the brush of the gods was listed as one of the eight.

the brush of the gods is a truly beautiful book.  it is the story of wu daozi, a great chinese painter.  as a child, he took a calligraphy class but was unable to make characters because they always turned into beautiful creatures like fish or horses.  he then began painting murals and was called flying sleeves because that is what his sleeves looked like when he painted.

then one day his paintings start to become alive.  the monks called him a liar and people stopped following him, but the children were still in awe of his paintings.  it is then discovered that he had the brush of the gods.  the emperor then commissioned him for a great masterpiece. he worked until he became an old man.  he revealed his masterpiece, a painting of paradise, and then walked into it.  as the epilogue explained the mystery behind the year he died only adds to the myth that he walked into his painting.

a truly beautiful tale that is matched by even beautiful pictures.  here are my favorite but you should check it out to see it for yourself!

little failure. gary schteyngart. (171)

when i read the flavorpill post recommending little failure as a must read for january, i hadn't read anything by gary shteynart, (i still haven't read anything by him other than this, my plan to read super sad true love story prior to this was spoiled because this book was due last tuesday.  yup, it cost me about $3.50 to read this book!) but with that cute cover and clever title, i decided to check it out.

even with my lack of familiarity with shteyngart's works, i was still able to enjoy his memoir.  plus it still revealed to me the not so shocking truth that shteyngart's fiction is primarily made up of his life (like all authors). since i have read a couple chapters of super sad true love story, i have to admit i did become confused between what i had read about lenny's parents and shteyngart's actual parents, which make sense because they are one and the same.  it was interesting to see that eunice was based on the korean school girls of his youth, prior to learning this i found her an odd character.  and now with this new background knowledge, i do look forward to reading the rest of shteynart's work, knowing who some of the characters are based on. 

the book was entertaining, it might be as flavorpill claimed, the best memoir i read this year but mostly because i might not read any other memoirs this year.  shteyngart is a great storyteller, very funny and witty.  for those of you that are unfamiliar with his background, shteynart is russian and jewish and immigrated to america with his family at a young age.  his memoir shares: his family history, his memories of russia, his education (from jewish grade school to a prestigious math and science academy to oberlin college), his works, how he became an writer and a family trip back to russia.  i enjoyed the stories of his youth more than i did his tales from college and breaking into the literary world.  i have to admit that he truly was horrible during his return to saturn phrase (but than again who isn't) but i can not believe how one-sided his relationship with his best friend john was, i mean to be honest, i guess i can because i have been the gary in friendships, but imagine my contributions being worth more than my demands.

but back to his childhood, i loved the story of his grandma galya motivating him to write a novel as a child, giving him a piece of cheese for every page written.  i also loved his teacher ms. s who had him read his novel to his class.  it was adorable how excited his class about his novel.  also the subject matter, sci-fi story on one level but a discussion of race relations on another, was quite advance for a child.  also it was interesting to see how his stories as an adult are not that different from his stories as a child.

i also enjoyed seeing the world filtered through his russian immigrant mindset especially pop culture.  for example wondering about "the origins of the white slave alice" on the brady bunch or "is it really possible that a country as powerful as the united states would not be able to locate two of its best citizens lost at sea" in gilligan's island.  the book is filled with gems like this not only of pop culture but american life in general.

and maybe it's because i miss my grandma so much, but i loved reading about his grandmas.  my grandma bea always encouraged me to write and draw pictures like his grandma galya.  my grandma was just like his grandma polya provided my sister and i with the best desserts and snacks.  however, her providing must have came with limits for her.  but two amazing grandmas that reminded me of my one exceptional one!

i also enjoyed reading about his family's trip back home to russia.  his father opening up to him about his time in a psychiatric ward.  in that light, i read his father's comment about his wish that shteyngart was gay instead of seeing a psychoanalyst, as him worried that his son would be mistreated as he was in russia.  also partially because his father must have partly blamed his genetics for his son needing help.  it was crazy to hear how cruel his parents were to him but it was a tough love, something they did to help him survive.  also anger was an expression of love from his parents which shteyngart learned to deal with thanks to his psychoanalysis.

oh and one last thing, that story about his ex that stabbed her ex with a hammer!! that was insane!

all in all, it was an enjoyable read. i wouldn't call it a must read but it's good book to check out, if you like his work.  it has inspired to read the all of shteygnart.  it also inspired me to read nils and the wild geese and the boy from ufo, two books he loved as a child.  i also look forward to reading chang-rae lee's book, native speaker, because he aided shteyngart in getting his book deal (also because his new book has been mentioned everywhere.) and last but not least i have been inspired to one day visit the chesme church, which was a focal point of this memoir and thus shteyngart's life.  it's a truly lovely building:

one more thing. b.j. novak.

if you are a frequenter of this blog, you know that i am a tad obsessed with mindy kaling.  and of course, one can not be obsessed with mindy kaling without being obsessed with b.j. novak.  (quick random share, if you haven't read this buzzfeed article about their friendship, you should.  get ready to fall in love with the both of them!)  though i have to admit that novak first (or rather finally) caught my eye when ryan started wearing those glasses on the office and i rediscovered him via my love for mindy.  any hoot, regardless, i am a fan of novak and was super excited for his collection of short stories!

so excited that i preordered a hardcover and a digital copy!  i spent the weeks leading up to its release (which was last tuesday) googling to see if novak planned on a book tour.  i don't know if a full tour is planned but discovered he is stopping in LA!  and yes i got tickets!!!  i preordered the book to guarantee tickets but sadly since the bookstore is in pasadena and i had no way of getting the book before his talk, i decided to order it for my kindle so i could be prepared for the talk.  and what was even more amazing was the fact that being on the west coast, i got it at 10 pm, monday night! woo woo!

and with all this effort and excitement over this book, i hate to admit this but it was not worth all of my hoopla.  

i think initially i wanted one more thing to be is everyone hanging out without me? or bossypants, so  i had to remind myself that it was a collection of short stories.  and secondly, novak's book had a bad spot on my reading list.  january unofficially became the month of short stories, and every collection i read was amazing so i mean novak had some tough acts to follow.

i mean all of one more thing's stories weren't bad, it was just that ones that were made me wonder why were they included.  i think the problem with this collection is lack of editing.  too many bad stories were included that should have been cut out. 

also the opening story about the tortoise and the hare definitely did not have any wow power and the only tone it set was a disappointing one.  i have to admit that i was even disappointed by the kellogg story which people kept on mentioning in reviews.  there was an interesting twist in that stoey but nothing incredible that deserved a mentioning.

the stories i wish were edited out were:

"the rematch", "dark matter", "the ambulance driver", "walking on eggshells (or: when i loved tony robbins)", "they kept driving faster and outran the rain", "closure", and "kate moss".  the absence of those stories would have made for a better book.  

i know this sounds like a harsh review but i expected more from novak. also i have to say not every story was bad, there were a handful of gems.

my favorite was "sophia" . it is also the story from which the book gets its title.  sophia is about a sex robot that falls in love with a human.  of course, i thought of spike jonze's her and just like her, through something absurd we discover truths about relationship and human behavior.  i love how sophia explained to the narrator how everything feels infinite but it is finite and we do not commit because we assume there is one more thing out there that is better but there really isn't, it's just that love ironically gives us that feeling.  very deep for a sex robot.

i also enjoyed the nelson mandela roast. when i first read the title, i was like ekkk.  since he past away last year, i wondered if there was a debate about whether or not to include it,  but i am glad they did.  it was very well-written and read just like an actual roast!

i of course loved the missed connection stories because i of course enjoy missed connections.

i also thought the wikipedia brown story was adorable.  i didn't grow up reading encyclopedia brown as a kid.  my friend danny is a fan so it has to be a good series.  i loved how sally was always trying to stop wikipedia brown from distracting them because i always lose hours of my life randomly "researching" on wikipedia.

i also enjoyed "no one goes to heaven to see sam fogelberg" because i love the idea of heaven being non stop concerts!  i can't wait to die if that is the case!!

"chris hansen at the justin bieber concert" was very clever too because people would be suspicious of they saw hansen (from to catch a predator) at a justin bieber concert!

i also enjoyed the "shorter" stories:

(even though i love carrot cake!)

(seriously best love advice.)

(muahahahahahah)

i also enjoyed the new hitler because we do need a new positive one! and that "constructive criticism" kid was a great architect!  

i also enjoyed how punny (funny via puns) novak was in stories like "the market was down", "monster:  the roller coaster", and "the best thing in the world awards".

actually i enjoyed most of the stories but the bad ones just left the bigger impression on me.  and even though one more thing didn't completely knock my socks off, i am still recommending it.  i have to admit that i was disappointed with myself for not finding in funnier.  i mean if mindy and i should bffs, shouldn't i find b.j. hilarious?!?!?  but i mean they aren't always in sync.  oh and i have to admit that this dedication is enough reason to check out the book:

(seriously could they be any cuter?!?!?!?)

but a decent first book.  a nice try but really novak should look into a better editor for his next book.

flora & ulysses. kate dicamillo. k.g. campbell. (170)

i follow the new york public library (@nypl) on instagram and they posted the winner of the newbery medal award for 2014:

so of course, i immediately went and requested the flora & ulysses! i was also shocked to discover that delano actually had it and i didn't have to wait for it to come.

i was very excited about the book on cover and page flipping.  first, it is about a girl and a squirrel! adorable!  second, it is written by kate dicamillo who also wrote newbery medal winner the tale of despereaux, which i haven't read but have a copy to read.  and third, it is part graphic novel!  i thought this was clever because kids the graphic novel part would attract kids but majority of the book is real text.

my excitement was soon met with disappointment.  though an interesting premise, i didn't completely enjoy the story myself so it did not seem newbery medal worthy, but i can see why it would appeal to kids.

flora & ulysses is the story of a girl flora and ulysses, a squirrel has super powers after he is sucked up by a vacuum, ulysses 2000x (yes, he is named after the vacuum.) his superpowers are super strength, ability to understand humans and communicate with humans via typing, flying, and writing poetry.  i really loved the idea of him writing poetry.  he is revived after his accident by flora, a self described cynic.  she is an avid reader of a comic book and that is how she discovered ulysses is a superhero.  the books is their adventure as they discover what ulysses can do.  oh and i should add that ulysses, arch-nemesis is flora's mother.  she wanted ulysses dead for fear that he had rabies.

the characters in the story are great.  i loved that flora was a cynic and gained so much knowledge from a column in the back of the comic book called terrible things can happen to you.  it would make a great companion book to this novel.  she was a very clever child.  ulysses is a poetry-writing squirrel, need i say more? just read his poem:

words for flora

nothing

would be easier without 

you,

because you 

are 

everything,

all of it--

sprinkles, quarks, giant donuts, eggs sunny-side up--

you

are the ever-expanding

universe 

to me.

(seriously the sweetest poem! i would actually take a book of his poetry as a companion to this novel as well.)

my favorite character had to be dr. meerscham, flora's father's neighbor, she was eccentric but filled with truth.  i loved the mystic way she shared stories, for example,

all things are possible. when i was a girl in blundermeecen, the miraculous happened every day. or every other day. or every third day. actually, sometimes it did not happen at all, even on the third day. but still, we expected it. you see what i'm saying? even when it didn't happen, we were expecting it. we knew the miraculous would come.

i loved that she had a painting of a giant squid attacking a boat to remind her that "loneliness makes us do terrible things".  but the best that came from her and what i will steal from her to used is what she used instead of good-bye growing up in blundermeecen, "i promise to always turn back towards you."  so sweet.

i know that my praise of characters seems to contradiction my lack of praise for the book, but even with these wonderful characters the book lacked an interesting storyline and plot.  i became bored with the book, the incident at the restaurant was ho-hum and i think that was meant to be the first amazing adventure.  even the climax when flora's mother squirrel-napping ulysses wasn't all that nail bitting or exciting.  dicamillo had a great cast but just did not know how to direct them.  the episodes of each chapter were good but didn't make for a great book.  

i have to add this book was great in terms of vocabulary.  there were words that i had to look up!  if a kid takes the time to look up words they come across in this book, it could build their vocabulary.

it was a good read but not a great one, but still check it out.  it did win the newbery medal, so maybe i am the one that is off versus vice versa.

i 

jazz age josephine. jonah winter. illustrations: marjorie priceman.

josephine baker's autobiography has been on my to read list ever since i i read about her in sandra cisneros' caramelo.  introduced her into my life.  i wikipedia'd her and discovered she was more than just a songbird in a banana skirt!  baker was a civil rights activist, worked as a spy, and she was the original angelina jolie adopting kids from all over the world!  (i know so exciting!  i need to pick up her autobiography!)

so when i saw jazz age josephine in the scholastic book order form from my friend jess' class, i had to order it!  i mean it was only $4!  and what a wonderful investment.

this is a great children's book about a great woman!  to start its written like a jazz song with repetition and rhyme.  which makes it an entertaining read.  but what makes it special is how honest it depicts the life of josephine baker.

this story isn't sugarcoated.  josephine's life started out rough.  she grew up poor (the rhymes about her poverty could be lyrics for the supremes' love child) but her granny inspired her with dreams of a better life and being a princess.  the book presents her desire to avoid being depressed by her improverish life, she would act silly and dance.

it is then explained that josephine ran away to escape whites that burned down the black section of new orleans and joined a travelin' show.  josephine ended up in nyc, sleeping on a park bench.  a show director took pity on her and casted her in a show.  however, josephine was doing blackface and she decided "it was an insult to her race".  i thought it was great that the book mentioned how the racism of minstrel show, minstrels are a big part of america's social history and is often neglected when discussing racism in america.

josephine then escapes to paris and becomes famous and successful.  of course her cheetah, "chiquita" as mentioned too.

the story ended a bittersweet note, josephine wished that racism didn't drive her away from her home but happy that she became a jazz princess!

and of course their illustrations were spectacular as well.  here were some of my favorites:

this is a great book and if you have kids check it out for them because she is a great heroine not only for women but for black-americans.  this book ended up being my first black history month book, though as my friend juliana said, we should read books about important black-americans all year around just not in february.  but what an amazing woman, i can't wait to read her bio!

eleanor & park. rainbow rowell (169)

adorable cover, right?  it looks like some cute save-the-date for some portlandia hipsters.  it just so darn cute with its ampersand made with headphones.  with all of this cuteness, i had to pick up with this book.  i had seen it on amazon and it was even a daily deal but i forgot to buy it, so ended up checking it out from the library, which turned out to be the right choice. although i loved the cover, i didn't absolutely love the book.

though in eleanor & park's defense, since it is a young adult novel, 16 year old me would have been all about it.  i think i mean, a clockwork orange was my favorite book at the time, though the notebook left me in tears, so maybe i would have believed in eleanor and park's love.

but i will admit that both 30 year old me and 16 year old me had a total book crush on park.  through he was kind of right about people not finding asians sexy, i do like me the halfbreeds and so i would have definitely found park's half korean/half irishness sexy.  and i love boys in eyeliner so that was really hot.  but my book crush is not based on lust, how sweet he was!  how he let eleanor read his comics over his shoulder on the bus, or how he saved up all his batteries for her to use, even how he found eleanor sexy in her gym clothes (seriously who can pull off sexy in gym clothes?!?). and he made her mixed tapes!!!! especially the one with love will tear us apart on repeat!!! so sweet!!! and while i loved park, i was not so sure about eleanor.

i was just as judgemental about eleanor as park's mom, why was he with that "weird white girl"?!?!?! eleanor didn't make sense to me.  i mean i understand that she was a good kid in a bad situation.  but i just did not get the attraction.  i mean her outfits didn't even seem cute in that alt-80's kind of way, i mean the ties and ribbons yes but not the golf shoes!  eleanor should have been fashioned after molly ringwald in pretty in pink (she was poor too and dressed eccentric).  i also personally could not get passed her personal hygiene,  i mean didn't park notice that she didn't brush her teeth or that her hair smelled like flea and tick soap?!?!? i mean these are things one would notice right?  i was grossed out by eleanor and i am not even that high maintenance.  

random digression but as i was readig was wondering if the author was eleanor and this was like an exteme version ofna high school romance.  when i looked at her pic on the backflap, i could see the resemblence between she and eleanor:

but looks aside, she didn't seem to bring anything to the plate.  i mean park was so sweet and eleanor was always negative nancy.  and i know i know she had a tough life but in my eyes she was not a diamond in the rough, just rough.  i mean the only good about her was what park brought to her, but then i i guess that is true love.  it makes you a better person.

and onto their love, i hate to be negative as always but some of their convos were too much for me.  all of their talk was sweet and romantic but put in the context of high schoolers made me roll my eyes. though i am sure teenage me would have been lapping it up.  and one last grievance, if they were so in love why did it take eleanor forever to write back to park? i mean he saved her life, how could you not find the means to write back?  

all in all, a sweet read.  not a must read but more like i have the time, this cover is cute, let me check it out kind of read.