Books have been read, babies have been born, etc.

I haven't posted anything on this blog in a long time, namely because for some reason I've had a lot of trouble accessing it on my old computer. But now I have a laptop (!!!) that is able to log onto my site again. The other reason is that I just gave birth to my second daughter! She is beautiful. Luckily the reason is NOT lack of reading material. I've read some good ones, so please check back soon. I may start looking into hosting this blog through typepad.com, so I'll keep you posted. THanks for your patience, and happy reading!

Gifts

I was excited to see a young adult book by Ursula LeGuin, but I was slightly disappointed. A warning: the first chapter seems like it's going to focus the book on a certain character who has run away and joined a new family. It's not. In fact, the rest of the book has nearly nothing to do with this one character. Just so you don't get confused like I did when the rest of the story went on without him. This is a story set in a fantasy medieval land in which certain people have certain powers. These powers, called Gifts, run in the family and perform a specific, subtle task, such as being able to communicate a little with animals or bend wills. The main character (who,again, is not the character introduced in the first chapter) is expected to have the gift of Unmaking (or something...I read this book months ago, sorry) and should be able to kill with just a controlled thought like his father can. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to show any signs of the Gift until he is startled on two different occasions and destroys whatever it is that scared him. Believing his powers to be out of his control, he follows the advice of his father and commits himself to being blindfolded. However, as time goes on, he questions the validity of his self-imposed blindness. This is an interesting story, because in the end it applauds mediocrity and mistrust in one's self. On the other hand, it undercuts the competitive aspect of our culture and questions what is expected of us. The ending strikes me as a metaphor to a gay son coming out to his his homophobic father. Actually, it's very parallel. I only wish the character was a little more confident in himself at the end, just to make it more cathartic.

Author: Ursula LeGuin

The Tail of Emily Windsnap

I suppose some nostalgic part of me still loves the idea of mermaids, which is why I borrowed this from the library. It's a good book for a middle school-aged child. The story revolves around a young girl who suddenly discovers that she's a mermaid in the water and human on land, although for some reason she's never experienced the transformation in, say, the shower or bath. It encourages sneaking out at night, keeping secrets from adults, assuming your mother is a moron who needs to be cared for, and being suspicious of authority figures, but if you're okay with that, it's a decent story.