Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Remember how my friend Britt and I came up with the 4th book plan, so that we’d occasionally read books we own instead of sticking to library books, which have due dates?  She’s thinking about moving and feeling overwhelmed by the sheer volume of stuff in her house, and my library habit has gotten out of control to the point that I don’t have space on my shelves for all the books I’ve checked out; hence, we’ve both agreed to read ONLY books we own for the entire month of October.  (This is going to create more room on my shelf for library books, by the way; I’ll deal with THAT problem another time.)

So far, I’m on my third book.  I started Hyper-chondriac:  One Man’s Quest to Hurry Up and Calm Down, but it had a bit of language, and the subject matter wasn’t something I was dying to go on with; I decided after 20 or 30 pages that I just didn’t care enough to spend the time on it.  (This was on October 1st.)  On the following day I started The Book of Joe, but there was even more language, and the vulgarity did not appeal.  (The premise was funny, but no.)  On October 3rd I started a book I’m thoroughly enjoying, though, so that review is forthcoming; in the meantime, I’ve gotten rid of two books I have no interest in keeping, and this pleases me.  Hooray for October!

When my oldest is reading a book I’ve read, I often ask her how she’s liking it–a lot, a little, or medium.  She has a tendency to move from a little or medium to a lot once she’s further in, which interests me; my sense of the book often doesn’t change much (although not always).  My early impression of Mariko Nagai’s Dust of Eden, for example, was a medium, and that’s how I ended up feeling when I finished it as well.

Dust of Eden is a verse novel about a Japanese-American girl who was interned in a camp in Idaho during WWII. (Historical verse novels are irresistible for me; my friend Andrea knows this and told me about it after picking it up at the library herself.  I picked it up shortly thereafter, and it was a perfect choice when I needed a short library book to read.)  The story is compelling, of course–how could it not be? And I was impressed at the author’s ability to represent different viewpoints among the internees.  I did, however, have an issue with the writing.  Andrea pointed out that the different styles of poems that make up the novel are indicative of a girl in turmoil trying to find her voice, which makes sense.  The eclectic nature of the verse, though, was still a bit of a stumbling block for me.  I enjoyed it, mind you, and I didn’t want to put it down; a different story told in the same format, however, might not engage me nearly as well.  That being said, it was moving and compelling and informative all at once, so if the topic interests you at all, this is worth your time.