So, today I'm supposed to be reviewing Mary Karr's memoir, Lit. However, I - being the bonehead that I am - somehow failed to realize that it is the third installment in a series of memoirs. Now, y'all know about my literary OCD. What? You don't? Well, I cannot stand to read books in a series out of order. Therefore, I know have both Liar's Club and Cherry on reserve at the library. As soon as the books come in, I will be reading and reviewing them as well as Lit. Definitely stay tuned for that. In the meantime, here's the blurb from the front flap of Lit:

The Liar's Club brought to vivid, indelible life Mary Karr's hardscrabble Texas childhood. Cherry, her account of her adolescence, "continued to set the literary standard for making the personal universal" (Entertainment Weekly). Now Lit follows the self-professed blackbelt sinner's descent into the inferno of alcholism and madness - and to her astonishing resurrection.

Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting bluebood poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in "The Mental Marriott," with an oddball tribe of gurus and saviors, awakens her to the possibility of joy and leads her to an unlikely faith. Not since Saint Augustine cried, "Give me chastity, Lord - but not yet!" has a conversion story rung with such dark hilarity.

Lit is about getting drunk and getting sober; becoming a mother by letting go of a mother; learning to write by learning to live. Written with Karr's relentless honesty, unflinching self-scrutiny, and irreverent, lacerating humor, it is a truly electrifying story of how to grow up - as only Mary Karr can tell it.

Interesting, huh?

If you want to see what other, more on-the-ball reviewers have to say about Lit, check out the other stops on Karr's tour:

Disney's Beauty and the Beast will always be my favorite, but Robin McKinley's version comes in a close second. With lush description, a down-to-earth heroine and a plot that's lovely in its simplicity, Beauty breathes freshness into the familiar tale. First published in 1978, McKinley's debut novel has definitely stood the test of time. And for good reason. It's a sweet, magical tale about the power of true love.

The story revolves around a wealthy family made up of a sea merchant father and his three daughters: Grace, Hope and Honour (nicknamed "Beauty"). When the Hustons experience an abrupt reversal of fortune, they're forced to move into a humble country cottage far from the city which they've called home. Surrounded by thick woods, their new house is small and isolated; nonetheless, the family is glad to be there. Even when they hear frightening tales about the forest. It's true that no animals seem to dwell amid the denseness of the trees, but there can't possibly be an ogre living in the woods. Surely, that's another one of the country people's silly superstitions.

When Mr. Huston loses his way in the forest, he returns with an unbelievable story. It's a tale of magic, enchantment and a beast straight out of a young girl's nightmare. If it weren't for the perfect red rose he shows the girls, they wouldn't believe it. The flower convinces them - their father's telling the truth, meaning he must fulfill his promise to return to the beast's lair, where he will remain prisoner forever. Beauty begs to take his place, but Mr. Huston will not allow it. Plain and bookish, Beauty knows she, of all the sisters, has the least chance of flourishing in society - she rides into the forest, resolute.

Trapped in a magic castle with a horrifying beast, Beauty struggles to hide her fear. The more she explores her new world, the more she comes to realize that nothing in the enchanted forest is quite what it seems. Not even the monster that haunts the halls of the palace. Whispers of a terrible secret waft through the air, but Beauty can't quite understand. What happened to the cursed manor? Who is the beast? Is he truly as horrible as he seems? Can Beauty find a way out of her entrapment or is she doomed to spend all the years of her life imprisoned by an ogre?

Although McKinley makes her story feel new, she doesn't stray far from the classic tale. It remains a predictably, comfortingly tender story about looking beyond outward appearances. Beauty, herself, reinforces this idea - she doesn't know she's pretty, has no idea how brave she really is, and can't quite understand why the beast admires her so. I love that she's a diamond-in-the-rough, not nearly as polished as Belle, but just as charming. Even though I knew exactly how it would end, I found her story compelling. And sweet. And delightful. Precisely how a fairy tale should be.

(Readalikes: other classic fairy tales)

Grade: B+

If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG for scary situations

To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find

I'm having a good ole time with The Hogwarts Challenge hosted by Bunnitaz over at Worth Reading It? I'll be sad to see it end in August. Before it finishes, though, our wonderful hostess is giving us all a chance to boost our points big time. The mini challenge is too complicated to explain here, but since it has to do with summer reading lists, I'm going to post the one I'll be using. I had a hard time finding any official summer reading lists (except for Oprah's, of course), but I liked the selections on this one from Parkway High School in Missouri. Students there are encouraged to read at least three of the titles before the school year begins. It's not exactly beach reading, either. The lists for all grades are below - I've crossed out the ones I've read previously. Which have you read? Which do you think I need to read?

School starts here in two weeks - think I'll be ready for high school by then? Hee hee ...

(9th Grade)

Adams, Douglas. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
Anaya, Rudolfo A. Bless Me, Ultima.
Anderson, Laurie Halse. Speak. (my review)
Blackwood, Gary. The Year of the Hangman.
Covey, Sean. The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens.
Cox, Lynne. Swimming to Antarctica.
Dessen, Sara. The Truth about Forever.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist.
Dumas, Alexandre. The Count of Monte Cristo.
Farmer, Nancy. The House of the Scorpion. (my review)
Grimes, Nikki. Dark Sons.
Halberstam, David. Firehouse.
Johnson, Angela. The First Part Last. (my review)
Krakauer, Jon. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster.
Lord, Walter. A Night to Remember.
McKinley, Robin. Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast. (my review - read July 2010)
Murdock, Catherine Gilbert. Dairy Queen.
Murray, Jaye. Bottled Up.
Nolan, Han. Dancing on the Edge.
Nye, Naomi Shihab. 19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East.
Peck, Richard. The Teacher’s Funeral.
Philbrick, Nathaniel. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex.
Schaap, Jeremy. Triumph: The Untold Story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics.
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings. (my review)
Uchida, Yoshiko. Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family.
Woodson, Jacqueline. Behind You.

(10th Grade)

Alexie, Sherman. Flight.
Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of the Butterflies.
Anderson, M.T. Feed.
Bissinger, H.G. Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team and a Dream.
Bray, Libba. A Great and Terrible Beauty. (my review)
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game.
Cary, Kate. Bloodline: A Novel.
Collins, Billy (Editor). Poetry 180: A Turning Back to Poetry.
Dillard, Annie. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
Du Maurier, Daphne. Rebecca.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in Boom-Time America.
Grogan, John. Marley and Me: Life and Love with the World’s Worst Dog. (my review)
Haddon, Mark. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.
Halberstam, David. October 1964.
Jeter, Derek. The Life You Imagine: Life Lessons for Achieving Your Dreams.
Kooser, Ted. Delights and Shadows.
Larsen, Judy Merrill. All the Numbers.
Meyer, Stephenie. Twilight.
Naidoo, Beverley. Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope.
Poe, Edgar Allen. Selected Tales.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood.
Shelley, Mary. Frankenstein.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus: A Survivor's Tale I and II.
Thomas, Marlo. The Right Words at the Right Time.
Tsukiyama, Gail. Dreaming Water.
Volponi, Paul. Black and White.

(11th Grade)

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility.
Berthon, Simon. Warlords: An Extraordinary Re-creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin.
Blumenthal, Karen. Let Me Play: The Story of Title IX, The Law that Changed the Future of Girls in America.
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. (my review)
Brooks, Martha. True Confessions of a Heartless Girl.
Callahan, David. The Cheating Culture.
Chevalier, Tracy. Girl with a Pearl Earring.
Collins, Billy. Sailing Alone Around the Room: New and Selected Poems.
Danticat, Edwidge. The Farming of Bones: A Novel.
De Botton, Alain. The Art of Travel.
Erdrich, Louise. Tracks: A Novel.
Gladwell, Malcolm. Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
Hersey, John. Hiroshima.
Hilton, James. Lost Horizon.
Hopkins, Ellen. Crank.
Hugo, Victor. Les Miserables.
Lahiri, Jhumpa. The Namesake.
Larson, Erik. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America.
Matheson, Richard. I am Legend.
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister’s Keeper.
Plath, Sylvia. The Bell Jar.
Preston, Richard. Hot Zone.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation.
See, Lisa. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.
Walls, Jeanette. The Glass Castle: A Memoir.
Welty, Eudora. One Writer’s Beginnings.

(12th Grade)

Allende, Isabel. Zorro.
Ambrose, Stephen. Citizen Soldiers: The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany.
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale.
Bissinger, Buzz. Three Nights in August: Strategy, Heartbreak and Joy Inside the Mind of a Manager.
Bryson, Bill. A Short History of Nearly Everything.
Cisneros, Sandra. Caramelo.
Chandrasekaran, Rajiv. Imperial Life in the Emerald City.
Fleming, Ian. Casino Royale: A James Bond Novel.
Foer, Jonathan Safran. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain.
Friedman, Thomas. The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-First Century.
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II.
Guterson, David. Snow Falling on Cedars.
Haruf, Kent. Plainsong.
Hosseini, Khaled. Kite Runner.
Hughes, Langston. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes.
King, Stephen. The Shining.
Kingsolver, Barbara. The Poisonwood Bible: A Novel.
Larkin, Emma. Finding George Orwell in Burma.
Mortenson, Greg. Three Cups of Tea.
Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes. (my review)
Seierstad, Asne. The Bookseller of Kabul. (my review)
Shakespeare, William. A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Sittenfeld, Curtis. Prep: A Novel.
X, Malcolm. The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple.
Xiaolong, Qiu. Death of a Red Heroine.

It's the weekend again, which means it's time for another Book Blogger Hop. Yay! These are so much fun. It's a fabulous opportunity to find new book blogs and "meet" other bloggers. Join the fun by clicking over to Crazy For Books.

This week's question is: What are you reading now? You're never going to believe my answer - nothing. I finished Beauty by Robin McKinley this morning. I really enjoyed it. Next up is The Space Between Trees by Katie Williams. I've sneaked a peek or two, but haven't actually started reading it yet. I'm excited to see what it's all about.

Happy Hopping!

A life at sea is hardly a suitable one for a young lady coming of age in 1855 San Francisco, but it's the only one 17-year-old Camille Rowen really wants. As much as she's tried to reconcile herself to the inevitability of her upcoming marriage, she can't seem to get excited about it. Her fiancee's well-bred, wealthy and kind. What more could she possibly need in a future husband? Just because her skin doesn't blaze at his touch doesn't mean she and Randall aren't perfectly suited to one another. Still, Camille jumps at the chance to accompany her father on one last voyage. The tangy scent of the sea fills her with a sense of adventure, excitement, and freedom - three things that will surely disappear the second she utters her wedding vows.
Motherless Camille's been traveling with her father long enough to realize there's something different about this trip. Captain Rowen's nervous. It's almost as if he's keeping secrets from her, something he's never done before. Camille's shocked when her father confesses the truth - without Randall's fortune to keep it secure, her father's company faces financial ruin. With that knowledge locked away in her lukewarm heart, Camille stumbles upon another secret: a recent letter from the mother she presumed dead. None of Caroline Rowen's words really make sense. She rambles about dying, desiring to see her long-lost daughter, and regret over running away with a stolen treasure map. Before Camille even has a chance to consider the import of this information, a violent storm batters her father's ship, killing almost everyone aboard.
Days later, Camille finds herself at an Australian port with only her friend Oscar by her side. Penniless, the two are drawn to Port Adelaide, where a dying woman holds the key to finding a priceless stone. With a greedy band of seamen on their tails, the pair embark on a dangerous journey filled with wily conmen, slavering beasts, venomous serpents, and a dark magic that pulls them ever closer to a gem with unimagined power. With her father lost at sea and a fiancee waiting at home while she tromps through the Australian wilderness with a lowly shipmate, it's time for Camille to make the ultimate decision: What matters most? Saving her father's company? Planning a future with the man she loves? Or risking all their necks to find a fabled stone? With her every dream on the line, Camille must choose - and wisely - which path to follow.
Newcomer Angie Frazier sprinkles historical fiction with a little Pirates of the Carribbean swashbuckling and a lot of Indiana Jones treasure-seeking in the grand adventure that is her first novel. There's enough conflict to keep Everlasting zipping right along, making the debut a fast, fun read. While few are fully fleshed out, the characters are engaging enough to keep the reader rooting for the good ones and booing the not-so-savory. That being said, the supernatural elements in the story just didn't add up for me. The magical subplot comes out of nowhere, but the ever practical Camille accepts it without question, proceeding on a life-threatening journey with very little hesitation. Other plot issues bugged me as did the flatness of some of the principle characters (namely Camille, Oscar and Capt. Rowen), all of which dampened my enjoyment of the whole book. While I was a little disappointed with her first venture, it's obvious that Frazier has the making of a fine storyteller. With a little spit and polish, this newbie's sure to shine.
(Readalikes: a little like The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi)
Grade: B-
If this were a movie, it would be rated: PG-13 for some language (no F-bombs), violence and sexual innuendo
To the FTC, with love: I received a finished copy of Everlasting from the generous folks at Scholastic. Thank you!