'A Sight for Sore Eyes' by Ruth Rendell

Obviously, I've read several Ruth Rendell books, so I'm in a position to make some comparisons. This is probably the book that I have been least enamored with of all her novels thus far. However, she manages to redeem herself well before the end of the novel. In true Rendell fashion, she managed to surprise me near the end of the book and I was left feeling very satisfied with the novel as a whole.

The book has a few primary story lines. Teddy is a young man who was neglected as a child and has grown up warped and unable to create or maintain relationships with others. Francine's mother was murdered when she was a child and Francine is repressed and over-protected by her step-mother. Harriet is an aging beauty who lives in an impressive home with her older husband. Anyone who is familiar with Ruth Rendell stories will realize that these three stories will eventually intersect.

Similar to other Rendell stories, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good suspense novel. Ruth Rendell does what most other writers are not able to; she tells you who the primary antagonist is and what his motivations are without making her story humdrum.

Anna’s Teen Lit Weekend of Shame, part 2

Can I still claim it to be part of a weekend of shame if I read this book during the week? Or maybe a better question is whether I should even be ashamed of my regression to my favorite pre-teen reading habits. That being said, last week I read The Evil Twin installment of Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High series. Luckily, this book, unlike the copy of Secrets that I borrowed from the library, is not an updated version of the text. Even though the revised Sweet Valley was ok, I strongly prefer the originals.

In this book, the twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are being stalked by a third girl who looks just like them. This murderous teenager has dyed her dark hair blonde and bought blue contacts to impersonate the Wakefields and hopefully take the place of one of them. Improbable? Heck yes. But that’s what makes Sweet Valley High so much fun. The murderous Margo stalks, impersonates and eventually tries to eliminate one of the twins; will the Wakefield twins manage to survive!?!?!

Spoiler: Duh, they’re ok.

'The Road' By Cormac McCarthy

Around the same time my sister was reading The Road I saw the book listed as on of the top 10 most depressing books ever written. So I expected that it would be good based on what my sister said and I knew it was going to make me really, really sad. The story is set in what appears to be a nuclear winter or some similarly bleak setting (we don’t know much about the history); clouds have completely blocked out the sun, ash covers everything and plants and animals seem to be extinct. In this gray, cold landscape, a man and his child travel together, trying to survive and care for one another. It is heartbreaking, but I also think that it is probably important to read and think about.

Despite the fact that the book is depressing and the world has become something alien to us, it isn’t really so difficult to relate to the things that happen in the story. Shouldn’t we all live to do what’s best for the people we love? The way I see it, the questions in the book are things that we should all be thinking about everyday:

• What are we going to do?



• Is that safe to eat?



• Are you one of the good guys?



• Are you carrying the fire?

Anna’s teen lit weekend of shame

This post should either count as two books or zero books. Two books because I physically read two separate bound volumes of fiction. Zero books because I’m not sure that Sweet Valley High and Gossip Girls actually constitute real reading. At least I can admit to reading them and getting no small amount of pleasure from doing so.

Let’s start with the classic: Secrets by Francine Pascal. I’ll have to start by saying that this isn’t really a classic. When I was checking this book out at the library, I checked the publication date and found that it was originally published in 1983, which is exactly the kind of thing I wanted; if I had looked closer I would have noticed that it was “recreated” by Kate William in 2006. This means that this Sweet Valley High book contains lots of things that never would have been included in 1983: snooping in other peoples’ email accounts, ecstasy, martini tasting parties, photoshopping and writing blogs to name just a few discrepancies. Also, William modernized the story by having characters make references to shows like 24 and Heroes. Needless to say, I’m a little bitter about all this and I really missed my “vintage” Sweet Valley High. Luckily, the story was still pretty good; Jessica was scheming to win the homecoming crown and hopefully win the heart of the dreamy Bruce Patman (at least they didn’t modernize the characters’ names). It's especially nice looking back as an adult and realizing that Winston Egbert, the clumsy, skateboard-riding, skinny dork is actually the guy most worth dating in the whole series.

Now for Nothing can keep us together by Cecily Von Ziegesar. Before this weekend, I had never before read any Gossip Girl books. I probably should have started with a book from the beginning of the series, but I figured that since characters are just reintroduced at the beginning of every book anyway, it wouldn’t make such a big deal. And it didn’t. I was perfectly capable of following the story and I knew enough about past events for the plot to be easily understood. Most of the story involved preparations for the upcoming high school graduation and Serena and Blair fighting about boys. From what I had heard in the past about Gossip Girl, I was prepared for scheming, unsupervised minors who all have unbelievable amounts of sex and moderate substance abuse problems; I was not disappointed. If this were a real representation of teen life in America, we would be in serious trouble. Since this is fortunately not the case, people like me are able to enjoy knowing that it’s actually not that bad.

'Jane Eyre' by Charlotte Bronte

Does anyone really need to read a review of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre? I think most of us had read this book by about the 10th grade, and we believe that we’ve benefited as much as we’re going to from the book. Fortunately, this couldn’t possibly be the case. I use the word fortunately for a couple reasons: if you haven’t read the book since high school you couldn’t possibly remember or appreciate all of the book’s intricacies; if you have read the book since high school you obviously enjoyed it enough to read it multiple times. Both situations are opportunities for enjoyment; in one instance you’ll be able to read and better understand one of literature’s greatest masterpieces, in the other you’ll revisit a book that has already proven to be a pleasure.

For those of you who don’t know, Jane Eyre is one of the greatest romance novels of all time. To this day, it remains one of the few well written romances involving unattractive, seemingly oddly matched individuals (regular people falling in love? gasp!). Lucky for us (and all of British literature), Bronte’s novel isn’t only about Jane and Mr. Rochester’s love; it is the suspenseful and interesting story of Jane Eyre’s life. Though these fictitious events were taking place nearly two hundred years ago, Jane is strong, thoughtful and intelligent in ways that modern women should appreciate. And perhaps more importantly, she respects herself in ways that many modern women should learn to emulate.

'Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism's Work is Done' by Susan Douglas

Susan Douglas totally amazes me; in Enlightened Sexism she covers just about every problem that confronts women in the media and negatively affects female body image. The variety of media that she covers spans most of popular consumption; music videos, reality television, prime-time dramas, newscasts and more. In each case, Douglas shows the reader how females are given increasing amounts of exposure and seem to have responsibility and respect that doesn’t exist in real life.

Douglas motivates me to look more closely at firsthand relationships, situations and feelings and examine these things more critically from a feminist perspective. And it is oh-so-frightening. In the past, I would have considered myself to be of a feminist mindset, but I’m convinced that I haven’t done nearly enough for my fellow females to rightfully claim this title. This error is grievous, but it isn’t too late.

One of the best things about this book (there are several best things going on here) is the fact that Douglas manages to be humorous about so tragic a topic as female degradation. The sarcastic tone and well-timed personal commentary help to make the book as entertaining as it is educating. After reading Douglas’ book, I feel much more inclined to speak out in favor of childcare reform and against female objectification in the media. In short, Susan Douglas is a genius and Enlightened Sexism is an inspiration.