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Review: Water for Elephants
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’m not going to lie. I cried like a baby while reading this book, and even when I wasn’t bawling, my eyes misted over several times. The story that Sara Gruen weaves here is very good, but the strongest emotional connection I had with this book came with the intermediary chapters where Jacob Janowski is struggling with his day-to-day life as a ninety-or-ninety-three-year-old man in an ‘assisted living’ home. I came to dread and relish each one of these short, connective chapters as the book progressed, because they hit very close to home. It has been over a year and a half since my grandfather passed away in the same type of facility, but Gruen’s portrayal of the human condition as we age was so sensitive and honest that it consistently broke my heart in the most beautiful way.
The circus story was almost as satisfying, and I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of historical accuracy the story gave. I’ve been interested in circuses and sideshows in a glancing way for years, and everything about this story rang true.
Once I picked the book up, I found I didn’t want to put it down. I stayed up long into the night, and burned through it in two days. This book is highly recommended to fans of historical fiction, romance, or just anyone who is interested in the human condition as we age; really, that should be everyone! I can’t believe I didn’t read this book before now.
Now, the question is could I ever stand to watch the movie? Sight unseen, I can’t fathom the casting choices. I think the Jacob and Marlena in my mind are better left unsullied by R. Pattz and Reese Witherspoon…
Vaginal Fantasy: Slave to Sensation
Like most She-Geeks of our times, I’m a big fan of Felicia Day. I started following her on GoodReads after I’d spent some time reading her blog, and she’s a big fan of what she’s termed ‘vaginal fantasy‘ — basically, erotic/romance novels that are written with fantasy themes (think psychics, shapeshifters, fantasy creatures, and the like). When she started a Vaginal Fantasy reading group, including monthly Google Hangouts, I was sold!
I finished Nalini Singh’s Slave to Sensation in a weekend. It’s the type of book that you could read in one sitting, if you have the time; it’s a very easy read, and not particularly long. It reminded me of a Harlequin romance, but the fantasy world of the future that it’s set in made it a lot more entertaining to me. I’m not the type of girl who typically enjoys reading romance novels, but I do like psychic powers and shape-shifting, so this was the type of romance for me. The sex scenes were suitably raunchy, the romance was powerful and overblown, and there were actually a few passages that turned me on, made me go “awwwww!”, or both. I was surprised at how invested I became in the world and the characters, during the short time I spent with the book.
I’m going to check out more of Felicia’s ‘vaginal-’ labelled shelves to find more of these style of books in the future. Sometimes a girl just needs to sink into the bath with a glass of wine and escape into a sexy vaginal fantasy/sci-fi/mystery story!
Link and Zelda cross-stitch
Inspired by this sweet Mario and Toadstool cross-stitch piece on Pinterest, I wanted to make a small Link and Zelda cross-stitch piece; after a bit of work, I came up with a pattern.
The finished product:
If you’re interested in stitching your own, you can find the Zelda-II pattern here.
Katamari needle felting
Inspired by a project in the needle-felting book I read, I tried my hand at sculpting a little Prince and katamari from wool roving. They aren’t magnetic or anything fancy like that; just tiny little figurines to keep by my monitor.
Brandon suggested trying to make Link and Zelda from the Wind Waker game, because the simple colour schemes would work really well, based on this style, and I agree… but I would definitely make bigger figures in the future. Trying to make a face on a Prince shorter than my fingers was precision work!
Review: Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I really like the concept behind this book; it’s the way that it carries off its point that I’m not sure of. Human cloning and organ harvesting is a rich issue to draw from, and it marries nicely with the British-boarding-school genre of literature. I’m just not sure that the novel every truly finds its footing; it probes the lives and feelings of a triangle of friends, but the attempts often seem feeble, rather than delicate. The triangle never feels quite passionate enough, and the climactic reveal is so clearly seen coming that it was hard to even feel the disappointment of the characters. Overall, I’m not sorry that I read the book — however, it really only succeeded in making me long for more literature that examines the concept of human cloning, but with more success.
