Rabbit Hole #13: (re)Read Me a Story

There's nothing like an old story with a new twist.

I think I first noticed my obsession with “retold” stories when Wicked by Gregory Maguire came out. The Wizard of Oz is a much-loved story from my childhood (much to my husband’s chagrin), and the idea that the Wicked Witch might not be quite what we were told was intriguing. Maguire's take on Elphaba and Galinda, and the entire ensemble of Ozian characters breathed new life into the story, adding another, and might I say much needed, dimension. (I also love the musical, except for Fiyero’s casting…) I’m also diving into Danielle Paige’s new Oz books, beginning with Dorothy Must Die, and loving the idea that Dorothy isn’t as sweet as she seems.

Fairy tales seem to be easy source material for these retellings. Jane Yolen's Briar Rose sets Sleeping Beauty in the tragedy of the Holocaust. Marissa Meyer’s YA Lunar Chronicles retell the princess tales in a futuristic society (Cinder/ella is a cyborg), while Helen Oyeyemi’s beautiful Boy, Snow, Bird transports Snow White to 1950s segregated America. Maguire also has Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Cinderella) and one of the most intriguing reworkings--Mirror, Mirror, which links Snow White with the story of Lucrezia Borgia and her family.

There are also side characters in literary fiction who are so interesting that their stories are practically screaming to be told. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde turns The Crucible and the Salem Witch Trials around by giving Tituba her voice (and also has a really odd crossover with The Scarlet Letter--which also has a great retelling in the dystopian When She Woke by Hillary Jordan). Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys takes Jane Eyre’s mad wife in the attic and makes her an extremely sympathetic and tragic character. Another one of my favorites is My Jim by Nancy Rawles, a retelling of Huck Finn from the perspective of the wife Jim has left behind. It’s a poignant and heartbreaking tale, much different from its source.

For those who want a comedic twist on their old plots, Christopher Moore's books Fool and The Serpent of Venice (King Lear and The Merchant of Venice, respectively) are wonderful romps through the Shakespearean landscape. He also has his slightly irreverent novel Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, which is one of my all-time favorites.

As much as I love new, innovative plots, there’s nothing that sends me for my wallet quite like a retelling of a classic story. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I just noticed that Sarah Pinborough has a new trilogy of “wicked” princess stories.

**Disclaimer: I linked each of these books to Barnesandnoble.com so interested individuals could read the plot synopses. I do not receive any compensation from them.

Rabbit Hole #12: Read Harder Challenge 2015 Update--April

Continuing through the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2015... 

Here's my list so far:  

(I know the challenge is not about how many in each category one can read, but to read one from each category. For myself, though, I wanted to try to see how many of the books I was reading could fit into the various categories.)

1. A book written by someone when they were under 25: 

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2. A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65: 

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

3. A collection of short stories:

4. A book published by an indie press: 

The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson (Open Roads Media Sci-Fi and Fantasy)

5. A book by or about someone who identifies as LGBTQ: 

We Are the Animals by Justin Torres

6. A book by someone of a different gender than you: 

Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy 

by Paul Thomas Murphy 

7. A book that takes place in Asia: 

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

8. A book by an author from Africa:

9. A book by or about someone from an indigenous culture: 

The Bone People by Keri Hulme

10. A microhistory: 

Desire and Disaster in New Orleans: 

Tourism, Race and Historical Memory by Lynnell L. Thomas

 Liar, Temptress, Soldier Spy: 

Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott

 Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity 
and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz

11. A YA novel: 

Paper Towns by John Green

12. A sci-fi novel: 

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

13. A romance novel:

14. A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer from last decade:

15. A book that is a retelling of a classic story: 

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi (retelling of Snow White)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (The Jungle Book)

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Cinderella)

16. An audiobook: 

Voices and Poetry of Ireland (a collection)

17. A collection of poetry: 

Once by Alice Walker

18. A book that someone else recommended to you: 

Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber

19. A book originally published in another language:

20. A graphic novel, memoir or collection of comics: 

Captain Marvel, Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue Deconnick

Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman

Batgirl, Vol. 1 by Gail Simone

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore

21. A guilty pleasure: 

22. A book published before 1850:

23. A book published this year: 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Jan. 2015 release date)

 Find Me by Laura van den Berg (Feb. 2015 release date)

24. A self-improvement book: 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

Regarding Baltimore

Dear fellow white people re: Baltimore--if you want to give advice & admonish those who are protesting, don't. Listen instead.

If there's one thing I've learned in my teaching career, it's that when people lash out at authority or act in destructive ways, there's always an underlying cause. You have to get to the root of the action and work to fix that. If you just address the action, nothing will be achieved. And if you don't listen, TRULY listen, to another person, you definitely won't.

We have a long history of institutionalized racism in this country, and it affects every aspect of our lives, whether we realize it or not. It's in our work places, our politics, our schools, and our police forces. This is what we need to be looking at.

So listen. Turn off the mainstream media (that includes Fox) and seek out other voices. Listen to what they are saying, because I guarantee you, the frustration and anger runs deep, and rightfully so. Read books and articles written by people different than you. Get outside of your comfort zone and challenge yourself to actually empathize with the anger and frustration.

And if you find yourself more outraged at a CVS being burned down than a man's spine being severed, that says a lot as well.

Learning to Live With Uncertainty

Our realtor in New Orleans sent us updated pictures of our house yesterday. It's being completely renovated, so seeing the progress made since we were there in March was really exciting--and a bit sobering.

It really hit home yesterday: We are moving. In six weeks. Halfway across the country.

And while this is such an amazing change, and I can't wait to get started on the next stage in our lives, I'm having to deal with a degree of uncertainty that I haven't had in a while:

• We can't just pop over to see how the house is coming along; we have to have complete faith in people we only met for a few hours to create a wonderful place for us to live. 

• Home insurance is drastically different in New Orleans than Nebraska (ya know, floods and hurricanes and things). 

• I still don't have a job. I don't know if I want to continue teaching or branch out into something new, so I'm applying for a lot of different things. I would like to have something in place before we move, but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. (*cue mild anxiety*)

• We have three dogs and a cat. How on earth are we going to get them all down there with minimum stress on all of us?!?

• We have to find a vet, doctors, dentists, etc., etc. . . . 

• I'm sure I can come up with more. . .just give me time. . .

Luckily, we know the New Orleans area, and we have some dear friends there who can help us once we get down there. That makes this easier than if we were moving to, I don't know, the Philippines. (Right, Mom and Dad?)

In the midst of all this uncertainty is a quote by Paulo Coelho that keeps reminding me why we are doing this:

I've got this. 

Rabbit Hole #11: Liar, Temptress, Solider, Spy by Karen Abbott

I finished this book last week for one of my book clubs. It was a fascinating read, chronicling the lives of four women, two Union supporters and two Confederate, who risked everything to help their side during the Civil War. The title is a little misleading, as it makes it sound as if one title would fit a single woman, but all four women worked as spies at different times during the war, all were liars after a fashion, and two definitely were temptresses (although they used their feminine "charm" to seduce men to uncover important secrets). 

I realized that my own upbringing and prejudices about the Civil War influenced which women I was rooting for. The Confederate women grated on my nerves: their thoughts about Lincoln, the emancipation of slaves, their thoughts on black people in general just made me not like them and actually hope that they would fail. That being said, I couldn't help but admire their ingenuity and desire to do whatever it took to help the South win the war, even at great personal risk. 

My favorite was Emma Edmonds (aka Frank Thompson), who lived her life as a man to escape a horrific home life, and then used that persona to join the Union Army. She was a medic, a nurse, a spy, and much more during her tenure. Her struggle to keep her identity secret, and her decision to reveal it to two different men during the war, was both heartbreaking and inspiring. 

My biggest regret with this book, however, is that it focused solely on white women's contributions to the war. Even though Abbott mentions Elizabeth Van Lew's servant, Mary Ann, who became a spy in the Confederate White House, she's only a mention, when, in fact, if it hadn't been for her, most of the Union's intelligence wouldn't have been gathered. I would have liked to have seen at least one of the sections focus on a woman of color. There were many risking their lives on a daily basis to help insure the success of the Union; it's a shame they weren't given more consideration. 

That being said, I highly recommend this book to any history buff, anyone interested in women's history or women's rights, or anyone who just likes a good spy story--there's plenty for everyone!

Hey, America? I'm tired.

I'm tired.

I'm tired of seeing strong, intelligent women being lam-blasted on social media when they speak out against misogyny and other forms of discrimination. That these attacks devolve so quickly into rape and death threats is shocking, and the fact that so many people shrug them off as "just words" proves how far we still have to go to treat women as equals in this country.

I'm tired of men sitting in positions of power dictating--STILL--what women can and cannot do with their reproductive health. 

I'm tired of becoming numb to the number of shootings in our country. There are approximately 200 shootings in the United States each day (including non-fatal incidents and suicides). We barely react. But 17 people are killed over a cartoon in another country, and it obsesses our nation for weeks. 

I'm tired of reading about young, unarmed black men being killed by those who are supposed to bring people to justice. White men can go on killing sprees, including killing police officers, and be brought in--living--to face their day in court. Black men (and women) don't usually have that luxury. And now, the FBI is investigating a death in Mississippi--a black man found hanging from a tree. We seem to have rewound the clock to the 1950s, and it's terrifying. As a white woman, it's terrifying. As a black person today, I can't even imagine.  

I'm tired of people assuming those receiving types government assistance are lazy, good for nothing bums who just need to get a job, when so many of those needing assistance are members of our military or people who are working two and three jobs with families and STILL can't make ends meet because minimum wage is a joke. 

I'm tired of Christians introducing hateful, discriminatory laws toward LGBTQ individuals that are beginning to hearken back to Jim Crow-like ideology. I don't care if you say it's for "religious" reasons: if you say you refuse service to someone because of who they are, and you want to post signs saying you won't serve a certain type of person, you're a bigot. The Bible was used to enforce and justify slavery and Jim Crow and the subjugation of women as well.

And, yes, I know...

#notallcops

#notallmen

#notallgunowners

#notallwhitepeople

#notallChristians

Et cetera, et cetera. 

But if even one person in a group is committing these types of discrimination and hatred, the rest of the group has a responsibility to step up and change things. 

I'm tired of a lot of other things--too many to count, really. Being tired doesn't mean stop fighting, though; it just means there's still work to be done, by all of us. Because if we truly believe in American values, we need to start acting like it. 

Rabbit Hole #10: Read Harder Challenge 2015 Update--March

Continuing through the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2015...

I just realized I have only nine more categories to complete! And it's only March!! What is really enlightening about this challenge is to realize I do read rather widely, and topics that I thought would be a challenge (audiobooks, for example) are much easier than I had anticipated. 

Here's my list so far:  

(The first book in each category that I've read is in blue; the second in each is in red. I'm finding that it's pretty easy to have multiple books in most of the categories. And of course, some of my books would obviously fit in more than one category, but I'm only listing them once.)

A book written by someone when they were under 25:

A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65:

A collection of short stories:

A book published by an indie press: The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson (Open Roads Media Sci-Fi and Fantasy)

A book by or about someone who identifies as LGBTQ: We the Animals by Justin Torres

A book by someone of a different gender than you: Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy by Paul Thomas Murphy

A book that takes place in Asia: The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri

A book by an author from Africa:

A book by or about someone from an indigenous culture: The Bone People by Keri Hulme

A microhistory: Desire and Disaster in New Orleans: Tourism, Race and Historical Memory by Lynnell L. Thomas

A YA novel: Paper Towns by John Green

A sci-fi novel: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

A romance novel:

A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer from last decade:

A book that is a retelling of a classic story: Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi (retelling of Snow White); The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (The Jungle Book)

An audiobook: Voices and Poetry of Ireland (a collection)

A collection of poetry: Once by Alice Walker

A book that someone else recommended to you: Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber

A book originally published in another language:

A graphic novel, memoir or collection of comics: Captain Marvel, Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue Deconnick; Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman

A guilty pleasure:

A book published before 1850:

A book published this year: The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Jan. 2015 release date)

A self-improvement book: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo