Options for Fiction Reading, Part Two of Four

Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger

"You can't live in the world with such strong likes and dislikes."

I read The Catcher in the Rye in ninth grade, just like every other American, and like every other teenager, Salinger's writing resonated with me. Years later, Holden Caulfield drives me nuts. Franny and Zooey has the same swear-word-laden, tic-y writing as any standard Salinger. But it has something The Catcher in the Rye never had--heart. Zooey and Franny Glass are a brother and a sister raised in an unusual family, groomed to be child geniuses. Franny is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, and begins chanting the Jesus Prayer at all times, hoping it will become like a subconscious zen message, constantly buzzing in her mind. 

  American Gods by Neil Gaiman

"What I say is, a town isn't a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it's got a bookstore, it knows it's not fooling a soul."

What can I say about this book that other reviewers haven't already said? Settlers came across the sea to America, bringing their respectful gods with them, and the gods were abandoned here for the new religion, Christianity. This book follows a man fresh out of prison who is caught between two warring gods, one ancient god and one from the twentieth century. This is ultimately a story about stories, weaving myths, folktales, and legends together into a modern plot. Neil Gaiman is a god of fiction himself. Anyone who loves mythology will gobble this book up.

Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella

"The trouble with giving yourself a pep talk is deep down, you know its all bullshit."

Every good meal deserves a delectable, rich dessert, and it doesn't get more delicious than Sophie Kinsella, best known for the Confessions of a Shopaholic series. I actually love the chic-lit genre. Most of the books in this genre are surprisingly witty, but none of them compete with Ms. Kinsella. This is a story about Lexi, who wakes up in a hospital bed with unrecognizable glamorous looks, a husband she didn't realize she had, and an entire life different than the boring one she remembers. She hit her head in a car accident and recovers from her amnesia for the rest of the book. I won't give away the twist, of course, but it's fine--this is a fast read, but so enjoyable.

A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer

"The other girls in the village never felt restless. Nhamo was like a pot of boiling water. 'I want, I want...,' she whispered to herself, but she didn't know what she wanted and she had no idea how to find it."

Fourteen year-old Nhamo is an orphan living in a traditional Shona African village in Mozambique. Nhamo is overworked by her cruel aunt, and the village consults a witch doctor when Nhamo reveals she was visited by leopard spirits--this is considered bad luck because her mother was dragged away by a leopard when Nhamo was an infant. The village decides to send her as a present (a slave) to her deadbeat dad's brother, where she will inevitably be beaten by his older, jealous wives. Her grandmother helps her escape the night before her relocation, and she floats in a canoe up the river to Zimbabwe. It is a tale of survival, with beautifully written description about the African landscape. 

Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

"Pride is one of the seven deadly sins; but it cannot be the pride of a mother in her children, for that is a compound of two cardinal virtues--faith and hope."

Charles Dickens is so cliche that I almost hate admitting that he is as good as everyone says he is. True, I find his actual writing kind of wearying to read--but it demands you curling up in front of a fire with an ottoman and a blanket, while the snow flies outside. Except for A Tale of Two Cities, which I CANNOT stand. I usually stay away from books written about this time period. I do not do Jane Austen. NO. 

But this book is delightfully everything a Dickens should be: pitiful characters like Smike, cartoonish villains like Squeers, perfectly evil businessmen like Ralph Nickleby, respectable mothers like Mrs. Nickleby, a virtuous, lovesick maiden like Madeline Bray, and a prideful, arrogant, and still likable protagonist like Nicholas. My favorite Dickens by far.

Part three to come soon!