~book~ Blueprints for Building Better Girls

Blueprints for Building Better Girls: Fiction by Elissa Schappell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If I had to describe this book in five words it would be: beautiful, heart wrenching, real, haunting. It has been a long time since I couldn't put a book down without great difficulty. Schappell has written a series of short stories that is so intimately relatable that it's impossible to feel for these girls.
There are some reviewers who were bemoaning and wanting to know where the "strong" women were in this anthology and the point of this was that these were not strong women. They were real broken women who had real broken things happen to them. These are the thoughts that anyone whose ever been outcasted by peers or their own experiences are afraid to voice. These are not women who make great decisions, but make the best decisions they can to cope with what they're given.
This is something short of a novel and something more than a short story collection. Characters are reintroduced and experiences are shared from different perspectives. The first story and the last are told by the same woman, at the beginning and end of an evolution. It ties the interconnected stories up in a neat little bow.
I'm not going to lie and say that I didn't see myself in several of these characters, but the way she writes about how mothers' feel in the face of their children's destruction was perhaps the most affecting. My children are still young enough that it's not something I deal with yet, but someday they will break my heart and that is the potential this collection made me feel.
If there was only one story you read in this anthology it would be "The Joy of Cooking". It encompasses how difficult mother/daughter relationships are from both ends. No matter how perfect they may look from the outside. "On her first birthday I made my baby girl a carrot cake and she fed herself with her fist. She squealed with delight. I thought: So, this is love." What more perfect thought is there from a mother looking back on a daughter whose struggled with anorexia her entire life?

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~book~ Hemingway's Girl

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I feel like I should start by saying that I am not a huge fan of Hemingway. It's really as simple as I don't completely dig his writing style and that little fact that I'm a woman. I am also impossibly drawn to reading about great authors that I don't love in historical fiction. I'm not really sure why that is, but I always have been.

This book is set from the late winter to summer of 1935 in Key West. Told from the perspective of Mariella, a struggling young girl supporting her grieving mother and two young sisters. They're father has recently passed away and it's left to Mariella to keep a roof over their head and money for a doctor for the youngest girl. She meets Hemingway and a veteran around the same time and much of story revolves around her conflicting attraction and feelings for the two men.

The crux of a book like this is the relationships and character. Without a grasp of these two things, the story will just fall apart as another romantic piece of trite bs. Robuck has an amazing grasp of the both. Mariella is that "strong woman" in historical fiction that generally makes me want to throw things at the wall, but in this case she is realistically strong. She's not just strong and highly moral in an immoral world. She is strongly attracted to a married man. She sneaks around with a vet behind her mother's back. She is raw and real and struggles with her faith.

Hemingway is really a supporting character here used to highlight the balance of physical attraction and morality. The battle of what one should want and what one does want. If it feels obvious how things are going, it frequently doesn't go that way. The best relationship in this novel is not between Mariella and any man, but between her mother and her. It's a difficult relationship that perfectly sums up the mother/teenage daughter dynamic.

Simply put, this book is well worth a read.

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Oz-n't It Wonderful?

So, tomorrow marks the one month countdown until Oz, The Great and Powerful hits theaters.

I have not been this excited for a movie since........*thinks for a couple minutes*.................possibly ever. Being completely honest, I am (and always have been) an Oz freak. The best Christmas gift my husband ever got me was the numbered box set for the 70th anniversary of the Wizard of Oz. The plastic with the numbered limited edition had to be taken off after it got too damaged in a fire, but still, it's amazing.

Here's the breakdown of my favorite Oz things:

The Wizard of Oz (the movie):

There are few phrases more obnoxious than "timeless classic", because it's overused to death. It really does apply in this case though. When I was tiny sized, I distinctly remember the excitement of the once a year showing of Oz. It was an event before everyone had video and dvd of it and could watch it whenever they wanted. There is something that brings back the magic and wide eyed wonder of being a child for me every time I watch it to this day (more than once a year now, granted).

The Complete Oz Book series:

I distinctly remember that I was in the 6th grade when I read all 14 books in the course of maybe a month. It was one of those cases where a series of books managed to make an escape from my life and everything that was wrong in it: recently moved, few friends, divorcing parents, general preteen angst. I think I may actually reread them all before the release of the new movie, just because I haven't in so long.

Return to Oz:

I have vague memories of watching this as a kid, but honestly they're not very vivid. When I was in my early 20's though, some friends and I rented it and watched it. It's dark and it's kind of screwed up. Any movie that starts with Dorothy getting electro shock therapy can't be all bad, even if it seems odd that it was aimed at kids. As an adult, you see everything that as a kid you probably would have missed. Also, the Wheelers were pretty much completely terrifying. That's the one thing I remember from being tiny. (Even if you're not a huge fan of the Land of Oz, it's worth watching just for the tiny Fairuza Balk.)

Wicked (the book):

I am the kind of person that is drawn to the villain in all ways and this book was truly amazing for making a sympathetic portrait of a character that in all honesty had always been pretty one sided as "evil". Which since we're talking about what's basically a fairy tale was alright, but it was interesting to see the human side of her. I have yet to read the sequel or see the musical (the latter of which is a huge hole in my life), so I can't say much on them unfortunately.

I've seen that there's some mixed expectations for this newest Oz movie, mostly revolving around not liking James Franco as an actor. I, on the other hand, have nothing but high expectations. At the very least it looks pretty and it looks like it was crafted with love for the Land of Oz. If Disney took the same care with this beloved franchise that they did with the Muppets, I don't think we have anything to worry about. So, here's to a month of bated breath and hoping.

I leave you with a picture of my very favorite collectible Oz thing I own, because who doesn't love Pez dispensers?

The Awesome Redheads Blog

As I type, I'm in the process of regingerification (which is now officially a word in the Land of Me), something I periodically do, because technically I'm a strawberry blonde and I enjoy the darker shades of gingerdom. So, I thought, what better time to give all you fine people a list of my very favorite redheads from film and book.

1. Lucy

There's a reason everyone still loves Lucy (no pun intended), she's cute, she's funny, and let's be honest a little dirty given the era of her show. What's not to love about that?

2. Poison Ivy

By far the best female in the entire Batman universe (excluding the awful big screen film version portrayed by Uma Thurman). In true ginger fashion, she is never afraid to use her sexuality to get what she wants. Also, she's an evil hippie, so what's not to love about that?

3. Daniel "Oz" Osbourne

Another favorite from a universe that I unhealthily adore. Always cool to Xander's always trying too hard, more straight faced in the face of everything than Angel, he was the snarky, sarcastic sliver of what deep down every girl/guy really wants. Also what every man secretly wants to be. Plus, werewolf always equals winning.

4. Joan Holloway

So, here's the thing with the working girls of Mad Men: Peggy Olson represents the girl who is blessed and can do whatever she puts her mind to. Sure, she runs into sexist attitudes, but she climbs relatively quickly in the business. Joan, on the other hand, is forever the glorified "coffee girl". I think there's something we all identify with in this. The world has made her bitter and her general attitude reflects this, but at heart she's just frustrated with where she's continually peg holed despite her obvious intelligence (higher than Peggy's) and ability to do whatever she's given.

5. Anne Shirley

My obsession with all things literary really started with Anne Shirley (aka Anne of Green Gables). She was spunky, she was smart and she had things to say. So many things, as a matter of fact that she almost literally never shut up, much to the initial annoyance of her adoptive family.

6. Grace Adler

Will and Grace is one of the most brilliant shows in the history of sitcoms. Grace is every woman. We all want to be Karen. Anyone who says differently is probably lying. But at heart chances are you're Grace. You're awkward, you're sometimes desperate, you just want your happily ever after g'dammit. For all of that we all hope that we're also as loyal and lovable as Grace.

7. Ron Weasley

Oh, Ron, poor Ron. In the universe of Harry Potter is there a character that is more unappreciated? I know someone is going to say Neville, but he has fan clubs for days and ends up being kind of a bad ass. Ron spends a lot of time just kind of being there, being supportive of Harry and waiting for the girl he loves to notice him while fumbling horribly with it. Confession: I spend more of my life feeling like Ron than I do anyone else, always kind of waiting to be the star. And that's why I love him so much.

There are so many more wonderful gingers out there, but these are my favorites. Will possibly always be my favorites. They represent to me all the struggles and virtues that I personally deal with and feel. If I missed any of your favorites, let me know in the comments who they are and why you love them.