Shaina Reads: November 2014

, by Shaina

Thanksgiving Part II: Fortuitous Findings

, by Shaina

Thanksgiving Part I: The Great San Francisco Bookstore Tour

Greetings from Starbucks, the only spot I've managed to find (somewhat) reliable Wi-Fi so far this trip!

My boyfriend and I spent the first two days of our Thanksgiving vacation visiting a good friend from college who currently works in San Francisco. We thought we’d stop through to see her on the way up north to his family in Oregon.

My friend is as book-obsessed as I am and was perfectly content to take us on, as she called it, “the bookstore tour of San Francisco.” Throughout our 20+ miles of walking around the city, we managed to hit four different shops, each wonderful in its own way.

Image source - Tin House

First up was Borderlands Books, a charming little bookstore and café in Mission Dolores. Their specialty is science-fiction, fantasy and horror, along with a prized selection of rare books (behind the counter, ask before you take a look!). From what I could tell, they support up-and-coming authors—I'm fairly sure I overheard an author dropping off a copy of his book to the owner, who told him, "So glad you finally got this published!" Bonus points. I spent a good deal of time drooling over the selection here, including a beautiful, new copy of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski, before deciding I’d already brought enough books with me. This determination went out the window later, as you’ll see. My boyfriend picked up a copy of Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy. I’m excited to snag it when he’s done, as I loved, loved, loved He, She and It.

Image source - Travels of Adam

Next came Dog Eared Books, another shop in the Mission District specializing in new and used books of all genres, including a small press/independent section. This was where my resolve broke down, as I found new copies of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde and Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (both on my Classics Club list) for $10.83 total. It was hard to leave with only two, as half the shop was taken up by overflowing sales tables—they were practically giving away some fairly new stuff. The size of my purse was definitely the limiting factor here.

Image source - me!

The next day brought us to The Booksmith in the Haight. This was the most aesthetically-pleasing of all the stores we visited, as well as the only place I actually remembered to take pictures. I’d describe it, but, really, just look at it. The entire place looked like this. The store wasn't enormous, but it had a wonderfully curated selection and beautiful, book-nerdy decór. Despite the relatively small size, I could have easily spent hours browsing the shelves and various literary knick-knacks (including an inspired Literary Map of San Francisco jigsaw puzzle, which was a struggle not to buy). Prices here were more in line with mainstream stores ($10-20 for paperbacks, more for [gorgeous, gorgeous] hardcovers), which made it much easier to restrain myself and keep my wallet safe. Not by much, though.

Image source - Black Clock

Last on the tour was Green Apple Books, a sprawling, two-storefront spot in Inner Richmond—fiction and records in one, nonfiction in the other. We were in rush to meet friends for dinner before my boyfriend and I caught our train north, so we only spent ten minutes or so here. If we didn’t have somewhere to be, I’d probably still be there now, poking around the never-ending stacks. Before we had to dash, I managed to find a used copy of Neuromancer by William Gibson on one of their bargain carts that came to $2.18. My justification: it can only weigh a few ounces, right? And it totally fits in my bag.

I arrived in San Francisco with four books and left with seven. Thanks, SF, for the sunny days, delicious food and fantastic book deals! I’ll definitely be back.

4 comments

, by Shaina

challenges

The Beat Your Best Read-a-thon (Early) Wrapup

2 comments

, by Shaina

classics club

Ivanhoe Read-along

No comments

, by Shaina

challenges

The Classics Club: Intro Post and Book List

20 comments

, by Shaina

challenges

Beat Your Best Read-a-thon Mid-Challenge Update

No comments

, by Shaina

reviews

This is a Review: White Teeth, by Zadie Smith

Source: io9

"And then you begin to give up the very idea of belonging. Suddenly this thing, this belonging, it seems like some long, dirty lie ... and I begin to believe that birthplaces are accidents, that everything is an accident. But if you believe that, where do you go? What do you do? What does anything matter?" - Samad Iqbal

After practically inhaling The God of Small Things last week, I was surprised by how much longer it took me to get into White Teeth. Many of the same elements that made TGoST so fantastic -- frank, clever wordplay about race/caste tension and violence, gender relations, immigration and xenophobia -- are found in spades in Zadie Smith's debut novel. Still, with a looming library due date and finding myself only 60 pages in, I almost chucked it in the "abandoned for now" pile.

And oh, I'm glad I didn't, because this novel is wonderful and made for a fantastic read after Arundhati Roy. At its most "fundamental" level, White Teeth is the story of two immigrant families, the children of each struggling to find themselves in the shadows cast by fathers who "drag ancient history around like a ball and chain." We get a taste of that ancient history, too -- the story goes back and forth in time, jumping from young Archie and Samad bumming around their wrecked tank in World War II to Archie's teenaged daughter, Irie, mooning over one of Samad's sons, the devilishly handsome rebel Millat (whose cause only becomes clear at the end of the novel). Really, history is its own character here, and we hardly go twenty pages at any given point in the novel without hearing about Samad's great-grandfather, Mangal Pandey, or Clara's mother's turbulent birth in the middle of an earthquake in Kingston, Jamaica. The past is heavy, and Irie Jones and Magid and Millat Iqbal are made to carry it, each to their own individual downfall and redemption.

Layered atop the fraught daily lives (and daily musings into the past) of the Jones, Iqbal and Chalfen clans are the questions of life's accidents versus chances versus fate, nature versus nurture, control versus lack, and all that we as humans turn to to help us figure it out: religion, science, the flip of a coin. Idols are worshiped and abandoned, from BBC news anchors to God to Vespas, all in search of the one "truth." Ultimately, Alsana Iqbal delivers what you might call this "truth" best:

“In the end, your past is not my past and your truth is not my truth and your solution - is not my solution.”

Not as poetic as TGoST, perhaps, and definitely more over-the-top, but perhaps all the more biting because of it. Some of the characters border on the ludicrous (see: Ryan Topps, Hortense Bowden, every member of the Chalfen clan). But, then again, the main thrust of this novel is the search for identity (or, as Samad Iqbal would say, the search for belonging), and aren't we all a little desperate (occasionally to the point of madness) to find where we fit in this crazy, mixed-up world?

I didn't expect the ending, and I love the novel all the more for it. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys dysfunctional families, thoughtful writing, and dark comedy with a hefty serving of English, Bangladeshi and Jamaican slang. If it feels slow to start, power through it. It'll all be worth it in the end.

No comments

, by Shaina

challenges

The Beat Your Best Challenge!

1 comments

, by Shaina

reviews

This is a Review: The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy

Source: Simona Rich

Before picking up The God of Small Things this past week, the only thing I knew about it was how many of my high school peers absolutely hated reading it for English class. As an avid lover of Toni Morrison (Beloved, in particular), I'm no stranger to being the minority opinion when it comes to assigned reading. Still, I must have carried at least a little of my fellow students' disdain for this book, as I never made the time to read it. A couple of my friends told me it might be up my alley, so I decided to give it a shot. Plus, they lent me their copy—how can I say no when it's right in front of me?!

After devouring it in two days, I absolutely see why this would have been uncomfortable book to read and discuss for 14-to-18-year-olds. Without giving anything away, I can say it's full of gut-wrenching, taboo, and generally gross things. Things that teens might not want to talk about with each other, let alone their teachers (ewww!).

But as someone who's post-high-school, post-college, and not required to talk about or write a paper on this novel, The God of Small Things is one of the most beautiful, heartbreaking and important books I've read. And I've read a fair number of those this year! (See: Possessing the Secret of Joy, The Ways of White Folks, Things Fall Apart)

Not even getting to the plot or characters, Roy's writing style is gorgeous. She makes the ordinary seem extraordinary, even the "small things" like the sights and smells of a pickle factory, the look and feel of an unfortunate dress worn to the airport, or the way a ceiling fan redistributes the "terror" in the air at a doctor's office. The truly amazing part is that much of what she writes about is anything but gorgeous—there's a lot of spitting, vomiting and other bodily functions in this book, written about with the same tender care as the pretty cousin Sophie Mol or the flora and fauna of India. It just feels so honest in a way that many novels strive toward but don't quite reach.

I could wax on about the structure of the storytelling, the characters themselves, and the big questions that this book grapples with, but it's all been done before and really, you should just go read this book. That is, unless your high school English teacher already made you do so. In that case, read it again!