#Weirdathon Wrap-Up

Wave to my friend Charlie. We think he's a little weird but we love him. He's here because it seemed apropos to put a weird guy sculpted from forks and spoons and other things at the top of a post about weird books.

I read 4 books that I considered suitably weird. Most were serendipitous readings. I'll tell you a little about them and, if I've already posted a review, you can click through the link via the title of each book to read more.

Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote - The weirdness of this Southern Gothic by a young Truman Capote lies mostly in its characterization. But, there are some hazy, fever-dream type scenes in which you don't quite know what's going on till the scene has ended. At least, I didn't. One of the people in my book group called the death of a mule the "mule suicide scene" and the rest of us said, "He didn't really commit suicide exactly," which he acknowledged but now I'll probably forever think of that mule as suicidal. This one's great if you're into the Southern brand of weirdness.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel - (Same link as Other Voices, Other Rooms) This is really the only book I deliberately chose for its weirdness and I chose it because a number of people either recommended it or said, "Yes, yes, that one!" to those recommendations. Wowee, were you guys right. What an odd mix of cooking, magic, and love. I think what I most adored about the complete and total weirdness of Like Water for Chocolate is that it was so utterly unpredictable. I had no idea where Laura Esquivel was going to take me from one page to the next. A truly, uniquely strange book that I'm happy to have finally read. A friend told me the book reminded her of an aunt who would tell family legends while she was cooking. I confess to being envious of her lovely cooking history. My early cooking experience was all "Chop this up and then get out of my way," hence the husband who does the bulk of the cooking in this house.

Pines by Blake Crouch - I didn't know this book was going to be so bizarre; again, it was pure luck that my very first inter-library loan (!!!) was freaky as all get out. What's strange about Pines is both the setting and the characters. A secret service agent wakes up to find himself beat up, most of his memory gone. The people in the town of Wayward Pines, though, are shifty and he's unable to get any answers out of anyone. There are little clues to what's going on (like a cricket that isn't really there) but I would never, ever have guessed the secret of Wayward Pines and what really happened to Agent Burke. It's crazy. But, I'm not going to give it away, in case you decide to read it. Must not spoil.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson - I don't think I'm going to bother writing a full review of Nimona (a graphic novel that I read electronically -- finally, I've found something I actually like reading in e-book form!!) but I enjoyed it. "Nimona" is the name of a shapeshifter who decides she wants to be the sidekick for the town's evil bad guy. But, he's really not all that bad and has trouble convincing Nimona she doesn't need to go around killing people. You can do your dastardly deeds without shedding blood. The real baddie is, in fact, the corporation. And, the bad guy is fighting the corporation, so doesn't that make him good? Eh, who knows. A wacky blend of medieval, modern, and paranormal, Nimona is lighthearted and fun and bloody and weird. The good guy is named Sir Goldenloin. I can't recall the bad guy's name. Something black something. At any rate, I liked it.

The rest of my #Weirdathon stack is still sitting on a corner of the entertainment center and I think I'll just leave it there. I had so much fun adding a little weirdness to my reading that I'd like to try to read more weird books, soon. Maybe not this month, but hopefully I can squeeze at least one title into May.

My thanks to Julianne of Outlandish Lit for hosting the #Weirdathon. Mixing a bit of weirdness into my reading really seemed to punch a hole in this year's annoying reading slump. Much appreciated!

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Books 1 and 2 for #Weirdathon - Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote and Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Blogger and my ISP are both behaving fitfully, this morning, so I'm going to try to keep this short for sanity's sake.

I'm calling Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote my first read for #Weirdathon, even though it originally hit my stacks because it was my book group's March selection and I had no idea (because I've only read Capote's sweet Christmas story) just how wacky a Capote book could be. The group's selection was just lucky timing.

Joel has been living in New Orleans with an aunt, following the death of his mother. When his father's second wife writes a letter saying they'll be happy to take him in, Joel is sent to a decaying and isolated mansion. Before he even arrives, Joel is disappointed to find that nobody has been dispatched to meet him, although he was told he would be met near the town where his father lives, so he has to figure out how to get to the house on his own. And, when he makes it to the house, he's confused. Where is his father? Why won't anyone answer any of his questions? Was that a ghost he saw in the window?

Surrounded by eccentric characters and bored out of his mind, Joel seeks friendship while trying to figure out what on earth has happened to his father.

A couple of our group members brought some helpful information to share. Other Voices, Other Rooms can be a little surreal, at times, and it has more of a snapshot feel than the sense of a well-defined plot, but there were some very strong themes. The book is partly about Capote's own loneliness and longing for a father, but there are several other themes that were not quite as obvious to me. I mostly got the sense of longing for love out of it.

Bizarre characters and beautiful language were the two aspects of this book that made me love it. I often felt like I didn't understand what was happening during a scene but then understood it as it was ending. A lot of what I didn't grasp was nicely explained by people in my group so the discussion was excellent. It's a book worth talking about and I loved its oddities.

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel is a book that seemingly everyone has read but me. I already owned a copy, purchased in a library sale years ago, so I was happy when not one but several people suggested Like Water for Chocolate when I asked for weird book suggestions.

Tita is in love with Pedro and expecting him to ask for her hand in marriage when her mother informs her that she is never to marry. Instead, Tita will be forced to follow tradition, caring for her mother for the rest of her life. Seeking to be near his beloved, Pedro marries her sister, Rosaura. Tita has learned how to cook from the elderly Nacha, and will eventually take over the cooking duties. But, when Tita's tears over her lost love are mixed into the batter of Rosaura and Pedro's wedding cake, the start of their marriage is ruined. Will Tita and Pedro ever be able to marry or are they doomed to love each other from a distance?

Holy Toledo, there is some serious weirdness going on in Like Water for Chocolate. No wonder so many people recommended it! There's strange magic in Tita's cooking and sexual energy that vibrates between Pedro and Tita, inflaming or repelling those around them via the food. Each chapter begins with a recipe and one of the quirks of this book is the way the author will interrupt her own story with a continuation of the recipe. The storyline bounces around a little, sometimes stepping backward in time so that a deceased character is suddenly alive. I found myself jolted by the changes in time but loved the uniqueness of this strange love story and its crazy ending.

Both highly recommended - I really enjoyed the eccentricities of the characters and the storytelling in both Other Voices, Other Rooms and Like Water for Chocolate. If you're filing away ideas for future #Weirdathon events and you haven't read these titles, definitely add them to your list. They are completely nuts.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

#Weirdathon stack and some recommendations

It took me a few days to get to the high shelf and I only found one Margaret Atwood book when I did (possibly because the other one I'm looking for isn't in the same category -- the large sci-fi books are waaaay up high) but I've finally gotten my #Weirdathon stack gathered. Here 'tis:

Top to bottom:

• Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
• The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
• Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel
• Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

And, while I was gathering books, I figured I might as well gather a few I've found a little weird (or that others might find odd):

Top to bottom:

• Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote - Just finished this, a few days ago. I mentioned the fact that someone in my F2F group called it "weird" so it might qualify. Boy, was she right. If only for the characterization, Other Voices, Other Rooms falls into the weird category.
• The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami - Most of the books I've read by Murakami have been either his short story collections or nonfiction, so I haven't fallen down the rabbit hole with him very often. But, The Strange Library is so mindbending I didn't know quite what to make of it and asked for help figuring out what on earth it was about. 
• Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi - It's been a while since I read Agent to the Stars but I recall an alien who had a body made of something akin to orange jell-o. Yeah, it's weird. Good weird, though. It's one of my favorite Scalzi books and surprisingly meaningful.
• Harriet Wolf's Seventh Book of Wonders by Julianna Baggott - I read somewhere that this one's gone through a name change for the paperback release -- now just "The Seventh Book of Wonders", I think. The history upon which it's based is fascinating but . . . yeah . . . it's a weird one.

I liked all four of my weird suggestions, in case you were wondering.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Getting Weird - Signed up for #Weirdathon

I happened to see a Twitter conversation about this month's #Weirdathon, yesterday, and immediately signed up because I am nothing if not weird and therefore I'm a fan of weirdness and weird events.

The sign-up goes on through Saturday and you can read the entire thread about #Weirdathon, here. I can't get to some of the books on my long list, at the moment, but I'll post a picture when I've at least got most of what I'm considering. In the meantime, the books on my mental planning list:

• Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
• The Woman in the Dunes by Kobo Abe
• Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and his Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
• Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

It's the Margaret Atwood titles that I can't get to: Oryx and Crake, Alias Grace. And, because I'm weird, all titles are subject to being thrown back on the shelf and changed for others, at any time. I can definitely get into a weird event, especially if it also involves #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks.

Addendum: I've started reading Other Voices, Other Rooms by Truman Capote and one of my F2F group's members has already declared that it's weird. So, maybe that counts. Maybe not. I'm finding it typically Southern and loving the language.

©2016 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery  or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.