Freebie Alert!!! Mythology

I'm a reader.

I was the kid who holed up in her room reading all day.  The one who stayed up until three in the morning to finish a book, even though I had a big test that day.  And I'm the one who was so engrossed in a book in the library that the librarian had to literally walk to my table and put her hand on my shoulder to get my attention (the library was closing and she was trying to get out of there).

But now I'm a writer, too.

And that changes things somewhat.  No longer can I just get lost in a good story.  There are so many booby traps to pull me out of it now.  Shouldn't there be an inciting incident here?  Hey, that's a blatant deus machina!  Can you please stop jumping in and out of all those characters' heads?

Mythology by Helen Boswell

Recently I read a book that appealed to both the reader and the writer in me.

Mythology by Helen Boswell is a YA novel that, like Twilight, will appeal to audiences of all ages.  Here is the description of it from Amazon:

Hope Gentry doesn’t believe in Fate. Born with an unusual power to see the dark memories of those around her, Hope just wants to be a normal teenager. But on the first day of her senior year of high school, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to a transfer student named Micah Condie. At first glance, Micah seems like a boy that most girls would dream about. But when Hope's powers allow her to discover Micah's darkest secret, she quickly becomes entangled in the lives of mythical entities she never dreamed existed

What I loved about Mythology is that it has wonderful, engaging characters.  Hope is a powerful female main character who makes a wonderful heroine.  I love how Helen is able to show Hope's powers in a very visceral way.  Hope is the one who pushes the action, making her own choices and  moving the story forward.

I'm thinking that Ms. Boswell must have read Save the Cat, because her story structure flows flawlessly.  Inciting incident?  Check.  Increasing tension leading to an action-packed climax?  Check.  False victory?  Oooh, good one, yes check!  Deeply satisfying ending?  Yep, check that off, too.

Add to that a wonderful, distinctive voice and a masterful treatment of theme, and Mythology turns out to be an engaging page-turner of a novel.

And here's the best part:  Mythology is free!  You can purchase the Kindle version of Mythology for free today (Monday, October 1, 2012) through Wednesday (October 3, 2012).

I hope you enjoy Mythology as much as I did, and when you're done, please take time to leave a nice review on Amazon.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand is the book chosen for our book club next month. I was excited to read it because Laura Hillenbrand and I share a couple of things in common. We're both writers, and we both have a chronic illness, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). I wanted to see what she was able to accomplish in spite of her illness. I found the author and her subject both to be very inspiring to me personally.

Unbroken is the biography of a remarkable man, Louie Zamperini, an Olympic runner and World War II veteran and former prisoner of war. From the opening preface to the final pages, Ms. Hillenbrand writes with a style befitting any thriller.

Tales of Louie Zamperini's childhood made me realize that my own “difficult” children are really not so bad. Their teenage antics pale in comparison to Zamperini's indomitable spirit. Like a wild horse that defies the best efforts of its masters to tame it, he remained unbroken and impossible to rein in.

Vanity and a desire to impress the ladies led Louie to train and discover his talent for running. He broke high school and college records and went on to compete in the Olympics. One of the youngest participants in a sport that favors age and experience, he did well but did not medal. His Olympic future looked promising, and it was believed that he would be the first man to break the four minute mile. But before he could prove himself in the following Olympics, World War II broke out, ending his career forever.

Ms. Hillebrand's description of the years Louie spent as a prisoner of war in Japanese camps is harrowing but never crosses the line into gory. As Louie survives over and over against all odds, you wonder how he could have done it. Laura digs deep into the character of the man and shows us how he was able to remain unbroken.

Louie's return home is heart-breaking, as you see the effects of his experience continue to haunt him. I admire the woman who married him; although she was human dealing with Louie, she always loved him and ultimately stood by his side.

Unbroken is a book about faith without becoming preachy. Louie's faith helped him survive months at sea, and it was a return to faith that allowed him to ultimately defeat his demons.

I loved this book and highly recommend it. I would give it five stars. It is a keeper, and I will be adding it to my Bookshelf.

For more of my five-star recommends, take a peek at my Bookshelf right under the title of my blog.

Recommendations

I fell in love with reading before I fell in love with writing.  By about two years, I think.  I have read and continue to read some excellent literature.  Here are some of my all-time favorites.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  I recommended this book to my husband, and it took him over a year before he finally gave in.  When he began reading it, he came in to me and said, "Listen to this."  He reread the opening scene to me with awe.  He continued to share morsels throughout the book, he loved it so much.  I said, "I told you so."  Now, go and do likewise.  Don't take a year.  You won't regret it.

The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck.  Sure, Of Mice and Men, The Red Pony, and The Grapes of Wrath get all the attention and accolades.  But this book is my favorite by Steinbeck.  The machinations of a good man using questionable means to rise to the expectations of others are brilliantly conceived and executed.  And I love a good redemption story.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mann Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.  Great characters, wonderful humor, and a sweet romance.  Written as a series of letters, it can be challenging to get into at first (or so I'm told), but well worth sticking it out.

Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey by Alison Weir.  I'm not big into historicals, but this novel was gripping and engaging. 

The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins.  Ms. Collins is a master of pacing and characterization.  She combines compelling story-telling with good writing.  If you haven't read these books, do it now before the movie comes out!

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.  I've heard J.K. Rowling disparaged before because she hasn't written anything since, but I would say she's not just a one-trick pony.  Her world-building is spectacular.  You can see her growth from book to book as she becomes more experienced and takes creative license as she gains her audience's trust.

I'm going to stop there, but if you want to see more of my recommendations, please visit my Bookshelf at the top of the page under the title of my blog. Or simply click this handy link here.  I update it regularly, so feel free to check back often.

What about you?  What is your favorite book of all time?

Happy Read an E-Book Week!

In honor of the e-book's 40th birthday, March 6-12 is E-Book Week.  To celebrate, everyone is encouraged to read an e-book.  Since I received my Kindle for Christmas, I have been reading lots of e-books -- ten at last count, and I've got 15 more in my "To Read" collection.

Not sure what e-book to read?  Here are a couple of suggestions.

The Reckoning by Tanya Parker Mills.  Her Kindle edition is on sale now for only $.99. 

Journalist Theresa Fuller has epilepsy, but this hasn't slowed her search for stories of injustice to broadcast to the world. When she and her cameraman, Peter Cranston, are captured inside Iraq in August 2002, she is cut off from her medication. Seizures resume, and dreams and visions of her American childhood in Baghdad begin to trouble her. Tormented by the relentless Colonel Badr, she is forced to focus on her own father's death years before in a Baghdad prison. The strain of her own captivity is relieved only by her growing attraction to Tariq al-Awali, the Iraqi captain who took charge of her capture. The more she learns of him and his family, the clearer her haunting dreams become, and the more puzzling her past. Before the American bombs begin to fall, and all of Iraq is thrown into even darker chaos, Theresa must find a way to escape the cruelty of Colonel Badr, and save those she cares for most.

Tanya spent years in the middle east herself, and her knowledge of the region shines through.  Great pace, believable writing, characters you care about.  The mystery unfolds in a very satisfying manner.  The scenes of torture never cross over the line to being excessive, but it is relentless and unsettling.

The Demise of the Soccer Moms by Cathryn Grant.  Kindle version also on sale for $.99.

A seemingly quiet suburban neighborhood is upended when a provocative single mother saunters onto the school playground for the first time. Her Doc Marten boots, tight T-shirts, and in-your-face attitude stir up buried fears and sexual anxiety.

In the dark corners of her home, a woman battles crippling memories that threaten to destroy the family she wants so desperately to protect. A suspicious death forces her best friend to make a hard choice between marriage and friendship.

Paranoia, jealousy, and maternal instinct collide, leading to the demise of the soccer moms.

Suburban Noir - where the mundane is menacing.

Cathryn Grant gets under the skin of her characters like picking at a scab over the old wounds of high school.  Her characters have depth and believability, and they sometimes uncomfortably mirror your own insecurities.  Her imagery is haunting, and she foreshadows bluntly -- watching the climax unfold is like watching an impending car accident.  You see it coming, but are completely helpless to do anything to stop it. 

Also check out Cathryn's collection of short stories, Flash Fiction for the Cocktail Hour. 

More bargains:  K M Weiland of Wordplay fame is offering both of her books at 75% off here.   I've loved her writerly wisdom and advice for awhile, and although historical fiction is not my favorite genre, the deal was too good to pass up.  And Amanda Hocking is making waves with her Indie novel Switched, Kindle version only $.99. 

High Expectations

I am a demanding reader. 

Reading has been my great love since I first discovered it 40 years ago.  (Yeah, I'll admit that.)  I've always been drawn to good literature, even as a child -- Pippi Longstocking, James and the Giant Peach, Island of the Blue Dolphins, and Where the Red Fern Grows were just a few of the books that delighted and entranced me.  OK, I'll admit, I went through a Harlequin phase in high school, but I still enjoyed the likes of Steinbeck and Dickens and even a hint of Shakespeare.  Add to that a course in French lit in college, and I fell in love with Les Mis, L'Etranger, and Le Petit Prince.  Am I a literary snob?  Perhaps.

One thing I do know is that when I buy a book to read, especially one that has been given good reviews, I have pretty high expectations.  I want clarity, I want great prose, I want subtle themes, I want emotional resonance, I want a good story.  Is that too much to ask?

Apparently, sometimes it is.

Here are some of my recent reads, and what I thought.

The Island of Dr. Moreau.  I enjoyed this book very much.  As a scientist myself (did you know I have a B.S. in zoology?), I was very interested to see how the author would try to scientifically explain the creation of these humanized animals.  It was believable, based on the knowledge of the day.  I'd probably give this book four stars.









The Phantom of the Opera.  I'm sure I would enjoy the play more than I enjoyed the book.  I did enjoy the tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, but it was a little melodramatic for my tastes.  I'm sure the writing reflects the era, but I didn't love it.  Three stars..










The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.  I know I enjoyed Agatha Christie novels in high school, but I discovered that I'm not a big mystery fan anymore.  It was kind of fun trying to outguess Holmes, but I didn't love it.  Three stars.










Understood Betsy.   I'm not a big Little House on the Prairie fan, nor did I ever get into Anne of Green Gables, but I found this book to be simply delightful.  Maybe it's because I'm a mom, or maybe because I really like kids in general, I don't know.  But I loved the humor in this book and the transformation of Elizabeth Ann into Betsy.  Five stars.








Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  This book was very critically acclaimed, got excellent reviews, and people LOVED it.  Me, not so much.  Maybe I was terminally turned off by the opening chapter, which I thought was a bit muddy and bogged down with back story.  Or maybe I was prejudiced by Amy Tan's excellent portrayal of Chinese American children's relationships with their parents.  Or maybe it was just too much to ask me to believe that a crush between 12-year olds could haunt them for a lifetime.  I don't know, but I was disappointed.  Three stars.

The Waterfall Concept: A blueprint for addiction recovery

I was given the opportunity to read and review this book, and I am so glad I accepted it. This is an excellent book, filled with information and suggestions to help someone as they struggle with addiction recovery.

Roger Stark is not only an addiction counselor, but a recovering addict himself. He approaches this book with the same attitude required of anyone attempting recovery -- humility. He offers so many tools in this book and covers all the bases: spiritual, emotional, physical. His suggestions progress from the easiest to follow early recovery techniques to more challenging techniques in later stages and the maintenance phase.

Stark clearly defines what an addict is and describes how they got to their place of addiction. I found it to be a good book for any parent who may have a child that is beginning to use drugs or alcohol as a coping technique for their feelings. I think many of the suggestions could be used as preventative tools, not only as recovery tools.

Stark is positive and encouraging throughout the book. He helps put relapses into perspective so they can become learning experiences rather than stumbling blocks.

What I loved most about his book is that many of his techniques are helpful overall life skills. Anyone can benefit from learning and incorporating the suggestions for coping, self-care, and expressing feelings.

The book had a lot of grammar and punctuation mistakes that made the reader have to work a little too hard. But it was well worth the effort. I strongly recommend this book to anyone, those who are currently in addiction recovery, parents, or anyone looking to become healthier emotionally.

Stand for the Family

I was given a copy of Stand for the Family to review.  Thank you, Cecily, for giving me the opportunity to discover this fascinating and eye-opening book.

Sharon Slater makes the case that the traditional family is under attack.  She unveils the attackers and shows us the methods that they use to undermine the family.  She then gives us suggestions on what we can do to fight against the onslaught.  The book is very well-researched, and she cites study after study backing up the information she includes.

The two groups she identifies as being the biggest threats to the family are radical feminists and homosexual activists.  Slater does a good job differentiating between individuals and lobbying groups; she's not saying that every homosexual and every feminist are against the family, but she exposes those groups who have declared that their intent is to dismantle the institution of the family.

Some of these groups' methods are obvious, such as bypassing public opinion and legislatures to take their issues to the courts.  Others are more surprising, like lobbying the United Nations to include anti-family language in the resolutions that are passed.  Slater shows how although you wouldn't think that such resolutions carry much weight, governments and courts around the world use them in their decision making.

Slater's book is a call to vigilance, a call to civic action.  Our greatest weapons against these attacks are speaking out and using our vote to elect individuals who are willing to fight against these groups.

I would have liked to see a chapter devoted to the topic of divorce, which is as big a threat to the family as the other groups she mentions.  It is something that most people have more control over than what is happening in governments or the UN.  I also think she should have cited some of the evidence that is out there showing how important fathers are to the development of their children.  It would have strengthened an already strong case for the traditional family structure.

I thought that the organization of the book was sloppy.  Slater begins the book by discussing battles at the UN over a cause she has yet to convince us to believe in.  It isn't until the third chapter that she talks about the importance and benefits of the traditional family.  Also, the suggestions at the end of each chapter tend to ramble and overlap.  I would have preferred to see just one final chapter with suggestions of how to fight back. 

I would highly recommend this book.   It is a wake-up call to what is going on around us.  Buy it and then pass it along to your friends and family.  We need more people to stand for the family or suffer the consequences when these groups succeed.

Missed Opportunities

Ah, Mockingjay, wonderful, anticipated Mockingjay.  Our dear Ms. Suzanne Collins had set our expectations SO HIGH with her previous works, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.  Would it even be possible to meet such expectations?

No, of course not.  What I noticed -- and loved -- about Ms. Collins in the previous two books is that she is an excellent, but flawed, writer.  I found Mockingjay to be just as marvelous as the first two books, but I feel in some parts she missed the boat.

Ms. Collins recognized that the greatest appeal from the first book was all the action inside the arena.  She deftly brought Kat back into the arena in her second book, through the introduction of the Quarterly Quell.  Definitely on the right track, she brought Kat back to the "arena" again during the attack on the capitol.

And yet, I can't help but feel that Ms. Collins failed to understand just what readers found so engrossing in the arena.  It wasn't the traps, the creations that intrigued us so much.  Sure, they were imaginative and interesting, and we tolerated them as such.  But the real magic happened between people, allies and enemies alike.  We loved to see our self-proclaimed heartless heroine bond with Rue, fall in love with Peeta, and match wits against Cato.  In the third book, we see many more traps, but far less teamwork and bonding between Kat and her comrades.  And the enemy they are fighting is completely faceless.  Kat's survival in this book seems based much more on luck than on skill, ingenuity, or instinct.

Still, I think that Kat resonated as the Mockingjay, and I think her last act of assassination showed her to be a true champion of the people, and President Snow's death was a fitting demise for him.

I personally found the ending (the very end, not The Big Twist) to be very satisfying.  It wrapped things up and gave me a sense of closure, if you will.  I think Ms. Collins does an excellent job of foreshadowing who Kat chooses in the end.  For those who feel like Kat was "just settling," I think you may have missed the hints.

I think Mockingjay is the weakest in the series, but I still recommend it as a must if you have read and loved the other two books in the trilogy.

Outliers:The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

Outliers was our book club selection for the month of May.

In his book, Outliers, Malcolm Gladwell challenges the idea of the self-made man.  He claims that superstars don't succeed merely by hard work and determination, but rather "they are invariably the beneficiaries of hidden advantages and extraordinary opportunities and cultural legacies that allow them to learn and work hard and make sense of the world in ways others cannot."

Let's be honest.  The main question in the back of my mind as I read this book was "What are my chances of becoming an outlier (aka superstar) in my chosen field of writing?"  Here are the advantages and disadvantages that I face, according to Mr. Gladwell.

My birthday is in early February (+).  I've loved writing all my life, and I have the poetry, journals, essays, and creative writing class grades to prove it.  I believe that over the years of my life, I have probably racked up over 10,000 hours of writing practice (+).  My IQ is above the threshold for "genius," but not necessarily off the charts (+).  I don't have the work ethic of a rice farmer (-).  I come from a poor background (-).  I'm at the tail end of the Baby Boom generation (-).  And finally, we are probably looking at a very consequential change in the way literature is published and distributed, and I am in a position to take advantage of that change (+).  Conclusion?  Meh.  Maybe.

One thing that I wish he would have explored more is the effect of high individualism in American culture.  Perhaps he avoided that discussion on purpose.  If he were to find that Americans were actually using hard work and determination to rise above their beginnings, then that might throw a wrench in his theories.  And after all, we don't all necessarily aspire to become outliers, do we?  I don't need to be a superstar.  I'll settle for becoming a very successful author.  I'm determined to do so, and I plan on working very hard to achieve it.

An American Epic

I finally finished a behemoth of a book, Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk's Youngblood Hawke. It was a fascinating, if uncomfortable read. I love a book that stretches my mind, and this was able to do that. I learned a lot about Hollywood, publishing, the theater, coal mining, and the communist witch hunts back in the '50s.

The book was not without flaw. It was drawn out and rambling in some parts; occasionally the dialogue didn't seem to work very well. However, it was a compelling story about a topic that interests me very much right now -- the life of a rising star author.

Wouk did an excellent job of characterizing. You really got a feel for the people he created. Youngblood Hawke was a larger than life, beast of a man. As a writer, I recognized the qualities that most of us can probably relate to: a huge ego, necessary to even consider putting pen to paper; tormenting bursts of self-doubt; the belief that one can write much better, as you'll see in the next book; and that strange compulsion to keep writing, whatever the circumstances.

The supporting characters were just as compelling and well-sketched. As Wouk revealed more and more about his characters, kind of like peeling the skin off an onion, you experienced the same loss of innocence and disgust that Youngblood Hawke, himself, felt. The few moral characters in the story shined brightly, tugged at your heart and earned your sympathy.

I won't spoil the book for you, but I have to admit that the ending was very unsatisfying to me. That was probably due to my attachment to some of the characters. I didn't feel that the ending was necessarily wrong, per se. I just think that the author could have chosen the alternative and still remained true to the story.

Now, I'm not satisfied reading a book unless I am able to take something from it to add to my craft. To that end, Wouk was masterful at using foreshadowing. Throughout the book, he sprinkled subtle, poetic hints at what would happen in the story. It was not surprising the way the events unfolded, it was more like a fulfillment of promises.

I don't know if I would heartily recommend this book. It had such a cynical and pessimistic tone. I also personally could have done without a lot of the profanity; hey, I'm sensitive that way. But I don't regret the time I sacrificed to read it.

The Persian Pickle Club

The Persian Pickle Club by Sandra Dallas is the book chosen for my Book Club this month. Since my health precludes me from attending Book Club these days (pout), here are the fascinating insights I would have shared:

I initially found the homespun, country-girl voice of the book to be a little much for me. At first, I thought the story would have been better told if the voice weren't so thick. I realized, however, that it made me feel immediately more sympathetic with Rita. I, too, was a city girl, an outsider. As I grew to know the other characters, the tone felt much more natural. It faded into the background as the story commanded my attention. I also noticed that as I grew to care more for the members of the Persian Pickle Club, I started to like Rita less and less.

I loved Queenie when she "accidentally" made a rhubarb pie with Swiss chard. I loved Blue Massie for showing up in the nick of time. I loved Grover when he cried once he realized Queenie was unharmed. I loved Agnes for sacrificing her happiness to take care of her parents. I loved all those women who showed up armed with cakes and puddings and casseroles and scones whenever there was trouble.

It's easy to daydream and think, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a group of friends like that?" Alas, I just don't think it's possible these days. Those women led very simple, very connected lives. What else did they have going on that would keep them from spending hours every week quilting? We have cell phones and car pools and sports and music and Scouts and church and PTA and clubs and meetings... We don't have time for each other any more. We're content with a passing hello, a moment on the curb as we drop kids off or pick them up. We don't share our personal lives. Yet, I'm sure most of us yearn for that kind of friendship. How do you get beyond the superficial?

And finally -- do we really know who killed Ben Crook?

The Mermaid Chair

I read differently now that I've decided to BE a writer, instead of just writing. No longer do I just pick something up and skim through it for pleasure, tossing it aside if it annoys me. Now I'm looking as much at the craft as I am the story. It makes the good books so much better, and dang it, I can't even put a bad book down now!

I picked up The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd earlier this year when I was in San Diego for my anniversary. I had loved The Secret Life of Bees, and I was looking forward to reading it. Sadly, it did not live up to my expectations. But I learned a heck of a lot! For instance ...

1. Skip the prologue. I've heard this advice before; now I have it perfectly illustrated. I'm not one who likes to be told what you're going to tell me. I like the journey -- let it unfold on its own. Also, her very first sentence annoyed me. "In the middle of my marriage, when I was above all Hugh's wife and Dee's mother, one of those unambiguous women with no desire to disturb the universe, I fell in love with a Benedictine monk." She follows it with "It happened during the winter and spring of 1988, though I'm only now, a year later, ready to speak of it."

How can she claim to be "in the middle" of her marriage, but it's only been a year since her affair? Isn't that a bit presumptuous? It introduced me to the Big Lie of the novel, that her affair had seemingly no affect on her marriage. But I'll get to that later.

2. Choose your format carefully. This really should have been a short story. I mean, I understood the first time she told me that Jessie's father's death was really important to her. Then she told me again. And again. And again... I also thought the mystery behind Jessie's mother's amputating her finger was way too dragged out. This would have been way more effective if it had been tightened up.

3. Watch your point of view. Most of the story is told from the main character's point of view. There were also a few chapters that switched to Brother Thomas's point of view. We knew that because she wrote Brother Thomas at the beginning of the chapter. The main character readily admitted that she didn't really know Brother Thomas, she just felt like she had known him all her life. Why did we need to learn so much about him that she wasn't even interested in discovering?

4. I'm a theme person. I admit it. I love themes. My favorite theme is redemption. I'm a real sucker for a good redemption story. This book had so many possibilities with all the religious symbolism and the complicated relationships. Alas, nothing was ever developed, and it left the story shattered into pieces of different puzzles.

5. Be TRUE. This is the biggest problem I had with the book. I could have overlooked all the other problems if there was a hint of reality to be found. But it never rang true. Jessie says she "fell in love" with Father Thomas. No, she didn't. She was infatuated with him and acted out of boredom. Father Thomas not only gave in to their illicit relationship, he pursued it from the beginning. Really? Can't we expect a little more restraint from a Benedictine monk? Lynnette from "Desperate Housewives" showed more moral fortitude than he did. Finally, after her summer fling, Jessie goes right back to her marriage without any consequences. Sure, she plays lip service by saying the marriage "wasn't quite like it was," and that Hugh forgave her in"precious sips" and "spoonfuls" (all described in less than two pages), but we get no indication that anyone actually suffered from her indiscretion.

6. The gauntlet is thrown. My current work in progress begins with the same theme. I personally believe that all good wives and mothers at some point in their lives realize that they have lost their identity in their roles. Sue Monk Kidd's solution is to run out and have an affair with a Benedictine monk and then get back to your life. I need to see if I can offer better than that. So, thank you, Sue Monk Kidd. I love themes, and I think you've given me a pretty clear vision of where I want to go next.

(And in case you think I've been too mean, I recognize that Sue Monk Kidd's revenge is quite simply that she has been published -- and sold over 3 million copies of her first book -- and I have not.)

Anna Karenina

Do you think it is presumptuous of me to "review" Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy? I mean, really, am I going to find fault with what has been described as the best novel of all time? And does anyone really care that "I liked it"?

Nonetheless ...

I really enjoyed this book! I learned so much from it. It really crushed me as a writer, destroying any self-aggrandizing ideas that I might actually have enough talent to put pen to paper and come up with a worthy story. My husband chastised me. "Really, honey, you're comparing yourself to Tolstoy?"

Tolstoy has the most amazing style. His story meanders, moving slowly, lingeringly, but seamlessly through the lives of his characters. I found that I had to remove myself from the frantic pace of life today to be able to enjoy the book. But once I did, I found it difficult to put down.

I loved the depth of his characters. He allows his heroes to be flawed and his villains, if you can call them that, to have virtues. He never comes right out and tells you what to think of his characters. He shows them to you and allows you to come to your own conclusions. Yet his truth and perhaps opinion is clear. He doesn't glamorize or excuse the adulterous relationship between Vronsky and Anna. He exposes the lie behind the promise of happiness when they finally consummate their affair. He shows the insecurity of such a position and the way it corrodes the feelings of those involved. The disintegration of their relationship is inescapable.

Neither does he glamorize the relationship between Levin and Kitty. Being a blissfully happily married wife with delightful, wonderful children, of course I was most moved by Levin and Kitty's relationship. Their painful awkwardness coupled with their dizzy romantic expectations made me smile. I remember those days! I could see their relationship building, becoming something strong and solid.

I wonder what my reaction to the novel would have been if I, like Anna, were trapped in a cold, loveless marriage. Would my opinion of her have been softened? Would I have seen the novel as a tragedy? Would it have made me feel more hopeless still? I am curious.

I love the kind of book that leaves me pondering for days after. Anna Karenina certainly succeeded.