On "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed

It was the title that first caught my eye as I quickly looked over the "New Fiction" shelf in Barnes and Noble.  Wild.  It's one of my favorite words.  It's a word I love to think about because, for some reason, it comforts me.  I like to imagine the wilderness as this beautiful, untouched place.  This place where there is only you and the natural order of things.  It's scary, but it's honest, you know?  That's the best thing about the wilderness: it is honest.

In God's wilderness lies the great hope of the world

the great fresh, unblighted, unredeemed wilderness.

-- John Muir

I didn't buy the book that day, but did go back a month later when I couldn't get it off my mind.  I've been on a kick lately where I've been loving memoirs, especially those written by women who are going through it at the time.  I like being with them through the struggle, and I love being with them when they find their way to the other side.  It inspires me like nothing else.

So I was really looking forward to getting to know Cheryl.  I knew going it that this was going to be about her journey dealing with the utter tragedy of her mother's illness and death (fair warning: you'll cry), the disintegration of her small family, her despair, the breaking apart of her marriage, her foray into men and drugs, and then her determination to hike the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) and find herself in that Hail Mary attempt.  But I'll be honest, after getting a few chapters into the book, I wasn't sure I was going to like Cheryl very much.  She was blunt and edgy.  She said and did things that I'm not sure would be forgivable in my world.  She crossed moral lines I didn't agree with, she made choices I would ever have made.  There were so many moments where I thought, "No!  Don't do that!  Say this instead!  Pull yourself together!!!"  I just didn't understand her.

But I stuck with the book because I wanted to read about the PCT.  I wanted the writing to make it real in my mind, to allow me to see places I've never been to and experience things I haven't yet.

And somewhere along the way, I began to realize that I'm a judgmental ass.

Ms. Strayed tells it like it is and it's a real, raw and honest portrayal of the very rocky years of her mid-twenties.  The bottom came out from under her when her mother passed away so suddenly.  She was young and found herself in a horrible situation, with little family support, and a marriage to a man she loved but couldn't be with anymore.  She made choices.  We all do.  Her choices led her to the PCT and, eventually, herself.

Her telling of this intense 1,100 mile hike from the Mojave Desert to the border of Oregon and Washington is harrowing, painful and beautiful.  It has also inspired me to attempt a small portion (and by small I mean NOTHING LIKE WHAT SHE DID) of the PCT -- to do something I think is impossible, to challenge myself, and to see places I've only ever dreamed about.

So in the end, I loved this book.  I loved her journey.  I almost yelled at Nate when he attempted to make idle chit chat with me as I read through the final two pages -- I mean, who does that?

If you like memoirs, if you like honest story-telling or if you like tales of survival in every sense, I would suggest Cheryl Strayed's Wild.  I have a copy if you'd like to borrow it.


[Photo source: http://www.cherylstrayed.com/wild_108676.htm]

'Fifty Shades' of Holy $#!& (Not a Book for Prudes)

I'm trying to think of something intelligent to say about E.L. James' "Fifty Shades" trilogy.

But the simple truth is that it really just makes you think of sex ALL THE TIME.  Like, seriously.  All the time.  I think my IQ dropped for the 2 days I spent reading these books.

Some people are calling these books "mommy porn," (which is a dumb name in and of itself because, I mean, are mommies not allowed to watch regular porn?) and I get that -- it's pretty graphic stuff wrapped up in romance and dominance and submission and a hot male lead character and unconditional love and all the other stuff women generally crave in romance novels.  But there are also some funny moments in the books (I smile whenever the heroine's subconscious or inner goddess pops up, and the emails exchanged between our lovebirds kind of make your toes curl), some heartbreaking moments, and yes, some moments where I'm hiding the pages I'm reading from everyone around me because God I'd die if they knew what it said.

There are things in these books that just make you blush.  You won't be able to help it.

They're saying these books are akin to Twilight and I agree and disagree.  I agree because Fifty Shades started out as an alternate universe Twilight fanfic -- and those of us who grew up writing fanfic realize that this is the dream: to get published.  There are similarities, of course: both series are PNW-based, with a rich as sin, troubled guy and young, innocent girl.  Both are written in the first person (and the writing will not score either of these series a place in the halls of great, classic literature).  Both actually feature classic literature as a theme -- though this dies off in Fifty Shades.  And both are pretty addicting.  Like crack, according to a friend of mine who, incidentally, is a mommy.  But these books are also so much more adult than Twilight (mainly because I would seriously question anyone who let someone under 18 read them -- they are definitely rated NC-17).

I also don't want to smack our Fifty Shades heroine (ha.  hahahaha.) the way I wanted to smack Bella half the time.  So that's an improvement.

But with that all said, will I recommend these books to my mother or sisters? No.  Emphatically, no.  I'd rather poke my eyeballs out or have the ground swallow me up in embarrassment.

Would I recommend these books to someone who's looking for something deep, something well-written, something...well, quality?  Probably not. The first 20 pages or so are pretty challenging to get through, even for someone like me, who could care less about writing quality so long as I'm highly entertained.

I will, however, recommend this to my lady friends who are just looking for a lip-biting good time.

Read at your own risk.  Not for the faint of heart of prudes.


[Photo source: http://www.katybooks.com/fifty-shades-grey-series]

It's Friday, and May the Odds Be Ever In Your Favor

Guess who's seeing The Hunger Games tonight!  THIS GIRL.  

So, a couple of confessions before the curtains go up: 

1. I have been really strangely resistant to reading these books.  I bought the first book about 6 months ago when my book club read it and, for some reason, I couldn't finish it.  I stopped right as Katniss runs out of the Cornucopia at the start of The Games and just couldn't muster the desire to pick it back up again.  Then I tried listening to it on audiobook during my workouts and while on the road trip with my sister, but on audiobook this thing takes like, 11 days to finish or something.  Didn't happen.  But then my friends decided that they were going to see the movie on opening night, and I really wanted to go because the trailers look great, so I pulled the book out on Tuesday night and finished it on Wednesday.  At 3 a.m.  And now I'm wondering what the heck was wrong with me all these months.
2. Are we doing teams for this series as well?  Because if so: Team Peeta.  Everyone else can suck it.
3. Finally, I'm obsessed: The soundtrack for this movie is SO GOOD.  They've completely got the tone of the book down in terms of music.  Folksy, country, sad, intense.  I'm in heaven.

Knowing my personality, I'll be completely destroyed at the end of the movie and will be able to think of little else until I finish the next two books.  It's a cross I bear, getting too emotionally involved with fictional characters.  

Really, you should have seen me after I read Romeo & Juliet for the first time.  I don't think I spoke for three days.  ;)

[Photo source: http://www.thehungergamesmovie.com]

A Fairly Big Stack of Books

Since I'm meeting with my bookclub tonight, I thought I'd share with you all what my current book list actually looks like.

 

I'm just about finished with "The Book Thief," which is what we're discussing tonight at bookclub, and it's so good.  I'll admit, it's not the type of book I usually gravitate toward, but I was surprised to find I actually really enjoyed it.  We'll be starting "Middelsex" next and I hear good things about it, though I haven't the faintest idea what it's actually about.  

I'm also sort of re-reading/skimming the two Nora Roberts books that are in the stack (don't hate on romance novels if you've never read Nora Roberts), and am taking my time to get through "Food Matters" and "The Gifts of Imperfection" -- two other books I highly recommend.  I find that it's easiest for me to enjoy what I'm reading when I have a ton of things to choose from on a daily basis.  My home library is getting pretty big (yay!), and I buy a couple of books a month so it's continuing to grow.  Because it's sort of a pain to lug around all these books when I go places, I've almost started considering a Kindle or Nook, but I just can't let go of hard copies!  Wouldn't you miss the page turning?  The smell?  The simple act of opening a book for the first time?

*sigh*  I love reading.

What are you reading?