The Poet by Yi Mun-yol

The Poet is an interesting read from out of Korea. Yi tells the story of Korean poet Kim Pyong-yon; his poems and his life while wandering around Korea. Yi offers insight as to how changes in Kim’s life affected his poetry style over time. He also touches on the universal themes; love, family, and prejudices. This is a novel, based on fact and national legends of Korea’s homegrown poet.

I found this book intriguing, but difficult to read. Perhaps it was just an issue of the flow getting lost in translation. Perhaps if I had read the poems of Kim Pyong-yon previously or had heard the legends of his life I would have had an easier time reading Yi’s novel.

I did appreciate the descriptions of Korea, the sense of Korean culture and the history that Yi portrays in his book. Despite the difficulties I had while reading, I am always interested in discovering new and different cultures.

Songbird: A Novel By Walter Zacharius

I had a tough time finding a book in the Z section. It seemed like all the titles were murder mysteries or had “death” or “blood” in the titles. What I found didn’t have too different a theme from all that: the Holocaust.

Songbird is the fictional story of a young Jewish girl caught in Poland as the Nazis invaded. Her family is put on a train towards Auschwitz but she escapes thanks to her father’s quick thinking and firm shove out the door.

The story is not the same as many of the death camp survivors stories you may have heard. The heroine, Mia, is not simply content to hide away and hope that things work out in the end; she takes matters into her own hands. Mia joins a teenage resistance army and starts down a long dangerous road toward information about her abducted family.

According to the book jacket, Zacharius is a World War II vetran, which accounts for the, assumedly, accurate descriptions of army life and everyday life in Europe during the war. I learned this fact after finishing the book and had thought while reading that the setting felt incredibly realistic.

This was a very quick read and the characters were very likeable. I wonder how true to life the plot is, however. None-the-less the story was exciting and the Zacharius drove the plot straight through to the end.

I am constantly on the lookout for books to read. Sometimes I read whatever the ‘hot’ new book is at the time. More often than not, however, those books are already checked out of the library when I go looking for them. How then to find something to read? I’ve gotten recommendations from friends and family; I’ve gotten recommendations from strangers; I’ve judged books by their covers; and I’ve randomly pulled books from the shelves.

This time I’m going to be a bit more systematic. I’ve decided to read books alphabetically based on the author’s last name. I booked it up towards the “A” section at the Beverly Library. Upon finding it roped off (due to repairs?) I decided that fate wanted me to start at “Z”.

Hopefully this little project will expose me to new authors, genres and stories. I’ve got 26 chances to find something new to love.

Stay tuned for the next installment of Z-A. Same Bat time, same Bat channel.

My most recent read falls into the catagories “Books I probably should have had to read in high school but never did” and “I think my brother had to read it and hated it.”

Three women’s lives are interwoven in Michael Dorris’ novel [A Yellow Raft in Blue Water](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007XLNVU/sr=8-1/qid=1142651687/). Ida, Christine and Rayona, three generations in one family, share the storytelling duties as they recount their lives in first person.

I got the distinct impression that this is one of “those” books that are required reading in high school to fulfill the “we need a book about women to counter-balance all the books about men” quota. Even so, it was a very good read offering insight into the lives of these three Native American Women.

Have you ever felt like fate has sent something your way? Last week I was making a last minute swoop through the Beverly Public Library in search of something new to read. I only had a couple minutes, so I grabbed something that had an interesting looking spine, and was small enough to commute with easily. It was [The Life of Pi](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0156027321/qid=1137611844/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6513026-8555204?n=507846&s=books&v=glance) by Yann Martel.

Having never heard of this book I was unaware of how gripping it would be. I settled in on the train and found myself completely captivated by the story. Before I knew it I was in Boston, and hardly a minute had passed! In just a few pages I was transported to India and was rooting on young Pi Patel and his three-pronged religiosity (Christianity, Hinduism and Islam).

The next couple of train rides were no different. On Thursday, I mentioned to my co-worker, Laura, that my commutes had become highly anticipated due to a new book I was reading. She asked the title and before I had finished telling her she proclaimed that it was “one of her favorite books”, that she owned “two copies; one for reading and one for lending”, that she had “forced all her friends to read it” and had “even preached sermons from it.” Needless to say, I was shocked. I guess this wasn’t just a random pull from the shelf, It was someone’s FAVORITE!

On Tuesday, Nikkiana posted a book meme with a bunch of books you should read from the site [whatshouldireadnext.com](http://whatshouldireadnext.com). On that list was, you guessed it, The Life of Pi. It seems to be following me!

In any case, upon finishing the book I was stunned by the complexities brought out in the last couple of chapters. I turned the last page and proclaimed to Peter, “What? It’s over!?!” He asked if I was unsatisfied by the ending. I was not dissatisfied at all, but just surprised that it came on so quick.

I want you all to read this book! Please do. And come back and tell me what you thought! Peter is reading it now and I think that everyone I know, regardless of age, religion, gender,etc, will find something to love about it. PLEASE READ IT!

The co-authors of the humor/fantasy novel aaa|Good Omens|0441003257|aaa are both going to be speaking and doing book signings at Harvard in the upcoming weeks! Terry Pratchett is coming [tonight](http://www.harvard.com/events/press_release.php?id=1488), and Neil Gaiman is coming [next Friday](http://www.harvard.com/events/press_release.php?id=1494)!

The Neil Gaiman event requires tickets, and they’re sold out… so we won’t be able to attend (unless someone has an extra ticket and wants to donate it). But the Terry Pratchett event does not require tickets, so we are planning to attend tonight! Hopefully we’ll be able to get in the door and hear him talk. And maybe get a book signed. Wish us luck!

Update

ggg|terry_pratchett_harvard/P1040813|Terry Pratchett|ggg

We made it! After I deftly maneuvered us about five blocks further down the street than necessary, then all the way back, we arrived at the Askwith Forum in Longfellow Hall on the campus of [Harvard University](http://www.harvard.edu/). Unfortunately, we didn’t make it in time to get a seat inside the lecture hall, so we couldn’t really hear anything Terry said. Apparently it was pretty funny, because lots of people were laughing. However, since we were standing outside the hall, we actually had a stroke of luck, and were put close to the front of the line for book signing! I had my copy of aaa|Good Omens|0441003257|aaa signed. Unfortunately, Terry wasn’t paying very close attention while signing my book, so my name isn’t exactly legible:

ggg|terry_pratchett_harvard/P1040841|Pelite?|ggg

As far as I know, there’s no letter in “Peter” that needs to have a dot over it… hmm. Oh well, it’s pretty cool nonetheless. Now if only I could get tickets to see [Neil Gaiman](http://www.harvard.com/events/press_release.php?id=1494) next week… it would be spiffy to have both of them sign the book. 🙂

You can see all of the photos from the evening [here](http://gallery.prwdot.org/terry_pratchett_harvard).

fff|ggg|grab_bag/P1030822|Harry Potter 6!|ggg|fff

Our copy of aaa|Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince|0439784549|aaa arrived today, courtesy of ***Jenn|http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com/***! Jenn picked it up for us at ***Barnes and Noble|http://www.bn.com/***, at which there was an unexpected (to her) ***book signing|http://junefourteenth.blogspot.com/2005_07_01_junefourteenth_archive.html#112165374777365434*** by the illustrator of the Harry Potter novels, ***Mary GrandPre|http://www.marygrandpre.com/***! Jenn was able to get both her copy and our copy signed. Woo-hoo!

Becky’s already devouring it, and after she’s done, I’ll be reading it too. Exciting!