Ti | Book Chatter

This is a random post for this wonderful, glorious Friday morning. Yes, I am in an extremely good mood. I am giddy over the fact that it’s a long weekend. I am even more giddy over the fact that I am taking an extra day off which makes it even longer and if you count that it’s my birthday weekend… well, you can see why I am so darn chipper.

Random stuff…

When I opened up the old dashboard this morning I was welcomed by an unreal number of spam posts. My favorite one was this comment:

“You put the time in the coconut.”

This guy must know me because I love coconut. Except, I’ve never put the time in one. His comment did, however, make me sing that song with a very similar line. Why is it that nearly every spam comment is tied to one post? I even deleted the said post, thinking that it would help, yet I continue to get comments on the post even when it’s gone, so I added it back. I don’t understand spammy comments. They never make it though the filters and I always delete them. Seems like a lot of trouble on their part for a comment that will never be posted.

On the reading front…

I’ve been reading the best books lately. Seriously. Every book I pick up seems to have been written for me. I tend to lean towards heavier reads with complex characters and although they aren’t usually the most joyous of stories, they are inexplicably appealing to me. Could be my age or where I am in life, or both. Whatever the reason, I hope my great reading streak continues.

Right now I am nearing the last pages of Annabel by Kathleen Winter. It has been a wonderful read. I don’t want it to end. I just finished On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan and it was wonderful in its own way. I just started Sleepless by Charlie Huston to mix things up a bit, but it’s not fitting my mood right now. I may switch it out with The House on Tradd Street by Karen White. Anyone read either one?

I don’t really have any big plans for this long weekend. My MIL (mother-in-law) is having a BBQ on Saturday that we’ll go to of course, and then on Sunday The Fam is taking me out for lunch. I may buy myself a birthday gift. I don’t normally like to shop for myself but this is probably the one time of the year that I don’t mind doing so. Monday is my actual birthday and I just plan to be lazy that day. I think it’s allowed.

Do you have any plans for the long weekend?

Child Wonder
By Roy Jacobsen
(Graywolf Press, Paperback, 9781555975951, September, 27, 2011, 256pp.)

The Short of It:

A touching, coming-of-age story.

The Rest of It:

Finn and his mother live in a small apartment in Oslo, in the early 60s. She works in a shoe shop and does her best to make ends meet. They are comfortable and happy. Finn’s father died long ago in a crane accident but he left a little something behind…a daughter. Linda, age 6 and only a few years younger than Finn, comes to live with them. With another mouth to feed, Finn’s mom takes in a quirky lodger.

I’m not sure what I expected when picking this book up but I wasn’t expecting to be completely charmed by Finn. Finn is a great kid. He’s not the most popular kid but he’s not an outcast either. Living alone with his mother has given him a sense of maturity that you don’t normally see in a child his age, but he still possesses that child like wonder that makes this particular age so special.

Finn’s mother is firm, but wonderful and they watch out for each other quite a bit. When Linda comes to live with them, Finn is not sure what to think. Out of nowhere, this half-sister arrives and he immediately sees that she’s not quite right. But there is no jealously here. Just a fierce need to protect her and Finn does exactly that.

What the lodger provides, is a man’s perspective. Something Finn has never had. Although he resents having to have a lodger, he learns to live with the guy because for one, he has a TV and two, he’s nice company for his mother.

Towards the end of the story, something happens that changes the way they live and once again they are forced to readjust to their new lives. I was a bit sad when I read the ending, but as stricken as the characters are, they accept their situation and continue to grow.

There are many things that I liked about this book. It’s a very simple story and because it’s so simple, you can focus on the characters and they are really wonderfully drawn. I liked that Finn was not a babbling child but a child with a good head upon his shoulders. I liked that his mother was not perfect, but was a really good mom. I also loved the development of Linda, the half-sister.

All in all, reading this book was a pleasant experience and reminded me of what it’s like to be a child in a grown-up world.

Note from Ti: This book comes out September 27, 2011, but since I liked it so much, I decided to review it early.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher.