Jean Valjean
Whether you have read the book or not, most people are familiar with this image:
The story has been a Broadway sensation for ages, the book itself has been a classic for even longer. And with Hugh Jackman acting the lead role of Jean Valjean in the movie production being released on Christmas Day, more people than ever are going to have the story of Les Miserables running through their heads.
That’s why earlier this year I committed to spending 2012 reading the classic tome along with Kate’s Library. It was amazing, and for the rest of my life I’ll remember 2012 as the year that I met Jean Valjean.
Ok, I know, I know, that fellow on the left there is not a depiction of Jean Valjean, it’s a picture of Victor Hugo; but despite my encounters with other works by Hugo (The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Valjean has a beautiful, though depressing story. A convict running from the law, early in the novel he is changed for life by a man called the Bishop, learns the importance of love and learning and becomes a new man. As his life progresses, he becomes someone altogether different and even assumes a new name. With a new name and some money, he finds himself in charge of a town and in a position to help a poor prostitute named Fantine who is dying and has left her only child to be raised by some hooligans elsewhere. Valjean, now a saint and model citizen, promises to care for the child and goes to retrieve her.
That’s when Valjean and Cosette (the large-eyed little child in the musical posters and book covers) join forces and run away together as father and daughter.
So many adventures, so many trials, life in a nunnery, life hiding out, life raising a child, a love story between Cosette and Marius… but Jean Valjean lives a great life under much mystery, oppression, and misery, and still somehow he finds joy in his little Cosette. Valjean is a prime example of a life changed, and a life found despite what the world and the government tries to throw at you.
The paragraph above is much too simple of a description of Hugo’s Valjean. There is a reason Hugo’s novel is 1260 pages long, and not a moment of it is to be missed. Les Miserables is a story of compassion, love, redemption, and a quest for freedom. Both the novel and the musical focus on these themes in a powerful way, though they differ in how they address them, typical of a novel to a musical. In the end, both forms of the story are about Valjean and the idea that if he can learn to love and be charitable after all he has suffered, who is there that cannot learn these things too? Who could possibly have suffered more?
If you have not read Les Miserables
I just might do this… although I already consider myself an eclectic reader.
Next year, I’m going to read 12 books from 12 very different categories.
The Eclectic Reader Challenge 2013 encourages readers to step out of their comfort zones. I did this a few months ago when I reviewed Secondhand Spirits, and I’d like to expand my reading range even further.
Last year, the challenge brought in 132 participants and 348 shared reviews. You have until December 31 to sign up, and anyone who completes the challenge could win a small prize. Learn more about how you can join in at the Book’d Out blog.
You can still participate even if you don’t have a blog. A Goodreads or LibraryThing account, for example, works just fine.
Every time you post a review, you can share it with other challenge participants. This is a great way to connect with other readers and bloggers and find great recommendations for other books.
Will you join…
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Books I Read in 2012
Book Love Art
Every year I post a list of the books I read. It helps me wrap my brain around the year that has passed and put in my mind what I’d like the next year to look like, and it gives people an idea as to what books were reviewed and discussed when. Kids picture books are not included on this list this year as we read so many (usually a minimum of 7-10 new titles a week) the list would have become ridiculous, young adult/teen titles are included.
1. How to Buy a Love of Reading – Tanya Egan Gibson (January)
2. Mysterious Affairs at Styles – Agatha Christie (January)
3. House of Mirth – Edith Wharton (January)
4. The Great Gatsby- F. Scott Fitzgerald (January)
5. Murder on the Links – Agatha Christie (January)
6. Swan Thieves – Elizabeth Kostova (January)
7. Human Happiness – Blaise Pascal (January)
8. Holiday Grind – Cleo Coyle (January)
9. Inhale – Kendall Grey (February)
10. Poirot Investigates – Agatha Christie (February)
11. Tales from the Jazz Age – F. Scott Fitzgerald (February)
12. Murder of Roger Ackroyd – Agatha Christie (March)
13. Roast Mortem – Cleo Coyle (March)
14. The Big Four – Agatha Christie (March)
15. Stonehenge – Aubrey Burl (March)
16. House at Riverton – Kate Morton (March)
17. The Mystery of the Blue Train – Agatha Christie (March)
18. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco (April)
19. The Key to the Name of the Rose (April)
20. Peril at End House – Agatha Christie (April)
21. Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen (April)
22. Birds of Selborne – Gilbert White (April)
23. Dragonfly in Amber – Diana Gabaldon (April)
24. Voice of Conscience – Behcet Kaya (April)
25. Lord Edgeware Dies – Agatha Christie (April)
26. Napoleon’s Wars – Charles Esdaile (May)
27. The Trial – Franz Kafka (May)
28. Seed Savers: Treasure – S. Smith (June)
29. The Map of Time – Felix J. Palma (June)
30. Of Mice and Men – John Steinbeck (June)
31. Three Act Tragedy – Agatha Christie (June)
32. The Planets – Dava Sobel (June)
33. The Stranger – Albert Camus (June)
34. Clockwork Angel – Cassandra Clare (July)
35. City of Bones – Cassandra Clare (July)
36. City of Ashes – Cassandra Clare (July)
37. City of Glass – Cassandra Clare (July)
38. The Naked Olympics – Tony Perrottet (July)
39. Clockwork Prince – Cassandra Clare (July)
40. For Women Only – London Tracy (July)
41. City of Fallen Angels – Cassandra Clare (July)
42. The Book of Lilith – Koltuv (July)
43. Ruling Planets – Renstrom (July)
44. Working Days – John Steinbeck (August)
45. Animal Farm – George Orwell (August)
46. Through a Glass Darkly – Karleen Koen (August)
47. Number the Stars – Lois Lowry (August)
48. City of Lost Souls – Cassandra Clare (September)
49. Invisible Man – Ralph Ellison (September)
50. The Bookaholic’s Guide to Book Blogs (September)
51. The Symposium – Plato (September)
52. Emma The Twice-Crowned Queen – Isabella Strachon (September)
53. The Lost Continent – Bill Bryson (September)
54. The Customs of the Kingdoms of India – Marco Polo (October)
55. Parnassus on Wheels – Christopher Morley (October)
56. Possession – A.S. Byatt (November)
57. So Many Books, So Little Time – Sara Nelson (November)
58. Rich Fabric Anthology – Melinda McGuire (November)
59. Flatland – Edwin A. Abbott (November)
60. Unrecounted – Sebald & Tripp (November)
61. The Lit Report – Sarah N. Harvey (November)
62. Pippi Longstocking – Astrid Lindgren (November)
63. The Magician’s Elephant -Kate DiCamillo (November)
64. Kenny & the Dragon – Tony DiTerlizzi (November)
65. Seed Savers: Lily – S. Smith (November)
66. Collected Poems of Edna St. Vincent Millay (All Year)
67. The Old Curiosity Shop – Charles Dickens (December)
68. Julie & Julia – Julie Powell (December)
69. Gone – Michael Grant (December)
**. All Our Worldly Goods – Irene Nemirovsky (did not finish)
70. A Homemade Life – Molly Wizenberg (December)
71. The Case for Astrology – John Anthony West (July -December)
72. Franny and Zooey – J.D. Salinger (December)
73. Les Miserables – Victor Hugo (All Year)
74. An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination – Elizabeth McCracken (December)
Visit Books I Read in 2011.
Click to purchase from Amazon.com.
*This post is subject to change until December 31st, 2012.*
A Day with the Glass Family
Title: Franny and Zooey
Author: J.D. Salinger
As much as I disliked Catcher in the Rye, I loved Franny and Zooey. Apparently a short story combined with an intertwining novella, it reads like a full length novel just fine, and it’s pretty intriguing, unlike Salinger’s more famous work CitR.
Franny and Zooey are the youngest children of the rather large Glass family, and the baby (Franny) starts the book off as a twenty year old histrionic having a bit of a meltdown while out to eat with her boyfriend. Her brother, Zooey, spends a large portion of his story in the bath tub talking to his intrusive mother about the meltdown that has migrated to the family’s living room.
Surprised that Zooey is a boy? I was. Apparently it used to be used as a nick name for Zachary and Zachariah. I spent all of Franny wondering how this mysterious Zooey was going to fit into the story, which at that point revolved around a girl freaking out about Bohemians and Academia the way people in their mid to late twenties today lament the so-called Hipsters. There’s not much of a plot, more of a theme of self-discovery, religion, and philosophy, and what that all really means. But I like that sort of thing, and I loved Zooey and his smart ass attitude.
It was actually pretty cold today, completely out of nowhere, so the kiddo and I spent most the day snuggled up and bundled in sweaters while reading and writing. Basically, the perfect recipe for reading a quick book like Franny and Zooey between lunches and writing sessions and nap times. I picked it up around noon and after reading tidbits here and there all day, finally wrapped it up around kiddo’s bed time. I like having books like that around, especially as I finish up my year round Les Miserables Read-A-Long. It is the kind of book I hope to publish a few of here and there before I die, not in topic and theme, but in mood. I like getting to know characters in a specific moment of their life, like Virgina Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway
I’ve been reading a lot of books from blogs lately, and I just finished Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life. I thought this blogger’s review, sentiments, and photographs were worth the reblog. Enjoy.
A Homemade Christmas
Title: A Homemade Life
Author: Molly Wizenberg
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Length: 313 pages
It was the cover that got me first. I saw a stack of these books and thought, those little white mugs look so lovely against that sage green. Those crystal glasses look so clean. I want my life to look like that; I need my life to look like that.
Of course, my kitchen life looks a little more like someone’s rummage sale: hodge-podge glasses; mugs of all shapes, sizes, and colors; I never have any idea what kind of utensils are in the kitchen as they have all been gifts, hand-me-downs, or left behind by various room mates. (I couldn’t possibly imagine where my waffle iron came from, but it’s ancient, difficult to clean, and I love it.) I say my ‘kitchen life’ as though it is only my kitchen that suffers from this unfashionably eclectic manner of acquiring my belongings, the truth is my whole life is this way. The library is not the gorgeous leather bound, gold embossed on mahogany shelves thing of Beauty and the Beast or the Bodleian… instead it’s got some of those and a lot more ratty hard backs and tired old paperbacks, stacks, piles, a thousand different wood grains and colors, and pretty much a hot mess forgiven merely because it is a hot mess of books. Even my cozy blankets have no continuity: quilts, afghans, fuzzy God-knows what kind; some made by old ladies, some by family, some just picked up at a thrift store, some from my childhood.
But it’s ok. The cover is lovely and it gives us something to aspire to. Even better than that, it isn’t fancy, it’s simple. Molly Wizenberg may have a neat and organized life of homemade goodness, but it’s simple and easily attainable. Her book isn’t about being the next Martha Stewart, and it isn’t about being a project obsessed Julie Powell, it’s just a cozy little recipe driven memoir – more than a memoir, actually. Her book reads like little life essays, not life lessons, just life in the ‘and then I fell in love with coconut’ sort of way. I like knowing these kinds of things about people… I don’t care about your degrees, your successes, your battle for this or for that, tell me how it was you fell in love with coconut. Tell me your thoughts on white chocolate and all the memories those thoughts unleash. Talk to me about rotten bananas and french toast, and what your parents were like in the kitchen. Molly does. And I love her for it.
Of course, if you bother to tell someone how you fell in love with coconut, your memories of the 80’s and white chocolate, your dad’s insights to making the best french toast on the planet, the moment you decided raw cabbage wasn’t half bad if prepared by the love of your life… you end up telling them about more than your food experiences, you basically tell them all the high and low points of your life, the parts that are way more personal than what degree you got in college.
Molly grew up in Oklahoma, being from Houston, TX, I don’t exactly consider that the south, but if you were from Montana I guess you probably would. Nevertheless, reading something written by an Oklahoman during an 80 degree December feels a little more weather-mood appropriate than reading something written by, let’s say, a Canadian. For a warm, southern winter, A Homemade Life perfectly fits the bill as it is all about the warmth of family in the kitchen, making a cozy way for yourself, and fabulous but mostly simple recipes… great for the holidays. But only if those holidays are warmish, because there are several summer and spring recipes that would totally throw me off my game if it was snowing outside. I’m a mood reader. For me to enjoy a book to the max, the weather, the house, the book, and the stars all have to align. Not entirely, I’m pretty good at getting completely lost in a book with absolutely no awareness of what is going on around me, but let’s face it, not everyone can write a 5 star book that doesn’t need ambiance guidance, and not every book is supposed to be read void of ambiance.
A Homemade Life is well-written, and thoroughly enjoyable, but it was written with the kitchen in mind. I’ve read much of it at the kitchen table over coffee or soup. Not every book is a coffee and soup at the kitchen table kind of book, but this one is. This book has made me greatly long for a window seat in my kitchen. The window seat would have a little garden box attached on the outside for all my kitchen herbs, I could open the pane and inhale the glorious scents of rosemary and green onions. I don’t have that. Instead, I read this sitting on a 30 year old, uneven chair with a rip in the leather, looking out the nearby window to my deck and tree. It’s a great view, but when I open the pane I get a strong whiff of dog, ancient wood, moss, and whatever smell is coming from the water treatment plant in the back of my neighborhood that day. My good days are in April when my jasmine masks all of that with vengeance.
But in my kitchen, I’m not just in my kitchen, I’m in Molly’s kitchen too. I’m falling in love with her character of a father, lovingly referred to as Burg. I’m living his grand moments, his love for breakfast and dinner, his love for his daughter, and his legacy after death. In Molly’s kitchen I am introduced to her husband, their friends, and their exciting life together. She shares all of this simply, eloquently, and with recipes.
In the spirit of recipe sharing, which in addition to being a lovely writer, is Molly’s forte, I will share a recent one of my own. I used to do this more often, but lately I’ve been hoarding my recipes to myself and a few friends, not intentionally, my blog is just book driven and my facebook page is picture driven. This recipe was birthed from a strong desire for Greek Chicken Orzo Soup and a simultaneous urge to hop in the car and get some Potato Soup from Panera Bread. I can see your eyebrows raised in suspicion as I type, but I assure you, it came out pretty fabulously and I’ve since made about four variations of it. I’m pretty lazy in the kitchen and this was all dumped in a crock pot…
Andi’s Greek/Potato Soup-ness:
1 can of cream style corn
1 can of whole kernal corn (optional, depending on the size of your pot)
1 can of water (I use the corn can and fill it with water)
1 chicken bullion cube
(in a vegetarian version we skipped the can of water and the chicken b. cube and used one can’s worth of vegetable broth)
a bit of milk (anywhere from a quarter cup to a whole can, depending on you and your pot)
mushrooms if you like, I’ve done it with and without
lots of chopped potato, just fill that pot up with as much as you can fit
celery, chopped… include the leafy bits, this is a must
and the part that makes it what it is… wait for it… ALL PURPOSE GREEK SEASONING, just shower it in over all those potatoes floating to the top, stir it up and shower some more. Greek Seasoning is absolutely the most awesome ‘secret’ ingredient to a soup ever. If you have an aversion to peppery flavors hold back, there’s a lot of black pepper in the flavor, but I have a black pepper allergy and it didn’t cause me problems so that made me happy
Because I’m from Texas, I put Tobasco in everything
The first time I made this was shortly after Thanksgiving and I added left over chunks of Thanksgiving ham to it, it was heavenly.
After a few years of sitting on my shelf (this is pretty typical unless the book is sent to me by an author or publisher to review), I picked the book up for the HPB Humble Book Club, we will be discussing it in January. I’m hoping the other members of the group enjoyed it as much as I have and maybe even tried out some of the recipes. I still can’t decide which concoction to bring on the first Monday in January, but I plan to make something of Molly’s to celebrate the joy of a life homemade.
Don’t forget to check out Molly’s blog, the Orangette.
Happy Homey Holidays
I am currently reading A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, I thought it would be a nice holiday book that has nothing to do with the holidays. Instead, it’s about the warmth of family and the joys of a well-used kitchen. However, I’m not very far into it, and that’s not really what this post is about.
I adore homey, cozy things. A thick homemade quilt, a pie, a dog, a cup of coffee, a good book (like the one mentioned above), these are all things that make my home feel like the kind of home I want people to remember. A big part of my home, too, is Scentsy.
I adore Scentsy mostly because candles got way too expensive for how quickly I go through them, and a wickless candle lasts much, much longer. There’s all the familiar smells: Hazelnut Latte, Baked Apple Pie, the usual suspects in my candle purchases, but instead of a $5 candle that lasts a few days, I can get a $5 bar of wax that lasts months.
I’m sharing this with you for several reasons:
1. It has truly helped me maintain an affordable good smelling home. Glade plugins and candles were becoming way too much in this economy, and my house smelling good is too high of a priority (for me with 3 dogs and a kid) to just stop buying those kinds of things that help me feel relaxed. Although those old school gel cones from Wally World are awesome, I also like being able to have my things out in sight of visitors, something that produces ambiance.
2. It is Christmas and they make great gifts. Order online and get it shipped straight to the intended person.
3. Money is much tighter than usual, and being a stay at home Mom/ part time Event Coordinator/ Writer/ Scentsy Consultant /Kung Fu Instructor without a solid and dependable source of income of my own, I could really use the cash. Ha! There, I said it, this post is in part a ploy to get you to open your wallet.
So all pride aside, I present in a link My Scentsy Site and offer a heartfelt thank you to my followers for reading my blog, whether you are a Scentsy shopper or not, I truly appreciate you all and hope you’ll forgive my groveling.
Oh Book Love Art! I haven’t posted or reblogged any ‘book love art’ in awhile. I love this little blog by the way. She doesn’t seem to post all that frequently, but every post is from the heart.
I Like Old Clothes, too!
Title: I Like Old Clothes
Author: Mary Ann Hoberman
Illustrations: Patrice Barton
Publisher: Knopf
Genre: Children’s Picture Book
I Like Old Clothes is genius. Growing up with hand-me-downs from my sister who is 6 years older and rarely more than 6 months ahead of me in size, hand-me-downs were a pretty exciting part of life. As an adult, I’m a huge fan of thrift stores and passing things amongst friends. I like the worn in feel, I like the faded colors, I like the history.
I Like Old Clothes is a great book to have on hand to help indoctrinate your child with that appreciation. Indoctrinate may be a scary word that doesn’t really say what I mean… Instead, let me say, I Like Old Clothes is a great book to unveil the magic of used things that is usually shrouded in distaste by consumerism, greed, and the false ideals of what is cool.
Clearly, I was not cool growing up. But for the most part, I didn’t really care.
I still wear my dad’s 1960’s sweaters, I get compliments on them all the time, although it wasn’t so awesome to wear them when I was 14. I grew up wearing t-shirts, shorts, and skirts of my sister’s. Among other sisterly items, I wore her prom dress for a show choir performance in 8th grade and I remember feeling so bold and empowered knowing that I was in my sister’s dress. A girl I grew up with used to pass me all her old jeans, as she was six inches too tall for them by the time I needed them, it was a perfect arrangement.
I think it’s important for kids to grow up knowing that 1. They aren’t the only one wearing hand-me-downs and 2. Enjoy them! They’re awesome, not shameful.
This book is absolutely a must have. On top of the fabulous poetry singing the praises of used clothes are the beautiful illustrations. In the spirit of the content, the pictures have a soft, cozy feel. There’s kind of a Holly Hobby look to Barton’s work that I love, like a 20 year old patchwork quilt gone through the wash too many times. You look at the page and see the softness of a really soft t-shirt circa 1975, organic cotton, or even a fuzzy flannel. I want to wrap myself in the images, the little button flowers and all.
I checked this book out from the Harris County Public Library, but I can’t wait to purchase a copy of our very own.
Anakalian Whims 