Irresponsible Booking

Ah, the weekend.

Where I can take a break from my job as a librarian and....go to the library.

I haven't been to my local public library in a month or so, and it seemed like a good idea this morning.

My haul:

Anatomy 101: A Crash Course in Anatomy and Physiology - Because I never studied much science, and this looked bite-sized.

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club - I ran across a review of this, and I love a good story where good courageously challenges evil.

Lumberjanes (Friendship to the Max and Beware the Kitten Holy) - I've been hearing a lot of buzz about this series focused on female friendships, so I decided to jump on the bandwagon.

Manga Shakespeare: As You Like It -  Because why not? I love Shakespeare, and I like manga.

Reclaiming Conversation - In thinking about friends who don't read, I have also been considering the loss of meaningful conversation in my life. It seemed a timely topic.

The Explorers - Dugard wrote the excellent Into Africa, and I hope this book will be as readable and fascinating. Bonus, it mentions Richard Francis Burton, an amazing man I first learned about through To Your Scattered Bodies Go. He was a larger-than-life character, and I remember the brief mention of his conflict with Speke in Into Africa.

Pirate Hunters - Robert Kurson is another writer of true adventure stories whose previous work I loved. I read Shadow Divers years ago, and still remember the visceral reaction to that story of wreck divers exploring a downed U-Boat.

Furiously Happy - I am also furiously happy to see this follow-up to Let's Pretend This Never Happened. I have been looking forward to picking up this book by The Bloggess.

Finally, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell - A brick that I hope to reread this year. Last year I looked for a physical copy in my library and was surprised not to find one. They have corrected that oversight! So I brought it home just to make myself happy.

The Wednesday Wars

The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Holling Hoodhood knows that his seventh grade English teacher Mrs. Baker hates him with a heat whiter than the sun. His evidence: when he gets stuck with her every Wednesday, she assigns him Shakespeare's plays as extra reading.

Holling tells his story of growing up during the Vietnam era, when Mickey Mantle played for the Yankees, Robert Kennedy was running for president, and schoolchildren practiced hiding under their desks in case of nuclear war. But Holling has other things on his mind: fresh-baked cream puffs, a pair of embarrassing yellow tights, and being forced to read Shakespeare every Wednesday.

Holling narrates the humorous and heartbreaking events of his life with the same slightly baffled tone, proving that no era is easy to come of age in. His relationship with his family, friends, and the inscrutable Mrs. Baker are the core of the story, and they often develop in unexpected ways. Holling has to take bewildering world events, tribulations at school and trouble at home in stride, and he does it all with helpful insults from the Bard of Avon.

I may have rated this book higher except I think Schmidt fails in his portrayal of Holling's parents - particularly Mr. Hoodhood, who never does the right thing and is image- and money-obsessed. He's an unlikable caricature without a single redeeming moment. And Mrs. Hoodhood is a near nonentity in the story. It's unfortunate that these characters are given short shrift, especially in light of the well-developed characters at Holling's school, particularly the prickly Mrs. Baker.

Still, this book was a Newbery Honor book in 2008, and it's sweet without being cloying. For fans of historical fiction and realistic fiction, The Wednesday Wars may win you over.