Must Reads?

I think this is the BBC list. I'm copping out tonight since I am exhausted. Matty and KB also did this recently. How many have you read?
x= read

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen x
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling x (well 5 out of 7)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible x (not all)
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Total so far: 3

11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott x
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare x (most)
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien x
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger x
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot

Total so far: 4

21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald x
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams x
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

Total so far: 2

31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen x (over half)
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen x
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis x
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini x
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden x
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

Total so far: 5

41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown x
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood x
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding x
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan

Total so far: 3

51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel x
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon x
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Total so far: 2

61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold x
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville x

Total so far: 1

71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt

Total so far: 0

81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry x
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White x
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton

Total so far: 2

91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery x
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare x
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Total: 2

Grand Total: 24

Pretty sad actually... Which ones would people actually recommend, you know, instead of just reading because they are "classics".

Listening to Margaret Atwood speak, not once but twice, was thrilling! She's exactly as I imagined her- pint sized, well spoken and feisty! I was too chicken to ask a question but Matt prepared and asked one. She was gracious enough to take a picture with me! I tried to take pictures while she was speaking but I will spare you all from looking at those- they are all either blurry, grainy or there is a microphone blocking half her face.

This makes me think- jeez I really need to attempt to read "The Blind Assassin" again. It's her only book that I haven't loved. In fact I've tried to read it a few times but gave up after a few chapters. Ironic since it's her Booker Prize winning novel.

I'm working on my list of things and made great progress this morning. Now I'm waiting for a friend to come by so we can see if we can get into the art museum Refinery party. The advance tickets are sold out but there are some saved for sale at the door. DJs, dance performances and Matisse- how can you go wrong?

Tomorrow...

I have to return a book to the library unread for a second time. Dammit. And it looks interesting. I really need to get a handle on this library stuff. Anyone read The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas? Is it worth a third try? (I have to return it because I am not allowed to renew books that are on hold and requested by another lender.)

I will be stealing- ummm... borrowing this...

Look at what my Mom gave Matt for his birthday!!! Holy crap is it cool!

Review: Little Bee

I could hardly put down this book. Little Bee by Chris Cleave (also known as The Other Hand) is probably the best book I've read all year. It was funny, touching, endearing, heart-breaking and thought provoking all within the same chapter. It's the type of book that as I am reading it I can't wait to start re-reading it.

What is this book about? Well, here is how the inside cover of the dust jacket summarized it:

"We don't want to tell you too much about this book. It is a truly special story and we don't want to spoil it. Nevertheless, you need to know something, so we will just say this: This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice. Two years later, they meet again. The story starts there. Once you have read it you will want to tell everyone about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how it unfolds."

Go. Read. It. Now.

Review: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The second book choice for the Brazen Bookies (my book club) was The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz. This book centers around Oscar who is nerdy, overweight and unlucky in just about everything. It goes through his family history and the curse that they have endured and also throws in a lot of history about the Dominican Republic.

I personally liked the book and found it humorous and interesting. The biggest complaint at the meeting was all the Spanish that was used in the dialogue but I didn't find it too distracting. I know a bit of obvious Spanish and a number of cuss words so that was pretty sufficient to help me translate. I really didn't know anything about the history of the DR and it was pretty interesting to learn about it since we visited it a few years ago.

I don't really have too much to say other than it's a good book and if you speak English and Spanish you will probably really enjoy it (but if you just speak English it could be harder for you to get into). Also, Matt is a terrible book club member and didn't finish the book. Just want to get that out there. Boo Matt!

Our next choice is another nonfiction (I think we will alternate) and I am looking forward to it! We're going to read The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett. I have already decided that I am going to envision the man as Johnny Depp in his role in The Ninth Gate. Every rare book hunter/thief looks like Johnny Depp, right?

Is Anyone Out There?

I guess I should start this off saying that I am not dead. This blog isn't dead either, just on hiatus. I am hoping that this hiatus will be ending soon. What happened? Life. I think I underestimated what repatriation was going to be like. Things were going lovely and then life hit. Nothing bad, just busy. There were hockey games to go to (someone has to cheer for the Oilers, right?) and bills to pay, shifts to work, beer to drink. Then there was Christmas and MY BIRTHDAY (Yeah, I turned 28! If you missed it, I am accepting belated birthday gifts up until my next birthday. No worries.). I thought a lot about writing and about what writing means to me. I'll never be Anne Bronte, Anne Frank (fingers crossed!) or even Anne Rice and I don't have any professional literary aspirations, but I do like writing things down. It's nice having something to look back on because I have a terrible memory.

I want to stress, things here are good. Matt is doing really well, possibly better than I am. He was officially accepted into the law school of his choice (and rather early on in the process, I might add) and has already attended the Dean's welcome. I'm pretty sure he and the Dean be tight now. And he really likes his job which he'll work at until school starts in September.

Me? This has been a big year for me. I didn't even know it. I thought, hey, repatriation during a recession- piece of cake?! And it's been actually pretty good. Change is my mantra and I am trying to take deep breaths and scoop up as much of it in my arms as I can. This is a confusing time and I am re-examining everything. Career- check (I somehow got one of those.) Living situation- check. Friendships- check. Dreams- check. Money- check. Everything is going at lightning pace. I can't say a lot because I don't want to jinx anything but I may have some big news soon.

Oh, and I have a book club again! We've met once and are reading our second book! My reading progress has been abysmal but I'm not illiterate yet. I had a lot of high hopes but life is in the way again. I am going to keep trying. We're reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao right now by Junot Diaz and I am really liking it. Good thing all the Spanish I know is swear words!

So don't delete me from all of your bookmarks just yet. I know there are lots of blogs out there and I am not trying to become number one on everyone's blogroll, but I think I have a few more things to say. I am just finding the time. Love you all!

Review: Bel Canto

This is the second novel I've read by Ann Patchett and I have to say, this one was much better than the Patron Saint of Liars. The plot was interesting- a famous opera singer is hired to perform at the birthday party of a wealthy Japanese businessman in an unnamed Latin American country. There are numerous wealthy and important people invited from around the world. At the end of the party everyone is taken hostage.

Reading this book was such a treat. Her descriptions were beautiful and moving. It was romantic and I found myself frantically scribbling quotes that resonated with me every other page. It's a wise and compelling novel and I enjoyed everything except the ending (I guess nothing is perfect?). The ending was okay but a few things seemed a bit unnatural and forced.

Quotes to Remember:

"If what a person wants is his life, he tends to be quiet about wanting anything else. Once the life begins to seem secure, one feels the freedom to complain."

"The kind of love that offers its life so easily, so stupidly, is always the love that is not returned."

"She prayed that God would look on them and see the beauty of their existence and leave them alone."

"A kiss in so much loneliness was like a hand pulling you up out of the water, scooping you up from a place of drowning and into the reckless abundance of air."

"It didn't matter that he didn't understand the language, he knew what it meant."

"Love was action. It came to you. It was not a choice."

Read this book!

Review: The Door

Margaret Atwood is my favorite. I've written about her before and one of the things I must do before I die is meet her. Well, at least see her in person. Heck, I'd even settle for the LongPen (she's such a genius- is there anything she doesn't do?).

I'm not a huge poetry reader. I find that most poetry is too muddled and pretentious or possibly I am just too thick and lazy to appreciate it. I love Atwood's poetry though. The Door strikes me as being one of her most personal poetry collections. It's also quite political, however, that isn't surprising since Atwood tends to be fairly political. Here's one of my favorite poems:

Nobody Cares Who Wins

Nobody cares who wins wars.
They care at the moment:
they like the parades, the cheering;
but after that, winning diminishes.
A silver cup on the mantle
engraved with some year or other;
a hoard of buttons cut from corpses
as souvenirs; a shameful thing
you did in white-hot anger shoved
back out of sight.
Bad dreams, a bit of loot.
There's not much to say about it.

That was a fine time, you think.
I've never felt more alive.
Nonetheless, victory puzzles you.
Some days you forget where you've put it,
though younger men make speeches about it
as if they had been there too.

Of course it's better to win
than not. Who wouldn't prefer it?

Losing, though. That's different.
Defeat grows like a mutant vegetable,
swelling with the unsaid.
It's always with you, spreading underground,
feeding on what's gone missing:
your son, your sister, your father's house,
the life you should have had.
It's never in the past, defeat.
It soaks into the present,
it stains even the morning sun
the colour of burnt earth.

At last it breaks the surface.
It bursts. It bursts into song.
Long songs, you understand.
They go on and on.

If you've never checked out her poetry before I suggest you do it!

Review: The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green

If I had to review this book in six words I'd say, "I bought this book for $2". I had high hopes though. Joshua Braff is the brother of Zach Braff after all! You know, the guy who penned Garden State and is on Scrubs? That guy is adorable, talented and hilarious! It seems this didn't run in the family.

I'm not sure how unthinkable Jacob Green's thoughts are- they seemed pretty much what I would imagine a teenage boy to be thinking about. Possibly this is unusual or especially scandelous for Orthodox Jewish teenagers? Perhaps someone needs to explain to Braff that there is a difference between the reader not wanting to know about what a messed up, horny Jewish teen is thinking and his thoughts being unthinkable.

The book has good reviews on other websites but I can't imagine why. It was easy enough to read but it was filled with gross, clunky, unnatural prose. "He's about as lonely as a tube sock full of semen", seriously!? I wonder if that's how lonely Joshua Braff was after people read his book. Don't recommend this one but if someone wants to take it off my hands I wouldn't even charge you the $2 I spent. I should have known better.

Jacqueline's Visit

It might come to a surprise that I have another sister. I spend a lot of time with Steph since she lives nearby but I do have a sister that lives far away. Well, she came to visit us. This was excellent because we went out to eat at a lot of yummy places (oh and it was nice to spend time with her too! Haha!). My heart is through my stomach.

Dad and Sharron brought Venus along to visit and we brought her up to the apartment. It's a no pets apartment but I figured that having her there for an hour wouldn't kill anyone. She loved the carpet! They have hardwood in their place so she hasn't really experienced carpet before. I really miss having dogs around.

We went to Olive Garden with Dad and Sharron the first night and then to Chili's with Mom the next night. Delicious! I did have to work on Remembrance Day but managed to hang out with Jac a lot afterward. We had some amazing sushi (in a HUGE boat) and then saw The Box (which was disappointing). I was pleased to learn that my non-reading sister has been reading a little because she has a lot of time on her hands at work these days. I immediately lent her three books in hopes that she will continue with this and become hooked on reading. I was able to do it with Steph in the summer and as a result she finished 10 books! I gave Jac a few "sure things"- The Lovely Bones, Midwives and Helpless so hopefully the reading bug will bite her too!

Review: The Hour I First Believed

Wally Lamb is the author of one of my favorite books: She's Come Undone. Obviously I couldn't resist buying his newest novel. I think I like his novels because he writes about people who have real problems. This novel is quasi-fictional and deals with two fictional characters dealing with the very non-fictional massacre at Columbine high school.

The main characters are a teacher at Columbine and his wife who is the school nurse. He is away dealing with the death of a close relative when the massacre happens and his wife is one of the people who was in the library but managed to survive by hiding in a small cupboard. The rest of the book details the aftermath of this event on their lives and those around them. His wife develops chronic long term post traumatic stress disorder. They decide to move. Therapy is involved. He works numerous jobs to try and keep up with therapy costs and the loss of her income since she is no longer capable of working.

I have to say that I liked the book but it's a tough read. It was a bit hopeless, sad and futile. I also didn't really care for the ending it. I had one of those, "Really!? That was it?" moments. I also wasn't crazy about the subplot about the husband's family history. I have to say that a lot of research went into creating this book and probably someone more interested in American history would enjoy it more.

It's a long book so there were definitely a few quotes that caught my eye.

"Religion's just a well-oiled, profit-driven denial of the randomness of it all."

"It reminded me that they were more than just their scholarly shortcomings and gripes about the workload. Each had a history, a set of problems. Each, for better or worse, was anchored to a family."

"Our ancestors move along with us, in underground rivers and springs too deep for chaos to reach."

"A woman who surrenders her freedom need not surrender her dignity."

If you've never read a book by Lamb I would recommend you bypass this one and read one of his other novels instead. It seemed like he probably put the most work into this one, however, it seemed to lose some of it's heart in the process. Or maybe there is such a thing as too much tragedy happening to good characters.

Review: The Year of the Flood

It's no secret that I love Margaret Atwood. She is my favorite author and I collect everything that she has written. I've read pretty much everything (including poetry) she's written (well, not the new economic book or the book about writing). I was ridiculously excited to hear she had a new novel coming out and I bought it the day it came out.

I liked it. I didn't love it. I think I would have liked it more if I had reread Oryx and Crake first (which I loved) since the two books are connected. I also didn't know they were connected and since I have the memory of a goldfish when it comes to literature it took me half of the book to realize that the books were connected. Yes, I know this is pathetic. So what ended up happening was me reading this book having a nagging sensation that I'd read it before and then realizing that was because it was connected to Oryx and Crake.

In case you haven't read Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood is a dystopic novel that shows us a future where a horrible disease has wiped out most of humankind and the people left behind are in rough shape. It also shows us what things were like before the "waterless flood" (what the religious group God's Gardners called the plague) and things were not good. It's a world where genetic splicing, cloning and plastic surgery are favorite pastimes and the environment is a mess. A new fast food chain, Secret Burgers, is popular since meat of any kind is fairly rare. The burger is meat but it's tough to say what kind. Basically it's a hellish, sad place and yet, so many of the details aren't that big of a stretch from where we're at now.

If you've never read an Atwood book, you need to. Maybe start with Oryx and Crake before you tackle this one. Now I just need to sit down and read her new poetry book!

Busy

I need to update some more. Life has been getting in the way. Matt is busy using up the desk space in our room on a new art project. I've been working, reading and catching up with friends. It's been tiring but mostly positive stuff. Expect some more posts soon. I finally finished one of my half finished books! I'm getting discouraged though with my reading progress...

What Inspires You?

Maybe you've noticed I've been trying to write more. Since returning from Asia I'm really making an effort to set goals (even if they are small), learn, search for happiness and stand up for myself and the things I believe in.

I've already mentioned my love for stationary and so I'm showing you my new Inspiration Journal. I'm writing quotes, blog ideas, funny anecdotes and interesting information down in it. I bought it when I was traveling in Thailand and decided I should use it instead of save it (like the other 10 journals I have in boxes). I'm not really a "dear diary" type so this seems like a useful application for it.

So this is where I'm at. I am trying to figure out what I want to do with my life long term and keep doing what makes me happiest. I'm not sure where this blog is heading but it will probably continue to be a record of things I'm doing and stuff I'm thinking about. I like things to be interactive so if you're reading and have hesitated on commenting in the past I would like to encourage you to comment. It really makes my day and I do write back!

What about you- do you set specific goals for yourself? Do you journal? What do you think of my new blogging direction?

Speaking of goals, to give an update on my reading goal, it's slowed down a lot since I've been working full time but I'm going to keep going and see where I get. The important thing is that I'm reading, right? I'm in the middle of three books (Wicked, Look Me in the Eye and The Year of the Flood) so hopefully I'll finish them all up soon. I figure reading should be about relaxation and enjoyment rather than numbers. Saying that, I still covet the reading numbers of some of my friends. I just don't know how they find the time to read that much though!

Review: No Kids: 40 Good Reasons Not to Have Children

I read Corinne Maier's book over a couple days in Chapters. I mentioned this to Stephie and immediately was met with, "Oh no!!! Does this mean you're not going to have kids!?!". I thought this was amusing but I reassured her that I do plan on having a child or two sometime but that the book is interesting and important (not to mention hilarious!) anyway.

Before anyone gets too excited, one of the most fascinating things about Maier is that she is a mother herself. Yes, that's right. She loves her kids too and isn't some crazy, ultra feminist, baby eating monster. She's just willing to admit something that the vast majority of mothers would never dream of saying- she sometimes regrets having children and misses her former child-free life.

Should she feel ashamed about this? Is Maier afflicting major psychological and emotional damage on her children by sharing this; especially writing a book about this? I don't really know. What I do know is that society is way too fixated on traditional lifestyles and should really keep their noses out of other people's bedrooms. It's natural for a culture/species to be self preserving and obviously reproduction is a huge part of that. However, not everyone is qualified, able or wants to have children and that should be okay. Instead of being criticized by everyone they meet, they should be supported in their decision. Why does everyone have to have a baby? When you consider what a state the environment is in and all of the children that are starving, being abused, neglected, etc is growing rapidly every day it might not be a terrible idea to abstain from adding to all of that.

So the next time you hear someone say they don't want kids, please don't patronize them with "Oh, you'll change your mind!! Children are the most precious gifts in all the universe and everyone should have a gang of them!!". Imagine if the same rude attitude was presented to an aspiring parent! There would be outrage! It's important to remember that not everyone has to have the same life. It's a good thing that everyone doesn't aspire to be an Octo-mom, an 18 kids and counting, an Angelina Jolie or a Jon and Kate + 8. Otherwise there would be no more room for new programs on TLC and we would probably run out of resources a lot faster.

I definitely recommend this book for the giggles (how can you not chuckle at chapter titles like, "Labour (child birth) is torture" and "You won’t have to use that idiot language when talking to kids"?) and the thinking it produces.

Catching Up

Before I went to Korea I was struggling at a job that didn't make me happy. In fact, most of the time it made me pretty miserable. One of the few things I loved about that job was getting to work with my friend Diane. It's been too long since I've seen her but we finally managed to meet up. It was so refreshing to hang out with someone who understands my sense of humor and holds so many of the same interests as I do.

She's interested in joining a book club and I have been trying to find one/get one started. I met up with Catherine from my Bookleaves book club (in Korea, yeah she lives here now) and she has a book club with some friends. Also a friend from university messaged me about a book club and so now I think I just need to get off my butt and call people.

Aren't Diane and I cute? It took me a lot of convincing to get her to let me take her picture. People can be so funny. We had a yummy brunch and basically talked until we were just about hungry again.

Book Recommendations?

So today I spent a lot of time reading (well, I also went to the doctor since I'm trying to get to the bottom of this vertigo business that is plaguing my life) in Chapters. I have been reading Wicked for about a week now and I am not that into it. I find it pretty boring so far, honestly. I'm pushing through (almost halfway!) but if I keep picking boring/hard to read books then I will never make my goal. I am looking to my dear readers to help me out. I need a few compelling, well written fast reads. They don't have to be "easy" and really, I am a snob, I hate really fluffy stuff. I actually read almost half of a book in Chapters- a memoir of someone with Asperger's syndrome. This is an easy read for me. Can anyone give me some suggestions? Some of my favorite books are by Margaret Atwood, Neil Gaiman, Wally Lamb... I also like non-fiction stuff but it has to be interesting. I am particularly bad with history or anything dry or really complicated. No Stephen Hawkings for me. Also no Rudy Wiebe. Thanks in advance!

Thanks KB!

She sent me this hilarious cartoon in response to my Le Guin review. I think it's totally appropriate!

Review: The Left Hand of Darkness

It's been awhile since I reviewed anything, probably because my reading has tapered off since I've been in Canada. It seems that I am too easily seduced by the distractions around me here and need to really focus and buckle down if I am going to come anywhere near to reaching my reading goal for this year. Of course, there have been other factors other than my laziness that have contributed in my reading decline- moving, job interviews, getting a new job, unpacking, etc. I am really trying to find some balance and today I started unpacking my books so I found a number of them which I haven't read yet. This should help motivate me to keep going.

This is my second attempt at reading an Ursula Le Guin book. Way back when I was a little reader I attempted A Wizard of Earthsea but failed brutally. It was just way too convoluted and dry for pre-teen Amber. We actually somehow have a copy of that book so maybe I will give it another try sometime. We'll see.

What drew me to reading The Left Hand of Darkness was that it was a book choice for my old book group, Bookleaves, and that it dealt with interesting gender ideas. This book is science fiction and is set on another planet, called Winter, where the population is essentially hermaphroditic. For most of the month they are androgenous and then they enter their kemmer cycle when they can mate and breed. Depending on the pheromones of their partner they can take on either the male or female gender during kemmer and therefore it's possible for them to impregnate a partner and later become pregnant themselves as well.

I was a bit disappointed that this fascinating gender concept wasn't really addressed or developed that much. Really this book is more about politics and about the relationship between the main character, Genly Ai, and his Winter companion, Estraven. Genly Ai is a visitor from another planet and is attempting to get Winter to join an intergalactic league of nations. They have a lot of trials and tribulations and that's about all I can really say without giving away too much about the book.

This wasn't a bad book but I didn't find it as enjoyable to read as I thought I would. There were short folktales interspersed with the main story and I found that I enjoyed those more. I found Le Guin's writing to be really dense and confusing at times. I only learned 3/4 of the way through the book that there was a chapter at the end that explained how the seasons and days worked on this planet. Also, I was often unsure about the acutal definition of the Winter words that were used throughout the book. I would have liked some sort of glossary or footnote to help me out because every time I came across a word I didn't know I was immediately pulled out of the story. I think this is the kind of book I would enjoy more as a movie or if someone summarized it and told it to me orally. I may brave some more Le Guin fare later on but maybe not now since I am trying to pick up my reading pace and I find her so cerebral.