The protagonist is the SAHM of two young children and she is struggling with the tedium and inexorability of motherhood. McLarin describes it with painful accuracy; anyone who has ever been driven batty by the daily demands of a three-year-old will surely recognize themselves in this book. Of course she fantasizes about running off and abandoning them. What SAHM hasn’t?

Fortunately Jump at the Sun isn’t just about the daily demands, etc. It also has history, flashbacks, sociology & race relations, life, death, marriage, and lots of other good stuff. But it is mainly about parenting, and if you’re a bookish introvert who has ever chafed at the bonds of motherhood you will definitely appreciate this novel. You might not love it. The plot twists were a little too convenient, and the language at times was a little unbelievable (okay she’s an academic, but does that really give her the right to use the word enchiridion to describe a parenting book?). But you will definitely appreciate it.

It is good to be back here at Bookworm! During my unplanned hiatus I read a grand total of ONE books. Yes, that’s right. I have read ONE book since August 30, the date of my last real post. And I have let all your posts pile up in Google Reader. Instead, I read about fifty million diaries on dailykos, and about a hundred thousand articles apiece on huffpo and fivethirtyeight.com and mudflats and various other assorted lefty liberal blogs. “Pundit” is now right up there with “maverick” on my list of Words I Never Want To Hear Again.

So… I have lots to do now that we have a president-elect. I have blog posts to read, client work to catch up on, a book review to write, and shit, my house and yard are positively sordid.

I created this little graphic myself because I couldn’t find anything “official” at ALA. Feel free to download it (control- or right-click) if you like. And Tango Makes Three tops the list of challenged books this year.

While we’re on the topic of banned books, I came across a cute article titled “Why We Shouldn’t Still Be Learning Catcher in the Rye.” Don’t worry, the author isn’t actually suggesting the book be banned — just replaced on the sophomore English syllabus with something more shocking.

I mooched this book from April Boland after reading about it on her Sunday Salon post. It’s a retelling of the story of Abraham and Sarah, with a twist: the story is narrated alternately in the third person from Sarah’s point of view, and in the (omniscient?) first person, by God.

God is by far the most interesting character in the book. God is “only human” in a lot of ways; he (she?) experiences confusion, jealousy, loneliness, love, desire, dismay. And what I liked most is that the author has come up with a completely coherent explanation for God’s actions, all the way up to the sacrifice of Isaac. Whatever your religious beliefs, there is lots of food for thought here.

Where this book falls short? Alas, in the storytelling department. I found myself wishing for more detail, more color, more description, more dialogue, more showing and less telling. A lot of the time I felt like I was reading an essay rather than a novel.

Garden Spells, by Sarah Addison Allen

I read two reviews of this book, one glowing and the other vitriolic. Of course, I failed to bookmark either one, and now I can’t find them. Needless to say, I was sufficiently intrigued by the two extremes that I felt like I really should read it myself.

This was quite a contrast with Only Human. No problems in the storytelling department here! It’s a light romance, with a bit of magic. Lots of color, detail, dialogue, action. Totally predictable plot, but don’t all light romances have totally predicable plots? The fun is in the charming characters, the “garden spells,” the humor, the quirkiness. This book certainly won’t change your worldview, but it’s a nice way to spend a rainy afternoon. Two thumbs up. :-)

I have missed a couple of Sundays in a row because of first being away and second having no wireless connection. Needless to say, I am glad to be back and looking forward to finding out what y’all have been reading.

I’ve been reading quite a bit in the last couple of weeks. Here are some of the highlights.

Lotte’s Locket, by Virginia Sorensen. This was an RCF (re-read of a childhood favorite) and I was dying to see if it was as good as I remembered it. Basically, it’s about a little girl growing up in post-WWII Denmark. Her father was killed in the war and now her mother is getting ready to remarry an American and they will move to Texas. And Lotte doesn’t want to go. It’s sort of a quiet book, a “mood & setting” book more than anything else. I loved the same thing about it now that I remember loving then: the details about Denmark. Lots of Danish words with their mysteriously fascinating ås and øs, lots of references to foods, customs, and Hans Christian Andersen. But one thing I only notice now, as an adult, is how incredibly conservative Lotte is. There were times when I wanted to slap her: come on, Lotte, you’re about to go on an exciting adventure! Change is good! Travel is thrilling! Even so, this is a great book and I highly recommend it to upper-elementary bookworms.

In Praise of Lies, by Patricia Melo. I got this one from BookMooch. I mooched it after reading a review of it at This Book is For You. It totally lived up to expectations, and then some! Not only is it a brilliant homage to the masters of noir fiction (think Double Indemnity) but it’s also a totally hilarious send-up of the publishing industry. It’s got crimes of passion, snakes, and self-help books. What more could you possibly ask for?

The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, by Gertrude Stein. Ok, I’ve only read half of this so far. But it is amazing. Gertrude Stein, where have you been all my life? Reading it, within the first few pages — actually, as soon as I read page 69 — I felt the shock of recognition: this is a kindred spirit.