BTT: Plotting

Today's Booking Through Thursday asks us this:

Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Which would you rather read?

Hands down plots or at least writings that at least have some structure to them, even if there isn't necessarily any real plot.

I tried reading stream-of-consciousness once and I swear, it's not only hard to get anything out of it but I actually for the first and last time ever dreaded picking up a book to read it.  I had to write a thesis for my Bachelor's Degree and for some ungodly reason I picked James Joyce to work on. I did fine with Dubliners and Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man but when it came to Ulysses, I began to doubt my sanity. In the end, I did read the whole book but if you ask me anything about it, I would be drawing a blank.

The thing of it is, I hate chaos and stream-of-consciousness is chaos for me.

Waiting On Wednesday : The Astronomer by Lawrence Goldstone

This is my very first installment of Waiting On Wednesday hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine. I really like this meme but I always hesitated to join because I just can't come up with upcoming releases every week. However, I decided that it doesn't really have to be every  week but only when there is a book coming up that I am extra excited about. And I have just learned of such a book.

The Astronomer by Lawrence Goldstone is coming in May, 2010 from Walker Books.

Here's what the publisher says:

Set against the religious intolerance of sixteenth-century France, an intricate suspense thriller
revolving around a plot to kill Nicolaus Copernicus.

1534, Paris. A student at the Catholic Collège de Montaigu, serving as a courier for the Inquisition, is
murdered by members of an extreme Lutheran sect for the packet of letters he is carrying. His friend
and fellow classmate Amaury de Faverges—the illegitimate son of the Duke of Savoy and an expert in
astronomy and natural science—is recruited as his replacement and promised a decree of legitimacy if he
can uncover the secret that threatens to overturn Catholicism and the reign of François I.

Working undercover, Amaury journeys south to the liberal court of the king’s sister, Marguerite of Navarre,
the alleged heart of the conspiracy. The deeper he probes, the more Amaury is forced to confront his own
religious doubts; and when he discovers a copy of Copernicus’s shocking manuscript showing the sun at
the center of the universe, he knows the path he must follow.

Replete with characters and events from history—from the iconoclastic Rabelais to the burning of heretics
in Paris to preacher John Calvin and Copernicus himself—The Astronomer is a powerful novel of love and
betrayal, and a thrilling portrait of what might well have happened at a hinge point in history when science
and ancient religious belief collided.

I am especially looking forward to this book because it involves Nicolaus Copernicus, "my homeboy", a very famous historical figure from my native country of Poland.

What will be my permanent "About Me" page

Writing about myself is probably one of the hardest things for me to do. I am a typical introvert and prefer being alone to socializing. The only form of the latter occurs in virtual reality, as I find it much easier to meet and interact with people if I don’t have to physically be surrounded by them. I am also one those people who does things others would never expect them to do. Countless times, instead of hearing “I knew you could do it” I hear “Of all the people I know, you are the last person…” I also do not display many female personality traits. I hate cooking, I hate shopping, I feel very uncomfortable around children (with an exception of my own) and besides reading, I have absolutely no hobbies (no knitting, crocheting, quilting and such for me) and I am not in the least interested in latest fashions (I consider my brain my most fitting accessory).

As far as my background goes, I am a native of Poland and I came to the U.S. 8 years ago. Right now, I have a privilege of holding two citizenships: Polish and American. I am 32 years old (I don’t mind telling my age, I actually never understood the need for a woman not to reveal it), I have a beautiful 11-year-old daughter Karolina, 2-month-old son Aleksander and I have been with my second husband for seven years. My first marriage didn’t work out but I have no regrets because it gave me my girl, the greatest gift I could ever dream of.  Because I am a loner and have many issues of mental nature with which people around me and I have to struggle daily, my second marriage is not exactly a walk in the park. But despite some major bumps along the way, we are making it work and growing more emotionally mature together. My husband Mark is a very patient person and I am sometimes secretly worried that I’m not exactly giving him what one would call marital bliss. He is also a great stepfather to Karolina and they have a wonderful relationship going on for which I am probably the most grateful.

We got married in Las Vegas, but not as one might thinK in one of these drive-thru chapels. I actually did not know what he was planning until the day of wedding. We flew in a helicopter to Grand Canyon and that’s where we got married. 

We also have two cats  Maxie and Sushi. My professional life is probably not very interesting but it at least allows me to be a full-time mom. I am a freelance Polish translator and work mostly on the computer from home. Only occasionally I work for NY State Court System as an interpreter and I am hoping that one day I can do it full time since it’s actually very fun to meet the judges, attorneys and court officers as colleagues not as people whose service you need. I have two dream jobs: a college professor in comparative literature (that’s what I got my degree in) or a literary translator, both of which, not surprisingly, are closely connected with literature.

Okay, I think I will stop boring you now. I will only mention the thing I am most looking for in life and I’ll be gone :). The biggest thing I wish to attain one day is, actually not happiness but contentment, serenity and peace. I hate chaos around me, it makes me very anxious and uneasy, therefore I am looking forward to peace and quiet.

A quote that gives me strength:

 …He became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 14:30-33

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

Among historical fiction, my most favorite books are about Japan and China. The history of these two countries holds a lot of mystery, exoticism and secrets. Therefore, I was very excited to read Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Unfortunately, having finished the book I felt a little disappointed.

Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is a story of two seven-year-old girls growing up in nineteenth-century China. Lily and Snow Flower become laotongs, friends for life, two girls who are bound by a promise to always stay true to each other and love each other as only women can. Together they suffer through footbinding at the age of seven, they make preparations for their arranged marriages and grow emotionally closer and closer to each other. The only constant in their life is a secret silk fan on which Lily and Snow Flower compose messages in nu shu, a secret language used only by women, untouched by the male influence. The secret fan becomes a recording of the girls' hopes, trials, thoughts and emotions as they live their lives apart from each other, in the houses of their new husbands where they are treated as foreigners and servants. However, their strong bond is suddenly threatened by a misunderstanding that can have potentially severe consequences.

Ms. See is certainly a very skilled writer. Through the voice of Lily, she vividly evoked the sufferings and injustices women were subjected to in 19^th century China. As I read about the cruel tradition of footbinding or the years of preparation for the marriage which is arranged when a girl is seven and is finalized at the age of seventeen, I was both mesmerized and indignant. Lily and Snow Flower are at once perfect examples of obedient daughters and wives and of free spirits always wanting to soar above the canons of tradition set upon them by men.  As they grew, I found myself growing with them. With that written, I also felt that the book wasn't as engaging as I would have liked. I honestly can't quite put a finger on what it was but my overall impression was that the book fell a little flat. Besides the two girls, all other characters lacked depth and not enough time was devoted to their development. I would have liked very much to know more about Lily's mother and how she got to be so detached from her daughter, or about the tragic fates of Snow Flowers family. There were numerous characters that could have been very exciting to get more acquainted with but Ms. See for some reason chose to concentrate mainly on Lily and Snow Flower. All and all, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan is one of the very few books that could benefit from being longer instead of shorter. Because Lisa See's writing is not boring in the very least, I would have loved this book had its characters been more developed and had it concentrated on several parallel stories instead of just one.

Presumed Innocent by Scott Turow - Giveaway!

In anticipation for the highly-awaited sequel to PRESUMED INNOCENT, INNOCENT, which releases May 4, 2010, Hachette Book Group and I would like to offer you a chance to win a copy of  PRESUMED INNOCENT.

Presumed Innocent brings to life our worst nightmare: that of an ordinary citizen facing conviction for the most terrible of crimes. Prosecutor Rusty Sabich is transformed from accuser to accused when he is handed an explosive case--that of the brutal murder of a woman who happens to be his former lover.

GIVEAWAY 411

The rules are simple, as usual:

1. To enter, please leave a comment with your email, if I have no other way of contacting you.

2. The giveaway is open to U.S and Canada residents.

3. No P.O. Box addresses, only street ones.

4. For extra entries, you can tweet about this giveaway, come back and leave a separate comment with a link. My twitter user name is: lillygustavus.

5. This giveaway is open from April 1th - April 19th.

And no, this is not a joke in honor of April Fool's Day

*********

This giveaway is made possible by Valerie R. from Hachette Book Group.