The Sunday Salon, My Evolution of eReaders and How I Fell for That New Kindle!

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! This is the day during the week where we get together and talk books! So grab a cup of joe, find a comfy chair and relax! What bookish things have you been doing this week?

On Saturday, much to my surprise and delight, a package came from Amazon. Though it was suppose to arrive on Oct. 18th, my new Kindle came Oct. 12th! I have long held a certain affection for eReaders, which started out as a novelty for some, but way back publishers were starting to use ePub files to distribute some of their galleys and I needed to have one. At that time, the early Nook was the winner in this department because the Kindle was not ePub friendly. I liked that first Nook, but wasn't thrilled. I've tested quite a few eReaders since then- the Kobo, the Sony eReader, the iPad and the many generations of Kindles. My favorite out of all of them has been the Sony eReader Pocket edition. It is thin, the screen is amazing, and it is small. It fits in my hand (which is small), and it is so easy to put in my purse. But Sony never succeeded in pushing its way to the top and remains to be a hidden gem. Unfortunately, it seems that Sony is not developing any new eReaders which may eventually lead to them getting out of the eReader business. Hopefully that does not mean them getting out of the eBook business, because the Sony Bookstore is very nice. But I imagine that the profit is in the eBooks, not the eReader, so the eBookstore should remain viable. The easiest eReader to fill up has always been the Kindle, in whatever form you have one. Amazon is just a mega giant when it comes to advertising and ease of shopping. (amazing what you can find in the Amazon.com store!) And I have been happy with my Kindle touch, though I never quite felt that the e-Ink display was all "That".

Then came along the Nook HD and I was in love. The screen was color, which I could adjust for reading, and it was a comfortable size to hold. Amazon came out with it's Kindle Fire's then, but Nook really blew them away. The Nook HD was lighter, thinner and had a crisper (more pixels) display. Soon-to-be Hubby bought me one for Christmas and I was so happy.... until Google. Yes, Google. Barnes and Noble suffers from the same advertising problems as Sony. Kindle just "has" the eReader market in its pocket. As a result, Barnes & Noble after successfully pushing the new Nook HD, made a deal with Google and let them take over the Nook with Google Apps. One day I woke up to Google Play, which I loved because it made it possible to read my Kindle books on my Nook, but then I had all sorts of other Google Apps I didn't want! I ignore all those Apps when I turned on my Nook, because my Nook is really for reading.

I've been so happy with my Nook HD even with the Google takeover. I've had it for about a year. Rumors of a new Kindle started circulating. It was going to be thinner, sharper and had something called Second Screen, which really intrigued me. And so, with some reward points lingering around for a long time, I ordered a Kindle Fire HDX. It is thinner, the screen is beautiful and it is so much lighter than the Kindle Fire. Second Screen is what really tempted me and that is not up and running yet. Basically Second Screen (also referred to as Mirroring or Miracast) is a way for you to throw what's on your eReader screen to your TV. You will need a device that will do this though, such as a smart TV or a "box" hooked up to your TV. This all works wirelessly from your Kindle, and I was thinking how it would be great for Skype! More details coming about all that as Amazon works out any bugs and comes up with their own "device" to sell you.

There are a few "negatives" with the Kindle Fire HDX. Maybe more pet peeves... Even though it is thinner, it is still just a smidge too wide to fit comfortable in my small hand for a long time. And I have found that when I'm holding the Kindle HDX with both hands, my fingers tend to touch the screen, which could cause a little havoc with what you are doing. I think it's just a matter of getting use to holding it though. The on/off button is on the back and so are the volume controls, which make it a bit cumbersome to work with. I would have preferred to have them on the side, but to keep the thin profile they had to do this. And something that may matter to some people, there is no rear camera. So if you want to actually take a photo, you can only aim the front of the HDX at whatever and not quite know what you are shooting. This camera feature is really for video chatting, which I think would be fantastic. I'm also waiting for a more reasonable priced case too. Right now, you can buy an Orgami Case , which also serves to prop up your Kindle, for either $49.99 or $64.99 depending on if you want genuine leather or faux leather, a slip case for $19.99 or an OtterBox case for $69.99, which is built like a tank, and kind of defeats the new slim design of your Kindle. After market cases should be coming soon.

So, what eReader is dear to your heart? And are you going to be looking at one of the new Kindle Fires? Share what your pro's and con's are!

BTW, since we're on the subject of eReaders, how about a great source for eBooks? If you haven't heard about it yet, BookBub is a great source for free and reduced price eBooks for all the different eReaders. You signup at the sight with your email and check off the types of books you like to read and the platform you read them on. Then you'll get a daily email with the bargains for that day, and it's not just no name authors, there are well known authors also represented. AND you'll find some cookbooks in the selections sometimes.

My eReader Blogging Memories... 
        Sept. 5, 2010: Are eReaders Taking Over the World?
        June 22, 2010: eReader Price Wars
        May 12, 2010: The Digital World Welcomes ANOTHER eReader!
        Dec. 21, 2012: Seniors Re-Kindling a Love for Reading
        Oct. 22, 2009: The Kindle Korner and The Nook
        July 29, 2010: The Third Generation Kindle Revealed!
        May 6, 2009: Is Bigger Better?

Happy eReading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon and Mail Call...

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! This is the day during the week where we get together and talk books! So grab a cup of joe, find a comfy chair and relax! What bookish things have you been doing this week?

Thought I would share some of the great books you should see arriving in your bookstore soon! These wonderful pages arrived in my mailbox the past few weeks and I am so excited!

Charming by Elliott James... Not all Princes are Charming... He comes from a line of Charmings — an illustrious family of dragon slayers, witch-finders and killers dating back to before the fall of Rome. Trained by a modern day version of the Knights Templar, monster hunters who have updated their methods from chainmail and crossbows to kevlar and shotguns, he was one of the best. That is — until he became the abomination the Knights were sworn to hunt. That was a lifetime ago. Now, he tends bar under an assumed name in rural Virginia and leads a peaceful, quiet life. One that shouldn't change just because a vampire and a blonde walked into his bar... Right?

Just when I thought I was all through with Vampires and the like, Charming by Elliott James arrives in my mailbox to WOW me. The story is fun, the writing drew me in with it's easy laid back style and I loved the characters! Look for a full review soon, but for now, let me just say READ it! Charming was published late Sept. by Orbit books, an imprint of Hachette Book Group, and can be found at your local bookstore now!

Harvest by Jim Crace... On the morning after harvest, the inhabitants of a remote English village awaken looking forward to a hard-earned day of rest and feasting at their landowner's table. But the sky is marred by two conspicuous columns of smoke, replacing pleasurable anticipation with alarm and suspicion. One smoke column is the result of an overnight fire that has damaged the master's outbuildings. The second column rises from the wooded edge of the village, sent up by newcomers to announce their presence. In the minds of the wary villagers a mere coincidence of events appears to be unlikely, with violent confrontation looming as the unavoidable outcome. Meanwhile, another newcomer has recently been spotted taking careful notes and making drawings of the land. It is his presence more than any other that will threaten the village's entire way of life.

This book was a finalist in the Man Booker Prize, and has earned a lot of praise for it's writing, which has been referred to as "haunting" and "thought-provoking". The author puts us in the midst of an English village, probably in the mid 1600's, and the villagers that call it home. Published by Vintage Books, it is available on the bookstore shelves now, and it's a Kindle bargain at $7.99 right now! I always tend to pay attention to the books that are in the Man Booker lists, and I look forward to cracking the spine on this literary runner up!

The Drowning House by Elizabeth Black... Mourning for her daughter and her crumbling marriage, photographer Clare Porterfield returns to her childhood home in Galveston, Texas, hoping to find distraction in mounting an exhibition featuring the island’s vivid history. Things haven’t changed much during her decade away: her relationship with her mother and older sister is still fraught and competitive, and their neighbors, the Carradays, wield the same moneyed influence they have for generations. But Clare finds that she is now an outsider, out of step with the unique rhythms of Galveston life. As she copes with her grief by digging deeper into the past, she discovers secrets that have grown and multiplied like the wildflowers that climb up Island walls and fences—secrets that will give her a new understanding of her own history.

This sounds like a great reading group pick! Uncovering secrets long buried usually always spells interest and Elizabeth Black has gotten some great reviews for The Drowning House. Published by Random House, this will be on the shelves Oct. 8th!

The Antagonist by Lynn Coady... A piercing epistolary novel, The Antagonist explores, with wit and compassion, how the impressions of others shape, pervert, and flummox both our perceptions of ourselves and our very nature. Gordon Rankin Jr., aka “Rank,” thinks of himself as “King Midas in reverse”—and indeed misfortune seems to follow him at every turn. Against his will and his nature, he has long been considered—given his enormous size and strength—a goon and enforcer by his classmates, by his hockey coaches, and, not least, by his “tiny, angry” father. He gamely lives up to their expectations, until a vicious twist of fate forces him to flee underground. Now pushing forty, he discovers that an old, trusted friend from his college days has published a novel that borrows freely from the traumatic events of Rank’s own life. Outraged by this betrayal and feeling cruelly misrepresented, he bashes out his own version of his story in a barrage of e-mails to the novelist that range from funny to furious to heartbreaking.

This looks to be fun! I love epistolary novels! That is, novels that are written as a series of letters. Actually this is written in the form of emails that are dated and time stamped at the beginning of each one, and the ones I read so far are funny. But it's not all fun and games for Rank, who pours out his version of "the story". This is a kind of coming-of-age tale, and there are heart breaking moments as well. This is definitely on the top of the reading pile and has gotten a lot of early praise. It is published by Vintage Books, an imprint of Random House, and I think it would make a good reading group read, with what appear to be good discussion questions from the publisher. This will be available on the book shelves Oct. 8th! If you enjoy epistolary novels, you have to check out this one! Look for a review soon!

A BIG thank you to the publishers and reps who sent along these great books for me to review!

What Else Happened This Week?... On Monday, I wrote about Marcella Hazan,  a cookbook writer, Italian cooking extraordinaire, who died last Sunday. Her legacy will be the wonderful Italian cooking she taught from her home, cooking schools and cookbooks. I recently picked up a copy of her Essentials of Italian Cooking and not only was excited to read the recipes inside, but the wealth of cooking information she shares at the beginning and thru-out. I will be reviewing this and sharing what I decide to cook too!

Tom Clancy, author of numerous thrillers, including The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games, died this past week. Fans of Jack Ryan will get one more chance to tag along, with Tom Clancy's last Jack Ryan novel Command Authority, coming out Dec. 3rd. This book was written with Mark Greaney, the second collaboration with Tom Clancy, which will probably keep the Jack Ryan legacy alive. 

How was your reading week?! Any great books you'd like to share?! I always like to hear what you're reading too! 

Happy reading... Suzanne

Remembering Marcella Hazan and her Italian cooking...

Marcella Hazan died Sunday at her home in Longboat Key, Fl. She was 89. I never knew her, I didn't know about her cooking, but today there was such an outpouring for her passing that I had to learn more about her...

A biology teacher by trade, Marcella came to New York in 1955, a newlywed native to Italy with no grasp of English, and not familiar with the so called cooking in America. She was rather put off by what the American's called Italian cooking and slowly went about educating those around her about how to cook Italian authentically. Word spread fast and soon she was writing a cooking book, and teaching the best. Here's a wonderful article online from The New York Times about Marcella Hazan.

I love to cook. I have a zillion cookbooks with many dog-eared and splattered pages, and yet, there is not one cookbook from Marcella Hazan on those shelves. But there will be! There are some classic Marcella Hazan recipes I found today that just say, "Cook Me!", and so, since I love reviewing cookbooks, look out for a review of Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan, which is to Italian cooking as Mastering the Art of French Cooking is to French cuisine. Want a sample of one of her recipes? Here's her infamous simple 3 ingredient Tomato Sauce...


Marcella Hazan’s Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter Recipe
Adapted from Marcela Hazan’s Essentials of Italian Cooking
(Take a peek at SmittenKitchen.com  for beautiful full color photos to go with this recipe!)

One 28-ounce can whole plum tomatoes (San Marzano, if you can find), tomatoes roughly chopped with their juices
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and halved
Salt to taste

Heat a heavy, medium saucepan over medium heat. Add all of the ingredients and bring to a simmer. Turn the heat to low to keep a steady simmer. Cook for 45 minutes, or until droplets of fat float free of the tomatoes. Stir occasionally. Discard the onion. Serve over cooked pasta.

There are quite a few cookbooks written by Marcella Hazan, including Marcella's Italian Kitchen and More Classic Italian Cooking, but Marcella also wrote her memoir, Amarcord: Marcella Remembers, which "tells how a young girl raised in Emilia-Romagna became America's godmother of Italian cooking.", which is a perfect addition to Memoir Mondays.

Have a favorite recipe from Marcella Hazan? Favorite cookbook? Share it!



Happy Cooking.... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon and Banned Books Week Wrap-up!

Welcome to the Sunday Salon! This is the day during the week where we get together and talk books! So grab a cup of joe, find a comfy chair and relax! What bookish things have you been doing this week?

How did your Banned Books Week go? Here are the books I covered this week...

On Tuesday, I wrote about Charlotte's Web by E.B. White, the beloved children's book that had talking animals upsetting the sensibilities of some parents who thought it was blasphemous. 

Wednesday, I wrote about Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher, the fictional account of a teenage girl, dealing with the realities of bullying, sex and drugs, and the pressures of growing up, which ultimately causes her to take her own life. 

Friday, I wrote about The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, the childrens book written in simple verse & simple illustrations, about the relationship between a little boy growing up and a tree. Originally banned because of sexism, there were also a whole host of other complaints of this deeply moving book. 

And this year for Banned Books Week, I opened the pages of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. I've updated you along the way, Monday & Thursday,  and finally this morning I turned over the last page. I have to say that it was not anything that I had expected. Although I knew it had to do with racial issues, I had no idea where it was going to take me. We last left our narrator beginning his stay in New York, the harsh New York during the height of segregation. He witnesses an eviction of an elderly Black couple in a high rise apartment and is moved to speak to the riotous crowd that is growing dangerous. He speaks to the crowd from his heart, and they stop and listen. In the crowd though, was a man from "The Brotherhood", a bipartisan group who recruit him as their spokesman to "the people". As our narrator is "indoctrinated" into their cause, which he feels initially is his cause, he becomes disillusioned. In reality, The Brotherhood, which is suppose to be the Communist party, is trying to control things for their own purpose and not to help the people of Harlem. A race riot eventually ensues, and barely escaping with his life he falls through a manhole into a pile of coal. It is there that he realizes he is worn out from the fight. Not just the fight for equality, but the fight to become an individual who is seen for his unique abilities, thoughts and expressions. He finally accepts his invisibility.

          " I have been hurt to the point of abysmal pain, hurt to the point of invisibility."

In the afterward to Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, it is written that Invisible Man is, "Groundbreaking in its exploration of race and identity and virtuosic in its use of language and dialect." I have to agree. The writing was great; I could hardly put it down once I got past the prologue. I empathized with the narrator and his struggles to do what was right in the face of all the opposition. I could feel the tensions, the sights and sounds of the era. The characters came alive off the page. And the story was good. Can I say great? I hesitate because of the subject matter, because you can't read the book and feel uplifted, but I would recommend the book. It is a classic, timeless in it's writing, with the ability to feel fresh even though it was published over 60 years ago.

This week Invisible Man came to the forefront of Banned Books Week because it was banned recently in school libraries in Randolph County, NC after a parent of a high school junior complained about its language and depictions of rape and incest. The board had banned the book Sept. 16 by a 5-2 vote, but rescinded that order after an amazing nationwide backlash.

Board Chairman Tommy McDonald said the torrent of emails he received was “very enlightening,’’ although a few were “downright vulgar and very hurtful.’’ The backlash made him realize, he said, that “my job is to make sure that book is there whether I want to read it or not." from LATimes.com

Before this incident of banning Invisible Man, there have been other attempts to ban it over the years...

"Excerpts banned in Butler, PA (1975); removed from the high school English reading list in St. Francis, WI (1975). Retained in the Yakima, WA schools (1994) after a five-month dispute over what advanced high school students should read in the classroom. Two parents raised concerns about profanity and images of violence and sexuality in the book and requested that it be removed from the reading list." from ALA.com

So there you have it, Banned Books Week in all its glory. Who would think that in the year 2013, there still would be the unfortunate issue of banning books. LATimes.com had an interesting article about the recent banning of Invisible Man, you can follow the link to LATimes.com to read it. The American Library Association is another great source to read more about banned books. Go to ALA.org to learn more.

What did you do for Banned Books Week? Read any good banned books?! I really missed being able to get around (in a leg brace unable to walk, a long story) because I really would have enjoyed reading at a Banned Book Read-Out, BUT there's always next year!

P.S. World Book Night book announcements coming soon, AND next we'll talk about the Man Booker Prize, which has new criteria and a big uproar because of it!

Happy Reading... Suzanne

Banned Books Week and The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein...

"Once there was a tree... and she loved a little boy. And every day the boy would come... and he woud gather her leaves... and make them into crowns and play king of the forest." Thus begins The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. The tender story of the power of love, the gift of giving and the consequences of selfishness. I remember reading this book as an adult and crying at the end. As the boy grows up, his demands become harder and harder for the tree to provide, until she gives the ultimate gift of her life.

The Giving Tree was initially challenged and removed from a library because the librarian thought it was sexist. I also read where the story had been interpreted as Sadomasochism, where the boy keeps demanding more and the tree keeps giving. Subsequently there has been a lot of chatter about the meaning behind the story, and it was banned due to others having said it undermines parental, school, and religious authority. I also read where someone thought it undermined the logging industry. Really?!

Have you read the book? The simple illustrations are wonderful, and the text is simple, yet powerful. I think it teaches a lesson to all of us. What do you think?

Banned Books Week continues with more from the Invisible Man...

I've gotten a little farther in Invisible Man and have gotten to know our narrator a little bit better... It's like that old saying, "if I didn't have bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all." Our narrator just can't do anything right. After the incident at college, where he introduces one of the white founders of the university to the seedier sides of the community, he get's expelled. Now, Ellison's reasons for having our narrator take that trip seem to be to show us that no matter what station in life our narrator feels he's in, what it all comes down to is that the color of his skin is still Black, and that the white people around him, really see no class distinction. If he doesn't play "the game", he won't survive. His innocent mis-steps showcase this and slowly he begins to wake up to the fact that his invisibility is not due to his doing what is expected of him, but to the fact that he's not considered an individual; Someone with thoughts and ideas.

As the story goes on, our narrator gets expelled from school, backstabbed by the Headmaster of the school (who is Black, but tows the line and doesn't want anyone upsetting his cushy life), moves to New York, and starts to adjust to a different kind of life. A life where Black and White interact on a daily basis, without much fanfare, and where he begins to experience prejudice from his own people. Up until now, Ellison makes huge distinctions between the races, and has his characters openly disparage the "White power", which of course would make some people reading his book very uncomfortable. But the banter in this book is reflective of the era that it was written. And to quote award winning journalist Roger Rosenblatt, "Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man," which won the National Book Award in 1953, was instantly recognized as a masterpiece, a novel that captured the grim realities of racial discrimination as no book had."

I'm almost half way through the book... stop by for more insights as I continue reading Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison for Banned Books Week!

Banned Books Week... Highlighting Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher and Teen suicide

Sometimes a book is banned because the subject matter is uncomfortable. Such is the case in Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher...

Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a mysterious box with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker--his classmate and crush--who committed suicide two weeks earlier. On tape, Hannah explains that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he'll find out how he made the list. Through Hannah and Clay's dual narratives, debut author Jay Asher weaves an intricate and heartrending story of confusion and desperation that will deeply affect teen readers.

Thirteen Reasons Why is about teen suicide. It's about bullying. It's about how words and actions can hurt. First published in 2007, Thirteen Reasons Why still made the top ten banned list in 2012. Why? Because it contained drugs/alcohol/smoking, it was sexually explicit, there was a suicide, and it was deemed unsuited for age group. I have never read the book, but from researching banned books for this week, I  read a blurb on cnn.com from Jay Asher about censorship that just resonated with me and made me wish that people who try and ban books like this, would understand why it's important to have them available. Here's the blurb:

Having spoken to thousands of teens since my book came out, I even more firmly believe that books dealing with these issues need to be written as emotionally honest as possible. Not only is it appropriate, it's responsible. If people are dealing with it, we need to talk about it. Otherwise, we contribute to the main reason people don't reach out for help

The responses I read on the Thirteen Reasons Why Website, were amazing. Some were reviews from people who were dealing with depression, some who had attempted suicide and even a response from someone who realized they wanted to go into a field that helped teenagers like the protagonist in the story. In any case, if this book helps one person, it is a worthwhile endeavor. I just put this on my reading list.

Banned Books Week Continues with... Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White is a Banned Book!

A beloved children's story, about a little girl Fern, who lives on a farm and falls in love with a runt. And how that runt grows up to be a bashful pig named Wilbur befriended by a spider named Charlotte. A story about friendship & sacrifice, and the cycles of life. A story I loved as a child and last year celebrated it's 60th anniversary!

Charlotte's Web has sold more than 45 million copies and has been translated into 23 languages. And in 2006, was challenged because some parents in Kansas thought that talking animals were blasphemous and unnatural. Challenged also because the passages about the spider dying were "inappropriate subject matter for a children's book." (I still cried when I reread that this week!)

A wonderful writer of children's books including Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan, E.B. White lived on a farm, where the inspiration came for Charlotte's Web. Here is what he had to say about writing the book...

"As for Charlotte's Web, I like animals and my barn is a very pleasant place to be, at all hours. One day when I was on my way to feed the pig, I began feeling sorry for the pig because, like most pigs, he was doomed to die. This made me sad. So I started thinking of ways to save a pig's life. I had been watching a big grey spider at her work and was impressed by how clever she was at weaving. Gradually I worked the spider into the story that you know, a story of friendship and salvation on a farm. Three years after I started writing it, it was published."

Amazing that in the 21st century, Charlotte's Web would be a target for censorship. What do you think?

Banned Books Week starts with Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

I met the Invisible Man the other day. The end of his story is really the beginning, as I met him as an old man or an older man. He frightened me a little because the more he talked the more he seemed disjointed. He seemed paranoid, angry, maybe even a little mentally unstable. I wondered if this is what happens after years of being an invisible man. But he wanted to tell his story from the beginning and when he finally started, things became clearer and he was well spoken...

Here are the first words he spoke to me...

“I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood-movie ectoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids — and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.”

The ebook version I downloaded starts with an introduction written by Ralph Ellison from 1981, almost 30 years after the first publishing of Invisible Man. He explains how he came to write the book, which began in the summer of 1945, in a barn in Waitsfield, VT.  Interesting that the generosity of some of the people that believed in him, put him in a situation that he was far from invisible- a black man living in an affluent fifth avenue building, where "the doormen of buildings located in middle and upper-class neighborhoods routinely directed such as myself to their service elevators". But then again his invisibility and the invisibility that his protagonist experiences in the book, is created by the prejudices and stigmas that people impose on him. Some people did not see him for who is actually was, but for whom they thought he was, based on the color of his skin.

About the book so far... I'm on chapter 4. The writing is wonderful & complex. Ellison really gets you into the head of the "invisible man", who is a mere boy just graduating from high school. Even at such a young age, the invisible man must deal with the moral dilemma of "getting along" or being true to himself. We first see a bit of the "rebellious" boy, when he is reading his high school graduation speech in front of an audience of influential white men in the town, and as they laughed & carried on, not really listening, the boy slips and speaks the words, "Social equality" instead of what was written in his speech, "Social responsibility". Dead silence follows and the boy must make a decision.

So far, there have been a few violent scenes, an incestuous rape and language that is suppose to be representative of the times, but may be offensive. I can see where this book may make people feel very uncomfortable. And I'm not sure if there is an age range that is appropriate when it comes to reading the passage of the incestuous rape . But I don't believe in censorship. I do believe that a parent should be involved in what their children are reading, and if they feel that their child is not mature enough to understand the material, they should do what they feel is in the best interest of THEIR child. BTW, the book is not all doom & gloom, there is some wit as the boy seems to have a habit of getting himself into these amazing situations while he's trying to be "invisible", and then has to figure out how to get out of them in one piece.

ALSO, the "invisible man", never has a name. Am I bothered by this? No, as this is his story and I know who it is. Although in my mind he is a person, and referring to him as the "invisible man" makes me feel like I'm discounting him too.

Have you ever read Invisible Man? What are your thoughts on the book? I'll be reading this all week long, stay tuned and check back during the week as I update the progress and how the book is going...


Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison... from the publisher: Invisible Man is a milestone in American literature, a book that has continued to engage readers since its appearance in 1952.  A first novel by an unknown writer, it remained on the bestseller list for sixteen weeks, won the National Book Award for fiction, and established Ralph Ellison as one of the key writers of the century.  The nameless narrator of the novel describes growing up in a black community in the South, attending a Negro college from which he is expelled, moving to New York and becoming the chief spokesman of the Harlem branch of "the Brotherhood", and retreating amid violence and confusion to the basement lair of the Invisible Man he imagines himself to be.