the view from saturday, in september

I've been pretty good about keeping up with my rereading goal this year, and in September I reread The View From Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg. I've return to this book fairly regularly and find myself thinking of it frequently. As a kid I loved the idea of the Academic Quiz Bowl and, as it turns out, I still love it. It's a bit gimmicky having so many of the quiz bowl questions correlate so perfectly to The Souls own journeys, but at the same time I don't think there's a better way to segue into each of the characters' own stories.

One thing that struck me reading the book this time around is how important Mrs. Olinski's journey is to the book as a whole -- in fact (mild spoiler here) the book ends with her, not the students, finding her place. When I reached the end of the book I thought to myself that hey, maybe this is Mrs. Olinski's story after all.

And in some ways it is. It's the story of her coming back to teaching and finding students that inspired her. It's a story of her feeling more comfortable as herself after becoming paralyzed, and being brave enough to stand up for herself and listen to her gut.

But in other ways it's the story of Nadia, Noah, Julian, and Ethan -- the sixth grade students who are competing in the Academic Quiz Bowl state finals against an eighth grade team. It's the story of how they know each other, how they were brought together, and the things that happened before the school year that helped them discover a bit more of who they are and come out of their shells. For Nadia it's a tale of saving turtles. For Noah it's learning calligraphy.

This tidy little book has a lot of levels to it. There are the interlocking stories, the characters journeys, and not to mention the quiz-bowl-style information. Reading this book the very first time was how I learned about the life cycle of turtles, the origins of the words posh and tip, and more about calligraphy than I will possibly ever need to know.

While I'm not sure I loved this book quite as much as the first time I read it, it's a book that remains great through the years. And honestly I can't expect it to be as amazing as the first time I read it, because reading The View from Saturday for the first time, as a kid, is an experience that made a big impact.

i now pronounce you someone else totally lives up to my memories

The first thing that hit me when I started rereading I Now Pronounce You Someone Else was that the switched-at-birth aspect felt just as out of place as I remembered. I barely touched on it in my review of the book the first time I read it, but part of the "hook" of this book is that the protagonist, Bronwen Oliver, doesn't fit into her super-blonde, super-polite family and has this whole story in her mind about how she might be switched at birth and what her real family is like and how one day the phone will ring and she'll get the family she always wanted while her mother gets the blonde, peppy daughter she always wanted.

But Bronwen doesn't actually think she's switched at birth, which is part of why starting the book out this way strikes me as a bit odd. It confuses things a little right off the bat. However, this is such a small thing in the big picture of the book and honestly, rereading this incredible novel was just so, so great. Bronwen's the sort of character I wish there were more of and this is the sort of book I'd like to read more of. It's long on emotion and relationships with such well-developed characters. It's the sort of book you might be able to refer to as, "good clean fun!" if not for the fact that many of the issues are a little too deep and close to the heart to be taken so lightly.

I love this book. I know these rereading recaps are supposed to be about my experience reading the book a second (or third, or whatever) time, but with this one... honestly there were very few differences in my first and second readings. The book is just as great as I remembered it being, if not more so.

The one real difference in my reading this time as opposed to the first time around is that this time I didn't see the ending as being as vague and open-ended as I had the first time around. Maybe because I chose a more optimistic outlook or maybe because last time I just hadn't been able to see the optimism because I'd been so gobsmacked by some of the events that came before it, but the ending felt a bit more settled this time (in a good way) than it had before.

(Okay, a second thing I noticed that I didn't pay as much attention to the first time I read it is the fact that everyone in this book is wealthy. Not in an annoying way either, but just a matter-of-fact way that could easily come off as ugh, rich people and their summer houses but instead doesn't because it's woven into the story so seamlessly and the writing is so top-notch.)

I love this book. Absolutely love it. It's my kind of comfort read and a book I could easily see myself wanting to reread year after year: Bronwen and Jared's love story and Bronwen's personal journey are just so great.

serafina67 is the best

This was maybe the third time I've read serafina 67 *urgently requires life* straight through, cover to cover. It's long been my favorite go-to YA book; in terms of how I feel about the book, it's like the You've Got Mail of YA novels. It's an instant mood-booster, a wonderfully cute and compelling story, full of characters I love.

And this time around there was a bit of a different outlook reading it. Though I still love the book so much, I read it this time with the identity of the "mystery person" in mind. This is a plotline that, while it's important to the story, doesn't really become a thing until well, well into the story. However, reading the book with the identity in mind made me notice things I hadn't before -- warning, vague-ish spoiler-ish things below:

UK cover/title

-- like the fact that serafina, at times, is woefully ungrateful and wrapped up in herself. And that what the mystery person does is creepy, yes, but also stems from the best of intentions (and is sort of weirdly sweet, even while being woah creepy invasion of privacy) and realistic. I could easily see how something like this could get out of hand quickly.

and end spoilers!!


I love serafina. I love her story and the way she comes to grips with things, the fact that she wants to be happier and be a better person but so often fails and finds it difficult to get up again. (But she does get up again, and I think that's the important thing.) Her family story here is so real and so wonderfully written. The love story as well is one of my favorite YA couples, and the story with her best friend is something I can relate all too well to (eerily so, actually). Serafina still reminds me of myself, especially her craziness. And the whole story, still, is written so well, with all the different subplots fitting together so, so well.

Plus, I finished rereading this while waiting in the dentist's office. It was probably the only thing that held me together. So thanks for that, Susie Day. :)

The Great Good Thing Should Be A TV Show

Television keeps trying to replace the void that was left by Lost. With confusing sci-fi epics that are cancelled after one season and tricky psychological shows I can't keep up with. And now with Once Upon A Time, which I wanted to like but just didn't.

But might I suggest something else? How about a brilliant, fantastic sci-fi journey based on Roderick Townley's incredible The Great Good Thing? In rereading this book recently I was struck by just how complex the world is and how much more there is to explore of the world, the story, and its characters than the slim little book allows for. This is one of my treasured books and it's strange now to think I wish this were a tv show. Because you guys, it could be so so incredible in the right hands.

For those who don't know what The Great Good Thing is about and/or haven't read it, here's a quick rundown, spoiler-free: Sylvie is a storybook princess living in the pages of her book. When a Reader falls asleep with the book open, Sylvie not only breaks the most important rule ("Never look at the Reader!") but also journeys out of her father's kingdom and into another land... into the Reader's dreams. This leads to plotlines and excitement beyond anything she could have ever imagined in her own story.

I was going to do a big write-up here giving a short summery of all seasons of how I'd imagine the TV show to go but that would have SO MANY SPOILERS, so I decided against it. Just know that it would include fire, the subconscious, and wonderfully fantastic things like characters leaving their books. And that I think it should star Dakota Fanning's little sister, the one who was in Super 8. Elle Fanning I think is her name.

Love and Peaches and Troubles

I'd managed to forget much of the events in Love and Peaches between the first time I read it and this reread. I still remembered the stuff about Murphy's dad and Birdie and Enrico's broken engagement, but a lot of Leeda's story had been forgotten.

There are thing in this series I don't like. As with most series, things don't end up exactly the way I wanted them to and while I loved how Leeda ended up and was surprised but happy about Birdie's ending, her breakup with Enrico made me sad and Murphy's ending was one I really didn't care for, probably because her and Rex were just one of those pairings I just never really "got." This book was very much about coming to terms with the past and facing the future -- each of the girl's stories highlighted this in some way. Birdie with the orchard. Leeda with her grandmom's letters. Murphy with Rex and the identity of her dad. And all three girls finding a place they fit and finding a way to be happy.

It strikes me that in large ways this series as a whole is really, really sad. Full of impossible relationships, family tension, and characters who think they know what they want but don't even really know who they are. Things end nicely, but in a way that doesn't altogether seem to fit with the rest of the series. I still love this series. It's one of my favorites, so full of beautiful, lush writing, huge emotions, and well-developed characters that I relate to in different ways.

Here's a quote that pretty well sums up much of the problems in the book(s):

What worried her [Leeda], sometimes, was that she had never been able to capture the feeling of being completely real. (Love and Peaches, pg. 106)

The Mixed Experience of Rereading The Secrets of Peaches

There are a few spoilery thing in this post. So just be aware.


In rereading The Secrets of Peaches, it took quite a while for me to fall into the story and be reminded of just why it is that I love this whole series so much. This book, at least in the first half-ish, moves much faster than the first book and Anderson's incredibly lush writing takes a backseat during this time as so much happens with Birdie's family and her relationship with Enrico, Leeda and her mother, and Murphy's boyfriend (Rex) and plans to escape to NYU. I was frustrated quite a bit with Murphy and Leeda during this installment and was very glad when things started falling into place once again, falling into the familiar rhythms that I loved from the first book. Still, The Secrets of Peaches is very much a book about things falling apart -- Murphy and her plans, Murphy and Leeda, Birdie's family, Leeda herself -- than it is about things being put back together. And I feel like the only way to talk about this book is to maybe just list the things I liked and didn't like:

Murphy - LIKE. But I got annoyed with her even though I understood why she made the decisions she made. She's pretty manipulative here, and even if it was sort of a defense mechanism so she wouldn't end up (more) hurt, it still really bugged me. I love that Birdie called her out on how cruel she can be.

Leeda - UM. I like Leeda. I love Leeda. Everything with her mom is so harsh and painful in this book. Leeda's whole Ice Queen routine got old though, and like with Murphy I just wanted her to show that she had feelings.

Birdie - LIKE. Birdie is just the best in this book. I just love her.

Murphy and Rex - DIDN'T LIKE. I don't really remember what I thought of these two the first time I read the books, but this time around I just found myself so not caring. Rex is the sort of bland character that I just can't muster up much feeling for. He's supposed to be this really great guy and in some ways he is, but mostly he's just like BLAH and his relationship with Murphy being portrayed as true love never really hit home with me.

Leeda and her mother - LIKE. As much as I hate Leeda's mom, their storyline in this book was all but perfect.

Birdie and Enrico - LIKE. Honestly, it wasn't until a good way through the book -- when Birdie goes to visit Enrico and his family in Mexico -- that I realized how much I love these two. They're quietly perfect for each other.

This is a quiet book and it's part of a quiet series, but the emotions and decisions within it are so huge and so real. I think reading it now I have a different perspective than I did the first time I read it, even though it was only four years ago. I think I see more easily how immature these characters act at certain points during the story and even though it makes sense I still found myself wanting them to just fix things already. For a huge part of the book Leeda and Murphy are fighting and I kept wanting to yell at Leeda to just talk to Murphy and stop avoiding her, but at the same time their stand-offish fight was so real and heartbreaking that even when I didn't like how they were acting, it made sense to me in a weird sort of way. It might not be how I would act (or at least, not how I'd want to act), but I understood why they would.

There was nothing [in the notebook] about the times that Murphy and Leeda hadn't liked each other, when they had still been mostly strangers. There was nothing about the times they had wounded each other or broken each other's hearts. (The Secrets of Peaches, pg. 156)

The Beauty of Peaches

Since my May reread is the entire Peaches series by Jodi Lynn Anderson, I've decided to do a post for each book. I've just finished the first in the series, Peaches, and it strikes me that for years I've been comparing these books to The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series and while there are some obvious similarities, there are also some pretty glaring differences that I forgot about. First of all Peaches isn't a summer book. I mean, it is, but it's also not. The story begins at the start of spring and winds its way all the way to the end of that summer. Second, and most importantly, the three girls at the center of Peaches aren't the sort of friends that the Sisterhood is. They don't begin as friends, but as (mostly) strangers. This first book is the story of them finding each other, finding that special sort of friendship that they'd been missing their whole lives, and also of beginning to figure out who they are. Growing up. Coming into themselves a bit. And though the girls fit neatly into labeled boxes -- the slacker, the rich girl, and the quiet one -- they are bigger and more complex than those labels right from the beginning. Their personalities are not nearly as simple or clear-cut as a summary of the book would have you believe. Additionally, Anderson's writing style is absolutely beautiful. The way she tells the story, the way her words work together, is like the perfect Southern drawl or the perfect long summer day. It's lazy, wandering, and just brilliant.

And I don't know what there is to say about this book. It's so layered and so wonderful. This is a book so completely ripe with setting and reading it again just pulled me right back in. To the Darlington Peach Orchard, to Leeda, Birdie, and Murphy, to the wandering descriptions and slow-burning epiphanies that sprinkle the pages. I've highlighted quite a bit in this book, but a couple of passages in particular offer the best of this book.

This quote takes place (minor spoiler) as Murphy is watching Birdie Darlington try to start fires in order keep the peach trees in the struggling orchard alive through the coming frost:

Murphy knew there was no use searching herself for the cynicism that would make it seem distant and dark instead of raw and terrible. Birdie was trying to save her home single-handedly, and there was no way she could. (pg. 99) 

And this is just one of my absolute favorite lines:

And the rain sounded like it was washing the whole world away. (pg. 283)

A More Grown Up Perspective on Bloomability

The first time I read Bloomability, by Sharon Creech, I was in middle school or maybe junior high. I was in the habit of absolutely scouring the shelves of my school library and the public library. And I'm not positive, but I think Bloomability might have been the first Sharon Creech novel I read.

I absolutely loved it. It was one of those childhood books that at once reminded me of myself and also showed experiences and realities so different from my own. The main character of Dinnie was one I could easily relate to, mostly because in many ways her family reminded me of my family and the way she felt after being whisked off to attend a boarding school in Switzerland seemed to be, probably, the exact same way that I would have felt in her shoes.

I'm 22 now. It's been a decade, maybe more, since I first read this book and I'll admit that I was a little worried going into this reread. There's the fear of what if I don't love it like I used to? What I don't see what was so brilliant about it? What if I've outgrown this book that impacted me so much?

Luckily, this book is just as wonderful as I remembered it and reading it as an adult gave me an additional perspective. Not only did I see what I loved about it as a kid, but I also saw the little ways this book has influenced and stayed with me throughout my life. There are small things, like the fact that even though I know the right phrase is "drop dead beautiful," I always think of it as "dead drop beautiful" and even though I know I'm messing the words up, I didn't quite know why. And then I reread Bloomability and saw that one of my favorite characters, Keisuke, says it like that. It's just one line but as soon as I read it the origin of how I got the phrase confused in my head clicked into place -- oh, so that's where it came from!

And then there are the bigger things: the week the characters learned about disaster (war, famine, refugees, diseases, storms) and it hit me, again and again, that I was so damn lucky to be alive and be safe and have a family that loved me. The thoughts on struggle were similarly captivating and even more influential -- when Dinnie's teacher tells her that struggle is what makes people interesting, I mulled it over in my head. And I have mulled it over, every so often, for so long, finally coming to the conclusion that it may not be struggle that makes a person interesting, but as long as you are struggling at something, as long as you are fighting that fight whether internally or externally, you haven't failed. You are still going. You haven't stopped, and that alone is a good thing.

Aside from the influence on my life, I just love the characters in this book. Dinnie, the outrageously optimistic (and awesome) Guthrie, Keisuke and Belen ("Romeo and Juliet"), and even stubborn Lila. As a kid it was so easy for me to slip into their world and as a (sort of) adult, it's similarly easy -- partly, I think, because of my connection with this book and partly because the book is just that good. I love it so much.

(One of my favorite quotes from the book):

Before our [final] English exam, [Mr. Bonner] told each of us, "Don't worry. You'll do fine," and it seemed as if he wasn't just referring to our exams. It seemed as if he meant forever, in our whole lives.

Click here to see my rereading list, and here to read my intro to this year's rereading.

My Adventures in Rereading List

Last week I blogged about my rereading goals and today I'm posting a list of books I'd like to reread. This list is a mix of series and stand-alones, mostly YA with a few adult and middle grade titles.

Peaches; Secrets of Peaches; and Love and Peaches, by Jodi Lynn Anderson
The Luxe; Rumors; Envy; and Splendor, by Anna Godberson
How I Live Now, by Meg Rosoff
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else, by Erin McCahan
serafina67, by Susie Day
Before I Fall, by Lauren Oliver
Imaginary Girls, by Nova Ren Suma
Bloomability, by Sharon Creech
The Great Good Thing, by Roderick Townley
The View from Saturday, by E.L. Konigsburg


Those are the books I definitely want to reread. It's probably enough of a list as-is, but just in case it's not, here's an even longer list of second-tier books I'd also like to get to if I have the time and inclination.

Hold Still, by Nina LaCour
The History of Love, by NIcole Krauss
Bunheads, by Sophie Flack
Pregnant Pause, by Han Nolan
The Real Real, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus
Leverage, by Joshua C. Cohen
The Kid Table, by Andrea Seigel
Other Words for Love, by Lorraine Zago Rosenthal
Anna and the French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins
GoldenGirl; and Fashionista, by Micol Ostow
Sequins, Secrets, and Silver Linings, by Sophia Bennett
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, by E. Lockhart
Exclusively Chloe, by J.A. Yang
The Princess Bride, by William Goldman

An Intro to Adventures in Rereading

Earlier this year I thought to myself that I'd like to devote a month, one solid month, to reading nothing but rereads. There are quite a few books and some series that I'd love to revisit. However, looking at the stack of books I have yet to read, a few of which are ARCs of books that come out during the summer months, I don't see where I could devote a whole month to rereads unless I was willing to wait until August or September maybe, and I don't want to do that. I also, I've realized, don't want to entirely block myself off from reading the new books I have.

This month I reread the entire Hunger Games series and while it emotionally exhausted me (I forgot just how brutal Mockingjay was -- don't be surprised if this inspires a few posts later on), it was also a really great experience and made me, once again, want to revisit other favorite stories and characters.

So now I have a new plan. Instead of devoting a solid month to rereading, I've decided to reread at least one book or series a month for the remainder of this year. I'm working on making a list of the books I want to reread and I've decided to blog my rereading adventures (my definition of the word "adventure" is maybe a little different than most people's?). I won't be doing reviews, but definitely some reflection on the different books and my relationship to them. I'd love it, of course, if anyone wants to join in the rereading journey with however many books you feel like rereading this year. Would anyone be interested in this? Maybe I can set up a linky or some such for fellow bloggers.