Book Thoughts - When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai

When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai
published 1995
272 pages

Synopsis from publisher:

When Fox is a Thousand is a lyrical, magical novel, rich with poetry and folklore and elements of the fairytale. Larissa Lai interweaves three narrative voices and their attendant cultures: an elusive fox growing toward wisdom and her 1000 birthday, the ninth-century Taoist poet/nun Yu Hsuan-Chi (a real person executed in China for murder), and the oddly named Artemis, a young Asian-American woman living in contemporary Vancouver.


With beautiful and enchanting prose, and a sure narrative hand, Lai combines Chinese mythology, the sexual politics of medieval China, and modern-day Vancouver to masterfully revise the myth of the Fox (a figure who can inhibit women’s bodies in order to cause mischief). Her potent imagination and considerable verbal skill result in a tale that continues to haunt long after the story is told.

My thoughts:

First Impression - 9/20/12

I'm feeling a little bit lost in this novel at this point - not lost as in, I don't know what is going on. It's more like I can't yet see how all these parts fit together into the descriptions I've read. Each character's story is interesting, with the story of the fox being the most compelling for me so far. I can sense that they will all, at some point, collide, but right now I can't quite see how that is going to happen. There are some elements of magical realism going on, and regular readers of my blog will know that's a tough genre for me to crack, so that could be part of my struggle. I'm certainly interested enough to continue, but it's been a bit of a slow go for me to really become immersed in the story.


Second Thoughts - 9/22/12

This novel continues to be just a bit of a struggle for me. I continue to find Fox's story the more compelling of the three narratives. I think it is perhaps because I like Lai's writing style better in those sections. The chapters with Artemis are much more straight-forward storytelling; the chapters with Lu seem so full of mysticism that I don't quite know for sure what is going on. Fox's chapters seem to combine the two styles in a way that feels very comfortable. I am trying to stop worrying so much about "understanding" every single part of the narrative, and just let myself go along for the ride and see where this story takes me.

"There are stories for beginnings and there are stories for endings. There are stories meant for healing and there are stories meant to cause harm. There are stories for explaining, meant to talk away the things that cannot be healed over. There are stories meant for company, when a pebbled soul calls out into the empty, owl-less night. There are stories meant to quench the thirst of the heart." (p. 168)


Last Word - 9/25/12

I think much of the issue I had with this novel was due to the character of Artemis - she was so incredibly passive that it was  nearly impossible to feel any real sympathy for her. I don't dispute that she had many challenges, but so many of them seemed to be a direct result of her refusal to take any real action or responsibility for her life. I could never tell if Lai was trying to make a statement about women in today's society, or specifically Canadian-Asian women, or if she just wrote this character to contrast with Fox's more aggressive personality, but I really did not enjoy the majority of the chapters that featured Artemis.

I think this novel would have worked better, for me, in a more academic setting - I know that much of the mythology and cultural references were lost, and having a group to discuss the novel with probably would help me feel like I could grasp those references more. I did enjoy Lai's writing style for the most part, and found much of the novel to by interesting, but I was never able to really lose myself in it the way I want to when I'm reading.

I read this novel as part of the A More Diverse Universe blog tour - I have been having a great time reading the reviews and recommendations from the other bloggers on this tour. If you are interested in more speculative fiction by authors of color, here is a list of all the books reviewed on the blog tour - so many great ones!

Also, here are some suggestions from Aarti of authors to check out - I have added a bunch to my TBR list!


While this particular novel wasn't my favorite of the year, it was certainly an interesting read, and I will definitely be checking out (a lot!) more books I've been introduced to by this blog tour.

Finished: 9/23/12
Source: my shelves
MPAA Rating: R - for sexuality and violence
My rating: 8/10 for technique, 5/10 for overall story, so - 6/10?

Book Thoughts - Ten Girls to Watch by Charity Shumway

Ten Girls to Watch by Charity Shumway
published July, 2012
353 pages

Synopsis from publisher:

Dawn West is trying to make her way in New York City. She’s got an ex-boyfriend she can’t quite stop seeing, a writing career that’s gotten about as far as penning an online lawn care advice column, and a small hometown in Oregon that’s her last recourse if she can’t make next month’s rent.


So when Dawn lands a job tracking down the past winners of Charm magazine’s “Ten Girls to Watch” contest, she’s thrilled. Not only is she being paid to interview hundreds of fascinating women, but she’s also sharing office space with “Secret Agent Romance,” Charm’s resident dating columnist, and he just happens to be giving her butterflies.

As Dawn gets to know the life stories of these former winners, she’ll discover that success, love, and friendship can be found in the most unexpected of places. And even more importantly, she’ll find that though those who have gone before us can be role models, ultimately, we each have to carve our own way.


My thoughts:

I found this book to be quite delightful. Honestly, that was the word that kept popping into my head as I read - "This book is just delightful." Novels in this chick-lit-y vein can be very hit or miss for me - sometimes they are fun, and sometimes they just annoy me. Ten Girls to Watch seemed like a cut above the rest. Shumway's writing certainly helped - she clearly knows her craft, and she had me alternately giggling and getting emotional several times throughout the novel.

I think what really sold me, though, was how REAL this novel felt. Perhaps because much of it was based on the author's own personal experience (read an interesting interview with Shumway on HuffPost here), perhaps because the author is just a really good storyteller, but Ten Girls to Watch rang true for me in nearly every aspect.

Dawn is a delightful heroine (I know, that word again!), mixing a bit of Bridget Jones with a healthy dose of reality. She makes mistakes, but they don't feel contrived to further the plot - they actually seem like the things a girl her age would do, and then feel bad about. To me, she never presented as whiny or tiresome - she had problems, acknowledged them, and moved on. I enjoyed her sense of humor very much, as well as her ability to laugh at herself.

I particularly enjoyed Shumway's emphasis on the importance of releationships between women. Dawn's relationship with her sister, her mother, her mentor, and her friend were the threads that held her life together, and were a reminder of just how important it is for women to truly participate in each other's lives.

This novel was a breath of fresh air, making me smile on nearly every page. I'm so happy I read it, and highly recommend it!

Finished: 9/13/12
Source: review copy from publisher - thank you!
MPAA Rating - PG-13 (I know! It's a chick-lit that doesn't make you blush - and it works!)
My rating: 9/10

The Little Stranger Read-along - wrapup post

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters


published 2010

audiobook - read by Simon Vance



Synopsis from publisher:


In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to see a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the once grand house is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its garden choked with weeds. All around, the world is changing, and the family is struggling to adjust to a society with new values and rules.

Roddie Ayres, who returned from World War II physically and emotionally wounded, is desperate to keep the house and what remains of the estate together for the sake of his mother and his sister, Caroline. Mrs. Ayres is doing her best to hold on to the gracious habits of a gentler era and Caroline seems cheerfully prepared to continue doing the work a team of servants once handled, even if it means having little chance for a life of her own beyond Hundreds.

But as Dr. Faraday becomes increasingly entwined in the Ayreses' lives, signs of a more disturbing nature start to emerge, both within the family and in Hundreds Hall itself. And Faraday begins to wonder if they are all threatened by something more sinister than a dying way of life, something that could subsume them completely.

    My thoughts:   Spoilers Ahead!!!


Alright, reality check time - by the end of this book, Dr. Faraday was just a creeper. I started out thinking he was basically a good guy, but he just got stranger and stranger, more and more controlling, and by the end all I wanted was for Caroline to break free from his obsessive manipulations and get the heck out! 


 I think the Little Stranger was Faraday. And honestly, I didn't think that until the very end, but taking the book as a whole, I think it makes sense. He was always obsessed with the house, wishing he could have it for his own. None of the Ayres' troubles started until he started going to the house. He and Dr. Sealy have that whole conversation about how some sort of psychic projection that desires the house could be taking over, trying to oust its inhabitants. He is the epitome of an unreliable narrator - for heaven's sake, we never even know his name! And at the end of the novel, he says that when he looks for the Stranger at Hundreds, all he sees is himself. 

 I think in the end, Caroline saw him and could only think to get away from him - probably throwing herself off the staircase because she couldn't see any other way of getting rid of him.  I think the only reason she agreed to marry him in the first place was because she was so desparate to get out of a house that she thought was trying to kill her - once she realized he had no plans to leave, she knew she had to break off their ties. Then, when she saw him - or an apparition of him, or something - that last night, she thought the only way she could ever be free - both of the house and of him - was to kill herself.



 I'm still deciding whether or not I liked the book - either way, it's a masterful novel, well written and chilling. This was a great read-along, Andi - thanks for hosting! 


 Finished: 9/16/12
 Source: audiobook from publich library
MPAA Rating: PG-13
My rating: ??? I'm still considering this one...