The Handmaids Tale, Margaret Atwood

Quickly catching up - I am! The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood is actually my September book for both the New Classics Challenge and the Unread Authors Challenge. (As an aside I've read my August book for the Unread Authors but I haven't posted my review because I'm waiting for my mom to finish her August book!)

Margaret Atwood has been sitting on my shelf for ages - both The Handmaids Tale and Blind Assassins. This was the perfect excuse for me to pick one of them up. After finishing The Handmaids Tale I'm sad it took me so long because it was sooo good!

The Handmaids Tale is a story about the future (a very scary future for women!) It follows the story of Offred (named so because she is the Handmaid of Fred - hence Of-fred). Women who are fertile are handmaids and are placed in homes of high ranking individuals in order to help the human population increase (hard to imagine a future where we're concerned about our population...but...) The rules are very strict as far as who you can speak to, what you can speak about, where you can go, what you can do, etc.

The story is told with Offred as the narrator. She reminices about her life prior to this "take over and change" and talks about her husband and daughter, wondering what has happened to them. She remembers life before this "regime" and what the differences are and what has changed. So you get a good perspective on how the transition occurred.

I have to say it has been awhile since I have read a book this "unputdownable". Every waking moment I had was spent reading this book (yes, that means I was reading & walking at the same time!) It was so interesting and also really scary. I mean not that I think that would happen to our society, but...neither did the narrator when she talks about her life before.

My only complaint was that the ending was a little abrupt and "unfinished" in that you don't really know what happens. Although, I guess it does really fit with the novel and what might have "really" happened. Overall, I would say this is a book NOT TO BE MISSED!!!!!

Beloved, Toni Morrison - New Classics Challenge

I'm a little behind already in my New Classics Challenge and I've barely even begun. I was supposed to read Beloved, by Toni Morrison in August. Well, I started it in August but I didn't finish it until mid-September.

I picked this book because of all of Toni Morrison's books, I feel that Beloved is the book she is best known for. And it was 3rd overall on the New Classics Challenge list and I had read the first two books on the list so why not the 3rd! This was my 3rd Toni Morrison book.

Beloved is the story of Sethe and her daughter (or her ghost daughter). Sethe's story is one of family, slavery, relationships, pasts and hauntings. We find Sethe, her daughter Denver and her mother-in-law Baby Suggs in Cincinnati. They've escaped slavery and have made a life for themselves in this town (a somewhat solitary life but a life nonetheless). As Sethe and the other characters in the book tell the story of Sethe's life (and essentially all their lives) during slavery, her escape from slavery and what happened right after she escaped - the whole journey elvoves; the tragedy of what happened with her 1st daughter, why her family has been tormented for so many years, and the power of community.

I usually find Toni Morrison very difficult to read. Her style is very circular, you get bits and pieces of information that all come together at the end when the two ends of the circle connect, but during the read sometimes it's hard to see those connections. I've seen her speak, and she even talks circular, it's pretty amazing! However, this book was a little different. It still had it's circular aspects in that it all pieced together in the end (it came full circle if you'll allow me.) It wasn't as confusing though as I was reading it and I found myself, enjoying the story. It is not an uplifting read, it is one of those books that over and over will have you question, "If I was in her shoes what would I have done."

Overall, I thought that Beloved was a very powerful read and of all the Toni Morrison books I've read this is the first one that I would recommend. I'm glad that the New Classics challenge, challenged me to finally pick this up off my shelf and read it. I can certainly see why it could be considered a new classic!

NYRR Continental 1 Mile Race

Hello Hello! Here I am blogging about another great New York Road Runners Running Event.

I went onto http://www.runnersworld.com/ to peruse one of my favorite blogs to read (Mile Markers, by Kristin Armstrong - she just has this ability to write things just as you imagine them but maybe can't find the words to describe! I love her blog!)

While I'm on there I see this big highlight for the NYRR Continental 1 Mile Road Race Sunday, September 21st. The race takes place in Manhattan and runs down Fifth Avenue from 80th Street to 60th Street.
I of course immediately forward the information on to my sister and ask her if her and Josh want to meet up with me to watch this race that will last less than 5 minutes (and in the men's case, less than 4 minutes - amazing!) They of course are on board!

We met up at 61st Street and no joke were able to get a good spot only 1 block from the finish. It was great because the announcer announced everyone that was participating in the race before the race began. There were only about 10 runners in both the women's and the men's mile race. Then he gave the play by play as they were heading towards the finish and then we got to see the finish. It was soooo cool!

Both races were incredibly close. Shannon Rowbury, an American who participated in the 1 mile in Beijin representing the USA, was neck and neck with Lisa Dobriskey of Great Britian. Unfortunately, Dobriskey edged her out in the finish. It was exciting to watch. Then the woman did a "victory lap" right past us (see picture above - Rowbury is carrying the American Flag.) Other American women running were: Erin Donohue (she also ran the 1 mile in Beijing) and Sara Hall.

We waited about 30 minutes for the men's race to start - jam packed with Olympians! Bernard Lagat, Nick Symmonds (of 800 Meter Oregonian Olympic Trials Fame), and Chris Solinksy just to name a few. Bernard Lagat and New Zealand's Nick Willis were neck and neck heading to the finish and somehow Willis out ran Lagat by one-one hundreth of a second - dang! Bernard was so gracious though - he ran down Fifth Avenue hugging the fans afterwards - it was so amazing to see. In the picture above see if you can spy Kate trying to slap five with Bernard "Bernie" Lagat!

Then as we were getting ready to part and watch some Sunday Football (boo-yah!) Who is right in front of us by Nick Symmonds - eek! Kate and mine's favorite race of the Olympic Trials was the 800 Meter (if you haven't seen it - you really should - click here). We got to meet him, congratulate him on his race, compliment him on the Olympic Trials 800M and he was gracious enough to take a picture with us (see above!)

All in all a pretty cool running day in NYC!!!

Another Reading Challenge

I have barely started my very first reading challenge when I found another that intrigued me - so I'm signing up. I am however limiting myself to these two for starters!!!!

I also invited my mother to join me in this challenge as something we could do together. We both love to read and we are always swapping books and book reviews so I thought this would be perfect.

The Challenge is the Unread Authors Challenge. The idea is that you pick 6 authors that you have never read before but always wanted to read and you choose one book by each of them to read between August 2008-February 2009. If you'd prefer you can choose 2 authors and read 3 books by each thus getting to know the author a little better. My mom and I choose the first path. Below is what we will be reading. I will be posting our reviews together and then linking them to the site!

Looks like I have a lot of reading to do and a lot of reviews to write!

Readerbean's Books
August - Still Life with Woodpecker, Tom Robbins
September - The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
October - Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
November - From Beruit to Jerusalem, Thomas Friedman
December - Rabbit, Run, John Updike
January - Creation: A Novel, Gore Vidal

Mom's Books
August - London, Edward Rutherford
September - Loving Frank, Nancy Horan
October - Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy
November - Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortneson & David Oliver Relin
December - The Blessing Stone, Barbara Wood
January - Empress Orchid, Anchee Min

A Perfect Saturday in NYC!

As I was reviewing all my blog posts from the past year in celebration of not only my one year anniversary of blogging but also my 100th post, I found my list of things I wanted to do in NYC. I was reviewing it and realized that while I have done a lot of things off the list there is still a lot left to do. I'll have to re-publish the list and fill you in.

In the meantime I'll tell you about our perfect Saturday in NYC during which we crossed two things off our list.

I've been trying to get back into running slowly but surely so as to not aggrevate my leg - so far so good. I got another 3 mile run in on Saturday morning.

Then Jon and I headed to the Carnegie Deli! We split one of their GIANT sandwiches - we had roastbeef, onion & lettuce on toasted seedless rye. We each only ate about half of what you see me "eating" in the picture above. Below is Jon outside the famouse deli.

After our delicious lunch we headed up to the Bronx to spend the afternoon at The Cloisters. The Cloisters is a great museum full of medieval art (my fave) and great outdoors spaces with amazing views of the Hudson. You almost forget you're still in New York City. Thanks to Deutsche Bank we got in for free, rented our audio guides and enjoyed an engaging afternoon full of learning.


After spending about 2 hours in The Cloisters we walked through Fort Tryon Park and enjoyed more wonderful views of the Hudson River and the George Washington Bridge. It was a relaxing afternoon in NYC.

Happy Anniversary to Me!!!

So today, Saturday, July 12, 2008 is my one year anniversary of blogging on Getting By, Dreaming Big! So I wanted to say a big thank you out there to those of you that are still reading - I'm enjoying blogging and I'm looking forward to the upcoming year.

In honor of my one year of blogging I thought I'd recap a subject from my first first post about the man trying to get from Oregan to Idaho in his lawn chair with balloons. To see my first post click here.

Well it looks like Mr. Couch and myself are on the same timeline. This July he gave his trip to Idaho a third try and he made it!!!! Click here to read the article.

Congratulations to him on accomplishing one of his dreams. It's a great reminder to keep dreaming big!

Reading Challenges - Ever Done One?

I'm a big reader - I love to read, I love to talk about books, I love to review books, I love to recommend my favorites - I love to read! One thing I've yet to do when it comes to books is participate in a reading challenge. Joanna over on Lost in a Good Story has set up The New Classics Challenge and I have decided to give it a whirl. This is how it works.

1) Copy Entertainment Weekly's list of new classics and bold the titles that you have already read. (see below!)

2) Choose at least 6 other books from the list , read and review them between 1 August 2008 and 31 January 2009. (to see my choices keep reading!)

3) Review each book that you read and post links to your review on her blogsite.

4) In January 2009, cast your vote for which one of the 100 books on the list is your favorite (and write a post on why). The winning book will be sent to a lucky winner chosen by the scientific method favored here in the blogosphere, i.e. names in a hat.

The New Classics
1. The Road , Cormac McCarthy (2006)
2. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, J.K. Rowling (2000)
3. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
4. The Liars' Club, Mary Karr (1995)
5. American Pastoral, Philip Roth (1997)
6. Mystic River, Dennis Lehane (2001)
7. Maus, Art Spiegelman (1986/1991)
8. Selected Stories, Alice Munro (1996)
9. Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier (1997)
10. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Haruki Murakami (1997)
11. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer (1997)
12. Blindness, José Saramago (1998)
13. Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons (1986-87)
14. Black Water, Joyce Carol Oates (1992)
15. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, Dave Eggers (2000)
16. The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (1986)
17. Love in the Time of Cholera, Gabriel García Márquez (1988)
18. Rabbit at Rest, John Updike (1990)
19. On Beauty, Zadie Smith (2005)
20. Bridget Jones's Diary, Helen Fielding (1998)
21. On Writing, Stephen King (2000)
22. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz (2007)
23. The Ghost Road, Pat Barker (1996)
24. Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry (1985)
25. The Joy Luck Club, Amy Tan (1989)
26. Neuromancer, William Gibson (1984)
27. Possession, A.S. Byatt (1990)
28. Naked, David Sedaris (1997)
29. Bel Canto, Anne Patchett (2001)
30. Case Histories, Kate Atkinson (2004)
31. The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien (1990)
32. Parting the Waters, Taylor Branch (1988)
33. The Year of Magical Thinking, Joan Didion (2005)
34. The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (2002)
35. The Line of Beauty, Alan Hollinghurst (2004)
36. Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt (1996)
37. Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (2003)
38. Birds of America, Lorrie Moore (1998)
39. Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri (2000)
40. His Dark Materials, Philip Pullman (1995-2000)
41. The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros (1984)
42. LaBrava, Elmore Leonard (1983)
43. Borrowed Time, Paul Monette (1988)
44. Praying for Sheetrock, Melissa Fay Greene (1991)
45. Eva Luna, Isabel Allende (1988)
46. Sandman, Neil Gaiman (1988-1996)
47. World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow (1985)
48. The Poisonwood Bible, Barbara Kingsolver (1998)
49. Clockers, Richard Price (1992)
50. The Corrections, Jonathan Franzen (2001)
51. The Journalist and the Murderer, Janet Malcom (1990)
52. Waiting to Exhale, Terry McMillan (1992)
53. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon (2000)
54. Jimmy Corrigan, Chris Ware (2000)
55. The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls (2006)
56. The Night Manager, John le Carré (1993)
57. The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe (1987)
58. Drop City, TC Boyle (2003)
59. Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat (1995)
60. Nickel & Dimed, Barbara Ehrenreich (2001)
61. Money, Martin Amis (1985)
62. Last Train To Memphis, Peter Guralnick (1994)
63. Pastoralia, George Saunders (2000)
64. Underworld, Don DeLillo (1997)
65. The Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
66. A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace (1997)
67. The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (2003)
68. Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (2006)
69. Secret History, Donna Tartt (1992)
70. Cloud Atlas, David Mitchell (2004)
71. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Ann Fadiman (1997)
72. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Mark Haddon (2003)
73. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving (1989)
74. Friday Night Lights, H.G. Bissinger (1990)
75. Cathedral, Raymond Carver (1983)
76. A Sight for Sore Eyes, Ruth Rendell (1998)
77. The Remains of the Day, Kazuo Ishiguro (1989)
78. Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert (2006)
79. The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell (2000)
80. Bright Lights, Big City, Jay McInerney (1984)
81. Backlash, Susan Faludi (1991)
82. Atonement, Ian McEwan (2002)
83. The Stone Diaries, Carol Shields (1994)
84. Holes, Louis Sachar (1998)
85. Gilead, Marilynne Robinson (2004)
86. And the Band Played On, Randy Shilts (1987)
87. The Ruins, Scott Smith (2006)
88. High Fidelity, Nick Hornby (1995)
89. Close Range, Annie Proulx (1999)
90. Comfort Me With Apples, Ruth Reichl (2001)
91. Random Family, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc (2003)
92. Presumed Innocent, Scott Turow (1987)
93. A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley (1991)
94. Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser (2001)
95. Kaaterskill Falls, Allegra Goodman (1998)
96. The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (2003)
97. Jesus’ Son, Denis Johnson (1992)
98. The Predators' Ball, Connie Bruck (1988)
99. Practical Magic, Alice Hoffman (1995)
100. America (the Book), Jon Stewart/Daily Show (2004)

I have read 27 of the 100 books, which I feel good about as that is more than 1/4 of the list! It was difficult to narrow down which 6 books I'm going to read, but I did. I have chosen:

1 - Beloved, Toni Morrison
2 - The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood
3 - Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurty
4 - Possession, A.S. Byatt
5 - The Bonfire of the Vanities, Tom Wolfe
6 - Krik? Krak! Edwidge Danticat

I feel good about the books that I've chosen and I'm excited to begin reading come August 1st and sharing my reviews and my thoughts on participating in a reading challenge!