Favorite Fictional Character --- Jesse & Angie Hubbard

I can't believe there are only 3 episodes left for me to watch of my favorite soap opera of all time.  I think on Friday, I will be crying as the closing credits close on All My Children.  One of the most important couples to ever grace the show were Jess & Angie.  I loved them then and now.

One of the most important super couples of the 80s, Jesse and Angie were two of my favorite characters growing up.  Born on the wrong side of the tracks, Jesse Hubbard quickly falls in love with his fellow teen Angie Baxter, a well born society girl.  Naturally her father doesn't approve and when Jesse is accused of raping Liza, he flees to New York City with his best friend Jenny.  Once Liza recants her story and tells the truth, he returns back to Pine Valley and quickly takes up again with Angie.

Things aren't all sunny for our two love birds though, this is a soap opera after all.  They eventually get married and Angie becomes pregnant with their first child, Franklin, Frankie for short.  Through various misunderstandings the two of them divorce (before the baby is born), kidnap their baby from his adoptive home, get remarried, Jesse cheats on Angie because of his brother, and then the two reconcile.

Through many more years of drama the two of them have their issues but their loves remains as strong as ever.  As they got older, Angie finished medical school and Jesse joined the police department.  He is eventually killed in the line of duty, and after a few years Angie takes Frankie out of town.

This is where is gets interested, Angie ends up on the shows Loving then The City where she eventually meets and marries Jacob Foster, a distant relative of Jesse (the character was played by the same actor.)  The two adopt a young girl named Cassandra and everything seems to be going well for them.

Years later, the two divorce and Angie doesn't return back to Pine Valley until her experience as an infectious disease specialist is needed in a mysterious illness afflicting two patients.  It's not clear until she gets their that one of the patients is her son Frankie, who returned to Pine Vally after spending time in Iraq.  It's around this same time that we find out Jesse didn't die and that he has been in hiding all these years to protect his family from the criminals who tried to kill him.

Over the last few years the family has reunited, and I will admit to shedding a tear when Angie sees Jesse for the first time.  They have gotten remarried and suffered a few setbacks along the way, including blindness and a stillborn child.  Through it all, they have remained a deeply devoted couple that protects their family at all costs.  As a young kid, they taught me that true love can be found and that it will survive the ups and downs.  As an adult, they have reaffirmed that idea for me and in small part, have made me believe in love again.

Ivan And Misha by Michael Alenyikov (Plus Giveaway)

Synopsis From Back Cover: 

As the Soviet Union collapses, two young brothers are whisked away from Kiev by their father to start life anew in America.  The intricately linked stories in this powerful debut, set in New York City at the turn of the millennium, swirl about the uneasy bond between fraternal twins, Ivan and Misha, devoted brothers who could not be more different: Bipolar Ivan, like their father, is a natural seducer, a gambler who always has a scheme afoot between fares in his cab and stints in Bellevue.  Misha struggles to create a sense of family with his quixotic boyfriend, Smith, his wildly unpredictable brother, and their father, Lyov ("Call me Louie!"), marooned in Brighton Beach yet ever the ladies' man.  Father and sons are each haunted by the death of Sonya, a wife to Lyov, a mother to his sons.  

First of all, I love short stories.  When they are done right, they are short, brilliantly told glimpses into the character's life as they experience some sort of conflict or decision.  When they are done wrong, they can be chaotic in pace and tell a story so full of holes, it seems you are reading a rather large piece of Swiss cheese.  Thankfully this collection falls into that first category. It's a fascinating novel told within the bounds of unsequential short stories.

What I loved about his book is how it, despite the secondary characters, narrowed in on the rather symbiotic (borderline parasitic) relationship between the two brothers, who are fraternal twins.  Relationships between siblings can often times be complicated, messy things with boundaries being crossed countless times.  Things are no different between Ivan & Misha.  They are constantly involved with the most personal things in each other's lives, sometimes making others a bit jealous.   They had a rather traumatic childhood, involving the the death of their mother and a sudden move to a new country, all at a very young age.  Those two events shaped the rest of their lives in ways both good and bad.

They never knew the truth of their mother's death because their father didn't want to burden them with the sickness that slowly took her life.  Instead he told them that she died after giving birth to them.  I think that's the first mistake he made.  That death, and as a result their mother, took on an almost mythical role in their lives.  The story of a mother who dies in able for her children to be born, becomes an example of love that nothing else can ever possibly reach.  It's an a goal that can never be reached by anyone else.  For me, it's that struggle for love that shapes both of their lives.

Because of that warped sense of what pure loves is, it sends both boys down roads and into relationships with those that can never truly be there for them.  Ivan, at a young age, becomes involved with an older man who can never fully commit and gives him HIV.  His next serious relationship, with Smith, is with a younger man who not only can't really commit to Ivan, despite really loving him, but can't commit to a name or an identity for himself.  Misha craves love from his father and anyone else that will have him.  He has an almost manic need to be wanted by someone, a need that he will turn back around on his brother.  It's that last part that shapes their bond more than anything else.

I know quite a few of the reviews I've read take issue with the way the second story ends in the book.  For some it was an action that came out of the blue or was added for the shock value.  When it first happened, I will admit to feeling a little unsure of it myself.  I wasn't able to understand why it was happening or the necessity for it.  Once I finished the book, it made a little more sense to me.  The action takes place in such a profound moment of grief and despair that they both need something to grasp onto as an anchor to keep them from slipping over the edge.  After getting to know them, I not only don't think it was out of character for their relationship, but I think that it was almost inevitable.  I could be off base and totally wrong, there may have been another reason for it to happen, but I don't think it was for the shock value.

Ivan & Misha was one of those rare books that keeps my attention long after I've finished it.  Michael Alenyikov writes with one of the most lyrical voices I've had the pleasure to read in a very long time.  He is able to create unique characters and put them into a world that I found both real and unsettling at the same time.

I would like to thank Lisa of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Visit the tour page to read other reviews.

Now for the giveaway.  One lucky commenter, US/Canada only, will win a brand new copy of the book.  All you need to do is leave a comment with your email address.  If you want to let me know of a short story or short story collection that you loved, feel free to do so.  The giveaway will run until 11:59 PM CST on 10/3/11.

Challenges: GLBT

Mailbox Monday for 9/19/11

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books and is being hosted all this month by Leah at Amused By Books.

I received a trade paperback of Pumpkin Roll by Josi S. Kilpack for an upcoming blog tour.

On my last trip to Borders before it closed I bought 4 books for $10.  There wasn't much left, otherwise I would have gotten more.  I bought a hardcover of Obama's Wars by Bob Woodward, trade paperbacks of The Simple Act of Murder by Raymond Chandler and Rainbow Road by Alex Sanchez, and a paperback of Of Masques and Martyrs by Christopher Golden.

Favorite Fictional Character --- Ryan Lavery

I just finished watching one of the best episodes of All My Children that I have ever seen, I'm so sad that there are only 8 new episodes before Pine Valley, at least on TV, is a ghost town.  Today's featured character is none other than the yummy Ryan Lavery, played by Cameron Mathison.  I tried my hardest not to make this a biography, I've redone it now 3 times.  Instead I tried to got for more of what I think of him.  I think I ended up with a little of both.  Either way, I think you would see he's a great character.

When Ryan first blew into Pine Valley, in 1998, he was a low rent conman looking to score some free money.  On 9/23/11, when the last show airs, he will be know as a devoted family man, business leader, and of of the town's most loved citizens.

Ryan, who came from an abusive home, has tried more than anything to put his past behind him and become a man that he can be proud of.  He was the only one of his siblings to escape the home at a young age, and that decision to leave the others behind came back to haunt him, time and time again.  Almost everything he has done has been an attempt to put his past behind him.

Through the years he has has some crushing losses.  Losses that I think would destroy a normal human being.  He lost his first love, Gillian, to an assassins bullet.  He lost three kids through miscarriage and one shortly after she was born.  He has seen his oldest brother rape a woman and blame him for it.  His younger brother went psycho for a while, shot Ryan and had to have a brain tumor removed before he was normal again.  His sister was killed by a serial killer.  He lost his second true love, Greenlee, not once but twice (she is alive again though.)  One of these things would have brought me to my knees, all of them together, would have killed me.  

Through it all, Ryan has remained a man with a heart of gold who is always willing to go the extra mile for his friends and family.  He as made some horrendous mistakes along the way and he hasn't always treated those around him fairly, but he has always tried to do the right thing.

I'm glad they are ending the show with him in a good place.  Him and Greenlee seem to finally be able to enjoy their lives together.  He has two beautiful children, one with Kendall and one with Annie.  His business is doing well, though they never really talk about it anymore.  He's happy with his life.  If that little abused boy could have pictured a better life for himself, I think this is what it would have been.

Wherever You Go by Joan Leegant

Part Of The Synopsis From Back Cover:

Yona Stern has traveled to Jerusalem form New York to make amends with her sister, a stoic mother of five dedicated to the hard line West Bank settlement cause.  Mark Greenglass, a gifted Talmud teacher and a former drug dealer save by religion, has lot his passion and wonders if he's done with God.  Enter Aaron Blinder, an unstable college dropout with a history of failure who finds a home on the radical fringe of Israeli society.  Wherever You Go tells the story of three Americans in Israel and the attractions  - and dangers - of Jewish religious and political extremism.

I feel a bit like the Batman villain, Two Face, right now.  I feel that I could easily flip a coin and if it lands on heads, I sort of liked the book.  If it lands on tails, I'm not so sure what my response will be.  I would prefer the coin to land on it's side, I'm just not that talented.

When I first decided that this would be a book I wanted to read, I was intrigued by the idea of a fictionalized look at religious extremism that didn't involve a Muslim.  It seems that, at least in this country, we have a habit of assuming all religious extremists belong to the Islam faith.  We tend to ignore, or turn a blind eye, towards those in the Christian of Jewish religions.  All three Abrahamic faiths have their share, a very small minority, of radicals that attempt to exploit their faith for their own ends.  What I normally see depicted though is the extreme Muslim.  So I was eager to read something that explored radicalism in another religion.

Instead of the extremism being the central point to the story, it felt more like a plot devise used to explore some rather annoying characters as they try to figure out what it is they want from life, who they are as individuals, and where they fit into society at large.  Mark was the only one of the three main characters that I actually grew to like.  He seemed to be the most developed and he alone actually grew as a character as the story developed.  The other two seemed to be stuck in the same emotional point throughout the story.

I understand that Yona and Aaron both had their own personal issues that they were wrestling with.  I'm just not sure I really cared all that much.  Yona, until shortly before the very end, seemed like a character punishing herself over a guilt she could not get rid of.  Don't get me wrong, she should feel guilty for what she did to her sister, it's just the whining and self pity got annoying at times.  Aaron on the other hand was a spoiled brat who was trying to get out of the shadow of his famous father.  I've heard a lot of reasons for getting yourself into serious trouble before, but this was just a little much for me.

I don't think it helped that the one gay character in the book was the worst nightmare of what too many straight men think of us.  He obsessed over straight men, forming rather bizarre attachments to them.  The fact he was kicked out of the military for that behavior, just made it worse for me  He was so taken in with one guy that in order to keep a hold of him, he allowed Aaron to talk him into a action that results in the explosion seen on the cover.  Then when things go wrong and the straight man is killed, the gay guy melts down and goes completely crazy.  It plays on some of the worst stereotypes about gay men.  Quite honestly, it pissed me off.

I don't want anyone to go away from the review thinking that they shouldn't read it because I didn't care for it.  I actually think most people would enjoy this one. It just didn't explore the roots of radicalism the way I thought it would.  For me, it was like the first paragraph of a really good persuasive essay that loses it's argument half way through.

I would like to thank Trish of TLC Book Tours for the opportunity to read/review this book.  Visit the tour page to read other reviews.

BBAW Interview Swap: Angie From Angieville

One of the best things about BBAW is that I get to add new (to me) blogs to my reader and meet some great bloggers for the first time.  One of those bloggers, Angie of Angieville, will be the first one added this year.  Even if I don't have time to do any of the other posts, I always sign up for the interview swap.  It's always fun to get to talk to someone I don't know.  Thanks to BBAW I'll be a regular in Angieville now.

1. What got you into reading? Have you been a book lover all your life or did it happen later on?

Quite simply, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe got me into reading. Both my parents have always been avid readers, and they encouraged reading in the home and read to me all the time as a kid. And I, well, I humored them. I'm not proud of this. But I didn't really seek things out on my own as a very young girl. My imagination just wasn't fully engaged until my aunt sent me the Chronicles of Narnia box set for my tenth birthday. I read the first book on a transatlantic flight to Sicily, where we were moving, and nothing was ever the same again. I didn't even get past the dedication before I was a goner. And it's been books, books, books ever since. 

2. What inspired you to start your own blog? What do you like the most about blogging?

My husband is tech savvy, and somewhere around five years ago or so he mentioned that I should start up a blog. I had only the vaguest notions of what they were at the time. I asked him what in the world I would do with it, and he shrugged and said, "What about a book journal?" I thought it was a great idea, and for the first couple of years, the blog was merely a personal record of the books I read (and re-read) each month, with accompanying thoughts and images. Then I started reading other book blogs and--once again--my imagination became fully engaged. And the blogging took off accordingly. 

As for what I like most about blogging? That moment when someone I don't know comments or emails or tweets me to say they read the same book and they felt the same way. It's like they reached out and took my hand in the dark. I never tire of the thrill and I don't think I ever will. 

3. Has your taste in books changed through your life? Have you found yourself reading books you might not have when you were younger? Or are there books you loved in the past and now you can't imaging why?

I guess I'd say my taste has broadened as I've gotten older. I don't think I've ever really turned my back on books or genres I used to like, which is why I'm a serial re-reader. Nothing is as comforting as characters and words you know and love. No one welcomes you home like they do. But I definitely have started reading books I probably wouldn't have when I was younger. These would include books that previously scared me off, specifically horror or romance novels. Though I still read on the tame end, I'm sure. My husband is a die-hard Stephen King fan and finally broke down a couple of years ago and shoved a copy of It into my hands, begging me to read it. I took a deep breath and dove in and what a book. I was unprepared for how much I would love those seven kids and the wonderful writing. I'm so glad to have the book blogging community to tell me what I'm missing out on and to egg me on to try new things and fall in love with new characters and new words and add them to my beloved bookshelf.

4. This is a totally subjective question. What elements do you look for in a book? What makes a book a "good read"?

Two things: I connect with at least one character. And the words are right. And you're correct--it's utterly subjective. The characters I connect with and the words I love are not necessarily the same ones for anyone else. Whether or not the words are right is  a matter of my own taste and aesthetic criteria. My reasons will perhaps not be the same as others'. Occasionally I will connect with a character, but the narrative doesn't do her or him justice, and the book and I don't click. And it has happened that the prose is beautiful but the characters are empty for me, so the book and I don't click. But when those two elements meet--the results are sublime and I will read it through to the very end. Every time. 

5. What book has most influenced the way you see life and your role in it?

My life has been broadly influenced by all kinds of literature. But when I think of the novel that has most influenced the way I see life, I have to go with Middlemarch by George Eliot. It's difficult to overstate the effect it had on me when I read it in grad school. I still remember my throat tightening with emotion and wonder at the way she was able to capture the human experience in such quiet, crystalline moments. It changed me, brought focus to my academic pursuits, and is one of the books of my life. 

6. Other than reading, what do you do for fun? Are you a adventure seeker or do you like something a little closer to home?

I love good food, good music, and traveling to new places. Preferably all three together. 

7. I love the idea of your Retro Friday meme.  I'm a huge fan of older books and I try to read as many as I can.  What made you start the meme?  Was there an older book that you feel in love with that got you hooked on the idea of reading older books instead of the constant stream of new ones?

Thanks! I was looking for a weekly meme to start up on the blog, and I kept coming back to the fact that I spend a huge chunk of time re-reading old favorites when I could be reading newly published works. But I wouldn't want it any other way. In fact, I don't think I could stop it if I tried. I'm baffled by people who don't re-read. How can they not long to go back and spend time inside their favorite stories again? And so I thought, hey, why not review some of the old ones on a regular basis? Maybe it will spark some interest in some under-the-radar books. Maybe I'll even get to talk about them with others who've read and loved them, too. That's how Retro Fridays was born.

8. What are some little known facts about yourself?

Ha! Well, here's one little known (and literary) fact about me. In lieu of having the birds and the bees talk, my mother decided to hand me a copy of Lady Chatterley's Lover and call it good. And, honestly? After reading that book, I had no questions left. 

Thanks for having me!

If you are even a little bit curious, head on over to Angieville to read my answers to her questions.

Mailbox Monday for 9/12/11

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books and is being hosted all this month by Leah at Amused By Books.

I received a hardcover of Killer Stuff And Tons Of Money by Maureen Stanton from the publicist for review.