September 11th,,,

I finished Sophie's Choice on Tuesday.  My library books were due back the 7th, so I plowed through the last quarter or so of the book.  And let me say, her choice? I was COMPLETELY wrong about it.  Seriously though, the book is massive and what her choice is doesn't even get revealed until almost the very end.  I understand it's a literary technique, not revealing everything up front, working on the suspense and the build-up, and I understand it parallels Sophie's own mental state, where she can't tell our narrator everything up front, but it seemed like there was so much additional pointless stuff in the novel.  I guess the one really great thing about it is that now I can finally watch the movie, which is supposed to be excellent.  Maybe the movie is short...

I'm pretty sure that book spanned almost 2 months of my life.  I will say I'm glad I didn't give up on it and made it through to the end.  I know I'm not going to meet my goal of 52 books in a year, but I will read every book on that original list, even if it kills me, like Sophie almost did.  The next book is Memoirs of a Geisha, which I started many months ago because it happened to be laying around, but I didn't want to take it on vacation (the Kindle was a much more logical choice for a cruise) so it fell by the wayside.  Now it's back!  Maybe when the 52 books are done, I should plan a movie marathon weekend/week/month and watch the film versions of these books; Dorian is recording on my DVR right now, actually, watch Sophie, and I think Memoirs of a Geisha is a movie, too... Perhaps if we get a massive snow storm like the past two winters, I can look into that.

Today is also September 11th, and it's been a decade since the historical 9/11.  That is our generations' JFK shooting, for sure.  Most people around my age remember where they were.  I was in gym class in 9th grade at Newtown JR high and I remember they wouldn't tell us what was going on, we just didn't have to get changed for gym. I was very excited about that. Most of us were, actually, because we didn't know what was happening.  Now, looking back, I think those gym teachers did us a disservice by not telling us.  They didn't think we were mature or old enough, but other teachers turned on the TVs in classrooms to watch all of it live.

Aside from my own personal family connections to that day, it's a powerful day for most Americans.  Books upon books have been written about that topic, and in an extensive google search (I put in work for my readers! Okay, I really just typed in 9/11 books and went to a few links... whatever, guys, it took extra effort) I found some decent lists.  One of my favorites, which I will now attempt to find, is actually a children's book called Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey.  It's based on true events of an out of commission fireboat that helped save people during the attacks.  The illustrations are great, and it's a good teaching tool for younger children.

I read some reviews on goodreads, and I have to say, a few parents really bothered me with their comments.  One woman complained that the book needed a warning label because it included deaths, which "can be hard to explain to those little kids."  Then she went on to say maybe she should have read the book before giving it to her son, but it was a picture book, so she shouldn't have to.

Wait, WHAT?  This woman is in for a rude awakening if she thinks all pictures books are appropriate for her young son.  Is this woman going to give her child a graphic novel and assume it's all fine and dandy?  Sheesh.  And damn right she should be reading them first!  She should really be reading them with him, since I got the impression her son was pre-school age.  Anyway, besides that idiot woman's review, every review said the book was wonderful, and I imagine if you have to teach or explain the events of 9/11 to children, this can be a good way to go about it. 

I think I'd like to add a 9/11 themed book to my list, other than the children's book.  Any suggestions?