Book Review: The Sweetheart Season by Karen Joy Fowler

Photo taken from Goodreads

 Book Info

Title:  The Sweetheart Season

Author:  Karen Joy Fowler
Publisher:  Penguin 

Language: English

Format:  Paperback 

Pages:  368 pages

ISBN-10:  0141027088

ISBN-13:  978-0141027081

Source:  Purchased, Booksale

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Summary

From Goodreads: 

"Though most men had returned to their hometowns after World War II, few came back to the tiny village of Magrit, Minnesota. Irini, a nineteen year-old woman, works in the Scientific Kitchen at Margaret Mill, a cereal factory, with most of Magrit's other eligible bachelorettes. Hoping to promote his business and attract some suitors for his staff, the owner of the mill forms a women's baseball team called the Sweetwheat Sweethearts. Irini, who wields a fearsome throwing arm, strong from kneading bread dough, is the team's star center fielder and her successes, failures, and revelations on and off the ball field are endearingly recalled by her now grown daughter."

Review

Dear Maggie,

I have been wanting to read a book for the longest time, but the ones I have are either too brief or deep.  Could you advise me on which book I could pick up?

                                                                                                                    - Bored in Manila

Dear Bored in Manila,

It seems to me that you would be better off reading magazines as they provide readers with light topics that books could not give you.  You see, the intensity of issues within a story are very relative.  What may be a serious topic for me might be a shallow matter for you.  Therefore, I could not outright say that you should read this or that as they are guaranteed easy to read.

I would, however, recommend reading The Sweetheart Season by Karen Joy Fowler while you are on a search for your 'light and easy' book.  This story has that good mix of lighthearted wit and drama and might actually be perfect for you, if you feel that living in a small town whose young men had never returned to after the war, leaving the young women's marriage prospects in jeopardy a good enough premise.

The story takes place in Magrit, where a cereal mill owned by one of the richest resident supplies most of the employment for its inhabitants.  This cereal mill also produces a women's magazine where a fictitious agony aunt by the name of Maggie Collins serves as its ambassadress.  Finding that the young men have left town permanently, the owner of the mill decided to put up a baseball team - The Sweethearts - composed of the young women under his employ and let them travel to different towns in order to spread the word about their product, Sweetheart Cereal, and of course, let the young women meet and mingle with young men.

This book has elements of good humor and chick literature that I am sure would appeal to most women, especially those who loved the movie A League of Their Own about women playing baseball during the war.  However, some chapters, especially those in the beginning, seemed to read too slow and insignificant, although reading until the end, one would find that the beginning chapters would help everything come full circle.  I just hope that you can get past the drag and be able to plow through the ending.  Also, may I advise you to use a bit more imagination while reading this as that can help a long way in making you understand everything that happens as there were some parts there that at face value would seem unimportant and irrelevant, but were actually defining moments or turning points in the story.  A little more imagination and attention to detail would get you a long way in reading this book.

That said, I hope you can get a copy of this book and read this, and I hope this is light enough for you - at least good enough until you find your perfect easy-reading book.

                                                                                                                Ever Reliable,

                                                                                                                   Maggie

Rating

If you have any questions on this particular rating, please refer to my ratings system here.

Notice 

All opinions expressed in this book review are my own and not influenced by any party in any way.  
 
Please contact me for questions, comments, and suggestions. 

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

 (Photo taken from Wikipedia)

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Language: English
ISBN - 10: 0375831002
ISBN - 13: 978-0375831003

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Rating:

The year is nearing its end, but I see that great books are still coming my way!  So definitely, you know where my review is headed.  :D  I know a lot of you has read this, and I'm probably one of the last to discover this  (it populated our bookstores only very recently), but if ever there are some who found this even later than I did, for their sakes, a short summary is in order:  Immediately before World War II, Liesel Meminger was adopted into a poor family in Molching, the Hubermanns.  Suffering from the loss of her brother from his death on the way to their new family, and from the separation from her real mother, she steals picks up a book lying on the snowy ground, The Gravediggers Handbook, her first of several books that she takes.  Living with her new family, she learns to cope with her loss through reading books with her new Papa, and with an unexpected Jew come to hide in their house.  The story is told by Death, an unusual narrator, focusing on the life and death of people around Liesel and herself, doing their best to live through a difficult time in history.  This is obviously a serious read, even for the older readers. 

One of the things I loved about this book:  It teaches history in the most interesting way possible.  Unlike The Diary of Anne Frank, this book, in my opinion, has more spunk and edge, and with a unique narrator, more wisdom, perhaps.  The decision to tell the story through Death gave the author more room to express mature observations about the world, about living and dying, without it sounding too phony or unrealistic if coming from a younger point of view.

The characters are very likable, and each of us can relate to them - their feelings, thoughts, fears, everything.  I especially loved Rosa Hubermann, even though she appeared to be the most severe character and would at times seem to be the villain, I loved her big heart and her bigger patience for Liesel (no spoilers, but yes, towards the end I guess you'll understand what I'm saying).  Yes, she seems hard, but you know, like teddy bears, grizzly and big on the outside, soft and cuddly on the inside.  The innocent friendship/love story between Liesel and Rudy Steiner is cute, endearing, and very touching.  And of course, the addition of the Jew Max Vandenberg provided perspective and insight into the Jewish suffering of that time, and also demonstrated the strength of Papa Hans Hubermann's (The Promise Keeper) character.

The story is written clear enough that younger readers can understand, but I guess if you take this story at face value it won't be so easy and in some parts, if not prepared, you might get too bored or overwhelmed.  But knowing beforehand that this is a deep story not just about history or about Liesel, but of living and dying, will prepare you for a smooth but emotional ride into the characters' lives. 

I definitely recommend this read to anyone, not just young readers, as all of us can learn a lot from this book.  Obviously not just about World War II but about ourselves.  I heard that this is turned into a movie but for me, I think reading this book will make you understand the story more than watching it, as I don't think it would be as easy to express those feelings on film, to delve into the characters' thoughts, especially Liesel's.  Although movies visually take us through the whole story, can it ensure the same, if not more, emotional connection with the story?  And let's face it:  movies change stories in books.  If you would like to watch the film, go ahead, but I'm betting that reading it and watching it are two very different experiences, I'm sure for me it would make a huge difference.  But I am also hoping that witnessing it all happen in front of me will prove pleasant and insightful.