My Reading Frenzy

Some "Grown-Up" Titles

And by "grown-up" I do not mean 50 Shades of Grey or any of its sequels...I mean recent winner of the Orange Prize, Madeline Miller's The Song of Achilles and Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge.  In non-fiction I recently read That Woman by Anne Sebba about the life of Wallis Simpson, who not surprisingly to me anyway, is not a person I feel I can admire. 

The Song of Achilles begins when Patroclus and Achilles are boys and continues until after both are dead.  The premise is that over time their friendship grew into a strong, love relationship, not one of the traditional dalliances that often happened between powerful men and their much younger military proteges.  It is a truly interesting premise as Homer tells in The Illiad, Achilles was so distraught at the Patroclus' death that when he killed Hector he dragged his dead body around behind his chariot for days, until King Priam came to humbly ask for the return of his son's body.  While the death of a close friend is devastating it seems a strong reaction given what both cultures believed about the honor due a fallen warrior.  Miller's supposition that perhaps there was more to their friendship would certainly explain Achilles' intense behavior.  The book is well-written, moves through the beginnings of their relationship at an appropriate pace, then takes us quickly to the war where there is much more of interest swirling around affecting them as life's pressures affect all couples.  

The best part of having read the book is that Miller is coming to my local bookshop next week for a reading and signing.  I am very excited. 

 

Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale had Joshilyn Jackson overtones for me.  I do mean this as a compliment as I like Jackson's work very much.  Faith Bass Darling wakes one night firm in her belief that the Lord has told her to sell her family's precious antiques at one enormous garage sale.  Afterwards she will be able to die in peace.  For anyone who is an antique collector, reading about Faith selling Tiffany lamps for $5 and Stickley furniture pieces for $20 is painful, but it does all work with the greater cause of finding peace if only Faith can stay focused and remember why she is out in her yard taking money from strangers.  Throw in a family tragedy, a Prodigal daughter, and a small town mentality and you have a delightful, but quick read. 

 

Finally, just before school ended I read That Woman by Anne Sebba about Wallis Simpson.  I waited quite a while for my turn to come to get this book from the library.  I also must mention that I while I love reading about "real" people in non-fiction, I rarely find it as engaging as fiction.  This is why I try to listen to most of my non-fiction.  This however was an excellently written and absorbing story. 

Let me start by saying that this book confirmed my belief that rich people are nuts.  And royal rich people are no exception.  It seems likely that England was fortunate not to have had David as its king during WWII.  Outside his possible Nazi leanings, he was just insane.  Without giving anything away I can say that their story was not the grand love story we have been served.  The author also makes some jumps using some thin facts to arrive at possibly dubious conclusions.  This does not bother me (as it does a friend of mine), I just ask that the author tell what is known and that his/her guess is just a guess. 

Ok, so not finally, I also need to mention another YA novel I read called Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein.  While it is YA historical fiction, most of the YAs I know would not like this book.  It is the story of Verity's work for England before her capture by the Nazis in France.  It is also the parallel story of Maddie, Verity's friend and the pilot who flew her into France for her mission.  It is fascination in format and according to the author's note, as close to possible true as it can be without being non-fiction.  It was not fast paced enough for the young readers I know, but for anyone interested in WWII and intricately written characters, it is a wonder.   There should not be a sequel to this story as it stands alone so beautifully, but I do hope Wein will take on another historical topic.

YA Fabulous

I've been on a reading frenzy again without benefit of blogging, but now thanks to the wonder that is summer break I am back and ready to talk. 

The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi  The main character here is Tool, the half-man who made a significant appearance in Ship Breaker.  I listened to Ship Breaker quite a long time ago, but I did not blog about it....though I am not sure why.  Ship Breaker is the 2011 winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, and well deserved it.  This book takes a close look at the groups fighting for eminence in this post apocalyptic world.  Nailer,"Lucky Girl," and Pima in Ship Breaker are parallel to Mahlia and Mouse in The Drowned Cities.  All these teens should be dating, studying in school, and going to proms, but instead they are fighting for their lives and livelihoods in a world that uses their peers as cannon fodder in a war that has no right or wrong side.  Tool, who features in both stories is a genetically engineered being part human, part animal.  Which side of him is predominant at any given time is what drives the story.  I have not figured out if this is supposed to have taken place before or after Ship Breaker, but I suspect, after.  Maybe?  (I recently purchased The Windup Girl as I am intrigued by Bacigalupi after two such fantastic YA titles.  I want to see what he does with adult fiction.)

Insurgent by Veronica Roth:  After I read Divergent I thought I would go crazy before I could read Insurgent.  Luckily I retained my sanity, and the book was well worth the wait.  The only problem was my inability to remember some important details from Divergent.  I will not make that mistake again and will most likely read the first two again before the third.  In this one Tris is back and the conflict between the factions is more intense.  While I like the dystopia concept I do wish there were more time in the world when it was still working before diving into the downfall of the society.  This series is ripe for a pre-quel. 

Hold Me Closer Necromancer by Lish McBride:  I really loved this humorous, horror novel.  Yes, you read that right funny and scary.  Sam discovers pretty early on that he is a necromancer, one who has power over the dead.  His family has kept this from him to protect him...this is really the only cliche and somewhat predictable part of the novel.  Because necromancers can steal each other's power by killing, Sam must watch out for Douglas the most powerful necromancer in the area and head of a council of other supernatural folks including fey and wolves.  This type of book series has exploded since "the book that shall not be named" made vampires cool, but this one is different.  It is well written, funny, with full characters about whom I am looking forward to finding out more in Necromancing the Stone due out in September.  

Timepiece by Myra McEntire:  I had held out a long time before I finally read Hourglass, but I found I could not resist the time travel premise.  I really liked Hourglass and its cover.  In fact, the cover is what I liked best about Timepiece though I have no idea what the covers have to do with story, especially as in this case, the book is narrated by Kaleb, so the idea that it is Emerson on the cover just does not work.  Even the title has little meaning this time, while "Hourglass" had a strong link to the characters.  I know there is a third book in the works, and I will need to read it to finish up the trilogy, but after this one I am not sure how interested I am.  There was so little true tension created and while I was rooting for Kaleb, as I should because he narrated, I did not feel any connection to the others who drew me in in the first book.  A bit disappointing overall.   

 

In my next post I will discuss The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and Faith Bass Darling's Last Garage Sale by Lynda Rutledge, my most recent adult fiction reads as well as That Woman by Anne Sebba about the life of Wallis Simpson. 

For Your Listening Pleasure

I am almost always listening to at least one audiobook, and usually it is two: one in the car and one on my ipod around the house and at the gym.  I try to listen to a lot of non-fiction since I sometime have a difficult time getting through non-fiction if it is not riveting on the page.  Below are some of the audobooks I am currently listening to or have recently finished. 

 

 

 

1.  Bossypants by TIna Fey  Four words...hil-ar-i-ous.  I think Tina and I could be best friends if all that fame and fortune weren't standing between us.  I especially liked the parts about Tina's life pre-fame growing up in Pennsylvania, college in VA, and post-college pre-fame days.  The book is wondefully read by Fey who adds in all sorts of asides the book does not include.  I highly recommend this one. 

 

 

 

2.  One hazard of listening to books is getting a bad reader.  This has not happened to me often, but it is a danger.  The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is read by Tony Goldwyn.  As it turns out, this is a book I could probably have read because the whole story about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair entwined with the story of serial killer H.H. Holmes is riveting.  I learned a great deal about the phenomenon that was the White City and probably more than I wanted to know about the activities of Dr. Holmes.  But wow, what a book, so meticulously researched and writing that draws the listener in.  Because I so enjoyed this one, I decided to go ahead and listen to In the Garden of Beasts also by Erik Larson read by Stephen Hoye the same reader as The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee to which I also listened.  I am always thrown off at first by a reader I have heard before because I associate that voice with a particular story.  Luckily this guy is really good as well because I was a bit disappointed when it was not Goldwyn again.  I am only at the beginning of this one, but so far it is as interesting as the last.  

3.  Elizabeth the Queen by Sally Bedell Smith is another recent listen.  While Queen Elizabeth's own life has been free of scandal, her sister, and three of her children were right up to their ears in it.  I enjoyed listening to this one for details I did not know about the Queen.  A companion book I listend to a few months ago is The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown read by Rosalyn Landor.  If Elizabeth the Queen is all "Diana was a kook, the Queen is wonderful," then this one is a pretty fair look at both women.  On deck for this summer, either to read or listen is Diana: Her True Story by Andrew Morton, which will have a bit of a different take on the story I think. 

4.  I am currently listening to Great House by Nicole Krauss, read byAlma Curvo, George Guidall, Celeste Ciulla, and Paul Hect.  It is so unlike anything else to which I have listened/read I am not sure how to describe it.  There are four different stories being told, and at least three of them seem to revolve around one desk.  They take place in different countries and the time keeps skipping around so I am not entirely sure how it is all going to go...this of course is why it is such an interesting story.   As soon as I get caught up in one story , the narration switches and I get caught up in the next story.  This is another one I could easily have read, but I am very happy with the many readers and enjoy their characterizations.  (Reading audiobooks is something I would love to do some day.  I have done a bit of voicework (a very small bit), but I enjoy it and think I am pretty good.)  Even more than 3/4 of the way through the book I am not sure how "great house" is connected, but I suppose that is another reason the book is so fantastic.