My Reading Frenzy

Summer Reading 2014 - Part II

I ran through books quite quickly this summer - or in the three weeks of it I had since I did not get a full summer vacation - I know- boohoo - no one feels sorry for me, and I do not either. The work I did with teachers in July was gratifying and renewing in a way that July usually is not.

After the books I covered in Summer Reading 2014 - Part I, I jumped into 6 more, without a dud in the whole stack:

1.  Lexicon by Max Barry - At one point I owned two copies of this book. I waited quite a long time to read either one, though it was on the top of my TBR pile as soon as I bought it the first time. I am partly sorry I waited so long and partly so mind-blown by it that all regrets have faded. The premise is that words are powerful...what a concept. If any of my former English students are reading this, I am not crazy, words are powerful and this story illustrates that they can even be deadly. Set in the not too distant future, Emily escapes her life on the streets by attending a super-secret school that teaches its students how to be "persuasive." Barry explores the issues of persuasion and the power of language in a way that makes the read a bit wary of those who may seem a bit too glib or at ease with command. A powerful and provoking exploration of mind manipulation and psychology.

2.  Heirs of Grace by Tim Pratt - Upon being called to the reading of a will for a man she does not know, Bekah finds herself with a house, siblings, and magical powers. I just never get tired of well-done stories about magic, mostly because ever since Harry Potter I have been sad not to have magic powers. Romance, adventure, and humor are mixed together in this story that was originally published as a Kindle serial. Not sure how I feel about the concept and am glad I did not have to wait to read this entertaining novel.

3.  Champion by Marie Lu - This is another book I had on the shelves for quite a while but put off reading...for no good reason. This is the third in the Legend series. The Republic of America faces certain annihilation by the Colonies if doctors cannot find a cure for a virulent plague the Colonies believe the Republic has created and unleashed. Day, as hero of the people, and June as a Princeps-Elect, put their nation before their relationship. I love YA dystopia and have no probelm with the idea that 17-year-olds will save us all. Fantasy and dystopia are all mixed up anyway. 

4. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - This is considered a classic of children's literature, winning the Newbery in 1979. The story is a bit dated, and reminded me of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library by Chris Grabenstein, a 2013 publication. I like the concept of each, that a group of people must use clues to solve puzzles that will lead to prizes and glory (not too far from the concepts of Willa Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, but without the borderline creepiness). The most significant difference in The Westing Game is that the participants are a mix of children and adults. The story is clearly for children as the main character is a child and the novel is short, but it does not talk down to the reader in a way I think too many middle grade and YA books do today.

5.  Can't Wait to Get to Heaven by Fannie Flagg - I have read two other books by Flagg and see them as very close to ideal for summer reading. They are not saccharine and overly cheerful, but there are moments of reading when a tall, cool, glass of iced tea (unsweetened for me - I am a Jersey girl after all) and a rocking chair on the porch would round out the experience perfectly. The two main characters here are Norma and her aunt Elner, both residents of Elmwood Springs, Missouri, a location for other stories, but I have not read any of those, only Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe andThe All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion. I think I'll save reading another by her for the dead of winter when I need to feel summery.

6.  One Plus One by Jojo Moyes - This is the first novel I have read by Moyes, though I have been tempted to purchase others in the past. I will be reading more now. Tanzie is a maths genius. Her half-brother Nicky does not fit in at school. Jess works two jobs to keep the family afloat in a not-very-nice suburb of London. The bulk of the novel revolves around the three days they spend traveling with one of Jess's cleaning clients trying to get Tanzie to a math Olympiad competition where she could win enough money to cover the cost of a private school to which she has been admitted but they cannot afford. Throw in a smelly dog, a fair amount of vomiting, and some romance and you have a story worthy of a satisfying summer read.

Now I am going to get back to reading as I return to work soon and will miss having so much time to indulge in good books!

Summer Reading 2014 - Part I

As I did not work in a school this year, my summer was significantly shorter than in the past.  I still managed to fit in quite a bit of reading in three weeks. I consider my summer reading anything I read during my three free weeks in August, not what I read in July in the evenings after working 10 hours a day.  (Sadly, I read very little because I was mostly exhausted those nights and just sat on the couch watching Dr. Who - David Tennant, in all his dreamy-ness.)  I can remember a few of the books I read then I will include them on this list. 

I started my 6 day vacation in Maine with The Storied Life of AJ Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin. There has been lots of buzz about this one as AJ owns an independent bookshop. It also came recommended by a colleague in the 5 minutes we had to chat about books in July.  I figured if this was the one she could call to mind it must be memorable, and it was. Highly recommend for its nice story as well as the bookshop anecdotes.

Side note: For a number of reasons I recently purchased a Kindle. I read the above on it after purchasing it for a reasonable price. I spend far too much money on books. I also check a fair number out of the library and buy from used stores. What I have balked at is paying over $10 for an ebook. Most of what I have I have gotten for free as review copies, or inexpensively when Amazon offers a deal. It seems that if I am going to spend over $10 I want a paper and cardboard book to show for it. $10 seems like a good threshold for new-ish books, when a hardback is significantly more expensive and a paperback is upwards of $11. I have been pleased with my purchase and found it very convenient when we were in and out of hotels and the car. I have also adjusted well to reading in a different format which will also come in handy on the Metro. My bag of books stayed right in the trunk (and became a bit fuller during the journey) until we arrived home to VA.

The second book I read was Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches. I will admit I made an effort to avoid vampire books after the atrocities perpetuated by Stephenie Meyer - though it was Bella more than the vampires I found offensive. By the time I realized what a large role vampires play in this one, it was too late and I was hooked. There was a bit to much "I am enthralled by this vampire and am therefore his for all eternity" on the part of the heroine, but the story moved along well and the world-building was thorough and consistent. I purchased the second book in the series, Shadow of Night (which I am happy to say involves time travel to Elizabethan England) as an ebook as well, but the 3rd I picked up at an independent bookstore I love in Madison, CT called RJ Julia. I just began the 2nd book, making myself wait until I had read all the books I brought to VA from DC in order to avoid taking them back unread. 

Because we were so busy in ME, I only read those two books. As soon as we returned to VA, I began Isla and the Happily Ever After, by Stephanie Perkins. I loved Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door. Perkins suffers from depression and took a bit longer to finish this story than she anticipated. While the book was certainly worth the wait, I do not feel it was as strong as the other two. But what I did especially like was that while it is still a YA love story, she moved away from the formula of the first two in a way that made it more difficult to predict how the relationship between Isla and Josh would turn out. Anna, Etienne, Lola, and Cricket put in an appearance but are only a side story in Josh and Isla's relationship. I had pre-ordered the book from Hooray for Books in Old Town Alexandria where I went to see Perkins as well as Ellen Oh, Victoria Schwab and Megan Shepherd in January and picked it up on our way out of town. I felt like it should be my next read since I had already waited so long. 

One book I can now recall reading in July was My Salinger Year, by Joanna Rakoff about the year she spent working for JD Salinger's agency. One of her jobs was to answer his fan mail with a form letter indicating that Salinger had requested not to receive any letters. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is that Rakoff had not read any of his work before getting the job and put if off until she had been there many months. This makes her before and after reactions to the fan letters an intriguing part of the story. I like Salinger's work, but never reacted to it the way many of my students did to Catcher in the Rye. Rakoff's insights into publishing were enlightening as well.

That is probably enough for Part I...I'll discuss the rest of my summer reading stack in my next post. 

 

Summer Romance

Throughout the year I like to read books that feature love stories, but there is something satisfying about reading a romance in the summer time. Maybe it is the warm nights and sunny days that turn one's thoughts to smooching. Or perhaps it is the humidity that turns a reader to steamy books.  Whatever the case, I have read a fair number of romantic tales since June. Four in particular:

1.  Landline by Rainbow Rowell for which I patiently waited and was not disappointed.

2.  For Once in My Life by Marianne Kavanagh which was sweet and a tad predictable.

3. Guy in Real Life by Steve Brezenhoff, a YA romance with an interesting twist. 

4.  So Much Closer by Susane Colasanti another YA, without much to recommend it. 

I have loved everything by Rainbow Rowell, her previous adult novel Attachments and Eleanor and Park as well as Fangirl. As I have said previously, Rowell is a master of the slow lead up to the first kiss, or the bells and swelling of the heart that indicate a character is in love. She captures those unsure moments before both parties are able to acknowledge they are in love. Landline however is a bit different. While there is some flashback to the beginning of the romance, this story is really about a relationship falling apart, and the desperation to fix it, aided by a magic telephone.  Yes, it sounds ridiculous, but Rowell is talented enough to make it believable without asking for suspension of disbelief beyond tolerance. I enjoyed the story, though I did root for the wrong outcome for a bit, but that's just the cynic in me...I knew how it would turn out in the end. 

As far as I know, For Once in My Life is the first novel from Kavanagh. While the eventual end was predictable, the getting there was more convoluted and unexpected than I would have thought at first...teaches me a thing or two about assumptions.  Tess and George's romance is not the usual summer romance fodder, which is the main reason I enjoyed it. I am not against a predictable romance so long as it is well-written and the twists and turns toward the happy ending let me live vicariously in their world for a time. I am also a sucker for a story set in London.

Guy in Real Life is a YA romance that truly surprised me.  Lesh is a metal head who falls for a lovely dungeon master named Svetlana. They are an unlikely pair in their high school world, but there are any number of stories of star-crossed teen lovers. What made this story interesting is Lesh's foray into a massive multi-player on-line role playing game in which he becomes Svetlana, asking the question: Does Lesh want to be with her, or does he want to be her? Brezenoff simply touches this question lightly, but his dip into questions of gender roles without it being the focus of the story adds a layer of interest I found myself thinking about well after finishing the story.  I will be looking for what Brezenhoff does next.  

In So Much Closer, Brooke moves to NYC, ostensibly to live with her estranged father, but really to be with the boy she knows she should be with.  Brooke is annoying; Scott, the boy she follows is shallow, despite Colastani's weak attempt to give him depth; and the issues of leaving home, parental relationships, and finding oneself are left without a real look. I think the story had potential, as can be seen in the two characters who save the tale: Sadie and John. I will probably not read anything else from this author, but perhaps later books are better.  

Veronica Mars in all her glory.

I came to Veronica Mars fandom a bit late in the game. I have watched all three seasons of the TV show and the movie in 2014. Just yesterday I finished the book. My only regret is not spreading out her fabulousness....now I have to wait for another movie (wouldn't that be awesome) or the next book, which is due out in October. 

Veronica Mars, show, movie, and book, are great, not because they have well-wrought plots, but because of Veronica and the rest of the engaging characters.  The book was comforting in that not a word of dialogue felt out of character for anyone...I could picture each of them speaking and behaving just as the book described. This is perhaps the benefit of the show and movie coming before the book. The writer's job just meant staying true to the characters' roots, it doesn't hurt I suppose that Rob Thomas has been at the helm of all three projects. This does not mean Veronica, Wallace, Logan, Mac etc. are not free to grow and change, but that they develop naturally as a result of maturity and experience rather than at the whim of the plot. The only glaring flaw in the book, for me as a reader, was the lack of any references to Duncan.  Surely after 9 years he would have found some way to let them all know he is ok. 

I was also disappointed in Veronica's treatment of Piz in the movie.  If they were a couple through college and law school, he certainly deserved a more dignified and compassionate end to the relationship that what Veronica dished out.  She has never been characterized as heartless toward the good guy, in fact quite the opposite, one of her flaws as an investigator is her heart and passion for the job getting in the way of her good sense sometimes.

I am glad to have taken the advice of the Internets and started watching the show, but now where am I going to get a good dose of sassy blonde and witty banter while I wait until October?  Suggestions accepted in the comments!

The Delightful Parnassus on Wheels

I cannot remember when or how I first heard about Christopher Morley's Parnassus on Wheels, but I found a free e-version long before I read it.  It was not until I received it in my Book Riot Quarterly box. (I am not associated in any way with Book Riot, except as a fan.)  I used to subscribe to Powell's Indispensable, but I so rarely got any books I really liked or even wanted to read. This is not a criticism of Powell's, their choices simply did not fit my tastes.  Book Riot on the other hand has gotten it right in both boxes so far.  The Book Riot susbcription is also quarterly rather than every six weeks, which also fits my habits a bit better.  

Parnassus on Wheels is a novella. It begins with Andrew McGill's sister Helen. Andrew is a writer and farmer. When Roger Mifflin comes to the farm intending to sell his traveling bookshop to Andrew. Helen quickly sees the trouble this will cause and resolves to buy the bookshop to have her own adventure. It is a charming love story in traditional ways, but it is also a tribute to the love of books and reading. It will take only an hour to read if you are quick, and only slightly longer if you are not. I am seriously tempted to read it again before putting it on my "keep forever" shelves. 

Just as I was typing this I purchased Haunted Bookshop, also by Morley.  If it is even half as good as Parnassus on Wheels it will be well worth the read. 

New Adult - Real genre or not necessary

I just finished a novel that seems to be firmly in the newly coined genre "new adult."  At this moment I am feeling too lazy to look up its actual definition, but from what I have read and can remember, this genre is for the high school graduate and maybe even college graduate who is not yet ready to leave behind YA themes of finding oneself and making a place in the world, but is not yet ready for the world of "adult fiction" a genre title I cannot help but equate to "adult films" when they are NOT REALLY THE SAME AT ALL. 

Anywho, the book I have just finished is Roomies by Sara Zarr and Tara Altebrando.  The chapters alternate between two girls who have just found out they will be college roommates.  I can see how this is different from YA: the issues are different, the approach to sex is much less ridden with angst, there is an element of "fresh start" to the whole story.  That being said, I am not sure this needs to be a whole different genre, which implies a separate shelf at the place where you get your books.  I think high school age students who are looking forward to college could benefit from stories about this limbo time and beyond, just as adults, who are flocking to YA more and more anyway, will read these for the same reason: they are engaging stories no matter the age of the reader.  So I have arrived at no conclusion.  How do you feel about "new adult" as a separate genre?

The book itself is nicely done.  While I have grown a bit weary of the alternating chapters concept, this one works well because the writers are different.  Too often the difference in voice is difficult to detect.  This particular time in my life was difficult.  I sometimes deal poorly with change, and I loved high school.  This novel spends almost no time dwelling on the horrors or joys of high school, but focuses almost entirely on "What do I do in the time I have left in my old life?" and "What is my new life going to be like?"  Whatever the genre is called I like it!  I like it a lot!   

I have received a recommendation to read another book by Sara Zarr called The Lucy Variations.  While I am looking forward to the book based on my recent reading and the recommendation, the best part is the cool story I have to tell:  When I read the "Acknowledgements" in Roomies, I noticed a familiar name.  This is not someone I know well, but I have in fact spoken to her in person on more than one occasion and exchanged e-mail (prior to the one I am about to discuss).  After seeing her name, and figuring it probably is indeed her as she was an editor at the book's publishing house, I wrote to confirm.  And YES she is in fact the person acknowledged, and she is also acknowledged in The Lucy Variations.  FULL DISCLOSURE:  I am a book nerd, I love to meet authors, but we are not likely to be friends.  However, I am pretty thrilled to actually know someone who was acknowledged by real, published authors in actual, published works. 

UP NEXT: ttfn by Lauren Myracle to which I have been looking forward since I finished ttyl.

I like sweet love stories and I cannot lie

I have managed to read quite a bit recently, but have not managed to blog much. But here I am to get in a post before Christmas hits, though honestly I should probably still be outdoors enjoying this freakishly warm weather. 

1.  Attachments by Rainbow Rowell  Rowell is the queen of the slow burn.  She pulled it off beautifully in Eleanor and Park as well as Fangirl, both YA romances.  Attachments is a romance featuring adult characters.  (I dislike using the phrase "adult romance" because it makes me think of "those" kind of adult romances.)  It does not pack quite the romantic power of the YA stories, but it was Rowell's first and I think she just needed to settle into her romance groove.  Beth and Jennifer are friends who work together and use work e-mail to chat through the day.  (The books takes place in 1999 and 2000.)  Lincoln's job is to monitor employee e-mail that is flagged for inappropriate content.  This leads to Lincoln falling for Beth because of her witty banter.  Her cute freckles do not hurt once he sees her.  It is a sweet story that is not saccharine and though the set-up could be creepy, but with Rowell's way it is not. 

 

2.  Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenni Colgan  This story on the other hand is far too sweet, but I love it anyway.  For crying out loud, the story centers on Issy opening a cupcake cafe. It does not matter to me that the ending is predictable, and even some of the more major plot points.  I read mainly for enjoyment and I do not take umbrage at a story that does not surprise me.  I like Colgan's style and enjoy the storytelling, and I like a happy ending.  

3.  Less a straight love story is Adriana Trigiani's The Supreme Macaroni Company, which picks up just after the end of Brava, Valentine.  Valentine and Gianluca's romance has progressed to engagement and marriage.  This story is really about how two independent people come together in a marriage.  It is not all birds singing and romance, but instead Trigiani focuses on how each person must give a little in order to be married successfully.  I always like Trigiani's stories and look forward to more. 

4.  I took a bit of a break from YA with the titles above, but I have not neglected it entirely.  I have had The Infinite Moment of Us by Lauren Myracle for a few weeks.  I have not read any of Myracle's Internet Girls series (ttyl, ttfn, and l8r,g8r), but I have read Shine.  There is no doubt this is a romance.  Wren and Charlie meet just as high school is ending, the set up for a summer romance.  However, what they find with each other is more intense and probably long-lasting than a summer fling.  The issues with which Wren (overbearing parents) and Charlie (foster home) deal keep the story from being purely romance, but the two fall hard for each other in the way only teens can.  Sadly, adults tend to be a bit more jaded about love and romance.  The story has some pretty graphic sex scenes, but I would not label these as gratuitous. They serve to illustrate the intensity of the relationship as well as present the reality that teens are sexual beings no matter what some churches, schools, and parents would like to believe. 

4.  Just to avoid having to write an entirely new post for one book, I am going to include From Norvelt to Nowhere by Jack Gantos in this post.  While it does contain an element of romance I would place it more in the comedy genre than anywhere else.  I loved Dead End in Norvelt to which I listened (narrated by the author).  In that novel, Ms. Volker takes center stage when she composes the fasinating obituaries for all the women who are murdered.  In this one, Ms. Volker and Jack travel from Pennsylvania to Florida with more than a few stops in between.  Note: These are the only two books by Gantos I have read.  I found this story to be empty.  I did not care much what happened to anyone, which really made me sad.  The tale was just so far-fetched I had trouble suspending my disbelief, which led to apathy.  

Now that I have a break from work I am planning a full scale attack on my TBR pile, hopefully followed by lots of posting!

 

 

 

Jodi Picoult does it again with The Storyteller

I have said it before and I will say it again.  I really like Jodi Picoult's books.  They always cause an emotional reaction.  Some really get to me (Nineteen Minutes) and others are affecting, but not in a personal way.  This one was a mix.  While it is about the Holocaust, specifically focused on Poland, it is also about family, love, self-knowledge, and forgiveness.  Picoult is wildly successful and talented at writing about timely and difficult topics.  I have read criticisms of her work which run her down for the very things that make her books popular and effective.  No matter my level of connectedness with the issue in the book, I always spend time while reading and later really mulling over the intricacies of the moral dilemmas she presents.  Books that make us think and consider an issue from more than one side are all to the good I think.  This story was well researched, intricate on many levels, and heartbreaking, but a good cry is good for the soul. 

Two Thumbs Down for Banned Books, or Why I Love Rainbow Rowell

Last week I had the good fortune to see Rainbow Rowell at Politics and Prose in Washington, DC.  In addition to being fabulous she was funny, and honest, and delight.  If I had not already loved her books I would have been smitten just by listening to her talk about them.  Interestingly she was scheduled for the Teen area, but I think I could count up the number of actual teens present on one hand.  I reviewed Eleanor and Park a while back and think I could definitely read it again soon!  I was very happy when her next book, Fangirl came out so quickly.  

Rowell began her talk with a bit of background about Eleanor and Park that she had not necessarily intended for a teen audience.  She does have an adult romance called Attachments, which I now own and will read.  I may have to wait a bit in order to equalize the time between releases, as her next novel, another for adults is not being released until the spring.  She also discussed how the book was a bit autobiographical and gave her a great outlet for some things she had not quite grappled with as a teen. 

She went on to read from Fangirl.  At one point she touched on reasons why she hates/loves romance movies: because they leave out all the good falling in love stuff.  Eureka! I said in my head, yes, that is exactly what I loved about Eleanor and Park, the slow build.  There was little doubt they would have a romance, but how would it all fall into place? When?  Fangirl is full of the same tantalizing, mosey toward love.  It reminded me of Stephanie Perkins's novels Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door.  I even tried to read the book a bit slowly to savor all the little details of the romance. 

The book opens with Cather walking into her freshman dorm room for the first time.  She is scared, jumpy, and completely unprepared for the social aspects of college, see she has anticipated rooming safely with her twin sister, who declined the privilege in favor of meeting new people and asserting her one-ness.  Cather is also an intense fan-fiction writer of stories that take place in the universe of Simon Snow, wildly popular boy wizard.  (One of the most charming parts of the book is Rowell's inclusion of snippets from both the original books as well as Caht's fanfic.)  Cath longs to be a writer, but feels she is only competent in a world invented by someone else.  This causes a bit of a problem with her creative writing professor, but Cath persists in what she loves.  Cath's story is rounded out with family issues as well as boy phobia/longing.  Levi and Nick figure into her romantic life that is inhibited by her own fears. 

Now, for the banned books part of my title.  It seems that Rainbow Rowell was recently invited to speak at a public library in Minnesota, then uninvited because of issues with the language in Eleanor and Park.  Here is a link to a good overview of the whole situation.  When someone at the reading asked about the situation, Rowell was visibly upset.  Not in a "I don't want to talk about it" way, but in a "these people may not have read the book and the definitely did not understand it."  I guess it is good that book banning gets lots of attention so we do not forget it still happens in this "free" country, but it is so sad when kids are deprived of excellent books that will help them to feel connected to a community of other readers and the characters.  More sad when it is people who claim to care about them, but not enough to read about difficult topics in order to open up communication about things like bullying and abuse that we need to talk about if we want them to go away. 

So, bottom line READ THESE BOOKS and tell all your friends about how wonderful they are. 

Holly Black is AWESOME and so is the National Book Festival

So, it has been a woefully long time since I posted a review, or anything at all for that matter, but the good news is I have been reading and have something to talk about.  I reviewed Doll Bones by Holly Black in my previous post.  Since then I have also read The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and bought her graphic novel series The Good Neighbors: Kin, Kith, and Kind.  I am pretty excited to read them.  I picked up a couple of other graphic novels when I went to Politics and Prose to see Rainbow Rowell last Wednesday - more about that in another post. 

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is a vampire book...I know, I know haven't we all had enough vampire books, but this one is different I promise.  First of all, the heroine is not a ridiculous, swoony girl who can't bear to be without her vampire (I think we all know to whom I am alluding here.)  Tana is remarkably strong-willed in the face of some pretty harrowing stuff.  There is no way around it, this book is not afraid to talk about what vampires do, which is suck the blood out of people and sometimes kill them. 

Tana wakes up after a party to find that only she, a friend who has been bitten, and a vampire have survived a huge and horrific vampire attack.  It is only through guts and some probably unwise behavior that Tana gets the survivors away.  Not knowing their fate, she heads for the nearest coldtown where Aidan (the bitten friend), and Gavriel (the vampire) probably need to be and where she herself may need to be if she has been infected by a slight encounter.  I really do not want to give much away, but this is certainly a vampire novel to redeem YA vampire novels and to realign with the greats of vampire fiction: Dracula and Interview with the Vampire.  I for one would not mind more of Tana and Gavriel.  (My insider info. tells me Holly Black is not done with this world.)  WHAT INSIDER INFO. YOU SAY???

Well, in my previous post I revealed that I would be introducing Holly Black at the National Book Festival. 

This is Holly Black speaking to the crowd after my introduction.  She was funny, and gracious to all those who asked questions and came up to her afterwards for pictures and to ask questions.  She even signed my book before going on.  Now you might be saying that I could have just snuck up by the side of the stage and snapped this shot.....but

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This one is indisputable...this is me WITH Holly Black after her talk.  After this I wandered around the Book Festival in a bit of a daze until I got my act together to go see Patrick Ness give his talk.  His was actually in an interview format with a Washington Post reporter, but he did take questions afterwards.

 

 

 

He is super adorable, and has a husband....I did not know this.  My crush is however unabated.  His newest book More Than This is one at the top of my TBR pile.  I loved A Monster Calls and have been looking forward to reading others for a while now.   I was walking by the fiction tent when I happened across Brad Meltzer and stopped, became entranced by his stories about the Archives, Washington DC, and being invited to the White  House.  As you can see I was quite far away, but had a perfect line right to him.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that I had to head to the Library of Congress for my presentation that went quite well despite the windyness.  My final author of the day was Paulo Bacigalupi author of Ship Breaker and The Drowned Cities.  In the Q & A he specifically address the idea of sequels which he does not like to do.  But he also said, he does not think he is done with the world he created in those two novels.  The book he spoke about was Zombie Baseball Beatdown, which I bought on the off chance I got to introduce him, but I doubt I will read it now because does not sound like my thing.  I think I'll send it to my favorite nephew who may really enjoy it.                  

I truly appreciated the opportunity to hear all these wonderful authors.  But all that pales in comparison with the experience I had today. I began by being present for the "Book that Changed Me" awards for which I had been a judge in the final round.  The three kids who were the top winners almost brought me to tears with their sweet and wonderful readings.  The essays were not really sad, but to know that these kids were so deeply affected by books is why librarians, teachers, and parents work so hard to get kids to read.  Part of the ceremony was also the "Letters about Literature" national winner who happens to live in DC.  She wrote to Laura Ingalls Wilder and connected her works to the life of her father who had grown up in Eritrea and then back to her own life during which she has not had to struggle to find food, water, or education.  That one made me cry because is was a sweet homage to her father and Little House on the Prairie. 

 

 

I then worked our booth through the afternoon talking to many librarians and teachers from around the nation who are eager to use or already use primary sources with their students.  Near the end of the day, Dr. James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress stopped by, and this happened.   What a day and what a weekend!

Books in DC

On one hand, my grand schemes to read a lot while living in DC have worked out, on the other, they haven't.  Maybe I should explain.  I have discovered that there is a lot of really awesome stuff to do in DC that does not involve books, though there is a bunch of book related stuff as well.  In my just over a week here, I have spent a great deal of time doing stuff and exploring the city and not necessarily reading books all the time.  But that is not to say that I have not done any reading or bookish type adventuring.

1.  I have been carrying a book with me everywhere so that on the Metro or if I just happen to see a lovely bench during my travels I am prepared for some reading.  This has also helped to justify my purchase over the years of various purses that really are bigger that what I usually prefer to carry.  Now a requirement is that a book fit in along with all my other exploring gear.

2.  On Wednesday I fulfilled a dream by going to the DC famous independent bookstore Politics and Prose.  The author was Joe Yonan a food writer for The Washington Post, the book is Eat Your Vegetables: Bold Recipes for the Single Cook.  I have made one recipe so far and have grand plans for a few more in the not too distant future. 

3.  I have read four books since I have been here, which is pretty good given how much time I have spent jaunting about when reading is not appropriate, like say while viewing the exhibits at the Corchoran Gallery of Art. 

     A.  Among the Janeites by Deborah Yaffe.  I always thought I was a fan of Jane Austen, but this book convinced me that at best I am just a liker...sort of.  It did make me want to re-read all her work and seek out a few of the more highly regarded film versions of her works.  I have always liked Sense and Sensibility with Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet and did find the version with Dan Stevens because I liked him in Downton Abbey.  There is also a Mansfield Park with Billie Piper of Dr. Who fame I have queued up.  This morning I also watched the first installment of a BBC version of Emma from 2009.  To continue, the book was a really interesting look into the world of people who truly love Austen's work and know it far better than I.

    B.  Superstar Babes by Narinder Dhami.  This one is a cute book in a series about three young teen sisters in London who get themselves into various scrapes.  This is the author who wrote Bend it Like Beckham, which I have not read (I saw the movie though.).  The other books, Bindi Babes, Bollywood Babes, and Bhangra Babes are equally charming stories appropriate for a middle school audience.  

    C.  Next was Doll Bones by Holly Black.  This was creepy, but not as creepy as I was expecting.  I acquired this book right after it was released, because after White Cat, Red Glove, and Black Heart, I have been wanting to read more of her work.  AND I just found out at the end of last week, that I am going to get to introduce Black when she comes to the National Book Festival in a few weeks.  (Yes, this is super-exciting and I am nervous and thrilled and a bit afraid I might act a fool in front of her.) She is coming to talk about The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, which I have pre-ordered to read in time for the intro.  I really felt that if I were going to introduce  her properly I better have read a few more titles.

   D.  Today I read Borrower of the Night by Elizabeth Peters, who passed away August 8th.  She is the author of the Amelia Peabody series of mysteries as well, but I liked this one better than I did those.  I like mysteries a lot, but really enjoy ones I can finish quickly so I am not tempted to flip to the last page to end the suspense. The heroine, Vicky Bliss is an art historian, which means creepy castles, and lost artwork.  Just my type of mystery. 

4.  Today I visited Capitol Hill Books, a used bookstore near the Eastern Market.  The last time I was there it was impossible to look for anything because of all the people.  The shelves and their close proximity to each other makes browsing an adventure already so it was much more pleasant with only a few other patrons.  I picked up a few Terry Pratchett Disc World novels.  I have been planning for a while to jump into these and was chivvied along this path recently by Charlotte of Charlotte's Library who recently devoured these and whose opinions I regard highly.  

5.  Next up in non-fiction is a biography of Margaret Fuller by Megan Marshall who also wrote  The Peabody Sisters, a book that totally blew up everything I thought I knew about Transcendentalism.  I recently listened to Marmee and Louisa by Eve LaPlante about Louisa May Alcott and her mother in which Fuller was discussed so it seemed time when I ran across this biography to find out more about her. 

The end of the challenge

As I am moving TONIGHT/TOMORROW to Washington, DC, and will begin work on Monday, my book-a-day challenge for myself is officially ended. 

I read The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall.  I have enjoyed the first three books in this series.  They feel a bit old timey to me.  The stories are far from saccharine, but feel less heavy than other modern stories.  The Penderwicks have issues - dead mother, remarriage of father, and in this latest tale, close family friend Jeffrey deals with his difficult mother and step-father while also working through the problems associated with having never known his father.  The continual and strong presence of adults is reassuring to the characters and the reader.  In some middle-grade and YA book the adults are just absent, which is clearly realistic.  I believe these stories are also realistic in that while the kids try to deal with problems on their own, they always know there is an adult ready to bear the burden if needed.  I think it is a healthy portrayal of families that are not perfect, but are strong in their devotion to each other. 

After this I was able to finish The Hundred Dresses.  This is not the children's story by Eleanor Estes, but instead a look at 100 dress styles that have been significant in history.  The book was written by blogger and lexicographer Erin McKean who also wrote the novel The Secret Lives of Dresses which I enjoyed immensely.  I have been reading this one slowly at a pace of two to three dress styles a day. 

Currently I am reading Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield who wrote The Thirteenth Tale, a gothic novel if ever there was one, which I loved.  (I remember clearly reading it on Christmas day 2007 which was a dreary, rainy day in NJ.  I was cozy by the fireplace and flew through the story, taking breaks only to help with dinner.)  I was lucky enough to receive an ARC and would love to post my review before release.  Hopefully if my exploring DC schedule is not too hectic, I will finish and blog about it next week. 

I am off to finish packing and maybe get a reading break this afternoon.

Off the Pace

I think I am off my book-a-day pace.  My last post was Monday the 12th and it is now Tuesday the 20th.  In that time I have read only four books.  In all honesty, one of the books, The Uncommon Reader I read the evening of the 12th.  (It's a quick read.)  In it, the uncommon reader is Queen Elizabeth II who has come to reading a bit late in life, 2007 if we go by the book's publication date.  It is an interesting look at how she becomes immersed in books, realizing how much can be learned about life, the world, and humanity from reading.  It is a sweet little story worth the hour or so it takes to read.  Another good Queen Elizabeth II is Mrs. Queen Takes the Train. 

Next I moved on to another Diana Wynne Jones, Earwig and the Witch.  This one is definitely an elementary read, but it was a cute story about an orphan who outsmarts a witch.  A good "girl power" story.  Yey, again a very short book. 

Next, I picked up Infinityglass by Myra McEntire at the bookstore last Wednesday and began reading immediately.  This threw me off my pace a bit because it was not as quick a read as the rest in the pile I had created for myself.  I had not planned to buy it, since I did not care for the second book in the series Timepiece.  (This was yet another title that proved my theory about second books in trilogies.) But I caved because the third in a trilogy is usually much better than the second, though rarely as good as the first.  This proved true in this case as well.  This third book focused on a secondary character from the first two books as well as someone completely new.   The old favorites popped up eventually, but their stories were not central to this one.  McEntire has created a complicated world with all sorts of details to remember about each character's powers and his or her limitations.  I can be a bit unwieldy without re-reading the earlier book, which I have not.  Someday, if I ever have time (ha) I might read the trilogy again to refresh the whole arc of the story.  I will be interested to see what McEntire does next. 

Finally, just moments ago I finished No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman.  Earlier in the summer I read Schooled, which may have been the first in my book-a-day challenge.  I have been intrigued by Korman since I heard him speak at my state's library conference last November.  His stories often take place in middle school, kids seem to enjoy them.  I find them to be a bit unrealistic, but the exaggerations certainly fit the tales and are not beyond believability.  In this one, Wallace Wallace's (Yep, same first and last name, not a typo.) detention for writing a negative book review of the teacher's favorite novel sets of a series of events related to the school play based on the book and Wallace's somewhat disappointing middle school football career.  A weird mix, but one  that works for this story about how important being part of something is for kids. 

That's it, in 8 days, 4 books.  Sad, I know.  But in my defense I spent one whole day moving most of my stuff to Washington, DC and two others packing, and I went to the gym four of last week's five week days. 

Next up: The Penderwicks at Point Mouette by Jeanne Birdsall.

Making progress

So, I finished The Ogre Downstairs and A Study in Sherlock.  This one is a collection of short stories written by various mystery writers that all connect to Sherlock Holmes in some way.  I enjoyed the stories, but generally do not like to read short stories.  As a genre I love short stories, I loved teaching them.  Some of the best short story writers, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Chopin featured in my teaching for years, but for my own personal reading, I prefer something more sustained.

Next I moved to Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith.  I have not yet read anything by him that I did not like and some of them I have loved.  This one was a charming story of four people in a railway car from Edinburgh to London.  They share stories with each other that are intimate, yet not necessarily revealing of everything.  It is a lovely meditation on love, but also the ways that humans can connect if we just allow ourselves to trust in humanity and compassion. 

 

Just now I finished Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher.  I had only read one book by Chris Crutcher when I heard him speak at the VA librarian conference in 2011.  Afterwards I aquired a number of his books, but this is the first I have read.  Now I am hooked.  He has worked for years as a child protection specialist which makes me sad.  It makes me think that the stories he tells about what some kids go through are probably truer than I would like to know about, but his stories are real and told in clear, strong language so that we as readers know he is not sensationalizing or trying to embellish.  I have placed a few more of his books into my boxes to take to DC.  I do not want too much time to pass before I read another of his books.

 

Up next: The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett.   

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Ready Player One was on my TBR list for a long time, then I took it off, then I put it on hold at the library, then I brought it home, then I took it back without having read it, then I finally checked it out on CD, then I listened to it, then I was in love.  If you were any kind of a geek/nerd/sci fi nut in the 80s you MUST read this book.  For some of you of course, this is old news and you are wondering what took me so long.  My answer is: I don't know!  

The audio-book is read by Wil Wheaton, and he was the perfect choice.  He barely sounds like Wesley Crusher at all and he is a geek himself and therefore hits all the inflections of video game playing and technology worship just right! 

The story is about Wade who spends his time searching for an Easter egg, a hidden item in a movie, TV show, or video game.  These are usually little inside jokes for the creator or writer that will only be noticed or understood by someone else "in the know."  This particular EAster egg is worth billions of dollars left by James Halliday as a "Willy Wonkaish" way to leave his company and fortune to a worthy person.  For years the world has focused on the quest which takes place in the OASIS a place much more pleasant than the world of 2044. 

The story is about honor, friendship, and love as much as it is about video games, and 80s movies and music.  It is truly a masterpiece integrating these elements around characters we love and root for and the evil bad buys we want to see defeated. 

Now I may have to get the book and read it again!

Summer Reading: Brain Candy or Lit-ra-chure

I seek out two different types of books in the summer. 

1.  Light reading that some would call "beach reading."  These are the books that are entertaining, often with a charming setting and a happy ending.  To that end I have already devoured Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams, Where Have all the Boys Gone?, and Amanda's Wedding, all by Jenny Colgan, a recent discovery of mine.  Additionally I have read Mr. Darcy's Dream by Elizabeth Aston, bittersweet by Sarah Ockler, and The Mystery of Mercy Close by Marian Keyes, though honestly I read that one before the school year officially ended, but mentally I was there already.  I can honestly say I enjoyed each of these books and have an extensive line up of this sort of reading ready for July and August.  I set my expectations low, but thus far have been happy to have been told a good story by competent to excellent writers.  

2.  Literature,  the types of books that require all my concentration.  This summer I WILL read both Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel, both of which have been on my shelf for an embarrassingly long time.  I also have a few by Salman Rushdie, both Midnight's Children that I am really looking forward to and The Satanic Verses.  Not too long ago I read Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, which I loved.  I have the sequel Winter of the World on deck for July as well as Pillars of the Earth.  These books are so chock full of characters and plot machinations that they need my full attention.  I also place non-fiction in this category.  I have trouble reading non-fiction sometimes as it does not always have the quick pace of a novel, but I pick subjects in which I am interested to keep me going.  I am currently two-thirds of the way through Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss.  The writing is excellent, exceeded only by the depth of research on the scary topic of processed foods. 

Fitting into neither the former category nor the latter are Legend by Marie Lu and The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway.  These are not just entertaining, but also fodder for thought, but do not require quite the same level of intense reading as do Booker Prize winners Mantel and Rushdie.  Lu's book has a sequel to which I am looking forward, along with a bevy of other YA items I have been piling up in anticipation of summer.  I find that sometimes YA fits into the brain candy category and sometimes it does not.  I almost always like what I read in YA, but sometimes find the plots to be too predictable. 

 

Anyway, I wish a full shelf of summer reading for you all!

Thank you Sean Pidgeon...

for writing the best King Arthur book  I have read in a long time, Finding Camlann.  And I have read MANY King Arthur books.  My two favorites are T.H.  White's The Once and Future King and Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon (but not its many sequels which are pale imitations of the original.)  Finding Camlann is not an Arthur novel in the same vein as my favorites since Arthur is not a character.  The story takes place in modern times featuring scholars who are interested in the historical Arthur, mainly the question of whether or not there is a historical Arthur or if he is in fact the product of bards who created him from various bardic traditional stories with a smattering of historical warriors.  This story centers on the search in Wales for various Arthurian battlegrounds and burial places. 

Of course while these scholars are searching for a lost hero, they are dealing with their own failures and triumphs as human beings.  Some of the story deals with Welsh nationalism and English rule.  I learned some very interesting things.  I already know some about English and Irish clashes, but was not aware of similar problems in Wales. 

The search in the novel for original sources of information about a possible historical Arthur are intertwined with the story about Siôn Cent a poet who recorded stories of Owain Glyn Dŵr a historical Welsh warrior.  Modern Welsh warriors who fought to keep England from flooding Welsh towns to provide a reservoir of water for England brings in Hugh Mortimer, Julia Llewellyn Mortimer, and her father Dai Llewellyn.  Donald Gladstone is an archaeologist interested in Wales in general with an interest in Arthur that seems to intrigue all Romantics who cling to the ideas of nationalism and chivalry and a golden age of knights and ladies battling evil.  What I enjoyed most is that Pidgeon has refrained from turing the modern characters into metaphors for the Arthurian stories.  This is a novel for anyone who is fascinated by the way storytelling has always held power and how legend and history are deeply intertwined in ways that make the past both more realistic and more nebulous than we will ever be able to know. 

Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl

is either a genius or insane.  I know, I know there is a fine line.  Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is quite simply brilliant.  If you have read it, you know why I cannot say much about the plot without ruining it all.  If you have not read it, I say...Nick and Amy are a generally happy couple with their share of problems like loss of jobs, ill parents, and a dwindling bank account.  None of this however seems important when Amy disappears the morning of their 5th anniversary.  Clearly based on the evidence and the stereotype, Nick is the prime suspect in the disappearance that may in fact be murder.  But this story is so full of twists and turns the reader cannot possibly keep up without long pauses to think about it all. 

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train is a charming novel about a day Elizabeth II of England leaves the palace to travel on her own to Edinburgh to see her beloved, decommissioned yacht, Brittannia.  While the possible inner thoughts of the queen are interesting, much of what The Queen thinks, feels, and does is mostly improbable.  However, the staff who spend their time serving her and tracking her to Scotland are vastly interesting and probably more realistic.  There is Shirley, The Queen's long-time dresser; Lady Anne, a Lady in Waiting; William, a butler; and Luke an equerry who has recently returned from combat in Afghanistan.  They are joined by Rajiv, an aspiring poet, who works in the cheese shop The Queen visits before deciding to go to Scotland.  Rebecca, who works in The Queen's Mews, is also swept along on the adventure.  All of these people have fascinating inner lives and interact with each other in telling ways.

The narrative switches from person to person watching the activities of the pairs as they try to catch up to The Queen before she finds herself alone and resourceless in Edinburgh in the middle of the night.  It is ironic I think, that The Queen who rarely finds herself alone, is the one person in the novel who does not have a partner on whom to rely during the journey.  Each person finds strength and a much needed foil in his or her travel companion, while The Queen most unusually has only her own wits on which to rely.  She rises to the challenge with no difficulty, but does dwell on her own connections to others, whether her subjects, her family, or her staff. 

I enjoyed learning about the inner workings of the royal household, which I imagine was quite accurate given the author's background.  The ancillary characters were full and as sympathetic  as The Queen.  While this might seem like a light tale, it really asks a great many questions about duty, family, and aging. 

Life Among Giants by Bill Roorbach

Life Among Giants is one of the books I had on lists to read, then took it off, then put it back.  Finally I put it on my hold list at the library.  I knew it was time to read an adult book and take a break from YA.  I need to do this from time to time to engage my brain a bit more and get away from the angst.  Though to be fair, adult fiction has its fair share of angst. 

Life Among Giants reminds me of some of the John Irving I have read.  Those of you who have read my reviews before will know that generally I love Irving's work.  This similarity is therefore positive to my mind.  I do not mean to say that Roorbach is an imitator.  There were just some atmospheric and tonal things that made me think of Irving.  The plot was not similar to any of Irving's work. 

In Life Among Giants, Lizard, or David tells his own story.  His story really begins with the murder of his parents when he is 17, just about 18.  He tells his life before this incidentally, sharing only relevant memories.  Afterwards he covers his life in detail, but even 20 years later much of what he is is related to the loss of his parents.  In a minor way, the book is a mystery with David and his sister Kate trying to discover exactly who murdered their parents and why.  At times through the years, Kate is obsessed with the crime.  She spends time in a mental institution trying to deal with her intense paranoiac beliefs about what happened.  David on the other hand lives a quiet life as a football player for the Miami Dolphins then as a restaurateur.  Always in the background of the siblings' story, are Sylphide, a ballerina who lives in the mansion that backs up to David and Kate's modest family home and Dabney, the ballerina's rock start husband who died not long before David and Kate's parents.  How all of these people and events are tied together if at all is the central conflict of the story. 

Just as much of YA literature deals with the central character's place in the world, this adult story revolves around adults having to confront who they have become and how on earth they ended up this way. 

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Sometimes I do not read "bestsellers" because I do not want to hop on the bandwagon.   Then I end up reading them later, sometimes years later, then having to kick myself for not reading them sooner, because of course they were not bestsellers by accident, it is because they were fabulous books.  This happened to me with the novel Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, which I read recently for my book club.  The book has been around since 2009 at which time I steadfastly ignored it.  I can admit because I can admit when I am wrong that once I started it, I raced through it.

I can also admit that I have never, in any way had any interest in medicine.  Really, truly, the insides of the human body hold no fascination for me.  Now, this being said, I found the parts of this novel involving medicine to be enthralling.  At the heart of the book is the story of Marion Stone and his twin brother Shiva, whose births result in the death of their mother and the running away of their father.  They are raised in Ethiopia, specifically Addis Ababa, as the sons of a gynecologist and an internist.  Interwoven with their personal story is the story of Ethiopia as ruled by Haile Selassie. However, as the hospital in which their parents work is rudimentary at best, Marion and Shiva spend a great deal of time there and learn much before setting foot in a medical school, which Shiva never does, though he works very successfully as a gynecologist specializing in fistula. 

The novel is part historical fiction and part romance, though both of these elements are secondary to the medical story which is literal as well as metaphoric.  Parts of the book read like non-fiction,  but at no point was I too disgusted or bored to stop reading.  Verghese has a way of making the medical details so integral to the story that the reader does not even realize it is happening.  These details are interwoven in such a way that they are indispensible to the arc of the story. 

To be a bit more concise.  I loved this book!

Reading Multiple Personalities

You would think based on my reading choices that I might have a multiple personality disorder; I rarely stick to one particular genre for a sustained period of time.  For this reason you may find my most recent reads to be all over the place genre-cally. 

In my last post I mentioned reading The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields, which is primarily about the extra-marital love life of Edith Wharton, one of my most favorite writers of all time.  While I enjoyed the novel, I was disappointed in Wharton.  While I understand this is a fictionalized account, the author used excerpts of Wharton's letters to Morton Fullerton.  I cannot possibly understand what Wharton's marriage to Teddy Wharton was like, but she allowed for what seems like a great deal of mistreatment from Fulleron in exchange for only small bits of happiness. 

Following that read, I began Seating Arrangements by Maggie Shipstead.  The novel takes place during three days of the wedding weekend of Daphne Van Meter and Greyson Duff on Waskeke Island.  The wedding itself takes up only a few pages, but the two days before are rife with all sorts of turmoil.  Winn, Daphne's father finds himself inappropriately attracted to one of his daughter's bridesmaids.  Daphne's sister Livia is recovering from heartbreak using all sorts of wedding weekend techniques.  And all the other members of the wedding party, including the families, sometimes spectate and sometimes participate in all sorts of other shenanigans.  This novel is not a comedy, or maybe it is a black comedy, but it is the story of a family the reader likes but feels sorry for, roots for, and wants to slap all in turn.  I do recommend this book and enjoyed it quite a lot. 

SHIFT

(to a new genre)

Next I decided to go with Seraphina by Rachel Hartman.   This is a middle grades/YA fantasy novel that takes place in a society in which dragons and humans have forged an uneasy alliance.  The main character, Seraphina, is a brilliant musician who also happens to be half dragon, which as you can imagine is not an accepted species in either society.  When a rogue former General begins to attack humans the fragile peace is in significant danger.  This is clearly the beginning of a series or trilogy and I am eager to read more.  I have also ordered this for my school as I think my kids are ready for a new dragon series. 

 

 

SHIFT

(again)

 

Next I picked up The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean.  I have been wanting to read this ever since I began following the author's blog, which is about the dresses she makes, generally from vintage patterns.  By profession, McKean is a lexicographer, but from what I can see she could go into dressmaking or writing at any time.  The book is a really sweet story about Dora who must come home from college when her grandmother, who raised her, has a stroke.  Mimi runs a vintage clothing shop in which Dora has grown up and she takes over the shop when she is not at the hospital.  Sadly for me I just read Jennifer Weiner's, The Next Best Thing whose main character is also a woman raised by a grandmother because her parents are deceased, but McKean wrote hers first so this is just an unfortunate coincidence on my part.  Foolishly, I thought at the beginning that the story would be somewhat predictable and certainly elements of it were, but there were also some twists I did not see coming.  I was drawn right into the story and was fascinated by all the descriptions of the vintage clothes Dora finds in a closet her grandmother has been cultivating for her for years as well as those in the shop.

 

I have just started The Importance of Being Seven by Alexander McCall Smith, the next in his series of 44 Scotland Street stories.  I would recommend anything by Smith, but I like his Isabel Dalhousie series best but his No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books are wonderful as well. 

Some End of Summer (Sob) Reading

So, I have been reading furiously these past two weeks to get in all the books I wanted to read this summer.  I have managed to get through all but two of the middle school Virginia Readers Choice books so I can book talk them with the 6th graders during library orientation.  Besides those I have read Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones, The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner, The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty, The Kill Zone by James Dashner and am partway through The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields.  I read all of these for myself even though some of them are middle grade or YA novels.

Castle in the Air is actually the second book in the Howl's Moving Castle series by Diana Wynne Jones, but I got mixed up and read them out of order.  It turns out not to have mattered much because Howl and Sophie are not the main characters and do not put in an appearance until the last quarter of the book.  Their son Morgan is just born in this one and was a toddler in the 3rd book, House of Many Ways but that was the only significant confusion, though it wasn't, in reading them out of order.  Jones is a wonderful story-teller.  I have quite a few more of hers in my TBR pile.  They will be great for winter time in front of the crackling fireplace that does not work.  

 

The day James Dashners' The Kill Order came out I went out to get it.  Because it was also a rainy day, I read it the whole book.  I was excited to read more about the world Dashner created in The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, and The Death Cure.  The story takes place just after the world has been changed by the sun flares.  Both the prologue and epilogue take place just before Thomas is dropped into the maze.  The book was exciting with many new characters and a close up look at the way the world deteriorated and much of humanity was overtaken by the Flare.  However, there really was not much in this book that we do not already know.  While I am glad to be "shown" what happened, rather than "told," about this time period, there is nothing really revealingly new, so it was a bit of a disappointment for me.  I am wondering if this is the last prequel book, or if we will get a closer look at Teresa and Thomas as they do whatever it is they do to help WICKED plan the maze and what they hope it will accomplish. 

Next, I read The Next Best Thing by Jennifer Weiner.  I enjoy Weiner's books: they are always entertaining, generally realistic, and usually have a happy ending.  (There is nothing wrong with a solidly happy ending.)  I also like that they usually take place in the Philadelphia area.  This one did not.  I am going to give Weiner a pass on the location....this time.  The novel is the story of Ruth Saunders who lost both her parents and was seriously injured in a car accident when she was very young.  Since then she has lived with her grandmother, who raised her and then moved with her to California when Ruth wanted to try writing for TV.  The heart of this story is Ruth's chance to produce a show she has written.  If Weiner's details are correct, which I suspect they are, getting a TV show made is about 80% - right place, right time and 20% - talent, good writing, and quality show.  The novel is about family, love, and that ever important search-for-self.  While I could feel the happy ending coming a long way from the end, I really did not know how it would all work out and was carried along by my desire to see Ruth triumph. 

 

The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty, is historical fiction about the 1920s silent film actress Louise Brooks, but Louise is not the main character, instead, Cora Carlisle, the chaperone is.  Using Cora in the setting of New York City, with a forward thinking and somewhat shocking future star, Moriarty illustrates the turbulence of the time.  Just after women have won the right to vote, before the end of Prohibition, and in the heart of a time when conservative, Victorian mores are getting dusty Cora must deal with this flamboyant and decidedly un-traditional teen.  Aside from caring for Louise, Cora has agreed to this trip in order to find out more about her own life which began in NYC before she was put on an orphan train and taken to Kansas.  While the story of Cora in NYC and after she returns to Wichita is plenty full of interest, the historical details are what drew me in.  I love a well-research snapshot of a time period. 

Finally, I began reading The Age of Desire by Jennie Fields yesterday.  It is historical fiction about the life of Edith Wharton, who is one of my all-time favorite authors.  It mainly covers the time in her life in 1907-1911 when her marriage was falling apart and she began an affair with Morton Fullerton.  I am not quite half-way through, but so far I appreciate the inclusion of actual letters between the two and between Wharton and others.  Though I know how it all turns out, I am drawn in by the author's imaginings of scenes between the two and the details about Paris, Wharton's writing, and her home, The Mount in Lenox, MA. 

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

Just moments ago I finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.  I kind of want to rest for a while and read it again.  I have been traveling quite a lot for the past two weeks and read this in a disjointed way.  Even all broken up it is a powerful story.  

It was originally written in French.  (Which I hope to be able to read some day.)  Translations make me nervous, because some are just so poorly done that "lost in translation" does not come close.  I used to teach Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert to 12th graders and if they did not pay attention to the syllabus and buy the Francis Steegmuller translation they were reading an entirely different novel, devoid of Flaubert's beautiful words.  (Books whose language is as enthralling as its story is irresistible, which is why The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is my favorite book of all time. I am as drawn in by the language as the story.)  I think the beauty of the writing confirms that the translation is excellent and Barbery's prose lovely. 

I am not a particularly snobby reader, but The Elegance of the Hedgehog is literature, not genre fiction.  It is the story of Renee, the concierge of an up-scale apartment building in Paris and Paloma, a twelve-year-old resident.  Renee is a closet intellect and Paloma is a closet depressive.  Both are brilliant and much of the beauty of the book comes from their ruminations.  The humor comes from their interactions with other, less observant and introspective residents.   I love novels that are character rather than plot driven, though I was endlessly wondering what would happen next, so there was still plenty going on to keep it from being a character sketch rather than a story. 

Barbery has another novel, Gourmet Rhapsody, that takes place in the same building, before the   time of this one, featuring a character who is minor to Hedgehog.  I am tempted to jump in immediately, but this is an author I want to savor. 

If you like summer reading that is heavier than a beach read, or are ready to begin fall reading, I would start with either of these two. 

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.