My Reading Frenzy

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!

Recent Romance

Anyone who has read much of this blog knows that I read a wide variety of genres.  My favorites are fantasy and sci-fi though even these wax and wane.  I spent years reading nothing but King Arthur related fantasy as I have mentioned before.  I also really like historical fiction, if it is well researched.  In this genre I had a heavy Queen Elizabeth I phase.  I like mysteries as well; they really give the brain a good workout.  I cannot say I care much for thrillers or westerns.  Not a big reader of horror either.  But above and beyond any of these I am a sucker for romance.  I have never to my knowledge purchased a book from the romance section of the book store.  The genre know familiarly as "bodice rippers," was the favorite of my grandmother, but I do like a well-told love story.  I started when young with Jane Eyre (a truly romantic love story) and Wuthering Heights (which I can now see is really just the love story of two seriously damaged people and not particularly romantic at all).  I also like fiction that just has a healthy dose of romance, like the Anne of Green Gables series (my favorite of all time).  Sparks flew between Anne and Gilbert from the beginning. 

Today I finished reading This is What Happy Looks Like by Jennifer E. Smith.  Summer is about to start and I needed something light and romantic.  I got just what I needed.  Ellie, who lives in a small Maine town receives an e-mail obviously not intended for her.  She write back to let the sender know she will not be able to take care of his pet as she is not the person he meant to write.  He writes back and they begin a lively e-mail exchange without knowing each other's names.  While this is improbable it is not impossible.  Unlike Smith's The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight this novel is not filled with things that just would not happen.  Instead, I find that the first e-mail, when a text about Wilbur would have been easier and more likely, is really the only part of the whole story I just could not accept. 

So much of teen romance today is angst filled.  It is nice to read a story with a bit of angst, it wouldn't be YA without it, but without the overwhelming focus on why life is so difficult that too many teen love stories have.  This novel reminded me of Stephanie Perkins's Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door, both of which are fabulously done love stories.   Both really capture that beginning of a romance sweetness that is not easy ot put on paper.  Maureen Johnson also did this well in 13 Little Blue Envelopes.  And The Big Crunch by Pete Hautman. 

Originally I intended to write about a few books I have read recently, but instead this turned into a "Why I love romance" post.  Oh well, time well spent. 

Clockwork Princess

I LOVED Cassandra Clare's latest in The Infernal Devices series, Clockwork Princess.  I do not remember liking the other two, Clockwork Angel and Clockwork Prince as much.  I really loved her other series Mortal Instruments  until I got to the 4th in the trilogy (Yep, that's what I meant, 4th in the trilogy.) City of Fallen Angels which I did not like at all.  As much as I loved this latest installment, I hope it will not be continued in a 4th book.  I'd like to see Clare write the story of the characters in between the generations presented in the two series. 

The reason I have loved these books is because Clare has done a wonderful job of world building.  In the shadows of the world, live the Nephilim or Shadowhunters, placed here on Earth to protect us all from Darkworlders.  Living in this different world separates the Shadowhunters from mortals (generally), but brings them in contact with warlocks, werewolves, vampires, and demons.  This is a completely original world that did not remind me of anything else.  I give high praise to a book that does that. 

I just read on Clare's website that there will be a 3rd series, but it will take place in the world of today rather than bridging the gap between the first two series....oh well, maybe someday. 

In Clockwork Princess I really could not pick a favorite character.  I like Will for his chilly exterior that covers deep and passionate feelings of love, friendship, and duty.  I love Tessa because she is a bold woman who has suffered greatly making her compassionate and strong.  Sophie, while a servant at the Institute, is humorous, and kind, and fiesty.  Then there is Jem, the heart of the story and the Institute.  I just really like them all.

Clare has a great way with the love stories, making each different, but there is still little mystery how they will all turn out.  The family tree on the inside of the dust jacket was a give-away, but I really appreciated knowing how all the names I know from the Mortal Instruments series link to the people in the Victorian series.   You see how intricately she has woven her stories.  Brilliant!  Despite the age of the characters, these just do not feel like YA novels.  They are simply tales of adventure, heroism in the face of evil, and love for any reader. 

Eleanor and Park

I really, really liked this love story.  Though I admit that at first I was not sure it was really a YA novel.  First of all it takes place in 1986 (which practically makes it historical fiction) and is filled with references, musically mainly, that no young adult is going to understand.  After finishing, I accept that those references do not really inhibit understanding.  What really matters is the relationship between Eleanor and Park.  Eleanor has lived a difficult life.  Her mother is married to a dirtbag.  They live in a hovel.  She shares a tiny bedroom with three brothers and a sister.  There is no door on the bathroom.  All of this has given Eleanor what one might call a crusty demeanor.  Her first day on the school bus after having recently returned to live with her family, she meets Park who saves her by offering her a seat on the bus.  Their romances moves slooooowly after this.  So slowly as to be frustrating to a reader, but completely realistically given the circumstances. 

Park's home situation is heaven compared to Eleanor's.  Park's biggest issue is in being bi-racial; half Korean, half caucasian.  In Omaha in 1986 this is more difficult for him that it would be today.  He feels detached from both cultures and not sure where he belongs.  He also has an ex-military father who wishes his son were more of a "man." Though when it is important, such as the time Park needs to defend Eleanor from unkindess, he steps up in a way no one would label as "unmanly."

The story is told alternately by Eleanor and Park which is a sometimes annoying storytelling method as it has become somewhat too prevelent for my tastes.  It is also makes the reader want to scream at the two as we know that at moments Eleanor and Park are feeling and thinking similarly but because they hesitate to share misunderstandings ensue.  However, when so many adults are not adept at communicating with each other these teens actually do pretty well. 

Despite some of my misgivings at the beginning I would not hesitate to recommend this to teen readers.  I also think readers of my age group who were teens in 1986 would enjoy the story and find the references nostalgic.

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. 

YA Romance

I bought Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler almost two years ago, just after I heard it was being banned because it "promotes or sensationalizes sexual promiscuity." I love a good banned book and was hoping for a shockingly frank discussion of teen sexuality.  Those people who tried to ban this book are idiots.  Only someone who only read the title would think this book encourages promiscuous behavior.

The two teen girls in the novel are suffering because Frankie's brother Matt, who was Anna's boyfriend died of an undetected hole between the chambers of his heart.  A year after his death, his parents decide to take Frankie and Anna to the family's long time vacation spot to promote healing.  It is at this point Frankie suggests a game in which the two girls will meet 20 boys.  They do not even get half-way there and one girl remains a virgin and the other sleeps with one boy, just one, not twenty.  A boy who incidentally she feels quite strongly about even after knowing him for a relatively brief time.  At no point does the story glorify sexual escapades.  It is in fact a sweet story about loss, friendship, family, and love.  I am sorry now to have waited so long to read it.   I intend to read Ockler's other recent publications, Fixing Delilah and Bittersweet.   

Now, a book that I would not be surprised to hear about being banned is Sarah Mlynowski's ten things we did (and probably shouldn't have).  I would not agree with such a ban, but this is certainly a book with a fair amount of teen sex.  Mlynowski writes frankly about teen issues, which include decisions about sexual partners.  This book is the story of sixteen-year-old Anna whose father and step-mother move to Cleveland leaving her in Connecticut to finish her junior year.  On one hand this is what Anna wants, but on the other hand she wishes her father (who is a loving and attentive father just trying to make his daughter happy) would just command her to come with him.  She moves in with her best friend Vi who has some actual parent problems with a mom who is away with the touring company of Mary Poppins.  Yes, this means the girls are on their own, perpetuating a big cover-up so that April's father does not discover the truth.  I do not want to ruin it, but one of the 10 things they do is buy a hot tub. 

April is likeable and still reeling from her parents' unpleasant divorce two years earlier.   She has lived with her father while her younger brother moved to Paris with their mother and her new husband.  It is a challenging situation and April feels most comfortable around the friends and boyfriend who got her through that difficult time.   Living on her own with some distance from her family is probably the best thing for April, but book banners of the world will disapprove of the not unusal teen behaviors show in the novel. 

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. 

David Levithan's Every Day

is how I know I will never be a writer.  I mean how does he come up with these things.  I enjoyed Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist and Dash and Lily's Book of Dares that Levithan wrote with Rachel Cohn.  (I did not really like Naomi and ELy's No Kiss List.)  I also loved Will Grayson, Will Grayson by Levithan and John Green.  All of these books are mind bogglingly clever with an interesting approach without being weird or unrealistic.  How does he do it?!?!?

Every Day is the story of A., a spirit, boy, girl, person, something, who wakes up in a different body every day.  His/her life has always been this way.  As a child he/she thought this was the way everyone lived, then he/she discovered his/her uniqueness.  It is not until A. falls in love with Rhiannon that the trouble begins.  Before this, A. has always striven not to have much of an impact on the life of the daily host.  After the day he spends as Rhiannon's boyfriend Justin, A. makes an effort to see her as whomever he is that day.  The story is clearly fantasy and actually reminded me a bit of the Things Not Seen series by Andrew Clements.  As A. grows more and more frustrated with his/her lot in life we come back to the ever present "search for identity" motif in teen literature.  Levithan has turned this on its head by making it impossible, or so it seems for A. to have an identity, or is it his very lack of a permanent physical manifestation that makes his identitiy all that he does have. 

Lots of interesting questions and issues at work here. 

Holiday Reading

WARNING:  This post about holiday reading is about the books I have read over the holidays, not books with holiday themes or topics.  I started with The Selection by Kiera Cass, moved to Liar & Spy by Rebecca Stead and then The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth.  I really liked all of them. 

First, The Selection takes place in a dystopic world, a genre I will continue to enjoy as long as authors keep finding a way to make it fresh.  Cass's take is fresh.  It is one part The Hunger Games in that young women from each of Illea's 35 districts is chosen to compete to marry Prince Maxon, making this one part The Bachelor as well.  What could have been written as a shallow story instead asks questions about choosing a spouse, ruling a nation, staying true to oneself, and class systems.  The main character, America Singer, a 5 (a relatively low caste) is automatically made a 3 when she is chosen to compete, thus helping her entire family to a better life.  They are all artists and musicians who make their living performing for 2s.  America's selection ensures they will have food and work steadily.  She will also have the opportunity to marry well if she is not chosen by the prince.  As always there is a wrench, she is in love with someone else, her childhood sweetheart, a 6 who does not have much hope for upward mobility.  This is the first in the series of what will undoubtedly be a trilogy.  The second book is due out in April.  I have high hopes, but am warily optimistic given my general observations about second books. 

Rebecca Stead is quietly brilliant.  I loved When You Reach Me, which I even reread recently, which I rarely do.  Liar & Spy is almost as good.  It too has some revelations that do not come until the end, but are hinted at throughout.  Some of these revelations I was able to figure out early on.  Others were a surprise.  The main character Georges (Yes, Georges, named after the painter Georges Seurat.)  and his parents have just moved away from their house in Brooklyn to an apartment because his father has lost his job.  In the new building, Georges meets Safer, a boy his age and his younger sister Candy and older brother Pigeon along with their eccentric parents.  It really is a great story addressing some standard middle school issues along with Georges' personal struggles.

Most recently is The Miseducation of Cameron Post.   This one addresses a pretty difficult topic I think needs to feature in more fiction.  The story begins with the death of Cameron's parents in a car accident, but this does not happen before Cam and her best friend kiss, for real. Cameron's born again aunt Ruth and her grandmother move in to the family home.  By this point Cameron is pretty sure she is a lesbian, but is not entirely comfortable with this realization.  She finds herself in love with Coley Taylor who "turns her in" at which point the next segement of the book takes Cameron away to Promise, a school for sinners, where they embrace God to overcome their sin of same sex attraction.  I think that more fiction addressing homosexuality for middle school and high school age students needs to exist.  These days, some children begin to wonder about themselves in elementary school and may not have anyone to speak with.  Fiction can provide some initial guidance that may help them to open up to a trusted adult.  My only quibble with the book is that is it set in 1991-93.  I think the author may misguidedly feel that what happens to Cameron would not be possible in 2012, but I fear she is mistaken.  Small societies, small towns, and small minds have not disappeared.  

I am not sure what I am going to pick up next as I have a stack I had intended for break reading, but I always seem to have the urge to read something outside the stack.  We shall see...we shall see.

Happy New Year!

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!

The exception to the rule...

I made up the other day about the second book in a trilogy, is Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor.  This book was fabulous.  I rarely take my time with a book in order to savor it, I am more of a "devour it quickly" kind of reader, but this one made me want to slow down in part to keep it from being over, because now....I have to wait for the next one.  This folks makes me sad...and frustrated...and depressed.  I was lucky enough to be able to listen to Daughter of Smoke and Bone just before reading this installment.  It helped to refresh me.  This is a problem when books are released a year or more apart.  [This is gonig to be an issue when I begin reading Reached by Ally Condie next as it has been a year since I read Crossed and a year before that when I read Matched.  Details from Divergent's sequel (by Veronica Roth) Insurgent keep popping up whenever I try to remember Crossed.] As I have no reading impulse control I cannot wait until all the books are released to read them, I just have to rely on my faulty memory and the generosity of the author to do a bit of review (though philosophically I hate the idea).

So, if you have not figured it out yet, I loved the book.  It still had a bit of an unfinished feel, but I truly felt like the characters grew and progressed.  Karou and Akiva both had many moral decisions to make about their world and ours.  I am not sure if Taylor intended the story to be a commentary on current world events such as the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East, but it can be read that way as the chimera and angels persist in killing each other, with each side viewing the other as monstrous, with good reason.  Taylor keeps the reader moving back and forth unable to decide which side is "right" and which is "wrong."  Both Karou and Akiva feel a strong pull to make a change to prevent the extinction of both their peoples.  It may come back to the cliché, "Love conquers all," but in this case I would be ok with that as the story is so well written it really defies cliché. 

Additionally, I am a big fan of the world Taylor has created.  The characters spend some time in the human world, especially in the first book, but the second takes place almost entirely in Eretz a world of creatures and magic, but again without predictable elements.  Sadly, as I have read so many books both YA and otherwise I find too many commonalities, but this series is unique and surprising, which I love. 

I would certainly recommend starting with the first book but if you are easily frustrated by waiting, I would consider holding off until the third book is released, hopefully around this time next year.  I am sure I will read many wonderful books between now and when the next one comes out, but if Taylor sustains the level of emotion and tension in the final book this will be one of my favorites of all time. 

I should have trusted John Green...

...not to give me more than I could handle.  I put off reading The Fault in Our Stars because I knew it would be sad.  I even bought it right when it came out in order to get a signed copy, plus I have become a book snob and prefer hardbacks.  While not giving in to the e-book craze I have gone excessively in the other direction to make sure the books I buy are hefty and solid.  None of those flimsy paperbacks for me...unless I get them used and the price is fabulous. 

So anyway, The Fault in Our Stars did make me cry.  Not quite as much as A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, but close.  Just like many of John Green's other works it is mainly a love story about two really funny teens who happen to have cancer and are obsessed with this book and its author who lives in Amsterdam and have friends with cancer.  The fun in the book is the two main characters know the young cancer patient stereotypes and try to thwart them, but in some way become them anyway because it is difficult to be dying young of cancer and not evoke that pity and sadness in others. 

Hazel and Augustus though are at their most important two teens in love for the first time.  I'd put the level of sweetness in their falling in love up there with Anna and the French Kiss and Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins.  These stories are important reminders that teen love is just as real as that felt between adults.  Just because adults diminish it because their young relationships did not become "forever" ones does not mean that what they or others felt is not REAL love. 

I love a good love story and the sad part was not more than I could handle because the happy part was so euphoric.  I should have trusted you John Green. 

 

Sarah Dessen Thoughts

I have now read 5 novels by Sarah Dessen. 

1.  Just Listen

2.  What Happened to Good-Bye

3.  Along for the Ride

4.  Lock and Key

5.  The Truth About Forever

I read the first because the girls at my school were clamoring for me to buy some Dessen books.  I knew nothing about them to help make any sort of decision so I decided to read one.  The next I read because of a committee I serve on.  After that I just kind of got hooked.  I will not probably go any further back in publication dates that I have with 2004.  I will probably keep up with new books though. 

Reasons I like the books:

A.  Realistic female protagonists

B.  Something different for the kids who are not into the futuristic, dystopia, fantasy novels that are so prevalent now

C. No violence

D.  No sex

E.  Real, but not hugely heavy problems.  By this I mean these are characters and issues many "normal" kids can relate to: divorce, high parental expectations, shallow peers, death in the family, step- families.  There is no doubt in my mind there is a place for YA literature that addresses the heavy issues.  Laurie Halse Anderson does this supremely well.  (ie Speak, Wintergirls)  But I also think kids who are not facing these types of issues need books with characters who deal with what they understand. Dessen's books fill this niche. 

 

Issues I have with the books:

1.  All the high school age teenagers in the books seem to drink and there are never any repercussions or ever even any comments made about this.  While I am not naive enough to think this does not go on, I do wish she would occasionally throw in a character who speaks out against underage drinking.  This is one problem that makes it difficult for me to put these books in my middle school library. (This is not a flaw in the books per se, they are not meant for a middle school audience, but the desire to hear someone comment negatively on the drinking is still valid.)

2.  The story lines are somewhat predictable.  This does not seem to be a problem with teens.  In fact I know from my own youthful reading of many, many Nancy Drew mysteries, that young readers either do not notice, do not mind, or find comfort in predictable, repetitive plot elements.  As a more savvy adult reader this does bug me some.  This will probably not stop me from reading future publications.  

3.  Despite different names and issues, the heroines begin to blend together.  They just do not stick out as being unique. 

 

 Overall:

I think the pros outweigh the cons as far as overall quality of the books.  The story lines are engaging, the characters are believeable, and teen readers (primarily females) can see a lot of themselves and their friends in the characters. 

Goliath - Scott Westerfeld

I loved Scott Westerfeld's trilogy that began with Leviathan, continued with Behemoth, and just ended with Goliath.  The steam punk combination of World War I, Darwinists and Clankers with teen protagonists is brilliant.  The artwork by Keith Thompson adds to the charm.  As much as I love description, I also appreciate an artist's rendering.  The illustrations were illustrative (ha ha) without being obtrusive.  All the better if the author approves the vision of his story presented by the artwork.  And as much as I dislike when movie studios get ahold of great books and ruin them, I think this trilogy would make fantastic, special effects laden films.  Just as the books are multi-generational, so too would be the movies.

So enough blathering.  The trilogy ended satisfyingly, for me anyway.  With the war heating up, this book was bound to be exciting as the Leviathan travels the world on what are essentially diplomatic missions that somehow always involve excitement for Dylan and Alek.

The creatures Westerfeld has created are fascinating in their talents and uses.  I find the Darwinists much more interesting than the Clankers.  When the ship gets to the US, the separation of the Clanker North and the Darwinist South is an interesting commentary.  It is certainly believeable the North would be Clanker with its industry being a key reason they won the Civil War.  However, the Darwinist South is based on the agrarian tradition of the South, but I am not so sure the religious traditions of the South would realistically allow for the genetic manipulation of creatures by humans.  This is a tiny little part of the story, but one I find intriguing.

Dylan/Deryn continues to be an admirable character.  Alek grows into a man in this novel.  Despite the time arc of the three books being only a few months, both of these young people change quite a bit.  Their sense of honor and the behaviors it inspires are realistic and I believe relevent to current generations of young people who cannot understand the patriotism of World Wars I and II, not the glory of these wars, but the way that nations came together to support what they believed was right.  Alek's struggles as a monarch in that world are significant and mold him right before the reader's eyes. 

This really is a wonderful series that does not drag on, but knows when to exit gracefully after a barking good adventure.

Crossed - Ally Condie

I was so anxious after I read Matched for Crossed to be released, luckily I calmed down because I had to wait almost a year.  Crossed did not disappoint.  It does feel like the middle book in a series, but it was a really good middle.  A few new characters were introduced who we know are going to be important before the story can be resolved.  Just as the first novel took place almost entriely in the Society, this one is almost entirely outside it.  This book has the same rhythm as the first.  A bit suspenseful, some action, but really a story of mixed perspectives (told by Ky and Cassia) on the Society and their mysteries activities, as well as the Rising and those who live between: neither a part of the Society nor part of the groups trying to rebel.  These are people who simply want to be left alone to live as normally as they are able.  Ky and Cassia must decide where they will fit if they want to be together and stay true to their beliefs. 

Cassia tends to be a character I like, but I do find her a bit selfish sometimes.  Ky is brave and strong, but vulnerable and kind just as we want in a romantic hero in a horrific situation.   I look forward to the third book with great hopes for Cassia and Ky.

If you must read one vampire book..

... it should be Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side.  It is a vampire based romance, but both main characters are more engaging than those kids from that other vampire series.  There is also a whole lot less angst.  After a while the turmoil, and teen angst begin to wear on me.  This book has its fair share of drama, but it is more tolerable and the characters are so much more likeable.

Jessica is an unsuspecting teen in rural Pennsylvania until the day Lucius arrives and begins calling her Anastasia.  As it turns out, Jessica is a vampire adopted and taken away from Romania when an angry mob kills her parents.  Lucius has come to the farm to claim her as his bride, which she must become according to a pact signed when they were babies.  Teen behaviors ensue, some romance brews and a bit of vampyness emerges.  All in all an entertaining read. 

There is a sequel due out in January, but I am not sure I will read it.  I liked the first book well enough, but I was satisfied with the ending and the fates of Jessica and Lucius. 

The Luxe Series by Anna Godberson

I blogged already about the first book in the series, The Luxe.  Since then I have read the other three, Rumors, Envy, and  Splendor.  I will admit I was tempted to give up after the second book.  The first two books were not terribly action packed, the historical elements were superficial, when I prefer more about the politics and NYC history, and they were not particularly well written.  However, I did like the characters, especially the Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana.  So, I kept reading.  I am glad I did because the stories got better: more interesting and better written.  And I really do like the descriptions of Gilded Age fashions. 

Penelope continues to scheme, Diana continues to charm, Lina continues to lie, and Elizabeth just wants to be left alone with her man, but family and the call of NYC interfere.  In the end each character ends up just how he/she should.  No huge surprises, but I was not disturbed by the predictability either.  I often have a difficult time determining if books are predictable because I am a well-read adult reading YA novels, or if the books really are too obvious.  Giving these the benefit of the doubt, there were enough small surprises to make me think teens who have not read too widely in this genre would not be disappointed.

While I did enjoy the series in the long run, I am not sure I will follow up with Godberson's next series beginning with Bright Young Things.  Had the characters been related to those in The Luxe series I might have given them a shot, but since they are not I will probably take a pass. 

 

Independent Book Stores in New England

I was lucky enough recently to take part of my summer vacation in New England.  Really we only made significant stops in Connecticut and Vermont, but that was enough to visit a plethora of independent book stores. 

Connecticut:

We stopped in a series of six small towns in Connecticut along Long Island Sound, not all of them have bookstores, but usually there was an antique store or two to sate my browsing needs instead.

Guilford - Breakwater Books: This was the first we visited.  It was small, but that is part of the charm of independent bookstores.  They had a relatively large children's section that had been stocked by someone with significant knowledge.  Overall there was a large variety with some new publications as well as older favorites.  I bought God on the Rocks by Jane Gardam.  This is an adult novel I have had on a wishlist, but have not found in person.  Certainly I could order it on-line, but I appreciated the opportunity to support a local bookstore. 

Madison - RJ Julia Booksellers: Next we made our way to this town.  By this time though it had started to rain and many of the main street shops had closed, but not this one.  I could have moved right in to this bookstore and stayed for the rest of my life, or more realistically until closing time.  It is a two story shop with a huge selection in a variety of well-chosen and organized categories.  The booksellers were fantastically helpful and friendly.  If I could stand the snow and find a job I would move to CT to live near this bookstore where I would be a regular.  Here I bought The God of the Hive by Laurie King which I reviewed the other day and The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books we Shared by Alice Ozma. 

Vermont:

Stowe - Bear Pond Books: I did not love this store.  It was not peaceful and was inside a larger and touristy Stowe store, but it did have a section of Vermont authors where I found Snowflake Bentley a Caldecott winning picturebook from Vermont illustrator Mary Azarian. 

Burlington - Crow Bookshop:  This shop was mainly a used bookshop with some new items.  There was a quite good picture book section where I found The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Gris Grimly.   We did not spend too much time here as it was a girls shopping trip and we were on the hunt for fashion!

Shelburne - The Flying Pig Bookstore: Here were more superb YA and children's sections.  I could have spent hours browsing, but this is rarely good for my wallet and usually upsetting to the people I am with who have less interest in just sitting and looking at books for hours.  I was on a mission this trip to find Sarah Ockler's Twenty Boy Summer, since there has been some controversy over it.  Sadly they did not have it, but the wonderful bookseller recommened Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock, which I got along with The 10 PM Question by Kate De Goldi, and Howl's Moving Castle by Diane Wynne Jones. 

Johnson- Ebenezar Books (which does not seem to have a website).  Because this was a small shop I was able to give the whole place a good going over.  There was a nice selection, a mix of genres and interests.  I did not buy anything here because quite honestly I felt like I had already bought enough books to keep me busy for a while to add to my extensive collection of TBR titles. 

 

I also went to one library, in Waterbury, VT where they were having a book sale.  I did not purchase any books, but found a puzzle for 50¢, that upon completion turned out to have all the pieces...what a coup!

If you are an independent bookshop junkie and are traveling make a point to find a few shops to support!

 

The Distant Hours - Kate Morton

I have sadly finished the third book by Kate Morton; sad because there are no more to read right now.  I wrote about the first two The House at Riverton and The Forgotten Garden in a previous post.   I did not read those two in the order in which they were written, but the order does not actually matter as Morton's books are not related to each other.  What they do have in common is fantastic-ness. 

The Distant Hours is again a work of historical fiction revolving around World War II.  Edie discovers, in the present, after the delivery of a 50 year old letter, that her mother was evacuated to Milderhurst Castle during the war.  At Milderhurst, reside the three Blythe sisters; twins Persephone (Miss Percy) and Seraphina (Miss Saffy) and their younger sister Juniper.  They are the now elderly daughters of Raymond Blythe the renowned author of The True History of the Mud Man.  There is not much else I can say without giving the book away.  Just as with the other two, Morton has story-wrighted (just like wheelwrights, shipwrights, and playwrights are crafters, so too is Morton) a story of love, betrayal, death, longing, and loyalty that just carries the reader along.  When I read her books my brain is firing all its neurons trying to figure out where she is going with these characters and their secrets.  Sometimes I get it partially right and other times I am just wrong, wrong, wrong.  But that is what I look for in a good mystery: brain exercise and twists and turns I cannot anticipate.  

Read it!  Then join me in waiting patiently (or not) for Morton's next book! 

Jennifer Weiner - Then Came You

Ever since Good in Bed I have enjoyed the novels of Jennifer Weiner:

1.  They take place in Philadelphia, so I get to hear about places I have been.  In fact, in this book she references a stand in the Reading Terminal Market that is owned by the family of a good friend of mine.

2.  She deals mainly with the lives of females as her main characters.  It is always interesting to read various perspectives on the relationships between mothers and daughters, sisters, friends, etc. 

3.  Her topics are not sooooo trendy that the books will become dated quickly. 

While I liked Then Came You, it is not my favorite of Weiner's books.  The premise is that four women come together in the life of one child.  One woman provides the egg, another is the surrogate, one is the mother, and the fourth is the aunt.  Of course it is all much more complicated than that.  I liked each of the women individually, and do enjoy books in which the perspective switches so the reader can get to know all the pertinent characters. But (obviously there was going to be a but...) I felt the idea that these four women would come together they way they did was too contrived, it just did not feel real to me.  

Despite this assessment, I would still recommend the book.  It has so many positive aspects relating to the individual reasons each woman becomes involved and her relationships with the people in her life who.  Each of the women is likeable but realisitically flawed.   Overall this is another strong story fom Weiner with fully developed female characters, I just did not care for the ending. 

Kate Morton - Two for the Summer

So far, I have read two novels by Kate Morton.  The first was The Forgotten Garden, which I did not read all that long ago, but did not blog about for some reason.  Maybe the I needed to wait for the impact of the second book I have read called The House at Riverton.  The books are not related to each other, but I did read Morton's second book first.  I think though I may have liked her first better, which I finished this morning in my jammies because I could not wait to find out how it would turn out.  I went as long as I could last night, but my eyes just would not stay open for another moment.  There is a third book called The Distant Hours, which I have placed on hold at the library. 

All three of these books deal with family mysteries. The Forgotten Garden switches back and forth from the present of a young woman who has lost her husband and child in a car accident.  After her grandmother dies Cassandra seeks to solve the mystery of her families origins.  The story moves in to the past as Morton allows us to discover the clues along with Cassandra.  While pieces of the mystery come out quite early one, the last one does not click in to place until the very end.  In this way, the reader may feel like she has it all figured out, but does not.  The main character in the past is a children's book writers who is herself adrift without family support.  I read this on the recommendation of an English teacher friend who liked the inclusion of a literary mystery along with the family mystery.  The garden is also a bit reminiscient of Frances Hodgeson Burnett's The Secret Garden. 

The House at Riverton kept reminding me of Masterpiece's wonderful mini-series Downton Abbey because of the inclusion of the perspective of the servants in a grand English home.  The novel begins just before the start of World War I but is told by Grace who is now 98 years old looking for someone to whom to tell her story before all the secrets of the Hartford family are lost with her.  She chooses to record her message on tapes she sends to her grandson whose whereabouts are unknown to her and his mother, though he sends postcards.  Grace began as a housemaid at Riverton, but by the time she left service she was a ladies maid to Hannah Hartford, the eldest daughter in the family.  It is difficult to talk about this book and The Forgotten Garden without giving away any of the mystery.   One of the strongest elements of the book besides the characterization is the attention to detail when describing the time.  I love historical fiction of this time period; so much changed in the way people lived and saw their place in  the world because of World Wars I and II.  So much of our modern sensibilities were formed by these incredibly destructive experiences.   One can read history books to review the facts, but biographies and historical fiction are the only way to understand what people's lives were like if you are not able to speak with someone who lived through it all. 

I am looking forward to the third book hoping for more of Morton's attention to detail and vivid portrayals of the way people are affected by history. 

Megan Whalen Turner - The Queen's Thief

A friend recently told me she liked Eugenides from Turner's The Queen's Thief series so much she would marry him.  Now, after having read the first two books in the (so far) four book series, The Thief and The Queen of Attolia I would not go that far, but he is admirable. 

I bought The Thief at a used book store almost a year ago.  It was a Newbery Honor book, so I figured it would be good even if i did not love it.   This book was published in 1996 when I was in a YA literature slump...basically I had no idea there was such a section in the bookstore/library.  Now I find myself having to catch up on all the fantastic books I missed.  Recently-ish there has been all sorts of uproar from fans of the series because the 4th book, A Conspiracy of Kings was released (March 2010).  Rumor has it there may be more books on the way.

I have both The King of Attolia and A Conspiracy of Kings available to read (I checked them out of my own library for the summer.), but I am going to take a break after the first two.  As much as I like to be able to stay immersed in a world by reading all the books in a series right in a row, I think there is also something to be said for spacing out the enjoyment. 

Enough of my rambling.  With Turner we again have an author who trusts in the intelligence of her readers.  These books are complicated in their plotting with lots of political maneuvering and royal machinations.  (I was determined to get that word in here...it is one of my favorites.  It is fun to say, try it.) A reader really has to pay attention to keep up with the twists and turns.  Each of the main characters is well drawn and even in only two books I feel like I am beginning to understand them.  Watching the various rulers and their advisers plot and plan is fascinating, I would clearly be no good at ruling a country.  Because of the various plot intricacies, I would not necessarily recommend this series for young kids.  Tweens, teens, and adults who like this type of intrigue along with a dash of fantasy and romance are the best audience. 

City of Fallen Angels - Cassandra Clare

I know I lamented in a recent post that I was waaaayy down on the waiting list for this book at the library, but I put myself on the list in the other library system to which I have access and quickly found myself on the top of the list.  I finished the book moments ago and rushed to the computer to write this review, which sadly is not going to be as positive as for Clare's other books in the Mortal Instruments series. 

It just felt like she was trying too hard.  The series had ended as a trilogy and for whatever reasons, that are obviously unknown to me, Clare went ahead and wrote a 4th book for the trilogy.  (Yep, I said tri-logy.)  She has also embarked upon another series: Infernal Devices, which has some overlapping characters with Mortal Devices. 

MINI SPOILER ALERT:  In City of Fallen Angels everyone is back from Idris and the battle with Valentine and his son Sebastian (Jonathan).  Now that Clary and Jace can be together you would think the angst levels would be down, but not so....always a big fat wrench in the cogs of love.  Vampire Simon and some of his werewolf buddies take center stage in this tale.  While the adults have always been bit players in the stories, they move even farther into the background here.  The two things I think bothered me the most are the contrived plot and excessive teen angst.  Is it not enough to be a teen vampire, werewolf, Shadowhunter etc. without also being riddled by guilt, self-doubt, general mopeiness?  While I realize this may be an attempt to make the characters more accessible to teens, I for one like to read fantasy because the characters are unlike me.

The book ends with a clear lead in for another in the series.  It should be a few months before it is available since the second in the Infernal Devices series is due out in December.  I will give the 5th book in the trilogy a try before I give up, but I have high hopes for more like the first 3: less angst, more action and adventure.  

Summer Reading - YA Style

So I have a lot more time on my hands in the summer, so in addition to all the projects I put off during the school year, I am also doing a lot of reading.

In the past few days I have read Withering Tights by Louise Rennison, Beauty Queens by Libba Bray, and City of Ashes, City of Glass, and Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. 

I loved Louise Rennison's Georgia Nicholson series, which begins with Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging.  I therefore had high expectations for her new character Tallulah in Withering Tights.  I was not disappointed.  Tallulah is spending her summer in Yorkshire at a performing arts school to which she may earn full-time admission if she does well at the camp.  Unfortunately Tallulah does not have any formal performing arts training or talent.   She is of course zany and funny, similar to her cousin Georgia, but not too similar; I am pleased that Rennison did not create a carbon copy of Georgia.  Tallulah makes friends, meets some boys (of course) and ultimately has a fantastic summer stretching her talents to fit her long legs and knobbly knees.  There are of course loads of Bronte references throughout, which may make some teens go out an read Wuthering Heights or Jane Eyre.  I am looking forward to the next book which is coming out in the UK in February and will hopefully come here soon afterwards.  

I have loved everything I have read by Libba Bray.  What I like best about her is the wide variety of genres she covers.  A Great and Terrible Beauty and its sequels are solidly fantasy with a touch of romance.  Going Bovine is mostly drama, and Beauty Queens is unequivocally satire.  And that is why it is brilliant.  A plane full of teen beauty queens crashes on a deserted island hilarity and satire of everything from beauty pagents to presidential elections to reality TV ensue.  As the girls learn to survive in a world where the pressures of beauty are gone we get to know each of the surviving contestants through her actions and interactions as well as delightful "Miss Teen Dreams Fun Facts" pages inserted between the chapters.  Unsurprisingly the girls grow strong physically and mentally and form significant bonds with each other and their own ambitions and dreams.  It really is a good story of feminine strength mixed with pokes at female stereotypes and expectations.  One of my favorite aspects of the book is Bray's assumption that her teen readers are intelligent.  Much of the satire is subtle, but she does not stoop to explain it all, she trusts her readers will understand and appreciate her digs.  I like books that do not spoon feed teens and these types of books help make the case that YA literature can be as rich and literary as the classics. 

Totally different are the books by Cassandra Clare...after the first of the Mortal Instruments series City of Bones I found myself 4th on the waiting list at the library for the 2nd book.  Unable to wait I bought City of Ashes  while on a business trip to Philadelphia.  Luckily book 3, City of Glass was available at the library just as I was finishing 2.  Ironically, the dust jacket of 3 states "final book in the trilogy" yet book 4 has recently been released....hmmm.  I do not mind and am eager to read it, sadly though I am 24th on the waiting list as of yesterday.  What makes these books so good is a strong female protagonist, an interesting hidden world of Shadowhunters (part angel demon catchers), Downworlders (vampires, werewolves, and the fey) and mundanes (regular ole people), and non-stop action.  I have also read the first book in the next series (Infernal Devices) Clockwork Angel, which takes place in the same world, but before the time of the Mortal Instruments series.  The premise of all the books is unique, the characters well-developed, andthe action precise.