morsie reads

word: fair

2012-01-25T17:48:00.000-05:00

Earlier today I happened upon a set of old articles on ALTA Language Services' Beyond Words blog thanks to the University of Chicago Magazine's twitter account.

October 2008's Ten most difficult words to translate was followed by May 2009's Five more difficult words to translate. This set of fifteen possibly untranslatable words comes from an eclectic set of languages (including a few with which I was completely unfamiliar). The only English word on the list was fairness, which was the subject of an Atlantic Monthly article and Beyond Words blog post earlier in 2009.

In Does fairness translate?: an economist and a linguist delve into the cross cultural variation of what we consider fair blog author Manny fulls together the various threads of the debate sparked by Bart Wilson's Atlantic Monthly article in what he refers to as a "nerdy linguistic mashup" and it's fascinating.

Is the concept of fairness uniquely Anglo-American? I don't think so, but I thought it might be interesting to take a look at our 1956 edition of A Dictionary of Americanisms on Historical Principles, edited by Mitford M. Mathews of the U of C Press's now defunct Dictionary Department.
The word fair's first appearance (p. 577) explicates its usage as a noun as in a country fair or a church fair, with a mention of American football's fair ("technical name of putting the ball in play from the side line when out of bounds" per P.H. Davis, 1911).
More relevant to the question at hand are fair's adjectival uses (577-578). Interestingly the first entry regards the classification of cotton by quality. The various baseball-related uses (ie. fair vs. foul) appear second and never stray from the technical into the philosophical (n.b. fair ball is substantial enough to warrant its own entry). The third entry pertains to the finish of leather on leather goods. The fourth and final annotation delineates a number of frequent compound words/phrases (fair catch, fair-haired, fair shake, etc.).

the Hufflepuff scarf or proof that I love my sister

2012-01-18T20:07:00.001-05:00

Normally I'm happy to have any excuse to include knitting projects on this blog, but I needed a bit of distance from this seemingly neverending one.

Last fall my sister requested a house scarf (she's a Hufflepuff) like the ones in the Prisoner of Azkaban film (here's a shot of Hermione in hers). She wanted it in time for the release of the final movie.

I started it on December 19th (plenty of time, right?), but I didn't finish it until September 26th (far, far after the film's opening day). Why'd it take so long? Mostly because the scarf is double layered. It was knit in the round, 90 stitches per row, and required 9 skeins of yarn. My progress was so slow that I avoided working on the project. Eventually, though, I forced myself to knit the scarf exclusively (I always have quite a few different projects on the needles at a time) until I finished it. Finishing it the day before my birthday was my birthday gift to myself.

Happily my sister loves the scarf and has gotten compliments on it whenever she's worn it.

Pattern: Prisoner of Azkaban Scarf by Lauren Kent
Yarn: Knit Picks Capra (85% Merino Wool, 15% Cashmere) in Honey and Black
Full details: Project on Ravelry

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter

2012-01-15T14:24:00.000-05:00

Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter

Lord of the Vampires is the first book in Harlequin's Royal House of Shadows series, a set of four paranormal romances, each based based on a fairy tale. Lord of the Vampires is inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Jill Monroe’s Lord of Rage by "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," while Lord of the Wolfyn by Jessica Andersen is based on "Little Red Riding Hood" and Nalini Singh's Lord of the Abyss on "Beauty and the Beast."

I haven't read any of the other books in the Royal House of Shadows series and based on my experience with Lord of the Vampires, I'm not sure that I'd want to. I like the premise of the series, which is why I requested a review copy of the first installment, but I'm baffled by the execution. I really did not enjoy Lord of the Vampires at all. The only reason that I didn't give up on the novel entirely is that I'd been promised a retelling of a fairytale (at the time that I was reading the novel I didn't know which tale Showalter had taken as her inspiration) and I was determined to find that story. I didn't, though. Alice in Wonderland didn't cross my mind as a possible inspiration because it is not a fairy tale. And while looking back now I can see how Showalter used Alice in Wonderland as a jumping-off point, I'm not sure that I'd have seen Alice in Wonderland in Lord of the Vampires without having been told to.

While the lack of an obvious fairy tale inspiration was a disappointment to me, it was by no means the only one. I couldn't connect to either the hero or the heroine and, more important given the fact that Lord of the Vampires is a romance novel, their relationship lacked any semblance of romance. Yes, there was sexual chemistry, but lust and ownership completely overwhelmed any bit of connection I saw between the two. Jane was not a sympathetic character and her willingness to go along with Nicolai made little sense in the face of his treatment of her. The only thing Nicolai had going for him was magnetic sexuality. He was domineering and manipulative and he lacked much in the way of redeeming characteristics.

The story was over complex difficult to follow with its multiple flashbacks and magic-induced memory loss (maybe this confusion is an intentional nod to Alice in Wonderland) and it succeeds in feeling both slowly paced and rushed. Suffice it to say that I couldn't wait for this one to end. I haven't read much of Showalter's work (just one of her young adult novels), but I suspect that Lord of the Vampires not typical given how strong her following is.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Lord of the Vampires from Harlequin Nocturne via NetGalley.

Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel

2012-01-15T13:02:00.001-05:00

Ten Thousand Lovers by Edeet Ravel

Ten Thousand Lovers is one of those books that has been sitting on my shelves for quite some time (more than five years according to its Bookcrossing journal). It survived the great library purge of 2011 despite the fact that I've had no compelling urge to read it in all that time. Why? Well, the cover art is quite beautiful, it has a medallion indicating that it was a finalist for Canada's Governor General's Award, and its back-cover text is quite enticing, particularly this bit:

In today's world, where danger, terrorism and the possibility of war are part of all our lives, no novel could be more brilliantly, terrifyingly contemporary. Yet Ten Thousand Lovers is set in Israel in the Seventies: a dazzling backdrop to a universal story of passion, suffering and the transcending power of love.

Ten Thousand Lovers was in an easy-to-reach section of my bookshelves and after grabbing it from there recently, I decided to go ahead and read it for the reasons mentioned above.

Lily is now an academic in England. Her daughter is of an age and embarking on her first serious relationship. Ten Thousand Lovers is Lily's reflection on that time in her own life. Though Lily spent her earliest years on a kibbutz, she is more Canadian than Israeli when she returns to Israel for college and meets a man whose job working for the Israeli army as an interrogator fills her with distaste.

Lily's recounting of her relationship with Ami is full of semantic digressions. A linguist, she can't help but explain the origins and meanings of the words that comprise their story. Rather than being distracting, these digressions inform the story and serve to better explicate the situation in Israel both at the time the story takes place and now.

Ten Thousand Lovers is a beautifully written novel. It is moving and sad and filled with truisms ("you can't quantify unhappiness," p. 296). It is a story that begs to be read and one that will stick with its readers long after they close the novel's covers.

and on into 2012

2012-01-08T18:33:00.002-05:00

The plan for this coming year is to post more consistently than I have recently. I don't plan to post every day (I still have the big writing project which must be attended to), but I'd like to share my thoughts on the majority of the books I read even if that means more in the way of informal comments than proper reviews. I also need to write up posts for a number of books that I should have reviewed in 2011 (see better-late-than-never tag).

books read in 2011: 101-137

2012-01-07T16:41:00.002-05:00

137. Books Can Be Deceiving by Jen McKinley
136. City of Secrets by Mary Hoffman (reread)
135. The Grand Tour by Wrede & Stevermer (reread; see post)
134. Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
133. Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld (reread)
132. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld (reread; see post)
131. Sorcery and Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer (reread; see post)
130. Carnal Machines, edited by D.L. King
129. Nairobi Heat by Mukoma Wa Ngugi
128. Legacy by Katherine Webb
127. The Flame of Surrender by Rhiannon Paille
126. The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty
125. The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket
124. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins (reread)
123. The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket
122. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins (reread)
121. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (reread)
120. Beauty Queens by Libba Bray (see post)
119. Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist (see post)
118. Viridis by Calista Taylor (see post)
117. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
116. Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
115. The Battle of the Labyrith by Rick Riordan
114. The Broken Teaglass by Emily Arsenault
113. The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket
112. The Egyptian by Layton Green
111. Lord of the Vampires by Gena Showalter
110. The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket (reread)
109. The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket (reread)
108. The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (reread)
107. Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliasotti (see post)
106. Call Me Princess by Sara Blaedel
105. Divergent by Veronica Roth (see post)
104. Woman's World by Graham Rawle (see post)
103. One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde
102. First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde (reread)
101. Something Rotten by Jasper Fforde (reread)

books read in 2011: 51-100

2012-01-07T16:41:00.000-05:00

100. The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde (reread)
99. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (reread)
98. Bumped by Megan McCafferty (see post)
97. Everything Beautiful Began After by Simon Van Booy
96. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (see post)
95. Delirium by Lauren Oliver (see post)
94. The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen (see post)
93. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster (see post)
- The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh (gave up around p.190; see post)
92. City of Flowers by Mary Hoffman (reread)
91. Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu
90. Near Witch by Victoria Schwab
89. Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory (see post)
88. The Girl with the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
87. Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson (see post)
86. City of Stars by Mary Hoffman (reread)
85. Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb
84. Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb
83. Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb (see post)
82. The Courtier's Secret by Donna Russo Morin (see post)
81. Eutopia by David Nickel (see post)
80. Life from Scratch by Melissa Ford (see post)
79. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (see post)
78. Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz (see post)
77. Legacy by Cayla Kluver (see post)
76. Heartless by Gail Carriger (see post)
75. City of Masks by Mary Hoffman (reread)
- The Sportsman by Dhani Jones (gave up on this one; not my cup of tea)
74. Everything We Ever Wanted by Sara Shepard (see post)
73. Blameless by Gail Carriger (see post)
72. Changeless by Gail Carriger (see post)
71. Ghost Ship by P.J. Alderman
70. The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook (see post)
69. Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman (see post)
68. Book of Lies by Mary Horlock (see post)
67. Soulless by Gail Carriger (see post)
66. The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer (see post)
65. The Maid by Kimberly Cutter (see post)
64. The Poisoned House by Michael Ford (see post)
63. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson (see post)
62. Stranger by Zoe Archer (see post)
61. First Impressions by Debra White Smith
60. Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (see post)
59. Mercy by Rebecca Lim (see post)
58. Mothers and Daughters by Rae Meadows (see post)
57. Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank by Kaja and Phil Foglio
56. The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter (see post)
55. White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey (see post)
54. The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green by Joshua Braff (see post)
53. Motel of Mysteries by David Macaulay (see post)
52. Hotel Angeline, 36 authors (see post)
51. The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

Final report on 2011 Take a Chance Reading Challenge

2012-01-07T16:07:00.001-05:00

I made a stab at the Take a Chance Reading Challenge (see post) last year and while I did read some books I might not have otherwise, I didn't perform terribly well.

1. Staff Member’s Choice: Go to a bookstore or library that has a “Staff Picks” section. Read one of the picks from that section.

From Buffalo, NY independent book store Talking Leaves' Staff Book Recommendations page:
The Magicians by Lev Grossman recommended by Alicia (never got around to reading this one)
I did try to check out the staff recommendations in person in December/January, but couldn't find them in the Main Street location before I was overpowered by the strange fishy mildew smell that permeated the shop.

2. Loved One’s Choice: Ask a loved one to pick a book for you to read. (If you can convince them to buy it for you, that is even better!)

Jessica - gave me a choice:
- Delirium by Lauren Oliver (read in September)
- Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green
- A Proper Education for Girls by Elaine diRollo
- The Spellmen Files by Lisa Lutz
I'll likely read the others at some point.
Nancy - Woman's World by Graham Rawle (read in September)
Russell - something by Neal Stephenson (read The Diamond Age in June; full disclosure: he wanted to make me read all three volumes of The Lord of the Rings, but I talked him out of it)

3. Blogger’s Choice: Find a “Best Books Read” post from a favorite blogger. Read a book from their list.

Never got around to going through lists. I'm sure I could find something to count for this category, but that would defeat the point of this challenge, which is to to read with intention.

4. Critic’s Choice: Find a “Best of the Year” list from a magazine, newspaper or professional critic. Read a book from their Top 10 list.

Here's Library Journal's first ever best of list:
- By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields by Rowan Jacobsen
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
None read.

5. Blurb Book: Find a book that has a blurb on it from another author. Read a book by the author that wrote the blurb.

I'm going to skip this one.

6. Book Seer Pick: Go to The Book Seer and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.

Using The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo yielded the following suggestions:
- The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (2nd in series; read in April)
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson (3rd in series; read in April)
- One Day by David Nicholls
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett (see #9 below; is nothing like Dragon Tattoo)
- The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- Sister by Rosamund Lupton
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (already read; is nothing like Dragon Tattoo)
- The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

7. What Should I Read Next Pick: Go to What Should I Read Next and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.

Inputting Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins yields diverse results. Among them are City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (read in April).

8. Which Book Pick: Go to Which Book and use the software to generate a list of books. Read a book from that list.

I'm skipping this one. The selection criteria are too vague to be useful to me.

9. LibraryThing Pick: Go to LibraryThing’s Zeitgeist page. Look at the lists for 25 Most Reviewed Books or Top Books and pick a book you’ve never read. Read the book. (Yes... you can click on MORE if you have to.)

Apparently I've read all but three of the "25 most reviewed books" on LibrayThing (as of January):
- Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (I intended to read this one as well, but I never got around to getting my hands on a copy)
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett (read in February)

10a. Public Spying: Find someone who is reading a book in public. Find out what book they are reading and then read the same book. Write about it.

I'm dropping this one. I never realized how hard it was to see what people are reading when they are reading in public. Oh you can see that they are reading a mass market paperback or an e-reader, but unless a book has a really distinctive cover... and, well, I don't like asking strangers about what they are reading.

10b. Random Bestseller: Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1950 for the min. and 2010 for the max. and then hit generate. Then go to this site and find the year that Random.org generated for you and click on it. Then find the bestseller list for the week that would contain your birthday for that year. Choose one of the bestsellers from the list that comes up, read it and write about it.

Ditto. I realized that I really didn't want to spend my time reading bestsellers from September 1975.

books read in 2011: 1-50

2012-01-04T16:52:00.001-05:00

50. Frost Moon by Anthony Francis (see post)
49. The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
48. City of Glass by Cassandra Clare
47. Pleasure Grounds, J. Haley, editor
46. City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare
45. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (see post)
44. The Lady Most Likely by Julia Quinn
43. Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle
42. Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase
41. Millie's Fling by Jill Mansell
40. Steamed by Katie MacAlister (see post)
39. Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
38. Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot
37. Host by Stephenie Meyer (reread; see post)
36. Flawless by Sara Shepard
35. Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
34. The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
33. Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
32. Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
31. Baby, Don't Go by Susan Andersen
30. Insatiable by Meg Cabot
29. Head over Heels by Susan Andersen
28. Beastly by Alex Flinn (see post)
27. The Help by Kathryn Stockett (see post)
26. Possessed by Elif Batuman (see post)
25. Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (see post)
24. Alphas by Lisi Harrison (see post)
23. Victoria and the Rogue by Meg Cabot
22. Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
21. Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen (see post)
20. Sugar and Spice by Lauren Conrad
19. His Wicked Promise by Samantha James
18. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
17. Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad
16. The Summoner by Layton Green (see post)
15. Sweetblood by Pete Hautman (see post)
14. Evernight by Claudia Gray (see post)
13. King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (see post)
12. Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (see post)
11. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (reread; see post)
10. The Devil Wears Plaid by Teresa Medeiros
9. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (see post)
8. Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
7. Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
- Fallen by Lauren Kate (see post)
6. Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith (see post)
5. City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
4. L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (see post)
3. Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (see post)
2. His Wicked Ways by Samantha James
1. Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S Pratt

books, giving and receiving

2011-12-26T18:46:00.000-05:00

There were only three books among my outgoing holiday gifts this year. I did not purchase any books for Russell since we went a bit overboard with book buying this year (remember Borders?).

From my dad's Amazon wishlist I selected, The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno by Ellen Bryson.

My mom received Betty Crocker's Best Bread Machine Cookbook to go along with her new bread maker (a gift from my dad). My mom is going to be doing a lot of experimenting with ingredient substitutions to I chose this book in particular because of a section it has on problem-solving, which is full of illustrations. Two other things in its favor: overwhelmingly good reviews and a structure that enables it to lie flat.

I got my sister a copy of The Hunger Games.
She wasn't particularly enthused, but I reminded her about how miffed she was with me when Twilight (the film) was released for not having previously informed her about the existence of the Twilight Saga.
Now, I legitimately thought she would refuse to read Twilight given its slow pacing and her general dislike of vampires and I don't even like the series (my ambivalence turned to hatred after Breaking Dawn).
Since The Hunger Games is coming out next year and I love Suzanne Collins' trilogy, I thought it would be irresponsible of me not to get her a copy of the book.

I received three books this year (all from Russell)

City of Ships, the fifth Stravaganza book, by Mary Hoffman
Goliath, the third book in the Leviathan trilogy, by Scott Westerfeld
The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, vol 2.

I really wasn't expecting books, but I have to say that I was tickled pink to get the two novels as they were among my most wanted books.

phrase: sui generis

2011-11-13T13:03:00.001-05:00

When reading I often find myself bemoaning the fact that I've never studied Latin. The Latin phrase of the day is sui generis,¹ which more or less means "in a class of its own." Apparently generis is the genitive case of genus (which we should all know from taxonomy) and sui means "self" or in this case "of him/her/itself."

I came across this phrase in a discussion of Scottish author Alasdair Gray and his work.

series (re)reading

2011-10-23T18:35:00.000-04:00

Series reading and rereading has been a bit of a theme for me lately. I suppose that it's because in the wake of busyness and stress, I long for the comfort of the expected.

I'm loaning one of my new coworkers the Hunger Games Trilogy (I gave her book one yesterday after a harefooted read-through on Friday) so I'm on a binging on them in anticipation of not having ready access. Oh, how I love these books! I finished Catching Fire just now and am forcing myself not to jump right into Mockingjay
A Hunger Games movie is forthcoming, but I have no desire to see it. What I dislike most about film versions of books is how they manage to completely override our own images of how things, people, and places in the book look. That's not so much a problem with books like Pride and Prejudice that are constantly remade, but for others there's often only one film version and that version overshadows the originals.

Last year I read Old Man's War by John Scalzi over the Thanksgiving holiday when I ran out of reading material. It's not a book that I'd normally pick up (see post), but my dad recommended it. I was pleasantly surprised by it and have subsequently picked up the follow-up books (again from my dad): The Ghost Brigades, The Last Colony, and Zoe's Tale.
I read The Ghost Brigades recently and will likely be tackling the other two books in short order.
I usually find science fiction to be somewhat inaccessible (it's a bit curious to me that science fiction films and television shows are so accessible when their written counterparts are so often not), which is why I tend to steer clear of it, but this series is really an exception. I recommend it for science fiction lovers as well as for people like me who don't normal read scifi.

I've been in a book spiral for the Percy Jackson and the Olympians books. What's a book spiral?, you ask. It's a way of circulating all the books in a series to a set of dispersed readers. Person A reads book 1 then sends it to B, who sends it to C, who send it to D, ..., who sends it back to A. While 1 is circulating, A reads book 2 and then starts to send it on its way. In this was all the books in the series are shared (one at a time) with each participant and then sent back to the originator. How long it takes to receive each book depends on the number of people before you in the queue, how quickly each reads, how far the books have to travel, and the efficiency of the postal service(s) involved.
I read The Lightning Thief and The Sea of Monsters in December and The Titan's Curse in February. The Battle of the Labyrinth arrived this month.
I've really enjoyed this series. I like how Riordan incorporates Greek mythology (including many lesser known creatures) into his stories. One of the things I've appreciated most is how Riordan made things that are usually considered negative (dyslexia and ADHD) into indicators of superhuman gifts because I hope that kids who suffer for one or both of these things might feel a bit better about themselves after reading this series.

I had to admit that while I've collected all the books in Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunately Events series, I've never managed to read it all the way through (I even have The Tragic Treasury, but I forbid Russell to play in my presence because the songs are such earworms). I've read so many other books since the last time I picked up a Snicket title that I wanted to start from the beginning, The Bad Beginning. So far I've read that, The Reptile Room, The Wide Window, and The Miserable Mill. Four down, nine to go!

quick thoughts on some recent reads

2011-10-21T13:19:00.000-04:00

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

While Beauty Queens came highly recommended (lots of good blog reviews and a personal recommendation from friend Jessica), I can't say that I really enjoyed reading it. I liked the novel's snarky tone; how it played on pageants and pageant parents, reality TV, Lord of the Flies, and miscellaneous other stereotypes; and the diversity of the girls, their backgrounds, preferences, and points of view. As much as I appreciated all those things about Beauty Queens, I found the narrative irritating more than anything else. Beauty Queens was not a quick read for me because I didn't really want to keep reading it.

Clockwork Heart by Dru Pagliasotti

I really enjoyed Clockwork Heart. The world in which Pagliasotti sets the novel is quite intriguing - the extremely hierarchical society and how class divisions are marked, the icarus class and their role in the society, the ways in which the world is different than other steampunky settings. Clockwork Heart is a romance with a love triangle and a mystery that will keep readers guessing.
I will say that I found the romance element of the story much more successful than the mystery, which was overly complex for a book that isn't to going to have a sequel to continue building on the less immediate threat. As far as I know, Clockwork Heart is a stand-alone novel, but I'd love to read more set in this world.

Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist

Historical romance set in Asheville, North Carolina circa 1899. Tillie is a senior parlormaid at Biltmore when she has a chance to become Mrs. Vanderbilt's ladies maid, position for which she's been groomed her entire life. Her priorities shift when Mack, twin of the undeniably handsome steward Earl, comes to live at Biltmore as a man of all work.
The protagonists of Maid to Match were a bit too righteous for my taste. While they each had some flaws, I didn't find them particularly believable. The author writes inspirational (Christian) romance, which accounts for the strict moral alignment of her characters.

Viridis by Calista Taylor

I hadn't heard of Viridis before it was mentioned in the steampunk reads discussion group on GoodReads. It was available as a free Nook-book (also free on Amazon for Kindle), so I figured that it couldn't hurt to download it.
Viridis is a steampunk romantic suspense novel and the first in a planned series. I enjoyed it. Good world-building that doesn't overshadow the storyline, interesting characters, romance, and mystery, but there was one glaring narrative inconsistency that's quite hard to overlook.
There's one part of the story that some readers may have trouble with and need to skim through.

Steampunk! out this week

2011-10-13T19:27:00.000-04:00

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant

I posted about Steampunk! back in June, but the anthology is out this week so it seems like the perfect time for another post.

There's a great review written by Steampunk Scholar up on one of the Tor.com blogs.

My favorite stories in the book were "Clockwork Fagin" by Cory Doctorow, "Everything Amiable and Obliging" by Holly Black, "Finishing School" (comic) by Kathleen Jennings, "The Last Ride of the Glory Girls" by Libba Bray, "The Oracle Engine" by M. T. Anderson, "Steam Girl" by Dylan Horrocks, and "The Summer People" by Kelly Link.

on into October

2011-10-02T13:20:00.000-04:00

I should begin this post by explaining why I haven't been posting regularly. The short answer is that I've been busy and tired. Starting a new job¹ is exhausting and I have to admit that I've worn myself out trying to post as regularly as I think I should. As you can tell from my sidebar, I have been reading, I just haven't been posting about all the books that I've read. I do intend to post on many of the unreviewed books, but it'll take me some time to get to all the ones on my list.

October is going to be the craziest month of the year for me for the foreseeable future. My new employer runs lots of special events in October. And when I say "lots," I mean lots: the biggest event runs on 21 nights in October and there are three other every-weekend events. I didn't work this weekend, but I'm on special-event duty every other weekend this month (next weekend, I'm working Saturday, Sunday, and Columbus Day). So, don't expect a lot of posts in October. I suspect that I'll be falling asleep over books more often than not.

I've also been neglecting a writing project so I will be intentionally limiting my time spent on the blog for a few months after October. I'll still be posting, just not as much, because I desperately need to focus on this other project.

Just wanted to let you all know what's going on...

These past six months have flown by, but I'm still very much learning the lay of the land and figuring out how to best navigate these new waters

two more from the Myth series

2011-09-29T21:30:00.000-04:00

I'm a big fan of Canongate's Myth Series and my intent is to collect hard-cover copies of each of them.

Thanks to one of Russell's sisters, I know have two more books to add to my little collection.

The Fire Gospel by Michael Farber and Where Three Roads Meet by Salley Vickers.

In other birthday-related news, for those who were wondering, my sister's presents did have an intentional orange theme. We're still waiting on one item to arrive.

happy birthday to me

2011-09-27T21:12:00.000-04:00

An explanation of my recent blog silence is forthcoming,¹ but I didn't want to skip my usual post about books I received for my birthday.

This year, I received only one book (so far). It's from my sister and I'm fairly certain that she chose it specifically because of the orange color on the cover. Seriously. All the other items I received from her were orange² so I think she decided to go with orange as a theme. Apparently there are two more items on their way so we'll see if I'm right. I could ask, but where's the fun in that.

In any case, back to the book. This particular title was on my wishlist. I'd heard the author interviewed on NPR and was intrigued.

Marrying Anita: A Quest for Love in the New India by Anita Jain

Is arranged marriage any worse than Craigslist? One smart and feisty womans year in India looking for a husband the old-fashioned way reveals a rapidly changing culture and a whole host of ideas about the best way to find a mate.
Anita Jain was fed up with the New York singles scene. After three years of frustration and awkward dates, and under constant pressure from her Indian parents to find someone, she started to wonder: was looking for a husband in a bar any less barbaric than traditional arranged marriage? After all this effort, there had to be something easier.
After announcing in a much-discussed New York magazine article her intention to try arranged marriage, Jain moves back to India—the impoverished, backward land her parents fled—to find a husband. At age thirty-two, and well past the cultural deadline for starting a family, Jain subjects herself to a whole new onslaught of expectations. Marrying Anita is an account of romantic chance encounters, nosy relatives, and dozens of potential husbands. Will she find a suitable man? Will he please her parents, aunts, uncles, and cousins? Is the new urban Indian culture in which shes searching really all that different from America?
With disarming candor, Jain tells her own romantic story even as it unfolds before her, and in the process sheds new light on a country modernizing at breakneck speed. Marrying Anita is a refreshingly honest look at our own desires and the modern search for the perfect mate.

Also, I'm so excited about one of my non-book gifts that I simply must share. I got one of Etsy seller sewtara's "caffeinating, please wait" sleeves. I've been wanting one of these ever since I first saw the listing (when my friend Jessica added it to her Etsy favorites list). My sister got sewtara to make me one with an orange load bar and lining. love!

Nothing substantive; things have just been very busy here
I'm including one of these--a non book gift--below (or above, in this case) because I just can't help myself

Divergent by Veronica Roth

2011-09-18T20:50:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned earlier this week, I won a copy of Divergent from Kaye at paper reader. I wasn't planning on posting about Divergent this weekend. I have lots of to-be-written and to-be-finished posts in my queue and I've posted about two YA dystopians recently¹. But, I read it from start to finish on Friday, staying up way past my usual bedtime to do so, and it's the first time I've done that in quite a while so I figured Divergent deserved quick treatment.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Decades ago our ancestors realized that it is not political ideology, religious belief, race, or nationalism that is to blame for a warring world. Rather they determined that it was the fault of human personality--of humankind's inclination toward evil, in whatever form that is. They divided into factions that sought to eradicate those qualities they believed responsible for the world's disarray. [...] Those who blamed aggression formed Amity. [...] Those who blamed ignorance became the Erudite. [...] Those who blamed duplicity created Candor. [...] Those who blamed selfishness made Abnegation. [...] And those who blamed cowardice were the Dauntless. (42-43)

Beatrice Prior, who grew up within the self-sacrificing Abnegation faction, has reached the age when she must make the biggest decision of her life. She, like all sixteen-year-olds in her post-apocalyptic Chicago, is evaluated to determine the faction for which she's best suited. While the evaluation results are stored, they do not determine placement. Using the evaluation as guidance, Beatrice must chose with which faction to ally herself. She'll still have to pass her chosen faction's initiation. If she doesn't, she'll spend the rest of her life as a factionless on the outskirts of society.

On the day of her evaluation, Beatrice is unsure about which faction she'll choose. When her result is anomalous, Beatrice has more questions than before and only one day to make the decision. Beatrice goes with her gut and chooses Dauntless² despite the fact that her decision might mean that she'll never see her parents or brother again. The Dauntless initiation is much more intense than Beatrice, who renames herself Tris, imagined and the things she learns during it make her question the status quo.

I really enjoyed Divergent (I assume that's obvious based on what I posted above) and, while it wasn't perfect, it didn't disappoint me. Readers don't receive any information about what big, apocalyptic event (if any) caused society to break down and reorganize in this way. They also don't learn anything about the world outside of Chicagoland.³ This didn't bother me too much because it's quite possible given what we do know that the individuals living in Roth's Chicago have no contact with the outside world (if society even exists out there).

At first I thought that Divergent would have been a stronger novel without Tris' blossoming romance. That it wasn't necessary. That Tris and the other character could have played off each other without their relationship developing into a romantic one. I thought it would have been better to leave this particular romance out or to leave it unstated and/or unrequited until later in the series (because, yes, Divergent is the first in a series). But then I remembered the final scenes and I'm not sure how some of them would have played out if Tris and the other character hadn't been in love. I guess I'll just say--for the people like me who are tired of the "instalove" often portrayed in YA novels-- that Tris' romance is not quite of that ilk. They don't instantly fall for each other, there is tension, and they have much more in common than either of them realizes.

Tris is a relateable heroine, despite the fact that things sometimes seem too easy for her (and there is actually an explanation for that ease). The society Roth depicts is interesting and different than any other I've read thus far. Divergent also works well as a first-book-in-a-series. There's world building and the revelation of an overarching storyline, but the novel has a satisfying conclusion. One of the areas in which Divergent excels is in not getting bogged down in world-building and backstory. Divergent is fast-paced and full of action. It is a bit heavy on the violence, but I think the story itself is so engrossing that even individuals who are sensitive about violence can push on past those sections.

Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent will be released in May 2012. It's going straight on my wish list.

Bumped by Megan McCafferty (see post) and Delirium by Lauren Oliver (see post).
The encircled flame on Divergent's cover is the Dauntless seal. Though, I think that the stamped version on the hardcover itself is more striking than the burning image on the dust jacket.
Chicagoland isn't a term used in the book. It's just an informal term for the Chicago metropolitan area. As far as I remember, Roth never names her imagined society.

Little Red Riding Hood

2011-09-17T15:47:00.001-04:00

I've come across quite a few awesome Little Red Riding Hood-inspired items lately, so I decided that a post was in order.

First,
corset-maker Damsel in this Dress has a fun, sexy Little Red Riding Hood costume for sale in her Artfire and Etsy shops (special price until the end of the day today) as part of her 13 Days of Halloween celebration.

You can read all about the costume, see the three color options (I'm quite fond of the patchwork version), and watch a hysterical reality tv-inspired video on Damsel's blog.

I'll admit that I do question whether I'd be able to pull off any of her costumes, but I'm really curious about what else she's come up with. So far there's Little Red, a Where the Wild Things Are-inspired Monster, and the forthcoming pumpkin (I desperately need the hat that goes along with that costume).

Second,
I discovered artist Christian Jackson and his wonderful minimalist Children's Story Posters via WORD for Teens. They are all so clever, but my favorites are Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood.

Little Red Riding Hood and his other posters are available through Jackson's Imagekind shop. You can get framed and printed in/on a variety of different sizes/media, so there's an option to meet nearly any price point.

Third,
The Woods Belong to Me, a wonderful design by radiomode (aka Budi Kwan), is currently in-print at Threadless.

I bought the style pictured (I had a Groupon for Threadless), but scoop neck and zip-up hoodie versions are also available.

Lastly,
I just created a Little Red Riding Hood-themed treasury list on Etsy.

I'm having a lazy Saturday and I figured I might as well.

Woman's World by Graham Rawle

2011-09-15T19:50:00.002-04:00

Woman's World by Graham Rawle

Woman's World is a novel constructed entirely of text (and images) cut from magazines. Women's magazines from the early 1960s. My friend Nancy assigned it to me as part of my 2011 take-a-chance reading challenge.

I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to write about Woman's World without including spoilers. I'm usually anti-spoiler, but in this case I think it's especially important. I think the best way to experience Woman's World is to come at it without any preconceived notions and let the novel reveal itself.

Woman's World is odd and it's not just because of its construction. I can't say that I enjoyed reading it. I marveled at the layout of each page, but I read the story with a profound sense of foreboding. All is not right within the protagonist's family. Readers experience suspicion, then certainty, but the full truth of the matter is revealed only slowly.

The story is engrossing and unexpectedly atmospheric, but one never ceases to notice the underlying collage. The pieced-together text isn't distracting, though, it adds to the narrative. Woman's World is composed of women's magazines, but it is also very much about women's magazines, the voice with which they speak, and ideas they are trying to sell to their readers.

What I liked best about Woman's World is that Rawle included a piece on the making of the book. The piece is short, but fascinating. Rawle explains the construction of one page in 40,000 Not-Very-Easy Pieces (skip the introductory paragraph if you don't want any spoilage).

I won a copy of...

2011-09-13T18:04:00.000-04:00

Divergent by Veronica Roth
from Kaye at paper reader. Thank you, Kaye!

In Beatrice Prior's dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue — Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is — she can't have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are — and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she's chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she's kept hidden from everyone because she's been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves...or it might destroy her.

I suspect that I'll read Divergent fairly soon so expect a review post in the near future.

adaptation: Sherlock

2011-09-12T19:50:00.000-04:00

Sherlock television series

Sherlock was recommended to us earlier this year by our friend Chris,¹ but Russell and I hadn't had a chance to see it until recently. Our local public television station played the first two episodes--"A Study in Pink" and "The Blind Banker"--during a fund drive. Two episodes doesn't seem like much, but each episode is 90 minutes long and each season consists of only three episodes. So, despite having only seen two episodes, we've seen two-thirds of season one.

Sherlock reimagines Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary characters in a contemporary setting. The series stars Benedict Cumberbatch as an extremely tech-saavy, slightly Auspergian Sherlock Holmes and Martin Freeman as the wonderfully ordinary war veteran, John Watson.

"A Study in Pink" (remember that A Study in Scarlet is what introduced Holmes to the world) is the series opener. In it, Dr. Watson, recently returned from Afghanistan and suffering from PTSD, is introduced to Sherlock Holmes when a mutual acquaintance finds out they are both in need of a flatmate. In short order, Watson moves into 221B Baker Street, which is still owned by Mrs. Hudson (who incorrectly assumes that Watson is Holmes' new live-in boyfriend). PI Lestrade (Rupert Graves) seeks assistance from "unofficial consultant" Holmes after one suspicious suicide becomes a series and Watson is kidnapped by a man claiming to be Holmes' archenemy.

I liked Sherlock, so much so that I could have watched all six episodes in a row if I'd had access to them. I think the series is fresh and interesting, yet still very authentic-feeling. Russell is much more of a purist so his thoughts on the show may be a bit more meaningful to die-hard Doyle fans. Though updated, Russell thought that Sherlock remained true to the original especially with regard to the main characters, their personalities, and histories.

Chris is also a blog reader. Hi, Chris!

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

2011-09-08T18:55:00.000-04:00

This is a follow-up to Sunday's post. The focus is on another dystopian YA novel that I got during the Borders liquidation.

One of the categories for my 2011 take-a-chance reading challenge is "loved one's choice." Since it was one of my favorite categories, I asked three different people (Russell and my good friends Jessica and Nancy) to provide me with reading assignments. Jessica gave me a choice of four options,¹ one of which was Delirium by Lauren Oliver. I fully intend to read all four of her selections (though likely not all within 2011), but since Delirium is the first one I've gotten to, it's the one I'll be counting for the challenge.

Delirium by Lauren Oliver

Magdalena Haloway has grown up in a world that considers amor deliria nervosa, or more specifically how individuals infected with the disease act and react, the biggest threat to society. There is a cure, but it's risky to have the procedure performed too early. Boys and girls are segregated to reduce the likelihood of disease contraction in youth. As individuals near their eighteen birthday and cure date, they undergo an evaluation and receive a list of approved matches. Lena is counting the days until her procedure, looking forward to the safety it will provide. That is... until she meets Alex.

Like Bumped (see post), Delirium disappointed me (and it's also the first in a planned series).

I liked the concept (though I will admit that it was a bit too much like Scott Westerfeld's Uglies) and Oliver's writing, but the story itself fell flat for me. It was really a combination of things, not all of which would normally put me off. The pace is very slow. Lena's best friend Hana is much more interesting than she is. Lena and Alex fall in love far too quickly and with little chemistry. What bothered me the most, though, was the lack of observable menace and oppression in the society. Yes, we are told that there are strictly-enforced curfews, that it's really difficult to cross the border, that people who fall in love are punished and killed, but we see precious little of that. It's far too easy for the characters to get away with everything that they do and because of that the society in which they were supposed to be living seemed inauthentic to me.

Because there are two more books planned for the series, I'm fairly certain that things at the end of Delirium are not necessarily what they seem. I suspect that the series will get better (in general, as the larger story is played out, not in reference to the aforementioned ending), but I don't plan on reading the other books.

You can see the list of Jessica's selections in this post.

Booker shortlist

2011-09-06T19:29:00.001-04:00

I never got around to posting about this year's Man Booker Prize longlist, but the shortlist was announced today.

I haven't read any of the featured titles so I'm just showcasing them below with their synopses (and very brief comments). But, the fact that four of the longlist titles were debut novels, two of which made it to the shortlist, warms the cockles of my heart.

Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

The aftermath of the fall of Paris, 1940. Hieronymous Falk, a rising star on the cabaret scene, was arrested in a cafe and never heard from again. He was twenty years old. He was a German citizen. And he was black. Fifty years later, Sid, Hiero's bandmate and the only witness that day, is going back to Berlin. Persuaded by his old friend Chip, Sid discovers there's more to the journey than he thought when Chip shares a mysterious letter, bringing to the surface secrets buried since Hiero's fate was settled. Half Blood Blues weaves the horror of betrayal, the burden of loyalty and the possibility that, if you don't tell your story, someone else might tell it for you. And they just might tell it wrong ...

The only thing I don't like about Half Blood Blues is that its title brings to mind a paranormal romance.

Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch

Jamrach's Menagerie tells the story of a nineteenth-century street urchin named Jaffy Brown. Following an incident with an escaped tiger, Jaffy goes to work for Mr. Charles Jamrach, the famed importer of exotic animals, alongside Tim, a good but sometimes spitefully competitive boy. Thus begins a long, close friendship fraught with ambiguity and rivalry.
Mr. Jamrach recruits the two boys to capture a fabled dragon during the course of a three-year whaling expedition. Onboard, Jaffy and Tim enjoy the rough brotherhood of sailors and the brutal art of whale hunting. They even succeed in catching the reptilian beast.
But when the ship’s whaling venture falls short of expectations, the crew begins to regard the dragon—seething with feral power in its cage—as bad luck, a feeling that is cruelly reinforced when a violent storm sinks the ship.
Drifting across an increasingly hallucinatory ocean, the survivors, including Jaffy and Tim, are forced to confront their own place in the animal kingdom. Masterfully told, wildly atmospheric, and thundering with tension, Jamrach's Menagerie is a truly haunting novel about friendship, sacrifice, and survival.

This reminds me a little too much of Life of Pi, which I mostly hated, but I'm willing to give it a try anyway. Love the cover.

Pigeon English by Stephen Kelman
*debut novel*

Lying in front of Harrison Opuku is a body, the body of one of his classmates, a boy known for his crazy basketball skills, who seems to have been murdered for his dinner. Armed with a pair of camouflage binoculars and detective techniques absorbed from television shows like CSI, Harri and his best friend, Dean, plot to bring the perpetrator to justice. They gather evidence--fingerprints lifted from windows with tape, a wallet stained with blood--and lay traps to flush out the murderer. But nothing can prepare them for what happens when a criminal feels you closing in on him. Recently emigrated from Ghana with his sister and mother to London's enormous housing projects, Harri is pure curiosity and ebullience--obsessed with gummy candy, a friend to the pigeon who visits his balcony, quite possibly the fastest runner in his school, and clearly also fast on the trail of a murderer. Told in Harri's infectious voice and multicultural slang, Pigeon English follows in the tradition of our great novels of friendship and adventure, as Harri finds wonder, mystery, and danger in his new, ever-expanding world.

Does this sound good or what? I thought I liked the cover art on the British edition (pictured) best (color!), but then I took a closer look at the American one.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Tony Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they navigated the girl drought of gawky adolescence together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit. Maybe Adrian was a little more serious than the others, certainly more intelligent, but they swore to stay friends forever. Until Adrian's life took a turn into tragedy, and all of them, especially Tony, moved on and did their best to forget.
Now Tony is in middle age. He's had a career and a marriage, a calm divorce. He gets along nicely, he thinks, with his one child, a daughter, and even with his ex-wife. He's certainly never tried to hurt anybody. Memory, though, is imperfect. It can always throw up surprises, as a lawyer's letter is about to prove. The unexpected bequest conveyed by that letter leads Tony on a dogged search through a past suddenly turned murky. And how do you carry on, contentedly, when events conspire to upset all your vaunted truths?

You know I've been reading the Thursday Next books and being in that frame of mind makes the unexpected bequest (which I admittedly find intriguing) scream "plot device!"

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt

Hermann Kermit Warm is going to die. The enigmatic and powerful man known only as the Commodore has ordered it, and his henchmen, Eli and Charlie Sisters, will make sure of it. Though Eli doesn't share his brother's appetite for whiskey and killing, he's never known anything else. But their prey isn't an easy mark, and on the road from Oregon City to Warm's gold-mining claim outside Sacramento, Eli begins to question what he does for a living – and whom he does it for.
With The Sisters Brothers, Patrick deWitt pays homage to the classic Western, transforming it into an unforgettable comic tour de force. Filled with a remarkable cast of characters – losers, cheaters, and ne'er-do-wells from all stripes of life – and told by a complex and compelling narrator, it is a violent, lustful odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier that beautifully captures the humor, melancholy, and grit of the Old West and two brothers bound by blood, violence, and love.

I nearly took a copy of this home with me during our last trip to Borders (which may have been Sunday and unreported).

Snowdrops by A.D. Miller
*debut novel*

Nick Platt is a British lawyer working in Moscow in the early 2000s—a place where the cascade of oil money, the tightening grip of the government, the jostling of the oligarchs, and the loosening of Soviet social mores have led to a culture where corruption, decadence, violence, and betrayal define everyday life. Nick doesn’t ask too many questions about the shady deals he works on—he’s too busy enjoying the exotic, surreally sinful nightlife Moscow has to offer.
One day in the subway, he rescues two willowy sisters, Masha and Katya, from a would-be purse snatcher. Soon Nick, the seductive Masha, and long-limbed Katya are cruising the seamy glamour spots of the city. Nick begins to feel something for Masha that he is pleased to think is love. Then the sisters ask Nick to help their aged aunt, Tatiana, find a new apartment.
Of course, nothing is as it seems—including this extraordinary debut novel. The twists in the story take it far beyond its noirish frame—the sordid and vivid portrayal of Moscow serves as a backdrop for a book that examines the irresistible allure of sin, featuring characters whose hearts are as cold as the Russian winter.

Of the six shortlisted titles, I'm probably the least interested in reading this one.

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

2011-09-04T12:16:00.000-04:00

I love a good dystopian novel. Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale has been one of my favorite books since I first read it (around 1999). It follows that I'd appreciate the spate of dystopian (both YA and not) fiction being published recently. Of the seven of books I've gotten for myself during the Borders liquidation (the list is below for those of you who haven't been keeping track), three have been dystopians. I've already posted about Shades of Grey. This post is the first of two focused on the YA dystopians I brought home and read right away.

Bumped by Megan McCafferty

I'd been wanting to read Bumped for what seemed like ages (it can't really have been all that long, though, since the book only came out this April). I kept seeing good reviews of the novel, which made me want to read it even more.

Bumped takes place in min-2030s Princeton, New Jersey. In the wake of the Human Progressive Sterility Virus epidemic, the United States is trying raise its teenage birthrate. When nearly all individuals over the age of eighteen are infertile, nubile girls are the highest valued segment of the population.

The novel's protagonists, Melody and Harmony, are sixteen-year-old identical twins who were separated at birth. Melody's adoptive parents have groomed her to be the first girl in her school to "go professional." She's got a six-figure contract and she's just waiting for her couple to find their perfect sperm donor. Harmony, on the other hand, was raised in a religious community. In her world, girls marry young and only have sex (and children) within marriage. Harmony discovers Melody's existence while trying to find her birth parents. The two girls have barely begun to know each other (via email and chat) when Melody arrives on Harmony's doorstep and the narrative begins.

Bumped is a bit different than most much dystopian fiction (which may disappoint some readers). There's no authoritarian government or overt suppression, but there are dystopian elements to the society McCafferty depicts.And, there's a lot of social commentary both subtle and overt sprinkled throughout Bumped. The more that I think about the novel, the more little digs I remember.

Overall, though, I have to say that my opinion of this book suffered from my high expectations. I didn't dislike Bumped, but I wasn't blown away by it. The concept is interesting and I like how McCafferty uses satire, but I can't help but think that Bumped would have been better if it had been conceived as a one-off rather than the opener for a series. While I didn't like Jondoe's character or the way the novel ended, my biggest criticism of the book is that Harmony did not seem authentic (primarily because some of her decisions were so far out of character that no explanation for them could be satisfactory).

Thumped, the sequel to Bumped, is scheduled for an April 2012 release.

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
Bumped by Megan McCafferty
Delirium by Lauren Oliver
Encounter by Milan Kundera
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde

Typealyzer: Myers-Briggs based on blogs

2011-09-03T17:57:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I Marg of Adventures of an Intrepid Reader posted about being typealyzed, ie. having her blog posts analyzed by code at Typealyzer. I snuck over and entered morsie reads right away and was intrigued by the results.

From my most recent blog posts, Typealyzer has determined that I'm an ISTP (introverted sensing thinking perceiving). What amuses me about this is that only one of the four indicators (the I) is true to my non-online personality. This blog isn't a personal diary so it makes sense that my blog persona is not completely in line with my real one, but I wonder how much of it is the subject matter (books and bookish things) and how much is an unconscious decision to project myself as different than I am. Apparently the ISTP is a daredevil, which I assuredly am not.

I'll have to re-typealyze with different posts to see whether my personality as expressed through the blog is consistent or not.

You can read more about Typealyzer at About Typealyzer and Psychographics.

Mrs. Beeton's

2011-09-01T20:01:00.000-04:00

For comfort reading and in preparation for One of our Thursdays is Missing, the sixth installment in Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series, I've been rereading the earlier books. At the moment I'm on The Well of Lost Plots (book #3), which like all the other Thursday Next books is full of literary references. I was absolutely tickled to come across multiple references to Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management (unfortunately incorrectly cited as "Mrs. Beeton's Complete Housekeeper").¹ The mentions didn't mean much to me during my earlier readings, but we're big fans of Mrs. Beeton's at my new place of employment. My coworker even has a Mrs. Beeton's apron like the one pictured here.

Isabella Beeton (nee Mayson) was the Martha Stewart of her day² and Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861) was her magnum opus (1000+ pages). For the contemporary reader Mrs. Beeton's is a window into the middle-class Victorian home. While the text is heavy on cookery, it also provides advice on any number of topics relevant to the mistress of the house (who is likened to the commander of the army). Readers learn how many and what type of servants one need employ based on one's income, what to feed an invalid, how to diagnose and treat thrush, the logistics of serving dinner la Russe, and myriad other things.

The original Mrs. Beeton's is out of copyright so the text of the book is widely available on the internet. MrsBeeton.com has a nice layout.

Here's the first one: "I went downstairs and explained to obb the rudiments of cooking, which were as alien to it as having a name. Fortunately I found an old copy of Mrs. Beeton's Complete Housekeeper, which I told obb to study, half jokingly, as research. Three hours later it had roasted a perfect leg of lamb with all the trimmings. I had discovered one thing about Generics already: dull and uninteresting they may be -- but they learn fast" (p. 13 of my British edition).
I cringed at that cliche even as I typed it.

a weekend update

2011-08-31T08:34:00.004-04:00

I live in a basement apartment in an area that was right in the path of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene. Sunday morning we woke up (around 7:30 am) to 2 inches of water in the kitchen (the laundry room was also completely flooded, but we didn't notice that right away). So, suffice it to say, that we had an interesting weekend. It's not nearly as bad as it could have been (thank goodness for the neighbors and their little submersible pump). The carpeted main part of the apartment did get some water (it came up through the floor), but we were able to move most everything out of the way. We're mostly dry now, but disorganized and musty-smelling. All of our books are safe and sound.

As for work, the sites have downed trees and some flood-related damage to buildings and landscapes. The main library is a-OK. I assume that we may have lost some books that were in the areas of the sites that flooded, but that's minor in the great scheme of things.

more liquid shopping

2011-08-26T21:23:00.002-04:00

As of yesterday everything is 50-70% off at Borders. Russell and I went again last night. This morning as I was filling out my expense report paperwork I noticed something interesting on my receipt (see image on right). The free space in our store is now filled with miscellaneous stuff (this post at The Book Frog will give you an idea) and it warms my heart that someone had enough spunk in reserve to make that snarky, but apropos adjustment.

While I did pick up one book for myself (One of Our Thursdays Is Missing by Jasper Fforde; I needed it since I have all the other books in the series), the shopping experience was more depressing than anything else.

I spent some time in the history section, doing some collection development work. At least this time others will benefit from our Borders-liquidation obsession.

American Colossus: The Triumph of Capitalism, 1865-1900 by H. W. Brand
Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation by Andrea Wulf
Stone by Stone; The Magnificent History in New England's Stone Walls by Robert M. Thorson
Ten Hills Farm: The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North by C.S. Manegold
Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates by David Cordingly

We also picked up another book that I may end up donating to the library: Ghosts from King Philip's War by Edward Lodi. It ended up in Russell's pile during the pre-checkout sort.

As for Russell, he made out like a bandit:

The Accidental Guerrilla: Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One by David Kilcullen
Bloody Mohawk: The French Wars and Revolution on New York's Frontier by Richard Berleth
The Peasant Prince: Thaddeus Kosciuszko and the Age of Revolution by Alex Storozynski
The Pity of War by Niall Ferguson
Teapot Dome Scandal: How Big Oil Bought the Harding White House and Tried to Steal the Country by Laton Mccartney
(I exclaimed when I found this one and practically threw it at him; one of his forebears was implicated in said scandal and if that's not a good excuse to buy a book on the subject, I don't know what is)
Worlds at War: The 2,500 - Year Struggle Between East and West by Anthony Pagden

And last, but not least, we got Minotaurus, the Lego boardgame, for both of us. We're going to try it out this weekend.

The Bookworm (Poughkeepsie, NY)

2011-08-25T20:36:00.002-04:00

Last weekend Russell and I checked out The Bookworm in Poughkeepsie.

The store is a bit out-of-the-way on a curvy two-lane road. We had to turn around and backtrack because we'd driven past the driveway for the store before we even noticed it was there.

The shop is brightly lit with a large front counter and a spacious entryway where new stock is displayed. There were two salespeople working on Saturday. The guy manning the front counter was friendly and asked us whether we needed assistance. There is a small side counter where the second salesperson was sitting. I didn't pay much attention to her or her counter, but Russell thought that she was peddling jewelry.

Romance makes up about 35-40% of The Bookworm's stock. That's an guesstimate and it does seem like it might be an exaggeration, but seriously the front door is in the center of the shop and if you turn left, that side is audio books and romance. Only audio books and romance (and a small table of marked-down hardcovers). Everything else is on the other side of the shop.

Per Russell, The Bookworm's nonfiction selection was miniscule and not particularly well organized. For context, it seemed like the nonfiction section was about the same size as the children's section (not including YA books).

There was a good selection within the various fiction sections. And lots of little notes to point shoppers in the direction of their favorite authors (ie. look for so-and-so in paranormal, with arrow).

Overall the stock was on the newer side, in good condition, and strongest in romance and non-genre fiction. I suspect that it gets refreshed frequently because of The Bookworm's business model.

Individual items are not labeled. I was very confused by this until Russell showed me the big sign that explained The Bookworm's buy/sell policies (strangely, the sign isn't by the front counter, it's near the audio books).

The store's pricing is standardized, but high. 50% off list, plus a 25c handling fee. So they'd sell a $16 trade paperback for $8.25. They buy books (ie. give store credit) at 25% of list. The Bookworm seems like the kind of place that caters to regulars who treat it like a library, trading in their recently-read books for new reading material.

We didn't buy anything. Russell didn't find anything in the nonfiction he wanted and I didn't find anything I liked well enough to buy at their prices.

The Bookworm
1797 New Hackensack Rd.
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
845-462-3873
hours: 10am - 5pm
closed Sundays
open 'til 6pm on Wednesdays

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

2011-08-24T19:23:00.002-04:00

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

After a fire claimed the lives of both his parents, 12 year-old Will Henry became the unwitting apprentice of Dr. Pellinore Warthrop, his father's former employer. Dr. Warthrop is a monstrumologist, one who studies (and hunts) "life forms generally malevolent to humans and not recognized by science as actual organisms, specifically those considered products of myth and folklore" (Monstrumologist front matter).

The action of The Monstrumologist begins one night in 1888, Will Henry is roused from his bed when an unexpected caller arrives bearing the fresh corpse of a pack-dwelling monster.

I wanted to get buy a copy of The Monstrumologist because Simon & Schuster, the book's publisher, had announced its plans not to continue publishing the popular, award-winning series that The Monstrumologist opens. The good news is that Simon & Schuster has since reconsidered their decision and will publish at least the fourth installment (book 2 is out already and book 3 is forthcoming).

I found The Monstrumologist to be well-written, but a bit gory for my taste. That's a good thing, though, because The Monstrumologist is one of the only young adult books I've read lately that I can actually imagine a teenage boy reading. Really, why are so many young adult books so heavy on the romance?

In any case, here's a passage I bookmarked:

Perhaps that is our doom, our human curse, to never really know one another. We erect edifices in our minds about the flimsy framework of word and deed, mere totems of the true person, who, like the gods to whom the temples were built, remains hidden. We understand our own construct; we know our own theory; we love our own fabrication. Still... does the artifice of our affection make our love any less real? (362)

So very observant and not at all what I'd expect to find hidden in a horror novel.

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen

2011-08-21T19:47:00.008-04:00

The Keeper of Lost Causes by Jussi Adler-Olsen
trans. by Tiina Nunnally

Copenhagen homicide detective Carl Mørck has just returned from sick leave. He's physically recovered from the bullet wound he received while investigating his last case, but not emotionally. One of his partners is dead, the other is stuck in the Hornbaek Clinic for Spinal Cord Injuries, and it's his fault (or near enough).
Mørck's a bit perplexed when he's made head of the newly formed Department Q on his first day back. Department Q (staff: 1) is located at the Copenhagen police headquarters (in the basement) and tasked with investigating cold cases of national interest. It's a cake job for Mørck. He can slack off all he wants because no one really expects him to solve any of the cases he's assigned.
When Mørck discovers the Copenhagen homicide has co-opted the 90% of the 8 million kroner earmarked for Department Q, Mørck successfully lobbies for a departmental vehicle and an assistant. When his assistant (a pleasant, but enigmatic Syrian political refugee) arrives for work, Mørck realizes that he hadn't thought that request through. Now that he has an assistant, he's accountable to another.
Mørck chooses his first case at random. It is the mysterious disappearance of a MP and Vice-chairperson of the Social Democrat party, Merete Lynggaard, five years before.

After the success of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, I suspect that publishers will be keeping Americans in Nordic crime novels for the foreseeable future. No complaints from the corner, especially if we keep being feed prize-winning works of the caliber of The Keeper of Lost Causes.

The Keeper of Lost Causes is the first in Adler-Olsen's Department Q series. The novel is an opener that doesn't get too bogged down in setting the stage for the entire series.

Mørck is a flawed, but sympathetic protagonist. He's understandably morose at the beginning of the novel, but working on the case invigorates him. One of the things I like about him is while nearly all of the others who work in the police headquarters find him difficult and unlikeable, we as readers get to see the kindness of which he's capable. Mørck's assistant, Assad, is a bit of a mystery himself. As the novel progresses, both Mørck and the reader discover that Assad has many hidden talents.

As much as I enjoy the CSI television programs, they tend to lack authenticity. I was quite pleased when reading The Keeper of Lost Causes the the detectives were described as "already wearing the white disposable coveralls, masks, gloves and hairnets that procedures prescribed" (23) when they begin to process a crime scene. That gave me faith that Adler-Olsen was going to provide me with a more accurate picture of this kind of police work.

As for Department Q's first case. Readers learn fairly early on that Lynggaard did not commit suicide (as was held when the case was first investigated). The narrative focus switches between Mørck and Lynggaard throughout (near the climax, the villains get their chance in the spotlight as well). At the beginning of The Keeper of Lost Causes, the two timelines are separated by five years, while at the end they become parallel before they intersect.

The mystery had depth. Readers don't figure out whodunnit before the other characters do and there's no out-of-left-field deduction by the investigators. The pacing is quite good (The Keeper of Lost Causes is nearly 500 pages long, but those pages fly by). It would have been very easy to get bogged down in Lynggaard's chapters, but Adler-Olsen manages them with aplomb.

A note on the title -
While I love the novel's American title¹ and find it very compelling, it's interesting to note that the original Danish title translates as The Woman in the Cage. The original title emphasizes the case where the title we (Americans) encounter emphasizes Mørck and Department Q itself.

The Keeper of Lost Causes comes out on Tuesday (August 23, 2011). The second and third books² in the Department Q series have already been published in the original Danish so hopefully we'll have access to English translations soon. I know I'm eager to get my hands the next installment.

Apparently, this book is published under the title Mercy in the UK.
Their Danish titles translate as The Pheasant Killers and Message in a Bottle.

disclosure: I received a review copy of The Keeper of Lost Causesfrom Penguin via NetGalley.

Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

2011-08-20T22:34:00.005-04:00

Spellbound by Cara Lynn Shultz

16 year-old Emma Connor's life has been a bit of a disaster the past few years. First her twin brother dies (of meningitis), then her mother (of cancer), leaving Emma alone with her abusive, alcoholic stepfather. When her stepfather causes a car accident that nearly kills them both, Emma moves to New York City to live with her aunt Christine.
When Emma begins her junior year at a posh, private school, she's in for a much bigger change than she ever imagined. Emma is drawn to tall, dark and handsome Brendan Salinger despite the fact that he acts quite coldly to her. Inexplicable things begin to happen, leaving Emma with no choice, but to explore the strange connection between her and Brendan.

I finished Spellbound quite a while ago, but didn't feel up to posting about it because the strongest feeling I had about the novel is one of irritation... not at the story itself or the author's writing, but at the text chosen by the publisher for the novel's back cover (and subsequently for the novel's promotional material). The snappy tag line includes information that neither the protagonist nor the reader learns until about 140 pages into the book. That's more than 40% of the way through the story. To me, that amounts to a spoiler. And, I really do think that I would have enjoyed Spellbound more if I hadn't read that tag line first. Knowing that piece of information prematurely clouded my view of the first half of the novel.

That being said, Spellbound was more or less what I would expect from a teen paranormal romance published by Harlequin. I do wish that Emma and Brendan's romance was a bit more substantive. If they are destined to be together, shouldn't there relationship read like more than just a typical teenage romance?

There are some things that I did like about the novel. While the secondary characters were a bit one-dimensional, I really liked Angelique (great attitude) and how Shultz handled Francisco (despite his horribly cliched stock character status). I also liked the fact that Shultz included what amounts to a soundtrack for the novel in the "What's on Brendan & Emma's iPods?" section at the end of the book.

It seems like Spellbound is the beginning of a series.¹ I suspect that the novel's sequel may focus on Emma's friend Angelique. So readers who like Spellbound should keep an eye out for more where it came from.

Harlequin: "A Spellbound Novel"; if the author uses the stories from Hadrian's Medieval Legends as a series theme, "there [a]re countless tales in that book" as Angelique says (331).

disclosure: I received a review copy of Spellbound from Harlequin Teen via NetGalley.

book club slacker and the 2012-2013 reading list

2011-08-19T12:56:00.001-04:00

Some of you may have noticed that I haven't been making my regular book club and online book club posts. I have lots of excuses for why I haven't kept up with my book club reading (or made it via Skype to any of my Buffalo book club meetings since I moved), but suffice it to say that I feel horribly guilty about it and I hope to rectify the situation soon.

In the meantime, I do have the new reading list for Buffalo book club to share.

January 2012: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
February 2012: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
March 2012: Room by Emma Donoghue
April 2012: The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan
May 2012: Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar
June 2012: City of Thieves by David Benioff
July 2012: A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
August 2012: The Fortune Quilt by Lani Diane Rich
September 2012: Arctic Chill by Arnaldur Indridason
October 2012: The Strictest School in the World: Being the Tale of a Clever Girl, a Rubber Boy and a Collection of Flying Machines, Mostly Broken by Howard Whitehouse
November 2012: Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation by Steven Johnson
December 2012: The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith

January 2013: The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain
February 2013: Bossypants by Tina Fey
March 2013: The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown
April 2013: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
May 2013: The Professor's Daughter by Joann Sfar and Emmanuel Guibert
June 2013: Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet by Deepak Chopra
July 2013: Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell
August 2013: Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
September 2013: The Garden of Finzi-Continis by Giorgio Bassani
October 2013: The Astonishing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl by Barry Lyga
November 2013: Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde
December 2013: A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster

2011-08-18T20:41:00.001-04:00

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster
Subtitle: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big, or Why Pie Is Not the Answer¹

I'm just about finished with Downward-Facing Dog when I hear a noise that makes my blood freeze. No, it's not the crack of a gunshot or the tinkle of an ice cream truck; it's the sound of feet clattering up my front steps. Before I can pull myself up, I come face-to-ass with the UPS delivery man, and I peer at him shirtless, backward, and upside down from between my legs, over the spare tire that is forcing my cabbage-rose-clad rack up around my neck, and through my uncurtained windwow.
And this? Right here? Is why I hate exercise. (99)

Such a Pretty Fat is Lancaster's third memoir. I read her first, Bitter is the New Black, last year for book club (see post).

If you haven't read Jen Lancaster, the quote above will give you a bit of a taste for her style. The passage that immediately follows the quote is one of my favorites in the book. I thought about including it as well, but decided a three-page quote was a bit excessive for the blog and, well, I didn't want to rob anyone of the experience of reading the whole scene in context.

Such a Pretty Fat is as much about who she came to write this particular memoir as it is about her quest to lose weight. Lancaster is honest about her struggles (that's one of the best things about Lancaster, her willingness to share all the pitfalls she encounters regardless of how embarrassing they are). She made me laugh. I also found some real wisdom in Such a Pretty Fat, which I wasn't really expecting.

Oh how I love Jen Lancaster's subtitles! She also uses footnotes and by now I'm sure my readers have realized how I feel about footnotes.

dare I admit that there was another trip to Borders

2011-08-17T20:03:00.000-04:00

Don't mock Russell. I encouraged him this time.

The Monday-Wednesday special this week was buy six, save an extra 10%, buy 8, save an extra 15%. It seemed like a good deal (provided the liquidator made good on it, unlike the last time) so we decided that Russell should go on a reconnaisssance and possible shopping mission today.

Russell made out pretty well and reported that it wasn't busy at all. He didn't even have to wait in line!

For me:

Bumped by Megan McCafferty (I've been dying to read this one)
Delirium by Lauren Oliver (on my 2011 challenge reading list assigned by Jessica)
Encounter by Milan Kundera (to complete my collection; I own everything Kundera's written that's available in English)
The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey (because I'm not a fan of Simon & Schuster at the moment; see why)

For Russell:

Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
The Complete Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
Triumph Forsaken: the Vietnam War, 1954-1965 by Mark Moyar

For both of us:

Forbidden Island (a board game)

Yes, that's a total of eight items. And, yes, we did get an extra 15% off.

The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh

2011-08-16T21:12:00.001-04:00

The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh

The Thrall's Tale is a masterpiece of historical fiction that follows Katla, a slave, her daughter Bibrau, and their mistress Thorbjorg, a prophetess of the Norse god Odin, as they navigate the stormy waters of love, revenge, faith, and deception in the Viking Age settlements of tenth–century Greenland. Lindbergh's lyrical prose captures the tenuousness of lives led on the edge of the known world, the pain of loyalties shattered by Christian conversion, and the deepest desires hidden in the human heart. A book that has appeal for readers of fantasy and romance as well as historical and literary fiction, The Thrall's Tale is an absorbing cultural saga researched and written over ten years as Lindbergh immersed herself in the literature, artifacts, and landscape of her characters' lives and world. (back cover text)

I first discovered The Thrall's Tale in 2007 (see post). I've had a copy sitting on my shelf for four years now. I loaned it to my mom (who loves historical fiction) shortly after I received it, but since then it's been more or less collecting dust. I know I've picked it up a few times during the past four years and I may have started it once, but I never dug into it until this month.

I'll admit it now. I didn't finish The Thrall's Tale. I really did make an effort, though: the novel is 446 pages long and I gave up on page 188.¹

I really wanted to like The Thrall's Tale. It's a debut historical novel set during a time period with which I'm not familiar and it got great reviews.² It seemed like the recipe for a great read, but unfortunately The Thrall's Tale did not work for me. The novel seemed to have much promise in its early pages, but the more I read of The Thrall's Tale, the less I wanted to continue reading it. Especially since, after a certain point, it seemed like there was no point in holding out for the promised romance as it was either going to come to absolutely nothing or be disappointing for all involved.

The Thrall's Tale begins with one female narrator (Katla, a teenage slave, accompanying her master from Iceland to Greenland), gains a second (Thorjorg, a seeress of Odin) and then a third (Bibrau, Katla's unplanned and unwanted daughter). I don't mind a multiple narrative structure (whether it be first- or second-person), but I don't think I've ever before read a multi-narrative book where I didn't enjoy any of the narrative threads.

I liked Katla well enough in the beginning of the novel, but the drastic change in her personality after the incident that occurs around page 55 rendered her completely unsympathetic to me (I don't fault her for her reaction to the traumatic incident, but I found relating to her very difficult after that point).
Thorjorg's narrative was tough from her entrance because of her obtuse, oracular voice. Even early on (when I was still genuinely interested in following the story), I found myself skimming through her chapters.
Finally, there's Bibrau. She comes across as more than just strange. She's like an evil child in a horror movie. I didn't want to know more about what would happen to her or what she would do because it seemed like it was only going to get worse.

It's obvious that The Thrall's Tale was well-researched. And I'm sure the story Lindbergh is trying to tell (settlement of Greenland, Christianization of the area) could have been very interesting. In short, three things turned me off: unlikeable protagonist-narrators, slow pace (quite a bit happens early in the novel, but then the pace becomes glacial), and pervasive hopelessness.

BUT, The Thrall's Tale has gotten good reviews so your mileage may vary, as they say.

That's about 42% of the way through.
From Library Journal, Geraldine Brooks, and Jonis Agee just to name a few.

Bruised Apple Books and Music (Peekskill, NY)

2011-08-14T14:21:00.004-04:00

As I mentioned, I'm going to start featuring local (and not-so-local) and independent (used and not-used) bookstores on the blog. This is the first of those posts. Let me know what you think.

Last weekend, Russell and I visited Bruised Apple in Peekskill. And, my, my, it is a wonderful shop. It's just the kind of used bookstore that I like best. It has a huge selection (50,000 titles, according to its website). It's organized, uncramped, and infused with mood-setting, but not distracting instrumental music. It's the kind of shop where you could spend an afternoon browsing and there's little surprises around every corner, including the postcards, notes, and clippings that decorate the endcaps.

Russell and I both browsed. My primary focus was the fiction sections, while Russell checked out the music (that section included movies as well) and nonfiction with a particular focus on history and biography.

The selection was quite good and the main sections each had multiple subcategories (urban fiction, Chinese history, etc.). Historical fiction is segregated from the general fiction/literature section and is referred to as something like "fiction inspired by history," which I thought was interesting. The YA section was overstocked with Stephenie Meyer (which isn't completely unexpected; I momentarily considered picking up a hardcover copy of The Host). The local-interest/Hudson Valley section is the only one that includes both new and used books. On the tops of the cases in the fiction/literature section I noticed old leather- and cloth-bound sets of Shakespeare, Dickens, etc, most priced for the entire set, but some available to purchase by individual volume. There are some rare books, but the bulk of the stock was standard modern used (which isn't a bad thing).

Russell thought that the music was overpriced, but the book prices were generally. quite good. I didn't buy anything, but Russell picked up a signed copy of William Pitt: the Younger by William Hague for $9.50. If you follow the link, you'll see that Powells is selling a unsigned used copy of the book for $24.

Bruised Apple does buy used books (not sure about music). Russell called prior to this visit to ask about whether they bought (remember all those books we've been weeding?) and the owner told him that they were pretty full, but that they might consider literature and local history. We didn't bring any books when we made our weekend visit, wanting to see what kind of items they stocked before making any offers. Russell went back during the week with some books, but they didn't buy any of them.

The image below will give you an idea of how big the storefront is (it's also quite deep). I don't have any inside shots since I didn't want to draw attention to myself. Luckily, though, the shop has lots of interior shots on its photo page AND a blogger from the local newspaper has an image-rich post on the store entitled Old-school works for me, every time.

Bruised Apple Books and Music
923 Central Ave
Peekskill, NY
914-734-7000
http://www.bruisedapplebooks.com
Established 1993
Open daily, call for hours

giveaway winners and their prizes

2011-08-13T17:20:00.002-04:00

I finished ordering the prizes for my three winners this morning.¹ When I started shopping for them, I decided that I'd be sending each a book from her² wish lists as well as two of my own selections.

Wendy V

From her wishlist:

Huntress by Malinda Lo: This one was released in April and has been getting pretty good reviews.

The focus of Wendy's book blog, A Cupcake and a Latte, is young adult fiction so I limited my choices to that genre (or near enough) so that she could write about them on her blog if she chose to.

Stravaganza: City of Masks by Mary Hoffman (my review): The first in Hoffman's wonderful Stravaganza series, which I'm rereading myself now.
Zahrah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu (my review): I adore this book. I think everyone should read it and I've lost count of how many copies I've purchased to give to others.

Nimrodiel

From her wishlist:

Cathedrals of the Flesh: My Search for the Perfect Bath by Alexia Brue: I'd never heard of this book before I starting shopping Nim's wishlist, but it sounds wonderful.

I've actually known Nim since before I started this blog (she's an online friend). We've shared books and book recommendations enough that she trusts my taste and would be open to books that she wouldn't necessarily pick out for herself.

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde (my review): I know Nim's read and enjoyed Fforde before and Shades of Grey is quite wonderful, though more sedate that his usual work.

last chance to Sync this summer

2011-08-11T07:49:00.003-04:00

Today begins the last week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza. I hope these reminder posts have been useful. I for one managed to downloaded the titles I wanted every week (so expect posts on some of the offerings down the line).

Sync's offerings this week are
Storm Runners by Roland Smith and
The Cay by Theodore Taylor

Chase Masters and his father are "storm runners," racing across the country in pursuit of hurricanes, tornadoes, and floods. Anywhere bad weather strikes, they are not far behind. Chase is learning more on the road than he ever would just sitting in a classroom. But when the hurricane of the century hits, he will be tested in ways he never could have imagined.

Phillip is excited when the Germans invade the small island of Curaçao. War has always been a game to him, and he’s eager to glimpse it firsthand–until the freighter he and his mother are traveling to the United States on is torpedoed.
When Phillip comes to, he is on a small raft in the middle of the sea. Besides Stew Cat, his only companion is an old West Indian, Timothy. Phillip remembers his mother’s warning about black people: “They are different, and they live differently.”
But by the time the castaways arrive on a small island, Phillip’s head injury has made him blind and dependent on Timothy.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

giveaway update

2011-08-10T18:46:00.003-04:00

I'm busy picking out books for my winners. Expect a reveal post in the next couple of days.

I really appreciate all the feedback I received along with the entries.

Russell can't stay away... from Borders

2011-08-09T19:15:00.004-04:00

Yes, Russell went back to Borders yesterday.

He called me during my lunch break keen on going after work. I was a bit perplexed by his enthusiasm as the prices hadn't dropped since the last time we'd been to the store. Apparently, though, shoppers get deeper discounts on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I had no desire to fight the crowds to I sent him off on his own, but gave him a little list (arranged by department) of books I wanted annotated with their current Amazon prices.

He came home with three books (one of these was Shades of Grey for me), a DVD set, and a case of buyer's remorse compounded by sticker shock.

In his defense, he saw an (intentionally) misleading flyer on the Borders website (see above), which is still up as I type this.¹ Customers shopping on Monday did not get an additional 10% off on items, not even items from the specific departments listed. Russell brought something from the politics area (listed) and it was 46% off. Not 40% (regular discount), not 50% (regular discount + 10), but 46% off (?). Everything else he got was at the regular departmental discount (25 or 30%). So, he thought he was going to be getting a much better deal on all this than he actually did.

Now he's sworn off Borders... at least until the discounts are 50%-.

There's more than what's shown in the image above, but I figured I'd just show the relevant section.

last chance to enter the giveaway

2011-08-08T21:39:00.003-04:00

You have until the end of the day (11:59 pm, EDT) TOMORROW, Wednesday, August 10 to enter. More information in this post.

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory

2011-08-08T19:38:00.003-04:00

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day by Ben Loory

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day is a strangely compelling little book. Contained within it are thirty-nine short short stories (one is only three sentences long) and a longer fortieth story, grudgingly appended by the author.¹

Usually with short story collections I want to read the stories one at a time, to savor them. I couldn't do that with Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day though. Loory's stories--the publisher calls them contemporary fables and I think that's apt--are compulsively readable. They are poignant and unsettling, simple and profound. And I wanted to eat them all up!

My favorites stories² follow a tea-drinking, spoon-collecting octopus and an unappreciated, intellectual television. Others feature a duck who falls in love with a rock, companionable cadavers, and a menacing hat. It's a strange hodgepodge that's at once a unified whole.

In his acknowledgments, Loory mentions that the stories in Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day were inspired by a horror writing class. There is some horror here, but it's subtle. Subtle and thought-provoking. Overall I think the collection leans more toward humor--wry humor--and hopefulness.

I want to reread Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, to really let myself reflect on each of the stories in turn. Loory has a lot to tell us and he's only just started.

Get a taste -
One of the collections' stories, "The Girl in the Storm," posted in its entirety on the author's website.

Note introducing the appendix: "The following is a longer story not part of the same project included here at the publisher's request" (193).
"The Octopus" (28-36) and "The TV and Winston Churchill" (59-63).

disclosure: I received a review copy of Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day from Penguin via NetGalley.

another trip to Borders, books found, and an idea

2011-08-07T14:11:00.001-04:00

First of all, before I forget:
Those of you interested in the Borders liquidation might want to check out The Book Frog, who has been posting about her experience living through it. She's also gearing up to open an indy bookstore so her blog is very interesting reading.

We decided to run over to Borders on Thursday after work since the discounts had gone up (on Wednesday?) to 25-50%. Well, I didn't really want to go, but Russell did and I'd much rather go on a Thursday evening than on a busy weekend day. This time I actually prepared for the trip. I went over to my Amazon wishlist and made note of the current Amazon prices for some of the books on it.

Russell ended up buying two books -
1453: The Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West by Roger Crowley from the history section. It was only 25% off, but the history section in our Borders was already decimated.
The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates by Ralph Ketcham at 40% off since it was housed in the politics section.

I didn't get anything. The prices on the knitting books (30% off) were still not as low as on Amazon. The general fiction/literature section was 30%, but again the prices on the majority of the books that were in stock were not competitive. YA books were only at 25% off (as were the genre fiction sections except romance, which was 40% off). At one point I had three books in my hands. Two were from my wishlist, while the third was one that just jumped off the shelf at me.

I put back the newly discovered book--The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma--first as it was hardcover with a high list price in addition to being an admittedly intriguing unknown entity. When we got home I looked it up. I'm happy I didn't get it at only 30% though since Amazon has it for 38% off.

The wishlist books--Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (which I reviewed in February after listening to an e-audio version from the library) and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender (which is a personally much-anticipated book club section for October)--were both general fiction trade paperbacks and were ever-so-slightly cheaper at Borders than on Amazon. I might have bought these two, but the longer I stayed in the store the more I felt irritated with the shopping experience (it was a bit zooy as they were closing early for inventory) and unable to justify spending the money given that there were more than one copy of each (2 of the one, 3 of the other) still in stock.

Also, I finished reading the book I bought during our first Borders liquidation trip (see post), The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross. I have to admit that I was disappointed in it. Not enough romance for a book published by Harlequin. Two different love triangles, but if I remember correctly only one kiss in the entire book. If there had been enough romance I might have been able to overlook the other problems I had with the book (two love triangles, far too much in the way of anachronism, the author always using the same adjective to refer to one of the character's hair, how the author skipped over the big action, etc).

I know many people are upset about the downfall of Borders and worried that their book-buying options will be limited. Yesterday as Russell and I were planning to visit a local used book shop (to check it out and see if we could pawn some of our weeded books off on them), an idea occurred to me. Russell and I will make an effort to visit local (and not-so-local) bookstores and then feature them on the blog. Expect to see the first of these features in the next week.

influental books

2011-08-05T08:25:00.004-04:00

I haven't done a follow-friday post in a while, but I liked this week's question.

Talk about the book that most changed or influenced your life (was it a book that turned you from an average to avid reader, did it help you deal with a particularly difficult situation, does it bring you comfort every time you read it?).

I can't say that this book changed my life, but it is one that helped me through a tough time. I feel a bit silly posting about this particular book in this particular context because the author's work falls solidly in the chick-lit category. I really have nothing against chick lit, but it does have a justifiable reputation for being frivolous.

PS, I love you by Cecilia Ahern is a wonderful, uplifting, and fun story about love and loss and grief and learning to cope. I bought it after the unexpected death of my cousin died planning to send it to his wife. Of course I decided to read it before sending it along and I have to say that it brought me great comfort. After reading it, I felt the desire to buy another copy to send to her so I could keep the original copy for myself. Since then I decided that it should be shared rather than hoarded. I've passed along my copy and bought a few others (from the discount bookstore) to share via BookCrossing.

If you are visiting this blog for the first time, welcome!
And be sure to check out my giveaway (see this post or the sidebar to the right).

This is Karen. I'm a librarian and archivist and I've been writing this blog since 2006. Some of my favorite books are All We Know of Love (schneider), The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (kundera), The God of Small Things (roy), The Handmaid's Tale (atwood), Pride and Prejudice (austen), The Storyteller (vargas llosa), and Zahrah the Windseeker (okorafor-mbachu).

Sync: Immortal + Wuthering Heights

2011-08-04T20:44:00.004-04:00

We're nearing the end of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza.

The offerings this week are
Immortal by Gillian Shields and
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Welcome to Wyldcliffe, the place that haunts my present, my past, and my future.
Wyldcliffe Abbey School for Young Ladies is elite, expensive, and unwelcoming. When Evie Johnson is torn from her home near the sea to become the newest scholarship student, strict teachers, snobbish students, and the oppressive atmosphere of Wyldcliffe leave her drowning in loneliness.
Evie's only lifeline is Sebastian, a mysterious and attractive young man she meets by chance. As Evie's feelings for Sebastian blaze with each secret meeting, she begins to fear that he is hiding something about his past. And she is haunted by glimpses of a strange, ghostly girl—a girl who is so eerily like Evie she could be a sister. Evie is slowly drawn into a tangled web of past and present that she cannot control. As the extraordinary, elemental forces of Wyldcliffe rise up like the mighty sea, Evie is faced with an astounding truth about Sebastian, and her own incredible fate.

Wuthering Heights, first published in 1847, the year before the author's death at the age of thirty, endures today as perhaps the most powerful and intensely original novel in the English language. The epic story of Catherine and Heathcliff plays out against the dramatic backdrop of the wild English moors, and presents an astonishing metaphysical vision of fate and obsession, passion and revenge. "Only Emily Brontë," V. S. Pritchett said, "exposes her imagination to the dark spirit." And Virginia Woolf wrote, "Hers...is the rarest of all powers. She could free life from its dependence on facts...by speaking of the moor make the wind blow and the thunder roar."

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

why you should enter my giveaway

2011-08-03T21:52:00.000-04:00

Because of the fantastic prizes. If you win, you'll get something you've picked out for yourself (a book from your wishlist) as well as a book that I've handpicked for you.

My choice will definitely be a book that I've enjoyed myself. Here are some of the books that might be contenders (but my choice will be based on what I know of your reading tastes):

1984 by George Orwell
All We Know of Love by Katie Schneider
The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
The Storyteller by Mario Vargas Llosa
Stravaganza: City of Masks by Mary Hoffman
Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann
Time's Arrow by Martin Amis
The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber
Zahrah and the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

You have until Wednesday, August 10 (11:59 pm, EDT) to enter. More information in this post.

Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson

2011-08-03T19:24:00.004-04:00

Diamond Age (or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer)
by Neal Stephenson

First published in 1995, Diamond Age is set in late(?) twenty-first century Shanghai and a world revolutionized by nanotechnology. It is the story of the Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, a book-shaped interactive educational device commissioned by an equity lord for his granddaughter, and what happens when an illicit copy falls into the wrong hands.

So, I finished Diamond Age last night. It was not a quick read for me (I first posted about reading it on June 29) and I feel like I've been reading it for ages.

I really wanted to like Diamond Age, but I really can't say that I enjoyed reading the novel. Part of that may be because of the genre. I admit that I have a hard time science fiction and I tend to want to skim through sections that I find particularly opaque. But, at 455 pages Diamond Age really is overlong and the second half isn't nearly as good as the first (and the ending is unforgivably rushed).

I was intrigued by the Neo-Victorian sect and some of the technology depicted (the Primer, smart paper, chevalines), but was disappointed in the choices made by Stephenson. For me, the novel had so much unrealized potential. More than that, I wanted more detail on the things the author mentioned in passing and less detail on the things on which he focused.

Russell's planning to read Diamond Age so there may be a follow-up post after he's tackled the novel.

I'll end this post with a snippet of one of Nell's lessons with the constable:

the difference between ignorant and educated people is that the latter know more facts. But that has nothing to do with whether they are stupid or intelligent. The difference between stupid and intelligent people--and this is true whether or not they are well-educated--is that intelligent people can handle subtlety. They are not baffled by ambiguous or even contradictory situations--in fact, they expect them and are apt to become suspicious when things seem overly straightforward. (256)

Everything We Ever Wanted by Sara Shepard

2011-08-02T20:36:00.002-04:00

Everything We Ever Wanted by Sara Shepard

Recently widowed Sylvie Bates-McAllister's life revolves around Swithin, the prestigious preparatory school endowed by her grandfather. When a scholarship students dies, concerns about hazing within the school's wrestling team (now coached by Sylvie's adopted son, Scott) come to light. An investigation begins. Scott might be fired, Sylvia might lose her seat on the board, but worst of all, Swithin's reputation might be tarnished.

Sylvie's biological son, Charles, and his new wife are on the sidelines of this drama, but neither can avoid the familial rift and long-hidden secrets the death and its aftermath have dislodged.

Sara Shepard has written for an adult audience before (The Visibles, 2009), but she's best known for her young adult series (Pretty Little Liars and The Lying Game). I haven't read The Visibles, but I have read the first two Pretty Little Liars books (Pretty Little Liars and Flawless). I suspect that fans of Shepard's usual work will be disappointed with Everything We Ever Wanted. This new novel is quite different than her young adult books. It's not that the subject matter is more mature or that the book is written for an older audience. It's that the pacing is slow, there's an inexplicable lack of suspense, and the characters are for the most part unsympathetic.

There were so many things that I didn't like about the story (I won't include specifics for fear of spoiling) that it's hard for me to remember the things I did like. I appreciate the idea behind the novel (it's message, if you will), but I'm not fond of the execution.

Everything We Ever Wanted is coming out in October.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Everything We Ever Wanted from HarperCollins via NetGalley.

comfort reading

2011-07-31T21:46:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in this post, I've been a bit overwhelmed lately. When I'm stressed I'm fond of pulling out old standbys. My current choice for comfort reading is Mary Hoffman's Stravaganza series, which I first posted about in 2008 (post).

Stravaganza:

So far I've reread the first two books in the series. I have books three and four on hand and have just realized that a fifth book flew under my radar. City of Ships is now on my to-buy list.

Readings in American History

2011-07-31T21:06:00.002-04:00

Today's tidbit comes from the War-on-Drugs era, more specifically from Mark Bowden's Killing Pablo (which is about the manhunt for Pablo Escobar).

The Americans were used to working with Colombian officers who would joke about failed missions, who took them no more seriously than getting the wrong order at a restaurant.
There were plenty of reasons why they repeatedly failed. On one occasion, approaching a suspect finca on a morning raid, the assault force lined up along a ridge and then simply walked toward the structure. A Centra Spike soldier accompanying them suggested that the force drop down on the ground and crawl.
"In the dirt?" asked a Colombian officer, insulted by the suggestion. "My guys don't crawl in the dirt and the mud."
The occupants of the target house fled well before the raiding party arrived. The finca had all the hallmarks of an Escobar hideout [...] The occupants had fled in such haste that they hadn't had time to completely burn documents, so they had urinated and defecated on them. This was enough to dissuade the national police from taking a look. When the Centra Spike man began to fish the papers out of the mess, the colonel himself objected.
"I can't believe you'd do that," he said. "That's human waste!"
"Where I come from we also low-crawl and get our uniforms dirty," the American said. (88)

a trip to Borders

2011-07-30T18:47:00.004-04:00

Today Russell and I decided to visit our local Borders to check out their going-out-of-business sale.

I have to say that the store wasn't nearly as busy as I expected it to be. The majority of the store's stock was 20% off so I suspect that many shoppers are holding out for deeper discounts.

My mom asked me to pick up a book she wanted to send to a friend (A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff). For myself, I only got one book and some knitting magazines¹ since magazines were 40% off.

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross is the book that came home with me. I've wanted to read it since I first saw the description and I didn't manage to snag a review copy. Seeing all the blogger reviews has been a bit of cruel and unusual punishment so when I noticed one copy on the shelf, I snagged it.

Russell's purchases:

The Historical Atlas of the World at War by Brenda Lewis and Rupert Matthews
The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000 by Chris Wickham
Song of Wrath: The Peloponnesian War Begins by J.E. Lendon

We'll be going back as the liquidation proceeds though I (at least) will try not to bring too many more books home.

Creative Knitting, Sept 2011; Debbie Bliss, Spring/Summer 2011; Knitscene, Summer 2011, Fall 2011; and The Knitter, issue 31

Sync this week and an update

2011-07-28T21:29:00.004-04:00

The reason I've been relatively quiet lately is that I'm knee-deep in an exhausting move (work this time; all the library and archival collections to a new building). Sorting and packing and organizing. It really does seems like a never-ending project. Today's installment involved three trucks and eleven guys in blue t-shirts. I'm worn out just from running around keeping them all on task.
I'm trying not to have a repeat of my March/April move stress-induced silence, but I thought an explanation might be in order.

The only other news is my big giveaway. Please enter. And, tell your friends - if they enter (and say that they heard about the giveaway from you), you'll get an extra entry. I've enjoyed looking through the entries and have appreciated all the comments and feedback I've been receiving on the blog.

Now onto our continuing coverage of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza...

The offerings this week are
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari and
Rescue: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea

Epidemics, floods, droughts--for sixteen-year-old Lucy, the end of the world came and went, taking 99% of the population with it. As the weather continues to rage out of control, and Sweepers clean the streets of plague victims, Lucy survives alone in the wilds of Central Park. But when she's rescued from a pack of hunting dogs by a mysterious boy named Aidan, she reluctantly realizes she can't continue on her own. She joins his band of survivors, yet, a new danger awaits her: the Sweepers are looking for her. There's something special about Lucy, and they will stop at nothing to have her.

Following the successes of Epic, High, and Rough Water, the latest addition to the Adrenaline series presents the most gripping rescue narratives. Rescue includes Doug Scott's account of saving himself by crawling off Pakistan's Ogre with two broken legs, and Spike Walker's story of the race to recover a king crab fisherman from the Bering Sea in midwinter. The book also includes an account of trying to rescue two canoeists battling hypothermia on a storm-tossed lake; Alison Osius's tale of two teenagers lost in the Great Gulf Wilderness of New Hampshire; and a missionary doctor and his dog team being blown out to sea on an iceberg off the coast of Labrador.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

5 years [giveaway]

2011-07-27T00:01:00.008-04:00

Five years ago today I posted my first blog post. I think that's a pretty good excuse for a giveaway.

I like surprises so this giveaway will be a little bit different than the usual book-blog giveaway. There will be at least two winners and the prizes will be customized. If you win, I'll send you a book off your wishlist¹ and a copy of one of my favorite books that I think you'll like.

I'll be posting my choices for the winners on the blog, so don't enter if that makes you uncomfortable. Don't worry, I won't be buying erotica. I don't know any of you well enough for that.

I'm using the commission I've earned from Powells Partner Program to buy the books.² As I mentioned above, there will be at least two winners. The cost of my book selections will decide how many more. The more the merrier!

If you win, you'll need to be willing to provide me with your mailing address. The prizes may ship directly from Powells and they may or may not be wrapped.

Who can enter?

No location restrictions
Family and real-life friends are eligible
If you are a minor, have a parent or guardian submit an entry on your behalf
You don't have to be a follower, but you'll earn an extra entry if you are

Interested? Click here to enter. You have until Wednesday, August 10 (11:59 pm, EDT).³

Thanks for reading! I'm looking forward to the shopping I have ahead of me.

Amazon, LibraryThing, ... anywhere as long as it's publicly accessible.
circa $93
Eastern Daylight Time

adaptation: Bride & Prejudice

2011-07-25T18:37:00.004-04:00

Last week a coworker and fellow Austen fan she made a reference to how Mr. Bennet handles Mary's performance at the ball (in Pride and Prejudice) in conversation. Maya's wonderfully horrific cobra dance in Gurinder Chadha's Bollywood-style adaption, Bride & Prejudice, leapt to mind so I mentioned it. When my coworker admitted to not having seen the film, I insisted that she borrow my copy. This weekend I decided that I need to watch Bride & Prejudice once more before it left the house.

I have a soft spot for Bollywood films (and I loved Chadha's Bend it Like Beckham) so Bride & Prejudice was never a hard sell to me. Bride & Prejudice isn't perfect (above all - there are only 4 Bakshi girls, Kitty didn't make the cut), but I think it's true to the spirit of the original. The contemporary Indian setting works really well for the story because inherent in it is a more rigid social hierarchy and behavioral expectations reminiscent of Austen's time. Mrs. Bakshi works perfectly as a by-the-book Mrs. Bennet and she's believable within the setting.

Martin Henderson doesn't do much for me as Darcy (Balraj/Bingley is much more my type) and Aishwarya Rai is a bit too gorgeous for Lizzie, but otherwise I think the casting is quite good. The musical interludes are pretty well integrated (which is not always the case with Bollywood movies), though I could have done without Ashanti's guest appearance. The cobra dance bit mentioned above is my favorite scene from the whole film. Also Lakhi/Lydia (Peeya Rai Chowdhary) is an absolute crack up.

Two thumbs up! But, skip it if musicals (or modern interpretations of Austen) drive you to distraction.

I suspect my coworker is more of a purist than I am so I may post a follow-up when I've heard her comments on the film.

on weeding our book collection (post 5 of ?)

2011-07-23T19:18:00.005-04:00

We have, in our new place, six book-only bookcases. Three are mine (one five-shelf, one two-shelf, and one three-shelf), two Russell's, and one shared.

The last part of my pre- and post-move weeding and book organization project has been to get my LibraryThing library updated.

So far I've input (or updated the entries for) all the books housed in my two smaller, glass-front bookcases.

I first posted these photos in May (here) so the contents have altered slightly, but I thought I'd include them for illustrative purposes.

top shelf: 28 books
bottom shelf: 29 books

top shelf: 66 books
middle shelf: 30 books
bottom shelf: 38 books

I've been putting off the five-shelf case because (1) it has 5 shelves and (2) books are two deep on every shelf. I'll get to it eventually (and the books on the shared case).

Sync: Chanda's Secrets + Tess of the D'Ubervilles

2011-07-22T22:07:00.000-04:00

The fifth week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza started yesterday.

The offerings this week are
Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton and
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

Sixteen-year-old Chanda Kabelo has secrets. Her mother is acting strangely, her little sister is out of control, and her best friend is in serious trouble. To make matters worse, people are dying around her. Everyone is afraid to say why, but Chanda knows: it’s because of AIDS. Chanda's Secrets is a suspense-filled novel about a teenager who fights to rescue the people she loves. Through his dramatic story-telling, Allan Stratton captures the love of family, the loyalty of friends, the pain of bereavement, and a fearlessness that is powered by the heart. Above all, this is a story about the courage of living with truth

A ne'er-do-well exploits his gentle daughter's beauty for social advancement in this masterpiece of tragic fiction. Hardy's 1891 novel defied convention to focus on the rural lower class for a frank treatment of sexuality and religion. Then and now, his sympathetic portrait of a victim of Victorian hypocrisy offers compelling reading.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

2011-07-19T19:44:00.002-04:00

Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb

Fitz is the bastard son of the Six Duchies' king-in-waiting, Prince Chivalry, who abdicates the throne when he learns of Fitz's existence. Fitz is left in the care of Chivalry's gamekeeper until King Shrewd decides that Fitz must live in the keep and be trained. But Fitz is not given an education appropriate to a prince, he's apprenticed to Chade, King Shrewd's assassin. Fitz must put his talents, learned and innate, to use for the king because royal bastards are only kept alive as long as they are useful.

Assassin's Apprentice is the first book in the Farseer Trilogy (as well as being Hobb's debut novel). I'd weeded it (and its two mates) in my pre-move book destash. Russell insisted that I keep the books, though, because I had the entire set (and often it's difficult to acquire the later books in a series). I'm happy that I listened to him. I finished Assassin's Apprentice last night and have already started its sequel, Royal Assassin.

One of things I like about the world Hobb has created for the Farseer Trilogy is the royal family's custom of naming children after the virtues the parents hoped the child would embody. That added another level to the story for me. While reading I was constantly taking stock of the royals and to see to what extent each was ruled by his/her name.

More after I've finished the series.

a couple of things

2011-07-17T16:08:00.000-04:00

First, I want to thank Rhiannon Paille for featuring me on her blog last week.
If you don't know about her self-titled blog already, you should definitely check it out. Rhiannon is a really interesting person and I appreciate her book reviews and thoughts on the publishing industry.

Second, be sure to visit this blog later this month (in 10 days or so) as I have something extraordinary planned.
If you are one of those people who can't handle anticipation, you might a clue at the very bottom of this page if you look hard enough.

Have a great week, everyone.

The Courtier's Secret by Donna Russo Morin

2011-07-16T19:25:00.000-04:00

The Courtier's Secret by Donna Russo Morin

17-year-old Jeanne Du Bois was sent off to a convent seven years ago. When the sisters tire of her insolence, Jeanne is returned to court (Louis XIV's at Versailles). Stifled by the restrictions of life as a female courtier, Jeanne spends what free time she has eavesdropping on the palace's school room and sneaking off to fencing lessons with her uncle.

Jeanne's domineering father wants nothing more than to make her someone else's problem (and to make some money in the process). Evading an arranged marriage seems to be Jeanne's biggest problem. That is, until she accidentally saves the life of one of the King's Guard while dressed in her fencing uniform. When Jeanne is mistaken for a man and invited to join the Musketeers, Jean-Luc (her alter-ego) is born. Cue: endless costume changes.

I would not recommend this books to fans of serious historical fiction because I suspect that they'd be disappointed in it. I can see The Courtier's Secret being a gateway book for YA readers wanting to get into more series historical fiction. In fact The Courtier's Secret reads more like a YA novel than it does a novel written for adults. It's not just the age of the protagonist, but how Jeanne was written as well as the kind of story The Courtier's Secret is (action, adventure, romance with a young misunderstood protagonist and a mostly happily-ever-after ending) and the fact that the author seemed to play fast and loose with historical fact.

I'd class The Courtier's Secret as a nice, fluffy historical. A bodice-ripper without any real bodice-ripping. I did read The Courtier's Secret all the way through in one sitting, but found it unsatisfying and ultimately forgettable. The things that were included to add depth to the story were either overshadowed by the action or horribly contrived. And, while everything turns out fine for Jeanne, others go unpunished or unsaved.

Eutopia by David Nickel

2011-07-14T23:13:00.001-04:00

Please note that while this review doesn't include any big, end-of-novel spoilers, it does include a bit more plot detail than the publisher's blurb. Proceed with caution.

Eutopia by David Nickel

Subtitled "a novel of terrible optimism," Eutopia is a genre-bending novel with a title that promises a terrific blend of eugenics and utopia.¹

Set in 1911, Eutopia follows two outsiders navigating the remote mill town of Eliada, Idaho.

Andrew Waggoner is the junior physician at the Eliada Hospital. While his credentials are impeccable, he's a Negro and his presence is tolerated only because it is mandated by the town's patron.

17-year-old Jason Thistledown has miraculously survived a plague that killed the entire population of Cracked Wheel when his long-lost aunt arrives in the area as part of her census for the Eugenics Records Office. Untethered Justin agrees to accompany his aunt on to Eliada, where she has an appointment with a colleague.

Eutopia was not at all what I expected and I have to say that I didn't like it. I expected a story where the villains were overzealous proponents of eugenics. There were those, but the story also included a paranormal element that I just could not appreciate.

I enjoyed the beginning of the book and was intrigued by where I thought the author was taking the plot, but when it became apparent that the mysterious Mr. Juke was a faerie/monster rather than someone locked away for study because of his intriguing (to the eugenicist doctor) deformities, I lost interest. I did finish the entire book, but only because I had Eutopia slated for review.

I know there are readers out there who will love Eutopia, but I'm not one of them. The novel definitely leads more toward horror, so if you like horror (fantastic rather than realistic)² with a historical bent, you want want to give Eutopia a try.

For those of you unfamiliar with eugenics, it is a science (popular in the early 20th century) focused on bettering the human race (usually through the culling of undesirable elements; forced sterilization programs and the like). Here's a page with lots of information.
I don't usually read horror so I have no idea if those are the right adjectives to use. What I'm trying to get at is human "monster"(s) versus supernatural monsters.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Eutopia from ChiZine via NetGalley.

Sync: Revenge of the Witch + Beowulf

2011-07-14T00:26:00.002-04:00

I hope you all don't mind these reminder posts. I have to admit that doing them is a bit self-serving as it has helped me to remember to download the books.

Today's the beginning of the fourth week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza.

The offerings this week are
Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney and
Beowulf, translated by Francis B. Gummere.

Revenge of the Witch is the first book in Delaney's Wardstone Chronicles / Last Apprentice series. It has also been published under the title The Spook's Apprentice.
For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried — some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive.
Only Thomas Ward is left. He's the last hope — the last apprentice.
Can Thomas succeed? Will he learn the difference between a benign witch and a malevolent one? Does the Spook's warning against girls with pointy shoes include Alice? And what will happen if Thomas accidentally frees Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the county?

The first true masterpiece of English literature, Beowulf depicts the thrilling adventures of a Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. Part history and part mythology, Beowulf begins in the court of the Danish king, where a demon named Grendel devours men in their sleep. The mighty warrior Beowulf kills the monster, but rejoicing turns to terror when Grendel's mother attacks the hall to avenge the death of her child. After slaying the mighty beast, Beowulf becomes king, ruling peacefully for fifty years. But the day comes when he must confront a foe more powerful than any he has yet faced--an ancient dragon who guards a horde of treasure. Once again Beowulf must gather his strength and courage to defeat the monster, but this time victory exacts a terrible price.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

Life from Scratch by Melissa Ford

2011-07-12T20:43:00.007-04:00

Life from Scratch by Melissa Ford

34-year-old Rachel Goldman has decided to take a year off to "find herself" in the wake of her divorce. She starts a blog, in which she chronicles her adventures in the kitchen (she's learning to cook since she can't afford to eat out anymore) and struggles navigating life on her own.

I saw Life from Scratch in my review queue last time I loaded up my Nook, but I didn't remember requesting it. I'm glad that I had it because it's exactly the kind of book I need right now. Life from Scratch doesn't require a lot from its reader. It provided a wonderful distraction and its ending was unexpectedly satisfying.

Rachel is both protagonist and narrator. Straightforward first-person narration is interspersed with the text of Rachel's blog posts, which are mostly vignettes about cooking. Rachel is self-involved (to the point that she completely missed out on the fact that her best friend was dating someone for the first time in years), but likable enough that you'll forgive her for it. Rachel's unintentional obtuseness is emphasized by the fact that the novel's plot twists are (intentionally?) fairly obvious.

A nice, light read, perfect for summer reading.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Life from Scratch from Bell Bridge Books via NetGalley.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

2011-07-11T21:12:00.001-04:00

Last night I finished the other book I picked up on my visit to The Strand last month.

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

Four children with unusual talents are recruited for a top-secret mission. There is only one rule - there are no rules.
How can they work together to save the world?
A cracking adventure begins...

Reynie Muldoon, Sticky Washington, Kate Wetherall, and Constance Contraire each answer a curious ad in the paper ("Are you a gifted child looking for special opportunities?") and pass a series of befuddling tests before meeting Mr. Benedict, an intelligent eccentric who has a mission for them. The mission can only be completed by a group of children and the fate of the world is at stake.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is the first in a series (followed by MBS and the Perilous Journey and MBS and the Prisoner's Dilemma). I doubt I'll read the other books because I didn't enjoy The Mysterious Benedict Society as much as I thought I would (BUT I'm not exactly the target audience).¹ I plan to send my copy of The Mysterious Benedict Society to... hmmmm... I was going to say "nieces" (children of sister-in-law #3), but now I'm thinking my nephew (son of sister-in-law #2) would like it as well. Maybe I'll have to buy a second copy.

The book is quite long (my British edition is 472 pages) and it dragged for me. I liked the first part of the book much better (the foundation of the society) than the mission itself (which should have been the exciting bit).

Readings in American History

2011-07-10T17:15:00.000-04:00

Russell often reads me tidbits from the books he's reading. I've posted them occasionally in the past (the first that comes to mind ended up in my blogger profile), but today¹ it occurred to me that maybe I should make these a more formal (if sporadic) feature. For now they'll be called "Readings in American History" (following my first-year humanities course at Chicago, Readings in World Literature). The title may change, but he's on an American (or at least North American) history² reading kick right now so it should suffice for now.

A bit of Crucible of War: The Seven Years War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 by Fred Anderson:

Of more immediate consequence for the governments of Pennsylvania and Virginia was an event that occurred not long not long after the [treaty] conference [at Logstown, PA in the spring of 1752] ended, two hundred miles farther west, at Pickawillany--the Miami town where George Croghan and his associates maintained their trading post. At about nine o'clock on the morning of June 21, 1752, a party of about 180 Chippewa and 30 Ottawa warriors, accompanied by 30 French soldiers from Detroit under the command of a French-Ottawa office named Charles-Michel Mouet de Langlade, attacked the settlement. Most of Pickawillany's men were away hunting; most of its women, who had been working in the cornfields, were made captive. After a six-hour attack, Langlade called a cease-fire. He would, he said, return the women and spare the defenders (who numbered only about twenty) if they agreed to surrender to the traders. Lacking any alternative, the defenders agreed, then looked on while the raiders demonstrated what the consequences of trading with the English could be. First they dispatched a wounded trader "and took out his heart and eat it"; then they turned their attention to the settlement's headman, Memeskia. This chief, known to the French as La Demoiselle, had lately acquired a new sobriquet, Old Briton, from Croghan and his colleagues. Now, to repay "his attachment to the English" and to acquire his powers for themselves, the raiders "boiled [him] and eat him all up." Then, with five profoundly apprehensive traders and a vast amount of booty in hand, they returned to Detroit. Behind them lay the smoking ruin that, twenty-four house earlier, had been one of the largest settlements and the richest trading point went of the Appalachians. (28-29)

This falls into the "weren't things great back then?" category.

Incidentally, today's our anniversary.
A Seven Years War / War of 1812 kick to be more precise.

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

2011-07-09T23:36:00.001-04:00

Legacy by Cayla Kluver

"I really have no choice," I said, confident he would acknowledge the difficulty of my circumstances.
"You always have a choice." (295)

17-year-old Alera is Crown Princess of Hytanica. Custom dictates that she marry on her eighteenth birthday, after which point her father will retire from his responsibilities as king. Alera will be queen, but her husband will be the true ruler of the kingdom. Alera's father has the perfect candidate lined up--Steldor, the conceited son of the Captain of the Guard--but Alera can't stand him. Alera wants to marry for love, but Steldor's the only person who seems to meet all of her father's qualifications.

Alera's biggest concern is avoiding her father's heavy-handed matchmaking, until an intruder is found on the castle grounds. With the unexpected reappearance of a Hytanican boy kidnapped by Cokyri sixteen years ago and presumed dead, Hytanica's unofficial and tentative truce with its mortal enemy is in doubt. No one knows what to make of Narian or where his loyalties lie, but Alera finds him strangely compelling.

Legacy is fantasy romance and first book in a trilogy. It's best that I share that information right off the bat because the novel ends cliffhanger-style.¹ Also of interest is the fact that the author is only eighteen (she was fourteen when Legacy was first released as a self-published ebook, which means that she was writing the series as a tween). I suspect that much of the attention the book has gotten so far (and will continue to get) is due to the author's age, but I do like the idea of Harlequin TEEN publishing a book written by a teenager.

Regardless of the author's age, I wasn't expecting high, literary fiction from an imprint focused on romance for the teen audience. I can't say that Legacy gave me exactly what I expect from this type of novel because it exceeded my expectations. There's depth here that I didn't anticipate.

Alera is a sympathetic protagonist. She's a princess, but she's also dealing with normal teenage problems inherent becoming an adult while trying balance her desires against the high expectations of her parents. She makes incredibly stupid decisions because she doesn't always think through the consequences of her actions.

As for the other points of Alera's love triangle - Narian is enigmatic, the mysterious bad boy with a heart of gold, but there are things Alera doesn't know about his past that might their match disastrous. And, there's more to Steldor than meets the eye and his suit has support from unexpected corners.

Philosophical differences between the opposing countries add an interesting dimension to the series. Hytanican society is male-dominated, while Cokyri is matriarchal. By one account, a Hytanican's ambassador's disrespect toward Cokyri's female ruler 100 years ago is the reason that the two countries went to war in the first place.

There's also a strong theme of free will in Legacy. Alera isn't the only character struggling with duty and destiny. The struggles the characters face aren't limited to duty versus desire, but rather doing what is right whether it is expected of you or not.

Harlequin Teen doesn't seem to have set a release date for the second book in the trilogy, Allegiance, Kluver's website indicates that it will be 9-12 months after Legacy's June 28, 2011 release.

I, for one, am not all that found of that device. I prefer my novels--even those in a series--to have some sort of resolution, satisfactory or not.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Legacy from Harlequin Teen via NetGalley.

bad books?

2011-07-08T07:48:00.003-04:00

First of all - Book bloggers, I'm looking for some book suggestions. Please see item 3 on this post.

Now on to our regularly-scheduled follow-friday question post.

What is the worst book that you've ever read and actually finished?

The single worst book? I really have no idea. I've gotten so much better at giving myself permission to stop reading books that I'm not enjoying at all. So far I've had two did-not-finish books (see this post). My most punishing read-all-the-way-through book of recent memory was probably The Passage by Justin Cronin (see post) just because it was horribly long and slowly paced and not nearly as intriguing as I'd hoped it'd be.
I know that doesn't strictly answer the question, but that's all I've got this morning.

If you are visiting this blog for the first time, welcome! This is Karen. I'm a librarian and archivist and I've been writing this blog since 2006. Some of my favorite books are All We Know of Love (schneider), The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (kundera), The God of Small Things (roy), The Handmaid's Tale (atwood), Pride and Prejudice (austen), The Storyteller (vargas llosa), and Zahrah the Windseeker (okorafor-mbachu).

Here are my posts since my last follow-friday post (I skipped last week):

Sync: Where the Streets Had a Name + Passage to India

2011-07-07T00:02:00.000-04:00

Today's the beginning of the third week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza.

The offerings this week are
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah and
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster.

Thirteen year old Hayaat is on a mission. She believes a handful of soil from her grandmother's ancestral home in Jerusalem will save her beloved Sitti Zeynab's life. The only problem is that Hayaat and her family live behind the impenetrable wall that divides the West Bank, and they're on the wrong side of check points, curfews, and the travel permit system. Plus, Hayaat's best friend Samy always manages to attract trouble. But luck is on the pair's side as they undertake the journey to Jerusalem from the Palestinian Territories when Hayaat and Samy have a curfew-free day to travel.
But while their journey may only be a few kilometers long, it could take a lifetime to complete. . . .
Humorous and heartfelt, Where the Streets Had a Name deals with the Israel-Palestinian conflict with sensitivity and grace and will open a window on this timely subject.

Among the greatest novels of the twentieth century, A Passage to India tells of the clash of cultures in British India after the turn of the century. In exquisite prose, Forster reveals the menace that lurks just beneath the surface of ordinary life, as a common misunderstanding erupts into a devastating affair.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer

2011-07-05T21:40:00.002-04:00

The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer

As I mentioned before, I picked up The Dream of Perpetual Motion at the Strand (for some reason this bookstore requires the definite article). I was intrigued by the novel's title and cover design (art and text).

I can't say that I enjoyed reading The Dream of Perpetual Motion, but I did find it strangely compelling.¹ I think I may have enjoyed it more if I had a better grasp on The Tempest (I've never read this play - horror of horrors!), which is heavily referenced in the novel.

The Dream of Perpetual Motion is around the turn of the (20th) century in a city called Xeroville. The "age of miracles" is gone, but only just.² It is now the age of technology, of mechanization, of The Future. No one has done more to usher in this machine age than Prospero Taligent, inventor, entrepreneur, originator of mechanical men, and adoptive father of Miranda.
The novel's protagonist and narrator is one Harold Winslow (read: Ferdinand), a greeting-card writer, who has been imprisoned on a zeppelin powered by perpetual motion technology. Harold is alone, but for the cryogenically frozen body of his jailer (Prospero), the disembodied voice of his only love (Miranda), and the automata maintaining the zeppelin. The text of The Dream of Perpetual Motion is that of the journal in which Harold explains how exactly he came to be in his current predicament, interjecting his narrative with brief updates on his present circumstances.

I found The Dream of Perpetual Motion profoundly disorienting. The novel's prose is evocative and often dreamlike. It is for the most part very slow-paced and the emphasis on language (rather than plot) tends to slow it down even more.

I've been thinking that I didn't like The Dream of Perpetual Motion, but that can't possibly be true, not when I look at the evidence. I've already confessed on this blog to dog-earring my own books so I can freely admit that I did so to my copy of The Dream of Perpetual Motion. Not to keep my place, but to mark pages to which I wanted to return. Ten of them. Ten really is quite a lot for me, a book of this size would usually only yield 1-3. Here are a couple of passages that I wanted to revisit:

"Write down what you think happened, or what you believe happened, of something like what might have happened. All these things are better in the end than writing down nothing at all; all are true in their own way" (113).
"an imperfect grace is never what we seek when we fantasize about our futures, when we dream of a long life with someone we claim to love or we build machines that we read about in science fiction. We want all possible things made actual, the perpetual possibility of perfection, the best of all futures all at once. But whatever we accomplish in the end never measures up. We always fail. We always fall short. Because when we see the perfect thing before us we fell we have to touch it. And then it vanishes or bruises or turns to show its hidden flaws or turns to dust" (340-341).

That being said, the bits of the novel that I found really and truly interesting were few and far between. Thinking back, I keep remembering little bits and wishing that they could have been expanded on.

If I haven't made it clear already, The Dream of Perpetual Motion is no steampunk adventure novel. Yes, I think we can safely consider it steampunk, but The Dream of Perpetual Motion is literary to a fault. Palmer has created an interesting world, but its obscured rather than illuminated by his prose.

I'm going to leave The Dream of Perpetual Motion among my other books for now. I feel like I should reread it after reading The Tempest, but I'm not altogether sure that I want to.

I'll admit that I've been procrastinating. I haven't wanted to post about the novel because I really have no idea what to write. The draft of this post has been stalled for ages, but I'm making myself push through today whether I like it or not.
I was so intrigued by the references to this earlier time period. Here's one: "By the time the touring Exposition of the Future came to our town, all the signs were in the air that the age of miracles was almost at its end. It wasn't uncommon to see sights like an angle staggering down the middle of a street in broad daylight, weaving like a drunkard, clutching its hand to its stomach and vomiting up blood. My father was a metalsmith, and more than half his income in those last days came from demons, who'd come to the back door of his establishment under cover of night, sacks of silver clutched in their clawed hands, begging him to use his tools to file off their magnificent curling horns" (190-191).

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

2011-07-03T14:15:00.006-04:00

Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman

Domestic Violets and I did not get off to a good start. I was eager to read it, mostly because it was being touted on The Olive Reader,¹ but I was completely put off by the first chapter. I'm not even sure that I made it through the first chapter the first time I picked up Domestic Violets. The novel opens with its protagonist, Tom Violet, angst-ridden over his inappropriately flaccid penis. I had no patience for that so set Domestic Violets aside in favor of one of the other books loaded onto my Nook. If I hadn't gotten Domestic Violets from NetGalley and felt duty-bound to review it, I probably wouldn't have picked it up again. But, I'm glad that I did. By the time I finished Domestic Violets, my irritations² seemed minor.

So many aspiring writers dream of writing the great American novel.³ I can't say that Norman's debut is the novel, but it shows great potential. In Domestic Violets Norman writes thoughtfully and comedically about contemporary American life (the realities of and the disenchantment inherent therein).

Protagonist Tom does suffer from erectile dysfunction (as well as any number of other marital and employment-related difficulties), but his main problem is that he's an aspiring novelist living under the shadow of his hugely successful father. While it seems strange to think of bildungsroman with a 35-year-old protagonist, Domestic Violets is very much a coming-of-age tale. The action of the novel takes place over a relatively short amount of time, during which Tom finds both the need and the will to consider what he does and does not like about his life and make some necessary changes.

Domestic Violets will be published in September.

Check out the book you should read this fall.
Yes, that's irritations-plural. I wasn't keen on the Gregory character and the over-the-top way he and Tom interacted.
Maybe that should be Great American Novel.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Domestic Violets from HarperCollins via NetGalley.

first half of 2011

2011-07-02T22:21:00.001-04:00

Here's the rundown of all the books I've read so far this year (including links to reviews when available).

I got my Nook at the end of December so this was my first six months using an e-reader. That and the move stress may explain why these selections seem a bit heavier on YA, paranormal, and romance than is usual for me.

My favorite was Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde.

Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S Pratt
His Wicked Ways by Samantha James
Peeps by Scott Westerfeld (see post)
L.A. Candy by Lauren Conrad (see post)
City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Corduroy Mansions by Alexander McCall Smith (see post)
Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (see post)
The Devil Wears Plaid by Teresa Medeiros
Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (reread; see post)
Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (see post)
King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner (see post)
Evernight by Claudia Gray (see post)
Sweetblood by Pete Hautman (see post)
The Summoner by Layton Green (see post)
Sweet Little Lies by Lauren Conrad
The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan
His Wicked Promise by Samantha James
Sugar and Spice by Lauren Conrad
Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen (see post)
Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
Victoria and the Rogue by Meg Cabot
Alphas by Lisi Harrison (see post)
Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde (see post)
The Possessed by Elif Batuman (see post)
The Help by Kathryn Stockett (see post)
Beastly by Alex Flinn (see post)
Head over Heels by Susan Andersen
Insatiable by Meg Cabot
Baby, Don't Go by Susan Andersen
Blood Promise by Richelle Mead
Clara and Mr. Tiffany by Susan Vreeland
The Luxe by Anna Godbersen
Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead
Flawless by Sara Shepard
The Host by Stephenie Meyer (reread; see post)
Nicola and the Viscount by Meg Cabot
Last Sacrifice by Richelle Mead
Steamed by Katie MacAlister (see post)
Millie's Fling by Jill Mansell
Strange Neighbors by Ashlyn Chase
Homicide in Hardcover by Kate Carlisle
The Lady Most Likely by Julia Quinn
City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (see post)
City of Ashes by Cassandra Clare (see post)
Pleasure Grounds, J. Haley, editor
City of Glass by Cassandra Clare (see post)
The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (see post)
Frost Moon by Anthony Francis (see post)
The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson (see post)
Hotel Angeline, 36 authors (see post)
White Woman on the Green Bicycle by Monique Roffey (see post)
The Goddess Test by Aimee Carter (see post)
Agatha Heterodyne and the Beetleburg Clank by Kaja and Phil Foglio
Mothers and Daughters by Rae Meadows (see post)
Mercy by Rebecca Lim (see post)
Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories (see post)
First Impressions by Debra White Smith
Stranger by Zoe Archer (see post)
Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson (see post)
The Poisoned House by Michael Ford (see post)
The Maid by Kimberly Cutter (see post)
The Dream of Perpetual Motion by Dexter Palmer (review forthcoming)
Soulless by Gail Carriger (see post)
Book of Lies by Mary Horlock (see post)
Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman (review forthcoming)
The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook (see post)
Ghost Ship by P.J. Alderman
Changeless by Gail Carriger (see post)
Blameless by Gail Carriger (see post)
Everything We Ever Wanted by Sara Shepard (review forthcoming)
City of Masks by Mary Hoffman (reread; see post)

There were two books that I did not finish:

Fallen by Lauren Kate (gave up halfway through)
The Sportsman by Dhani Jones (not my cup of tea; a review is still forthcoming because Russell's reading it)

Literary Blog Directory

2011-07-01T21:56:00.002-04:00

Sam over at Tiny Library, a blog I discovered today (through the Book Blogs community on Ning, which I just joined), is starting up a directory of blogs that focus completely/mostly/sometimes on literary and/or non-genre fiction.

Literary Blog Directory

I think it'll be a good resource for people overwhelmed by genre-centric book blogs.

Of course I asked to be included (I love that she asks people to list some of their favorite books). It looks like I'm number 14.

You can sign up here. More information is available in this post.

The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock

2011-07-01T13:16:00.001-04:00

The Book of Lies by Mary Horlock

We talk about getting away and seeing the world, but we never do. We stay here making the same mistakes, over and over. (8)

The Book of Lies opens in late 1985 with 15-year-old Cat Rozier admitting that she's murdered her best friend, Nicolette. Her narrative then begins to chart the short history of Cat's tumultuous relationship with Nic. Cat's written confession is interspersed with pages of documents that Cat found in her late father's office. Those documents tell the story of Cat's uncle Charlie, "who got in trouble with the Germans and ended up being starved and tortured and driven mad. He only just survived the War and he was the reason Dad made himself an expert on said German Occupation" (27).

Cat is such a wonderfully real character, a teenager through and through. Self-satisfied and self-loathing by turns, Cat is angsty and witty, judgmental and clueless. She's also a bit of a drama queen, a snarky one. Her voice is so very authentic (and that can be very hard to pull off). One line in particular made me laugh out loud.¹

Some readers may be put off by the novel's format (split narrative with footnotes), but I thought it worked really well for the story Horlock was trying to tell.² And, while Cat and Charlie's stories are quite different, they parallel nicely.

The novel is also full of truisms. This one had particular resonance for me: "I suppose that's the thing about History, there are always several versions of that thing we call the truth" (213).

The Book of Lies is a strong debut for Horlock. I do hope that people people aren't Guernsied out after The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. The Book of Lies does deal with occupied Guernsey, but it has so much more to offer (if nothing else the 1980s storyline deals with bullying). I know lots of book clubs read Guernsey Literary (mine included) and while I think that The Book of Lies would provide plenty of discussion fodder on its own, it would be a perfect follow-up for Guernsey Literary.

The Book of Lies will be released in mid July.

I'm not quite sure why, but I found this hysterical at the time: "Mr. McCracken asked after Mum and called her a 'trouper,' but I thought he said a 'grouper,' which is a fish. I replied that Mum didn't like water and hot climates" (30).
And, I do love footnotes

disclosure: I received a review copy of The Book of Lies from HarperCollins via NetGalley.

Take a Chance Reading Challenge update

2011-06-30T20:36:00.007-04:00

Book-blogging readers, please see #3.

I can't believe that we're halfway through the year. How am I doing on my Take a Chance Reading Challenge (see post)? Not particularly well.
ETA: for reference, I've read a total of 73 books so far this year

Let's go over all my categories.

1. Staff Member’s Choice: Go to a bookstore or library that has a “Staff Picks” section. Read one of the picks from that section.

From Buffalo, NY independent book store Talking Leaves' Staff Book Recommendations page:
The Magicians by Lev Grossman recommended by Alicia (not yet read)
I did try to check out the staff recommendations in person, but couldn't find them in the Main Street location before I was overpowered by the strange fishy mildew smell that permeated the shop.

2. Loved One’s Choice: Ask a loved one to pick a book for you to read. (If you can convince them to buy it for you, that is even better!)

Jessica - gave me a choice:
- Delirium by Lauren Oliver (published this year)
- Will Grayson Will Grayson by John Green
- A Proper Education for Girls by Elaine diRollo
- The Spellmen Files by Lisa Lutz
I'll likely read them all though not necessarily within the next 6 months.
Nancy - Woman's World (she bought me a copy! not yet read)
Russell - something by Neal Stephenson (I'm reading The Diamond Age now; full disclosure: he wanted to make me read all three volumes of The Lord of the Rings, but I talked him out of it)

3. Blogger’s Choice: Find a “Best Books Read” post from a favorite blogger. Read a book from their list.

I never got around to picking something for this category. Maybe I'll browse the best-of-2011-so-far lists that people are posting.
Suggestions are welcome!

4. Critic’s Choice: Find a “Best of the Year” list from a magazine, newspaper or professional critic. Read a book from their Top 10 list.

Here's Library Journal's first ever best of list:
- By Nightfall by Michael Cunningham
- Room by Emma Donoghue
- American Terroir: Savoring the Flavors of Our Woods, Waters, and Fields by Rowan Jacobsen
- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
- The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson
None read as yet, but I think I'll probably read Room.

5. Blurb Book: Find a book that has a blurb on it from another author. Read a book by the author that wrote the blurb.

I'm going to skip this one.

6. Book Seer Pick: Go to The Book Seer and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.

Using The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo yielded the following suggestions:
- The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson (2nd in series; read in April)
- The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest by Stieg Larsson (3rd in series; read in April)
- One Day by David Nicholls
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett (see #9 below; is nothing like Dragon Tattoo)
- The Snowman by Jo Nesbo
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- Sister by Rosamund Lupton
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer (already read; is nothing like Dragon Tattoo)
- The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

7. What Should I Read Next Pick: Go to What Should I Read Next and follow the instructions there. Read a book from the list it generates for you.

Inputting Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins yields diverse results. Among them are City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (read in April).

8. Which Book Pick: Go to Which Book and use the software to generate a list of books. Read a book from that list.

I'm skipping this one. The selection criteria are too vague to be useful to me.

Apparently I've read all but three of the "25 most reviewed books" on LibrayThing (as of January):
- Any Given Doomsday by Lori Handeland
- The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (I intend to read this one, though I don't have a copy yet)
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett (read in February)

10a. Public Spying: Find someone who is reading a book in public. Find out what book they are reading and then read the same book. Write about it.

I'm dropping this one. I never realized how hard it was to see what people are reading when they are reading in public. Oh you can see that they are reading a mass market paperback or an e-reader, but unless a book has a really distinctive cover... and, well, I don't like asking strangers about what they are reading.

Ditto. I realized that I really didn't want to spend my time reading bestsellers from September 1975.

Sync: Little Brother + The Trial

2011-06-30T00:01:00.001-04:00

Today's the beginning of the second week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza.

The offerings this week are
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow and
The Trial by Franz Kafka.

Marcus, a.k.a “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.
But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.
When the DHS finally releases them, Marcus discovers that his city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: to take down the DHS himself.

Written in 1914, The Trial is one of the most important novels of the twentieth century: the terrifying tale of Josef K., a respectable bank officer who is suddenly and inexplicably arrested and must defend himself against a charge about which he can get no information. Whether read as an existential tale, a parable, or a prophecy of the excesses of modern bureaucracy wedded to the madness of totalitarianism, Kafka's nightmare has resonated with chilling truth for generations of readers.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

word: concinnitous

2011-06-29T07:53:00.001-04:00

I've been working my way through Neal Stephenson's The Diamond Age. ("working" because science fiction is a bit challenging for me)

Last night I came upon an interesting unfamiliar word, presented here in context:

"Pardon me, Your Honor, the concept is not easy to explain--there is an ineffable quality to some technology, described by its creators as concinnitous, or technically sweet, or a nice hack--signs that it was made with great care by one who was not merely motivated but inspired." (102)

Obviously Stephenson, in the voice of Miss Pao, provides a nice explanation, but I felt the need to dig a little deeper.

Apparently concinnitous (adjective) is an anglicized version of the Latin concinnitas (root concinnus). The noun concinnity seems to be more widely used (though mostly with regard to language or rhetoric).

I really do need to learn Latin.

The Maid by Kimberly Cutter

2011-06-27T20:40:00.003-04:00

The Maid by Kimberly Cutter

She looked up at her saints in the stained-glass windows, Saint Catherine, Saint Margaret, Saint Clare... those tall, sad, lovely women illuminated by the sun. She though of their enormous love for God, their heroic lives, their miracles. How they'd found a way to be bigger, better, to do good, fight evil, escape the mud, the smallness of life. She thought they were the luckiest people in the world. (32)

I've been fascinated by Joan of Arc since I first heard her story so I was quite excited to read Kimberly Cutter's novelization of her life.

Cutter begins The Maid with Jehanne (this is the proper period spelling of her given name) incarcerated and awaiting her death. Jehanne's recollections while in prison are the source of the novel's primary narrative, which begins with Jehanne at age twelve when she first received her visions.

Jehanne may be a saint, but she's also a teenage girl and Cutter does a wonderful job of portraying her as a flawed human being. Cutter's Jehanne is impatient, she gets mad, she feels temptation and doubt. However Jehanne is not a particularly sympathetic character and it's not because she's more than a little bit self-righteous.¹ I assume that Cutter makes Jehanne difficult to identify with to highlight for readers just how confounding Jehanne's contemporaries found her to be.

One of the most interesting things about The Maid is how the secondary characters react to Jehanne. Jehanne has many fair-weather supporters and it seems like nearly every character in the novel changes the way he or she behaves toward Jehanne depending on the circumstances and whether she's in favor or not.

The Maid is well-researched and the battle scenes in particular seem authentic. Cutter also includes an author's note, which provides additional context and possible explanations for some of the more confusing things about Jehanne and her story. It also justifies the sexual content of the novel.

There was one thing in particular that bothered me about The Maid. Michael and the saints who speak to Jehanne have have pet names for her. Pet names like darling and cabbage. Yes, Margaret calls her cabbage.² It may be minor quibble, but this use of pet names was incongruous and it occurred many times over the course of the novel, irritating me afresh with each instance.

Part of the reason this irritated me so much--besides the fact that something like "my child" seems more appropriate way for them to refer to her--is that Jehanne never seems like she needs comforting endearments. Even at twelve, she is wise beyond her years. For example:

She never considered telling the priest about her voices. She knew he would hate her for it. Would not be able to help hating her for it. He was a gentle main, Pere Guillaume, a decent main even, but fearful too. Scared, trembling beneath his holy robes. You could see it in his face. The thin purple lips, the dry papery white hands, the cold, silent judgments... She knew if she told him, he would see to it that she suffered. He would not inflict the suffering himself, that was not his way, but he would tell someone who would be sure to inflict it. (33)

The Maid will be published in October 2011.

Self-righteousness is something I expected from Jehanne, much more so than a desire to experience sexual pleasure.
pages 14, 58, and 171. Yes, the cabbage endearment irritated me so much that I took note.

disclosure: I received a review copy of The Maid from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley.

The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger

2011-06-26T12:54:00.000-04:00

Since Heartless, the fourth book in Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series, is dropping this week, it seems like the perfect time to write about the series, which I started reading just this month.

The first three books in the series are Soulless, Changeless, and Blameless. As with any series, the synopses of the later books include spoilers so read them at your own risk.

The Parasol Protectorate books are not particularly easy to classify. They're steampunk paranormal romance and/or mysteries.¹ They're set primarily in a Victorian England (Queen Victoria is a secondary character) that has fully integrated paranormals (in this case werewolves, vampires, and ghosts) into society. It is widely know that humans with an excess of soul can become ghosts when they die, they can also be successfully turned into vampires or werewolves (humans with a normal amount of soul, however, don't survive the process).

The protagonist of the series, one Alexia Tarabotti, is a bit of an enigma. She's half English and half Italian, tall and curvaceous, but darkly complected with an overlarge nose. A confirmed spinster at five and twenty. Alexia's mother never even bothered to put her on the market, given her looks, strong personality, and bluestocking tendencies. She's also a preternatural, a very rare person lacking any soul whatsoever, a trait she inherited from the Italian father she never knew. While this fact is widely known within the paranormal community, polite society knows her only as eccentric.

The books are light, but filled with personality. The world Carriger has created is interesting (I particularly like that the success of the British empire is tied to the integration of the paranormal elements into society) and the restrictions she puts on the paranormal species seem to be in line with their various mythoi and make their integration into society seem like something the populace would actually accept.

Alexia is unique and likable. The series' secondary characters are a wonderfully full cast and often provide additional comic relief. Two of my favorites are Ivy and Prof. Lyall. Miss Ivy Hisselpenny, Alexia's best friend, has a weakness for atrocious hats and a gift for garbling the English language (she's constantly misusing idioms and the like). Professor Lyall is the long-suffering beta of the Woolsey pack (the focus of his academic research is quite funny, but I won't mention that here since it doesn't come up until book 3).

After reading Soulless, I placed an order for the other books straight away (clearing out my Amazon gift certificate balance). Once Changeless and Blameless arrived, I inhaled them.

Amberkatze of Amberkatze's Book Blog has an interview with Carriger and a drawing for a signed copy of Soulless (book 1) open through June 30.

If you like the clothes featured on the American covers of the Parasol Protectorate books, you may want to check out Clockwork Couture. Steely Daniella's Corseted Bustle Skirt is featured on the covers of Heartless and Timeless (forthcoming March 2012). The Victorian 2 Piece Traveling Suit appears on the covers of the first three books.

Also, Carriger has a couple blogs: her main blog and her recently launched Retro Rack.

Soulless is paranormal romance with some mystery/suspense, while the other books tend more toward the mystery side of things.

of fairies and fairy tales

2011-06-24T18:04:00.000-04:00

In light of the Summer Solstice. Also known as Midsummer...let's talk about fairies. What is your favorite fairy tale or story that revolves around the fae?

I don't know that I have a favorite fairy tale. What I like most about fairy tales are how they are part of our collective memory and imagination. To that end I love stories that are inspired by fairy tales. I like retellings as well, but not nearly as much as stories that take ideas from or aspects of fairy tales are run with them. A couple good examples of this are Castle Waiting by Linda Medley (see post) and The Witch's Boy by Michael Gruber.

As for books featuring fairies, two sets of books come to mind. First, Shanna Swendson's Katie Chandler series and, second, Charles de Lint's books. Of course I recommend both.

If you are visiting this blog for the first time, welcome! This is Karen. I'm a librarian and archivist and I've been writing this blog since 2006. Some of my favorite books are All We Know of Love (schneider), The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (kundera), The God of Small Things (roy), The Handmaid's Tale (atwood), Pride and Prejudice (austen), The Storyteller (vargas llosa), and Zahrah the Windseeker (okorafor-mbachu).

Here are my posts since my last Friday:

Sync: Shiver + Romeo and Juliet

2011-06-23T00:01:00.002-04:00

Just a reminder that today is the beginning of the first week of Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza.

The offerings this week are Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and Romeo & Juliet.

Note: these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to listening to them right away.

I'm going to assume that all my readers are familiar with Romeo & Juliet and just include the synopsis for Shiver.

For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human... until the cold makes him shift back again.

Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.

More information about Sync is available in this post.

why I hate moving

2011-06-22T08:10:00.002-04:00

This is really just an FYI post. It will likely be a bit quiet here on morsie reads for the next few days.

Those of you who have followed the blog for any length of time will know that I recently relocated for a new job and that I hate moving. Well my employer has a new building where the administrative offices and the library will be located henceforth. The library move hasn't been scheduled yet, but the main office move is happening this weekend.

You'd think that this first phase of the relocation should be no big deal for me. After all I've only been in this job for a few month, how much stuff could I have accumulated in my office? If only things we're that simple... I've actually moved over all my office files. All that's left to move from my office is my desktop dalek, a light table, and a card file.

BUT I'm responsible for all the boxes of files that have been stashed in the basement mail room over the years (~200), both the permanent records and those awaiting disposition (as well as material that should have been downstairs that is only coming to light now that everyone is serious about packing). I have loads of lovely, brand new compact shelving, but there is no wasted space. The record shelves are the perfect size for bankers boxes with properly fitting lids. Anyone care to guess how many boxes are either unnecessarily oversized or overpacked?

I intended to finish up a half-written review last night, but I was simply too exhausted from packing and repacking boxes yesterday. I suspect the next few days with yield more of the same exhaustion. Wish me luck.

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson

2011-06-20T08:21:00.005-04:00

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away by Christie Watson

"Sometimes, things fall apart," said Grandma, "so we can put them together in a new way" (395).

Blessing and her brother Ezikiel have grown up in the most fashionable part of Lagos. Their family had their own generator, sent the children to a posh private school, spoke only English, and were easily able to afford special foods for Ezikiel who is allergic to groundnuts (a staple in the Nigerian diet). All that changes, though, when Blessing's father is caught with another woman. When Father leaves, Blessing's mother Timi is unable to afford life in the city. She is forced to return to her family in Warri, the remote village where she grew up.

Warri is like a foreign country to Blessing and Ezikiel. The family, led by Alhaji (Blessing's grandfather), has converted from Christianity to Islam. The family's compound has no electricity or plumbing; gunboats float down the river. Alhaji is a trained petroleum engineer without a job. The family, 33 people in all,¹ must survive primarily on what the earnings of Grandma (a midwife) and Timi (who gets a job at a bar for employees of the western petroleum company). There's never enough money for medicine or school fees (let alone special oil in which to fry Ezikiel's meat), but Alhaji and his cronies at the Executive Club never go without brandy. Eventually Blessing is able to adapt and then thrive, but the environment proves toxic for Ezikiel.

Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away is told from Blessing's perspective. It is her coming-of-age story, but it is also the story of rural Nigeria and its growing pains. Watson addresses difficult political and social issues, but not heavy-handedly, incorporating them seamlessly into the story. Her handling of female circumcision is particularly well done and highlights the fact that for better or worse it isn't a black-and-white issue, at least not there.

The novel is on the long side (approximately 442 pages) and it is not an easy read (quite a few horrific things happen), but its story is compelling and Watson's prose lyrical. She peoples Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away with authentic characters (as much as a few of the characters and their actions bothered me, I can for the most part see people acting the way they did in similar circumstances; Alhaji and Celestine are both a bit over the top, but they are genuine at least in their self-centeredness). Blessing and Grandma, though, are the stars of the novel and the most flexible members of the family and the glue that holds it together.

I have decidedly mixed feelings about the novel's ending. It surprised me. I don't know, though, whether I'd prefer one thing to happen over the other. On the one level, I do, but I also see why Watson ended Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away the way that she did.

There is so much that could be said about Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away. It has enough meat to fuel a stellar book club discussion.

It was 25 at the beginning of the novel (Alhaji and Grandma as well as Alhaji's driver, his four wives, and seventeen children, and the orphan Boneboy), but two of the driver's wives are pregnant (+2), then Timi, Blessing, and Ezikiel arrive (+3), then Alhaji takes a second wife (+1) who becomes pregnant with twins (+2). There's also the imam for Alhaji's mosque, but I haven't counted him since I'm not sure if he works only for Alhaji.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away from Other Press via NetGalley. The e-galleys are like library e-books, though, they expire, so it's not like I actually get to keep it.

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

2011-06-19T12:00:00.004-04:00

The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook

As I mentioned before, I ordered The Iron Duke (with Amazon giftcard balance) after reading this post on Bookshelves of Lesser Doom.

I started and finished it yesterday while Russell has happily learning how to play Wilderness War, one of the board games I got him for his birthday (yes, we have a board game collection).

The Iron Duke is the first in Brooks' Iron Seas series (Heart of Steel is scheduled for a November 2011 release).

I haven't read Brooks before, but The Iron Duke was more or less what I expected. Brooks does a wonderful job of world building (she continues to reveal aspects of the society to the reader throughout the novel subtly) and the setting she's imagined is complex and intriguing. The hero and heroine were both interesting characters with involved backstories. The romance, however, was boilerplate: beautiful, underprivileged girl must give herself to brutish, rich man to save family, he turns out not to be so much of a brute and she falls in love. There's a scene that may be upsetting to some readers. It didn't bother me, but I'd been warned of a possible rape scene so I was expecting something much worse than what I actually read.

I know that authors rarely if ever have control over the coverart for their novels, but after reading The Iron Duke I am bothered by how wildly inappropriate the cover's depiction of Rhys is. It's not just that the depiction is inaccurate, but I can't elaborate further without including backstory spoilers.

steampunk defined

2011-06-18T15:12:00.002-04:00

Whenever I mention steampunk in a post I get questions about exactly the term means. To me my explanations always seem a bit bumbling.

Happily I can report that Sci-fi and fantasy giant, Tor Books has a great blog post from 2009 that explains the both the literary genre and the subculture well: Steampunk 101 by G. D. Falksen.
For reference, Falksen is the guy pictured with the fantastic leather and brass prosthetic arm.

I'd be remiss if I neglected to mention that I didn't happen across said post on my own. I first saw it referenced on Steampunk fan page on Facebook. There's that Falksen image (it's everywhere!), I don't know that he's the one who maintains the page though.

follow friday and Russell's birthday

2011-06-17T19:17:00.001-04:00

Genre Wars!
What's your favorite genre and which book in that genre made it your favorite?

I actually don't have a favorite genre. There are some genres that I read more than others (and I do read a lot of non-genre fiction) and some genres that I rarely, if ever, read (horror and sick-shit mysteries come to mind).

I guess if I can to settle on one genre, it'd be historical fiction. There's not one book that sold me on the genre, but I'll happily share some of my recommendations with you.

Good historical fiction titles that leap to mind:

The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani (the audio is fantastic)
Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson (YA)
Jacqueline Winspear's Maisie Dobbs books (which are also mysteries)

Also, today is Russell's birthday and so far he hasn't received any books. This is a seriously big deal. I always get him at least one book (we're trying to cull our book collections now so no books from me this year) and he often gets books from others. We think this is the first time in at least 15 years that he hasn't gotten a book for his birthday.

If you are visiting this blog for the first time, welcome! This is Karen. I'm a librarian and archivist and I've been writing this blog since 2006. [The Russell mentioned above is my husband who (very) occasionally reviews nonfiction on the blog]. Some of my favorite books are All We Know of Love (schneider), The Book of Laughter and Forgetting (kundera), The God of Small Things (roy), The Handmaid's Tale (atwood), Pride and Prejudice (austen), The Storyteller (vargas llosa), and Zahrah the Windseeker (okorafor-mbachu).

Here are my posts since my last Follow Friday (I skipped last week):

The Poisoned House

2011-06-16T22:11:00.001-04:00

The Poisoned House by Michael Ford

The following papers were kindly donated to the Municipal Library by Anne Merchant, the current owner of 112 Park Avenue, the property formerly known as Greave Hall. [...] They appear to record several months in the year 1855 of the life of a teenage girl called Abigail Tamper, who lived and worked at that address. [...] Pages from the original can be viewed in situ at the discretion of the librarian. (7)

As an archivist I have to admit that I’m a sucker for this type of framing device (we’re all hoping that such juicy gems are hidden within the collections under our care). The story that follows is not written as a series of diary entries (which I would have loved), but rather a straightforward first-person account of what happens to the protagonist (and other residents of Greave Hall) during this period of time.

So much has changed in 15-year-old Abigail Tamper’s life in the past year. With the death of her mother (the family’s much-loved nursemaid), the absence of the young master (who’s off fighting in the Crimea), and the decline of the Lord Greave, Greave Hall has become Abi’s prison and housekeeper Mrs. Cotton her warden.

When strange things start happening at Greave Hall, Abi writes them off as pranks the other servants are playing on the dictatorial Mrs. Cotton. When a ghost possesses a medium brought in by Mrs. Cotton, Abi realizes that Greave Hall is haunted and that the ghost has a message for her.

I quite enjoyed The Poisoned House. The novel is set in the mid-19th century and crafted like a classic Victorian ghost story. The Poisoned House is a bit slow to start, but once the reader is acclimatized to the environment, the pace picks up and the story becomes more and more compelling. Abi is a likeable and plucky heroine. There's no real romance, which is a refreshing departure for readers who are tiring of love triangle-filled YA offerings.

I loved how the story ended. I refer to the framing (which I won’t detail on the off chance that doing so would spoil the book for someone) as well as to how things were resolved for the protagonist and secondary characters.

I should probably mention that there is one scene in the book that I found a bit upsetting (p.194, it was horrible and shocking, but I understand why it was included; n.b. you don't see the act being done, just the evidence). The violence perpetrated in that scene has nothing to do with the paranormal element of the story however, it stems from simple human cruelty.

Above is the cover art for the American edition (coming September 2011), which I find to be a tad too horror movie-like for my taste (it’s that grasping hand). I’m much more fond of the cover of the UK edition (published in August 2010). It’s subtler, with an atmospheric spookiness that seems much more appropriate for the story.

disclosure: I received a review copy of The Poisoned House from Albert Whitman via NetGalley. The e-galleys are like library e-books, though, they expire, so it's not like I actually get to keep it.

Sync is back! free audiobooks this summer

2011-06-16T07:35:00.004-04:00

Just one week until the start if Sync's summer free audiobook extravaganza. I found out about it late last year, but the program is what finally got me to read The Hunger Games (which they paired with The Lottery by Shirley Jackson).

The most important thing to note, which is not mentioned below,¹ is that these books don't expire like the e-audiobooks you get from the library. So, be sure to check in each week to download the books even if you don't think you'll get around to reading them right away.

Sync offers free audiobook downloads of Young Adult and Classic titles this summer!
June 23 - August 17, 2011

Teens and other readers of young adult literature will have the opportunity to listen to bestselling titles and required reading classics this summer. Each week from June 23 to August 17, 2011, Sync will offer two free audiobook downloads.

The audiobook pairings will include a popular YA title and a classic that connects with the YA title's theme and is likely to show up on a student's summer reading lists. For example, Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, the first book in a popular series with strong allusions to Romeo & Juliet, will be paired with Shakespeare's classic.

SYNC Schedule:

June 23-29
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Romeo & Juliet by William Shakespeare

June 30- July 6
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Trial by Franz Kafka

July 7-13
Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah
A Passage to India by E. M. Forster

July 14-20
The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
Beowulf by Francis B. Gummere [Trans.]

July 21-27
Chanda's Secrets by Allan Stratton
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

July 28-August 3
Ashes, Ashes by Jo Treggiari
Rescue: Stories of Survival From Land and Sea by Dorcas S. Miller [Ed.]

August 4-10
Immortal by Gillian Shields
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

August 11-17
Storm Runners by Roland Smith
The Cay by Theodore Taylor

More details if you want 'em!

An ever so slightly modified version of their press release

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories

2011-06-14T20:20:00.002-04:00

ETA: Happy International Steampunk Day!¹

This particular title isn't due out until October, but I wanted to get something out while I still had my copy as reference (my Adobe Digital Editions tells me that my copy is due to expire in less than 24 hours). I'll likely post about Steampunk! again closer to its actual release date, but here's something to whet your appetite.

Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories
edited by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant

Firmly rooted in Victorian London, steampunk has often been a bit too Anglo- and Eurocentric². One of the things that's so refreshing about Steampunk! is that its diversity of setting, story, character, format. Something that was achieved by asking the anthology's contributors, whose ranks include both big names and virtual unknowns, for "stories that explored and expanded their own ideas of what steampunk could be" (8).

I read Steampunk! over the course of a month or six weeks. While I know that anthologies aren't meant to serve as a unified whole, I usually prefer not to read them straight through. I do almost always read the stories in the order they are presented, but I like to be able to sit on one before I start the next. I quite enjoyed being able to read Steampunk! leisurely.

I would like to say that each of the works collected in Steampunk! was absolutely wonderful, but I can't. Elizabeth Knox's "Gethsemane" caused me vexation; I didn't "get it" at all. I think I was too tired when I tried to read it and it's one of the longest stories in the anthology so I decided to skip it, fully intending to revisit it at some point before posting my review (that is until I realized that my e-galley was about to expire). Other than that (and please do note that the fault might very well be my own), the anthology was full of win.³

At the moment my favorite story of the bunch is Dylan Horrocks' "Steam Girl." I didn't expect to prefer this one because it is (at least in my opinion) one of the least steampunk contributions to Steampunk!³ (the titular character's alter ego exists in a imaginary? steampunk world, but she and the story's protagonist are firmly planted in the realistic here-and-now). "Steam Girl" is, however, perfectly crafted.

I should also note that Steampunk! is geared toward the young adult market unlike the steampunk anthologies of which I am familiar.

Steampunk!'s table of contents, with links to extracts when available (my favorites are starred):

"Some Fortunate Future Day" by Cassandra Clare
"The Last Ride of the Glory Girls" by Libba Bray*
"Clockwork Fagin" by Cory Doctorow*
"Seven Days Beset by Demons" (comic) by Shawn Cheng
"Hand in Glove" by Ysabeau S. Wilce
"The Ghost of Cwmlech Manor" by Delia Sherman
"Gethsemane" by Elizabeth Knox
"The Summer People" by Kelly Link*
"Peace in Our Time" by Garth Nix
"Nowhere Fast" by Christopher Rowe
"Finishing School" (comic) by Kathleen Jennings*
"Steam Girl" by Dylan Horrocks*
"Everything Amiable and Obliging" by Holly Black*
"The Oracle Engine" by M. T. Anderson*

If you've clicked on nearly any of the table-of-contents links, you'll have realized that the book has a great website. If you haven't, visit StrangeAndFascinating.com to learn more about the book.

Steampunk! is going on my Amazon wishlist. I'd love a copy, but I'm ornery and I won't buy it on principle. If I'd gotten a paper rather than digital advanced reader copy, I would have been able to keep it as long as I wanted. I'm really not supposed to be buying books and I'm not about to break my rules for a book I would otherwise have gotten for free.

Apparently June 14, H.G. Wells' birthday (except it's not actually his birthday), has been dubbed Int'l Steampunk Day. A bit more info here and here.
See Multiculturalism for Steampunk, especially the 1 April 2011 post
I can't bring myself to edit out this colloquialism (internetism?) even though it's not something I'd use in my everyday speech.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Steampunk! from Candlewick Press via NetGalley. See e-galley snark above. Like I said, ornery.