books for a one year-old

Last weekend Russell and I attended a birthday party for a one year-old.  We brought two books for the birthday girl, The Adventures of Lowly Worm and What Do People Do All Day? both by Richard Scarry. Here's more or less what I wrote in the card:

I was so glad to see these two books on the birthday girl's wishlist because I would have bought them for her anyway. What Do People Do All Day? was the most popular book in the [maiden name] household for many a year and Lowly Worm taught the [maiden name] girls how to behave in polite society. My mom would often prompt my sister and/or I with "Would Lowly Worm say/do..." when we were learning to navigate through through the world.

I hope these books serve the birthday girl as well as our family's copies served my sister and I.

Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal

source: review copy

Far, Far Away by Tom McNeal

Jacob Grimm, the eldest of the famous Brothers Grimm, is a troubled soul caught in the Zwischenraum, the place between. After years attempting to discover and resolve "the thing undone" (that which is keeping him in limbo), Jacob learns from another ghost of an Exceptional, one of the few living souls who can hear ghosts speak, and a "Finder of Occasions who would bring harm to the boy" (48). Jacob determines to find the boy and to protect him from the Finder of Occasions.

A social outcast since he admitted, eight years before, to hearing voices, Jeremy Johnson Johnson is struggling with more than a typical fifteen-year-old's problems. His mother is dead and his father's inability to cope has left Jeremy responsible for the management of the household and the family business.

Far, Far Away is filled with references, direct and indirect, to the Grimm Brother's household tales. The novel is listed as "12 and up," which seems appropriate, but I do think it will also appeal to adults, particularly those who enjoy fairy tales and adaptations and/or reimaginings of them.

The pacing of Far, Far Away is slow well through the novel's midpoint, with the author laying the groundwork for the events of its final third.  That final third, though, is well worth the wait. As the narrative turns more Grimm-like there is a wonderful change in atmosphere and an increase in suspense. The fact that the reader knows how things like these tend to turn out in (the Grimm versions of) fairy tales is exploited to great effect by the author.

For what it's worth, as I was reading the novel the pacing didn't bother me at all.  I was engrossed by the relationship between Jacob and Jeremy, and the positive changes that Jeremy (and his friends) seem to be making in his life, that I forgot all about the ominous Finder of Occasions that Jacob warned of at the beginning of his narration.   It was only when that more exciting section of the novel began that the difference became marked.

disclosure: I received a review copy of Far, Far Away from Knopf Books for Young Readers (Random House Children's Books) via NetGalley.

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

source: public library

Changeling — The child of a faery and a human, a changeling is small, sickly, and sharp-faced, and, if his faery-blood is particularly strong, he will have branches growing out of his head instead of hair. He is not expected to live past the age of twelve. [...] Half-bloods are forever being hung by the superstitious lower class, or stolen by the faeries who hate them for their ugliness. They spend most of their short lives locked-up and hidden away. (Bachmann's Faery Encyclopedia)

I checked out the e-audio version of The Peculiar in preparation for a train trip earlier this month. I hoped to while away the 7 hours each way listening to the novel and knitting. While the shawl project I packed proved to be a poor choice for train travel, The Peculiar did not let me down. It was engaging, but not too taxing, which was particularly useful during my exhausted return trip.

The novel is set in an alternative 19th century England, in which humans and faeries (cut off from the Old Country after an ill-fated attempt at conquest many years before) live in somewhat uncomfortable peace. It's two protagonists are Bartholomew Kettle, a changeling from the faery slums of Bath (his father, a high faery, "danced off into the night and never c[a]me back"), and Arthur Jelliby, a (human) member of the Privy Council who is particularly ill-suited to political life (his mother, a Hessian princess, got him a position as MP "while playing croquet with the Duke of Norfolk").  When a number of suspicious deaths seem to point to a serial killer targeting changeling children, our two protagonists independently develop vested interests in thwarting the killer.

The Peculiar was written by a teenager (apparently Bachmann, age 18 at the time of publication, started writing it at age 16), but it doesn't read like a novel by a teen (better writing than Christopher Paolini, for example, and no focus on romance, sex, or other angsty teenage occupations).  The novel is being marketed to middle grade readers, but it would be just as (if not more) appropriate for young adults because of its underlying themes.

one of those relatives

Yes, I'm one of those relatives. The ones who give books rather than toys to the children in their lives. Though not having kids myself I sometimes unintentionally give them books beyond their reading levels. Poor Olivia got one of my favorite books, Zahrah the Windseeker, for her 10th birthday and while it is listed as 10 and up some places, I realized it wasn't the best choice when I visited her and found her reading The Tale of Despereaux. In any case, I'm making a concerted effort to be better about that.

This year, in hopes of being prepared for the birthdays that always seem to sneak up on me, I bought books for all my reading nieces and nephews in one fowl swoop (we already had something for the littlest one, who happens to have one of the earliest birthdays). Since I'm certain that none of them read this blog I'm going to share my selections here.

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg (for boy turning 11)

Claudia knew that she could never pull off the old-fashioned kind of running away...so she decided not to run FROM somewhere, but TO somewhere. And so, after some careful planning, she and her younger brother, Jamie, escaped — right into a mystery that made headlines!

From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler was one of my favorite books. I loved the idea of running away to the the Metropolitan museum of art (and of sleeping in a famous, ornate bed).

Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien (for girl turning 10)

Mrs. Frisby, a widowed mouse with four small children, is faced with a terrible problem. She must move her family to their summer quarters immediately, or face almost certain death. But her youngest son, Timothy, lies ill with pneumonia and must not be moved. Fortunately, she encounters the rats of NIMH, an extraordinary breed of highly intelligent creatures, who come up with a brilliant solution to her dilemma.

Another book I loved as a child (I loved the film adaptation, The Secret of NIMH as well; I remember reading Rasco and the Rats of NIMH, but not the second follow up).

The Mysterious Howling by Maryrose Wood (for girl turning 12)

The first book in the Incorrigble Children of Ashton Place series.
Found running wild in the forest of Ashton Place, the Incorrigibles are no ordinary children: Alexander, age ten or thereabouts, keeps his siblings in line with gentle nips; Cassiopeia, perhaps four or five, has a bark that is (usually) worse than her bite; and Beowulf, age somewhere-in-the-middle, is alarmingly adept at chasing squirrels.
Luckily, Miss Penelope Lumley is no ordinary governess. Only fifteen years old and a recent graduate of the Swanburne Academy for Poor Bright Females, Penelope embraces the challenge of her new position. Though she is eager to instruct the children in Latin verbs and the proper use of globes, first she must help them overcome their canine tendencies.
But mysteries abound at Ashton Place: Who are these three wild creatures, and how did they come to live in the vast forests of the estate? Why does Old Timothy, the coachman, lurk around every corner? Will Penelope be able to teach the Incorrigibles table manners and socially useful phrases in time for Lady Constance's holiday ball? And what on earth is a schottische?

I haven't read this one, but I loved the concept (children raised by wolves and whatnot) and it seems endearingly cheeky. I also like giving first-in-a-series books because if the recipient enjoys it they can continue along with the series.

The child in question has already received this book, but I haven't had word on what she thought of it, if she's even read it yet.

The Sigh by Marjane Satrapi (for girl turning 8)

Rose is one of three daughters of a rich merchant who always brings gifts for his girls from the market. One day Rose asks for the seed of a blue bean, but he fails to find one for her. She lets out a sigh in resignation, and her sigh attracts the Sigh, a mysterious being that brings the seed she desired to the merchant. But every debt has to be paid, and every gift has a price, and the Sigh returns a year later to take the merchants daughter to a secret and distant palace.

I wasn't familiar with The Sigh before I happened across it on a table in the children's section of the Strand. I do like Marjane Satrapi. The Sigh is more illustrated book than graphic novel and it is suitable for all ages (per the cover at least, I flipped through and didn't see anything questionable).

series (re)reading

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!

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

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.

1. 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).

The Poisoned House

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.

Attolia

Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia Series

I recently read the first three books in Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia series (The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, and The King of Attolia) and I have to admit that I have mixed feelings about them. In short, I thought The Thief was well-wrought and compelling. I found The Queen of Attolia almost unbearably boring (it got interesting for a bit around page 150 and then again at the end) and I only finished reading it in the hope that it would get better. I liked The King of Attolia, but the only reason I read it is because I already had it checked out of the library.

The books of the Attolia series are set in a "Byzantine-like imaginary landscape." Attolia is one of three competing nations that fight amongst themselves in the shadows of the vast Mede empire.

The Thief is a well-deserving Newbery Honor Book. Gen, short for Eugenides, is the titular character and the novel's protagonist. He's a thief whose boast that he can steal anything from anyone is challenged when he's expected to steal Eddis' national treasure. While The Thief does have a strong storyline, it is really character-driven and the cheeky Gen is an interesting and sympathetic character. I loved the revelation at the end of the book and the fact that I hadn't seen it coming.

As mentioned above, I did not care for The Queen of Attolia. I didn't have a problem with the story's horrific beginning. Overall the pacing of the story is quite slow and despite expectations (based on The Thief and on what happens to Eugenides at the beginning of The Queen of Attolia) much of the novel is not focused on Eugenides, but rather on the political situation and maneuverings between the various countries. There are spots of interest and excitement, but if I hadn't enjoyed The Thief so much I probably would have given up on The Queen of Attolia.

Overall I thought that The King of Attolia was much better balanced than the The Queen of Attolia. While The King of Attolia is about Eugenides, he's not really the protagonist of the novel. Much of the novel follows Costas, a member of the Attaolian King's Guard.
While Eugenides is the driving force of the series, he's seems less and less present in the later books. In The Thief readers see everything from Eugenides' perspective and the series progresses we see him and his perspective less, focusing more on others' perceptions of and misconceptions about him.

I'd put myself on the waiting list for the fourth book in the series (A Conspiracy of Kings) before I started The Queen of Attolia so I may read it when my name gets to the top of the queue, but I may not.

The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson is a trouble magnet. He suffers from both dyslexia and ADHD and is about to be kicked out of his sixth school in as many years. He's not a bad kid, though, and doesn't intentionally cause problems. He's just always getting blamed for all the inexplicable things that happen around him.

When Percy discovers that he's a half god and half human and joins Camp Half-Blood, things start beginning to make sense. Now his biggest problem should be figuring out who his father is--Hermes? Zeus? Poseidon? Hades?--except that Zeus' lightning bolt has been stolen and he's the prime suspect. There's only way to prove his innocence, and advert war between the gods: Percy is sent on a quest (with only a satyr and a twelve-year-old daughter of Athena as help-meets) to find the lightning bolt.

The Lightning Thief is the first book in Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading the other books in the series.

I liked how Riordan used switched things up by making things that are usually considered negative (dyslexia and ADHD) into indicators of inhuman gifts (I expect that if kids who suffer for one or both of these issues come across this series, it might help them feel a little bit better about themselves). I also appreciated how fully Greek mythology was incorporated into the story. The novel isn't perfect and there are a few aspects of the plot that don't quite add up, but overall I think The Lightning Thief is a very promising beginning to a new series.

The Garden of Eve

The Garden of Eve by K.L. Going

I read and enjoyed Going's Printz Award-winning Fat Kid Rules the World. The Garden of Eve is for a younger audience, but it is just as good. The novel deals with death and the grief of those left behind, but the issue and its take-away is incorporated so fully into the story that it never feels heavy-handed.

After the death of her mother, single-child Evie Adler is unmoored. While she loves her serious and hardworking father, she has always been closest to her loving, whimsical mother. When her father inexplicably decides to relocate the family from Michigan to New York, the family has the opportunity for a fresh start. Their new home, however, is decidedly strange. People of Beaumont stay far away from the Adler's farm and the trees in the apple orchard haven't born fruit in years. Evie meets a ghost in the cemetery next to the farm. The last owner of the farm left Evie gift, but the box only contained a seed. Though it seems strange, with this seed Evie may be able to save the farm and bring peace to her ghost.

I'll be giving one of my nieces a copy of The Garden of Eve. She's the same age as Evie and she loves to read so I'm sure she'll enjoy the book.

The Ear, the Eye, and The Arm

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer

The year is 2194, and Tendai, his brother, and his sister--the children of Zimbabwe's chief of security--have escaped from their father's estate to explore the dangerous city of Harare. When they disappear, the children's parents call in Africa's most unusual detectives--the Ear, the Eye and the Arm--who have powers far beyond those of other human beings. The children must avoid the evils of the past, the technology of the future, and a motley assortment of criminals in order to return home safely.

Though I'd heard good things about The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm (it's a Newbery Honor Book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults pick), I only just got around to reading it for the the first time. I thought it was a very good book, I enjoyed it very much and I'd definitely give a copy to a young person in my life, but I have to admit that I wasn't blown away by it. I've read quite a few books set in futuristic Africa in the past few years so that aspect of it the story wasn't particularly novel (for me). The story itself was interesting, especially the fact that while the children sneak out longing to experience and explore the world that their parents inhabit, they get much more than they bargained for as they are forced to encounter both the seedy underbelly of their city and a spiritual realm. I also like how Farmer incorporated a traditionalist community into her future world. I guess my problem--if I could put a finger on it--is that I never for a second doubted that the children would make it home safely.

series beginnings

Midnight for Charlie Bone by Jenny Nimmo

Charlie doesn't want to believe it when he discovers that he can hear the thoughts of people in photographs. But his horrible aunts are delighted — it means he is one of the chosen, and must change schools and attend the Bloor's Academy for gifted children. Once there, Charlie realizes that some of his classmates have equally mysterious powers. Soon Charlie is involved in uncovering the mysterious past of one of them. With the help of this friend Benjamin and his eccentric, gifted Uncle Paton, they discover the truth despite all the dangers that lie ahead.

The first book in the Children of the Red King series (often unfairly compared to the Harry Potter books), Midnight for Charlie Bone is a strong opener. Yes, there is a special school, but it's for all sorts of gifted students not just those with magical talents (and the talents are really one-of, each person seems to have one distinct magical ability). Yes, there are difficult relatives, but they're magically-endowed and the ones pushing Charlie to go to the special school. Yes, there is an evil force in the world, but it is as yet incompletely defined. Magic is underground, but those with magical abilities coexist with normal people. The great overarching mystery seems to be the genesis of the magical powers, the Red King.

Charlie is sympathetic and his life is full of interesting characters. I'll definitely be reading the other books in the series.

Wolf Girl by Theresa Tomlinson

Cwen, a poor weaver struggling to make a living at Whitby Abbey, is accused of possessing a valuable necklace; if found guilty she could be hanged. Wulfrun, Cwen’s daughter, sets out to prove her mother’s innocence.

Set in turbulent Anglo-Saxon times, this is the story of a resourceful dauntless heroine, determined and clever as the wolf that she is named for. Defying rank and convention, braving wind, weather and marauding armies, Wulfrun shows that courage has its own just reward.

I was so pleased when I realized that this coming-of-age adventure story is the first in a trilogy. I enjoyed reading Wolf Girl very much. While the book is set in the mid 600s, an extremely difficult period to make accessible to young modern readers, Tomlinson is able to make the story both historically accurate and approachable (one of the things she does to make the story more manageable for the reader is to use modern place names and the simplest forms of person names).

Wulfrun is a sympathetic character who I think kids today will be able to relate to. Many of the other characters are complex and fully-drawn. The story is engaging and its resolution leaves the reader hungry for more. I look forward to the follow-up books being published.

Half Moon Investigations

Half Moon Investigations by Eoin Colfer

I picked up this book because I like Colfer. I've been reading his Artemis Fowl books for years. I'm also always in the market for audio books. I love listening to them in the car or while doing mindless computer stuff.

One of the things that I love about Colfer is how he's able to write for a younger audience (middle readers, I think), but produce books that are equally appropriate for adults. Half Moon Investigations is no exception. It features a pint-sized detective named Fletcher Moon whose playground cases quickly lead him to a city-wide crime wave and get him into more trouble than he could have possibly imagined.

Half Moon Investigations was a fun read. Of course, I'd figured out the culprit long before Fletcher did, but that really didn't detract from my enjoyment since Colfer throws in a couple of extra curve balls.

Rounding out the novel, reader Sean Patrick Reilly does a wonderful job with the voices, hitting the perfect combination between hard-boiled detective and precocious child.

some quick reads

Cube Chic by Kelley Moore

Cube Chic is supposed to help you "take your office from drab to fab." Russell and I happened across this book quite a while ago and were intrigued by it. Recently I received a copy through BookMooch so now we've had a chance to go through it properly.

The book is primarily pictures of Moore's fully executed "cubes," basic cubicals done up in crazy thematic decorating schemes, with instructions on how to create those same looks. It's cool to look at (as a coffee-table book), but not particularly practical as almost all of the cubes are completely over-the-top and Moore doesn't really give much general advice about decorating small spaces.

Russell's favorite was the Library Cube. I like it, but think it is a tad too dark. My favorites are the Cubism Cube, the Indian Cube, and the Ice Cube (just 'cause it's cheeky). I also liked the idea of the Nap Cube.

Witch's Business by Diana Wynne Jones

Also published under the title "Wilkins' Teeth," Witch's Business is Jones' first children's novel. I liked it, but it's definitely not my favorite of hers.

The basic premise: our two main characters need to earn some money as their allowances have been docked so they start a business that specializes in "own back" (Britishism for revenge). Soon they realize that they are encroaching on an already-established own-back business run by a local witch. Chaos ensues and the children must defeat the witch in order to get things right.

Chronicles of Narnia

I like audio books. I find them particularly useful for long car trips, knitting, and EAD encoding. They are, however, quite expensive... so when I happened across the Harper Children's Audio Chronicles of Narnia Unabridged Box set ($193 value for $75) at the discount book store for an additional 70% off, I just couldn't resist.

Of course I read all the books when I was a child (long enough ago that I couldn't remember a lot of the details), but I knew this would be a set to keep and that we'd listen to the discs again and again. So far, I haven't been disappointed. In the past few months I've made my way through the first six books (mostly knitting) and have enjoyed every minute.

Thirty-one hours of Narnia performed by a variety of big-name actors.

The Magician's Nephew, read by Kenneth Branagh
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, read by Michael York
The Horse and His Boy, read by Alex Jennings
Prince Caspian, read by Lynn Redgrave
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, read by Derek Jacobi
The Silver Chair, read by Jeremy Northam
The Last Battle, read by Patrick Stewart

The books are available individually, but even at $75 this set is a steal.

a couple more birthday books

Two more birthday books arrived in the mail yesterday:

- Go to Sleep, Russell the Sheep by Rob Scotton
I happened across this book by accident and put it on my wishlist because it was just too cute.

- Domiknitrix: Whip Your Knitting Into Shape by Jennifer Stafford
Very cool book. There's a hat in here that I really want to knit.

book clubbing in March

This month my book club discussed The Golden Compass, the first book in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

The Golden Compass is a young adult book that can definitely appeal to adults as well. Everyone in my book club enjoyed the book, even those you generally shy away from fantasy and young adult books.

I think one of the things that sets The Golden Compass apart is how Pullman is able to present this wonderfully complex world, one that is very much not our own, but that bears enough resemblance that things feel familiar. One of Pullman's best inventions is the daemon, a physical manifestation of each character's soul in animal form (when the characters are children their daemons are continually changing form, at puberty the daemons set for life).

The Golden Compass includes a wonderful array of characters -- including witches, child-stealing "Gobblers", armored bears, absentee parents, evil scientists, and ship-going gypsies -- and an interesting plot.

The novel is a page turner and readers quickly become invested in protagonist Lyra and her quest. Once I read The Golden Compass, I had to continue the series so I also read The Subtle Knife (definitely the second book in a trilogy, somewhat disappointing) and The Amber Spyglass (a good conclusion to the series, satisfying).

If you haven't read these books, I'd encourage you to pick them up. They're not perfect, but they are good reading. I don't want to say too much more for fear of giving too much away (I had to zip my lips a bit at the book club meeting precisely because of that). A few more descriptive words should suffice: unique, subversive, enchanting...

Wind Rider

Wind Rider by Susan Williams

Set on the steppes of western Asia six thousand years ago, Wind Rider is a multifaceted tale of one girl’s coming of age interwoven with a narrative about the first domestication of horses by the Botai people of modern-day Kazakhstan.

Fern and her brother Flint live with the stigma of being the only set of twins in their community. By all accounts, Fern should have been left to die, but, after suffering from stillbirths for many years, Fern’s mother Moss fought against the odds to keep both children. Already an anomaly in the superstitious ahne (a group of families that travel together during the warm months), Fern’s unique personality makes her stand out even more. She’s a strange girl who befriends animals and would rather be out hunting than sewing herself a new tunic.

As Fern begins to become an adult, she envies her brother’s freedom:

Choices, excitement, and honor lay ahead for Flint. I, on the other hand, would no sooner find blood running between my legs than I would be packed off to begin growing babies, tending pots and scraping skins for some young man as reckless and stupid as my bother, who, like him, would not listen to anything I had to say. (6)

Everything changes for Fern when she finds a young horse trapped in a bog. Unwilling to let the filly become her ahne’s next meal, she rescues the young horse and cares for her in secret. With Thunder, Fern’s life has new purpose. As Fern experiments riding, she and Thunder only grow closer.

It is only when Thunder is needed to bring an injured Flint to safety that Fern risks revealing her secret. While many in the ahne see Thunder only as a potential meal (and Fern with her animal “magic” as a witch), a few elders are convinced of the efficacy of keeping Thunder as a pet and workhorse. As Fern shows the community all the things that Thunder can do, they become more accustomed to and accepting of the horse in their midst. However, when famine strikes, it becomes increasingly difficult for Fern to justify keeping Thunder.

While this first-person narrative is a bit slow to start — which may be reflective of the pace of the life in this prehistoric community — it evolves into a suspenseful adventure story, in which both Fern and Thunder’s lives are at risk.

Courageous and rebellious, Fern is an imperfect character sure to strike a chord with young readers. Fern’s coming of age is less about becoming an independent woman than it is about growing into her role in the community. When severe depression makes Moss unable to care for Fern’s baby sister, Fern does everything in her power to keep Spring alive. It is only then that Fern begins to realize that the life of a wife and mother is more than just a life of servitude.

More than the story of the domestication of horses, Wind Rider charts the course Fern must take in order to develop the self-confidence to be comfortable in her own skin. While Fern becomes a legend in her own time, her greater accomplishment is learning to see her twin as a friend and partner rather than a rival.

Well-crafted and carefully researched, Wind Rider is a novel that can be enjoyed by children and adults alike. Williams’ descriptions of the Botai people and their life are at once completely foreign and surprisingly recognizable. Her mix of folklore and anthropology, as well as her obvious love for her characters, lend the novel a sense of authenticity.

Read my full review of this lovely book at Curled Up With a Good Kids Book...

The Devil's Arithmetic

The Devil's Arithmetic by Jane Yolen

Synopsis:
Hannah dreads going to her family's Passover Seder — she's tired of hearing her relatives talk about the past. But when she opens the front door to symbolically welcome the prophet Elijah, she's transported to a Polish village in the year 1942, where she becomes caught up in the tragedy of the time.

Such a small book, but so powerful; it defies explanation. I can't believe that I didn't read this book sooner.

other recent reading

All American Girl by Meg Cabot
Written for the teen/tween set, the book is light-hearted and will appeal to anyone in the mood for a sweet book with a happy ending. Protagonist Sam is a sympathetic character, a spunky social outsider with a good sense of humor and a crush on a guy who she can never hope to get. The story, outside of the romantic bumbling, does have a message. The only thing that I didn't particularly like were the lists, but they are Cabot's MO in this novel and serve both as summaries and as a way to add Sam's voice to the narrative.

Drowned Wednesday & Sir Thursday by Garth Nix The third and four books in Nix's wonderful Keys of the Kingdom series.

Hawksmoor by Peter Ackroyd
I've been listening to this book in the car for quite some time and I finally finished it yesterday. While I appreciated how moody and episodic it was, I did get irritated with it occasionally.
I also found it quite uneven. For a book that was supposed to be jumping between two different time periods, it seemed like 3/4 (or more) of the book took place in the 18th C and I was amazed (especially since 'Hawksmoor' is the title of the book) that Hawksmoor isn't even mentioned until practically its midpoint.
That being said, Ackroyd does bring 18th Century London alive and protagonist Dyer's belief system is fascinating (especially in as much as it clashes with the Enlightenment thinking all around him).

Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap
A collection of seven stories set in Thailand from a young (my age) American author.
I really felt that the first five stories in the book were too similar - it was almost as if the stories were all about the same person. "Don't let me die in this place" was the first deviation from the young Thai boy protagonist and I thought it was a wonderful change of pace. The other story that I really liked was "Cockfighter," again because it was so different from the other stories in the book (not that the other stories were bad, but just that they became - for me at least - a bit homogeneous).

The Tea Rose by Jennifer Donnelly
I thought it was a good read, long but thoroughly engrossing. Though the ending is a bit unrealistic; everything is tied up too well. I think it is probably more of a historical romance than a work of realistic fiction.
That being said, Donnelly's descriptions of 19th Century London (and to a lesser extent, New York) seem fairly realistic. The author's take on Jack the Ripper is also interesting (and more plausible than some of the other things in the book). Additionally Fiona is a very sympathetic character as well as being a viable heroine (despite her modern sensibilities).

Whiskey Sour by J.A. Konrath
J.A. Konrath's debut novel and the first in a promising series (the Jack Daniels mysteries).
This book is full of gruesome murders, which in all honesty really aren't my thing (I'm one of those people who watch horror movies through the cracks between their fingers). Of course, that's not going to stop me from reading the next book in the series especially since it is already on Mt. TBR (to be read).