Firespell

Until recently Chloe Neill was not on my radar screen. She first popped up while I was doing my holiday shopping. One of my friends had Some Girls Bite, the first of Neill's Chicagoland Vampires series, on her wishlist. When I read the description, I had to buy it for her.
A couple of days ago when I was browsing eNYPL for reading material for my Nook, another of Neill's books, Firespell, was available so I decided to check it out.

Firespell by Chloe Neill

When her parents are offered a two-year research sabbatical in Germany, Lily Parker finds herself enrolled in St. Sophia's, an exclusive Chicago boarding school for her final two years of high school. As if missing her parents, adjusting to life in the big city (after upstate New York) and school uniforms weren't enough, things aren't quite what they seem at St. Sophia's. Lily finds her suitemate sneaking out at night, the principal drops hints about the Parkers past lives, and there's something decidedly strange behind the door in the school's basement.

Firespell is the first book in Neill's Dark Elite series (the second book, Hexbound, comes out in January). It was a quick read, I enjoyed it, and I'd read the next book in the series, but I wouldn't list it among the best of paranormal YA books.

Many of the relationships between the various characters lacked any kind of depth. I also don't think Neill's portrayal of boarding school is authentic (I didn't go to boarding school myself, but my sister did). It seems like Neill came up with what seemed like some semi-realistic boarding school rules, but then not only allowed her characters to ignore them (which is to be expected), but neglected to include the necessary authority figures to enforce them (why don't the girls have a house mother of some sort?).

thoughts on The Economist's best books of 2010

Russell subscribes to The Economist. I don't read it regularly, but will flip through an issue from time to time. Yesterday Russell pointed me to the "Books and arts" section of volume 397, issue 8711 (December 4, 2010) thinking that I'd like to see which titles the magazine had decided to include in their listing of the best books of 2010.

As expected I jumped straight to their picks for fiction where I noticed something quite strange. Seven books (Freedom by Jonathan Franzen, To the End of the Land by David Grossman, Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey, The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris, Mr Peanut by Adam Ross, The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman, and Selected Stories by William Trevor), all written by men.
Now, I don't always keep on top of all the new releases, but I know that there were were at least a few outstanding offerings from female authors this year. After all, five of the fourteen books on the Man Booker Prize longlist were written by women.

My perusal of the rest of the lists yielded only three titles obviously written by women. There were quite a few authors with ambiguous names, though, so I did a little digging today. Here's how it played out:

Politics and current affairs: 10 books, 1 female author
Biography and memoir: 4 books, 1 female author
History: 8 books, 2 female authors
Economics and business: 3 books, 0 female authors
Science and technology: 6 books, 0 female authors
Culture, society and travel: 4 books, 0 female authors
Fiction: 7 books, 0 female authors
Poetry, 2 books, 0 female authors

That's 44 books: 40 written by men and 4 written by women. Really? really?!

Well, congratulations to Rachel Polonsky (Molotov's Magic Lantern), Lyndall Gordon (Lives Like Loaded Guns), Amanda Foreman (A World on Fire), and Isabel Wilkerson (The Warmth of Other Suns) for beating the odds to get onto The Economist's decidedly gender-biased best-books-of-2010 list.

library books on the nook

I got a Nook for Christmas! The 3G/WiFi one, which is what I wanted since we don't have wireless at home, with the Alice in Wonderland case. I am a very lucky girl.

When I wrote about the Nook earlier this month (see post), I mentioned that library ebook-friendliness was one of its biggest benefits. I have to admit that I had a bit of trouble getting library ebooks to work on my Nook (it's quite easy if you do everything in the right order, but if not, it's a huge headache) so I thought I'd post about what I did wrong and how I fixed it for the benefit of future new users frantically searching the internet for a solution to their problem.

OK, first you need to know that even though you are getting a PDF or EPUB book from the library, the file will most likely end with ACSM. You can just drag those files onto your nook "my documents" folder like you could if you wanted to load a normal PDF on the Nook. ACSM stands for "Adobe Content System Message" - rather than being the ebook itself, it is your authorization for access to the book. You need to use Adobe Digital Editions (which handles rights management) as a middleman. Here's a video from nooktalk that goes over this and how to setup ADE for use with your Nook. As I mentioned above, follow the instructions in order and you will have no problem.

Here's what I did wrong. Before I worried about library books I decided to try getting a GoogleBook onto my Nook. You need ADE for that so when I get up ADE on my computer I used an AdobeID associated with my blogging gmail account (which is NOT the email address I use for my Barnes and Noble account). I've read that having your Adobe ADE authorization account information match your B&N account information isn't necessary, but (at least in my experience) it is.

With my ADE set up and authorized to that gmail account, I could get the library books downloaded and onto the Nook, but when I tried to read them I would get a "user not activated" error. After wasting a huge amount of time on the internet trying to figure out the solution (as well as multiple un- and re-installs of ADE), I determined that 3 things were necessary to fix the problem.

1. 1. Update my AdobeID to match my B&N account -
   I didn't need to create a new account, once you are logged into Adobe you can change the email address used as your login)
2. Get my ADE to associate with the new AdobeID -
   the magic combination is Control-Shift-D, hit those keys while ADE is open and you can deauthorize your ADE and then authorize using the correct AdobeID
3. Get my Nook to "forget" its Adobe-authorization -
   Figuring out this problem (and then its solution) was my big hangup. When the Nook is connected to your computer and you can access its drive, delete these two folders (contents and all): "Digital Editions" and ".adobe-digital-editions". Don't worry, the only thing you'll lose are the files you can't access anyway (all your other stuff is stored in different folders). Once they are gone, the next time ADE will meet the Nook as if for the first time and let you authorize the Nook to the proper AdobeID. Ta da!

Hope this helps.

24 december

Have you been procrastinating?
Here's another great gift idea for the book lover in your life. They'll never know you didn't plan ahead.

Indiespensable Subscription

Indiespensable is a subscription club from Powell's that "delivers the best new books, with special attention to independent publishers. Signed first editions. Inventive, original sets. Exclusive printings.... Every six weeks, another installment to read and admire." Sounds great, right? $39.95 per shipment (includes shipping with the US)

If you'd like to get a better idea of what's included in the shipments, Powell's has a list of the contents of all their previous shipments.

23 december

If I'm ever put in charge of decorations for our holiday party, I'll do something like this....

A bookish Christmas tree

The National Union Catalog Christmas tree at USF's Gleeson Library.
Photo by Shawn (shawncalhoun), more available in his 2010 NUC Christmas Tree album.

word: hubris

hubris
- Presumption, originally towards the gods; pride, excessive self-confidence. (per the OED)

I've been reading The Passage by Justin Cronin, but I decided to take a break from it last night because I haven't been sleeping all that well lately (because of the book? who knows). The Passage is described as "postapocalyptic vampire fantasy," but I think that's false advertising. I'm around page 200 now (it's a monster of a book, edging 800 pages). I wouldn't describe it as fantasy (more like near-future scifi). I'd say "dystopian future" rather than "postapocalyptic," but maybe the Apocalypse is forthcoming? In any case it is very dark and as the story progresses it keeps revealing all these horrible things that have happened to the characters. I'm persevering because the novel is supposed to be really good and I want to see where it's going, but I needed a bit of a break from it.

In any case, I decided to read the second Percy Jackson and the Olympians book, The Sea of Monsters (see my post on book 1). In it, Annabeth (one of the secondary characters) learns that hubris is her fatal flaw. In explaining hubris to Percy (who confused hubris with hummus), she says: "Don't you ever feel that way? Like you could do a better job if you ran the world?" (200). While I don't see myself in the dictionary definition of hubris, I can definitely relate to Annabeth.

22 december

Remember this book? Gnomes by Wil Huygen, illustrated by Rien Poortvliet (1977).

My parents have a set of little plastic book-shaped Christmas light covers with Poortvliet's gnome illustrations on them. It's not a huge set, just enough for a short string, but it went up on our Christmas tree every year.

I'm a bit disappointed that my web-searching hasn't yielded an image to share because these light covers are so charming. Just thinking about them makes me happy as I'm reminded of tree-trimming and holiday preparations.

21 december

People who love to read tend to gravitate to the same kinds of books. It's not that they aren't open to trying out something different, it's just that they know what they like.

If you are still looking for a gift for someone that you know loves to read, I'd suggest getting them a book that they wouldn't pick out for themselves. It doesn't need to be something drastically different than what they'd choose. Don't get a Regency romance for your Adrian Goldsworthy fan, but maybe something from Bernard Cornwell.

The most important thing is that the book you give should be one that you've enjoyed yourself or that has been given a good review by someone whose taste you trust. Why? Because if your bookish giftee receives a book in which they can see no redeeming value, they'll never trust your recommendation again.

Not sold on this idea yet? Think about your favorite books and authors, I bet you were introduced to at least one of them by a friend, family member, or colleague. No? well, bah humbug to you. Here's my final attempt at proof of concept: When I was visiting my parents for the Thanksgiving holiday I ran out of the reading material I brought from home. My parents' house is full of books so I had plenty of options, but I ended up starting a book that my father had set aside for me: Old Man's War by John Scalzi. He was reading one of the sequels and assured me that it was a great series. I would have never picked up this book on my own being as it was mass market scifi with an unappealing (to me) title. I liked it!

20 december

A stocking suffer suggestion.

Olive Editions

Harper Perennial puts out limited-edition, pocket-sized editions of classics and contemporary classics as Olive Editions (list price $10). The cover art is minimal, but quite nice (check out this blog post to see the spines). I'm a bit of a sucker for series and having sets that match. If I'd known about these when Olive Editions debuted I'd probably have started collecting them all, but having only come across them this year, I don't think I'll both since they are limited and I assume that tracking down copies of some of the early ones would be a case in frustration.*

This year's Olive Editions are Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (great book - I should reread it), Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (I can't remember if I've read this one, which means I should get a copy from the library tout de suite), and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (this was our book club selection for September, but apparently I never got around to posting about it).

* but if anyone has an Olive Edition of The Unbearable Lightness of Being (2008) they want to rehome, I'm your (wo)man.

book clubbing in December

The title of the library book club's December selection is a bit of a mouthful.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

In the wake of WWII, London journalist Juliet Ashton receives an intriguing letter from the current owner of a book that was once part of her personal library: The Selected Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb. Dawsey Adams, a farmer from Guernsey, mentions belonging to a group intriguingly named "the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" that was formed during the war. When Juliet is asked to write an article about "the philosophical value of reading," she thinks that the Society might provide some fodder for her story. Through Dawsey, Juliet is introduced to other members of the Society, who pen missives to her about themselves, their reading interests, Guernsey, and the Occupation as diverse as the individuals themselves.

While I tend to enjoy both historical fiction and epistolary novels, I have to admit that I wasn't really looking forward to reading The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I'd heard from so many different people how good it was that I was afraid it wouldn't live up to the hype. And, while the novel and I had a bit of a rocky start (Charles Lamb? I've never read Charles Lamb), I found that the longer I spent with the story, the more compelling it became.

Juliet is charming, cheeky, and wholly real. When Amelia Maugery (one of the founding members of the Society) questions Juliet's intentions in writing about the Society, Juliet responds:

Since you ask to know something about me, I have asked the Reverend Simon Simpless [...] to write to you. He has known me since I was a child and is fond of me. I have asked Lady Bella Taunton to provide a reference for me too. We were fire wardens together during the Blitz and she wholeheartedly dislikes me. Between the two of them, you may get a fair picture of my character. (35-36)

Absolutely perfect.

The novel's secondary characters are also well-wrought. The letter-writers each have a distinctive voice and even those who do not write leave a very clear impression (though I have to admit that nearly all of us book clubbers thought Dawsey was older than he actually was).

I think The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of those books that will stick with you. I think I will not "say" anymore for fear of accidentally including spoilers in babble. Suffice it to say that I think you should read this book if you haven't already.

19 december

Today's gift suggestion is another Etsy find.

Custom Bookshelf Painting

Get the reader in your life a voucher for a painting from The Ideal Bookshelf. The image above is from one of the etsy listings, which includes images of other custom paintings she's done for people.

There are four basic options for custom paintings
- 8x8 inches featuring up to 7 books for $160
- 8x10 featuring up to 10 books for $220
- 8x10 featuring up to 15 books for $300
- 9x12 featuring up to 22 books for $400
and the artist is open to special requests.

If you like the idea, but can't afford the custom price tag, there are lots of prints ($20-$60) available in the etsy shop. I particularly like Ideal Bookshelf 97: IS, Ideal Bookshelf 8: ST, and Ideal Bookshelf 56: JT (love the addition of the hat!).

You can read more about the artist and why she likes painting books on her website.

18 december

Subtitled "delectable recipes for scones, cakes, sandwiches, and more from New York's most whimsical tea spot," this book (which came out in October) would be a great gift (especially paired with some nice tea).

Alice's Tea Cup by Haley and Lauren Fox

For almost ten years, Alice's Tea Cup [the restaurant] has been a destination in New York City for locals and tourists alike who crave a scrumptious afternoon tea without airs or pretension. Haley and Lauren Fox learned at an early age that tea was more than just a beverage—it was an event to be shared and protected—and they divulge their tea-making philosophy and dozens of delectable recipes in this beautiful cookbook.

Embodying the mantra "tea turned on its ear," Alice's Tea Cup [the book] serves up unique twists to traditional Victorian tea fare, including:
Savories — Lapsang Souchong Smoked Chicken Salad and Cucumber Watercress Sandwiches with Lemon Chive Butter
Baked goods — Banana Nutella Cake and Mint Black Bottom Cupcakes
Sweet treats — Alice'S'mores and Queen of Tarts
Tea selections — from African Dew to Rooibos Bourbon
Specialty drinks — Alice's Tea-jito and Ginger Mar-tea-ni
And of course Alice's world-famous tender, moist scones—including nineteen versions, from pumpkin to peanut butter and jelly to ham and cheese

Haley and Lauren also show you how to throw a personalized "Curiouser and Curiouser" tea party with household props and offer lots of other ways to celebrate with tea and festive food. From salads to scones, pancakes to cupcakes, afternoon tea to evening mar-tea-nis, this fabulous cookbook lets you enjoy Alice's mouthwatering recipes without leaving home.

17 december

Another, but completely different kind of book lamp that I happened across at Uncommon Goods. (I featured a book lamp on the 9th)

Book Rest Lamp

If you feel right at home in a good book, then this is the lamp for you! Designed with the simple, geometric outline of a house, the lamp's low-heat internal CFL bulb provides your favorite reading spot with a warm glow. When you have to tear yourself away from your book, simply lay it face down on the lamp and it becomes a literary rooftop--and instant night light. Not only does it save your page, but it playfully incorporates your love of reading right into your room’s decor.

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.

16 december

Knitting for a reader...

Aemelia Book Cover

Named after Aemilia Lanyer, a 17th Century English poet, the book cover is perfect for hiding the covers of mass market titles we aren't always willing to admit that we read.

I've wanted to knit this pattern from the moment I first saw a photo on the designer's blog in October. It was published in the Holiday Gifts issue of Interview Knits. Now, I subscribe to Interview, but Holiday Knits is a special issue that's not included in the subscription so I had to run off to Jo-Ann (armed with a coupon) to get myself a copy.

I wanted to knit one for my mom. And when my lunchtime knitting group decided to do a secret exchange I thought it was just the thing that my partner would like. Today was our lunch and gift exchange so I can finally post about Aemelia (my mom doesn't read this blog so I'm not worried about accidentally spoiling anything for her).

Aemelia is a quick knit (love the decorative panel!), but swatching and blocking are imperative. More of my notes on the pattern (and project photos) are available on Ravelry.

15 december

I love to have hardcover copies of books that I really like and am planning to keep longterm. Many people have enjoyed these books so a boxed set might be just the thing.

Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy

I read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (see post) over the summer. I haven't continued with the series because The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is our book club selection for January, but I plan to start The Girl Who Played with Fire right after our book club meeting next month.

14 december

Know someone who likes to read in bed?

Reading Wedge Pillow

I have to admit that I love The Company Store. Their stuff is really high quality and they often offer their linens in fun prints.

People who read in bed will love their reading wedge pillow (I have a large-sized one with a lime green cover). As an added bonus the pillow (oriented with tall side on the bottom) is great for elevating your head for sleep when you are sick.

13 december

I happened across this set today. It'd be a great gift for someone interested in book design or a reader who likes to send notes to other readers.

Postcards from Penguin

A collection of 100 postcards, each featuring a different and iconic Penguin book jacket. From classics to crime, here are over seventy years of quintessentially British design in one box.
In 1935 Allen Lane stood on a platform at Exeter railway station, looking for a good book for the journey to London. His disappointment at the poor range of paperbacks on offer led him to found Penguin Books. The quality paperback had arrived.
Declaring that 'good design is no more expensive than bad', Lane was adamant that his Penguin paperbacks should cost no more than a packet of cigarettes, but that they should always look distinctive.
Ever since then, from their original - now world-famous - look featuring three bold horizontal stripes, through many different stylish, inventive and iconic cover designs, Penguin's paperback jackets have been a constantly evolving part of Britain's culture. And whether they're for classics, crime, reference or prize-winning novels, they still follow Allen Lane's original design mantra.

Flickr user Alan Trotter has a great set of shots featuring the set.

Available from Penguin and Amazon.

12 december

Today's post isn't to share a gift idea, but rather a reminder that not to forget the importance of kindness and compassion in the midst of stress and shopping this holiday season.

Random Acts of Kindness

Sheri, proprietress of The Loopy Ewe, encourages readers of her blog to commit random acts of kindness during the month of December. Of course there are lots of places on the web where people can share random kindness done by and for them, but Sheri's blog is where I get my fix during the holidays. Each Friday she has her readers share something they've done during the past week in the comments of one of her posts. These random-acts-of-kindness posts warm my heart.

11 december

While this television series isn't for everyone (I'll admit that it took me a bit to warm up to it), it could make the perfect gift for the right person.

The Complete Black Books

Black Books (2000-2004) centers around the foul tempered and wildly eccentric bookshop owner Bernard Black (Dylan Moran). Bernard's devotion to the twin pleasures of drunkenness and willful antagonism deepens and enriches both his life and that of Manny (Bill Bailey), his assistant. Bearded, gentle, sweet and good, Manny is everything that Bernard isn't and is punished by Bernard relentlessly just for the crime of existing. They depend on each other for meaning as Fran (Tamsin Greig), their oldest friend, depends on them for distraction. Black Books is a haven of books, wine and conversation, the only threat to the group's peace and prosperity is their own limitless stupidity.

Available at Amazon, BestBuy, or your favorite DVD retailer.