Becky's Book Reviews

The Art of Reading

2009-07-13T10:40:00.000-05:00

The Art of Reading: Forty Illustrators Celebrate RIF's 40th Anniversary. With a Foreword by Leonard S. Marcus. 2005. Dutton (Penguin).

This is a book for those with curious minds. It asks forty illustrators to talk about which books in their lives have inspired them. Sounds simple, but how would you choose just one? (That's what I'd like to know.) But what is the book like? Well, each artist is given two pages. One page for an illustration--at times this is an "inspired-by" piece. And a second page for text--a paragraph or two for talking about reading, drawing, and imagination. Who was inspired by The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe? Pat Cummings. Who was inspired by The Wonderful Wizard of Oz? Robert Sabuda. Who was inspired by Harold and the Purple Crayon? That would be Bryan Collier. It was interesting to me--and it may be to you as well--to see that novels (both children's novels and more adult titles even) can inspire potential artists just as much as picture books. (For example, The Outsiders inspired David Diaz; The Martian Chronicles inspired Brian Selznick; 2001 A Space Odyssey inspired David Wiesner.) I also loved that this book conveyed passion and enthusiasm. It was a book that showed people excited about reading, about books.

I also want to mention that this is a great browsing-type book. If you like art--no matter your age--you'll probably enjoy the illustrations in this one. It features artists paying tribute to their favorite books. So you'll see art that is inspired by particular books.

Which books have 'inspired' you in your life?

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: Reaing, Read, To Read #28

2009-07-12T16:04:00.002-05:00

Happy Sunday everyone! Do you like reading new-to-you authors? I sure do! I've had a great year so far. Who have you discovered this year? Do you have any recommendations for me? (I think it's only fair that now and then you get to make recommendations to me, since I spend so much of my time trying to recommend authors to you!) As for me, this year I've "discovered" John Scalzi, John Steinbeck, Jerome K. Jerome, Anthony Trollope, and Diana Wynne Jones. Just to name a few.

Movies watched this week: Lover Come Back, The Sea Hawk, Jumbo, Bells Are Ringing, Holiday, Charge of the Light Brigade, The Kissing Bandit, Father Goose, Man's Favorite Sport, Marriage On the Rocks, The Tender Trap, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, The Bishop's Wife.

"Just in Time" from Bells Are Ringing

"The Tender Trap" from The Tender Trap

What I read in a previous week, but reviewed this week:

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr. 2009. HarperCollins. 389 pages.
Old Man's War by John Scalzi. 2005. 314 pages.
The Local News by Miriam Gershow. 2009. Spiegel & Grau. 360 pages.

What I read this past week and reviewed:

My Parents Are Divorced, My Elbows Have Nicknames, And Other Facts About Me. Bill Cochran. Illustrated by Steve Bjorkman. 2009. HarperCollins.
Three Men In a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. 1889. 144 pages.
Castle in the Air. Diana Wynne Jones. 1990. 383 pages.
Feed by M.T. Anderson. 2002. Candlewick. 300 pages.

What I read this past week and haven't reviewed yet:

Three Men On The Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome
House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones
The Art of Reading. Forty Illustrators Celebrate RIF's 40th Anniversary. With A Foreword by Leonard Marcus. 2005. Penguin.
Junie B. Jone's Essential Survival Guide to School. Barbara Park. 2009.

What I've read and really really need to review: none

What I'm currently reading:

The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
She by H. Rider Haggard
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi

What I'm just fooling around that I'm reading:

Clara's War: One Girl's Story of Survival by Clara Kramer. 2009. HarperCollins. 352 pages.
Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran

What I hope to start reading soon:

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer

and latest library loot.

What I've abandoned:

A Canticle for Leibowitz. Walter M. Miller, Jr. 1959. 338 pages.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Feed (YA)

2009-07-11T11:15:00.000-05:00

Anderson, M.T. 2002. Feed. Candlewick Press. 300 pages.

We went to the moon to have fun, but the moon turned out to completely suck.

Feed is both simple and complex; original and unique. Perhaps Titus sums it up best,

"it's about this meg normal guy, who doesn't think about anything until one wacky day, when he meets a dissident with a heart of gold...set against the backdrop of America in its final days, it's the high-spirited story of their love together, it's laugh-out-loud funny, really heartwarming, and a visual feast" (297).

Titus is our narrator and Violet is his love-interest. It all starts during spring break. On the moon. At a club. Titus, Violet, and a handful of other partying teens (mostly Titus' friends and classmates) are 'touched' by an old man. Their feeds--internal feeds--are hacked by this rebel. They broadcast--against their will--a doomsday message:

We enter a time of calamity. Blood on the tarmac. Fingers in the juicer. Towers of air frozen in the lunar wastes. Models dead on the runways, with smiles that can't be undone. Chicken shall rot in the aisles. See the pillars fall. (39)

They are taken into custody. Hospitalized. Examined to make sure that their feeds are fixed before they are fully reactivated. And all seems to be well..at first.

The feeds are responsible for so much. They deliver non-stop entertainment (music, movies, etc), non-stop advertisements and shopping opportunities, and instant connections with the world. Features such as chat and messaging, for example. Of course, with all this built into humanity--right inside the human brain--many things are being lost. Most importantly the ability to think critically, to make observations, to understand and perceive reality.

But as Titus interacts with Violet, he begins to think. And this scares him in a way. Overwhelms him. I'll be honest, Titus isn't always a lovable guy. He can be a real jerk. And Titus and his friends don't keep it clean. (So if 'bad' language offends you, then this is not the book for you.)

I'm not quite sure what to think of Feed. On the one hand, I think it's a smart novel. It challenges readers to think. To perhaps take more of an interest in the world around them. To think about cause and effect. To consider the big picture. Furthermore, it's well-written. Never for a minute do you doubt that this is Titus speaking. That this is Titus's world. The language. The dialogue. The style. Everything helps to establish this world Anderson is creating. But on the other hand, it's a bit of a downer. It's a bit sad, a bit cynical. Did I expect a happy ending? No. Would a happy ending work on this one? Never. I wouldn't think of changing it. This book tells the only story that it can tell.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Castle In The Air (MG)

2009-07-10T08:35:00.001-05:00

Jones, Diana Wynne. 1990. Castle in the Air. 383 pages.

Far to the south of the land of Ingary, in the Sultanates of Rashpuht, a young carpet merchant called Abdullah lived in the city of Zanzib. As merchants go, he was not rich. His father had been disappointed in him, and when he died, he had only left Abdullah just enough money to buy and stock a modest booth in the northwest corner of the Bazaar. The rest of his father's money, and the large carpet emporium in the center of the Bazaar, had all gone to the relatives of his father's first wife.
Abdullah had never been told why his father was disappointed in him. A prophecy made at Abdullah's birth had something to do with it. But Abdullah never bothered to find out more. Instead, from a very early age, he had simply made up daydreams about it.

Abdullah is quite a dreamer. Whether awake or asleep, his head is always up in the clouds. But can his dreams get him into trouble? Can his dreams lead him into a dangerous adventure? One day Abdullah buys a magic carpet. Not knowing quite where to store this 'magic' carpet to keep it safe, he decides to sleep on it. He's startled a bit that night to see that this magic carpet has taken the liberty of flying off with him. He awakes to find himself in a beautiful garden with a beautiful princess. The princess is a bit startled herself. You see, she's got a prophecy hanging over her as well. (Though she doesn't know it. Her father has kept it from her, of course.) She's never seen another man besides her father. And to suddenly see one in your own private garden appear out of nowhere? That's a bit strange and it takes some getting used to. But as these two warm up to each other, the adventures are only getting started.

This is a fun fantasy novel. It has adventure, danger, mystery, humor, and just a trace of romance.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Three Men in A Boat

2009-07-09T14:23:00.011-05:00

Jerome, Jerome K. 1889. Three Men In A Boat.

If laughter really is the best medicine, then have I got the prescription for you! Read some Jerome K. Jerome. Start with Three Men In A Boat. You might think since it was published so long ago that it would be dry and stuffy. You don't really--or at least I usually don't--think of classics as being laugh-out-loud funny. But give Three Men a try. Get to know J (our narrator) and his friends George and Harris. And let's not forget the dog, Montmorency. These friends are going on a trip--and you're invited. They're going boating on the Thames.

"THERE were four of us - George, and William Samuel Harris, and myself, and Montmorency. We were sitting in my room, smoking, and talking about how bad we were - bad from a medical point of view I mean, of course."

J, our narrator, is an interesting fellow. One that I adored. (You may come to love him too!)

The book is entertaining. It is a 'travel book' that more often than not is stories, jokes and pranks more than actually seeing the sights. J relates this 'current' trip with his two friends but he also shares with readers humorous stories, little asides, about anything and everything. One of my favorite stories is the one about stinky cheese:

Cheese, like oil, makes too much of itself. It wants the whole boat to itself. It goes through the hamper, and gives a cheesy flavour to everything else there. You can't tell whether you are eating apple-pie or German sausage, or strawberries and cream. It all seems cheese. There is too much odour about cheese.

I remember a friend of mine, buying a couple of cheeses at Liverpool. Splendid cheeses they were, ripe and mellow, and with a two hundred horse-power scent about them that might have been warranted to carry three miles, and knock a man over at two hundred yards. I was in Liverpool at the time, and my friend said that if I didn't mind he would get me to take them back with me to London, as he should not be coming up for a day or two himself, and he did not think the cheeses ought to be kept much longer.

"Oh, with pleasure, dear boy," I replied, "with pleasure."

I called for the cheeses, and took them away in a cab. It was a ramshackle affair, dragged along by a knock-kneed, broken-winded somnambulist, which his owner, in a moment of enthusiasm, during conversation, referred to as a horse. I put the cheeses on the top, and we started off at a shamble that would have done credit to the swiftest steam-roller ever built, and all went merry as a funeral bell, until we turned the corner. There, the wind carried a whiff from the cheeses full on to our steed. It woke him up, and, with a snort of terror, he dashed off at three miles an hour. The wind still blew in his direction, and before we reached the end of the street he was laying himself out at the rate of nearly four miles an hour, leaving the cripples and stout old ladies simply nowhere.

It took two porters as well as the driver to hold him in at the station; and I do not think they would have done it, even then, had not one of the men had the presence of mind to put a handkerchief over his nose, and to light a bit of brown paper.

I took my ticket, and marched proudly up the platform, with my cheeses, the people falling back respectfully on either side. The train was crowded, and I had to get into a carriage where there were already seven other people. One crusty old gentleman objected, but I got in, notwithstanding; and, putting my cheeses upon the rack, squeezed down with a pleasant smile, and said it was a warm day.

A few moments passed, and then the old gentleman began to fidget.

"Very close in here," he said.

"Quite oppressive," said the man next him.

And then they both began sniffing, and, at the third sniff, they caught it right on the chest, and rose up without another word and went out. And then a stout lady got up, and said it was disgraceful that a respectable married woman should be harried about in this way, and gathered up a bag and eight parcels and went. The remaining four passengers sat on for a while, until a solemn-looking man in the corner, who, from his dress and general appearance, seemed to belong to the undertaker class, said it put him in mind of dead baby; and the other three passengers tried to get out of the door at the same time, and hurt themselves.

I smiled at the black gentleman, and said I thought we were going to have the carriage to ourselves; and he laughed pleasantly, and said that some people made such a fuss over a little thing. But even he grew strangely depressed after we had started, and so, when we reached Crewe, I asked him to come and have a drink. He accepted, and we forced our way into the buffet, where we yelled, and stamped, and waved our umbrellas for a quarter of an hour; and then a young lady came, and asked us if we wanted anything.

"What's yours?" I said, turning to my friend.

"I'll have half-a-crown's worth of brandy, neat, if you please, miss," he responded.

And he went off quietly after he had drunk it and got into another carriage, which I thought mean.

From Crewe I had the compartment to myself, though the train was crowded. As we drew up at the different stations, the people, seeing my empty carriage, would rush for it. "Here y' are, Maria; come along, plenty of room." "All right, Tom; we'll get in here," they would shout. And they would run along, carrying heavy bags, and fight round the door to get in first. And one would open the door and mount the steps, and stagger back into the arms of the man behind him; and they would all come and have a sniff, and then droop off and squeeze into other carriages, or pay the difference and go first.

From Euston, I took the cheeses down to my friend's house. When his wife came into the room she smelt round for an instant. Then she said:

"What is it? Tell me the worst."

I said:

"It's cheeses. Tom bought them in Liverpool, and asked me to bring them up with me."

And I added that I hoped she understood that it had nothing to do with me; and she said that she was sure of that, but that she would speak to Tom about it when he came back.

My friend was detained in Liverpool longer than he expected; and, three days later, as he hadn't returned home, his wife called on me. She said:

"What did Tom say about those cheeses?"

I replied that he had directed they were to be kept in a moist place, and that nobody was to touch them.

She said:

"Nobody's likely to touch them. Had he smelt them?"

I thought he had, and added that he seemed greatly attached to them.

"You think he would be upset," she queried, "if I gave a man a sovereign to take them away and bury them?"

I answered that I thought he would never smile again.

An idea struck her. She said:

"Do you mind keeping them for him? Let me send them round to you."

"Madam," I replied, "for myself I like the smell of cheese, and the journey the other day with them from Liverpool I shall ever look back upon as a happy ending to a pleasant holiday. But, in this world, we must consider others. The lady under whose roof I have the honour of residing is a widow, and, for all I know, possibly an orphan too. She has a strong, I may say an eloquent, objection to being what she terms 'put upon.' The presence of your husband's cheeses in her house she would, I instinctively feel, regard as a 'put upon'; and it shall never be said that I put upon the widow and the orphan."

"Very well, then," said my friend's wife, rising, "all I have to say is, that I shall take the children and go to an hotel until those cheeses are eaten. I decline to live any longer in the same house with them."

She kept her word, leaving the place in charge of the charwoman, who, when asked if she could stand the smell, replied, "What smell?" and who, when taken close to the cheeses and told to sniff hard, said she could detect a faint odour of melons. It was argued from this that little injury could result to the woman from the atmosphere, and she was left.

The hotel bill came to fifteen guineas; and my friend, after reckoning everything up, found that the cheeses had cost him eight-and-sixpence a pound. He said he dearly loved a bit of cheese, but it was beyond his means; so he determined to get rid of them. He threw them into the canal; but had to fish them out again, as the bargemen complained. They said it made them feel quite faint. And, after that, he took them one dark night and left them in the parish mortuary. But the coroner discovered them, and made a fearful fuss.

He said it was a plot to deprive him of his living by waking up the corpses.

My friend got rid of them, at last, by taking them down to a sea-side town, and burying them on the beach. It gained the place quite a reputation. Visitors said they had never noticed before how strong the air was, and weak-chested and consumptive people used to throng there for years afterwards.

I also enjoyed the story about Harris singing comic songs. And the bit about the tin can of pineapples was great.

Have you read this one? Do you have a favorite scene or story?

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Old Man's War

2009-07-09T11:45:00.002-05:00

Scalzi, John. 2005. Old Man's War. TOR. 311 pages.

I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army. Visiting Kathy's grave was the less dramatic of the two.

John Perry, our narrator, is a great guy to get to know. He's seventy-five, but his life is just beginning. Or should I say, just beginning to begin again. John and Kathy--like so many other senior citizens--decided upon reaching the big 6-5 to volunteer for the army. (They have ten years to change their minds. They're called into service when they're 75.) What does this mean? It means that as soldiers they'll be leaving Earth behind forever. They're not allowed to return...ever. But it also means--in a way--longevity. Though no one knows quite how, they know that *something* will be done to their bodies to make them young and strong and vibrant again. Sure, to get this vitality, this new youth, this health they have to pledge themselves to serve in the army, to fight to protect human colonies on other planets. Two to ten years. That's what it will cost. If they survive, they'll have a second life, a second chance. (Just remember that a younger body doesn't make for a younger soul.)

John doesn't know exactly all that he's in for. But he knows it's bound to be better than just growing old and dying. He figures that he can adapt to just about anything.

War. It's inescapable when it's in the title. John Perry will have to fight to survive, to stay alive. He'll have to learn to follow orders. (Not all of his fellow soldiers do, you know. Some pay for this with their lives.) And John has the makings of an excellent soldier. He's good at surviving. Suspiciously good at surviving if you ask some folks. Unlike most soldiers, John is going to have some close encounters with the Special Forces. Actually serving alongside them for a while. And what he learns is a bit shocking...to him at least.

Old Man's War is an engaging read. It has just the right blend of humor and action to make it worthwhile.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Fragile Eternity (YA)

2009-07-08T11:48:00.002-05:00

Marr, Melissa. 2009. Fragile Eternity. HarperCollins. 389 pages.

I've gone about reading this series all wrong. I read Ink Exchange first. Then read Wicked Lovely. Then Fragile Eternity. If I'd had the time, perhaps, I should have reread Ink Exchange. But I didn't. (Technically, it shouldn't matter too much. Ink Exchange is more of a companion novel than a sequel--same world, different narrators.) Fragile Eternity shifts the focus back to Seth and Aislinn. Seth still madly loves Aislinn (Ash). Ash still loves Seth. And yet there's Keenan. The summer king who is never quite out of the picture. He is her equal. She is drawn to him. Unmistakably, inevitably drawn to him. The fact that they're both immortal helps some here. Yet she still chooses Seth. Declaring that her more-instinctual lust for her king can be suppressed. Seth feels jealous, as can be expected. Being with Ash isn't easy for Seth. He, as a mortal, is delicate in comparison. Ash can hurt him easily, without even thinking about it. Her touch can burn and blister his skin. When they're together, it's not easy and it's not without risk.

At the same time, Donia is still in love with Keenan...and Keenan's in love with Donia. Problem is they're dangerous together. As the winter queen, she's all cold and ice and he's all fire and heat. When they're intimate, it's risky for both of them. And Donia is even more uncomfortable than Seth when it comes to Ash's intrusion. Keenan can't help wanting to be with his rightful queen. And Donia hates feeling like she's second choice.

There are so many characters--mostly faery--in Fragile Eternity. And I enjoyed getting to know them. The introduction of Sorcha and Bananach adds so much depth to the story. With Bananach's need for war and chaos, it gets very interesting.

With each book, the story gets more complex as characters are more fully developed. One thing I enjoyed about this one is that we get Seth's side. Much of the story is told from his point of view in fact. And I loved the added depth and substance. Seth is the focus here. He's got the attention of several different faery courts. And he's even caught the attention of the High Court. Sorcha has been 'warned' that this mortal has too much influence with the faeries. That this mortal 'pet' needs to be taken care of. But will Sorcha agree? Where does Seth belong in the world?

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Library Loot: Second Week in July

2009-07-08T11:38:00.003-05:00

New loot:

Three Men in A Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog) & Three Men On the Bummel by Jerome K. Jerome
The Known World by Edward P. Jones
Passion by Jude Morgan
Beloved by Toni Morrison
A Mercy by Toni Morrison
The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Zoe's Tale by John Scalzi
Cup of Gold by John Steinbeck
The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings by John Steinbeck
Scaramouche: A Romance of the French Revolution by Rafael Sabatini

Leftover loot:

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones

Drowned Amnet by Diana Wynne Jones

The Spellcoats by Diana Wynne Jones

The Crown of Dalemark by Diana Wynne Jones
To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis

On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Getting Creative

2009-07-08T08:04:00.001-05:00

One of the things I loved about Lisa Mantchev's Eyes Like Stars was the premise. It was imaginative. It was playful. She took familiar (or familiarish) characters and breathed new life into them. Mantchev's characters are based on some Shakespearian characters. Some may be familiar to readers. (Some Shakespeare plays are still required reading after all.) Others may be new to readers. But this isn't one of those instances where you'd be helplessly lost if you weren't familiar with Shakespeare's plays. And Mantchev doesn't only refer back to Shakespeare. Her Theatre Illuminata houses all the characters from all the plays.

I'm sure you've noticed this trend like I have--of writers drawing from past characters and breathing new life into these stories. Two examples from children's literature that I can think of are Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. But even Anne Shirley and Winnie the Pooh are getting revisited these days. And in the world of adult literature, can anyone doubt the trendiness of Austen prequels, sequels, and retellings? Zombies and vampires, oh my, and all in one year.

How do you feel about these retellings, these reimaginings, these prequels, sequels, and companion novels?

Do you have a favorite you'd hold up as an example of a job well done? Do you have a least favorite?

Are these books you tend to avoid or seek out?

Supernatural creatures have begun to invade classics recently, which classics would you like to see zombiefied or vampired in the future? Which classics do you think could be made better by adding a werewolf or two?

Throw out a premise or two if you like! How would you like to spin a familiar story?

Other stops on the tour:

The 160 Acre Woods, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Patchwork of Books, Abby the Librarian, All About Children’s Books, And Another Book Read, Becky’s Book Reviews, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, The Friendly Book Nook, Homeschool Book Buzz, Homespun Light, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Never Jam Today, Reading is My Superpower, Through a Child’s Eyes

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Interview with Miriam Gershow

2009-07-08T03:44:00.008-05:00

Can you tell us a little bit about your background and your journey towards becoming a published author?

I’ve been writing most of my life, though not seriously until after college, when I moved across the country from Michigan to Oregon. I spent years in community writing groups, trying to figure out what makes a good story and what makes a good sentence. After nearly a decade out of school, I went back for my MFA in 2000. After graduating, I spent several years putting together a short-story collection. While the collection never sold, I did end up finding a great agent in the process, who encouraged me in my novel writing. The Local News took me two years to write. Six days after my agent sent it to publishers, we got an offer. So after 15 years of writing, I had found “overnight” success.

What inspired you to write The Local News?

I’m always inspired by the tiniest of glimpses. I rarely if ever have the entire story in mind at the outset. In the case of The Local News, I had the idea of Lydia going through her neighborhood with Missing Person posters of Danny and getting in a fight with a convenience store clerk who refused to hang it. That was it. From there, I just started to write, and the novel was born.

Do you have a favorite scene or a favorite quote from the novel? What is your favorite bit that you're extra-proud to have written?

It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I really love the wintertime party in the park scene. Every time I reread it, it just makes me smile. That scene didn’t exist until the second draft of the book, and I just love the way it captures so many things at once. First, there’s the strange, boozy social scene of high school, which is both repellent and seductive to Lydia. Then there’s the uncertainty and confusion of adolescence as Tip and Lydia grapple with each other on the snowy trails to nowhere. Then there’s the specter of Danny hovering above everything Lydia does, even when she’s barely aware of it.

What do you love about writing? What do you find the easiest? What do you find the hardest?

I love the discovery that comes with the writing process. Like I said, I never usually know what lies ahead in my stories. So I relish those moments when I get a flash of inspiration and things just come together. This happened many times in The Local News, including when I began the second section and had no idea where I was going with the plot. One day, the idea of Denis hit me, and suddenly the story took on new life and headed in a new direction entirely. Those moments make the writing process so enlivening and exciting; they’re like a natural high.

For me, the easiest part of writing is keeping momentum going when I’m in the thick of a project. Once I’m neck-deep in a story, returning to it each day is like a compulsion. On the other hand, creating that momentum when I’m at the start of a project or between projects or stuck in a project having no idea what I’m doing (which is much of the time), can be really hard. I have to force myself back to my desk and just grapple with the blinking cursor on my screen. Those are the days when everything feels more satisfying than writing–washing dishes, vacuuming, organizing my spice rack.

How do you find the time--do you find the time--to keep reading? Do you have any recent favorites?

Reading is essential to me, not just as a writer, but as a lover of books. Not reading would be as hard and unnatural as not writing. However, I’m about to have my first child, so I’m sure it will become more and more of a challenge to make the time and stay awake for it.

I was recently blown away by Jennifer Haigh’s The Condition. I was awed by both the humanity of the characters and the structure of the book. For the most part, she devotes long chapters to individual members of an immediate family, telling their separate stories. It could almost be seen as a collection of short stories, yet it’s unmistakably a novel. And somehow all of these disparate stories come together by the end for one of the most satisfying resolutions I’ve read in years. I ran out and got her other books immediately and was equally impressed by Mrs. Kimble.

If you had twenty-four hours, a time machine, and a limitless supply of money, what would you want to do?

Well, the first thing that struck me was to go to some far-flung exotic locale of the past. But I couldn’t really think of a far-flung exotic locale that really spoke to me. If I’m completely honest, I’d use the time machine to travel maybe 20 years into the future and use the limitless supply of money to charter a high-speed jet to fly all around the world to see how my family, friends and I were faring.

Miriam Gershow’s TLC Book Tours TOUR STOPS:

Monday, June 15th: Everyday I Write the Book Blog – online book club

Monday, June 22nd: Books on the Brain

Wednesday, June 24th: Book Club Classics!

Monday, June 29th: Worducopia

Thursday, July 2nd: Redlady’s Reading Room

Tuesday, July 7th: Peeking Between the Pages

Wednesday, July 8th: Becky’s Book Reviews

Thursday, July 9th: Caribousmom

Tuesday, July 14th: Stephanie’s Written Word

Wednesday, July 15th: A Lifetime of Books

The Local News

2009-07-07T18:58:00.000-05:00

Gershow, Miriam. 2009. The Local News. Spiegel & Grau. 360 pages.

After my brother went missing, my parents let me use their car whenever I wanted, even though I only had a learner's permit.

Lydia Pasternak, our narrator, has a difficult coming-of-age when her brother, Danny, whom she had a difficult and complex relationship with even on the best of days, goes missing and is later discovered dead. It's hard enough being sixteen without the added stress of having a missing brother. It's hard to be invisible at school when her very presence brings forth pity. Almost everyone loved her brother--especially the popular people, the pretty people, if you will. And now they want to reach out to Lydia. So she hangs out with new people. She goes to parties. But where does she belong in all this?

In some ways The Local News is an uneasy novel. I think this is intentional for the most part. Lydia certainly feels uncomfortable in her own skin, in her own life. And it is only natural that that rubs off on the reader. Lydia is uneasy for so many different reasons. She didn't really get along with her brother, hadn't gotten along with him for a while now, and now he is gone. She doesn't have much closure there. He's gone. That's it. They spend the better part of a year investigating the disappearance. When the police investigation isn't moving fast enough for the family, they hire their own private investigator to try to piece together the puzzle. And Lydia throws herself into this investigation, and throws herself at the investigator, Denis. Also her parents are not the same as they were. Her parents are absent--they've divorced themselves from their surviving child. They barely register her existence. And that's tough to take. Who does Lydia have in her life? A jumbled assortment of her former friends and her brother's former friends plus a foreign exchange student. I never felt comfortable with Lydia's friends. At all. Maybe because Lydia herself wasn't sure about them? Maybe because I felt there was too much awkwardness in the whole affair.

The Local News is an adult book narrated mostly by a young adult protagonist. The framework of the book is that Lydia is returning to her hometown ten years later for her reunion. This is bringing back memories of which many are painful and awkward and in-between. There is some distance between the events and the narration of those events.

I had a hard time liking Lydia because I had a hard time connecting with Lydia. I'm not sure why. Perhaps Lydia was emotionally distant and hard-to-get-to-know. If she was purposefully written that way, that would certainly make her authentic to the situation. She's had quite a shock and she's out of sorts.

Perhaps I just couldn't relate to her. She's a world-politics nerd who on the one hand enjoys being intellectual and debating and discussing real news, important news. On one hand, she despises the shallowness and phoniness of the typical high school crowd. There's probably a good reason she only had one friend before her brother disappeared.

But on the other hand, she's enjoying experimenting with the popular crowd, the crowd that loved and adored her older brother. She enjoys going to the parties and getting drunk and flirting with guys she really has no interest in. She likes going with the crowd and not really being true-to-herself. She likes pretending to be someone else maybe because it's easier, requires less thinking. Who knows? I just know I felt uncomfortable spending time with her and her friends. Especially David. He creeped me out. And I'm not sure if he was meant to or not. The ending left me confused. If you've read it, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts about it.

Interview with Lisa Mantchev

2009-07-07T07:54:00.000-05:00

I interviewed Lisa Mantchev back in April (2009). She is the author of the YA fantasy novel Eyes Like Stars. (Don't you just love that cover???) I hope you take some time to go back and read the first interview...but I was very happy to be able to think up a second set of questions just for this tour!

Let's talk about Ariel. He's a character from Shakespeare's The Tempest obviously, but I'm curious about how you transformed him into one of the hottest fictional heroes I've ever read about. Could you talk a little bit about that process? How did your Ariel come to be? How did he evolve into such a hottie?!

ELS started life as a short story, and Ariel was there from the beginning. I knew, going into that very first short piece, that I needed a character who wanted to escape the Théâtre Illuminata and would stop at almost nothing to get out. The yearning to be released from Prospero's servitude is the Shakespearean Ariel's most outstanding trait, so I grabbed onto that.

In The Tempest, it's never specified if Ariel is male or female, young or old. I've seen productions in which the character was played by a young boy. The character of Sorrel (a teen girl) plays Ariel in Noel Streatfeild's Theater Shoes, and I've seen adults of both sexes portray the role. I never made a conscious decision to make my Ariel young and male, though. He turned up that way, with his smirk and his butterflies, to tempt Bertie.

What do you think it is about Ariel that makes him so appealing? Do you think he's the ultimate bad-boy that women hate to love and love to hate?

I think it's the a mystery about Ariel, the inability to really know--beyond freedom--what he really wants. So far, readers have had strong reactions to him, and it's either HAWT or NAWT, with very little middle ground.

Let's talk tango. Can you give us a behind the scenes look into how that scene evolved? That's one of my favorite scenes, and one quite honestly that I could put on repeat. It just sparkles to me. (And not in the Edward-in-the-meadow way.) I'm curious about how this scene can to be, did it come to you all at once? Did you know it was just-right from the beginning? Or did it take some work to make it so steamy?

The tango scene is one of the very few scenes in the entire novel that did not get taken apart and put back together during editorial revisions, although originally Bertie was *ahem* smoking the caterpillar's hookah, not sneaking sips from the "Drink Me" bottle.

Fancy footwork wasn't in the outline, originally, but I needed an interlude between two crucial moments. I do believe we were watching Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance at the time, and one of the couples did a hot-hot-hot Argentinean tango, and then I KNEW I wanted to add one into the manuscript. I put "The Assassin's Tango" from Mr. & Mrs. Smith on my iPod and listened to it, nonstop, for about three days as I choreographed that scene.

Nate and Ariel are so completely different from each other. Which do you think is the better match for Bertie?

I'm not actually certain, honestly. There's Nate, with his innate concern for her safety, his sense of propriety (odd, for a pirate!) but he has just as bad a temper as Bertie, with small strains of chauvinism that really chafe. Then there's Ariel, who is beguiling, but has so much going on that he doesn't let anyone see... which makes him very, very hard to trust.

And I think Bertie harbors some very sweet, very wistful ideas about love that evaporate the moment she deals with the realities of a person, not an ideal. I also don't think she is the sort of character that believes in "happily ever after" yet, and for all that she's attracted to Nate and Ariel at different times, she's not looking to throw herself into a man.

Other stops on the blog tour:

The 160 Acre Woods, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Patchwork of Books, Abby the Librarian, All About Children’s Books, And Another Book Read, Becky’s Book Reviews, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, The Friendly Book Nook, Homeschool Book Buzz, Homespun Light, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Never Jam Today, Reading is My Superpower, Through a Child’s Eyes

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Eyes Like Stars (Blog Tour Review)

2009-07-06T07:49:00.000-05:00

Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev. July 2009.

What can I say about this one to do it justice? I loved it. Well, more to the point I LOVED it. It's a fun fantasy novel--a romance--that is satisfying and playful and oh-so-right. Our heroine, Beatrice, has grown up in the theatre. But not just any theatre, no, the only home she has ever known is home to every stage character ever written--all the plays ever penned. Her best friends are fairies--perhaps you've read about them before, for they are found in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Her love interest? The man of her dreams? A minor character from A Little Mermaid. Her love-to-hate, hate-to-love enemy? Ariel from The Tempest. When we first meet Beatrice, she's in trouble. The Theatre Manager has decided that it is time for Beatrice to go. His excuse? She's not contributing to the theatre. She--and others along side her--plead with him; he grants her a few more days to prove that she has what it takes, that she belongs there. Her idea? To be a director! Though their productions generally never require a director--after all the originals know their lines backwards and forwards and then some--but if she were to change it up, change it around...then...maybe just maybe she'd find her place. Thus she seeks to recreate Hamlet...to give it an ancient Egyptian setting. But life is never this easy, right? You know there are bound to be conflicts! I am not going to say much more. I don't want to spoil it. But it is oh-so-magical. It is fun and playful. It is giddy-making.

Other stops on the book tour:

The 160 Acre Woods, A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Patchwork of Books, Abby the Librarian, All About Children’s Books, And Another Book Read, Becky’s Book Reviews, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, The Friendly Book Nook, Homeschool Book Buzz, Homespun Light, Hyperbole, KidzBookBuzz.com, Never Jam Today, Reading is My Superpower, Through a Child’s Eyes

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Sunday Salon: Reading, Read, To Read #27

2009-07-05T14:47:00.003-05:00

Happy Sunday everyone! Did you have a good Fourth of July? I'm still on my classic-movie kick. I watched mostly good ones. I do have one never, ever watch-again film. This week I watched Pajama Game, The Thrill of It All, Operation Petticoat, Arsenic and Old Lace, Cheaper by the Dozen, The Adventures of Don Juan, and Captain Blood. Want to guess which one was my favorite? Want to guess which one just leaped onto my favorite movies ever list?

It's time to vote again for the best book-tour blogger for the recent Darkwood tour, so if you've got a minute or two...to spare...and if you think I'm deserving, go vote. The poll is in the sidebar. Thank you!

What I read in a previous week, but reviewed this week:

To Be A Slave by Julius Lester. 1968. Penguin. 176 pages.
Loves Pursuit by Siri Mitchell. 2009. Bethany House. 329 pages.
Cashay by Margaret McMullan. 2009. Houghton Mifflin. 208 pages.

What I read this past week and reviewed:

The Zoo I Drew by Todd H. Doodler. 2009. Random House.
God Found Us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren. 2009. HarperCollins.
How To Make A Cherry Pie and See the U.S.A. by Marjorie Priceman. 2008. Random House.
Norman Rockwell: You're A Grand Old Flag. 2008. Lyrics by George M. Cohan. Art by Norman Rockwell. Simon & Schuster.
Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr. 2007. HarperCollins. 328 pages.
Go, Go America by Dan Yaccarino. 2008. Scholastic. 80 pages.
Greetings From the 50 States: How They Got Their Names. Sheila Keenan. 2008. 112 pages.
African Acrostics by Avis Harley. Photographs by Deborah Noyes. 2009. Candlewick Press.
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope. 1857. 528 pages.

What I read this past week and haven't reviewed yet:

Fragile Eternity by Melissa Marr. HarperCollins. 2009. 389 pages.

What I've read and really really need to review:

Old Man's War by John Scalzi. 2005. 314 pages.
The Local News by Miriam Gershow. 2009. Spiegel & Grau. 360 pages.

What I'm currently reading:

Clara's War: One Girl's Story of Survival by Clara Kramer. 2009. HarperCollins. 352 pages.
A Canticle for Leibowitz. Walter M. Miller, Jr. 1959. 338 pages.

What I'm just fooling around that I'm reading:

Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Cleopatra's Daughter by Michelle Moran
She by H. Rider Haggard

What I hope to start reading soon:

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer

all of my Library Loot.

What I've abandoned: none this week!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Greetings From the 50 States: How They Got Their Names

2009-07-04T18:00:00.004-05:00

Keenan, Sheila. 2008. Greetings From the 50 States: How They Got Their Names. Illustrated by Selina Alko. Scholastic. 112 pages.

I'll be honest. I didn't know what to expect from this one. Would it be boring? Or would it--could it--possibly be entertaining? I was pleasantly surprised by this one. It was informative no doubt about it. But it was charming and well-done. I think this is in large-part due to its straight-forwardness. It's conversational tone. What is the book about? Well, it's about how each of the fifty states came by their names (and nicknames too!). Some stories are more interesting than others. Some states have a more colorful history when it comes to what is in a name. You are probably aware of some of these stories--the states named after royals and the like. But chances are a few of these stories will be new to you. What I loved about this one was how it makes good use of primary sources.

Here's a sample entry:

There oughta be a law about Arkansas -- and there is!
In the 19th century, you'd probably say you were from ARkanSAW, but your fellow Americans would claim you hailed from ArKANSAS. Even Arkansas's two U.S. senators couldn't agree on where they came from.
Phonics and spelling saved the day! In 1881, the state legislature passed a bill that declared the state's name would be spelled Arkansas, but pronounced "Arkinsaw."
The original confusion shows what happens when French-speaking explorers tangle with tribal names. In the 17th century, the French met up with native people who lived west of the Mississippi River. They called themselves the Ugakhpa or "those going downstream;" Quapaw was also used; and Algonquian speakers called them Arkansas meaning "south wind." The explorers wrote down the Indian names as they heard them -- and of course, they were writing in French. At one time, there were around 70 variations, from Arkansea to Acansa. (17)

Overall, I liked it! It's reader-friendly and fun. What a concept--history as a fun subject!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Go, Go America

2009-07-04T11:54:00.004-05:00

Yaccarino, Dan. 2008. Go, Go America: 50 States of Fun. Scholastic.

Want fun facts on all fifty states? Like the nostalgically wacky art of Dan Yaccarino? Then you'll enjoy Go, Go America. Meet the Farley family, they're your guides on this one-of-a-kind road trip. What kinds of facts? Well, a little bit of everything. State nicknames, manufacturing facts, intriguing 'firsts', weird laws, etc. But a few of these may just surprise you!

You may not throw a bad pickle in the street in Trenton (17)
It is illegal to tickle a girl in Norton, Virginia (23)
It Atlanta it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or a streetlight (26)
In Ohio, it is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday! (39)
In Pine Island, Minnesota, it is illegal for a man to pass a cow without tipping his hat (44)

Of course, that's only the beginning. There's a nice blend of informative and useful information and informative and good old-fashioned weird. Of course reading books like this make me skeptical. I'd love 'proof' that all these wacky laws exist (or have existed). And you won't find a footnote in this one. I think foot notes are rare in books like this. That's not to say the author didn't do research. But many of his sources are trivia books. And if I were to go to those trivia books would I just be pointed to earlier trivia books?

It's a fun little book. A quick read too. A book that is ideal for browsing. It's far from boring, that's for sure!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Vote for me, please!

2009-07-03T22:52:00.002-05:00

It's time to vote again for the best book-tour blogger for the recent Darkwood tour, so if you've got a minute or two...to spare...and if you think I'm deserving, go vote. The poll is in the sidebar. Thank you!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

African Acrostics

2009-07-03T07:59:00.003-05:00

Harley, Avis. 2009. African Acrostics: A Word In Edgeways. Photographes by Deborah Noyes. Candlewick.

I never know what to expect from a poetry book. Will it be entertaining or intimidating? Fun or boring? I was pleased with African Acrostics. Each poem--each acrostic to be precise--is paired with a photograph of an animal.

There are eighteen animal poems in all (if I can count correctly!) and three of these are extra-special. Two poems are double acrostics whose first letters and last letters spell out words. And one poem, Impalas in Peril," is even more special--five vertical arrangements can be found in that one!

And the poems are good--many quite clever. It would be hard to choose which ones were my favorites. I thought they were all well done. But my favorite would probably be "Above All" (the giraffe one) whose acrostic spells Cloud Friends.

Above All

Celebrate these
Long-standing giraffes,
Opening
Up clouds and eaves-
Dropping on the wind!

Far
Removed
In airy
Elegance,
Nibbling on high, they
Decorate the
Sky.

The book also features an introduction and explanation to the concept of acrostics. Not a poet? More of an animal lover? Don't worry. There are extra-notes for you too. The book features "nature notes" about all the animals featured in the book. The note about giraffes (to match the poem Above All) is as follows:

The giraffe is the tallest land animal, and its neck makes up one third of it's height. The tallest giraffe ever measured was 19.3 feet (5.9 meters) in height. To feed its huge body, a giraffe must spend sixteen to twenty hours a day browsing shrubs and trees. Giraffes do not have leaders in their small herds, and they are very social creatures.

To Be A Slave (MG, YA)

2009-07-02T10:17:00.001-05:00

Lester, Julius. 1968. To Be A Slave.

This book is a 1969 Newbery Honor Winner. And it's easy to see why. What should you expect from this one? Why should you read it? Well, Lester has woven together compiling primary sources into a book that is powerful and moving. The thing that impresses me most about the book is its richness. It presents first-hand accounts, primary sources. Accounts from both the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Stories from slaves and ex-slaves. Stories from men and women. These stories don't need a lot of dressing up. They don't need to be sensationalized. In their very simplicity, they speak volumes.

To be a slave. To be owned by another person, as a car, house, or table is owned. To live as a piece of property that could be sold--a child sold from its mother, a wife from her husband. To be considered not human, but a "thing" that plowed the fields, cut the wood, cooked the food, nursed another's child; a "thing" whose sole function was determined by the one who owned you.
To be a slave. To know, despite the suffering and deprivation, that you were human, more human than he who said you were not human. To know joy, laughter, sorrow, and tears and yet to be considered only the equal of a table.
To be a slave was to be a human being under conditions in which humanity was denied. They were not slaves. They were people. Their condition was slavery.
They who were held as slaves looked upon themselves and the servitude in which they found themselves with the eyes and minds of human beings, conscious of everything that happened to them, conscious of all that went on around them. Yet slaves are often pictured as little more than dumb, brute animals, whose sole attributes were found in working, singing, and dancing. They were like children and slavery was actually a benefit to them--this was the view of those who were not slaves. Those who were slaves tell a different story.

Highly recommended.

Library Loot: First of July

2009-07-01T17:38:00.002-05:00

I've still got all the books from last time. Yes, ALL. (I've finished Old Man's War. I'll be reviewing it soon.) But I did pick up two new books to add to the list:

On the Beach by Nevil Shute
The Android's Dream by John Scalzi

I think that makes seventeen books to-be-read and one book to be reviewed.

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Marg that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library. If you’d like to participate, just write up your post-feel free to steal the button-and link it using the Mr. Linky any time during the week. And of course check out what other participants are getting from their libraries!

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Wicked Lovely (YA)

2009-07-01T11:41:00.005-05:00

Marr, Melissa. 2007. Wicked Lovely. HarperCollins. 328 pages.

"Four ball, side pocket." Aislinn pushed the cue forward with a short, quick thrust; the ball dropped into the pocket with a satisfying clack.

Aislinn is special, but she'd rather be ordinary. She's grown up seeing fairies. (As has her Grams.) She'd give anything to not be able to see these mischievous to menacing fairies. It means living life carefully. Following three important rules: don't stare at invisible fairies, don't speak to invisible fairies, don't ever attract their attention. By the end of the book, how many rules do you think Aislinn has broken?

Not that it's her fault. Aislinn seems rather destined to have this adventure. It all starts when the Summer King (a fairy), Keenan, begins dreaming about Aislinn. The game has begun, and poor Aislinn doesn't stand a chance. Keenan senses that she is the one. The mortal girl who will become his queen. (Hereby joining him in immortality.) Whether she wants him or no, she's about to become immortal. And she has three choices: becoming a mindless summer girl--a mindless, easy girl, or accepting the challenge and trying to become Keenan's queen: if she succeeds, she becomes queen; if she fails, well, you don't want to know how awful that can be. Just ask Donia. She's the last girl who tried to become queen. Now she's helplessly in love with the Summer King, but in the service of the Winter Queen, the Summer King's mother, the evil Beira. But when you're Aislinn, all of these so-called choices mean heartbreak. Because she wants to be mortal. She wants nothing to do with faeries. She wants only to have a normal life, to be with her best friend, Seth. He's the guy that she is dreaming of. He's the guy that makes her life worth living. Keenan? Don't even think about it. Seth's the one. The guy that understands and accepts her.

I enjoyed this one. It was fun. It was dark in places, but it wasn't too dark.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

June Accomplishments

2009-06-30T10:49:00.058-05:00

These are a few of my favorite 'first' lines read in June of 2009

If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling's whole life would have been entirely different.

As long as he could remember, he had loved to draw.

A dozen stories have been told about the old Dark jug. This is the true one.

The emails always began the same way.

In the land of Ingary, where such things as seven-league boots and cloaks of invisibility really exist, it is quite a misfortune to be born the eldest of three. Everyone knows you are the one who will fail first, and worst, if the three of you set out to seek your fortunes.

June's Top Five:

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.

A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery.

Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen.

A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist.

Number of Picture Books: 18

Tonka Phonics Reading Program (12 Mini-Books, Flashcards) 2007. Scholastic
When I Grow Up. Leonid Gore. 2009. Scholastic.
My Dad and Me by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. 2009. Simon & Schuster.
When Papa Comes Home Tonight. 2009. Simon & Schuster

My Father The Dog by Elizabeth Bluemle. 2006. Candlewick Press.

A Day With Dad by Bo R. Holmberg. 2008. Candlewick Press.

Hook. Ed Young. 2009. Roaring Brook Press.

Egg Drop by Mini Grey. 2009. Random House.

Tsunami by Kimiko Kajikawa. Illustrated by Ed Young. Penguin. 2009.
Dogs on the Bed by Elizabeth Bluemle. Candlewick. 2008.
Dog Day by Sarah Hayes. 2008. FSG.
Critter Sitter by Chuck Richards. 2008. Walker (Bloomsbury)
Bad Dog, Marley by John Grogan. 2007. HarperCollins
Really Truly Bingo by Laura McGee Kvasnosky. Candlewick Press. 2008.
Finding Susie by Sandra Day O'Connor. 2009. Random House.
Natalie & Naughtily by Vincent X. Kirsch. 2008. Bloomsbury.
Peanut by David Lucas. 2008. Candlewick.
Crazy Hair by Neil Gaiman. 2009. HarperCollins.

Number of Board Books:

Number of Children's Books: 1

The Dunderheads by Paul Fleischman. 2009. Candlewick.

Number of YA Books: 16

The Dragon of Trelian. Michelle Knudsen. 2009. Candlewick Press. 407 pages.
The Summoning. Kelley Armstrong. 2008. HarperCollins. 390 pages.
When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton. 2009. Penguin. 162 pages.
Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. 1986. 329 pages.
Darkwood by M.E. Breen. 2009. Bloomsbury. 273 pages.
Skellig by David Almond. 1998. Thorndike Press (Large Print Copy) 204 pages.
Bound by Donna Jo Napoli. 2004. 186 pages.
Two Parties, One Tux, And A Very Short Film About the Grapes of Wrath. Steven Goldman. 2008. Bloomsbury. 307 pages.
Liar by Justine Labaralestier. 2009. Bloomsbury. 388 pages. Bloomsbury.
Body of Christopher Creed. Carol Plum-Ucci. 2000. Hyperion. 331 pages.
Alcatraz Versus The Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson. 2008. 322 pages. Scholastic.
Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen. 2009. Viking (Penguin) 400 pages.
The City In the Lake. Rachel Neumeier. 2008. Knopf (Random House) 294 pages.

Ghost Town by Richard W. Jennings. 2009. Houghton Mifflin. 165 pages.

The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd. 2009. Penguin. 309 pages.

Cashay by Margaret McMullan. Houghton Mifflin. 2009. 208 pages.

Number of Christian Books: 6

The House in Grosvenor Square by Linore Rose Burkard. 2009. Harvest House. 338 pages.
Tyndale's New Testament. 1534. Translated by William Tyndale.
A Bride in the Bargain by Deeanne Gist. 2009. Bethany House. 365 pages.

The Disappearance of God: Dangerous Beliefs in the New Spiritual Openness. by R. Albert Mohler Jr. 2009. 194 pages.

Eyes Wide Open by Jud Wilhite. 2009.
Love's Pursuit by Siri Mitchell. Bethany House. 2009. 329 pages.

Number of Adult Books: 7

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein. 1966. 382 pages.
Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery. 1925. 325 pages.
The Painter From Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein. 2008. 416 pages.
Emily's Quest by L.M. Montgomery. 1927. 228 pages.
A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery. 1931. 257 pages.
Middlemarch by George Eliot. 1871/1872. 795 pages.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery. 1926. 218 pages.
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope. 1857. 525 pages.

Number of Verse Novels:

Number of Graphic Novels:

Number of Nonfiction: 3

The Anne Frank Case: Simon Wiesenthal's Search for The Truth. Susan Goldman Rubin. Holiday House. 40 pages.

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain. Peter Sis. 2007.

Margaret Mitchell & John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With The Wind by Marianne Walker. 1993. 554 pages.

Number of Short Story Collections, Anthologies, Poetry Books: 4

When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne. 1924.
Now We Are Six. A.A. Milne. 1927.

Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link. 2008.

Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery. 1912.

Love's Pursuit

2009-06-30T08:42:00.000-05:00

Mitchell, Siri. 2009. Love's Pursuit. Bethany House. 329 pages.

"Do you never tire of being good, Susannah? Do you never think any rebellious thoughts?"
I turned my eyes from my sister and back to my work in the blueberry canes. "Aye. I do."
Mary gasped, though I detected laughter in the sound. "'Tis not possible."

Poor Puritans. They hardly ever get a good rep in fiction. In Love's Pursuit, readers meet a community of Puritans (Stoneybrooke Towne) living in Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1640s. More specifically we meet two sisters, Susannah and Mary Phillips. We also meet a woman who wears a cloak of invisibility. (Well, she wears her shame and humiliation as a cloak of invisibility.) Susannah is in love with a man, John Prescotte. But he hasn't proposed yet. And he may never get the chance.

Susannah is a beautiful young woman, and there are other men in town--including a visiting Captain (Daniel Holcombe)--that have noticed just how beautiful and wonderful she is. One of her would-be suitors is Simeon Wright a well-respected man in Stoneybrooke. A man who could have his pick of many of the young ladies in town. They all think he's swoon-worthy. Take for example Susannah's own sister, Mary. Mary thinks that Simeon Wright would make a fine husband...for herself. But when Simeon proposes to Susannah instead, then things begin to crumble for Susannah. She does not love Simeon. She loves John. She doesn't appreciate the fact that Mary is angry with her because he proposed to the 'wrong' sister. Susannah doesn't want to wear any blame there. She didn't "steal" him from her because she doesn't want him!

Despite the fact that her father did NOT consent to his proposal--accepting on his daughter's behalf--the Wrights have the banns published in church. An unfortunate event since John had just days before proposed to Susannah with the blessings of both families. But with the announcement that she's to marry Simeon being read publicly in the church assembly, John Prescotte withdraws his offer of marriage and shuns her. Since John is now refusing to marry her, what choice does Susannah have but to marry Simeon? Other than every bone in her body telling her that Simeon is the wrong man for her, that he is not a good man, period, she has no "logical" reason to refuse her father's request to marry Simeon. The captain sure has a few ideas of how to fix the matter. But will she listen to him? There are a few in town who could warn Susannah about Simeon. A few who could tell her that he is not what he seems. That beneath the surface, he's hiding some cruel tendencies. It's looking like they'll never be a happily ever after for Susannah...no matter what she decides.

I'm not sure I "liked" this one. The narration was first person. But here's the odd bit, it had multiple narrators. Each narrator spoke in the first person. And there was no clear separation marking who was speaking. I think if this had been indicated somehow (it is possible, I've seen other books do it) it would have been an easier read. Readers just have to piece together for themselves the narration the best they can. I do think it gets easier as it goes on. But those first few chapters are a bit rough because things are just beginning to unfold.

Summer Reading Blitz Completed!

2009-06-29T23:17:00.001-05:00

Read 30 books in 30 days in the month of June. Hosted by Reading and Ruminations.

1. The Dragon of Trelian by Michelle Knudsen
2. Emily Climbs by L.M. Montgomery
3. When We Were Very Young by A.A. Milne
4. Now We Are Six by A.A. Milne
5. The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress by Robert A. Heinlein
6. All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare
7. Liar by Justine Larbalestier
8. Alcatraz Versus the Scrivener's Bones by Brandon Sanderson
9. Skellig by David Almond
10. Bound by Donna Jo Napoli
11. Two Parties, One Tux, etc. by Steven Goldman
12. Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
13. The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong
14. The Painter From Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein
15. When the Whistle Blows by Fran Cannon Slayton
16. Emily's Quest by L.M. Montgomery
17. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
18. The Body of Christopher Creed by Carol Plum-Ucci
19. Darkwood by M.E. Breen
20. Ghost Town by Richard W. Jennings
21. A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery
22. Middlemarch by George Eliot
23. The City in the Lake by Rachel Neumeier
24. A Bride in the Bargain by DeeAnne Gist
25. The Wall by Peter Sis
26. Margaret Mitchell & John Marsh: The Love Story Behind Gone With The Wind by Marianne Walker
27. Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
28. Chronicles of Avonlea by L.M. Montgomery
29. The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery
30. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

Victorian Challenge Completed!

2009-06-29T23:14:00.001-05:00

1. Silas Marner by George Eliot
2. The Morgesons by Elizabeth Stoddard
3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
4. The Warden by Anthony Trollope
5. Middlemarch by George Eliot
6. Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews