Review: The Order of Odd-Fish

Title:  The Order of Odd-Fish

Author:  James Kennedy

Publisher:  Delacorte

# of Pages:  405

Plot Summary:

Jo Larouche lives with her elderly, former actress Aunt Lily in a ruby palace in California.  She has no friends and no excitement in her life, and her aunt is very peculiar.  All Jo knows about her past is that she was found in Aunt Lily's washing machine one day soon after she was born, with a note attached to her saying that she was a very dangerous baby.  She does not, however, feel dangerous.

 On the day of Aunt Lily's Christmas party, a large Russian gentleman arrives at the Ruby Palace with a giant butler cockroach, saying that his digestive system has told him that he must protect Jo from Ken Kiang.  He also has a box for her from The Order of Odd-Fish.  Ken finds them, Jo and her friends escape in a plane only to be shot down and eaten by a giant fish, which eventually spits them up on the shore of Eldritch City.  There, Jo learns that her aunt, the Russian and the cockroach are all members of The Order of Odd-Fish, a knighthood dedicated to the pursuit of useless and often baseless rumors and conjectures.  Jo herself has a history with the knighthood and Eldritch City.  After making friends with some squires, going on some quests, hiding from the Belgian Prankster and fighting a duel, Jo realizes that she must face her past and help save Eldritch City from the ravenous hunger of the All-Devouring Mother Goddess and her cult of Silent Sisters.

I read this book because I put together a Young Adult author panel discussion for the November opening of the Open Books store.  Kennedy is one of the authors attending and I thought I should read their books, if possible, before meeting them.  Luckily, I know someone who has a copy of his book and she let me borrow it, saying that his writing style is similar to Norton Juster's in The Phantom Tollbooth.  I'm pretty much sold on any book that is similar to that one, so I was really excited to read it.  I can definitely see the hints of Juster here, and also possibly Roald Dahl.  But Kennedy certainly has his own unique style.  And the man can use alliteration better than any other author I have read ("Infamous Insect Indignantly Irked in Insipid Imbroglio").  He also has an amazingly fun and obscure vocabulary, and it's a lot of fun to read.

This book would be excellent to read out loud with someone- I bet the audiobook version is great.  I enjoyed reading it, too; the plot is somewhat ridiculous, the dialogue witty and hilarious and the characters are certainly one of a kind.  For example, Ken Kiang got so tired of doing good things that he tries to become evil.  But he isn't very good at it, so he has to try very hard, and must focus on making his laugh truly evil.  Ken is only one of numerous fun and silly characters.  The witty banter between all of them is a book highlight.  For example:

No defilement by any number of wild pigs equals the defilement you bring upon my house by your mere presence.  Enter my house, but when you leave, may you be overrun by a thousand wild pigs and trampled into gruel, to be gobbled up by those thousand wild pigs with hearty slurps.

Sometimes, though, I got the impression that Kennedy was trying a bit too hard to be odd and outrageous.  Really, I feel that after you put in a 3-foot-tall cockroach butler in your story, you need not also include a sardonic centipede.  It was all done very tongue-in-cheek, but sometimes the cheekiness got a bit wearing.

That said, though, The Order of Odd-Fish is fun, frothy and full of flavor (see?  I can alliterate, too!).  Just be prepared if you're reading it- it's Nickelodeon-like in its ability to really gross you out with bodily functions and fluids!

Women Unbound Reading Challenge

Well, I'm definitely late to the game in posting this.  Or at least, I feel late to the game in posting, even though this whole challenge only came about yesterday.  On Twitter (it's a whole new world on there, I tell ya), Eva mentioned that she would like someone to host a Women's Studies Challenge.  Care said she thought that sounded like a good idea, I mentioned that Rosie the Riveter would be proud of all participants, and somehow the three of us ended up co-hosting this challenge.

Whatever it means to host a challenge (I don't know; I never have and yet am planning on doing another one in addition to this.  Go big or go home, I say), this was a huge community effort.  So many people contributed to making the Women Unbound challenge what it is, between coming up with the name (I had no part in that), the buttons (I had no part in that), the time frame (I had no part in that), the commitment levels (I had no part in that), the website (I had no part in that), suggested reading lists (guess what part I had in that), etc., etc.

So really, everyone else did all the work and I'm just taking the credit :-)  Works for me!

Anyway, the Women Unbound Challenge goes from November 1, 2009 - November 30, 2010.  That gives you 13 months to read books that center around "the multidisciplinary study of the social status and societal contributions of women and the relationship between power and gender."  This is a fairly broad definition and encompasses both  fiction and non-fiction books.  The three levels are:

• Philogynist: read at least two books, including at least one nonfiction one.
• Bluestocking: read at least five books, including at least two nonfiction ones.
• Suffragette: read at least eight books, including at least three nonfiction ones.

Generally, my approach to challenges is to bite off more than I can chew and then fail miserably to meet my goals.  As I am a creature of habit, I will be sticking with this somewhat misguided system and am signing up to be a Suffragette!  I have so many history books on women on my shelves that it's time to get them down and get them read.  I will post my reading list once I determine which of those books interest me the most at the moment, and then after posting that list, I'm sure I'll promptly lose all interest in reading any of them.  But at least I'll have shown initiative!

In any case, if you are interested in participating in the Women Unbound challenge, please go to our challenge website here and sign up!  You don't need to have a blog- you can sign up and just challenge yourself to do the reading and then send any reactions you might have to me and I will ensure that they are posted on our website.  The site also gives suggested women's studies reading, and Eva has a great list up at her website here, too.  Hope you all participate- it will be fun and feminine and awesome :-)

Review: Unseen Academicals

Title:  Unseen Academicals


Author:  Terry Pratchett

Publisher:  HarperCollins

# of Pages:  400

Favorite Line:  
Juliet's version of cleanliness was next to godliness, which was to say it was erratic, past all understanding and was seldom seen. 

I received this book for free to review.

Plot Summary:

Ankh-Morpork is football-crazed.  The games take place on the street, without rules, and generally devolve into gang-type fights.  Chaos ensues.  Lord Vetinari (a potential Mr. Aarti!) does not like chaos in his city and so he goes about setting things right.  He does this with the help of the portly wizards of Unseen University, a bit of friendly competition between cities and universities, a baker of legendary pies, a candle dribbler who may be more than he at first appears and chainmail that does not chafe.  But not everyone is happy with the new rules and regulations, nor are they happy all the strangers and foreigners and stragglers being allowed into Ankh-Morpork.  The game takes on a life of its own.  And, as in all Discworld books, ridiculous situations and utter hilarity follow, accompanied by a whole lot of heart and a message about our world and how we live in it.

I agree with Nymeth- writing a plot summary for a Pratchett novel is hard work.  I don't know how he comes up with his book plots, but boy am I glad he does.  Unseen Academicals is not, I admit, my favorite Discworld novel.  I have a soft spot for the Night Watch series and for the Death series.  I have many favorite Discworld characters, most of whom sadly are not present in this book.  I like the characters in Unseen Academicals but I do not love them.  I loved the character of Death within about twenty pages of Mort (mostly because I, too, could murder a curry) and it didn't take too long for me to fall for Commander Vimes or Lu-Tze the monk.  And yet that didn't happen for me with Nutt or Trev or any of the others in this book.  I felt aching empathy for Nutt and for Glenda, but I would not be sad if I did not see them in the next Discworld book, whereas I am always on the lookout for Death and TALKING IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

That's not to say that this book fell flat- it was just as full of witty repartee, puns, one-liners and cultural references as any other Discworld book.  And that's what makes Pratchett so amazing to me.  He never loses the light and fun tone, but his books have are chock full of symbolism and deeper meaning.  It's there if you want to see it but if you don't, then it's still a wonderful way to entertain yourself.  Unseen Academicals, therefore, can be about football and the camaraderie of being part of a team and the staunchness of supporters and love of the game.  Or, it can be about immigration issues, racism, the frightful mob mentality, discrimination, taking a stand and choosing your own course.  It's a wonderful book with a great message, and while it's not my favorite Discworld novel, it's still better than none :-)

Football (or soccer as we know it in America) is a fascinating game to me more because of its cultural implications than anything else.  It's a game played worldwide (except here, really) and so it shines a spotlight on the best and worst of people.  It brings together people from very different backgrounds into a unified group and is, if nothing else, an excellent way of starting a conversation with someone from a different country.  But it also allows horrifyingly racist and discriminatory behavior to be voiced en masse.  For example, in the soccer game played in the book, the goalkeeper is an orangutan who is poisoned with a banana.  As seen in the below YouTube clip, this is based on actual events.  Not a poisoned banana, but a banana nonetheless.



And that is what Pratchett does, in all his books.  He takes true, powerful situations from the world and inserts them into the magic of Discworld.  I don't think any reader gets all of his references, some literary, some cultural and some commentary on current events.  But even if you don't catch them all, and even if you don't always get all the jokes and allusions, any Pratchett book you read will cause you to sit up and take notice of the world around you.

GIVEAWAY: The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers

HarperCollins has once again generously offered two copies of a new non-fiction title to BookLust readers.  This giveaway is only open to readers in the US & Canada.  Sorry!

In true Rosie's Riveters' fashion, author Thomas Fleming looks at the important role of women in the lives of Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Hamilton and Madison, and how those women impacted American history.  The result is his newest book, The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers.  Below is a book description.  For further details, see the book's website here:

Book Description

A compelling, intimate look at the founders—George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison—and the women who played essential roles in their lives

With his usual storytelling flair and unparalleled research, Tom Fleming examines the women who were at the center of the lives of the founding fathers. From hot-tempered Mary Ball Washington to promiscuous Rachel Lavien Hamilton, the founding fathers' mothers powerfully shaped their sons' visions of domestic life. But lovers and wives played more critical roles as friends and often partners in fame.

We learn of the youthful Washington's tortured love for the coquettish Sarah Fairfax, wife of his close friend; of Franklin's two "wives," one in London and one in Philadelphia; of Adams's long absences, which required a lonely, deeply unhappy Abigail to keep home and family together for years on end; of Hamilton's adulterous betrayal of his wife and then their reconciliation; of how the brilliant Madison was jilted by a flirtatious fifteen-year-old and went on to marry the effervescent Dolley, who helped make this shy man into a popular president. Jefferson's controversial relationship to Sally Hemings is also examined, with a different vision of where his heart lay.

Fleming nimbly takes us through a great deal of early American history, as his founding fathers strove to reconcile the private and public, often beset by a media every bit as gossip seeking and inflammatory as ours today. He offers a powerful look at the challenges women faced in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. While often brilliant and articulate, the wives of the founding fathers all struggled with the distractions and dangers of frequent childbearing and searing anxiety about infant mortality—Jefferson's wife, Martha, died from complications following labor, as did his daughter. All the more remarkable, then, that these women loomed so large in the lives of their husbands—and, in some cases, their country.

This giveaway will be open until 12pm CST on Monday, November 9th.  To enter, comment on this post with your e-mail address and your favorite figure in national history (any country's history).  No extra entries this time; I am always scared that I end up counting those up wrong!

 I will then randomly select two winners.  Good luck!

Rosie's Riveters: Lesley & Helene Hanff

Rosie's Riveters is a weekly posting written by Booklust readers about riveting females in literature. Many readers have strong reactions to the women in the books they read- either very positive or very negative. These are the characters we find riveting, for good reasons or bad ones, and they form the population of Rosie's Riveters. Through this weekly post, we can discuss females we love to hate, or love to love. And maybe, just maybe- we can determine why we react so strongly to them.

If you are interested in participating, please comment on this post, e-mail me, or just fill out the template below and send it to me. I am always looking for more participants!

This week's poster is Lesley, who blogs at A Life in Books.  She has been blogging for a few years now, and I enjoy her site because she has many reviews on historical fiction and fantasy novels.  She reads a pretty eclectic range of books, though, from chick lit to classics to graphic novels to horror stories.  Her blog title bar also has a gorgeous picture of a bookstore that I would one day like to visit.  Or own.  Stop by and check it out!

Who is your Riveter?
Helene Hanff

What book does she feature in?
Most famously in 84 Charing Cross Road (a collection of letters written between herself and Frank Doel, a London bookseller) but she also wrote several other travelogue memoirs. My favorite is Underfoot in Show Business, one of her lesser known books. It tells the story of her attempt, as a young woman, to break into the New York City theatre world. I ordered a used copy from a local bookstore and when I got it, to my delight there was a personal inscription from Helene to the original owner. Since finding writing in books from previous owners was one of Helene’s favorite things about used books, that and the fact that it was a personal note written by her makes it extra special. 

Do you love her or hate her?

I love her! I wish I could have met her at some point but she died in 1997.

Describe her personality- how would you describe her to a friend?

Bold, intelligent, witty and just a bit temperamental. Also a true and voracious lover of books and reading.

Can you compare her to a celebrity?
Well, Anne Bancroft played her wonderfully in the 1987 film based on the book, but I can’t really think of any famous people who also happen to be bibliophiles.

What makes her riveting?
Well, she absolutely loves to read, and that shines through in her writing. But she’s also a great character in every sense of the word.

What do you most admire/despise about her?
Her collection of books, for one thing! I’d love to get my hands on a complete list of all the books she owned, but the only supposed thing resembling that is a book that’s out of print (The Library of Helene Hanff) and I can’t quite justify spending $100 on a used copy (but if anyone is wondering what to get me for Christmas …) 

But it’s not just that. She was an independent woman who got great joy out of living, whether she was touring the streets of her beloved London or eking out an existence in a New York City sublet. She had her own opinions about things and was not afraid to share them. She valued her friendships. And she had a clever, self-deprecating sense of humor which really appeals to me.

Would you recommend reading the book in which the Riveter features?
Absolutely! 84, Charing Cross Road is a must-read for any book lover, and in turn you then must read The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street, which is taken from her diary when she finally traveled to England.

Do you have a quote by or about your Riveter that you'd like to share?

This is an excerpt from one of her letters to Frank Doel. It expresses my own anglophilic feelings: 

“Please write and tell me about London, I live for the day when I step off the boat-train and feel its dirty sidewalks under my feet. I want to walk up Berkeley Square and down Wimpole Street and stand in St. Paul's where John Donne preached and sit on the step Elizabeth sat on when she refused to enter the Tower, and like that. A newspaper man I know, who was stationed in London during the war, says tourists go to England with preconceived notions, so they always find exactly what they go looking for. I told him I'd go looking for the England of English literature, and he said: ‘Then it's there.’”

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme, hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

My choice for this week is:


The Magicians and Mrs. Quent, by Galen Beckett. I heard about this book through the publisher on Twitter, and immediately put it on my wishlist because it seems right up my alley! It releases in the US on November 24th, 2009. Here's the synopsis from Amazon:

Product Description

Galen Beckett weaves a dazzling spell of adventure and suspense in an evocative world of high magick and genteel society–a world where one young woman discovers that her modest life is far more extraordinary than she ever imagined.

Of the three Lockwell sisters–romantic Lily, prophetic Rose, and studious, book-loving Ivy–it’s Ivy, the eldest, who’s held the family together after their father’s silent retreat to the library upstairs. Everyone blames Mr. Lockwell’s malady on his magickal studies, but Ivy still believes–both in magick and in its power to bring her father back.

Yet it is not until Ivy takes a job with the reclusive Mr. Quent that she discovers the fate she shares with a secret society of highwaymen, revolutionaries, illusionists, and spies who populate the island nation of Altania. It’s a fate that will determine whether Altania faces a new dawn–or an everlasting night.

Review: The Lantern Bearers

Title: The Lantern Bearers

Author: Rosemary Sutcliff

Publisher: Sunburst

# of Pages: 280

This is one in a series of loosely inter-related books called The Dolphin Ring Cycle, by Rosemary Sutcliff.

Favorite Line: "Morning always grows again out of the darkness, though maybe not for the people who saw the sun go down. We are the Lantern Bearers, my friend; for us to keep something burning, to carry what light we can forward into the darkness and the wind."

Plot Summary:
Aquila served in the Roman cavalry and came home to Britain for a short vacation to see his family. Shortly after his arrival, he heard that Rome was deserting Britain because it was too much trouble to defend. Aquila deserts the army and stays behind to defend his home. However, the Saxons soon raid his home; his father is killed, his farmstead burned to the ground, his sister kidnapped and he is taken as a slave. He lives in the Saxon camp for several years, honing his hatred of those that betrayed his family and hoping for a chance at revenge.
When the chance to escape finally arrives, he seizes it and goes off to find the man who turned traitor on his father. That man, however, has already died and Aquila is left adrift, unsure now what motivates him to live. Seeing very little else to do with his time, he offers his fealty to Ambrosius, the Roman favorite to unite Britain and drive out the Saxons. He spends the rest of his life working for him, training horses, fighting battles and eventually marrying and having a child.
But he's a difficult man who holds his anger and bitterness inside, to his own detriment. he has few friends, his family hardly knows him, and he cannot forget his sister. The Lantern Bearers is more a story about one man's journey of self-discovery and forgiveness than it is a prequel to the Arthurian legend we all know and love.

It is only when I read books that were marketed as "young adult" a few decades ago (this one was first published in 1959) that I realize just how little credit we give young people today. Luckily, that trend seems to be changing for the better, and I think there are a lot of great young adult books out there today, particularly in the fantasy genre. But this book is intense for someone entering middle school. It is much more psychological drama than anything else. Yes, there are war scenes, but those pale in comparison to the over arcing drama of Aquila and his inner struggle. Very deep stuff!

I really enjoyed this book. It was my second choice for the readathon and though I admit that, due to tiredness, I skimmed most of the battle scenes, I still found it enjoyable. Enjoyable enough, in fact, that I am sticking to reading its immediate sequel, Sword at Sunset, instead of dropping it for the copy of Unseen Academicals that just arrived in the mail for me today. If that isn't high praise, I don't know what is.

Aquila is a very troubled and angry man. It is painful to see how isolated he is in his life, and how deeply he feels it. The most moving passages in the book, for me, were the ones in which he felt the huge gap that existed between him and his son. He would sometimes try to bridge it, but he felt it was so far a jump to make that he often missed his chance to do so.

They looked at each other through the smoke of the windy fire, through the barrier that had always been between them... Aquila, watching [his son] disappear into the dusk, thought suddenly and painfully of all the things he would have liked to say...

There are so many passages like that, between Aquila and his son and Aquila and his wife, that make the reader ache for the poor man. He doesn't make it easy for those around him to like him, but we, the readers with access to his self-doubt and distress, can't help but sympathize. What makes it even more sad is that Aquila was so very close to his own father that he feels the chasm with his son even more.

How many young adult books deal with the parent-child gulf from the parent side? Not many, I'll bet.

While Aquila is by far the centerpoint of this story, there are several meaningful and well-constructed secondary characters. The one I liked most was the monk, Brother Ninnias. He is so patient and forgiving and kind; I think he does a lot to help soothe Aquila's wild emotions. Ambrosius, too, is a larger-than-life character; he is a king that the people love and die for. And, waiting in the wings of destiny, there is Artos. I enjoyed reading this prequel to Arthurian legend because it was really fun and interesting to see Arthur as a young person, and not at all as the centerpoint of a story. Instead, we get glimpses of him that hint at what is to come, but he is in the background.

I also thought that Sutcliff described the life of women in the time period very well. None of them are allowed to make their own decisions and most lead lives they would never choose for themselves. But they make the best of it and try to be happy in a very inhospitable world. While women also were very much in the background of this novel, they were believable and interesting.

So really- I enjoyed this book! I am also about 1/5 of the way through Sword at Sunset and enjoying that one, too. I don't know if I'll like Sutcliff's take on Arthurian legend as much as I do Mary Stewart's, but I like Arthurian tales so much that I am willing to give them all a chance! Well, except for stories told from Guinevere's point of view...

Sunday Salon: What to Read Next?

I admit to being a little tired of blogging and being online after the readathon! It was quite a marathon, but I am so happy I participated this time. I enjoyed the community and I feel like I know a lot of people that I never came across before, or who intimidated me with their super-impressive blogs before. So great stuff, participating!

However, now I must be in post-party depression or something as I have no idea what to read next. I keep picking books up and then setting them down, staring at my bookshelves as though the next book should just pick me and I cannot decide! I think I may continue with Rosemary Sutcliff's Arthurian world with Sword at Sunset. But, if I am in an Arthurian mood, maybe I should finish off Mary Stewart's Arthurian saga by reading The Wicked Day. I read the Merlin trilogy some years back and adored it (really, if you like King Arthur and have not read Mary Stewart's amazing trilogy, I cannot recommend it highly enough). Really, the only thing stopping me from reading The Wicked Day is that it's about Mordred (though a very positive portrayal of him, from what I hear). But I feel like I should at least get that series off my back before starting a different Arthur series.

I also thought of reading Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, to get into Richard III agian. And then I remembered Kage Baker's In the Garden of Iden on my shelf, too, that a friend recommended to me so long ago.

So basically, I have no idea what I will be reading next! I will see what catches my attention, at least a little, and go from there. I think it will be Arthur because now I'm in an Arthur state of mind. You'll see why when I get around to reviewing The Lantern Bearers. In the next few days, I hope- I don't like to fall behind on my reviewing!

Review: I, Coriander

Title: I, Coriander

Author: Sally Gardner

Publisher: Dial Books

# of Pages: 287

Plot Summary:
Coriander grows up in a cheerful, happy home with parents who love each other and her and a nanny/maid who is kind, protective and friendly. This happy life begins to fall apart, though, when Coriander receives a pair of silver shoes for her sixth birthday, puts them on, and is transported to a faerie realm. She is only there a short while, but when she returns, bad things start happening. The King of England- Charles I- is beheaded and the Puritan regime takes over. Her family is royalist and life becomes dangerous for them. Her beloved mother passes away, and her father remarries a horrible woman for political purposes. But then he must leave the country, being a royalist, and Coriander is left with her evil stepmother and her stepmother's friend Arise Fell with little help from those around her. And when she accidentally returns to the faerie realm, she finds that things there aren't going so well, either. Coriander must somehow overcome all the difficulties facing her to save her father, her mother's memory, and the realm of Faerie.

Wow, for a short children's novel, this one has quite the plotline! I left out some key characters and side plots above, too. I think I'm still not sure how much information to put into plot summaries. I try to put as little as possible to get the plot across, as I don't want to ruin the story for potential readers. But then I feel as though I am leaving out crucial information, too! Not sure I have the balance right yet.

I really enjoyed Sally Gardner's book The Red Necklace. I did not like its sequel The Silver Blade quite as much, and I think I like I, Coriander even less. That's not to say I dislike I, Coriander. I just don't think much is holding up to The Red Necklace. I had pretty high expectations!

I think some of the plots in this book were oversimplified or glanced over. I don't think the fact that it's a children's novel can really be used as an excuse, either, as there are many excellent children's novels that have complexity and depth. The main one that seems to have upset most readers is Coriander's father's decision to marry, and then to escape England for the continent, leaving his daughter with a woman he knew was a horror. The love that existed between Coriander's mother and father was obvious and really touching, through the first parts of the story. So it was a bit jarring when he remarried, and when he chose someone so horrible. Perhaps he was enchanted into doing it, but afterward, when he left England for the safety of France, he could have taken his daughter with him. It seemed callous and very out-of-character for him to just leave her behind.

I also would have preferred more time in the Faerie realm, but I guess that's just my personal taste. I think stories that involve that whole alternate reality of Faerie, with people who never age, and balls and sinister villains who seem so nice but draw you in... they're fabulous. I love them. However, Coriander doesn't spend all that much time in Faerie, just brief snatches, and that saddened me.

I think Gardner did a good job of portraying England under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. While the Puritan faction was portrayed very negatively, I think she captured the underlying tension and fear of ordinary citizens very well. They were all nervous about how people would perceive them, and were trying very hard to just get by, regardless of the political climate. I like that Gardner didn't talk down to her audience on this point, but let them see the confusion 17th century England for what it was. It would be interesting, I think, to see how all those Royalists reacted to Charles II's behavior :-)

I think this was a good Read-a-Thon pick for me because it was pretty light reading and had a fast-moving plot. Also, the font was nice and big :-) I don't know that I would recommend it without reservation; if you want to try Sally Gardner, I would recommend The Red Necklace instead of this one. But if you want a feel for Cromwellian England, with a bit of Faerie dust thrown in, then this might be a good pick.

Dewey's 24-Hour Read-a-Thon: Wrap-Up Post

Whew, the Read-a-Thon is over! My gosh, that was a long haul. And I definitely fell asleep around hour 20 as well. I had big plans to wake up and cheer everyone one for the last hour, but... er, I didn't :-) However, it looks like a LOT of cheerleading went on in the wee hours, which is wonderful. Here is my end-of-event meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
Well, I set my alarm clock for 6am to see through the last hour, and then couldn't get myself out of bed. So probably hour 23, but that, I think, is only because I weakly chose to sleep.

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I am not sure if my book choices are the same ones that would interest others. But I would stick to genres you like and are comfortable with, rather than trying new ones.

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
Nope, I thought it was great! Though maybe make comment verification turn-offs a HIGH HIGH priority! Also, not sure how feasible this is, but it might be cool if everyone participating was encouraged to read one book or one particular author, and then discuss that. Might be hard to coordinate, though.

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
I think Eva did a fantastic job of leading the cheer squads! But really, everything was SO well organized by everyone. So many mini-challenges, so many tweets, so much enthusiasm!

Nymeth's Mini-Challenge

I have yet to participate in any mini-challenges for the Read-A-Thon, mostly because I seem to be completely ADD today. I have these rushes of energy to cheer other people on (the bones in my hands are quite tired!), and then I get exhausted and relapse into reading. For like, ten minutes. Then I start getting hungry. Then I go to fix myself a snack. Then I can't get back into a comfortable position, so I decide to see if anyone has Tweeted me (no one really ever does, mostly because I am still not sure I "get" Twitter). Then I kind of snicker to myself because Tweeted is a fun word.

I recently finished my first book, and now I'm not sure what to read next. My pile of books was chosen solely because they are young adult-type books with large text. So of course, now I have no desire to read a young adult book with large text. And I hoped to get a good start on books that I had had sitting on my TBR pile for a while. And so, of course, none of those appeal to me. Honestly, I'm my own worst enemy.

So then I saw Ana's post about her mini-challenge which is basically to go online and read comic strips. Apparently, comic strips appeal to me much more than books at the moment, since I leaped at the chance. I chose to read Unshelved, which Ana describes, "It's set in a library, and the protagonist is a deliciously sarcastic comic book and fantasy loving YA librarian."

Well, if I can't get myself to actually read a young adult fantasy, then maybe a snarky librarian can motivate me to do so! So I went and was delighted to see this strip in the archives, all about Pride & Prejudice and how fabulous a book it is! It made me smile.

I have never really read web comics and to be honest, I don't think I'll really follow any along very closely. But I really like Unshelved, and I can see myself going there randomly sometimes and gorging on the archives. Especially if they reference Jane Austen more often.

Thanks, Ana, for the heads up and happy reading, everyone!

Read-a-Thon!

I'm cheerleading for the read-a-thon today and trying to get some reading in, too! First up is I, Coriander by Sally Gardner. Maybe I'll get that done by the time I make the next rounds for cheerleading :-) I'm quite happy the weather is so miserable today as now I have a ready-made excuse not to go out! Good luck to all the readers out there!

Review: The Girl with Glass Feet

Title: The Girl with Glass Feet

Author: Ali Shaw

Publisher: Henry Holt

# of Pages: 287

Favorite Line: "I don't think there is being brave, anyway. I used to not tread in puddles in case I fell in them and died like Mummy did. But then in the autumn when it flooded I got stuck and had to splash through one. It didn't feel safer or worser. I just had to splash through it or wait until the sun came up and it all dried out."

This review is based on an advanced reader's edition.

Plot Summary:
St. Hauda's is a cold island way up north where narwhal fishing used to be the trade of choice. Once that was banned, most of the population left and the island is now dull, quiet and secluded. This is perfectly fine with Midas Crook, who doesn't like being around too many people and certainly doesn't like touching them. He prefers, instead, to view the world through his camera and make sense of it that way. Ida MacLaird comes to St. Hauda's Land hoping for a cure to her strange illness. Her feet have turned to glass and the illness seems to be spreading up her body. She comes to St. Hauda's looking for Henry Fuwe, a man she met on her last trip there who told her about tiny flying cows, an animal that turns everything it looks at to white, and glass people sunk into bogs. She meets Midas instead, and the two become friends, deepening into something more. The two embark on a mission to save Ida, aided in part by Carl Maulson, who used to be in love with Ida's mother and work with Midas' father. But even as they try to find a cure, the glass in Ida's body keeps creeping up...

This was a beautifully written book. There were so many interlocking stories, all about relationships and love lost and found. Ida and Midas are in the center (I wonder if their names are similar for a reason). Ida wants desperately to connect with someone before her illness leaves her cold, literally. Midas is drawn to Ida, but he must overcome his innate dislike of touching or even really interacting with other people.

Their relationship is central to the plot, but there are so many that are similar to it that reach different conclusions. For example, there is Midas' friend Gustav, who fell madly in love with a woman, and she fell in love with him, too. But before they had spent much time together, she passed away. There is Henry Fuwa, who was in love with a woman, but she was already married and now he thinks it's too late to go after her. Carl Maulsen was in love with Ida's mother, but she wouldn't have him and so now he hopes to help Ida and somehow affect her mother. Elianna, who fell in love with Carl and realized that he would never love her. Midas' father was unfeeling and never cared for his wife or his son; his son now cannot touch anyone and his wife is withering away, at age 50, in a retirement community.

Each relationship presented in the story represents and symbolizes a different version of love, and it's fascinating to see how Shaw weaves the illness of bodies turning to glass into all of it. For an author that is only 27 years old (a year older than me, only!), he writes with a very lyrical touch. I really enjoyed both Ida and Midas as characters. Ida was so strong and faced her problems head-on. Even though she has a seemingly incurable illness, she goes after what she wants and refuses to cater to anyone else. Midas, too, grows so much during the novel, from a shy, socially awkward person always frightened that he will turn out like his father, into a man who stands up for himself and takes risks even when they terrify him.

This book reminded me, atmosphere-wise, of A Winter's Tale. Everything is black and white and cold. It also had the same sort of fantastical elements present- they are there and alluded to, but never really explained. I personally would have preferred a bit more closure around the more minor plot points, but I can see why Shaw left them out. I wish he had also left out just a few instances of characters saying the word, "Um," but I will forgive him that :-)

The Girl with Glass Feet is a slow, sad novel that meanders around on an isolated island. I think you have to be in the right mood for it- I read it curled up inside on a miserable rainy day, and that was the perfect setting. Shaw has a gift for descriptive passages, and he's an author I will follow.

Characters I Would Marry if They Actually Existed And Asked Me to Marry Them

In Tweeting with Nymeth and and Ooh ... Books! today (yes, I think I am getting the hang of tweeting, though I only talk to book people on there), I mentioned that I have a literary crush on Lord Vetinari, the Patrician from the Discworld books. That caused me to mull for some time over other literary crushes I have and, being fairly self-absorbed, I decided you all would like to know who those lucky fellows are, too. So, in the tradition of my Characters I Hate and my Characters I Love posts of storied lore, here is my Characters I Would Marry If they Really Existed and Asked Me to Marry Them. This is the third in an occasional series of "Characters I..." posts that I'll write when the mood hits me :-)

Based on my personal preference, this list only includes male characters. However, if you make your own list (and I hope you do!), you can include anyone you want. Also, the list is in no particular order, and I am trying not to overlap too much from the Characters I Love Post.

1. Lord Vetinari, The Patrician of Terry Pratchett's Discworld Books - This man can Get. Stuff. Done. He whipped Ankh-Morpork into shape by creating a guild system; he diversified the police force so no one could accuse it of being discrimanatory towards dwarves, werewolves or anyone else; he got the country off the gold standard; he got the post office working efficiently, and he pulled it all off with major panache. When the trials of being dictator get to be too much, he has a convenient door in his office that leads to a painful, gruesome (but highly efficient) death. And of course, underneath his aloof bearing and inpenetrable sangfroid, he's a man who really wants to improve his country and employ the best people to do it. Excellent stuff.

2. Sir Tristram Shield, from Georgette Heyer's The Talisman Ring - When Lifeline Theater here in Chicago presented a stage production based on Heyer's novel, I immediately purchased tickets and dragged my parents to see Sir Tristram in the flesh. Gosh, he's dreamy. Not only does he have a very dry sense of humor, but he is also "handy with his fives," and any man who can punch the lights out of two thugs to save his lady love is a man for me. He also makes one of the most delightful marriage proposals I've ever encountered in a book. And if you are yet to read a Heyer novel, get to it!

3. Captain Wentworth, from Jane Austen's Persuasion - Anyone who can say No to a man that writes a letter saying this:

"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight and a half years ago. Dare not say that a man forgets sooner than woman, that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you. Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been, but never inconstant."

clearly belongs in a mental institution. Sadly, Captain Wentworth did not send that note to me, but I feel certain that if I were there, he would most certainly have redirected his heart in my direction. I love, love, love Mr. Darcy, but Captain Wentworth is, in my opinion, Jane Austen's most underrated hero.

4. Janko, from Poison Study by Maria V. Snyder - Sure, maybe I am including Janko because I just finished the book he features in six hours ago and he's fresh in my mind. He's such a great guy, though. He's strong, smart and willing to take risks. He also has a great sense of humor that hides a deep-rooted loyalty to his friends. Quality.

5. Nicholas de Fleury, from The House of Niccolo series by Dorothy Dunnett - I don't know if I would have a happy marriage with Nicholas de Fleury, being that he's fairly ruthless and has a disturbing "I've got a secret and I'm not going to tell you what it is" habit that would make trust a little difficult. But he also has a huge sense of responsibility that encompasses everyone around him. It would be nice to feel wrapped up safe and warm in that sort of thing. Also, supposedly Nicholas is quite the ugly man (he is described as "an oak tree with dimples", but somehow he exudes (and I mean exudes, based on his success with women) sexual charisma. Not sure how that works, but it would be interesting to find out.

6. Lord Francis Skelbrooke, from Goblin Moon by Teresa Edgerton - Not many men can pull off a curly wig of pink-tinted hair and shoes with bows on them, but when those same men can kill a troll at point-blank range, one is able to (somewhat) forgive the pink hair. Skelbrooke is like the Scarlet Pimpernel; he seems foppish and shallow, but he's always a step ahead of everyone else and just so smart and wonderful. I adore Skelbrooke. I adore Goblin Moon. It is a hard-to-find but excellent gem of a steampunk novel that features (gasp!) a woman on my "Heroines That Don't Annoy Me" list. I highly recommend seeking it out.

7. Gilbert Blythe, from the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery - I am not sure if Gilbert would stand up as husband material for me on a re-read of the Anne of Green Gables series, and I don't care to find out. He was my first literary love- so sweet, so obviously in love with Anne from their first meeting. I was sad that he faded into the background in the later books of the series, but that just gave me more room to imagine witty and sweet things for him to say (to Anne, not me. I'm not that delusional). He is a true gentleman, and I could easily imagine him being the sort of person who would take his coat off and lay it on the street for a woman so that she didn't have to step in a puddle.

8. Number Ten Ox, from Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart - Life with Number Ten would be fun, exciting and full of tummy-aching laughter. That's pretty ideal. I really need to get my hands on the sequels to this book for a price that is reasonable. Ox is just a really cool person.

9. Marcus Didius Falco, from the Falco series by Lindsey Davis - Ok, ok, I know he's on my Characters I Love list and that I tried to avoid those characters in this list. But I am making the rules here, right? All you have to do is read one Falco mystery and you'll know exactly why I love him. He is hilarious.

10. Eugenides, from The Queen's Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner - If I managed not to gush too much about Eugenides in my reviews of the first three books in Turner's series, then allow me to do so here. He is so clever, so completely hard to read, so sarcastic and so intelligent. (I apologize for the overuse of italics in this post. Yikes. I'm being quite emphatic.) He's fascinating. I am really, really excited about the next book in this series coming out, though I'm not sure if Eugenides will have a major role in it. That would be unfortunate because he is awesome. So, fingers crossed.

Review: Poison Study

Title: Poison Study

Author: Maria V. Snyder

Publisher: Luna

# of Pages: 425

This is the first book in the Study trilogy.  See my review of the second and third books here.

This book qualifies for the Clear Off Your Shelves Challenge.

Plot Summary:

On the day of her execution for murdering her benefactor, Yelena is offered a bargan: she can either die by the noose or she can become the Commander’s food taster, testing for poisons. She opts for the latter, and immediately begins a series of lessons with the tall, dark and mysterious (and, I must say, quite fascinating) Valek. Being a food taster means that Yelena is in the same room as the Commander during some fairly important meetings and conversations and as time goes on, she gets more involved in court politics. The strict, regimental life that exists under the Commander’s firm leadership is endangered, though, when it becomes clear that someone has access to the Commander’s thoughts. Yelena and Valek must try to save the commander, with the help of their fabulous friends Ari and Janco. Along the way, Yelena learns a great deal about herself, her powers and what motivates her.

My Thoughts:

That is a pretty simplified plot summary - this book actually has a wide array of characters (some of whom don’t show up in the summary above) and a plot that promises to get more intricate as the series continues. But, well, I don’t want to give too much away!

I really enjoyed this book. I thought there were some really strong female characters in it, including Yelena. I was a bit leery at first, when she came across Valek in the first ten pages. “Oh, of course her poison teacher is a hunky assassin who is pure ice on the outside but really just a troubled soul looking for love on the inside,” I thought. And I don’t think I was too off the mark in my assessment of Valek, or of Yelena’s relationship with him. But that doesn’t mean that the two aren’t interesting characters on their own. I tend to gravitate more towards male characters in stories because they are made more complex. But Yelena is complex, too. She faced a great deal of hardship in her past, but she doesn’t ever come off as being morose or self-pitying. She sticks to her guns and charts her own path- or, as much of her path as she can, under the circumstances. And when she needs help, she asks for it, instead of being an idiot who messes everything up by trying to do things her way.

I think, however, that in the books to come, it would be very easy to make Yelena into a Mary Sue character. Everyone who meets her seems to love her (except, granted, for those that want her dead) and she somehow overcomes some serious psychological drama in a fairly short amount of time. In fact, in the Mary Sue Litmus Test referenced above, Yelena already gets a pretty high score. I can see that skyrocketing as the series continues, especially with the clues we get about her towards the end of the book. But hey, if the series can hold my attention like the first book did, I’m not going to complain overly much J Well, frankly, I will complain, but it will be hard to be taken seriously if I read the other two books in this series as quickly as I did the first.

My favorite character in the book was Janco. He was a secondary character, but he’s smart, powerful and has a wicked sense of humor. If he were to exist in this world and ask me to marry him, I would not be averse to the prospect.

In addition to the characters, I thought the plot developed in an interesting way and it was definitely fast-paced. The book reads quickly- I could go through 100 pages an hour, once I got into it. So now, like Blodeudd, I have finished this book and am impatiently waiting for its sequels to arrive! I want to know what happens next. If that isn’t the mark of quality writing, I’m not sure what is.

And the world Snyder creates is great. It’s not fully developed in this book, but there are hints of things to come. This is one of those fantasy books that focuses more on political intrigue and power struggles than on magic and mayhem and epic journeys or wars. I appreciated that, and I think Snyder developed the world very well for what she seems to want to accomplish in it. I’m excited to see where the series leads me.

Rosie's Riveters: Ana & Granny Weatherwax

Rosie's Riveters is a weekly posting written by Booklust readers about riveting females in literature. Many readers have strong reactions to the women in the books they read- either very positive or very negative. These are the characters we find riveting, for good reasons or bad ones, and they form the population of Rosie's Riveters. Through this weekly post, we can discuss females we love to hate, or love to love. And maybe, just maybe- we can determine why we react so strongly to them.

If you are interested in participating, please comment on this post, e-mail me, or just fill out the template below and send it to me. Participants are always welcomed and encouraged!

This week's guest poster writes under Nymeth at her excellent blog things mean a lot. Ana has been blogging for a while and is one of those people that all book bloggers just seem to "know." She writes really beautiful, thoughtful reviews of all sorts of books, but I personally love her fantasy reviews. She is also co-hosting the 24 hour read-a-thon this weekend, for those of you taking part! For those of you who haven't been to her blog, I highly recommend a visit. Ana's really a very kind person and has become a good blogging friend and now she even does vlogs... I don't know if she'll continue doing them, but she's done one, at least :-)

Who is your Riveter?
Granny Weatherwax

What book does she feature in?
Terry Pratchett's Discworld series. She has cameos in many books, but
she's mainly featured in the Witches of Lancre sub-series. She also
appears in the Tiffany Aching books, though she's mainly in the
background there.

Do you love her or hate her?

I LOVE her!

Describe her personality- how would you describe her to a friend?

This is actually quite difficult, but I shall do my best: Granny
Weatherwax is the oldest member of the small group of Lancre Witches.
The townspeople are a bit scared of her, probably due to the fact that
she's not really a friendly or pleasant person. But she is
kind. She has a very strong sense of ethics, and even though she doesn't let many people become close to her - the only one she's truly close to is probably Nanny Ogg - she never treats anyone like they're beneath her. She respects people in a quiet and genuine sort of way. She's a very no-nonsense person, not to mention incredibly
smart. She's also a very complex, multi-faceted character, so I'm leaving lots of things out!

Can you compare her to a celebrity?

Ha, I don't think so, no. I don't think there's anyone quite
like Granny Weatherwax.

What makes her riveting?
Her intelligence, her ethics, and the fact that she's truly kind in her own way. Nobody has any reason to fear her UNLESS they've been hurting other people. She's very just, and also very powerful - but she never lets herself forget that with power comes responsibility.

What do you most admire/despise about her?

I love the fact that even though she could very easily be arrogant and
even tyrannical, she really isn't. She knows that she's more powerful,
and in many ways stronger, smarter and more knowledgeable, than most
of the people who surround her. But she also knows that this doesn't
make her better than them in any way, nor does it give her the right
to interfere in their lives. She's always willing to help anyone who
comes to her (interestingly, while Nanny Ogg is there at the beginning
as a very competent midwife, Granny Weatherwax is the one they call at
the end), but she doesn't think she Knows Best. One of my favourite
Discworld books, Witches Abroad, is exactly about what happens
when a powerful witch becomes convinced that she knows what's best for
people, and can therefore run their lives. We get a glimpse of what
Granny Weatherwax could have become if not for her deep respect for
people's right to make their own decisions, be they stupid or wise.

Would you recommend reading the book in which the Riveter features?

Yes, definitely! The first book she's featured in is Equal
Rites, but Terry Pratchett himself has said that's more of a
character study than a first appearance of the Granny Weatherwax we
see later in the series. It's still a fantastic book, though, and I
would recommend it as a starting point. Just bear in mind that she
gets even more interesting!

Do you have a quote by or about your Riveter that you'd like to share?

"She hated everything that predestinated people, that fooled them,
that made them slightly less then human.
'You can't go around building a better world for people. Only people
can build a better world for people. Otherwise it is just a cage...'"

From Witches Abroad.

Any Interest in a Possible Re-Read Challenge?

In looking over my bookshelves and my staggering, intimidating TBR list, I often feel a bit guilty about wanting to re-read some old favorite books. This is a bit ridiculous as I read for pleasure, and obviously, if I like a book, reading it again should give me pleasure. But I so rarely do it because I feel like I'm wasting time that should be spent reading books that are new to me. I have a feeling I'm not the only person who feels this way. Well, I hope I am not the only person who feels this way!

I had an idea, based on this, of hosting a challenge (my first one ever, so please be gentle with me!) in 2010 for the first six months or, if people are interested in a full year challenge (and have twelve golden favorites), the full twelve months. It would just involve splurging a little and allowing yourself the happy and comfortable feeling of settling in with a well-beloved book or author. Once a month. Or how ever many you want to sign up to read, I guess. It could be flexible, as I don't want the challenge itself to stress anyone out! Would anyone else be interested in taking part? I think it could be a lot of fun as many of us read our favorite books before we started blogging, and so re-reading them and refreshing our memory on them might allow us to make a review and spread the love. It also might help us see nuances that we missed the first time. It could be a great experiment!

Let me know if you'd be interested in taking part. You don't need to have a blog to do it- it can be open to readers of all sorts! Also, please let me know how long you'd like the challenge to be. Thanks, all!

WINNERS: White as Bone, Red as Blood

Congratulations to the winners of the White as Bone, Red as Blood giveaway! The winners are:

Sudha

EdmontonJB

Thank you everyone for playing, and to the winners- I hope you enjoy the book! Please send me your mailing addresses as soon as possible.

Rosie's Riveters: Bookends!

So I was browsing the New Yorker book blog just now and came across a link that said, "Rosie the Riveter Still Makes Time to Read." This obviously greatly intrigued me as I run the Rosie's Riveters series! I clicked through and what did I see...


Um, amazing! Sadly, it looks like the product is currently sold out, and New Yorker commenters point out that she's not actually using a rivet. But details, shmetails. To all of you who have done a riveter post in the past, and all those set to do one in future (Ana- you're up next!), I wish I could get you all a set, but sadly, it's a bit out of my price range.

Review: Cezanne's Quarry

Title: Cezanne's Quarry

Author: Barbara Corrado Pope

# of Pages: 364

Publisher: Pegasus Books

I received this book for free to review.

Plot Summary:
In late summer, 1885, a woman's body is found in a quarry near Aix-en-Provence, France. She was raped and murdered. Bernard Martin, a shy new judge in the district, is assigned to the case along with the rough-and-tumble constable in the district, Franc. At first the case seems simple. The woman, Solange Vernet, was probably murdered in a jealous rage by her lover, the English geologist Charles Westerbury. But then they learn that the artist, Cezanne, had a relationship with the woman as well. So maybe it was he who killed her. Underlying the case, and running as a theme throughout the novel, is the French criminal justice system in the late 1900s, the terrifying prospect of being a woman with little means at the turn of the century, and the battle between science and religion.

Barbara Pope Corrado really packs a lot into a pretty quick read. In addition to a murder mystery (or two, or three), she gives readers a primer on French law and the country's difficulties choosing between religion and science. The murder mystery, as usual, takes a backseat for me in relation to the other two aspects of the story. It was interesting, but I didn't feel any particular affinity for any of the main characters in the novel, and so I didn't really care whether anyone was guilty or innocent.

I did, however, find the historical context fascinating. It's so interesting that during the French Revolution, the revolutionaries were so... well, revolutionary, that they tried to completely rid the country of religion. Even going so far as to change the calendar to get rid of Sundays. And yet, one hundred years later, the country has reverted so much that there are National Pilgrimages, in which sick and destitute people travel around France to visit holy sites and pray to get well. It's such a stark and complete change in such a short period of time that you can't help but think that France was one crazy and hectic place for an extended period of time- probably from the Napoleonic wars on through World War I. It must have been an exhausting place to live, never sure whether it was acceptable or not to believe in God or believe in evolution, or whether the people around you believed the same thing.

I also don't know much about the French system of law (except that it is based on the Napoleonic Code), but it seems like it was fairly unjust at the time. And, as usual in history, when laws are lax or unjust, it is often the women who suffer by them. This story certainly highlights that.

As to the characters in the novel- well, to be frank, I could take them or leave them. There were a lot, and as I said in the Sunday Salon, many of them had their points of view expressed. I found the protagonist, Bernard Martin the judge, to be a nice if somewhat dull man. But I don't think he really was dull, I just don't think I learned much more about him by the end of the book than I knew about him at the beginning. As to the rest of the characters- Westerbury, Cezanne, Hortense and Franc- they all annoyed me. Westerbury was a pompous jerk, Cezanne was... well, he was odd. I shall have to do more research on him. Hortense, Cezanne's lover, was whiny and crabby and Franc was a horror. The only character that I would have really liked to get to know more (and who did not have her POV represented) was Clarie, Martin's love interest. Maybe she didn't annoy me because I didn't have access to her head like I did to the other characters'. I think in some ways the multiple points of view worked for the author as we got to see many characters in different lights- Cezanne, for example, is presented as very conflicted, depressed and ultimately run-down man. We would never have gotten so many dimensions on him as a character if not for the multiple points of view. But at the same time, we lost the ability to really bond with a character because it seemed like we were always being held at arms' length.

Overall, I think the book was a good read, and pretty quick considering the hefty themes it covers. I really enjoyed the exposure to an era of French history with which I am unfamiliar, and I hope to see more books by the author that are set in the same period.

The Dewey 24-Hour Read-a-Thon

So, everyone and their monkey's uncle in the book blogging world is talking about the Read-a-Thon! It's being held this Saturday, October 24th. For me, being in the Central Time Zone, it starts at 5am. I have signed up to be a cheerleader, but I figured, just in case, that I should also have a list of books to read. I won't be reading for 24 straight hours, mostly because... well, if I do anything for 24 hours at this point in my life, it should be graduate school applications. And that's not happening. So I can't quite justify spending 24 hours reading. But hopefully by April, I'll be able to!

Anyway, so here's my pseudo-pile of books for the read-a-thon, since I'm not actually a reader:

1. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba
2. The Daughter of Time, by Josephine Tey
3. Any one or several of all the Georgette Heyer novels I have on my bookshelf
4. A Great and Terrible Beauty, by Libba Bray
5. I, Coriander, by Sally Gardner

I think that's enough! Knowing me and my rebellious streak, none of the above will appeal to me come October 24th, but hey... I will try :-)

Sunday Salon: What am I Reading?

This hasn't been the greatest reading week for me. It was quite busy and exhausting, and I didn't get nearly as much done as I hoped. Reading-wise, that is. I think I was quite productive in other areas of my life!

I am currently reading Cezanne's Quarry, by Barbara Corrado Pope, a murder mystery set in 1880s France that revolves around the death of a beautiful young woman and (I assume) the artist Cezanne. I am only about a quarter of the way through the book so far, but I am really enjoying it. I really appreciate historical mysteries that include relevant facts from their time. For example, 1880s France is taut with the push and pull between Catholicism and science. It is a time of quack geologists sharing their theories with anyone who will listen. And it's certainly a time of social upheaval, where the class barriers and the ways of doing things are being challenged. (Though really, how many periods of history are there when people did not challenge the established ways of doing things?)

So far, I like the way the author has set up several different narrators; there are probably four or five main characters in the story, and so it's interesting to view them through multiple perspectives. I could also see this getting annoying, though, if I begin to feel that I don't know any of the characters very well by the end. I am not sure if this is just the first book in a series and if the author has plans for further stories centering around her provincial judge protagonist. I obviously don't know how the story ends yet, so I can't tell if it ties up neatly or leaves loose ends for a sequel. I guess I'll find out :-)

I realized after starting to read this book that I haven't really read or even heard about many stories that take place in France at the turn of the 2oth century. Most historical novels in France focus on the Sun King era or on the Revolution. Hardly any touch upon the late 19th century. Most books that take place at that time seem centered around Britain or the US. It's interesting to compare and contrast France to those settings. I am enjoying learning a bit more about France at the time.

What's everyone else reading? Anything REALLY good? :-)

New Zealand Challenge Wrap-Up

I'm pretty impressed with myself because I've finished my first ever challenge! And I finished it EARLY, too. Maree at Just add books... is hosting this very laid-back and thus thoroughly appealing challenge in honor of New Zealand Book Month. I read and reviewed Potiki, by Patricia Grace here, and I also watched the film Once Were Warriors.

Gosh, what a depressing movie! It was one of those movies that is very powerful in a disturbing way. The movie is based on a book, and revolves around a Maori woman, Beth, who is in an abusive marriage and is trying very hard to keep her family together. However, her husband drinks too much, her eldest son is joining a street gang, her middle son gets in trouble with the law, and she hardly has time for her youngest two. The only child who is really a spark of light in this dreary life is her daughter, Grace, who is quiet and shy and writes stories in her notebook. The movie really highlights the love-hate relationship between Beth and her husband, and her fierce determination to protect her children from his violent outbursts. It doesn't make anything easy; there are some horrific scenes, and it can be very, very painful to watch. But it was a deeply moving portrayal of a family struggling to get by, and of a culture that is trying so hard to stay proud, but is drowning.

Really, every time I see a movie or read a book or visit a country in which native people were displaced by others- in the US, New Zealand, Australia, Africa, and countless other regions around the world- I just feel an aching sadness for those cultures. They never recover. Often, the people descend into alcoholism or gambling addiction or some other vice because there is nowhere to go. They have no home, as it was taken away from them. They can't pursue their traditional vocations. The culture that lasted so many generations was almost erased, if not by people dying out, then by the "white man's burden" of instilling European cultural ideals. And now, most of these people live in out-of-the-way places on reservations or somewhere where they can't really be seen or heard. And so people forget about them, or ignore them, or wonder why they don't assimilate properly into the dominant culture. This movie really highlights this situation. Beth knows that her husband is bad news, and that her children are in trouble. She knows that they will always struggle between two worlds and how to be proud of their heritage while also surviving in a world in which they are second-rate citizens. It's a deeply sensitive film that doesn't give you any answers or resolutions- it just presents the situation as it is, and asks you to notice.

Here's a scene in the movie where one of the characters is trying to impart the pride of Maori culture into young boys in juvenile detention through teaching them how to do the famed Haka dance.