Do(n't) Read This Book

Movie Review: Hugo

2011-11-30T12:26:00.001-06:00

If you have read the book, then you are familiar with the story. Hugo is orphaned but living in a Paris train station keeping the clocks running as his uncle taught him. He is constantly under threat of being discovered by the station officer and taken away for being an orphan but for the fact that Isabelle is the granddaughter of the old man who runs the toy stand in the station. Hugo ends up working for the man after he is caught attempting to steal a toy and the mystery of the automaton Hugo's father rescued from a museum and the mystery of the toy man's past are linked and discovered by story's end. It's a happy feel good ending, but not without its dangers both physical and emotional.

I pretty infamously will watch and then complain about how much a movie does not compare to a book, particularly if I love the book to the point of having read it a bazillion times. But, I never read The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick more than the once though I kept meaning to get back to it. (Side note: Selznick's latest, Wonderstruck, is equally as enthralling/put together as Hugo Cabret. Well worth a read.) So it was with no small amount of trepidation that I went to see Hugo (in 3D, worth the extra cost? maybe, jury is still out on that though it does give some rich layering to the final product otherwise not seen in 2D) which in based on Selznick's book The Invention of Hugo Cabret. In the hands of someone else, the movie might have been middling, a typical adaptation that never really lives up to the original. For, the book version of Hugo is rather a marvel in itself, being in weird chapter book/picture style that's almost like reading a chapter book and a wordless picture book at the same time such to the point that it wowed the Caldecott committee in 2008 to win the award for best picture book.

In the hands of Martin Scorsese, Hugo comes richly to live in what, from the best of my memory, is a truly faithful adaptation of an award winning book. Asa Butterfield, though perhaps not an exact look alike of the Hugo in the book (and I would argue that few of the actors are exact look alikes, but several come quite close), is the right person for the job. Butterfield, though not a huge name, is accomplished in his own right and has the ability to express a wide range of emotions despite his youngish age. He is compelling throughout and maintains enough presence to draw one into the film, as does the also young but talented Chloe Grace Moretz as Hugo's female friend, Isabelle. The cast is well rounded out by the presence of Ben Kingsley as George Melies and Helen McCrory (better known as Narcissa Malfoy to those of us stateside and likely elsewhere) as his wife. Sacha Baron Cohen, who I only really enjoy when he is not in a role he created, is perfect as the strict to the rules station officer with a crush on the flower seller played by Emily Mortimer.

Overall, Hugo in movie form is as touching and moving as it is in book form. I might even suggest I enjoyed the movie more than the book because of the fact it harkens back to the orignal film history it contains by showing and recreating Melies's original material while maintaining the heart of the plot being the relationships Hugo makes through the course of the story. This is one movie guaranteed good for the whole family and I highly recommend seeing it at some point. I am interested, having seen it originally in 3D, to find out how well it translates to a normal television, but Scorsese has done something marvelous nonetheless in recreating a story that is more than a boy and his dreams and a man and his dreams. Must Watch this holiday season.

Quick Take - Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

2011-10-19T15:19:00.001-05:00

I find myself at a crossroads with this book. I can see why it was kind of a big deal when it was coming out, but at the same time I feel like it's a retread of a lot of what's already out there. Basically, the main character is out in the woods when an electromagnetic pulse sweeps across, presumably, the world or at least North America (this is yet to be fully resolved and probably a nonpoint really in terms of what the story is currently trying to do). A bunch of people die, some people get sort of super powers (radioactive spider, anyone?), a bunch become zombies, and others just basically survive for whatever reason which is kind of explained but not fully and gets to be kind of annoying as the main character keeps trying to figure it out. So, Alex, our main character, manages to meet up with some other survivors and then finally ends up in a whole settlement of people trying to get on with life.

My big issues come from the whole 'this feels familiar' aspect of the story. For one, it's zombies. World War Z does zombies better than any other book I've read and there are obvious comparisons if you've read both. For two, characters are generally type cast. The dictator preacher guy of Rule (the super closed off settlement Alex finds herself in) is always the dictator preacher guy of Rule. Chris and Tom are obviously the set up love interests to pull Alex into a weird love triangle where one or all of them is always somewhere else the others aren't. The whiny eight year old is always the whiny eight year old. Parsed out, the little things of the book look like they've literally been plucked from other sources and dropped in with minor rewrites.

While the premise of the story is decent enough, I feel that with the influx of zombie works that have hit the market, Ashes falls short of what some of the other works have been able to do. Bick's novel does not feel nearly original enough when it should. The one thing I did enjoy, maybe 'cause it kept me up after reading this book later at night, was the description. The gross level of some of the descriptions is very well done and detailed, disturbingly so. However, the dialogue tends to fail by being overly used when explaining things or not, and the cliches prominent in both plot and character lowered this book in my esteem.

Read if you're a fan of zombie novels, otherwise I cannot give this a glowing recommendation. Avoid Me.

An Avoidable Fish Tale

2011-09-29T09:53:00.000-05:00

Shaun Morey's Wahoo Rhapsody is the type of book that starts out a little ridiculous and gets more so as it progresses. Atticus Fish (not his real name, he had it changed to be more anonymous) sued religion and won, making him the richest man on the planet, and the most recognizable lawyer in the states. He has moved his riches south into Mexico where people don't automatically know him. And he's pretty much good at whatever he puts his mind to, including flying a sea plane and beating up guys who try to poach sting rays.

Edwin Sparks is the typical overweight middle manager over his head without really knowing it. He knows he wants to get away from Topwater Tuna and the crazy lady who owns the company, but isn't really driven enough to fully form his own plans. He'd rather just sit in his office smoking Swisher Sweets. Except he's got a cousin who just happens to be a drug runner and he's agreed to help smuggle drugs into the country using tuna.

Weevil Ott, the typical bumbling middle man. All he has to do is pick up the drugs, put it in the tuna, and not get caught. Except he's just the kind of guy who would sabotage himself by trying to keep some of the drugs to sell on his own through pure greed.

For most of the book it is unclear how all three of these people will ever meet or what the purpose of all the absurdity is. Weevil and Edwin work for the same person, really: the mysterious La Cucaracha. Neither knows exactly who La Cucaracha is, just that they can see a way out of their unfortunate situations. The one person who just wants to stay hidden, Finch, is drawn into the mess because he owns the tuna boat, Wahoo Rhapsody, and is best buds with the captain of the boat.

All the over the top characters eventually meet or run into each other at some point later in the book. La Cucaracha is never really unveiled, and no real satisfactory conclusion is reached for any character. There are a few unexpected twists and turns, along with an over the top hallucination on one character's part. I would put this in the beach read category if I thought it was worth reading. I don't recommend it. There's an extreme lack of coalescence in the plot and a all the characters are over the top or just plain silly with no real purpose.

Avoid Me, seriously.

Work cited.

Morey, Shaun. Wahoo Rhapsody. Las Vegas: AmazonEncore, 2011.

The Zombiepocalypse Continues ...

2011-08-23T14:24:00.000-05:00

Mira Grant continues the adventures of Shaun Mason in her book Deadline, book two of the Newsflesh Trilogy. Shaun with his sister tagging along in his head, is put in grave danger after a CDC employee shows up on his doorstep with a bunch of moaning zombies in tow. With some quick thinking and an unexpected tragedy (from the reader's perspective), Shaun and his team are able to flee to relative safety where the find themselves mired in the conspiracy that George, Shaun's sister, only hinted at in the first volume of the series, Feed. Some minor zombie killing and much investigating ensue.

Where the first book was clever, this one reads a bit more like an unpolished Michael Crichton novel. There's lots of investigating and getting in trouble, but not so much of the fun zombie killing from the previous novel. Basically, this is more about the conspiracy and Shaun searching for the truth rather than reacting to the zombie threat. Not that that's a bad thing, but it does tend to bog the story down a bit when the action bits would keep the flow going.

Unfortunately, the excessive repeating of 'important' information continues in this book. I'm not sure if it's bad writing, bad editing, or both, but within the first two hundred pages, there are at least three moderately in depth incidences of the way Kellis Amberlee came into being, two more than necessary for those who have read the first book in the trilogy. The best bits are when Shaun and co. are fighting zombies or on the run from the government. As soon as they slow down, the story bogs in too much science and explanation. While a bit of background is good, the repetitive nature of certain parts and confusing narrative of others makes this middle volume a challenge for those of us looking for an easier read. That being said, Deadline is still smart and clever in its way.

The new cast of characters is refreshing. Most are carryover from the previous book, just with increased presence. Becks essentially has Shaun's previous role as the enforcer when it comes to zombie killing and has the sort of semi damaged personality that female warriors always seem to come with. Alaric is the Newsie, telling the story like it is when possible. And Mohir, thankfully given a large role in this story, is the one character who really has a lot of lose and still manages to find his way into more danger while still being clear headed. Along with the Fictional Maggie, the team has to dig deep into the conspiracy behind the spread of KA and into themselves to soldier on.

While Deadline is still a decent book, the writing begins to work against itself after a time, either being too repetitive or not moving fast enough. Essentially, the cast in is danger, they threaten to release important information, and then they go into hiding, waiting for their chance to escape to a new 'safe' location. In other words, this feels like a middle book, and not one of the better ones. This might be because Shaun is the new narrator and his talking to the George in his head seems a lot less like he's crazy and a lot more like he's actually smart enough to figure things out as he manages to do much of the way. Pretty good for an Irwin who is apparently crazy enough to hallucinate a dead sister in the flesh.

I wasn't thrilled with the book in the end, but it was by no means horrible. A step below the first one for sure, but should be read if you enjoyed the first one. Read at Your Own Risk.

Work Cited.
Grant, Mira. Deadline. New York: Orbit, 2011.

Not a Magical Discovery

2011-07-31T14:15:00.002-05:00

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness starts with awitches. Then there are vampires. And finally there are daemons. And they aren’t supposed to mix, but they doeven though they don’t get along. Awitch and a vampire should never mate, or have a relationship other than one ofhatred. So, of course, a witch and avampire have a relationship. Perhaps thediscovery of the book is that witches and vampires and daemons are not so verydifferent despite their differing opinions and talents.

Somewhere amidst the romantical story is a plot, though avery thin one so far. The witch inquestion is Diana who is bound to be very much like her mythological namesakeeventually if not fully yet. The vampireis Matthew and he’s ridiculously old, like Biblically old. Diana gets her hands on an ancient manuscriptand does not realize the significance of it. Matthew is drawn to her because of the manuscript at first, but thenrealizes there’s more to his attraction than that. And there’s a covenant consisting of threewitches, three vamps, and three daemons that feel said manuscript, which is nowinaccessible unless Diana figures out how to call it, threatens all the magicalcreatures. Basically, the Covenant wantsto kill Diana for the manuscript and because she and Matthew are oh so in loveand threaten the whole ‘magic can’t mix’ ideal.

Some other stuff happens in the middle and toward the end aswell, but basically it’s all set pieces and window dressing for the romanticstory of a vampire and a witch, as well as a lead in to book number two of thetrilogy. Basically, it’s all very Twilightfor Grownups or some such.

The problem with the book really is that the lack of plotdoes not balance with the depth of backstory. There is so much about the main characters’ pasts and how magicalcreatures supposedly came about that the main story gets lost in the mix. While this is all well and good, the author,a historian herself, gets so caught up in telling all the fun facts abouthistory and genetic research and wine, that there’s very little room fordeveloping plot. For a book that comesin just short of 600 pages, that’s a lot of nothing really going on.

Admittedly, my reading bias toward the young adult genremeans I’m used to books that are as much plot based as character based and let’sjust get on with the story. But this wasjust ridiculous even for adult fiction. I felt like I might as well have just as read Moby Dick again. Some of the information in the back story isuseful and probably necessary for the two future books, but I felt like thewhole front half of the book was about Diana and Matthew plodding along in arelationship with a few references back to the main story every now and then tobe sure the reader remembered what was supposed to be going on. Not to mention that Diana (along with Matthew's wine habit) seems very much like she might be a not so veiled version of the author at times

While I can see why Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery ofWitches has become such a big deal in books this year (similar to The Historian or Angelology, perhaps due to its depth of study), I can’t recommend this book. As such, put it in the Avoid Me pile.

Work Cited.
Harkness, Deborah. A Discovery ofWitches. New York: Viking, 2011.

Quick Take - The Dagger Quick by Brian Eames

2011-06-30T18:17:00.001-05:00

The Dagger Quick, like it's title, is a bit of a quick read even at over 300 pages. That does not mean, however, that it's a great book. I wanted to like and really enjoy the story of Kitto, the clubfooted preteen who has a lot of smarts and ends up on a pirate ship with his uncle William. I wanted to like Van, the teenage ship hand with a deadly secret. And I wanted to actually like William Quick, the supposedly dangerous pirate who basically bullies his brother (Kitto's father) into helping him get his smuggled good and clear his name.

Unfortunately, the storytelling is either too active or too slow. The beginning does not provide nearly enough background making it feel like the author is holding out on the reader. The middle spends too much time trying to rescue Kitto's little brother Duck from a slave ship. And the end is much too short, apparently to leave room for the sequel that is teased in the glossary at the back.

What's left is a decent story about a boy becoming a man amid the trials and tribulations of sea life. The background characters never really get fleshed out enough and William Quick, the pirate, who should be an overwhelming presence in Kitto's journey pops up now and then, but is mostly absent and one dimensional. This leaves the overall story feeling flat. Though the action sequences are plenty daring and violent, the feel of the emotional scenes is underwhelming and predictable at best.

I'd say this is best enjoyed by readers who enjoy a good pirate story; but the age group is a bit confused since the violence is potentially a bit heavy for younger readers and the characters are a bit young for young adult readers. Probably best for upper elementary age. Read at Your Own Risk.

The Best Book You Did Not Read Last Year (2010)

2011-05-31T11:33:00.006-05:00

In my spare time I read science fiction - a lot of it. One might call it a pasttime, this science fictional reading. So was I ever shocked to find a book that combines some serious steampunk with some great mystery elements and a whole lot of historical surprises. It's the best book you didn't read in 2010 - The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack by Mark Hodder - and it's probably not for everyone, but it's definitely worth a look if you don't want any of the same old, same old you've been reading.

So what makes Mark Hodder's debut book so good? Could be the taken from real history characters. Or, maybe it's the alternate history timelines. Could even be the mystery elements. But I think it's really the intricate plotting that ties together in the end in unexpected ways. This is as much a story about stories as it is about entertainment and pushing some ideas in science ficition. Alternate history and time travel are key elements in Spring Heeled Jack. The title character happens to be a time traveler from way off in a distant future. Who is Spring Heeled Jack and why does he keep popping up at key times in Victorian history?

Enter Sir Richard Francis Burton and his sidekick so to speak, the poet Algernon Swinburne. A mismatched pair if there was any. Burton's swarthy, almost like a pirate except he's a bit more on the straight and narrow. And Algy likes things rough though he's really nothing more than a pipsqueak in appearance. Together, these contemporaries who knew very little of each other in real life are thrown together in Hodder's story to solve the case of Spring Heeled Jack as well as dig into a changing timeline, one that will take two more books (one almost hopes there will be more than that) to complete.

What makes the book astounding is not just that the story ties together nicely even as it diverges from real history to alternate timeline history, but the amount of research Mark Hodder incorporates into a story that could easily be taken over by setting. It's not a fast read, but it's a good one. Each word seems carefully considered at times in order to correctly convey the meaning and the place for each major event. The characters seem very real as they have real concerns regarding the changing world and their places in it. What's more, the time travel doesn't seem too out there for the story once it comes into play, though it may be the one downfall for the book. This is where things get confusing, along with the later steampunk elements that are directly affected by Spring Heeled Jack.

A quick steampunk primer:
Victorian era setting (or Wild West, though this is less often the case).
Steam power is the way of the land, often in mechanical formats.
Mystery elements and alternate timelines are very common, along with personages from the late 1800s.
Charles Babbage and his Difference Engine (an early computer prototype) quite often make an appearance or are mentioned.

Assuming you manage to come out the other side from all the craziness, and you'll want to, believe me; you get to the part where some large decisions need to be made by Burton. Algy, unfortunately, has faded into the background a bit more, but he'll be back. He's not the sort to stay down and out for long and Burton pretty much assures that his choices will bring back our red headed poet for the next adventure. So, while the front half the the book is setting and adventure, the second half starts to really get into the story and by the end you'll wonder what you just read. It's so good you'll be reluctant to let it go, but let it go you must, or you'll just start reading it again and again and again just to find all the little hints and clues you missed the first time.

Mark Hodder's The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack is a Must Read from the science fiction genre. Way fun if not a bit mind tripping, but that's okay. There's more to come. Be sure to check out Burton & Swinburne in The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man, book two of the trilogy.

Work Cited.
Hodder, Mark. The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack. Amherst, NY: Pyr, 2010.

Quick Take - The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen by Geraldine McCaughrean

2011-04-26T17:33:00.004-05:00

Geraldine McCaughrean has shown tremendous range in her writing as well as the ability to turn research into entertaining and gripping stories. The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen is no different. Cissy, Kookie, and Tibbie must leave their little town in Oklahoma when Diptheria hits. Along with their often stern school teacher Miss May March, they set out on the train to find their former teacher, Loucien Shades Crew and her husband Everett who, along with a host of other interesting characters, live aboard a showboat and are The Bright Lights Theater Company. The Sunshine Queen, temporarily run ashore, finds its way back into the waters of the Numchuck River in Missouri and then the adventure really starts. The Bright Lights Theater Company picks up a crazy cast of performers and set off to try and make their own fortune on the river. Along the way they have to deal with a pirate, some angry townsfolk, and a particularly nasty swindler who tries to take the Sunshine Queen from them.

At first the cast of characters is a bit hard to keep track of since they have names like Cissy and Kookie and Boisenberry (which is where the handy cast of characters page comes in), but once the story is in motion, keeping track of the characters becomes easier. Each one has a distinct set of circumstances and their own personality. Thankfully, each personality is so individual and unique that you quickly forgive the sheer wackiness that abounds in the book. The book is laugh out loud funny at times as Cissy and Kookie often find themselves in situations they shouldn't and Everett has to talk his way out of problem after problem. The final situation near the end of the book seems too good to be true for a group of roving actors and musicians and McCaughrean seems to write with relish as Cissy really comes into her own to solve the problem head on.

Like many books for younger readers, there are lessons to be learned. Kookie finds out first hand what greed can do to a person and those around him and only gets out of it thanks to a quick thinking Everett and company. Cissy learns to find the strength to deal with her own problems and stand up for herself in hilarious fashion at times and even the often faint Tibbie gets some happiness in learning something new. Of course, there are other lessons to be learned as well, but I wouldn't want to go into too much detail and ruin the fun of discovery.

The Glorious Adventures of the Sunshine Queen is a heck of an entertaining read from start to finish. You know you're in for it when the book begins with an awfully spelled letter from a former teacher, but that's what makes the book so fun - the unpredictability of it all. A very enjoyable book from a very talented author; highly Recommended Reading for fans of well written juvenile fiction adventure stories. Also, be sure to check out Stop the Train! which is the first story featuring many of the characters in the Sunshine Queen.

Quick Take - Clarity by Kim Harrington

2011-04-02T13:40:00.001-05:00

The thing about Clarity 'Clare' Fern is that she's not your average teenager. Sure, she thinks a lot about boys such as how hot newcomer Gabriel is and how much she still really likes ex boyfriend Justin even though they had a pretty nasty falling out. She also gets into verbal fights with the most popular girl from school on several occasions, not to mention how little she wants to hear about her older brother's personal life. So, even though all that makes her seem run of the mill, Clarity is anything but. She has the gift of retrocognitive psychometry. Calm down, it's not as complicated as it sounds. Basically, Clarity just needs to touch something and she might have a vision of something that happened with that object in the past.

When a murder happens in the usually safe tourist trap town she lives in, Clarity is asked to unofficially use her gift to investigate. Teamed up with Gabriel, the lead detective's son, and Justin, her ex whose dad just happens to be mayor, Clarity finds herself in the thick of things. Her gift leads her on a crazy path with a slightly unexpected ending. What I really liked about the book is that Clarity as a character is beyond the normal teenage petty jealousy for the most part. She seems pretty mature for her age and does not read like a lovesick little puppy. She's smart and a little sassy and has more than enough to deal with since her mom occasionally checks out of the real world and her brother is hiding things from her. Not to mention there are multiple red herrings to keep the mystery elements going. While I had a pretty good clue as to who committed the murder by the end, I was still thrown off the scent multiple times and found myself doubting my own intuition. Sure, the occasional teenage angst seeps in and can be a little annoying, but for the most part the story gets beyond that as Clarity has to deal with how her life changes through investigating the murder. A compelling storyline and a main character who doesn't give up in the face of adversity makes Clarity by Kim Harrington a fantastic read. Personally, I would love to see more of Clarity (and books by Kim Harrington) in the future. Highly Recommended Reading.

Not Quite a "Match" Made in Heaven

2011-03-25T15:50:00.000-05:00

Well, at least it's not Twilight .. or The Hunger Games. Matched by Ally Condie is more in line with Lois Lowry's The Giver than the paranormal/action adventure set of stories in that society is a pretty tight ship run by the government and the characters are given a job based on their own personal skills at a young-ish age. Matched is also a romance; well, a romance triangle, really. Surprise surprise. Or not.

Our heroine in this case is Cassia (oddly reminiscent of tough heroines as Katsa and Katniss, just with a 'C' instead of a 'K,' odd, no?) and she is matched to someone who, to the reader, should be a surprise. At first she seems happy enough to know that she already knows her match for life, her future husband. Except then another face pops up on her view screen for a moment. Another person she knows, but someone who society is much less fond of, someone who should not even be in the system as anybody's potential match. The plot thickens, one would think, especially when her parents' match is, to some extent, thrown into question. 'If their match isn't perfect, then what are the chances mine will be?' Cassia asks when she finds out her mother and father do not share a perfect life like she once thought (162).

The Society takes care of the people giving them all they could want or need, except the people aren't allowed anything creative (music, poetry, art, etc.) as all of those things were banned years before Cassia starts her story. Part of the Society's tight reign on people seems to be explained when Cassia tells the reader 'Our information intake is much more specific ... Specialization keeps people from becoming overwhelmed' (31). This also seems to explain why people deemed matchable have their future spouse picked for them instead of simply falling in love and deciding for themselves or how the Society basically tells people when they will die. One such example of the latter takes place when Cassia's world into further turmoil as her grandfather hands her a sheet of paper (an illegal sheet of paper, never mind the even more illegal words the sheet contains) at the end of his Society mandated lifespan of 80 years. Suddenly Cassia and her little love triangle start to unravel as she wonders who really was meant to be her match and why art is so forbidden. These questions are never sufficiently answered, though there is a passage late in the book that comes close. But then, answering all the questions means there would not be a second book on the way.

Overall, the book was decent. The writing was a bit slowly paced for some people I've spoken with, and for others it was just fine. The romance elements are functional enough and the characters have enough depth to not be totally run of the mill types, but even so, they tend to fit the role they are cast. Cassia is the conflicted main character, Ky the ruggedly handsome outsider with a mysterious past, and Xander is the sweet boy next door type who does not really buy into changing the world too much. The lesser characters are intriguing, in particular Cassia's parents and grandfather who seem to share more than their share of secrets. The limit of first person story telling is that, of course, when one wants more information on certain people, unless they are present or being thought about, the reader gets shut out. The real story seems to really start in the last quarter of the book when we learn more about Ky and why he is the way he is, not to mention the decisions Cassia is almost forced to make by that point. As Cassia tells the reader about the poem her grandfather gives her, 'There's a reason they didn't keep this poem. This poem tells you to fight,' (98). I just wish the book, like the poem, had a bit more fight at times.

I would have liked for the story to be less like The Giver in some aspects and more original in others. At times I felt like I was reading a classic Dystopian story, but a lesser version of Bradbury or Huxley. While Matched certainly has lots of potential (and had a lot of hype), I did not feel like it lived up to my already high expectations once I finally got my hands on the book. I hope the next book, Crossed (out Fall 2011), will continue with the writing of the latter half of the first book and pick up the pace.

Read at Your Own Risk, I guess. For fans of dystopian romances, though I'm not sure I'm finding any direct connections to a specific book from recent years.

Work Cited.

Condie, Ally. Matched. New York: Dutton Books, 2010.

Quick Take - The Demontrapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

2011-03-05T11:23:00.001-06:00

Following trends in Young Adult literature is like trying to catch a fish with your bare hands these days. The one solid thing is that paranormal romance is finding new ways to recreate itself in order to sell more books. The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver, at least, takes the genre in a new direction away from the now traditional vampires, werewolves, and angels. The otherworldly side of things is supplied by hell spawn, or demons as the title suggests. What doesn't quite come out in the title is that this book is a whole lot of fun, very readable and a nicely creative twist on what was fast becoming a tired sub genre.

While some of the characters are a bit one dimensional at times, the protagonist, Riley Blackthorne, is everything one would want in their heroine. She's smart, witty, and a pretty kick ass personality. She also has plenty of angst. She's the daughter of a demon trapper after all, a very perilous job at that. Paul Blackthorne gets in a little over his head and next thing Riley knows, her world is thrown upside down. Forced to make some difficult decisions, not to mention having to put up with the surly and almost reprehensible trapping partner of her father, Denver Beck, Riley shines. There's magic and angels and some pretty nasty demons to be dealt with. But there's also the super cutie Simon and the mysterious uber hunk Ori to brighten Riley's world. She soon finds, though, that even with these little graces, the real world is a lot more challenging and diverse than she could even have imagined. Apprenticed to the cruel Master Trapper Harper, she's faced with the constant threat of violence. Can she survive in this new world or will she crumble?

The Demon Trapper's Daughter is wildly imaginative and fresh with ideas. Jana Oliver's writing is easily readable and her characters are compelling. Add in some serious suspense, some super hotties, with a little magic and action, and this is a fantastic read for any fan of a well written book. By the time you finish, I guarantee you'll be wishing the next volume in the series was available. Highly Recommended Reading.

Work Cited.
Oliver, Jana. The Demon Trapper's Daughter. New York: St. Martin's, 2011.

Quick Take - Nomansland by Lesley Hauge

2011-02-01T17:48:00.000-06:00

Following in the footsteps of Suzanne Collins and Kristin Cashore, Lesley Hauge tries to create a world in which the way of life is vastly different with a strong heroine. Except the book is less dystopic and more problematic and the heroine is not Katniss or Katsa. Keller is not nearly as strong willed as she appears to be at the outset and does little more than let things happen to her rather than take the reigns. To be totally fair, this book would have been much better from the perspective of the real rebel of the novel and Keller's apparent foil Laing who is outgoing and courageous, so very unlike the by the book main character.

Nomansland is about a group of women and the fallout from not having any men around. Unfortunately, even though this is post apocalyptic in some ways and dystopic in others, the book still allows petty juvenile jealousy to rule the action and take over the plot (what little there seems to be of plot, at any rate) as Keller supposedly comes of age. She never really does grow up exactly, but she does witness some life changing events and has to make a hard decision come the end, which is where the book ends forcing one to wonder, what, exactly, was the point of getting there to not have much resolution.

In the end, Nomansland sounds better as a premise than it reads as a novel. The biggest strength of Hauge's book is easy to digest writing which is readily accessible, if not at all times overly detailed. The lack of detail plays a part in the stories lack of plotting as it settles more for allowing things to happen to the characters rather than the characters making events happen.

This is an Avoid Me book.

Quick Take - Feed by Mira Grant

2011-01-08T11:55:00.000-06:00

This book is the Zombiepocalypse for the Jon Stewart generation. But it's not really about the zombies, strangely enough.

Mira Grants Newsflesh trilogy starter Feed is more a critique of current news culture than a zombie slaying book. Sure the zombies are present, but unless they are trying to chew on the characters, they're mostly just scenery. The heart of the book is the bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason and their friend Buffy who just happen to be tagging along with Wisconsin Senator Peter Ryman as he campaigns for presidential election. George, as Shaun usually refers to his sister, is the main narrator of the book and she tends to tell things like they are. She's a Newsie, the type of person who sees the world and thinks, 'Here's the truth. Now I must tell you that truth.' Shaun's more the Irwin type, as in Steve Irwin type. He's a bit more adventurous and repeatedly likes to poke things (i.e. zombies) with sticks whether at a safe distance or not. Buffy's the poetry writing tech support for the Mason sibs.

I enjoyed reading Feed, mostly because the writing is almost simplistic at times even if the political agendas constantly hanging around the piece are a bit obvious at times and a little underhanded in others. Ryman's too good to be true, of course, and his running partner, Texas Governor David Tate is the Bible thumping hard-nosed military man out to get rid of all the zombies. In other words, contrasting characters. But the rest of the agenda of the book is that the government is hiding things. Big things. As Georgia writes in her blog, 'They are willfully channeling research away from a cure for this disease, and they are doing it under the auspices of our own government' (517). They being the CDC apparently and the disease being Kellis Amberlee which turns dead people into zombies. It's a threat. 'There's always something to be afraid of. It used to be terrorists. Now it's zombies' (346).

See, told you this is a current book. Terrorists become zombies. It's a pretty direct, if not shocking, analogy. But then, most good science fiction uses direct analogies like that to some political end. I'm not saying this is a great book. Grant often repeats bits of information to excess through Georgia, but the book is far from bad or juvenile as some have suggested. The complexity of the issues is tied directly to the pop culture references dating to either now or ten years ago so that the writing never gets overly saturated in its own self-importance. There's zombies and politics and a few brain splatterings and moanings to deal with in the book. It's a bit of everything, really, in its way. The book is also highly entertaining if you go for that sort of thing. Recommended Reading.

Work Cited.
Grant, Mira. Feed. New York: Orbit, 2010.

What (Not) to Read (and what to again and again and again) 2010 Edition

2010-12-30T18:37:00.000-06:00

The selections are based entirely on what I've read this year, of course. Hard to discuss what I haven't looked at, obviously. As usual, feel free to disagree (nicely) or comment (rudely if you must, but I may pretend you don't exist under such circumstances). I'm still not a biter (normally).

Nonfiction Stunners

Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
Hard to say if I enjoyed this more than Roach's book Stiff, but nonetheless, it was a great vacation book during the summer and I tore through it in a weekend. If you like space, you'll enjoy this book. If you like sciency things, you'll enjoy this book. If you feel sorry for animals that get rocketed into space, you might not enjoy it so much, but Roach, at least, never takes herself too seriously and seems to enjoy digging into the nitty gritty as much as she appears to enjoy writing about it. Space is a curious thing indeed and Roach makes it all the more fun and enjoyable, not to mention enlightening as she relates the foibles of getting man to the moon and back or just into orbit. A definite must read book from the year.

The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
I still can't begin to tell you how much I loved this book. It's history. It's science. It's everything including the sun. Okay, done gushing now . . . maybe. Fantastic debut with writing that doesn't take itself too seriously. Yeah, there might be a bit of a theme with my nonfiction entries again this year.

Pop!: The Invention of Bubble Gum by Meghan McCarthy
I realize this could technically be considered a 'picture' book, but still a great nonfiction read that is entertaining for gum chewers whether young, younger, middle aged or older. The illustrations are fun and the text informative, not to mention the handy dandy extra info in the back. A great book to look at and enjoy all around.

Nonfiction Less Than Stellar
The Devil and Sherlock Holmes by David Grann
Well, I loved his book last year, but this year's entry was mostly just old essays previously published. While the stories themselves were good and interesting, they lacked the freshness I was expecting. Maybe it was the format as well, the stories only loosely being related to one another in some way or another. Great, though, should one enjoy shorter nonfiction pieces such as those often found in The New Yorker and Atlantic Monthly.

Series I'm Sad to Reach the End of
Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 8 by Joss Whedon and Co.
Technically a graphic novel series, but I am not below admitting how much I love the grand scope of Whedon's magnum opus in that form. Buffy and company find themselves in deeper peril and some old friends show up at just the right time. Willow's good again and Dawn's, well, still Dawn just as always. Any Buffy fan should pick up these comics and devour them, in particular for the fun extra stories that not only give some background for series 8, but also provide some great moments for Buffyverse. I shall be sad to see season 8 (in graphic novel form) reach its end. Yes, I might be feeling nostalgic now.

Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley
I know, another graphic novel format. But Scott Pilgrim is amazing. O'Malley's illustrations may look like Manga, but they pay homage to the inner geek in a lot of us, especially those of us who may only loosely consider ourselves 'Gamers.' The writing is pretty basic and the illustrations are not exactly exquisite in their lack of complexity, but the real draw of Scott Pilgrim is that he's a lovable loser who's capable of much more than people give him credit for. The love story between Scott and Ramona should resonate with any romantic at heart and Scott's enough of a geek-man that even guys can get into him. Not to mention he has a cool roommate and is in a band. Sad to see this come to an end, but alas, it must. And Scott Pilgrim's staying power has also been immortalized on celluloid, so he's gotta be one cool dude, right?

Series that Needs to Go
The Immortals by Alyson Noel
Another author I hyped this time last year. By now, I'm ready to hang up this series and find out what else is out there. Ever is sinking ever deeper into the darkness and even the new and interesting characters Noel introduces can't pull her back out completely. The passage of time in the books is getting increasingly skewed as Ever spends more time in Summerland and less in the real world and that, too, throws off the series as each passing books seems to only take place over a couple of days but seems to take weeks to get through. Needs some refreshing, for sure.

I Didn't Get the Hype
The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman
Individually, each story seems a bit week, but together they work better. Some are poignant and others just plain sad. But what I could not quite relate to was the characters themselves. Each had their own individual background and that really threw me off more than anything because they intertwined so little that I never figured out how, exactly, each one fit with the others. Not a bad book, I just didn't get the hype. Or I missed the point.

Numbers by Rachel Ward
This was supposed to be one of the best Young Adult titles of the year, but I pretty much hated it. I loved that it took place in England and could more or less picture the setting, but the actual story did not sit very well with me. Teenager Jem sees numbers and eventually realizes that the numbers she sees are the dates that people will die. For much of the book Jem is trying to get away from her gift and quite often attempts to find ways to avoid it. But after meeting Spider she starts to change her mind and begins to think maybe things could be changed. The general tone of the book is a downer as Jem and Spider are forced to flee London for the countryside after being accused of a terrorist attack and she has to deal not only with the thought she could have saved people but that Spider's number might be up soon. The ending was a bit of a let down and I had to force myself through the uneven narrative and the fact that I knew what was coming by the end. The writing really felt like a self fulfilling prophesy and the weight of Jem's gift sits too heavily to really allow the story to take off on its own.

Best of the Rest (Recommended Reading)
Incarceron by Catherine Fisher
The book I forgot that came out here this year. Incarceron should appeal to Hunger Games fans and Twihards alike. I also forgot I did a review until looking over my notes. Gets better with age, I think. Check it out.

Art and Max by David Wiesner
Wiesner proves, once again, why he is such a brilliant storyteller. Art, the artist of the two lizards at the beginning, is making a portrait and Max, well, he takes a different view on things, less realism and more abstract. The book is picturesque, exquisite and fun: all good things for a picture book. Great for all ages as we not only learn a lesson or two, but the illustrations are just darn fun to look at. If you've never picked up a Wiesner book (Tuesday and Sector 7 are personal favorites), this is a great place to start. Or if you have read all the Wiesners, this is still a great one to look at again.

Worst of the Rest (Avoid Me)
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
I think there was a plot in there somewhere. I think. Not really sure. About the most I got out of reading this book was that there was a lot of running around and Bree was sort of a nice person, actually, who befell unfortunate circumstances and she almost got away but not really. Did I get that right? Anyway, if you're still a huge Twilight fan, go ahead and read it again. If not, I wouldn't really recommend this book.

...And the Book I Could Not Finish
The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz
I can't tell you why I didn't finish the book other than I got about ten pages in and stopped. I think I just don't do fairies. The pictures were pretty enough, but again, I'm not into fairies. But feel free to give it to a five year old girl and watch what happens. That's all the magic I need.

What Popular Fiction Has Taught Me - Rick Riordan Edition

2010-12-16T12:51:00.001-06:00

Or why I prefer The Red Pyramid to The Lost Hero as a series starter and why Percy Jackson is still such a big deal even if the film flopped. (In 5 handy and succinct reasons, if possible.)

1) Rick Riordan is a god, or at least a rock star, of the action/adventure for teens genre.
The Percy Jackson books set the stage for something great. An action/adventure series that had appeal for both boys and girls (mostly boys) that was also educational. In other words, parents could dig it and boys suddenly had an alternative to the more girl centric Twilight series which they could discuss without being ridiculed. Or at least ridiculed less.
Riordan has followed that series up with The Kane Chronicles and The Heroes of Olympus, both series starting books having come out earlier this year.

2) Try something new and the old is fresh . . . maybe.
Both The Red Pyramid and The Lost Hero feature multiple perspectives in the story lines so that the reader is not focused solely on one character (Percy Jackson focused mostly on Percy and was more a third person narrative). This is good and bad. Switching between three characters (Jason, Piper, and Leo) in The Lost Hero was at times immensely frustrating given Riordan's tendency to switch right at the good parts and kind of let the events hang out there for a chapter or two. Switching between siblings Carter and Sadie in The Red Pyramid was a lot easier and usually more interesting since they were related and, at times when the story split the two apart, helped fill in the gaps that otherwise may have been present. But, even with the switching perspectives, The Lost Hero reads like a Percy Jackson story (which in some ways it is, what with the search for Percy cropping up now and then and Jason being rather a Percy-ish character himself), and that was not really so . . . fresh. Neither was the whole discovering their magical powers thing, but then, that's turned into the norm in this type of book and is entirely necessary to the proceedings, so I'll forgive Riordan that.

3) I done got me some learnin'!
This is the best part of the books. The learning. Percy introduced us to the world of the Greek gods and goddesses. So, of course, Jason, Piper, Leo and Co. in The Lost Hero will add to an already dense mythology, right? Um, no. Fractured. As in, suddenly we find ourselves thrown into the camp of Roman gods and goddesses and how they are alike or unlike the Greek counterparts but in such a way that I was never quite sure what was going on until the very end. More learning, though, so yay! Education can still be fun if it's presented in the right way.
The Red Pyramid, while still paying homage to it's original counterpart, takes a completely different, and almost more interesting tact: Ancient Egypt. (If I wasn't a library type, I'd totally go for archaeology, Egyptology in particular.) Awesome! Riordan proves just as much as in Percy Jackson that he knows how to research and incorporate said research into compelling stories literally throwing Sadie and Carter into the story of Isis, Set, and Osiris while also setting us up for some sure to be well executed following books.

4) Film sucked; so what?
I can't count the number of times I'm still asked about the Percy Jackson books. The movie, while not a critical success (almost disappointingly so after having Christopher Columbus, the man behind launching Harry Potter to the big screen in charge), still has drawing power. I get asked about the movie, also, almost once every few weeks and see it go out frequently to eager patrons who can't get enough Percy. The movie may not have been quite the books, but is still a great addition to any Percy collection and should not be ignored despite what the critics may have said about it. Just because the movie is not the book does mean it does not have merit.

5) Something for Everybody (to steal from Devo and my favorite music album of the year).
Action
Adventure
Romance
Magic
Mystery/Intrigue
History
Great Writing
Interesting Characters
Compelling Story lines
Did I miss something? Because there is very little that Riordan does not incorporate well into his writing in terms of making mythology cool and getting teenagers to read.

Both books are definite Must Reads for anyone who loved Percy Jackson and Harry Potter or is just looking for a good series to get lost in from time to time.

Works Cited.
Riordan, Rick. The Lost Hero. New York: Disney Hyperion Books, 2010.
---. The Red Pyramid. New York: Disney Hyperion Books, 2010.

It's Elements, Dear Watson

2010-11-27T13:55:00.001-06:00

Ah, the elements, with all their little atoms and zinging electrons and proton/neutron nuclei. Just chemistry or physics, well, science at any rate. After reading Sam Kean's debut book, The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements, I knew more about the elements, not the weather kind. Or, I learned history. Anyway, I learned something from the book and what I learned was basically this: science is as crazy as you think it is if not more so, and I do mean mad scientist crazy, not just run of the mill crazy.

Anyway, on with the review.

First time book author Kean attempts to make science relatable. Or simple. Sometimes both. The triumphs and tribulations of discovering elements are both represented. Sometimes there were immense highs in the process of filling out the Periodic Table of Elements (you know the thing I mean: the large wall hogging chart in your Chem class that you hated to use but could never quite avoid looking at for help when you were floundering on your tests). And oh the things you wouldn't believe about how elements have played a part history from influencing wars to shaping the global economy and even making your computer smaller. Not to mention pens. That's right. The pen. That mighty weapon greater than a sword in Shakespeare's eye. 'But it was tip, finally worthy of the rest of the design, and rutheniuim began capping every Parker 51 in 1944' (245). The Parker 51 is not only considered the bestest pen ever but is apparently to this day a collectors item and once retailed anywhere from $12.50-$50. Who knew?

It's anecdotes such as those about the Parker 51 that are sprinkled throughout the book that make the science-y sections more digestible. Be prepared to be a little lost at the beginning as the first few chapters are a bit more dense than you'd expect given the title. But, it gets better. And more historical since Kean basically moves through the table not in the elements numerical order, but in terms of history. We start with Mendeleev. 'Overall, of the seven elements discovered in Ytterby, six were Mendeleev's missing lanthanides. History would have been very different ... if only he'd made the trip west, across the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea, to this Galapagos Island of the Periodic Table' (62). Basically, Mendeleev would have filled in a huge gap in his original (and at the time revolutionary) table of the known elements.

So, then we move on to more discoveries, more anecdotes. We learn about WWI and WWII technology, such as how Molybdenum played a huge part in long range guns. And, eventually, we arrive at the University of California Berkeley which one might think Sam Kean attended based on the number of name drops he gives the school. Thus is not the case, but rather we find that UC Berkeley (it's element namesake is Berkelium though Californium was also named by the group who discoverd the element at the school) was a hotbed for scientists to change how the world views the elements forever.

But perhaps the most frightening story in the book is that of a teenager. 'This Detroit sixteen-year old, as part of a clandestine Eagle Scout project gone berserk in the mid-1990s, erected a nuclear reactor in a potting shed in his mother's backyard' (161). The reactor was nowhere near going critical but the fact a teenager was able to produce so much radioactive material (hundreds of times more than a normal neighborhood would and should have) is the most frightening aspect of this story. Ken Silverstein's book The Radioactive Boyscout is well worth a read should you like more background on this particular incident.

What we find through the reading of the book is that some elements are basically harmless. Some are helpful as is often the case in medicine, and others are down right dangerous. Thankfully, most of the really dangerous ones are hard to come by, unless one has a tendency toward trouble and/or has a lot of desire to create even more dangerous elements. Maybe best leave that to the folks at Berkeley. (See, after reading the book, I can't help name dropping the school multiple times either.)

Kean's writing attempts to both simplify and thrill, sometimes succeeding brilliantly while other times never quite capturing the uncapturable. Nonetheless, the Periodic Table of Elements has never been so accessible as in this book. By making the history of the table as much the history of discovery, readers find out as much about being human as being a part of society. In many ways, we are a collaboration of elements ourselves, after all. An absolute Must Read for fans of science, history, and the mysteries of the world.

Work Cited.
Kean, Sam. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements. New York: Little Brown, 2010.

Changing of the Guard - Dark to Light

2010-10-30T14:08:00.000-05:00

Alexandra Adornetto's series starter Halo shows some promise. As an angels coming down to earth story, it basks in the small details, but never fully gives you everything you want to know. Take that to mean, you get lots and lots of description, but not a lot of plot.

The plot as I read it: Angels come to Earth to fight the Devil's works. Girl, who is very young in angel terms, is a rookie and easily relates to humans, so much so she a) falls in love with a boy and b) risks the angels' mission in doing so. Good fights evil in the form of secondary (and a mostly late addition to the story) boy, wins at least for the moment, and the angels can still go about their business. End part one.

Okay, not so bad, except that it takes nearly 500 pages to do that alone and the majority of the book is details, details, details. So much so that slogging through them all seems so much more important than having a plot. In other words, it's a bit like reading your typical Twi-alike. Lots of words, not so much story.

As for characterization, Beth, our lovely protagonist, is interesting in her own way being the most human of them all (and she does, consistently, read like a teenage girl in love for the first time- gratingly so). Her companions, the warrior angel Gabriel (yes, of biblical fame) and Ivy, the beautiful motherly/big sister type who constantly seems to have no end of admirers should she leave the house, are either rather rigid in their actions or almost un-angelic. Gabriel reads more like the protective yet hott older brother who is emotionally unavailable while Ivy is the consummate older sister who seems blissfully unaware of her attractiveness and is very good about giving motherly circles when necessary, even if it's in a stern manner.

As for the humans, most of them are really secondary. Other than Beth's friend from the get-go Molly who seems to be the punkish rebel type, the evil Jake Thorn (name foreshadowing much?) and Xavier, the object of Bethany's affection, every human character is more or less a pawn in the events, pretty much just being there to be there. Xavier's back story makes him a bit more interesting than most just because he's lost a whole lot (dead girlfriend in a fire), but even that is hardly important after he sees Bethany, the most beautiful new girl ever to invade a school. The two get along just fine, but have the usual cliche relationship of girl and boy fall madly in love, he easily accepts her differences, and she basically cures him of his brooding past. The fact that his family is ridiculously perfect is a little annoying and when the two break up because of an incident with bad boy Jake, the plot feels so much like reading Twilight (Jake = Jacob anyone?, or a fanfiction version of Snape based on his initial description: 'He was tall and lean, and his straight dark hard reached over his shoulders. His cheek bones were sharp, giving him a gaunt, hollow look. His nose drooped slightly at the tip, and his brilliant jade-green eyes gazed out beneath low-set brows' (260)).
The whole Bella/Jacob/Edward triangle that it's easy to forget what book you're reading.

So, while the book looks pretty and has some decent writing, most of it reads the same as what's come before. A nice change of setting and paranormal abnormalcy (angels instead of vamps) shows that the paranormal romance genre, which I pointed out at the beginning of the year, is still switching from the dark side to the light side. That is, vamps and werewolves are on their way out for the things with wings: angels. And since there appears to be more to come (also from Lauren Kate and Becca Fitzpatrick), we could be dealing with angels for a long time to come.

Read and Your Own Risk unless you love love love Twi-alikes.

Works Cited.
Adornetto, Alexandra. Halo. New York: Feiwal and Friends, 2010.

Quick Take - The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin by Josh Berk

2010-09-10T17:05:00.002-05:00

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin is by far one of my favorite books of the year. Josh Berk makes the main character Will Halpin witty, observant, and just generally the type of guy who, were he not deaf, most of us would easily become friends with. Okay, so he's a little pudgy. And the deaf part, but that just makes Will all the more interesting, particularly when he and the friend he reluctantly made Devon Smiley decide to investigate the murder of one of their classmates. Everyone is a suspect in Will's world, at least all those present, but he's smart and knows how to narrow down the list. Because, really, he sees a lot more than he lets on.

Will's back story is all the more interesting because of problems at home. His father has been hiding something and, as it turns out, that something deeply impacts Will and Devon's investigation and leads Will directly to the killer. Along the way he and Devon manage to cause a little trouble and get in a little trouble, but it only makes the pair sound more adventurous.

Berk's writing of Will is obviously well researched and he makes Will relatable even though Berk himself is perfectly good of hearing. Will's deafness only adds another dimension to an already intriguing character and makes the ride of reading the book more fun. A must read book of the year in the Young Adult genre.

Fantaskey Fantasy Fantastic!

2010-08-19T18:17:00.001-05:00

Beth Fantaskey may have her writing origins in journalism, but apparently that helped her create an eye for the progression of relationships because her two books to date are both solid reads. Jessica's Guide to the Dark Side may be (pardon the groan) a vampire romance book, but the story stays a little more true to the Dracula mythology than some others out there and is actually a compelling read with rounded characters. Meanwhile, Jekel Loves Hyde takes a new spin on Robert Louis Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by placing a curse on the title characters' modern day teenage descendants while also drawing them closer together. In other words, both of these books are high quality paranormal romance with a twist, just perfect for anyone looking to read something that's not that other vamp series on the market.

Jekel Loves Hyde hinges on the idea that Jekyll and Hyde really existed and they have relatives living today (or, at least, around this current time period). More like, Hyde had kids who had kids and so forth. Jekyll just had relatives so the main character, Jill Jekel, is not a direct descendant, but is somehow related. Tristan Hyde, however, comes directly from Mr. Hyde's line and, lo and behold, there's a curse. And it's taken multiple lives already. What happens when Tristan and Jill decide to take on a chemistry project to recreate the great Dr. Jekyll's experiment? For Tristan the stakes are obviously higher, especially since his mother disappeared under suspicious circumstances several years past. But for Jill, it's no walk in the park. Her father was killed only months previous and she's still reeling from the shock of it. However, the two come to find they are tied much more closely than they could have ever expected. Not to mention the science project is certainly not proving to be easy. As Tristan explains to Jill after rereading part of Stevenson's text, "Jekyll tried to recreate the formula to kill Hyde once and for all, only to learn that the original potion contained a tainted salt. The formula could never be repeated" (100). But if that's true, then Tristan could rid himself of the monsters in his mind and at home that he's been dealing with since his mother's disappearance. The story is very much about Tristan and Jill and the experiment, but also how they end up closer to each other and the progression of their relationship. At times they couldn't be more distant, but at other's they're very close and push one another farther than intended to reach the truth.

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side, as mentioned previous, is a vampire romance. However, Jessica is a bit of a country bumpkin. In fact, she's a little like Mia from the Princess Diaries - thrown into a situation she never could have imagined herself. Jessica, it turns out, is really a princess and a vampire one at that. Lucius has been betrothed to her since she was born, or near abouts. The two of them end up in an elaborate routine of her trying to ignore the fact he's living in the barn outside her adopted parent's home and him trying to get her to fulfill her duty as a princess. "Our two warring clans at peace. Prepared to join together," Lucius tells her of why they need to wed (67). For Jessica, it is almost as if he is following her everywhere, from English class to home. But over time she starts to see him for what he really is and not the bratty, obnoxious, vampire prince he was raised. At the same time, he starts to drift away from the original plan as he finds out there is more to be a teenage vampire than duty. The basketball team is a small distraction, but one of the local girls is just as dark as he is. With the help of her vampire uncle who shows up just in time, Jessica goes after what she realizes is still rightfully hers to what could be disastrous results. Lucius may be annoying at first, but, like Jessica, he really wants to be a normal teenager for a while too.

One of the best parts of each book is that the relationships between the characters never feel forced. The progression is natural in a way that only teens could have it. First the two main characters hate each other or don't get along, but circumstances come to find them seeing eye to eye, or at least tolerating each other. The other best part? Neither story is drawn out. Fantaskey's style sticks as much to the premise as possible and very rarely strays, which creates some fantastic, seat-of-your-pants storytelling lacking in a lot of quickly published books these days. While the writing may not be perfect and some cliches are likely present, at least it is crisp and clean and very accessible.

I actually read these in reverse publication order (Jekel first, Jessica second) due to when I had time to get them, but I was so grabbed by Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side that I found myself unable to put the book down. While Jekel Loves Hyde felt like it had bigger stakes, the story was slightly less compelling and felt a little more same-old, same-old in comparison to the other book.

Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side is a Must Read for any vampire or paranormal romance reading.
Jekel Loves Hyde is Recommended Reading for its clever use of a classic.

Works Cited.
Fantaskey, Beth. Jekel Loves Hyde. New York: Harcourt, 2010.
---. Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side. New York: Harcourt, 2009.

Same Source Material, Different Stories

2010-07-24T11:26:00.002-05:00

"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" is a folk legend from Norway about a girl and a bear. The bear wants the girl and promises her family riches in return so that he, the bear, can break a troll's curse and become a free man, but first he must get the girl to love him and not see his true face. The girl travels with the bear for a time and lives with him but then is tricked into looking upon the bear's real face and thus they are parted. Realizing she must help him, she travels to the land of the trolls and tricks the troll queen into letting her have bear and thus, the curse is broken. Happy ending.

East by Edith Pattou and Ice by Sarah Beth Durst use the same source material but contain with vastly different stories. Pattou's story is much closer to the source material in terms of setting and Bear's curse. The multiple viewpoints of the writing help to give the story more depth instead of sticking to one character. Each main character is given the opportunity to express his or her ideas and personality. This also helps to give Bear himself a better chance to explain his world when he is is bear and eventually man. Rose, the protagonist of Pattou's East, is a bit more of a wandering adventurer type than the girl in the original folk tale, but this only serves to make her more interesting. Her guilt originally sends her to rescue Bear, but it is as much out of love that she helps tricks the troll queen by washing the grease/oil spot from Bear's shirt. One interesting addition not found in the original material is that Pattou puts heavy emphasis on "birth direction." That is, the direction in which the mother was facing when she gave birth to the child. Rose is a true North and hence the wandering type, though not without a heart. And though her birth direction plays a large part in her personality and thus the story, it only helps to make the folk tale become more alive.

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, on the other hand, sets the story in the Arctic. Cassie goes in search of her mother Gail who, as it turns out, is really the daughter of the North Wind. Outside of the presence of Bear whom Cassie loves and has a child with by the end, the story differs greatly from the original. Cassie still has to outwit the troll queen to rescue her love, but the trolls themselves are a surprise. They are not so much ugly, knotted beings but rather spirits or souls and to appease the queen, Cassie comes to a slightly shocking but not altogether unpleasant solution (which I will not tell you to keep a little mystery in the story). Durst creates a satisfying environment in which Bear is a shepherd of souls in his own way and not so much a human. Though, at times, this element seems to prolong the story unnecessarily. The one setback of the story is that is strictly follows Cassie. And though she's plenty intriguing and grows up plenty by the end (from an unhappy young woman into a mother), the experience lacks a bit of depth that would have been nice had the book followed on Bear's adventures in the troll world. But overall, a good adventure/coming of age story especially for those who long strong women protagonists.

Ice and East may share a similar back story, but the execution of each is vastly different and, thus, is a different reading experience. Taken separately or together, they are both interesting and adventurous. However, if one is looking for a more authentic feel, East is the real deal. For a more modern take, Ice is the good bet. Recommended Reading either way though East is the heftier of the two so choose wisely if you only want one.

Works Cited.
Durst, Sarah Beth. Ice. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2009.
Pattou, Edith. East. Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt, Inc., 2003.

The Bad and Ugly - One to Avoid

2010-07-02T17:37:00.001-05:00

It's been a while since I read a book that I did not like, but here was one. Not because of the topic or that it rankled me a bit the way in which the author presented it, but rather that fact that there was really little added to the conversation about said topic. The book: The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman. Pullman's been very outspoken about his beliefs and that he calls himself an atheist, so I was expecting a total ripping apart of Christianity. What I got was a retelling of some of the Gospels in a contrived manner to make the topic fit the title.

The premise is basic enough. The Virgin Mary gave birth to twins. The robust Jesus and the weaker Christ. Christ was Mary's favorite and Jesus took after Joseph in learning carpentry. Christ always bailed Jesus out when they were kids and never thanked his bro. But yet, Jesus was the one everyone would soon follow and Christ, in his apparent wisdom wrote down Jesus' teachings for all posterity. He even has help from an unnamed disciple. Along comes a stranger (who could be an angel or a member of the Sanhedrin or simply someone from somewhere else - quite possibly the author; this is never cleared up), and Christ is told that he is, in fact, writing truth and history. And from there it gets kind of tricky. Because, as the stranger says, "[Jesus] is the history, and you are the truth" (125). After several retellings of sermons, with slight changes made by the author, Jesus dies and Christ is the betrayer. Christ is mistaken for the risen Jesus and thus, eventually, Jesus the Christ comes to be. Except Jesus is dead and Christ is living somewhere far, far away with his guilt at having betrayed his brother.

This would not be so bad, but the main chunk of Pullman's writing focuses on what is little more than occasionally changing Jesus' words from some of his more famous sermons to make Jesus less of a family and man and a little more bigoted. Christ wants to make changes the words so that they reflect better on the supposed family hating Jesus. As Christ says to his wife in the end

I want to knot the details together neatly to make patterns and show correspondences, and if they weren't there in life, I want to put them there in the story, for no other reason than to make a better story. The stranger would have called it letting truth into history. Jesus would have called it lying. (244)

The whole truth/history aspect of the book is what Pullman seems to be referring to when he says on the back of the dust jacket that the book is about how stories become stories. But, really, the truth versus history aspect only confuses the book and makes the character of Christ seem all the more contrived. In a sense, the whole book is a sham, then, because Christ is changing the story, or lying as he believes Jesus would say.

Some of the jumps in Jesus' behavior are a little inexplicable. His dislike for his family is never really explained and the fact that the stranger is never named or identified is frustrating. Pullman has proven he likes to write religious themes in his storytelling, but, perhaps, this one is too big even for someone of his apparent abilities. The book was written in conjunction with Canongate's Myth Series which boasts other big name authors such as Alexander McCall Smith and Margaret Atwood, and this may well be an indication of the intent. But Pullman's own beliefs (or lack thereof) undermine his attempt to subvert the subject and only create a flat story that anyone who knows the Gospels will have trouble enjoying.

A definite Avoid Me book, not because of the topic or the actual writing, but because of the execution.

Work Cited.
Pullman, Philip. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ. New York: Canongate, 2010.

Quick Take - The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen

2010-06-17T16:35:00.012-05:00

Admittedly, when I first saw this book all I could think of was Clint Eastwood's famous line in the movie Soylent Green (google if you must. I don't wish to spoil if you don't know.) Anyway, I had high hopes even without the classic movie reference. They were dashed relatively quickly.

Bodeen sets up a decent story. Mason has never known his father. His mother doesn't tell him much about his past. He doesn't really set out to look for it until it starts to find him in the form of a comatose (who, after the magic words becomes conscious) girl directly tied to Mason in more ways than he could ever know. In other words, it's an adventure/origin story with a bit of the dystopian society element that's so popular these days in teen science fiction.

Thankfully the characters are fairly well rounded including Mason's parents (who easily could have been one dimensional) and the story moves along at a decent pace, but the mystery elements of Mason's past give way to political statements halfway through and the story loses some of its punch. I can see this one being used as a discussion book when talking about certain issues like world hunger and global warming for middle grade classes, but a nonfiction title would probably be more apropos.

Might be worth a try if you enjoyed The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, but nowhere near the same level in terms of character development, plotting, or discussion topics . Read at Your Own Risk.

OT - A Call to, er, Arms (I guess)

2010-06-12T12:06:00.000-05:00

With my ever busy schedule, I'm finding it harder and harder to not only have time to read all the books I'd like and then to review them. Furthermore, there are just so many books out there that I've never heard of or would not know to review.

SO

If you're interested in becoming a guest poster or even a regular contributor, I'd like to hear from you.
Comments or suggestions? Let me know! Feel free to email or comment so I know you're out there.

Cheers,
J Wiles

A Whale of an Angel Tale

2010-05-15T12:45:00.003-05:00

Angelology is a tour de force in the manner of Moby Dick, The Historian, and Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, the type of book that is as overwhelming in its depth as it is gripping in its plotting (but perhaps not in its characterization). And nothing, in the end, is what you believed in the beginning. Danielle Trussoni's novel makes you want angels to be real, makes you want to believe in both the terrors and the triumphs of the angelologist, and, most importantly, gives you something to really bite your teeth into.

Evangeline, the heroine (or one of several as it turns out), has lived in the sheltered St. Rose Convent in Milton, New York where the sisters have maintained a constant schedule of adoration for 200 years. She recalls parts of her life before being dropped off there at the age of twelve, but knows little of her past. The most she remembers is once disobeying her father and following him through the streets of New York city only to witness the imprisonment of some mysterious yet frightening creatures.

Enter Verlaine, the art studying researcher for hire that can't seem to ever feel enough drive to finish his master's thesis on Abigail Rockefeller. Hired by Percival Grigori III, Verlaine does not realize he is really searching for the one thing that could restore his sickly employer to his previous state of glory. He just knows something is not quite right. "There was something eeire and disturbinging about Grigori, something Veraline couldn't put is finger upon" (49). Verlaine is in deeper than he originally knows and comes to find out courtesy of a whole lot of luck. And as for Evangeline, well, she certainly does not fit his image of how a nun should be despite her stern exterior. He equally shatters her security bubble and sets her on the path to unraveling her past and who she really is.

The hunt that follows for Orpheus's Lyre is a dense and dramatic affair with enough twists and turns for any fan of adventure stories and full of enough detail for those who like quasi-historical novels. But the prose is so thick at times that, even for experienced readers, the information is almost too much. While keeping track of who is who and related in what way to everyone else is actually relatively simple in comparison, in true Moby Dick fashion, Trussoni overloads on the angelology and history of the search for Orpheus's Lyre, the one instrument capable of restoring the dying Nephilim (angel-human offspring) to power and glory. "Certain harmonic successions had the power to diminish Nephilistic power, while others appeared to have the power to increase it" (279). In other words, we need all the whale information for our own understanding of the plot, but it sure as heck slows the story down.

The Nephilim, by the end, have more bark than bite, at times being tamed so easily by their own laziness that you wonder if they really are as nasty as they're billed to be. Grigori's mother, who should be a terrifying major threat to Evangeline and Verlaine, only is a threat to Percival himself and makes him look less like a rottweiler and more like a lap dog. Even when he should be something to be reckoned with, Percival is not, perhaps because, at the very end, the story becomes solely Evangeline's (mimicking Moby Dick becoming Ishmael's story). Everyone of any importance is tied to Evangeline. And though the ending is entirely satisfying in its own right, having trudged through the novels thicker bits makes it feel like a little bit of cheat for its predictability in the last several pages.

Trussoni, thankfully, treats the religious aspects with a sense of reverence and respect and does not trash the church or the convent or nuns (something all too common in many books these days, its seems). The level of plotting and character development certainly took much work and is to be applauded, which makes Angelology worth a read in itself. But in can only really recommend it to people who have a profound respect for literature and not just the leisurely reader. If you've read and liked Melville's Moby Dick, Kostova's The Historian, or Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, then this one is Recommended Reading.

Work Cited.
Trussoni, Danielle. Angelology. New York: Viking, 2010.

Quick Take - Incarceron by Catherine Fisher

2010-05-05T18:34:00.001-05:00

Incarceron proper is a prison. An ever-adapting, living, breathing prison. It has eyes everywhere and deals justice as it sees fit. Yet, Finn and his ragtag pack of cohorts manage to survive, perhaps through as much luck as skill. But on the outside, Claudia is trying not only to find Incarceron, but to get in. What follows is as much medieval fantasy as urban Science Fiction. If you like The Hunger Games trilogy, this new series is for you.

What makes Incarceron by Catherine Fisher appealing is not necessarily the mix of scifantasy or the settings, but the juxtaposition of the characters. Very early, each character is established to not be who you think, either literally or in their own hidden agendas as the story progresses. While a few characters are a bit one dimensional, the important ones around whom the author centers the story, Claudia and Finn in particular, give the story depth.

I have to admit, I was not overly fond of Finn in comparison to Jared, Claudia's close friend, confidant, and tutor. Finn was almost too much of a square-jawed hero while Jared had a rather bookish science geek side. However, both play key roles in the plot and Claudia's affections for both whether romantic or otherwise give the reader enough cause to root for both equally as they try to reach their goals.

The writing is far from superb and a little predictable at times, but once the major twists and turns begin to play out, Incarceron is hard to put down. The mystery of where Incarceron the prison really lies is reason enough in itself to sit through the slower bits.

Though perhaps not entirely on par with The Hunger Games, Incarceron's strong female leads with a mind of her own, puts it somewhere near. The book is, at times, surprising political helping to set up what will hopefully be an equally as intriguing outing in the next book due to hit stateside late this year.

Highly Recommended Reading for Suzanne Collins and/or Kristin Cashore (Graceling, Fire) fans.

Work Cited.
Fisher, Catherine. Incarceron. New York: Dial Books, 2007.

Quick Take - The Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass by Erica Kirov

2010-04-30T17:52:00.002-05:00

Kirov shows some real talent in this series debut.
Nick Rostov is magic. He just doesn't know it until his thirteenth birthday when he is taken away from his illusionist father and transplanted in much fancier digs with his real magician cousin Damien. And Damien isn't the only one. Nick comes from a whole line of real life magicians who hide in plain sight by performing in Las Vegas.
With a backdrop like Vegas and a prologue that begins The Magickeepers: The Eternal Hourglass with one of Houdini's most famous tricks, Kirov introduces readers to a world of new delights and old history. Nick's family tree includes the infamous Rasputin who is very much alive and out for power. Not only does Russian history come into play, but a little bit of illusion and magic history as well.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot in way of plot at times instead opting for background and introductory/necessary historical information. But this is sure to score with the Harry Potter crowd. Nick is not exactly an orphan, but he does have to learn a lot about magic as well as good and evil as he goes along. The similarities don't end there. For the discerning reader, the author makes sure to place references to the other boy wizard throughout without ripping the stories instead, in a way, paying homage to what's come before. Kirov sets up the next adventure nicely at the end while finishing off this first tale of Nick's foray into magic. A Must Read for fantasy/magic story lovers, especially those looking for something to read after rereading all the Harry Potter books.

A Fantastic(al) Anthology

2010-04-17T11:45:00.002-05:00

Urban fantasy has rich and varied roots. The fantastical element can be as simple as one object in a city or the whole city can be fantastic in origin. This anthology, Paper Cities, has a little bit of everything - mystery, crime, plenty of fantasy, and all of it contained within an urban setting.

The approach of every author is different. "The Tower of Morning's Bones" by Hal Duncan has the distinct feel of a creation poem. "Razed in evenfall and hinter's night and raised anew with daybreak, the city defies all reason, all attempts to grasp at any sort of certainty with its structure" (28). These words from the first story set the tone for the whole volume and even the genre. As the creator of the city becomes overwhelmed in the opening story, so, too, can the reader if he is not careful for urban fantasy is as deep as the author cares to make it.

As the collection continues, the tone and subject matter change drastically and dramatically, some to comic effect and others to a much darker end. The common threads of love and desperation seem to permeate many of the stories helping to tie the collection together. "Courting the Lady Scythe" by Richard Parks is a look at the lengths a man goes to for the love of the executioner, Lady Scythe. Though morbid in its results, the story is an accurate look at unrequited love. Cat Rambo's "The Bumblety's Marble" is very much the story of a boy looking for his mother's attention by finding her heart, a marble in what is as much an adventure story as an nontraditional love story. Cat Sparks writes a story that could very well be included in 1001 Arabian Nights when she tells the story of a woman looking for her lost love in "Sammarynda Deep"

But by far the most disturbing images of desperation and love are in Kaaron Warren's "Down to the Silver Spirits" in which a group of childless married couples meet a psychic who insists she has the answer to their problem: the silver spirits, souls of children long drowned beneath the city. Each woman gets one, becomes pregnant, but at what cost? "Down to the Silver Spirits" is not an uplifting story (and may actually be the most disturbing story I've read in a long long time). It seeps into your thoughts and for days will have you asking yourself how far you're willing to go for something you desire as strongly as those women desired a child.

Greg Von Eekhout's "Ghost Market" is a shorter story that asks similar questions, but from the law's side of things. "And long after, when I" in the office banging out my report on my coffee-stained keyboard, the boy is still with me ... They never go away. I am their vessel, and I will carry them for the rest of my life" the main character says toward the end of the story (77). The brilliance of the story is that, for its short length, it explores life, death, and the in between.

Perhaps the most varied story in the whole anthology is "The Title of This Story" by Stephanie Campisi. It is, in fact, a story of a book. But you'll be disappointed because *spoiler alert* "this book, this terrible tome, with its foul language that obfuscated and mocked, this book had no such thing" as a title (123). No matter how hard the main characters calculate and study, they come across no such thing. And yet, it is a terrifying story all because of one wretched volume wanting a title so that people can discuss it. How powerful, then, words really can be.

The stories that have been illustrated from Paper Cities are meant to show that urban fantasy does not constrict itself to being just one thing or another. Every story is its own gem of wisdom and fantastical elements with the theme of all urban fantasy being set in some metropolitan like setting even if it be in the past, the present, or the future. What each individual author chooses to do with the genre varies as greatly as they themselves do. Paper Cities is an excellent read for anyone interested in finding out more about the genre or are just looking for something new from the fantasy genre. Also Recommended Reading if you're a fan of the short story genre.

Work Cited:
Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy. Ed. Ekatarina Sedia. Hoboken, New Jersey: Senses Five Press, 2008.

The Best Book You Did Not Read Last Year (2009)

2010-03-29T12:18:00.004-05:00

To most of us, the thought of even running a mile or two puts us off athletics. We're content to loaf around all day in front of the computer or television and call our finger gymnastics 'exercise.' So when the author of Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen says early on that people actually run for tens or hundreds of miles in one go, my immediate response was that those people are crazy. The Tarahumara of Mexico's Copper Canyon, however, see it as a way of life. What follows is Christopher McDougall's quest to solve his own running injuries while also discovering a people that are, for all intents and purposes, cut off from society.

McDougall is sure to include the many characters that are vital to his own quest, in particular the mysterious Caballo Blanco who not only give McDougall his first taste of proper Tarahumara running, but also arranges for a bit of Western culture meets ancient school technique racing. And in the end, it is not so important who finishes first, but that all the individuals involved have proven something to themselves.

The real gem of Born to Run is not so much the cast of crazy characters, but the actual telling of events. McDougall sets up the premise early. Then, readers are forced to go through a history and science lessons to reach the stunning end. Running is, quite simply, human nature. Why, though, do some see it as a chore and others find such great joy in running?

McDougall explains that proper technique may be part of the equation, along with temperament. The Tarahumara have always enjoyed running and challenge themselves to the longest footraces known to man. So what about the rest of the cast? Barefoot Ted likes to run in bare feet because he feels more free. Jenn and Billy are surfers by trade, but have their own soundtrack when they run. And Caballo Blanco? He just wants to get away from the world. They all do it because they love it though and that's part of the heart of the book, something which McDougall himself learns to do when attempting to finish a 50 mile marathon in some of the most treacherous terrain on Earth.

We may not all be world class marathoners or crazy enough to run a hundred mile race through Death Valley, but you do not need to be a runner to appreciate this book. McDougall takes a sport with a select group of participants and makes it accessible to everyone. All it takes to be an ultrarunner, after all, is a little courage, a lot of heart, some joy and a smidgen of science.
Born to Run is the best book you likely did not read last year. Now, as a non-runner myself, I can't say it has actually inspired me to take up running, but I do look at my feet and shoes differently, which may not be a bad thing. The chapter on the history of running shoes and the amount of injuries they have caused was particularly enlightening after all. And reading McDougall's tale does appeal to the natural athlete present in all of us. So don't be surprised if it inspires you to at least consider trying something new.

A definite Must Read that may inspire you to new feats yourself (within reason, of course.)
Work Cited.
McDougall, Christopher. Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2009.

If We All Had Superpowers

2010-03-16T22:26:00.009-05:00

At its heart, The Girl Who Could Fly is a coming of age adventure story. Piper finds herself away from home and a sheltered life and must adapt to new and perilous situations while dealing with bullies and her own stubborn nature. But it is not all fun or danger, even though at times the story may present that way. Because what Victoria Forester is writing about underneath all the superhuman abilities and betrayals and occasional transparent villains is Piper's process of growing up.

The fact Piper can fly is really a mans of getting her out of Lowland County which is very Little House on the Prairieish. Her parents are set in their ways. The town gossip is keen on any tiny thing that is not right or proper. The children Piper's age all have names like Sally Sue, Rory Ray, and Junie Jane just to name a few. And nothing really sets any of them apart, which is why Piper's ability to fly (and her last name of McCloud which is a bit of a symbolic slap in the face if ever I've read one) make her stand out all the more.

Enter Dr. Hellion (with a name, again, that's an indication of her true character). Piper is whisked away to the middle of nowhere to a top secret facility full of kids with abilities a la Xavier Institute in the X-Men franchise. But the inhabitants are not allowed to use their abilities. Though Piper so very much wants to fly, she want to fit in too. Along the way she has a tiny crisis of character.

Of course, being a juvenile ficton novel, the ending is happy-ish, though perhaps a bit on the philosophical side of things. Even Conrad the genius mastermind gets a happy home and a happy turn around from his previous situation. But there are a few questions not tied up such as the mysterious J. who has apparently been working against Dr. Hellion for some time. He hints at the possibility of a further story to come, but promptly appears to disappear the moment the author may actually have something useful to say about his back story; apropos considering his ability is invisibility.

While there is enough action and suspense, at times the plot and characterization fall flat. Many of the supporting characters never get out of their molds making The Girl Who Could Fly read more like a moral lesson than a kids book. Even so, there is enough there to be interesting for girls and boys alike. And Piper is an excellent model for not losing your personality because others want you to change. In the end, she is the one who remains true to herself.

Read at your own risk. You might find, underneath all the craziness, you can actually relate to it.

Work cited.
Forester, Victoria. The Girl Who Could Fly. New York: Square Fish, 2008.

WWI goes Steampunk and It's for Kids! (and Grownups Too!)

2010-02-02T14:37:00.028-06:00

I don't know what it is about Young Adult titles that turns some people off or makes them just skip over them, but here's one from last year that's a must read. And there are no vampires or ghosts or werewolves in sight. Just a good old clash of steampunk and evolutionary processes in this alternate history story.

At its heart, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld is the story of two teens who have their destinies thrust upon them. Aleksander is a prince, the son of recently assassinated Archduke Ferdinand. With the help of his teachers he must escape Austro-Hungary or end up dead. Deryn Sharp wants only to fly in the British Air Service . . . except she's a girl. As the newest recruit on the great Leviathan, the British Air Service's largest airship, Deryn (under the name Dylan) risks being discovered for what she's not while also trying to become one of the few new recruits to maintain a position on the ship.

Somewhere in the middle Deryn and Alek meet and sparks fly, but not the romantic kind (not to say there won't be a little romance down the line). Neither really trusts the other because Deryn is a Darwinist. The Leviathan is a really a genetically modified whale that flies (think of it as the biological equivalent of a zeppelin). Alek and his men are Clankers; they have steam powered ships not just on sea, but on land. Their trusty Stormwalker walks on two legs and has some serious artillery.

As the two sides get to know one another, it becomes obvious that both need each other's help. After all, Alek is on the run from the Clankers, so who better to help than Darwinists. Likewise, the Darwinists can benefit from the relationship because who else can tell them all about the Clanker enemy than someone who is one?

As an alternate history, this book is solid. Westerfeld puts readers squarely in early World War I Europe, but then flips things around in just the right way that it makes history much more intriguing. Steam powered warships are old hat in Victorian steampunk, but the Stormwalker is instrumental to the plot and no less interesting due to it's seeming regularness. Then there's the Darwinist creations (Darwin went beyond his Origin of the Species and figured out how to create genetically modified animals), which are infinitely more intriguing than any of the Clanker machines. Westerfeld's creativity is well on display with all the various half this and half that creature creations.

Even though the creations play a huge part, so do the support characters. Deryn is constantly in danger of being found out by someone and you can't help feeling that some of her fellow airmen and recruits might be catching on, as well as the lady scientist the Leviathan is transporting to the Ottoman Empire. Alek's early back story is filled with a few shady characters as well and you might just end up liking a few of them by the end.

This is only the first book in the series and the next is set to drop sometime in the next year (October is looking most likely). After reading this first installment, you'll be ready for the next, but since you have to wait it'll give you time to salivate over the very drool worthy illustrations (the various covers are on display here) by Keith Thompson, which only add to the joy of reading this gem of a book.

I would put this in the Recommended Reading category.

Work Cited.
Westerfeld, Scott. Leviathan. Ill. by Keith Thompson. New York: Simon Pulse, 2009.

Angels are the New Vampires

2010-01-22T17:23:00.003-06:00

Granted, the Twilight franchise is still holding its own in terms of book sales and with the movies, but vampires are on their way out in Young Adult fiction. Need proof?
Just look at these two recent selections that are both gaining buzz and are series starters.

The first: Fallen by Lauren Kate.
The Plot, more or less:
Luce Price has been seeing shadows all her life. She's the only one though. Her parents think she might be a little crazy. When her boyfriend dies in a fire she can't explain, Luce is sent to Sword and Cross, a penitentiary type school for troubled teens. There, she meets a whole cast of oddball types that Luce fits in with despite her major lack of felonies.
Then things get a little odd. The shadows seem to threaten Luce more and more and result in the death of another student. Luce goes a bit rogue with Cam, the guy she doesn't really trust and isn't really attracted to. Daniel, who had previously been avoiding Luce, comes to her rescue. Fisticuffs occur between Daniel and Cam and several other students. Suddenly Luce finds her life threatened by the librarian who isn't really a librarian but an angel. As it turns out, Cam and Daniel are fallen angels as well (along with about three or four other support characters) and Daniel and Luce have been in love in numerous of Luce's past lives. And there's a bit of twists, but I'd be mean to spoil it all for you.

What's Good:
Well, it's an original idea when compared to all the Twi-Alikes out there. No vamps in sight, but plenty of Angels for good or bad. The setting and the characters are intriguing and help propel the story forward. In particular Luce's best friend Penn stands out because she's so seemingly normal even though she is as quirky as the strangest of the students at Sword and Cross.
The setting is an integral part of the story and is very easy to visualize. Sword and Cross is such a murky school, and the fact the old Civil War era church has been turned into the gym is a phenomenal piece of creativity on the author's part that adds to the sense of despair prevalent in the story.
Another change of pace is that Kate's writing style gets out of that overemotional first person and puts it squarely in a limited third point of view so the story feels a bit different than most of the other books in the supernatural romance genre lately.
Finally, the reincarnation part of the story has a unique spin of its own that helps explain why it's so important to know about Luce's life at Sword and Cross as opposed to one of her earlier lives while giving us, the readers, a bit about the past.

But here's the bad:
The limited third point of view is oddly not very telling at times and often feels like Kate is holding something over the readers heads. When Luce says "I don't know any better than to follow Miss Sophia [the librarian] to this torture chamber . . . because none of you told me anything" I found I entirely agreed (426). I spent so much of the book scratching my head trying to figure out what was unsaid that I probably missed some important bits here and there for later on in the series.
In fact, a lot of the 'explanations' sound something like this passage of Daniel speaking to his fellow angels "'Sh-she hasn't been . . .' he stammered, covering his mouth. 'The kiss,' he said finally, stepping forward to grip Luce's arm. 'The book. That's why you can-'" (401). Understandably, this detracts from what is otherwise an interesting plot, but it's hard to find much plot development when I cannot figure out what is going unsaid.
The other unfortunate thing is that, despite Luce's 'visions,' the supernatural part of the story really does not come in until late in the book. I hope that further books in the series are more rounded in that department since Cam and Daniel are established as angels by the end of this first book, even though we may have had a hint of something at the start in the prologue, but that too was a bit of a let down.

Penultimate Thought?
I had reservations about reading this, but the reviews were good and a friend highly recommended it to me. Not sure I enjoyed it since I spent so much time frustrated that I could not figure out what was really going on or what was left unsaid (and the epilogue certainly does not help), but Fallen was a nice breather from vampires and werewolves.

The second: Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
The Plot, more or less: Nora gets a new bio partner in Patch, the mysterious transfer student. She does not like him. He's cocky, arrogant, and mysterious and none of it in a good way. Yet, despite all that, she really wants to find out more about him. Enter Jules and Elliot who go to a prep school in the city. Elliot had to transfer to Nora's school after losing his scholarship beacause he was a suspect in a homicide investigation. Nora doesn't like or trust either of the two new boys, but her best friend Vee is all over Jules, the mysterious and often absent near seven footer. As Nora gets to know all the guys better, in particular Patch, she finds out that none of them are who they seem and that the new school psychologist is somehow connected. Her life in danger, Nora has to figure out who to trust and find out what Patch really is.

What's Good:
Fitzpatrick opts to tell the story from Nora's point of view. And for once it works without being overly emotional. Sure the occasional overdone thought slips in, but in no way does it detract from the story. Case in point: "I was in an uneasy alliance with myself, trying to ignore what had started to feel irresistible" (20). But on the whole, Nora is sensible and very grounded despite her growing paranoia, and not overly emotional unless the story calls for it.
The angel aspect of the story is there from the outset. The prologue deals with part of Patch's past that is integral to the end of this book. Not to mention that Nora's visions are well placed within the story at the right times so that the supernatural aspect is reiterated. Add in the fact Patch constantly calls Nora "Angel" and the last several chapters, which are heavy on the supernatural, don't just come out of nowhere.
The main characters are also thoroughly compelling. Nora isn't afraid to take a few risks now and then and she feels like a real person. Likewise, Patch is not just the bad guy. I loved to hate him at the outset, but he's so complex that by the end I found myself rooting for him without even knowing his true intentions. Not to mention, he was good with the teasers. "If you keep running from me, you're never going to figure out what's really going on" (108).

But here's the bad:
Jules and Elliot are quite obviously trouble from the get go. They only get worse through the telling, which may just be a byproduct of Nora's telling the story, but they have no redeeming qualities by the end and never really get past the point of being there just to push Patch and Nora together. Jules in particular could have been so much more, except he never becomes a fully realized character.
There is not a lot of support from the support characters in general. While Vee is intriguing, she rarely turns up at the times you really want her to. Nora is so much on her own at times that I almost wanted someone else to be around. Her mother was so rarely in the book that I forgot she even existed. Despite that, Nora has a great relationship with her mother so it would have been nice to see more of that come through much more than it did.
Patch is such a complicated character with a very deep background that by the end, I hardly felt like I knew him anymore. When he starts explaining about Nephilim (offspring of humans and fallen angels) and showing Nora bits of his past, the story seems to raise more questions. Again, this is the first in a series and hopefully questions will be answered, but with Patch's past being so unexplored at this point, in particular his relationship to the "psychologist" Miss Greene who is really an angel, I hope to see more of this explained down the line. There are a lot of loose ends.

Penultimate Thought?
This one had been on my radar for months. Of course I was thrilled to get my hands on it. I would not say it was a let down, by any means, but I did feel that Hush, Hush had potential to be even better than I found it by the end.

Final Tally:
Lauren Kate's Fallen definitely had the better setting, but the explanations fell short for me. I ended up more confused than not most times. While the characters were also immensely intriguing, occasionally they were the only things that kept me going along with wanting to know more about Sword and Cross school. As far as originality goes, it's a good change of pace from all the vamp-lit out there. Read at Your Own Risk.

I liked Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick. The main characters were solid and intriguing. The action kept me going. Though, by the end, I was still curious about Patch's past relationships because they're not explained very much and there's a nice (if not slightly predictable) twist at the end that makes me curious where the series will go. Must Read.

Lastly, both books are Recommended Reading for all the Twilight fans out there.
Who says Angels have to be saints?

Work Cited.
Fitzpatrick, Becca. Hush, Hush. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009.
Kate, Lauren. Fallen. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009.

What (Not) to Read (and what to again and again and again) 2009 Edition

2009-12-30T18:13:00.003-06:00

Granted, this list is based entirely on what I have read this year and there are a lot of books from 2009 that I have not read, but I think I found a pretty good selection to pick out the good from the bad. Feel free to disagree (nicely) or comment. I don't bite (normally).

The Best Nonfiction:
The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
A thrilling tale of life and death (as it says in the title) that not only weaves together the lives of many Amazon explorers, but helps put the importance of such treks in perspective. I'm not a huge nonfiction reader and tend to go in streaks, but when I first saw this one on the shelf, I knew I needed to read it. Percy Fawcett is a thoroughly engrossing character, and insane to boot, which makes Grann's telling all the more interesting. I guarantee you will not regret this one if you have yet to read it.

In the Valley of the Kings: Howard Carter and the Mystery of King Tutankhamun's Tomb by Daniel Meyerson
Another engrossing tale of obsession. Howard Carter is less mysterious through Meyerson's lens, but still equally engaging. If you want a definitive volume on Howard Carter, this is not exactly it, but In the Valley of the Kings is very informative and obviously well researched. Howard Carter's stubborn nature and inherent archaeological senses are well described in this volume, as well as his reputation which, for good or bad, made sure his name would carry on well into the future because of his discoveries.

The Worst Nonfiction book of the year:
The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King - A Nonfiction Thriller by James Patterson and Martin Dugard
For a book labeled as a "Nonfiction Thriller" it reads as a speculative history. No sources are listed for a topic that is not necessarily common knowledge. I, who had just finished reading Daniel Meyerson's book and have had more than a passing interest in Ancient Egyptian history found Patterson and Dugard's book to be unenlightening on the topic. While it was an intriguing "Who Dunnit," the actual "facts" of the book came off more as a story than facts. Perhaps it's due to Patterson's ability to tell a good story, or maybe it's the lack of research, but The Murder of King Tut falls well short of the authors' aims and is best avoided (unless you really want a historical mystery that is not so much a mystery and is more speculation than historically based).

Best Twi-Alikes:
Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare
What's better than some monster hunters, a potentially forbidden romance, and a cast of demons, weres, and super humans to go with? Not much if done right. Cassandra Clare puts a spin on the whole supernatural romance genre and cooks up three books that are completely engaging and romp-roaring fun. If you've not checked these out and you loved Twilight, then you must get them. Now! They're that good.
Clary is a spitfire of a main character and Jace is a total hunk (well, all the male characters are in their own ways). The hunt is on to save Clary's mother who is, for mysterious reasons, unconscious. As it turns out there's more than one or two twists and turns in her quest to not only discover her past but to save her family.
The books are: City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass

Immortals series by Alyson Noel
No Vamps in sight with these books, but that doesn't mean there isn't plenty of drama or romance to be had. Ever starts out at a new school after a car accident claimed the lives of her family. There, she meets the super hunky, but overly mysterious Damen. As it turns out, they are destined to be together, or not. Ever struggles with the realization that she is more than just a regular teenager and Damen has been looking for her again and again and again throughout all her past lives.
As kitschy as it sounds, the books are pretty good and worth checking out. They're better written than Twilight and the twists and turns are just as good as anything Meyer cooked up. Alyson Noel has found herself a guaranteed hit with this series and each book throws something new out there while advancing the characters and the story. Highly recommended.
The books are: Evermore, Blue Moon, Shadowland

Worst Twi-Alike:
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
I had high expectations for this book, which may have aided in my disappointment, but on the whole, this may actually have been worse than Twilight (which I really am not much of a fan of). The writing was okay, but the switching first person narrative between Sam the werewolf and Grace the not werewolf, but possibly in love with one supposedly normal human, never fully separates itself. They sound so much alike that sometimes it is hard to tell who's narrating a chapter and who isn't and if you're not paying attention, it can really screw you up.
The one thing it has going for it is that it's sort of an original concept. Sam is only not a wolf when it's warm out and the colder the weather, the faster he turns. And he stays as a wolf longer the older he gets. But that's about as far as the originality goes. The Sam/Grace romance takes off at alarming speed and they're so much on the same wavelength at times it's creepy. Plot development is a bit sparse as Stiefvater trends toward the romance angle more at times than the actual story part. So, if you like a good romance, fine, but if you're like me and looking for a good plot, this isn't it. Thankfully, no vamps, but at times I kind of wanted one just to mix things up a bit. I'd avoid this one despite the good reviews other places.
But, for those of you who are really into it, look for Linger, the next book in The Wolves of Mercy Falls series coming in July.

Trippiest Reads:
Going Bovine by Libba Bray
A book which I actually reviewed after reading because it was so trippy. Good in some ways, bad in others. Make your own choice, but be prepared for some wacky, um, you know.

I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to be Your Class President by Josh Lieb
I really should have reviewed this one after reading, but I could not decide if the main character really was insane or not so I didn't. A good read in that it actually has a moral in the end and the main character has a happy ending, but enough crazy stuff in there that it's hard to tell if he's totally off his rocker or if the world in which Lieb places the story is that insane. Best for your teen readers with off the wall senses of humor.

Other Noteworthy Titles:
The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
Kate DiCamillo has another gem of a children's tale here. Even if it does not have the success of The Tale of Despereaux, The Magician's Elephant is equally as engaging and perhaps even better told. Peter, a ten year old orphan, encounters a fortune teller who tells him his long thought dead sister is, in fact, alive. What follows is the story of Peter, his sister, an elephant, and a whole cast of unlikely characters that is entirely satisfying and uplifting by the end. This is, perhaps, my favorite children's book of the year and highly recommended for every age.

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan
I read a lot of graphic novels this last year and this was one of the best (the other being David Small's Stitches, also well worth checking out). But what I really loved about Matt Phelan's book is that it is a story of boy growing up. You get the feel of the dust bowl era and what everyone went through during that time. The pure desolateness of the land and how important water was really is central to this story, and more than that, how the main character grows up through the course of the book. Beautiful pictures and a beautiful rendering of what starts out as a dusty landscape and becomes so much more in the end. Very gripping and original. Great for adults to give and share with their kids. Do give this one a look if you get the chance.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
This one is potentially a hard sell. It's a bit like Harry Potter for grown ups with Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia thrown in, but in a really dark and totally disturbing way. Quentin, the main character, stumbles into a magical world, completes schooling there, and then goes off on a bit of a quest, becomes jaded with the magical world and then returns to corporate America in which he is set up for life and needs to do nothing. Except he never seems to be able to shake the magical land of Fillory. The amazing thing about the book is that it takes the reader all the way through Quentin's young life. It really feels like multiple books in one, but books you want to keep going. By then end I was breathless. I still wanted more, but I wanted just as badly to get out. If you like fantasy stories, definitely give this one a try. And if you like a book that has a strong message, this also has it. Well worth a try. You'll be surprised where it takes you.

And a Few to Avoid:
Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
I was really into this book for most of it. Honestly, I kept reading and reading and got really into the characters and the story which are all really interesting. Except I got to the last few chapters and the author threw in a few twists (a few of which I saw coming and was really hoping not to find), and then it lost me. I have yet to read her other book (The Time Traveler's Wife), but I do not recommend this one even if you liked that one. By the end, the characters fit the molds they were set in and never really break out. The final chapter is a disappointment from a plot line that was otherwise really well done. The writing is exquisite at times, along with the descriptions, but the plot will certainly let you down, so Read at Your Own Risk and don't say you haven't been warned.

Bran Hambric: The Farfield Curse by Kaleb Nation
For a book that is very highly reviewed by many sources, it is very hard to get into. While Nation shows an obvious sense of humor in the writing, I managed to get through about a quarter of the book before I had to give up. There was not enough suspense and I did not find enough reason to keep reading to know more about why Bran was being chased. The general writing of the book trends toward explaining every little detail and for someone like me who is looking more for a good story and good writing to keep me going, I did not find this one to be it. I tried, I really did, but in the end I failed because I lost track of the plot too easily even though some of the characters were interesting. So, try it if you must, but I am placing Kaleb Nation's Bran Hambric on my Avoid Me pile.

A Witch and a Wizard? One can never go wrong with Magic

2009-12-30T16:50:00.031-06:00

I just finished James Patterson's latest young adult read and I have to say, I was impressed . . .
by the sheer number of storylines from other books I've read that I can find parts of in the book.

Basic plot:
Brother and sister abducted mysteriously shortly after brother's girlfriend has disappeared. Brother and sister accused of being accused of having powers. Thrown in jail, tested, escape from jail courtesy of girlfriend's spirit guiding them through "Shadow Land," aka another dimension. Brother and sister help other kids escape, find out they are part of a big prophecy that will eventually change the world. End book one.

I'm not saying the book is bad. It was entertaining enough, but as I was reading, I kept thinking, "That sounds like . . ." Witch & Wizards's main characters are a witch, Wisty, and her brother Whit who, surprise,turns out to be a wizard. They're both intelligent people and have strong narrative voices. Seeing as they're siblings, I'll forgive the fact they occasionally sound a lot like one another so if you're not paying attention to the title headings that tell you which sibling is narrating at the time, it is easy to forget, temporarily, who is speaking unless they are off on their own separate plotlines. (Apologies for that massive, near run-on sentence.)

Narrative voices aside, I had a hard time really get into the book the way I had hoped to. Perhaps that was due to the fact I kept thinking of other books as I was reading. It's part Harry Potter: the magic part where the siblings find out they're, well, magic; more part Harry Potter: The One Who Is The One (sound like He Who Must Not Be Named aka You Know Who to anyone else?) is the big bad and, guess what, magic; a third part Harry Potter: Someone turns into a weasel so basically transfiguration of people to animals (it's in The Goblet of Fire, Draco the bouncing ferret which is close enough to a weasel for me. Stretching though, aren't I? Back to the point).
Part Fahrenheit 451/Brave New World/1984: book burning! Dystopia! Oppressive Government! Okay, maybe not big on the book burning in the actual story, but the last little appendix thingy with all the "banned" books and words and whatever else as dictated the New Order would suggest something of the kind. New Order seems to equate to Big Brother at times as well
Part Peter Pan/Oliver Twist/Lord of the Flies: No Never Never Land to speak of, but there are a bunch of homeless kids living in a mall that have a leader that they rotate every week because "power corrupts." At any rate, it's not exactly the Annie-type orphan. None of them are about to be adopted by a gajillionaire.

That's just a list of the ones I could remember off the top of my head. And it's not necessarily a bad thing that all those elements are in there since they've been proven in the past to work. They just distract from the rest of the story, which, unfortunately packs a lot of plot into one three hundred page volume (with large type and lots of white space I might add) that maybe should have been longer. For as much as what really happens in those pages, there authors leave a lot unsaid. There's little more to the book than plot and the occasional character thought, which, for being in first person, is surprisingly sparse in the details. Patterson and co-writer Gabrielle Charbonnet are like the anti-Stephenie Meyer of storytelling in that they are as minimal in the telling of the story as possible by sticking largely to the plot and little else. But it does make the story read fast.

One part I really liked about Witch & Wizard is that the humor is evident and not overwhelming while keeping the heaviness of the story from being too much. The authors found a good balance between Whit and Wisty so that the story flows well even when switching narrative. And there is just enough suspense to keep the reader intrigued, though it may not be on the level of some of Patterson's adult books.

I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. So, as for the recommendation, I'll leave it at Read at Your Own Risk but definitely give it to your teenage kids because they either love Twilight or Harry Potter or The Hunger Games, maybe all three, and there's enough action, magic, and suspense, not to mention Whit's sort of romance to keep them interested.

Going Quixote for Gen Y

2009-10-07T17:55:00.032-05:00

Going Bovine by Libba Bray was a distinctly challenging novel for me to read. Heading into the reading of the book, I was both excited and leery. All the advance reviews were really good, but a friend who'd tried reading it had given up part-way through, and she's the sort who doesn't give up on a book easily. I did read the book from start to finish, but it took some work. And, in the end, I came to two conclusions: 1) This book is meant for a more mature set of Young Adult Readers (or even adults, but no kids, please) and 2) I might have been just as well off reading Don Quixote by Cervantes.

Here's the basic plot:
Cameron Smith is a bit of a loser (okay, a total loser by his own standards). His twin sister, Jenna, is total perfection. She's got a jock/religious convert for a boyfriend, she gets good grades, and everyone in the school basically worships her. In contrast, Cameron's practically failing classes, hangs out with the stoner crowd in the bathroom from time to time and can only daydream about hooking up with mega hottie Staci Johnson. Not to mention things at home pretty much suck since his college professor dad is too busy spending time with his TA, and Cameron's mom can never seem to finish what she starts.
Then things get weird. Cameron starts losing control of his limbs and punches Jenna's boyfriend during class. Not to mention he's seeing things that aren't really there, like fire giants coming out of the toaster. Cameron is put through a battery of tests and finds out he has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease which is the human equivalent of mad cow disease.

And all of that sets up the mother of all hallucinogenic trips. "You've got to find Dr. X, get him to close the wormhole before the whole planet goes up in flames. Before everything is obliterated" Dulcie, presumably an angel that Cameron's hallucinating, tells him (117). So Cameron grabs the dwarf gamer Gonzo (who temporarily shares a room with Cameron in the hospital because Gonzo's mom is pretty sure he has just about anything and everything for no reason other than other people have it), and Cameron and Gonzo break out of the hospital. The only clue Cameron has is that anything random is actually connected to his mission so it's not really random, it just seems so. (Good luck making sense of that.) And thus they end up in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. Except that the flaw in the telling of the story is pretty obvious throughout this whole section. Reality and Cameron's dream state don't intersect very often and when they do, it's usually a fleeting moment. "I open my eyes, ands she's shooting something into my IV line. Glory? I hear it in my head, but I don't know if I've said it out loud" (162). But maybe that's part of the point, not being able to tell reality from the dream.

Bray is constantly trying to blur the lines between what is real and what isn't with Cameron. "We all walk in a land of dreams. For what are we but atoms and hope, a handful of dust and sinew . . . Am I a part of your dream? Or are you a part of mine?" Morpheus, a performer, says during the Mardi Gras parade (144). But the shifts in reality and dream take some getting used to. They don't flow in and out of each other like a dream state, but rather mingle and blend so that a brief sentence might indicate Cameron's temporary waking state. By the end, even Cameron seems to have accepted that reality, for him at least, may be a dream state rather than a waking state. "I walk through all kinds of landscapes. Past. Present. Future. Alternatives. At first, I try to figure out what's real and what's not. But after a while, it doesn't matter anymore" (474). Until the end, though, Cameron and the reader fight to figure out what is real and what isn't.

Despite his slacker-like tendencies early on in the book, Cameron really does want to live and he has plenty of fight in him to do so. It just comes out in drug/mad cow induced dreams. And part of the challenge of reading the book is coming to grips with death. Cameron very much becomes Don Quixote tilting after windmills in his dream adventure quest to live. "The only thing I know about Don Quixote is that he and his sidekick go off and have imaginary adventures, battling windmills disguised as giants and that sort of thing" (32). In many ways, Cameron's subconscious takes hold of that description of Don Quixote and runs with it. Gonzo, with his short stature and clearer vision of the world, is very much the Sancho Panzo like character. He is, in some ways, a steadying force in Cameron's visions. The real highlight, though, is the Norse god Balder who is, in fact, a lawn gnome that Cameron's dad showed him pictures of very briefly.

Balder, unfortunately, makes his appearance too late in the book for my liking. He is the real deal in terms of hallucinogenic travelling companions for Cameron. By the time Balder does arrive on the scene, Cameron's really lost the thread of things. "Balder argues that you can never know about destiny: are the people you meet there to play a part in your destiny or do you exist just to play a role in theirs" (293). Cameron seems to be taking to heart the concept of not knowing the true nature of dreams or destiny at that point, but it is at the risk of his own sanity. A very long sidetrack that involves religious zealots (perhaps a reaction against twin sister Jenna's boyfriend) that a also involves bowling bogs down the middle of the story. So, when Balder suddenly arrives on the scene as a very amusing, yet very sage, Norse god/lawn gnome, he's some much needed comic relief that also puts the adventure back on track.

Unfortunately, the hallucinations grow ever more confusing and complicated, as if Bray is trying too hard to make the novel funny to even out some of the gloom of a major character's impending death. By the time the trio of Mad Cow Boy, Dwarf, and Lawn Gnome God reach Spring Break in Daytona, Florida, the travellers are cashless and weary and the reader is ready for Cameron to just get it over with already. He's already tried to save the world by repeating what the mysterious Doctor X (who is probably based on his real-life doctor, Doctor Xavier) tried (325). He's already connected a string of random things from before he was sick into his hallucinations including Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons, the gnome that becomes Balder, the snow globes that play a larger than necessary part in the end of the story, and finally the incident Cameron has on the Small World ride at Disney at the beginning that is echoed at the end of the novel.

When the cryptic Wizard of Reckoning says

We're just gonna die in the end. Sensible attitude. I liked that about you, Cameron. That's why I'm a little surprised by this third act filled with heroics. So much effort. Really, you're making it much harder than it needs to be (466).

it feels like Cameron really just needs to finish his quest already. But, in Don Quixote fashion, he has to try to do something to get away from the truth. Because the book isn't just about death. In Cameron's words "I think about dying every day, because I can't stop thinking about the living" (240). That's what he wished for. To live.

In a roundabout way, the book works to that end. Cameron has lived, just not in the way he anticipated. His hallucinations made him feel alive, so even if he was in a dream state, he was living in the dream moment. And that's where the real challenge of reading the book comes in, understanding that Cameron's crazy dream quest echoes Don Quixote's story. They both wanted to live and to adventure and that's what they did. Except that none of it was done in the way "normal" people go about doing it.

I wouldn't give this book to just anyone. I wouldn't recommend it to just anyone. The subject matter itself is deserving of a mature reader. But one of the drawbacks of the book is the constant swearing. After a while it becomes overkill to what is otherwise a well written book from a language and syntax standpoint. The theme of life and death and what it means to truly live is easily discerned, but the depth of the exploration of it isn't for less mature readers. Simply put, they just won't get it. While they might like the adventure elements, a little more background knowledge seems necessary to fully appreciate the exploration of the topic.
Going Bovine by Libba Bray is a good book. I wouldn't call it a great book, but I would recommend reading it along with Don Quixote as one potentially educates the reading of the other. But on its own Going Bovine reads like Don Quixote on an acid trip for Generation Y.

Read at your own risk.

Work Cited.
Bray, Libba. Going Bovine. New York: Delacorte Press, 2009.

The Long Overdue Hunger Games Trilogy Review

2009-09-19T12:31:00.016-05:00

Admittedly, when I first heard of the book, I thought "that's a silly title." And it certainly wasn't something I was interested in reading. But everyone who was anyone in the young adult and juvenile literature circles were gushing about the book so I thought, why not?

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was a life changer. I could barely put the book down for work or sleep or whatever other necessities required me to stop reading it. I wanted to know everything that happened to Katniss Everdeen and the other children in the book. Because they are children and children shouldn't have to fight one another to the death for other people's entertainment just so the government can make a point.

As shocking as the premise is (12 districts in a post-apocalyptic U.S. have to send 2tributes to the Hunger Games in the Capitol. The winner is the last survivor and then it happens all over again the next year. Oh, and it's all televised - think real-life life and death Survivor here, just with kids age 12+.), the story and the will to survive no matter what the cost is presented in such a way that you're forced to agree with Katniss's tactics. She's humble and likable from the start, strong and instinctive in the arena. And a little bit of a rebel. She's the type of character you want to be in some ways and you relate to her despite all the carnage and moral ambiguity surrounding her.

And when the first installment ends, you want more knowing there is still more.

Catching Fire picks up where The Hunger Games leaves off. Katniss, however, finds herself in even more of a dilemma torn between doing what's right for the people she loves and what is right for her. Not to mention she's been pressured by President Snow to do as the government wants. The one drawback is that Katniss remains aloof to what's really going on around her despite the signs. (The symbol of the mockingjay present on both book covers is evident throughout both stories thus far and is obviously representative of something more long before Katniss realizes it; about the only drawback to the books so far is that her first person retelling of the events tends to frustrate the best of readers with her inherent stupidity on the topic). Katniss, because it's just how she is, pushes on despite all the obstacles. Family and friendship are key elements in her story throughout and are the biggest driving force in her decisions which, ultimately, are about to lead to some of her biggest revelations.

The moment you and Katniss think everything makes sense, though, Collins changes the game. In a good way. I tore through Catching Fire and was really only disappointed when it came to an end. My main question now, despite all the other one's Katniss's telling of her story bring up, is when can I get my hands on a copy of the final installment?

I highly recommend these books for anyone who loves a good story, especially one that leaves you breathless and asking for more at the end. Rebellion was never so fun.

Work Cited
Collins, Suzanne. Catching Fire. New York: Scholastic Press, 2009.
''. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic Press, 2008.

Move It to Movits! - CD Review

2009-08-27T18:40:00.012-05:00

I'm putting aside the books for a moment to bring your attention to a new musical group that, if you haven't heard of them, you should have.

Movits is the coolest thing to come out of the country of Sweden since Ikea, or maybe ABBA depending on your preference. But the point is, this group rocks (well, raps/jazzes anyway). It doesn't matter that most Americans don't have a clue what they're singing about; it does matter that Movits has a hit CD on their hand, and mainly through word of mouth. If you haven't heard them yet, check out their live performance from The Colbert Report:

The Colbert Report

Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Movits! - Fel Del Av Garden

http://www.colbertnation.com/

Colbert Report Full Episodes

Political Humor

Health Care Protests

From start to finish, Movits delivers a satisfying blend of hip hop/jazz fusion that will have your toes tapping long after you've hit the stop button. What they deliver is fresh for a music scene that seems to be filled with nonstop Top 40 (rap, pop, alt rock that isn't so alt these days). If you're just as tired of all that as I am, then Movits is your answer. And, as the video shows, they know how to perform live, which for any group is a bonus.

Curious about where to find their CD, well, you could check Amazon, but at this time, they aren't expecting more in until September at the earliest. Amazon also has a downloadable version available as well that also allows you to get the first track for free.

So maybe not a book this time around, but a well worth it for you buck (however much your buck ends up being) CD. Movits is the biggest thing in music from Sweden since ABBA and that's saying something.

I Liked It, But What's It About?

2009-04-08T18:35:00.011-05:00

It's rare to come across a book you like but wouldn't recommend to others. I find myself in such a position. Here's one to avoid: The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes.

The following review may assume a few things, may take on a few mannerisms that seem brash and maybe a little rude, but it is only in following with the author's style of narrating the book that I do so.

The storyline is familiar enough. An illusionist, bored with his usual tricks, investigates murder on the side. He has, like all good Victorian magicians/investigators, a few less than above board proclivities, which help set the scene and the mood as well as the time for the story. He also has a large, silent type for a partner(The Somnambulist as we shall always know him; the author is uncannily sparse in his naming of characters). Together they go in search of a murderer and uncover a much more sinister plot and, of course, foil it in some manner by the end. (You will, I hope, forgive my spoiling that part of the story. I haven't spelled it out for you at least.)

One of the issues with the book is that it is unclear as to whether or not Barnes sees himself as the narrator or if he is merely affecting the tone of the narrators beliefs in telling the story. It is an ambiguous point which makes the story seem at times absurd and at others lacking in merit altogether. The narrator is, for the most part, pompous, self-absorbed, and almost wholly anonymous right to the end. "So I told them my real name. I shan't repeat it here. It's ... no justice to a man of my talent and ambition" (290). Thus, even when his identity is revealed it isn't and makes reading the book more frustrating. It also changes the tone of the last three chapters of the book as the narrator becomes completely entwined in the story. Readers no longer have a firm grasp on the reality of the book and it may, in fact, then all be a bunch of lies. He even states on page one: "This book has no literary merit whatsoever ... I doubt you'll believe a word of it." I for one found every single event drawn into question by the end. Suspension of disbelief only goes so far and in this case, it failed me utterly by the end.

But let us move on. We are given, from very early on, that the story takes after popular detective stories of the Victorian time. "Our hero was an unusually brilliant observer ... cut from the same cloth already stitched and darned by Sir Arthur and Mr. Poe" (21). And Edward Moon does seem very much like a Sherlock Holmes, and The Somnambulist very much like something that might roam the Rue Morgue. Certainly the gruesomeness is present as well as the mystery and sleuthing elements. Barnes, however unfortunately for him, trends toward being vague to build suspense. His narrator has little grasp on what is really important to the reader in trying to piece together the events. He overreaches in many places and even undercuts himself at times. "I have faith in you. You'll have worked it out by now, I'm sure. Four days. Four days before the dream ends, the old man wakes and the city falls" (204). I had worked it out, even without him spelling it out for me. But then, our narrator "has never yet succeeded in underestimating the intelligence of the general public" (92). It is indeed a condescending statement and very much unworthy of the poor readers who have endeavored thus far to reach the point of condescension. Surely Barnes or his editors should have known that no one deserves such derision just for reading a book?

The appeal of the book, then, comes from the plot. Snippets of information are thrown in here and there to create a modicum of suspense or intrigue. Or even foreshadow. But it still fails in achieving anything beyond vagueness and unfocused plot points. It begins to feel as if the author is simply withholding information to keep people reading, which, as most writers know, is never a good thing.

As I mentioned in the beginning, I liked the book. I would certainly never recommend it though. The macabre is a bit like reading Gaiman, but it doesn't help the story and instead makes it feel disjointed. As a fan of Poe and Doyle I found the elements similar to their stories and how they wrote, but again, Barnes failed me there. In the end, curiosity was the only thing that kept me going and by the end, I was still greatly confused and certainly not comforted because I did not understand what happened to the characters as several points were never elaborated upon that should have been. So I do not recommend it.

I repeat, do not read The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes. I know you want to now, but don't do it! (I dare you not to.)

Work Cited:
Barnes, Jonathan. The Somnambulist. New York: William Morrow, 2007.

What Popular Ficton Has Taught Me - Twilight Edition

2009-02-13T14:49:00.008-06:00

5 Lessons I learned from Twilight
(Feel free to disagree, but if you’re going to respond, please think it out.)

Context on this is important. I’ve read book one. That’s it. No more. You’ll get my reasoning for not reading the other books in the series by the end. But for now, all you need to know is that I’m a librarian faced with the conundrum of what to give the Twilight obsessed teen (or tween or even adult) once they’ve finished the series.

Here are the five things I’ve learned since the release of the series.

1. Popular Fiction is not the same as good writing
Flip to a page, any page (I dare you) and you’ll find some passage that’s overwritten or over justified. I opened, randomly, and found “I looked down, frustrated. I unrolled my silverware, picked up my fork, and carefully speared ravioli. I put it in my mouth slowly, still looking down, chewing while I thought” (172). “I … I … I …” It takes up the whole of the passage and that’s just the fist part of the writing that didn’t read well for me. Meyer’s writing style takes every little nuance and explains it regardless of necessity. I’d be afraid to read any of her poetry, to be honest, because she spends the majority of the book over explaining Bella’s emotional reactions.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I get the attraction for the audience that most reads the books. What gets my hackles up is that they think this is good writing and they try to emulate it because it’s popular. The elements of the story are not awful (cliché, passé, take your pick), but the execution needs a makeover to be considered good writing.

Moving on …

2. Word of Mouth makes a best seller
I’m piggybacking this on to point one because Twilight has once again proven that a badly written book (or series of books) can surpass itself if the right person becomes a mouthpiece for it. Tween and Teen girls are all over the books because a friend read it and said it was the best thing since (I’d say sliced bread, but perhaps I should go with) the iPod (to be more current). It’s like “Harry Potter Syndrome” all over with a more select focus group and an inferior series in terms of the writing. But a kid reads it, so the mom reads and the friends read it so suddenly everyone’s reading it just to find out what all the fuss is about. Word of mouth sells books plain and simple.

Which means …

3. Stephenie Meyer gets ‘It’
‘It’ being that combination of the supernatural, romance, and the imperceptive heroine who doesn’t have a good sense of self until she gets outside reassurance from the local hottie. What teen girl wouldn’t want to hear the words “You are the most important thing to me now. The most important thing to me ever” from the most stunning person they’ve ever met (273)?
Unfortunately, this also means wading through the clichés of the YA romance scene that have become so popular since the turn of the century. Every teen wants a grown-up relationship these days. Stephenie Meyer gives them that through the imperceptive heroine, the perfect (or nearly so) other, along with all the in between angsty bits. There may be some violence and/or action thrown in for good measure.

This all leads to…

4. Fangs = Hot!
Bram Stoker set the precedence for it back in the day. Mysterious (shadowy to be more exact?) figure that’s really a monster underneath it all. Or is Dracula a monster? He’s got fangs, right? And he gets the girl, right? So it faded away a little. Anne Rice comes along. Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt make vamps hot for a bit. Until Joss Whedon appears on the scene. Let’s be honest. Stephenie Meyer was well beyond influenced by the Buffy/Angel days of television. Heck, Whedon even made werewolves cool again. Younger Twilighters should really see how it was done by a master of the genre and experience the early Buffy days. We really wouldn’t have the Twilight craze without those.

So finally …

5. Disliking it is tantamount to being disowned
Unless the person you’re talking to either hasn’t read any of the series or actually agrees with your reasoning that is. As if the arguments between Teams Jacob and Edward aren’t bad enough, the arguments Twilight lovers have for the haters really top all. (Just ask any Edward or Jacob lover why they love said character so much and you basically have your argument for liking the books right there). Okay, so maybe you won't get disowned for not liking it, but you better be on the offensive as to why and be sure about it because the lovers stick to their guns no matter what you tell them.

What I’ve found is that it comes down to how willing you are to slog through the horrendous writing (again, in terms of execution, not actual story) to find out what’s happened with the characters. Disown me if you must because I just don’t care enough about the characters to do it. Just give me the specific reason’s that Edward is so freakin’ hot and I’ll make suggestions based on that.

Work Cited
Meyer, Stephanie. Twilight. New York: Little, Brown, & Co., 2005.

It's like 1984 for the Computer Generation - A Must Read

2008-10-01T18:27:00.010-05:00

Dystopic science fiction hasn’t looked this good since Orwell and Bradbury, nor has it been as accessible as Cory Doctorow’s young adult novel, Little Brother. A good way to describe the book simply is that it’s George Orwell’s 1984 for the computer generation written in the style of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick. This is a must-read book for 2008.

Doctorow seems to channel Melville’s hero Ishmael through 17-year-old Marcus Yallow. More than just a kid with computer skills, Marcus has the ability to organize and fight back following wrongful imprisonment after a terrorist attack on San Francisco. “We’re just high school students. I wanted to flag you down because my friend was bleeding … who were these clowns? They weren’t wearing insignia. Maybe they were terrorists!” Marcus says and thinks after being captured (40-41). The ambiguity helps create suspense early in the book, especially as Marcus goes through the process of capture and release. As the book progresses, readers learn a lot of technical information and jargon much in the fashion of Melville describing whales in Moby Dick. While this is potentially off-putting for the more casual reader, the technical information gives insight into how capable Marcus is.

There are four parts to any crypto message: the original message, called “cleartext.” The scrambled message, called the “ciphertext.” The scrambling system, called the “cipher.” And finally there’s the key: secret stuff you feed into the cipher along with the cleartext to make ciphertext. (98)

Little seems beyond his abilities, but his limits are shown from time to time, especially when dealing with government agents.

While the title only works into the telling of the story on one or two occasions, it is appropriate, particularly as a send-up of Orwell’s dystopic classic 1984. All the elements are there from a controlling governmental force to the oppressed main character. However, the premise is twisted slightly in that both the protagonist and the antagonists are watching one another. “The surveillance I faced at school had followed me home, but this time, it wasn’t just the Board of education looking over my shoulder: The Department of Homeland Security had joined them” (84). Marcus’s computer skills allow him to create a subversive network called the Xnet. Little Brother’s title is a nod to Orwell’s Big Brother, the organization that's always watching, but Marcus and his cohorts seem to be doing more of the watching through the Xnet. It is also because of Marcus’s age that the title is apropos.

Doctorow taps into several major issues with this novel. Treatment of suspected terrorists by the government is an obvious subject. Marcus and his friends are not well matched against their government opposition. Freedom of the press is another issue tackled in the book, along with right to assembly. Readers are faced with questions of search and seizure as well as governmental control of the internet. At one point in the story, Marcus receives a correspondence from someone working for the government. “I signed up to fight terrorists. Instead, I’m spying on Americans who believe things that the DHS doesn’t like. Not people who plan on blowing up bridges” (274). What Doctorow gets at is how one event effects history and changes people’s lives drastically even if they do not see all the lingering affects.

Little Brother is more than just a novel. Like all good dystopic writing, it explores issues large than just one person. It is both political commentary and warning of what can go wrong with society. Cory Doctorow takes his knowledge of computers and makes it something larger and something more accessible making this book a must read for the computer generation along with librarians, parents, and anyone interested in better understanding teens and technology.

Work Cited.
Doctorow, Cory. Little Brother. New York: Tor, 2008.

Dewey Readmore Books

2008-09-22T11:17:00.007-05:00

Do We Read More Books?

The story of Dewey Readmore Books, a world-famous library cat, begins on a cold morning. The author, Vicki Myron, discovers him in the drop box, half-dead from the sound of things. After being bathed and thawed, takes to the Spencer, Iowa library and claims it as his own. The town quickly warms (pardon the pun) to the cat that is willing to play to any crowd (and on demand from the sound of it). Despite early concerns of having a resident library cat, the community and those in charge of the city allow Dewey to have a home where, for the better part of 18 years, he is local entertainer, counselor and mascot drawing attention not just from the people of Spencer but from around the United States and even the rest of the world.

Dewey may have touched the world, but this book isn’t nearly as touching as it could be. The premise is basic enough: Myron, director of the Spencer Public Library, discovers a cat in the drop box and adopts it as a library cat. The cat endears himself to the public, becomes famous, and eventually dies. The telling of the story, though, has numerous asides that are meant to help the reader envision the setting but distract from the heart of the story. The prologue is four and half pages of travelogue that would be better served in a National Geographic program about Iowa. It is sentimental and over the top.

Exactly every mile, every road is intersected by another almost perfectly straight road. Inside is a square mile of farmland. Take a million of those square miles, lace them together, and you have one of the most important agricultural regions in the world … Let them have the oceans and the mountains, their beaches and their ski resorts. I’ll take Iowa. (1)

When Myron isn’t focusing on Iowa’s landscape, there’s something else from her lifescape invading the writing. Chapter 23 entitled “Memories of Mom” never even mentions Dewey, whom the book is meant to be about. His name is the largest word on the cover along with what is probably one of the most adorable pictures of a cat to ever be put in print. What cat lover would not pick up a book that looks that attractive?

The cover is about as far as the good things about the book go. Most of the writing is not only sentimental, but also overly descriptive. Perhaps this is because Myron is less than two years removed from Dewey’s death at the time of publication. Certainly people want to know Dewey’s story, but this is far from the best telling of it. Bret Witter, Myron’s co-author, should be ashamed of attaching his name to this work, especially if he considers himself an editor and a professional writer as the brief biography suggests. It should have been his job to keep the story on track and not allow Myron’s emotions to invade so much. It is for that reason that the best chapters in the book come near the end – the ones surrounding Dewey’s death. Only then does the writing start to stick with the facts and remove itself a bit from the author’s emotions. “I won’t argue one fact. Dewey was Spencer’s cat. Nothing has ever been truer. But he was also my cat. And finally, in the end, Dewey was a cat” (251-2).

As Dewey was in fact a cat, Myron should not have been so quick to attribute so many human qualities to Dewey. It is another problem with the writing of this book. Over and over again Myron gives us what she perceives to be Dewey’s interpretation of events. While cute, it soon loses the novelty and becomes a bit cocky. “Pride. Confidence. Assurance that this cat, this library, this experience, maybe even this town, really is special” (154). Myron seems to be using the work as a means of assuring herself that she is in fact special as well, not just Dewey. And while certain passages are helpful in illustrating the ideas of change and progress versus staying in the past, both of which Spencer seems to be doing much of throughout the book, they do make one forget about Dewey. It is as if, in the end, the book was less important in telling Dewey’s story and more important in trying to keep Spencer in the people’s minds after Dewey’s death.

Certainly, Dewey was an extraordinary cat. He touched people’s lives every day, but this book hardly matches his uniqueness. When it should be objective, it is sentimental. And when it’s not sentimental, the lengthy descriptions detract from the main character. Dewey Readmore Books should be rolling in his proverbial grave over this work. In the end, it is as much about a cat as it is about Promoting Iowa, and Spencer specifically. If you plan to pick up this book, be aware that it is less Dewey’s story and more Myron’s in the telling.

And to answer the question posed in the title: Not if they’re written like this.

Work Cited
Myron, Vicki and Bret Witter. Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2008.