Anyway, on to the books!  Click on the pictures to be taken to individual Librarything pages.

• Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier – Chevalier is a hit or miss author for me, so I got this out of the library for a reason.
• Crazy for You by Jennifer Crusie – I really enjoyed the first book of hers I read and was recently getting annoyed that I’d read all the lightest fiction I have in my possession (in this country – 2/3 of my TBR is in the US) except for a few historical romances, which I’m not in the mood to read right now.  Jennifer Crusie seemed like a good way to remedy the situation.
• Touch the Dark by Karen Chance – Same reasoning here as above, and I liked Karen Chance’s story in On the Prowl.
• Daisy: The Life and Loves of the Countess of Warwick by Sushila Anand – I mentioned this book in my Sunday Salon post and I’m still enjoying it.  The first half of the book was more about Daisy’s love life, while this second half is much more about Daisy’s involvement in politics.  Both are interesting and quite a reflection on the turn of the century in England.  I’ll be finished with this one soon.

Have you read any of these books?  What did you think?

Library Loot is a weekly meme hosted by Eva and Marg.

While this was certainly a fun book, it was definitely a children’s book.  Let me clarify.  Percy is 12, so the book doesn’t exactly count for young adult literature because I believe that means a teenage protagonist is necessary.  Yet with some kid’s books, I can still enjoy the intricacies of plot and character, so I don’t even notice that they’re written for children.  I noticed here, and while the book was a lot of fun, there were times when I rolled my eyes.  Others have agreed with me, so at least I’m not alone.

That said, I read this during the Read-a-Thon and it was a perfect choice.  It’s fast-paced, there is a lot of action, there was some humor that I still found funny, and the book sped by very quickly.  For a light read, if you’re not expecting much, this is perfect.  I think this would be a brilliant read for a kid.  It has a lot of tame humor and situations that a kid who hadn’t gone through puberty yet would probably enjoy.  And with all the mythology, it’s educational as well, in a way that kids could perfectly understand because the gods are all described in familiar terms.  Percy doesn’t know who they are at first, so each of them is described fully in his own words, giving kids an easy introduction to exactly who these gods are before they’re presented with an unfamiliar name to remember.  It’s easy to see why Rick Riordan is so very popular.  This is clean, adventurous fun that would probably appeal to both boys and girls of that age.

So, The Lightning Thief does what it’s meant to do for kids, it’s just a shame I didn’t love it as an adult.  I do intend to continue with the series, though, because I liked Percy and I’m intrigued enough to see what happens next.

You guessed it, I’m an Amazon Associate.

That novel is going fairly well.  I’m ahead of the curve at 17,603 words.  I haven’t written anything today yet, but I hope to a bit later on.  We had Sky TV installed today and we’ve been busy playing with it rather than getting anything else accomplished.  I’m a little less involved with the novel than I was a week ago, but I’m still finding my daily quota easy to meet, and I hope that continues.

One bookish thing I’m very excited about participating in this holiday season is the Book Blogger Holiday Swap.  I can’t wait to find out who I’m buying a gift for.  If you want to sign up, you have until November 12th, so don’t wait!

Finally, I’d better get back to my novel, but have a wedding picture:

The rest can be found here.  Have a good week everyone!

I am an Amazon Associate.

This is a book that has been hyped throughout the blogosphere endlessly.  I know I bought it because so many book bloggers I trust had read and loved it.  I think my expectations made the book less of an experience for me.  I simply knew it was meant to be amazing, so perhaps it’s not a surprise that it wasn’t. That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy it, because I did, but it hasn’t immediately catapulted itself onto my list of all-time favorite books.  The rest of this review might contain slight spoilers, so I wouldn’t suggest reading it unless you’ve completed the book.

The best and the worst thing about this book is the pace.  It’s Todd’s frantic flight from his entire life, a girl and a dog in tow, with terrifyingly bad men behind them. The sense of urgency is overwhelming and is constantly pushing the reader to read on, to read faster, to find out what happens next.  While this ability to absorb me is a great thing in a new era of books that only half-heartedly interest me, it also harmed the book’s impact, perhaps because I did read it so quickly.  I did get attached to Todd and Viola and Manchee, but all of the tragedy within the book simply did not have the time to emotionally hit me.  Something else happened so quickly that the characters couldn’t dwell on their losses or problems, so I didn’t really feel them the way I was supposed to.  In addition, the many tragedies made the book feel somewhat emotionally manipulative.  There is no respite from it at all.

There is still a lot to love here, though.  The concept of the Noise is just fascinating and while the men of Prentisstown can’t be excused for what they did, it’s so easy to see how this could drive someone mad.  Todd is an incredibly loveable character despite what he’s driven to do over the course of the novel.  I even enjoyed the deliberate misspellings because I felt they revealed a lot of his childishness and innocence; they gave him part of his voice and I honestly don’t think the book would be the same without it.  Best of all, I think, was his relationship with Viola, even though he’s obstinate as only a boy could be at the beginning.  At first he sees Viola as a foreign object, then as a woman, and finally as a person, just like him, and I think the transformation of his thinking and their interactions was my favorite part of the entire book.  If you read this blog you know I’m all about the relationships between characters and this is a great one.

So, in short, The Knife of Never Letting Go* didn’t totally blow me away and it’s not my favorite book of the year, but I seriously enjoyed it and I’m anxiously awaiting the return of The Ask and the Answer* to the library so I can continue the story.

*I am an Amazon Associate and earn a small referral fee if you purchase through these links. I purchased this book.

This is another enjoyable urban fantasy from Patricia Briggs.  I felt that this was an improvement over Cry Wolf.  There is a lot going on with the plot that is really interesting in context of the universe.  Revealing the werewolves’ presence could have a huge impact on all the characters in both this series and the Mercy Thompson series, so it was very interesting to see what happened there.  And of course that is certainly not enough, there are also death threats, mysteries, and murders sprinkled throughout the book, leading to one very intriguing and totally unexpected conclusion.  If not brilliantly written, Hunting Ground is definitely well-plotted.  The villains are all suspicious in their own way, but the overarching deal and the meanings of some of the events early on do not become clear until the end.  There is also a nice tie-in with everyone’s favorite Arthurian legend since the British werewolf believes he is actually King Arthur reincarnated.  This is a neat addition to an already complex world, but it doesn’t feel too out of place.

The relationship between Anna and Charles continues to develop in a lovely and believable way.  They have learned to trust one another, mainly, but there are still small pockets of tension, just like any other real relationship.  Anna continues to come into her own, realizing her strengths and beginning to break out of the super-submissive mode by recategorizing just what she is.  Meeting her first fellow Omega wolf helps her a lot in this respect and I really look forward to seeing what she does next.

I definitely am enjoying this series.  It may still take a backseat to Mercy, but it is another urban fantasy series to watch from Patricia Briggs.

I am an Amazon Associate.

Vampire Academy is a fun start to what appears to be a promising YA series.  For once, it isn’t particularly Twilight-esque and I appreciated its originality with the two different kinds of vampires and the dhampirs as the guardians of the Moroi vampires.  It’s a well done world.  I always enjoy books set in boarding schools.  They provide such a terrific setting with all the characters in one place, with a reason for them to be parentless, and I find that I often wish I could go there myself (Hogwarts is the best example of this).  While I don’t think I want to attend St. Vladimir’s Academy, the setting worked perfectly and allowed all of the young drama to take a strong hold on the characters and their actions.

Rose is by far the strongest character in the book.  She is a vibrant teenager that visibly grows over the course of the book.  She is a bit promiscuous, but I like that she learned over the course of the novel how to be a better guardian and became much more of an adult.  Her priorities straightened out and her development was impressive and fluid.  I really liked her crush on Dimitri.  I think most teenage girls have an older man that they decide they love, so it humanizes her and gives the story an interesting direction to take for the next few books.  I’m really looking forward to seeing where it goes.  Lissa is a weaker heroine, in part because we see her only through Rose’s eyes.  She seems to be loyal and kind, but it’s harder to get a grasp on her personality, although I loved her scenes with Christian when Rose was spying on them.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  It’s great YA urban fantasy and I’m looking forward to continuing the series.

I purchased this book. I’m an Amazon Associate.

From the big library:

• Nocturnes, Kazuo Ishiguro – I already finished all the stories in this and am in the process of writing my review.  Ishiguro is one of my favorite authors and now I’ve read all of his books but The Unconsoled, which I have on my TBR pile.  This collection was not as good as the novels, but I’ll leave the rest for my post.
• My Invented Country, Isabel Allende – This is  for the Women Unbound challenge.  I loved one of Allende’s later memoirs, so I’m looking forward to this.
• The Tale of Murasaki, Liza Dalby – Same as above!  This is historical fiction, which I’m a little tired of, but hopefully medieval Japan will be different enough to captivate me.
• The Borgia Bride, Jeanne Kalogridis – I got this out a couple weeks ago, before I realized I was tired of historical fiction, and it’s pretty big.  I may need to renew it.

And the smaller library:

• The Dark Rose, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles – I waited for this second volume in the Morland Dynasty series for months in York and never got it.  Just found it on the shelf here, and was thrilled!
• Wild Swans, Jung Chang – Another for the Women Unbound Challenge.
• Brave New World, Aldous Huxley – I’ve been wanting to read this for years.

Have you taken anything interesting out of the library lately?

I’ve been looking forward to this novel since it came out and was pleased to finally have the opportunity to read it.  Lisa See didn’t let me down; while not as masterful as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which I read before blogging, Peony in Love* is a romantic story about the struggles of women in China with an abundance of fascinating historical detail and a healthy dose of fantasy.  Peony dies in the first third of the novel (this is revealed on the back cover, so I don’t consider it a spoiler) and enters a world of Chinese mythology, where Lisa See uses her research on those beliefs to elaborate on how Peony can still communicate and influence those she loves.  We know her ending cannot be totally happy, but her story is still compelling and absorbing.

My favorite aspect of the book was how it mirrored The Peony Pavilion in many ways but also reflected real historical events.  I have never read the play, but enough is described in this novel to make it clear that Peony is essentially trying to become Liniang and get her Mengmei to bring her back to life.  It was fascinating and maddening to realize that many young women did actually die of “lovesickness” in this way.  Basically, it’s believed that they became anorexic, which is horrifying, to both gain control over their lives and because they supposedly believed that true love would save them.  Even though this sounds a little far-fetched, it’s easy to relate to Peony and sympathize with her.  She’s fallen in love and believes that now she is forced to marry a stranger.  I loved the details of her preparations for marriage (except the repeat footbinding!) and the ceremonies enacted before and after her death.  This is a part of the world and a period in history I just don’t read enough about.

Better yet, I liked how the novel emphasized the role of women in China and how it has been eroded throughout the centuries.  The Three Wives’ Commentary on the play actually exists, as did the writing groups and female poets in the novel, and I’m incredibly intrigued by them and want to learn more about the movement.  This is why I love historical fiction!  Not only did I get a great story, but I also got a peek into unfamiliar history and a strong desire to learn what’s true and what’s fiction.  Peony in Love is definitely recommended.

*I am an Amazon Associate. I purchased all books mentioned in this post.

Whereas it was difficult to relate to any of the characters in Oryx and Crake, it’s amazingly easy here, and I feel comfortable saying that Ren and Toby put a human face on this dystopian world.  They are the marginalized members of society, but they are still real women forced to confront women’s issues.  Toby is driven to the Gardeners after her boss basically rapes her and then decides that she is his, probably intending to kill her.  When Ren joins the Gardeners, she is just a young girl at the mercy of her mother’s mercurial temperament, and later suffers from unrequited love with a man who really does not deserve her.  In a totally alien, if well-described, world, Ren and Toby are easy to relate to and bring the suffering home in a way that Oryx and Crake fails to do.  Ren was actually my favorite, if only because we watch her grow up.  Even though she eventually ends up in one of the elite high schools, she’s still dealing with issues every teenager understands:

I saw the temptation.  I saw it clearly.  I would come up with more bizarre details about my cultish life, and then I would pretend that I thought all these things were as warped as the HelthWyzer kids did.  That would be popular.  But also I saw myself the way the Adams and Eves would see me: with sadness, with disappointment.  Adam One, and Toby, and Rebecca.  And Pilar, even though she was dead.  And even Zeb.

How easy it is, treachery.  You just slide into it.  But I knew that already, because of Bernice.

- p. 195

This is truly a wonderful novel.  I felt the dystopian world was a bit less clear here, perhaps more ridiculous without the inside view, but because I’d read Oryx and Crake, I didn’t have many questions.  Rather, the novels worked in tandem, and I really think it helped to read one right after the other.  I don’t think it’s necessary, but it provides a complete and intriguing picture.  Some of the same characters appear, and actually had bigger parts than I’d expected, plus some bigger issues are clarified.  If I had to choose, though, I’d choose this one.  I’m all about great characters, and Ren and Toby win the day for me. I must admit, however, that I generally skipped over the God’s Gardener homilies and songs, but I didn’t find it deterred from the plot.

I loved The Year of the Flood* and I highly recommend it.

*I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book from the publisher for review.

This is only my second Margaret Atwood novel, and after loving The Handmaid’s Tale, I’m really wondering why it took me so long to read another.  I adore dystopias and Atwood has created another intriguing world here, if not quite as plausible.  When Jimmy was a child, the Corporations ruled supreme, essentially acting as one big government.  The world outside of the Corporations was unimportant, the people only used as test subjects and cash cows as medicines were infused with illnesses to keep the market booming.  If any worker betrayed insider secrets, they were killed.  This was the world of Jimmy’s childhood, and while he wasn’t brilliant enough for a high position, his best friend Glenn, later known as Crake, certainly was.  It is Crake who sets out to change everything and puts in motion the events that destroy the world as everyone knows it.

While I couldn’t say I actually liked any of the characters, which was the book’s weakest point, it was hard for me to tear myself away from this book.  I was fascinated by the development of the plot; we know early on that the world has changed drastically, but finding out just how and why was riveting.  I didn’t like Jimmy/Snowman all that much, due to his escapades with women and his irritating obsession with Oryx, but I loved the curiosities of his world.  His struggle to find more food allows us to relate to him even as we dislike him, but it also serves the purpose of guiding us through more of the world.

For me, the best part was the Crakers, the genetically altered beings that Crake created.  What I liked about them was that even though they were modified to escape supposed human foibles, they still exhibited that humanity.  This was mainly through their acceptance of a god-like story featuring, as expected, Oryx and Crake. Even though they’re reportedly hard-wired to miss out on all mistakes, they are still people and it’s almost as though we can see their mythology evolving. Snowman doesn’t know how else to explain it to them and they latch on remarkably easily. Fascinating stuff, and that really cemented the entire book for me.

Atwood is a remarkable author.  Oryx and Crake* has convinced me that I really need to get reading more of her work.  I certainly recommend this, especially to those who enjoy dystopias and science fiction.

*I am an Amazon Associate. I borrowed this book from the library.