So cute! So this was the graphic novel book club read I missed when I moved out of Virginia, but Nathan liked it so much he bought me a copy for Christmas, and I'm so glad I have it! This graphic novel is about a formerly home-schooled girl's first year of high school and her relationship with her three older brothers and her new friends Lucy and Alistair. And there's a ghost!
The art is super cute, and the characters are all likable and relatable. Hicks does a great job of portraying all the little tragedies and rivalries of high school in even just a few wordless panels. This is more of a vignette than a story, but it's no less engaging for being a little light on plot. I'd love to read more with this group.
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Book 10: The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Super-interesting book premise: time-traveling serial killer versus his only victim that got away. I generally like time-travel plots in theory, but so many of them seem to start out with an awesome idea, begin to struggle with the conundrums posed by time travel, and finally get so bogged down in trying to work out the rules and details of time travel that the plot drowns (Man in the Empty Suit, I'm looking at you!), but this book manages to avoid that fate.
I also liked how Beukes dealt with the victims. They're only around for a short while, but they're nonetheless fully fledged characters, full of goals and hopes and doubts, which is a bit of a trick to do with any character we see for only a chapter, let alone one we know is not going to survive going in. It just makes their murders all the more senseless and tragic, and I appreciate that their deaths and murder were definitely not glamorized.
And Kirby is great! Smart, snarky, and funny. Her clever banter with Dan is one of the highlights of the book; somehow she's always quick with the witty comeback that eludes most of us until hours after the conversation has ended.
The murders are pretty horrible, so if you've got a weak stomach this may not be the book for you, but it's fast-paced and suspenseful, and I had a tough time putting it down.
I also liked how Beukes dealt with the victims. They're only around for a short while, but they're nonetheless fully fledged characters, full of goals and hopes and doubts, which is a bit of a trick to do with any character we see for only a chapter, let alone one we know is not going to survive going in. It just makes their murders all the more senseless and tragic, and I appreciate that their deaths and murder were definitely not glamorized.
And Kirby is great! Smart, snarky, and funny. Her clever banter with Dan is one of the highlights of the book; somehow she's always quick with the witty comeback that eludes most of us until hours after the conversation has ended.
The murders are pretty horrible, so if you've got a weak stomach this may not be the book for you, but it's fast-paced and suspenseful, and I had a tough time putting it down.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Top Ten Tuesday: Worlds I'd Never Want to Live In
Top Ten Tuesday topic is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is Top Ten Worlds I'd Never Want to Live In.
This one was tough! It's much more normal to read about worlds that are fun to escape to, so I only managed to come up with five.
The Top Five Worlds I'd Never Want to Live In
1. The FAYZ, from Gone by Michael Grant. The FAYZ is brutal, a place where children exploit supernatural powers against one another, completely cut off from adult supervision and the outside world. The scene with Penny and the licorice veins still gives me nightmares. Whether by starvation, psychological torture, or at the mercy of a supernatural immortal deity inhabiting the body of a young girl, I'd probably be dead within a week of living in the FAYZ.
2. Cittàgazze, from The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman. Cittàgazze is the city in a parallel universe where Will first meets Lyra. The city is overrun with Spectres, which attack adults but leave children, to whom they are invisible, alone. The town is full of groups of children with no adults, which almost sounds like a child's paradise, but once the children reach adolescence they are attacked by the Spectres, who leave them soulless and zombie-like. The image of the boy on the brink of adolescence, swarmed by Spectres he couldn't quite see but were just waiting to attack, always conjured up a sense of horror in me.
3. Camazotz, from A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. The eerie, homogenous alien planet ruled by the pulsating evil brain IT. Camazotz was an example of life on a planet ruled by the Black Thing, the source of all evil which the Murry children's father was fighting. The residents of Camazotz live in total conformity, down to the children of each identical house on a block bouncing balls and skipping rope in total unison, terrified of the consequences of breaking from the rhythm. Every resident is controlled, down to the minutest of actions, by IT. A world without individuality and freedom of expression is definitely not one I'd want to live in. And a disembodied brain with mind-control powers as a leader doesn't sound too appealing, either.
4. Charn, from The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis. Charn is the dying world Digory and Polly visit before traveling to Narnia. It had been governed by an empire of corrupt rulers before Queen Jadis (later to become the White Witch of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) uttered the Deplorable Word, killing everyone in the world but herself, out of spite after her sister won the civil war the two had been fighting. It's pretty clear that Charn is meant to represent a post–nuclear war world. I was always fascinated to read about Charn when I was younger, but it would be terrible to live in a world doomed by the cruelty and spite of its leaders. (Earth still has a good ways to go before we sink that low!)
5. Incarceron, from Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. Incarceron is a living prison, a manmade world sealed off from the outside world. No one ever leaves, and most of the residents are the descendants of the original inmates. It had originally been conceived as a way to rehabilitate prisoners, but something went wrong, and the gateway between the world of Incarceron and the outside world was sealed. Its been a while since I've read this book, so I don't remember too many details about Incarceron clearly. It was vast, containing cells, roads, trees, trains, and only one person, half-legend, had ever managed to escape. Being locked up and left forgotten in a prison is an absolute nightmare (and I can't believe how regularly this happens even in the U.S.!), and that's basically the whole of Incarceron.
This one was tough! It's much more normal to read about worlds that are fun to escape to, so I only managed to come up with five.
The Top Five Worlds I'd Never Want to Live In
1. The FAYZ, from Gone by Michael Grant. The FAYZ is brutal, a place where children exploit supernatural powers against one another, completely cut off from adult supervision and the outside world. The scene with Penny and the licorice veins still gives me nightmares. Whether by starvation, psychological torture, or at the mercy of a supernatural immortal deity inhabiting the body of a young girl, I'd probably be dead within a week of living in the FAYZ.
2. Cittàgazze, from The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman. Cittàgazze is the city in a parallel universe where Will first meets Lyra. The city is overrun with Spectres, which attack adults but leave children, to whom they are invisible, alone. The town is full of groups of children with no adults, which almost sounds like a child's paradise, but once the children reach adolescence they are attacked by the Spectres, who leave them soulless and zombie-like. The image of the boy on the brink of adolescence, swarmed by Spectres he couldn't quite see but were just waiting to attack, always conjured up a sense of horror in me.
3. Camazotz, from A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. The eerie, homogenous alien planet ruled by the pulsating evil brain IT. Camazotz was an example of life on a planet ruled by the Black Thing, the source of all evil which the Murry children's father was fighting. The residents of Camazotz live in total conformity, down to the children of each identical house on a block bouncing balls and skipping rope in total unison, terrified of the consequences of breaking from the rhythm. Every resident is controlled, down to the minutest of actions, by IT. A world without individuality and freedom of expression is definitely not one I'd want to live in. And a disembodied brain with mind-control powers as a leader doesn't sound too appealing, either.
4. Charn, from The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis. Charn is the dying world Digory and Polly visit before traveling to Narnia. It had been governed by an empire of corrupt rulers before Queen Jadis (later to become the White Witch of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe) uttered the Deplorable Word, killing everyone in the world but herself, out of spite after her sister won the civil war the two had been fighting. It's pretty clear that Charn is meant to represent a post–nuclear war world. I was always fascinated to read about Charn when I was younger, but it would be terrible to live in a world doomed by the cruelty and spite of its leaders. (Earth still has a good ways to go before we sink that low!)
5. Incarceron, from Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. Incarceron is a living prison, a manmade world sealed off from the outside world. No one ever leaves, and most of the residents are the descendants of the original inmates. It had originally been conceived as a way to rehabilitate prisoners, but something went wrong, and the gateway between the world of Incarceron and the outside world was sealed. Its been a while since I've read this book, so I don't remember too many details about Incarceron clearly. It was vast, containing cells, roads, trees, trains, and only one person, half-legend, had ever managed to escape. Being locked up and left forgotten in a prison is an absolute nightmare (and I can't believe how regularly this happens even in the U.S.!), and that's basically the whole of Incarceron.
Friday, January 24, 2014
Book 9: Revelations by Genevieve Pearson
I read this book because the author, Genevieve Pearson, was a contestant on the 2013 season of the TBS reality show Revenge of the Nerds. Genevieve was absolutely charming on the show, so when I read that she was an author I was eager to give one of her books a try, and I'm so glad I did.
Revelations is the story of Kyrie, a young woman living with her mother in her small Texas hometown, working a part-time job while she saves up to go to college somewhere far away. As small as the town is, Kyrie immediately recognizes that the well-dressed group of four that walk into her store are new in town, and her intuition warns her they are up to no good. As the story unfolds, Kyrie learns that she is a nephilim, half-angel and half-human, the four strangers are the biblical four horsemen, and Kyrie is the only thing standing between them and the end of the world.
I think the primary charm of the story is the protagonist and her internal dialogue. She's quirky, strong, and fiercely loyal, and many passages had me laughing out loud. It was refreshing to see a character face some dark situations with her sense of humor intact. There were a few questions that I felt weren't quite addressed (the limitations on Kyrie's Silvertongue ability, for example), but overall this book was a pleasant surprise, and I look forward to to reading the sequel and trying the author's other series.
Revelations is the story of Kyrie, a young woman living with her mother in her small Texas hometown, working a part-time job while she saves up to go to college somewhere far away. As small as the town is, Kyrie immediately recognizes that the well-dressed group of four that walk into her store are new in town, and her intuition warns her they are up to no good. As the story unfolds, Kyrie learns that she is a nephilim, half-angel and half-human, the four strangers are the biblical four horsemen, and Kyrie is the only thing standing between them and the end of the world.
I think the primary charm of the story is the protagonist and her internal dialogue. She's quirky, strong, and fiercely loyal, and many passages had me laughing out loud. It was refreshing to see a character face some dark situations with her sense of humor intact. There were a few questions that I felt weren't quite addressed (the limitations on Kyrie's Silvertongue ability, for example), but overall this book was a pleasant surprise, and I look forward to to reading the sequel and trying the author's other series.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Book 8: Incarnate by Jodi Meadows
I think I was so disappointed with this book only because I was really excited by the premise: in Range, there are a million souls that have been reincarnated over and over. In thousands of years, Ana is the first new soul to be born. On her eighteenth birthday, Ana sets out to the city of Heart to discover why she was born and what happened to the soul she replaced. It's an awesome idea for a plot, and I only wish the author had stuck with it!
The book wastes the majority of its focus on the love story between Ana and Sam, a citizen of Heart who stands up for Ana to the council. The drawn-out romantic build-up and Ana's total inability to think or focus whenever Sam was around got tiresome, especially given the number of questions left unanswered! The whole thing about the temple and walls with a heartbeat, and the city found millennia ago, ready-made for the people of Heart, and why the dragons specifically sought out Sam and the temple in their attacks, all of these are plot points that I'd hoped would be answered, or at least given more attention by the protagonist. This is the first book in the trilogy, but I haven't decided yet if I want to read the next two. Like I said, really good premise, but disappointing execution.
The book wastes the majority of its focus on the love story between Ana and Sam, a citizen of Heart who stands up for Ana to the council. The drawn-out romantic build-up and Ana's total inability to think or focus whenever Sam was around got tiresome, especially given the number of questions left unanswered! The whole thing about the temple and walls with a heartbeat, and the city found millennia ago, ready-made for the people of Heart, and why the dragons specifically sought out Sam and the temple in their attacks, all of these are plot points that I'd hoped would be answered, or at least given more attention by the protagonist. This is the first book in the trilogy, but I haven't decided yet if I want to read the next two. Like I said, really good premise, but disappointing execution.
Top Ten Things on My Reading Wishlist
Top Ten Tuesday topic is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish.
Today’s topic is my Top Ten Things On My Reading Wishlist (if you could
make authors write about these things you would. Could be a specific
type of character, an issue tackled, a time period, a certain plot,
etc.)
1. Stories that explore ancient civilizations. Whether set in fantasy worlds or the real world, ancient cities left by a mysterious civilization have always really piqued my interest. Probably has to do with my love for Lovecraft, but it would be great to see a story featuring this topic that, while eerie, isn't straight-up horror.
2. More books featuring alternative paths/timelines. I loved Pivot Point, Before I Fall, and Life After Life, and I want more!
3. I'd like a literary retelling of my favorite fairy tale, The Snow Queen. And/or The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.
4. More focus on plot, less focus on the love story! I don't mind love stories in books, but I hate when a book has a really intriguing plot that's forced to take a back seat to a trite romance. One of the reasons I loved The Hunger Games so much is because it managed to balance this so well.
5. More fantasy stories based in folklore from other cultures. Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix is a good example of this, and I'd love to see more.
6. I want to see more girl-group superheroes, a la my old favorite show, Sailor Moon! I feel like most of today's stories feature one girl with exceptional powers standing alone (or with a boyfriend), and I'd like to see a story that explores the dynamics of a team of extraordinary girls working together to accomplish extraordinary things.
7. Magic at boarding school, as seen in Harry Potter, Gunnerkrigg Court, and A Great and Terrible Beauty. Maybe it's because I never went to boarding school myself, but I love the idea of a group of friends uncovering secrets away from parental supervision.
8. More books featuring characters in their early-to-mid-twenties! Sixteen was a magical age, but I don't see why twenty-six can't be, too. To say nothing of the story possibilities inherent in the college years. I like the idea of the New Adult genre, but so far the label seems like a way to add more sex to the stories, and there just doesn't seem to be much variety in the genres.
9. Kinda ties back to number 6, but I'd like to see more stories with strong friendships between female characters. There are a lot of books that would sadly fail the Bechdel test; either the female friend is more like an accessory than a character, or other girls in the book only serve to antagonize the female protagonist.
10. As a huge fan of Northern Exposure, I'd like to read a book of a similar tone set in Alaska. I've never been there but I'd love to visit, and what I've seen of the state in photos it looks beautiful.
1. Stories that explore ancient civilizations. Whether set in fantasy worlds or the real world, ancient cities left by a mysterious civilization have always really piqued my interest. Probably has to do with my love for Lovecraft, but it would be great to see a story featuring this topic that, while eerie, isn't straight-up horror.
2. More books featuring alternative paths/timelines. I loved Pivot Point, Before I Fall, and Life After Life, and I want more!
3. I'd like a literary retelling of my favorite fairy tale, The Snow Queen. And/or The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast.
4. More focus on plot, less focus on the love story! I don't mind love stories in books, but I hate when a book has a really intriguing plot that's forced to take a back seat to a trite romance. One of the reasons I loved The Hunger Games so much is because it managed to balance this so well.
5. More fantasy stories based in folklore from other cultures. Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix is a good example of this, and I'd love to see more.
6. I want to see more girl-group superheroes, a la my old favorite show, Sailor Moon! I feel like most of today's stories feature one girl with exceptional powers standing alone (or with a boyfriend), and I'd like to see a story that explores the dynamics of a team of extraordinary girls working together to accomplish extraordinary things.
7. Magic at boarding school, as seen in Harry Potter, Gunnerkrigg Court, and A Great and Terrible Beauty. Maybe it's because I never went to boarding school myself, but I love the idea of a group of friends uncovering secrets away from parental supervision.
8. More books featuring characters in their early-to-mid-twenties! Sixteen was a magical age, but I don't see why twenty-six can't be, too. To say nothing of the story possibilities inherent in the college years. I like the idea of the New Adult genre, but so far the label seems like a way to add more sex to the stories, and there just doesn't seem to be much variety in the genres.
9. Kinda ties back to number 6, but I'd like to see more stories with strong friendships between female characters. There are a lot of books that would sadly fail the Bechdel test; either the female friend is more like an accessory than a character, or other girls in the book only serve to antagonize the female protagonist.
10. As a huge fan of Northern Exposure, I'd like to read a book of a similar tone set in Alaska. I've never been there but I'd love to visit, and what I've seen of the state in photos it looks beautiful.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Book 7: The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
After that last book, I was looking for something light and happy, and The Rosie Project definitely fit the bill. This book tells the story of an Asperger's-y genetics professor and his logical, efficient quest to find the perfect wife. All of the characters were lovely, and viewing them through Don Tillman's eyes was an enjoyable perspective. The author manages to poke gentle fun at the idiosyncrasies of the protagonist without, to my mind at least, mocking him or reducing him to a stereotype. I laughed out loud in quite a few areas. Loved it!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Book 6: Trafficked by Sophie Hayes
Trafficked is the memoir of Sophie Hayes, a young British woman who was a victim of sex trafficking in Italy. Sophie travels to Italy to spend a vacation with a man she considers her best friend, he beats her, takes her passport, and forces her to work as a prostitute on the streets of Italy. The transition from her normal life to prostitution is terrifyingly sudden, basically overnight, and its unbelievable that this is done to her by a man she's been close friends with, albeit mainly over the phone, for four years.
Equally frightening are all the book reviewers who claim that Sophie must have enjoyed the abuse and sex work because she didn't run away when she had a chance.
I can't really find much about Sophie Hayes online that doesn't relate to the book or the Sophie Hayes Foundation, but there is this interview: http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/10/17/exp-freedom-project-sophie-hayes-human-trafficking.cnn.html.
Equally frightening are all the book reviewers who claim that Sophie must have enjoyed the abuse and sex work because she didn't run away when she had a chance.
I can't really find much about Sophie Hayes online that doesn't relate to the book or the Sophie Hayes Foundation, but there is this interview: http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/bestoftv/2013/10/17/exp-freedom-project-sophie-hayes-human-trafficking.cnn.html.
Book 5: Dinosaur Planet by Anne McCaffrey
I have to admit the main reason I picked up this book is because you really can't see this cover in a used bookstore and just leave it behind:
I have read a bit of Anne McCaffrey before, and old-school sci-fi is always fun to read, living in the future as we do (food synthesizers and analog tapes!) The book took a while to pick up steam, but I did enjoy the discussions of alien life, especially from Varian's excursions with the children. On the negative side, it seems like all of the really interesting questions go unanswered! Was the crew planted, Why were they on a previously explored world with no information, and why were the dinosaurs on an alien planet???
I have read a bit of Anne McCaffrey before, and old-school sci-fi is always fun to read, living in the future as we do (food synthesizers and analog tapes!) The book took a while to pick up steam, but I did enjoy the discussions of alien life, especially from Varian's excursions with the children. On the negative side, it seems like all of the really interesting questions go unanswered! Was the crew planted, Why were they on a previously explored world with no information, and why were the dinosaurs on an alien planet???
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Book 4: Lost Lands, Forgotten Realms by Bob Curran
A book on legendary places from folklore and literature. It featured the regulars like Atlantis, Lemuria, El Dorado, and the like, but I was surprised at how much was here that I hadn't heard of. The Green Children, for example, was an interesting bit of folklore about an underground city, and as a native Alabamian I found the information about Madoc, founder the legendary Welsh kingdom in Mobile, fascinating. I never knew that Irem, the dark city of Lovecraft's tales, had roots in Islamic folklore either. Lots of fun tidbits here, and the informative yet not-too-credulous tone of the author, an Irish historian, struck just the right chord for me. I only would've liked it better if it went a bit more in-depth on certain legends, but overall it's a nice quick overview for the casual reader.
Book 3: Adventure Time Volume 1 by Ryan North
Another graphic novel, this time a comic book adaptation of the awesome cartoon series Adventure Time. This was actually a Christmas gift for Nathan. Love the show; the comic was cute but didn't measure up. Not enough LSP!
Book 2: Gunnerkrigg Court Volume 3 by Thomas Siddell
The third volume of the webcomic series. I think it speaks volumes to the quality of this series that even though I can reread it for free anytime online, I'm eager to purchase the physical copy as well. The art is just unbelievably beautiful, and the story just has so many of my favorite plot elements: magic, robots, ghosts, folklore, a mysterious school filled with secrets... This volume in particular contains some of my favorite chapters of the series so far, especially delving more into the secrets of Jeanne.
Book 1: Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
I'm positive I would've liked this book better if I hadn't begun it with such high expectations. In a Regency-era world where creating glamors is considered womanly art on par with painting or performing on the pianoforte, clever and talented Jane Ellsworth feels overlooked when compared to her lovelier younger sister, Melody. The book really picks up on Jane Austen's "three or four families in a country village" mode of story telling and adds a bit of magic into the mix to spice things up (although brooding glamorist Mr. Vincent could almost pass for more of a Bronte creation there at the beginning). The author really nails the Regency voice, to my mind at least, and anachronistic narration in historical novels are normally really grating to me. On the downside, the character development fell a bit flat. I liked Jane and Melody and Mr. Vincent, but they and their understandings of one another seemed to change on a dime rather than grow gradually over the course of the book. The magic didn't have much impact on the plot, though I liked the system the author devised. All in all an enjoyable read, though I'm in no rush to try out the sequel.
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