9 out of 16 ain't bad?

Fall Into Reading Guidelines

Here's my list:

Kids and YA stuff:

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
   - Review
2. The Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution by Sally Gardner
   - Review
3. The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent - Review
4. Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale Basye
5. The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd - I placed a hold on this at my library at the very beginning of this challenge. I'm still 3rd in line to get the book.
   
6. Blood Captain (Vampirates 3) by Justin Somper
7. 
   A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
   - Review
8. The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
   - Review
9. Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
   - Review
10. Tennyson by Lesley M.M. Blume
    

Adult stuff:

1. Censoring an Iranian Love Story by Shahriyār Mandanīʹpūr
   
2. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
   
3. Dreaming in French by Megan McAndrew - I just picked this up from the library a couple days ago, after putting it on hold at the beginning of the challenge.
   
4. A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire - I've been told I'm getting this for Christmas, so I made a conscious decision not to read it now.
   
5. King Rat by China Mieville
6. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
7. The Secret of the Fire King by Kim Edwards - I've been reading this in between other things. I think I have 1-2 stories left to read from this collection.
   
8. Shelf Discovery: Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick (this should probably go up there, but I want 10 and 10) - still 3rd in line for this at the library...
   
9. All the issues of New Yorker that are stacked up on my coffee table to remind me that I just had to have a subscription. - didn't even make a dent...
   
10. War and Peace - I'm more than halfway through now instead of only having read a third. ;)
    

So, if I leave off the books that I had library hold issues with and my future Christmas present, I've finished 9 (almost 10!) out of 16 challenge items. That's more than half! Of course, if I count everything like I should, I've finished almost half, but we won't talk about that. If I had changed my list to accommodate my lack of self-control when it comes to my reading tastes, I'm sure my stats would be much better. :)

Most importantly, I had a lot of fun and gave myself permission to read books that I knew from the get-go I wouldn't review here. I'll definitely be back for Spring Into Reading in March!

The Heretic's Daughter

Kent, Kathleen. The Heretic's Daughter. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2008. Print.
[Book cover credit: librarything.com/work/5352636]


Booktalk:

"You're in here because you're low and ugly. I'm here because I'm my mother's daughter."

p297

Sarah Carrier was arrested for witchcraft, along with her mother and brothers and plenty of other people, during the Salem witch trials. She was arrested because her mother was thought to be the "head witch" in their town. Having a husband that everyone's afraid of, a mentally challenged son who managed to survive small pox, and a successful farm all being signs of serious dealings with the devil, of course.

Review:
On the one hand, this book has a lot going for it.

• Kent does a wonderful job at drawing out the connection between the mass hysteria around these trials and other things going on at the time such as small pox, Indian raids, slim harvests, etc.
• Kent is an actual descendent of Martha Carrier, Sarah's mother and one of the first women hanged during these trials. I don't know if this changed the way she wrote this book (how could it not), but it's pretty cool to think about while reading.
• If you have a lot of background knowledge about the Salem witch trials, this presentation should hold something new for you. At the same time, prior knowledge is not a requirement for enjoyment.

On the other hand, there are also some issues.

• The opening premise of the book is that Sarah Carrier Chapman, now an old lady, is writing her account of her mother's trial and the year leading up to it, for her granddaughter. The book opens with a letter explaining this. I kept waiting for this to be important or to meet the granddaughter (or even Sarah as an old lady), but it never happened. Just telling the story would have been a lot less complicated and the only change needed would be to leave that letter off in the beginning, that's how much disconnect there was between the letter and the story.
• Throughout the book Sarah's father's past is shrouded in mystery, but it is extremely important. His past is what keeps him from being among the accused. Her mother has a book detailing his past that Sarah isn't allowed to read until she comes of age. When she's finally an adult, she reads her mother's book then puts it in a trunk. It would have been nice if she had let us in on a little bit of what was in that book, especially if this is supposed to be an account for Sarah's granddaughter so that she can know her family's history.
• This is clearly a book about the Salem witch trials, but the whole first 100 pages or so are the build-up to the trials and a kind of explanation of Puritan life at that time. This build-up helped put the trials into historical context and definitely made it easier to see how things like small pox and fear of the locals left the Puritans desperate for someone to blame for their misfortunes, like witches, but I spent about half of the book feeling like I was waiting for the story to start.

Suffice it to say, I had mixed feelings on this one. It was a good read, but not a particularly satisfying one. The most interesting part, to me, was the changing relationship between Sarah and her mother. Unfortunately this is not the driving force of the novel, though it is an important part. I think if Kent had made this book either entirely about their relationship in the face of the trials or entirely about the circumstances that made the trials possible, The Heretic's Daughter would have been a great read. Trying to make it about both just didn't do it for me.

Book source: Philly Free Library

A Certain Slant of Light

Whitcomb, Laura. A Certain Slant of Light. Boston: Graphia-Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005.
[Book cover credit: librarything.com/work/73919]

Awards:
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2006)
ALA Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults (Death and Dying, 2009)

Booktalk:
Helen has been "haunting" writers for 130yrs. By haunting, I mean acting as their unnoticed muse. She's grown used to existing on the sidelines of the lives of her writers. She has a happy afterlife. Her current writer, Mr. Brown, teaches English during the day. It's in his class that everything changes. A student looks at her, hears her, knows that she's there. And now that Helen has someone to interact with rather than thanklessly inspire, she can't let him go. Even if she has to "borrow" a human body, like he has, to keep him.

Review:
I've been eyeing this book since it came out 4 years ago, but I'm not a big fan of ghost stories (read: I'm a big wimp when it comes to scary stuff with no explanations). I put off reading it. Happily for me, this book is not scary. At all. There are some suspenseful moments, but they have nothing to do with ghosts so much as crazy parenting. But I'll get to that in a minute.

Basically, James, who used to haunt the park, found an empty body. The soul had walked off when the body OD-ed, so James decided to hop in. Because he's still a ghost, he can see Helen. They've both been alone for decades and relish in each other's company. They fall in love. Unfortunately, all of these inconvenient physical urges come with James' borrowed body. He wants to satisfy them with Helen, but to do that she also needs a body. They find her an empty body at, where else, the mall. Now James, in Billy's body, and Helen, in Jenny's body, are free to go at it like rabbits.

There are of course, complications such as when Billy's brother, who is raising Billy while their mom is in a coma and their dad is in jail, catches James and Helen (Billy and Jenny?) in the act. Or when Jenny's mom, who is ruled by her EXTREMELY religious husband, finds bloody panties when it's not Jenny (Helen?)'s time of the month and assumes, correctly, that someone has popped Jenny's cherry. Or when Helen starts to get nauseous every time she smells food after having lots of condoms-weren't-invented-before-I-died sex. But these are small roadblocks in Helen and James' love story.

This is paranormal romance at its best. Everyday concerns are left by the wayside as the extraordinary circumstances that make this love story work take precedence. As long as that's what you're looking for, you'll love this. But if you want a good almost Halloween ghost story, look elsewhere.


Book source: Philly Free Library

Radiant Darkness

Whitman, Emily. Radiant Darkness: A Novel. New York: Greenwillow Books-HarperCollins Publishers, 2009. Print.

[Book cover credit: librarything.com/work/7838736]

Booktalk:

"Hideous Hades ripped her away

From her mother's arms that fateful day

When all she wanted to do was stay

Safe in her mother's arms, oh!"

p.247

This is how we've all come to know Persephone: as a victim, torn away from her mother, Demeter, by the evil Hades. But that is not at all how this story really happened. Persephone, knowing that her mother would not approve, declined to tell anyone that she was leaving her home to marry her boyfriend, so her mother, of course, thinks she was kidnapped, ravaged, and now has Stockholm syndrome. It sounds like a plot line from Law and Order: SVU, right? Except that none of the parents on SVU are gods or goddesses, so their fear for their children or anger at each other doesn't almost kill everyone on the planet.

Review:

In the original Persephone myth, a lot of things happen to her. She doesn't really do anything. She doesn't even seem to have a personality. She's just Demeter's daughter and/or Hades' wife. The Persephone that Whitman introduces to us, however, is full of personality and takes control of her life both before and after she goes (note that I didn't say "is taken") to the Underworld. She's also really smitten with Hades. It's her mother's inability to let Persephone grow up and her whole "no males anywhere near anyone remotly associated with me" policy that causes problems.

Since this is a retelling of the myth of Persephone, other readers have complained that this book becomes predictable; we all (theoretically) know how the story is going to end. As I've said before, I know very little about Greek mythology, so I did not have this complaint while reading. I think even readers who already know a lot about Persephone, her mother Demeter, or Hades can still enjoy Radiant Darkness. There is enough that is different from the original myth (I looked it up after reading this book, and the author also gives a pretty good summary of the original in her note at the end) to keep readers interested, if they're the type of reader that isn't looking for suspense.

And once again, this book should be a hit with paranormal romance fans, though I would never categorize it that way.

Book source: Philly Free Library

The Dust of 100 Dogs

King, A.S. The Dust of 100 Dogs. Woodbury, Minn.: Flux-Llewellyn Publications, 2009. Print.[Book cover credit: librarything.com/work/6349011]
Awards:
Spring 2009 Indie Next List pick for Teens

Booktalk:
Saffron is wise beyond her years, but not in the kooky Dakota Fanning way that adults think when they say that. The ability to appear really serious, the ability to handle "mature situations," and the cunning to look young and sweet while you do it. Saffron has all that, but she also has memories dating back to the 1600s when she, then Emer, was a pirate captain whose trademark was popping out Spanish eyeballs. Back then she was cursed with the Dust of 100 Dogs to be reincarnated 101 times and to keep her memories from each life. The 1st 100 reincarnations she was a dog (as you may have guessed from the name of the curse/book). Now, in her 102 life, she can finally enjoy human existence again, if you can call living in Hollow Ford, PA in the swingin' 70s a "human existence." Finally escaped from life on 4 legs, Saffron (Emer) just needs to escape low income suburbia so she can reclaim what's hers. Buried treasure, of course. Somewhere in the Caribbean.

Review:
I didn't really know how to categorize this book until I read the author interview at the end with Leila of bookshelves of doom. In the interview the author describes her book as magical realism, and that is so what this is! I had to reach back into my memories of my 9th grade World Literature class (Mr. Driscoll, you still rock and I promise to email you back real soon) to remember what magical realism really is. It is, from my memory and the author interview, when something a bit magic/supernatural/fantastical happens in the real world. It's not fantasy because there isn't a whole new world created and most of what happens could really happen. There are just a few magical moments in the midst of normalcy, like a guy who grows angel wings or candy that makes you a little sad.

Saffron's memory of her past lives is like that. She doesn't have any superpowers, she didn't even have any when she was a pirate captain. And no one eats people parts or turns into anything fancy under a full moon. To make up for this lack of the supernatural, we get little tidbits from Saffron's past lives as dogs. The whole book, which alternates between Emer's life from childhood to when she is cursed and Saffron's life in Hollow Ford and treasure hunting, is peppered with Dog Tips. These tips give little glimpses into the lives of dogs raised to be in dog fights, strays, the spoiled little dogs that get carried around in purses, and the times in history in which Saffron lived these lives.

The historical parts of this novel are well-researched, and it shows. Emer's life in Ireland is richly described and detailed, as is her life in the Caribbean. This book does not, however, read like historical fiction. It is not bogged down with description (not that historical fiction must be); little details are dropped into the narrative in a way that doesn't distract from the story, which remains high action no matter what time period it is portraying. The only time period that fell a little short for me was Saffron's current life. It felt a little too present day to be the 70s. The only way I could tell that Saffron wasn't in Hollow Ford yesterday is that no one had a cell phone, but when you're talking about really poor people who are robbed on a general basis by a tweaker family member, the lack of cell phones could still be current. This didn't detract from the story AT ALL for me. I simply forgot when Saffron was supposed to be.

The Dust of 100 Dogs was a really unique book and a really fun read. I think it will be a hit with the millions of readers of paranormal romance out there, even though it's not really a romance and it's not really paranormal, even though the main character has been reincarnated 101 times.I look forward to seeing what A.S. King will come up with for young adults in the future.


Book source: Philly Free Library

The Red Necklace

Gardner, Sally. The Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution. New York: Dial Books, 2008. Print.
[Book Covers Credit: librarything.com/work/4039836]

Awards:
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2009)

Booktalk:

Then, without thinking, [Topolain] inquired, "Forgive me for asking, but haven't we met before? I never forget a face and yours is one that--" He stopped, realizing too late that his tongue had run away with itself. He knew it was a fatal mistake.

Kalliovski's eyes narrowed to scrutinize the man in front of him. He turned to look at the dwarf, a spark of recognition showing on his face. Only then did the poor magician remember when and where he had last seen the count. Under his blotched white makeup all the color drained from his face. The count smiled inwardly.

He turned on his red heels and left the room. Tetu and Topolain listened to his footsteps retreat into the distance. They were well and truly trapped.

"What have I done?" said Topolain.

p.28

Yann, a young gypsy boy, can read minds and throw his voice. He works in a magic act with Topolain and Tetu, two gypsy men who tangled with the wrong person a long time ago. When that past comes back to haunt them, they know that their lives are over. But France is in turmoil as the peasants for whom these three perform in the theatres rage against the wealthy elite, who call the magicians to their homes to perform at their endless parties. Can these three gypsies, masters of blending in all, get lost in the shuffle and leave their past behind?

Review:
Sally Gardner is awesome. This book is full of action, magic, budding romance, evil, and facts about the French Revolution that you probably didn't know; I know I didn't. And the best part? It's not about Marie Antoinette. She's mentioned, of course, but just that. In The Red Necklace Gardner shows readers how the French Revolution affected rich people besides the queen, peasants who had everything to gain from the Revolution, and the terrified people in between: those who had served, helped, or worked for the aristocracy a bit too long to look good in the eyes of the Revolutionaries but did not have the finances themselves to flee to England. The back matter explains the political and financial triggers for the French Revolution. She even manages to make sure that this back matter doesn't read like a history book.

My only real problem with this book is the pretty, pretty cover on the American edition:


It's hard for me to complain because, to be honest, I would never have picked up this book if I had only seen the cover at the very top of this post. It looks too History Channel or something. I picked up this book because of the pretty girl in a fancy dress who is so obviously being beheaded, because that's what pretty girls in fancy dresses (especially blonde ones who could be mistaken for Marie Antoinette from behind) did during the French Revolution. I thought I was going to read a story about her.

That girl is not in this story. I didn't miss her, but she's why I picked up the book. I'm sure that girl on the cover is why a lot of people will pick up this book. I don't think they'll be disappointed either. I'm more worried about the readers who might really enjoy Yann's story and all of the little details about how those not in the aristocracy (like that girl obviously is) experienced the French Revolution, but won't pick up this book because of that girl on the cover.

This cover is just one more in the long line of "girls in period dresses" covers that have been gracing the shelves lately, but the story in the pages could be a "boy" book. I hate that term, because I think that the idea that boys can only read books about boys while girls can read books about anyone is ridiculous. But if I can't even get my girlfriend to read this book (even though she was really interested in it after reading my booktalk) because it's too girly looking, what chance is there that a teenage boy will pick it up voluntarily?

In conclusion: Great book. Misleading cover. Potential audience lost.


Book source: Philly Free

The Graveyard Book

Gaiman, Neil. Ills. Dave McKean. The Graveyard Book. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2008.
[Book cover credit: librarything.com/work/4479754]

Awards:
A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book (2008)
Cybils Award, Fantasy and Science Fiction - Elementary/Middle Grade (2008)
ALA Best Books for Young Adults (2009)
British Fantasy Award Nominee - August Derleth Fantasy Award (2009)
Hugo, Novel (2009)
Newberry Medal (2009)
World Fantasy Award Nominee, Novel (2009)
and more...

Booktalk:

You might think - and if you did, you would be right - that Mr. Owens should not have taken on so at seeing a ghost, given that Mr. and Mrs. Owens were themselves dead and had been for a few hundred years now, and given that the entirety of their social life, or very nearly, was spent with those who were also dead. But there was a difference between the folk of the graveyard and this: a raw, flickering, startling shape the grey color of television static, all panic and naked emotion which flooded the Owenses as if it was their own. Three figures, two large, one smaller, but only one of them was in focus, was more than an outline or a shimmer. And the figure said, My baby! He is trying to harm my baby!

p.15

And so Mr. and Mrs. Owens take it upon themselves to raise a living baby and protect him from the man Jack who murdered the rest of his family. Nobody Owens, as he is renamed, or Bod, as he comes to be known, grows up in the graveyard, learning things like how to Fade, Haunt, and Dreamwalk with ghosts and other non-living creatures for company.

But the man Jack is still looking for him. Bod should have died with the rest of his family, and the man Jack wants to make sure that he does.

Review:
I hadn't been putting off reading this book, per se, but it certainly was never at the top of my reading list, even though I've been wanting to read it since it came out. Then I read the Newberry acceptance speech Gaiman gave at the ALA conference. (It is available in the late summer issues of both Horn Book and Children and Libraries.) I don't know how, but Ihad forgotten just how fun Gaiman's writing is to read. He says in his speech that this book took him twenty years to write. It shows. I'm sure there are faults to be found in The Graveyard Book, as there are in any book, but I didn't find any.

For being set in a graveyard and opening with a triple murder, this book is a lighthearted story. It is told rather episodically, to span Bod's life from infancy to when he is 15 years old. As so much of his life is unchangeable, only the exciting bits need to be shared, such as his first living friend and a tutor who is also a Hound of God. Each chapter could almost be its own short story, with shared characters between them. Because of this, and because the language is just begging for it, The Graveyard Book would make for a wonderful read aloud, spread across weeks in a classroom, library, or bedtime setting.

This was a quick and enjoyable read. It's not a laugh-out-loud book, but it's funny in places. It's also really sad in places and really happy in others. I liked it a lot.


Book source: Philly Free Library

Fall Into Reading

Fall Into Reading Guidelines

Where to Sign Up

Here's what I want to read this fall:

Kids and YA stuff:

1. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
   - Review
2. The Red Necklace: A Story of the French Revolution by Sally Gardner
   - Review
3. The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent - Review
4. Heck: Where the Bad Kids Go by Dale Basye
5. The Vast Fields of Ordinary by Nick Burd
6. Blood Captain (Vampirates 3) by Justin Somper
7. Black Heart (Vampirates 4) by Justin Somper
   - switch to:
   A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb
   - Review
8. The Dust of 100 Dogs by A.S. King
   - Review
9. Radiant Darkness by Emily Whitman
   - Review
10. Tennyson by Lesley M.M. Blume
    

Adult stuff:

1. Censoring an Iranian Love Story by Shahriyār Mandanīʹpūr
   
2. Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
   
3. Dreaming in French by Megan McAndrew
4. A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire
5. King Rat by China Mieville
6. Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos
7. The Secret of the Fire King by Kim Edwards
8. Shelf Discovery: Teen Classics We Never Stopped Reading by Lizzie Skurnick (this should probably go up there, but I want 10 and 10)
9. All the issues of New Yorker that are stacked up on my coffee table to remind me that I just had to have a subscription.
10. Along the same lines, I'd really like to finish War and Peace, which I've been reading since June...

This is basically my holds list at the library with a few extras from around the house thrown in. Hopefully it'll be enough that this is kind of a challenge but will leave me enough wiggle room for random stuff that comes along. I'll add links to the ones I review as I get to them.