Laura Andersen's Blog, page 7
May 4, 2013
Best Books of the First Quarter
Because let's face it . . . three months [whoops, make that four months now!] have gone by and what are the chances I'm going to catch up with all my book reviews? So I will cheat a bit and simply give you my favorite books from January, February, and March.
LAST OF THE PLANTAGENETS/Thomas Costain
A history of the family that ruled England from the mid-12th century to the death of Richard III on Bosworth Field in 1485. Infant rulers, crazy kings, ambitious queen mothers, beautiful royalty and secret weddings and enough conspiracy for twenty Bond films–not to mention the Wars of the Roses–this was a great, readable history of a fascinating royal family.
FLAME OF SEVENWATERS/Juliet Marillier
Marillier is easily one of my favorite fantasy writers, particularly her Sevenwaters books set in Ireland in about the 6th century. Maeve was badly burned as a child at Sevenwaters and, after ten years away, has come home somewhat against her will. But men are vanishing in the forest, victims of the Fey prince who wants his son to come home to the Otherworld--a son who is now married to Maeve's sister. Maeve must put aside her doubts about her own abilities to protect her brother and her family. Start with DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST if you're looking for a good epic historical fantasy.
THRONE OF GLASS/Sarah Maass
Wonderful YA debut fantasy about an assassin who is plucked from prison to compete in a tournament to the death in which the winner will become the personal assassin to the king. The same king who imprisoned her. But what does Celaena have to lose? The crown prince provokes her at every turn, the captain of the guard trains her for the competition, but the true danger lies in the underground maze of the castle where something evil has been unleashed. In a kingdom that denies magic, how is Celaena to win?
SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES/Alan Bradley
I adore Bradley's pre-teen sleuth, Flavia de Luce, who uses her unique mind to solve local crimes in 1950's England. This particular crime involves a lost saint beneath the church and a relic that could be the key to restoring her family's fortune--or at least ensuring that they don't have to sell their home. As the youngest sister, Flavia has dreams of being the hero. But then, in one innocent paragraph at the end of this novel, everything changes. Start with SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE to fully enjoy Flavia de Luce and her chemistry-sharpened wit tempered by a child's not always clear understanding.
FLIGHT OF GEMMA HARDY/Margot Livesey
A re-telling of JANE EYRE, Gemma Hardy is orphaned at a young age in Iceland and brought by her Scots uncle to live with his family. The basic structure is the same: unloved orphan, nasty aunt and cousins, unpleasant school, a job teaching a young girl in a remote manor (this time in the Orkneys), and an older and rather embittered man. But Livesey creates her own characters and world and so I never felt as though I could entirely trust what would happen next.
QUIET/Susan Cain
The subtitle is "The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking". Read it if you're an introvert. Read it if someone you love is an introvert. Read it simply to understand a section of the populace that is, by definition, quiet and thus often overlooked. I knew I loved this book from the front, where the author quotes Gandhi: "There's a word for those who are locked in their own minds: Thinkers."
ZOE'S TALE/John Scalzi
Scalzi continues to write stories set in the universe of OLD MAN'S WAR, but this is perhaps my favorite. It retells the events of book three in the cycle, THE LAST COLONY, from the POV of Zoe, adopted daughter to the colony leaders John and Jane Sagan. Considering that Zoe played a vital role in the resolution of THE LAST COLONY, it was particularly good to see how all that came about. But most affecting was Zoe herself--an intelligent teenager with attitude and friends and courage and grief.
CLOCKWORK PRINCESS/Cassandra Clare
I couldn't leave out the conclusion to Clare's The Infernal Devices series. The Shadowhunters of Victorian London are in grave danger from Mortmain and his clockwork automatons. Tessa Gray is the object of Mortmain's plots, but her largest grief is her love for best friends Will and Jem. Can she give up one for the other? What would she do to save either or both of them? And how will her own life as an immortal affect her decisions? Begin with CLOCKWORK ANGEL, continue with CLOCKWORK PRINCE, and read on to this book and its unique and heartbreaking and powerful conclusion.
LAST OF THE PLANTAGENETS/Thomas Costain
A history of the family that ruled England from the mid-12th century to the death of Richard III on Bosworth Field in 1485. Infant rulers, crazy kings, ambitious queen mothers, beautiful royalty and secret weddings and enough conspiracy for twenty Bond films–not to mention the Wars of the Roses–this was a great, readable history of a fascinating royal family.
FLAME OF SEVENWATERS/Juliet Marillier
Marillier is easily one of my favorite fantasy writers, particularly her Sevenwaters books set in Ireland in about the 6th century. Maeve was badly burned as a child at Sevenwaters and, after ten years away, has come home somewhat against her will. But men are vanishing in the forest, victims of the Fey prince who wants his son to come home to the Otherworld--a son who is now married to Maeve's sister. Maeve must put aside her doubts about her own abilities to protect her brother and her family. Start with DAUGHTER OF THE FOREST if you're looking for a good epic historical fantasy.
THRONE OF GLASS/Sarah Maass
Wonderful YA debut fantasy about an assassin who is plucked from prison to compete in a tournament to the death in which the winner will become the personal assassin to the king. The same king who imprisoned her. But what does Celaena have to lose? The crown prince provokes her at every turn, the captain of the guard trains her for the competition, but the true danger lies in the underground maze of the castle where something evil has been unleashed. In a kingdom that denies magic, how is Celaena to win?
SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES/Alan Bradley
I adore Bradley's pre-teen sleuth, Flavia de Luce, who uses her unique mind to solve local crimes in 1950's England. This particular crime involves a lost saint beneath the church and a relic that could be the key to restoring her family's fortune--or at least ensuring that they don't have to sell their home. As the youngest sister, Flavia has dreams of being the hero. But then, in one innocent paragraph at the end of this novel, everything changes. Start with SWEETNESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PIE to fully enjoy Flavia de Luce and her chemistry-sharpened wit tempered by a child's not always clear understanding.
FLIGHT OF GEMMA HARDY/Margot Livesey
A re-telling of JANE EYRE, Gemma Hardy is orphaned at a young age in Iceland and brought by her Scots uncle to live with his family. The basic structure is the same: unloved orphan, nasty aunt and cousins, unpleasant school, a job teaching a young girl in a remote manor (this time in the Orkneys), and an older and rather embittered man. But Livesey creates her own characters and world and so I never felt as though I could entirely trust what would happen next.
QUIET/Susan Cain
The subtitle is "The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking". Read it if you're an introvert. Read it if someone you love is an introvert. Read it simply to understand a section of the populace that is, by definition, quiet and thus often overlooked. I knew I loved this book from the front, where the author quotes Gandhi: "There's a word for those who are locked in their own minds: Thinkers."
ZOE'S TALE/John Scalzi
Scalzi continues to write stories set in the universe of OLD MAN'S WAR, but this is perhaps my favorite. It retells the events of book three in the cycle, THE LAST COLONY, from the POV of Zoe, adopted daughter to the colony leaders John and Jane Sagan. Considering that Zoe played a vital role in the resolution of THE LAST COLONY, it was particularly good to see how all that came about. But most affecting was Zoe herself--an intelligent teenager with attitude and friends and courage and grief.
CLOCKWORK PRINCESS/Cassandra Clare
I couldn't leave out the conclusion to Clare's The Infernal Devices series. The Shadowhunters of Victorian London are in grave danger from Mortmain and his clockwork automatons. Tessa Gray is the object of Mortmain's plots, but her largest grief is her love for best friends Will and Jem. Can she give up one for the other? What would she do to save either or both of them? And how will her own life as an immortal affect her decisions? Begin with CLOCKWORK ANGEL, continue with CLOCKWORK PRINCE, and read on to this book and its unique and heartbreaking and powerful conclusion.
May 1, 2013
Day 25: Favorite Book I Read in SchoolBarchester Towers b...
Day 25: Favorite Book I Read in School
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Read this in my Victorian novels class in college and fell in love with Trollope's detailed portraits of clerical life and society. Funny, sharp, opinionated characters in this satire of church politics. If you want to wallow in a big, fat Victorian novel, Trollope is a good place to start.
Day 26: A Book that Changed My Opinion on Something
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
This didn't so much change an opinion as bestow one on me. A most decided opinion about the wonders of the Irish religious houses in the Middle Ages who nearly singlehandedly preserved what we retain of Western civilization by copying manuscripts that were rapidly being destroyed on the continent. If you have the slightest interest in books or history, run to read this one.
Day 27: The Most Surprising Plot Twist
Seriously? A question designed to ruin a book's experience for someone who hasn't read it? I guess I'll mention a classic: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. And that's all I have to say on the matter.
Day 28: Favorite Title
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Front Snogging by Louise Rennison
A sort of YA Bridget Jones' Diary, this book has lines so funny that, while listening on audiobook in the car, I very nearly crashed because I couldn't see through the tears of hysterical laughter streaming down my face.
Day 29: A Book Everyone Hates But I Like
I'm pretty sure we covered this one with Twilight :)
Day 30: Favorite Book
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
I find it most difficult to explain the books that mean the most to me, because they become more than a story happening somewhere else--they become entwined with my own experiences and emotions. The story of a failed first contact mission to an alien planet in the mid-21st century, The Sparrow is dark and tragic and beautiful and full of love for God and His creations and the nature of faith and despair. It's not for everyone. But it is for me, from the very first page and the chilling foreboding of the single line: "They meant no harm."
Thank you for those who followed along and endured the fitful nature of my postings. And a great thanks for Dolorosa on Live Journal, where I found the 30 Day Book Meme. If you want to see the topics in one place, here's the link.
Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope
Read this in my Victorian novels class in college and fell in love with Trollope's detailed portraits of clerical life and society. Funny, sharp, opinionated characters in this satire of church politics. If you want to wallow in a big, fat Victorian novel, Trollope is a good place to start.
Day 26: A Book that Changed My Opinion on Something
How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
This didn't so much change an opinion as bestow one on me. A most decided opinion about the wonders of the Irish religious houses in the Middle Ages who nearly singlehandedly preserved what we retain of Western civilization by copying manuscripts that were rapidly being destroyed on the continent. If you have the slightest interest in books or history, run to read this one.
Day 27: The Most Surprising Plot Twist
Seriously? A question designed to ruin a book's experience for someone who hasn't read it? I guess I'll mention a classic: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. And that's all I have to say on the matter.
Day 28: Favorite Title
Angus, Thongs, and Full-Front Snogging by Louise Rennison
A sort of YA Bridget Jones' Diary, this book has lines so funny that, while listening on audiobook in the car, I very nearly crashed because I couldn't see through the tears of hysterical laughter streaming down my face.
Day 29: A Book Everyone Hates But I Like
I'm pretty sure we covered this one with Twilight :)
Day 30: Favorite Book
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
I find it most difficult to explain the books that mean the most to me, because they become more than a story happening somewhere else--they become entwined with my own experiences and emotions. The story of a failed first contact mission to an alien planet in the mid-21st century, The Sparrow is dark and tragic and beautiful and full of love for God and His creations and the nature of faith and despair. It's not for everyone. But it is for me, from the very first page and the chilling foreboding of the single line: "They meant no harm."
Thank you for those who followed along and endured the fitful nature of my postings. And a great thanks for Dolorosa on Live Journal, where I found the 30 Day Book Meme. If you want to see the topics in one place, here's the link.
April 25, 2013
30 Days of Books
Day 21: Favorite Book from my Childhood
Young Childhood: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
I checked these out of the library over and over. I loved how Mrs. Piggle Wiggle solved the problems of difficult children with creativity and humor. With her upside down house and love of children, she was a woman I always wanted to meet.
Slightly Older Childhood: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
This puzzle mystery was my 6th-grade obsession. To this day I can tell you where it was located in my elementary school library. It's about a dead man, a will, an apartment building full of suspects and/or possible heirs, a mad bomber, and an amazing protagonist named Turtle. Love, love, love this book. And it holds up well as an adult.
Day 22: Book I'm Currently Reading
Check the side of my blog :) I always read more than one book at a time. I just started last night Delia's Shadow by Jamie Lee Moyer, a ghost story/mystery/historical set in San Francisco in 1915. Atmospheric and lovely . . . but you can't read it until October. (I got an advanced copy from my agent, who is also Jamie's agent.)
Day 23: My Guilty Pleasure
Trashy magazines
People, Entertainment Weekly (which are more downmarket rather than truly trashy . . . when I'm really tired and traveling, you may find me with a copy of Us.)
Day 24: A Book I Wish More People Would Read
The Bible
Not for spiritual reasons, but simply to have a cultural reference that is fast disappearing in today's society. So much of western literature has roots in the stories of the Bible. And for the sake of extraordinary language, read the King James version. It was written just after Shakespeare's day and the poetry is exquisite.
Young Childhood: Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald
I checked these out of the library over and over. I loved how Mrs. Piggle Wiggle solved the problems of difficult children with creativity and humor. With her upside down house and love of children, she was a woman I always wanted to meet.
Slightly Older Childhood: The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
This puzzle mystery was my 6th-grade obsession. To this day I can tell you where it was located in my elementary school library. It's about a dead man, a will, an apartment building full of suspects and/or possible heirs, a mad bomber, and an amazing protagonist named Turtle. Love, love, love this book. And it holds up well as an adult.
Day 22: Book I'm Currently Reading
Check the side of my blog :) I always read more than one book at a time. I just started last night Delia's Shadow by Jamie Lee Moyer, a ghost story/mystery/historical set in San Francisco in 1915. Atmospheric and lovely . . . but you can't read it until October. (I got an advanced copy from my agent, who is also Jamie's agent.)
Day 23: My Guilty Pleasure
Trashy magazines
People, Entertainment Weekly (which are more downmarket rather than truly trashy . . . when I'm really tired and traveling, you may find me with a copy of Us.)
Day 24: A Book I Wish More People Would Read
The Bible
Not for spiritual reasons, but simply to have a cultural reference that is fast disappearing in today's society. So much of western literature has roots in the stories of the Bible. And for the sake of extraordinary language, read the King James version. It was written just after Shakespeare's day and the poetry is exquisite.
April 24, 2013
Earth Day! Or as we say in our house--Happy Anniversary :)
Is anyone surprised that I'm posting this after April 22? Didn't think so. The title, at least, was composed on that day. Just consider me your own personal excuse for lowering the bar of expectations :)
But, late or not, how could I not post these pictures of such an adorably young couple? (Why yes, we did get married when we were twelve. (Not really. We were twenty-three.))
Twenty-one years it's been. Hard to believe, except for that almost-20-year-old son in college and three teens or almost teens at home. I don't feel that old . . . but that's the best thing about being married to a boy I met when I was seventeen–he remembers all those years. His view of me (I hope) is softened by the memories of youth and sweetened by shared experience.
And my view of him? Well, reader, I married him. And haven't wished it undone once.
April 20, 2013
A Week of Books in a Day
What have we learned from this 30 Days of Books attempt? That I am not cut out for blogging every day. I'm barely cut out for tweeting every day, and Twitter only requires 140 characters!
Sigh.
Day 15: Favorite Male Character
Francis Crawford of Lymond/The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy L. Dunnett
Again, so many from whom to choose :) It's Francis today because he is, for me, a model of an enigmatic, complicated character who, over the course of six books, is maddening and frustrating and cool-headed and brilliant and difficult. He's a Scotsman at the time of Tudor plots and religious quarrels, a soldier and statesman, a brother who keeps his family at more than arms' length and a lover who keeps his mind and heart locked away–until he's stricken by a love he never saw coming. This is historical fiction at its finest, a series I re-read in order to break my heart and broaden my mind and wring my soul with empathy.
Day 16: Favorite Female Character
Harriet Vane/The Peter Wimsey mystery novels by Dorothy L. Sayers
(Clearly I'm partial to the name Dorothy. Perhaps because it's my mom's.) How could I not adore Harriet Vane? She's a mystery writer herself, a graduate of an Oxford women's college, who meets the titled and wealthy Peter Wimsey when he investigates the murder for which she is being tried for her life. Set in the 1930's, Harriet is independent, stubborn, clever, and a dedicated writer, who is afraid to settle for being merely a wife. Fortunately, Peter is no ordinary British gentleman and of course it all comes right in the end.
Day 17: Favorite Quote
Can I put an 's' on the end of quote? At least I'll stick to one book. Er, one series: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Frodo: “I wish Bilbo had killed him. He deserved death.” Gandalf: “And many who die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment.”
Eowyn and Aragorn: “Shall I always be chosen?” she said bitterly. “Shall I always be left behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house while they win renown, and find food and beds when they return?” “A time may come soon,” said he, “when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.”
Gandalf to Pippin: “End? The journey does not end here. Death is but another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world parts, and all turns to silver glass—and then you see it. White shores, and beyond . . . a far green country under a swift sunrise.”
Day 18: First Chapter Book I Can Remember Reading
Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
How could I not wish to be Laura Ingalls? I had the name, I had the brown hair that could be braided, I had the childish impression that the past was all open prairies and lovely horses. Loved, loved, loved these and still have vivid memories of certain scenes: the family gathering for the maple syrup gathering and dancing into the night; the silent Indians at their door; twisting straw into sticks to burn during the awful winter; Almanzo's beautiful horses.
Day 19: Favorite Book Turned into a Movie
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
In my opinion, a perfect example of loving both the books and the films, no matter the differences between them. I remember grasping my husband's hand in Return of the King when Gandalf and Pippin ride up through the streets of Minas Tirith--I felt as though I'd been waiting all my life to see Minas Tirith brought to life.
Day 20: Book That Makes Me Laugh Out Loud
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
I follow Sarah on Twitter and she makes me laugh out loud, so why wouldn't her novels? I have been waiting to read Unspoken until I felt I needed it--after this awful week in Boston, last night was the time. Kami is a perfect YA heroine: independent, stubborn, protective, sentimental, and very, very funny. Just behold some of these quotes:
"Kami'd always retold her fairy tales to make the fair maidens braver and more self-sufficient, but she had never had any real objection to the handsome prince.”
“The Lynburns built this town on their blood and bones."
"That was their first mistake," Jared said. "They should've built a city on rock and roll.”
“Jared glared. Some people, Kami knew, had bedroom eyes. She was saddened to have to admit that Jared had filthy alleyway eyes.”
"If I wasn't going to be a world-famous journalist and if I didn't have such respect for truth and justice, I could be an amazing master criminal.”
Sigh.
Day 15: Favorite Male Character
Francis Crawford of Lymond/The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy L. Dunnett
Again, so many from whom to choose :) It's Francis today because he is, for me, a model of an enigmatic, complicated character who, over the course of six books, is maddening and frustrating and cool-headed and brilliant and difficult. He's a Scotsman at the time of Tudor plots and religious quarrels, a soldier and statesman, a brother who keeps his family at more than arms' length and a lover who keeps his mind and heart locked away–until he's stricken by a love he never saw coming. This is historical fiction at its finest, a series I re-read in order to break my heart and broaden my mind and wring my soul with empathy.
Day 16: Favorite Female Character
Harriet Vane/The Peter Wimsey mystery novels by Dorothy L. Sayers
(Clearly I'm partial to the name Dorothy. Perhaps because it's my mom's.) How could I not adore Harriet Vane? She's a mystery writer herself, a graduate of an Oxford women's college, who meets the titled and wealthy Peter Wimsey when he investigates the murder for which she is being tried for her life. Set in the 1930's, Harriet is independent, stubborn, clever, and a dedicated writer, who is afraid to settle for being merely a wife. Fortunately, Peter is no ordinary British gentleman and of course it all comes right in the end.
Day 17: Favorite Quote
Can I put an 's' on the end of quote? At least I'll stick to one book. Er, one series: Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
Frodo: “I wish Bilbo had killed him. He deserved death.” Gandalf: “And many who die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death and judgment.”
Eowyn and Aragorn: “Shall I always be chosen?” she said bitterly. “Shall I always be left behind when the Riders depart, to mind the house while they win renown, and find food and beds when they return?” “A time may come soon,” said he, “when none will return. Then there will be need of valour without renown, for none shall remember the deeds that are done in the last defence of your homes. Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are unpraised.”
Gandalf to Pippin: “End? The journey does not end here. Death is but another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of this world parts, and all turns to silver glass—and then you see it. White shores, and beyond . . . a far green country under a swift sunrise.”
Day 18: First Chapter Book I Can Remember Reading
Little House on the Prairie books by Laura Ingalls Wilder
How could I not wish to be Laura Ingalls? I had the name, I had the brown hair that could be braided, I had the childish impression that the past was all open prairies and lovely horses. Loved, loved, loved these and still have vivid memories of certain scenes: the family gathering for the maple syrup gathering and dancing into the night; the silent Indians at their door; twisting straw into sticks to burn during the awful winter; Almanzo's beautiful horses.
Day 19: Favorite Book Turned into a Movie
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
In my opinion, a perfect example of loving both the books and the films, no matter the differences between them. I remember grasping my husband's hand in Return of the King when Gandalf and Pippin ride up through the streets of Minas Tirith--I felt as though I'd been waiting all my life to see Minas Tirith brought to life.
Day 20: Book That Makes Me Laugh Out Loud
Unspoken by Sarah Rees Brennan
I follow Sarah on Twitter and she makes me laugh out loud, so why wouldn't her novels? I have been waiting to read Unspoken until I felt I needed it--after this awful week in Boston, last night was the time. Kami is a perfect YA heroine: independent, stubborn, protective, sentimental, and very, very funny. Just behold some of these quotes:
"Kami'd always retold her fairy tales to make the fair maidens braver and more self-sufficient, but she had never had any real objection to the handsome prince.”
“The Lynburns built this town on their blood and bones."
"That was their first mistake," Jared said. "They should've built a city on rock and roll.”
“Jared glared. Some people, Kami knew, had bedroom eyes. She was saddened to have to admit that Jared had filthy alleyway eyes.”
"If I wasn't going to be a world-famous journalist and if I didn't have such respect for truth and justice, I could be an amazing master criminal.”
April 13, 2013
Days 10-13 . . .
In my defense, finished copy edits this week. And wrote a paragraph for Random House's 2014 spring catalog about the book I'm currently writing. And wrote in the book I'm currently writing. And . . . nope, that's pretty much it.
Day 10: Favorite Classic
VILLETTE by Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte's final novel features Lucy Snowe, an Englishwoman who comes to Europe to teach. There she witnesses firsthand the love between one of her students and an English doctor, and her own heart is stirred by the enigmatic, conflicted Catholic Paul Emanuel. A deeply felt, passionately wrought story of independence and love and religion. Now I have to fight the desire to pull it out and read it again :)
Day 11: A Book I Hated
I don't prattle on about 'books I hate.' Because reading is such a subjective experience and readers bring so much of their own experiences and feelings and prejudices to any given book that who's to say that something I hate might not be deeply loved by someone else? Maybe even someone I like and respect? So call me coward, but I will do no more than admit that William Faulkner does not work for me.
Day 12: A Book I Used to Love But Don't Now
That's not the same as 'books I hate', plus I'm in my forties now so surely some of the books I've read much earlier in my life don't resonate the same these days. However . . . see that phrase about 'in my forties now'? Seems my memory has gone the way of my slender waist and I can't actually bring to mind anything that fits. I keep a reading log, including marking books I've re-read, but nothing is jumping out at me. Sigh. Good thing I was so many days behind so you get at least one or two titles out of today.
Day 13: Favorite Writer
Ha!!! I just had to answer this question for a interview I did with the Romantic Times, only they asked me for five favorites. And even then it took an agonizingly long time to answer. So I'm simply grabbing one name out of three or four or twelve I could contribute and saying: Tana French.
French writes the Dublin Murder Squad books, but this isn't a series in the traditional sense. Each of the four books has featured a different first-person POV character, each of them attached in some way to the Dublin Murder Squad, and each book is a separate dense psychological masterpiece not only about the specific crime being investigated but about the investigating detective's own life and psyche. They're not simple, and they're often bleak, but there remains a beauty to her writing and a generosity to her complex characters that leaves me breathless.
And just to make up for my laziness (and to ensure I don't forget tomorrow!) I'll jump one day ahead and give you:
Day 14: Favorite Book by my Favorite Writer
THE LIKENESS by Tana French
Her first book, IN THE WOODS, had a controversial ending (or, perhaps, non-ending) that left many readers frustrated. Her second book, THE LIKENESS, is simply brilliant. Cassie Maddox is the POV character, a former undercover officer who worked murder for a time but left after the events of book one. In THE LIKENESS, a woman is murdered–a woman using the name Cassie went undercover by several years before and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Cassie. So she goes undercover, layering identity upon identity, while trying to discover who in the household of college students she's living with wants her (or is it her?) dead.
Day 10: Favorite Classic
VILLETTE by Charlotte Bronte
Charlotte Bronte's final novel features Lucy Snowe, an Englishwoman who comes to Europe to teach. There she witnesses firsthand the love between one of her students and an English doctor, and her own heart is stirred by the enigmatic, conflicted Catholic Paul Emanuel. A deeply felt, passionately wrought story of independence and love and religion. Now I have to fight the desire to pull it out and read it again :)
Day 11: A Book I Hated
I don't prattle on about 'books I hate.' Because reading is such a subjective experience and readers bring so much of their own experiences and feelings and prejudices to any given book that who's to say that something I hate might not be deeply loved by someone else? Maybe even someone I like and respect? So call me coward, but I will do no more than admit that William Faulkner does not work for me.
Day 12: A Book I Used to Love But Don't Now
That's not the same as 'books I hate', plus I'm in my forties now so surely some of the books I've read much earlier in my life don't resonate the same these days. However . . . see that phrase about 'in my forties now'? Seems my memory has gone the way of my slender waist and I can't actually bring to mind anything that fits. I keep a reading log, including marking books I've re-read, but nothing is jumping out at me. Sigh. Good thing I was so many days behind so you get at least one or two titles out of today.
Day 13: Favorite Writer
Ha!!! I just had to answer this question for a interview I did with the Romantic Times, only they asked me for five favorites. And even then it took an agonizingly long time to answer. So I'm simply grabbing one name out of three or four or twelve I could contribute and saying: Tana French.
French writes the Dublin Murder Squad books, but this isn't a series in the traditional sense. Each of the four books has featured a different first-person POV character, each of them attached in some way to the Dublin Murder Squad, and each book is a separate dense psychological masterpiece not only about the specific crime being investigated but about the investigating detective's own life and psyche. They're not simple, and they're often bleak, but there remains a beauty to her writing and a generosity to her complex characters that leaves me breathless.
And just to make up for my laziness (and to ensure I don't forget tomorrow!) I'll jump one day ahead and give you:
Day 14: Favorite Book by my Favorite Writer
THE LIKENESS by Tana French
Her first book, IN THE WOODS, had a controversial ending (or, perhaps, non-ending) that left many readers frustrated. Her second book, THE LIKENESS, is simply brilliant. Cassie Maddox is the POV character, a former undercover officer who worked murder for a time but left after the events of book one. In THE LIKENESS, a woman is murdered–a woman using the name Cassie went undercover by several years before and bearing an uncanny resemblance to Cassie. So she goes undercover, layering identity upon identity, while trying to discover who in the household of college students she's living with wants her (or is it her?) dead.
April 9, 2013
Days 8 & 9
Day 8: Most Underrated Book
Twilight/Stephenie Meyer
Ha! Didn't expect that, did you? :) Here's the thing–I weary of the venom directed at Meyer that, at least in part, is surely created by her huge sales and commercial success. It's reminiscent the literary attacks on Dan Brown after The Da Vinci Code, but with the growing popularity of Young Adult literature, Meyer seems the perfect whipping girl. And it can be hard to separate an honest reaction to the individual books from the social media firestorms that now surround the juggernaut that has become the Twilight business franchise.
I loved Twilight. I read it in less than 48 hours. I was in my later 30s at the time, and I was amazed at how Meyer transported me to 17 again. Whatever my opinions of her literary decisions as the series progressed, or the relative value of her writing, you can't take that experience away from me. I read for lots of reasons. One of them is to have an emotional experience, and Twilight gave me that.
Thank you for those 48 hours, Stephenie Meyer.
Day 9: Book I Thought I Wouldn't Like But Did
Profiles in Courage/John F. Kennedy Jr.
Written when John Kennedy was the junior senator from Massachusetts, Profiles is a collection of essays about political courage in American history. The virtue of the book is that the courage is not about the moral rightness of any given stand, but that each man took a position of conscience and defended it even when failure–both immediate and long-lasting–was inevitable. I found each essay thrilling, and the sum total reinforced my respect for those who will not routinely sacrifice their conscience for expediency.
Twilight/Stephenie Meyer
Ha! Didn't expect that, did you? :) Here's the thing–I weary of the venom directed at Meyer that, at least in part, is surely created by her huge sales and commercial success. It's reminiscent the literary attacks on Dan Brown after The Da Vinci Code, but with the growing popularity of Young Adult literature, Meyer seems the perfect whipping girl. And it can be hard to separate an honest reaction to the individual books from the social media firestorms that now surround the juggernaut that has become the Twilight business franchise.
I loved Twilight. I read it in less than 48 hours. I was in my later 30s at the time, and I was amazed at how Meyer transported me to 17 again. Whatever my opinions of her literary decisions as the series progressed, or the relative value of her writing, you can't take that experience away from me. I read for lots of reasons. One of them is to have an emotional experience, and Twilight gave me that.
Thank you for those 48 hours, Stephenie Meyer.
Day 9: Book I Thought I Wouldn't Like But Did
Profiles in Courage/John F. Kennedy Jr.
Written when John Kennedy was the junior senator from Massachusetts, Profiles is a collection of essays about political courage in American history. The virtue of the book is that the courage is not about the moral rightness of any given stand, but that each man took a position of conscience and defended it even when failure–both immediate and long-lasting–was inevitable. I found each essay thrilling, and the sum total reinforced my respect for those who will not routinely sacrifice their conscience for expediency.
April 7, 2013
Days 6 & 7
Day 6: A Book That Makes You Sad
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green
This is also a book that makes me happy. But a story about two teens who fall in love while dealing with cancer (one of them terminal) can hardly NOT be sad.
But it's well worth the sadness for the beauty and humor and depth of relationships in Green's book. FAULT IN OUR STARS is the best book I read last year and, considering how many awards it has won, it's not necessary to have had a child with cancer to appreciate it's wonder.
Day 7: A Book That's Overrated
This is a question bound to get me in trouble somewhere. And tricky. Just because a book doesn't work for me doesn't mean it's not well worth every praise for someone else. I suppose I can use a classic, since the author is dead and unlikely to be bothered by my opinion. So I'll say AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner. I don't get Faulkner. I don't get the whole southern literature thing. And I certainly don't get stream-of-consciousness.
And that's all I'm going to say about that :)
THE FAULT IN OUR STARS by John Green
This is also a book that makes me happy. But a story about two teens who fall in love while dealing with cancer (one of them terminal) can hardly NOT be sad.
But it's well worth the sadness for the beauty and humor and depth of relationships in Green's book. FAULT IN OUR STARS is the best book I read last year and, considering how many awards it has won, it's not necessary to have had a child with cancer to appreciate it's wonder.
Day 7: A Book That's Overrated
This is a question bound to get me in trouble somewhere. And tricky. Just because a book doesn't work for me doesn't mean it's not well worth every praise for someone else. I suppose I can use a classic, since the author is dead and unlikely to be bothered by my opinion. So I'll say AS I LAY DYING by William Faulkner. I don't get Faulkner. I don't get the whole southern literature thing. And I certainly don't get stream-of-consciousness.
And that's all I'm going to say about that :)
April 5, 2013
Day 5
A Book That Makes You Happy
TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis.
The first of Willis's Oxford Time Travel series, in which historians from Oxford use the carefully regulated ability to time travel in order to study the past. The others in the series--DOOMSDAY BOOK, BLACKOUT, and ALL CLEAR--are much more sweeping in scope and intensity than this one. But TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG is the laugh-out-loud funniest book I can ever remember reading.
Poor Ned Henry is a historian in desperate need of rest. He's been shuttling through time in search of something called the bishop's bird stump as part of the restoration of Coventry Cathedral. But when fellow historian Verity Kindle brings a cat into the future, the entire fate of history hinges on restoring order to the Victorian past and ensuring a man and woman fall in love. Quickly.
How is it not possible to be happy with a book that contains quotes like these?
"No," I said finally.
"Slowness in Answering," she said into the handheld. "When's the last time you slept?"
"1940" I said promptly, which is the problem with Quickness in Answering.”
AND
“The reason Victorian society was so restricted and repressed was that it was impossible to move without knocking something over.”
Just when think the book is one long Victorian, drawing-room comedy farce, Willis pulls off an ending that is breathtaking in its meaning and beauty.
If you need to be happy, read TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG.
TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis.
The first of Willis's Oxford Time Travel series, in which historians from Oxford use the carefully regulated ability to time travel in order to study the past. The others in the series--DOOMSDAY BOOK, BLACKOUT, and ALL CLEAR--are much more sweeping in scope and intensity than this one. But TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG is the laugh-out-loud funniest book I can ever remember reading.
Poor Ned Henry is a historian in desperate need of rest. He's been shuttling through time in search of something called the bishop's bird stump as part of the restoration of Coventry Cathedral. But when fellow historian Verity Kindle brings a cat into the future, the entire fate of history hinges on restoring order to the Victorian past and ensuring a man and woman fall in love. Quickly.
How is it not possible to be happy with a book that contains quotes like these?
"No," I said finally.
"Slowness in Answering," she said into the handheld. "When's the last time you slept?"
"1940" I said promptly, which is the problem with Quickness in Answering.”
AND
“The reason Victorian society was so restricted and repressed was that it was impossible to move without knocking something over.”
Just when think the book is one long Victorian, drawing-room comedy farce, Willis pulls off an ending that is breathtaking in its meaning and beauty.
If you need to be happy, read TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG.
April 4, 2013
Well, That Didn't Take Long . . .
But at least Days 3 and 4 of the 30 Day Book Challenge go right together so being behind isn't the worst thing in the world :)
Day 3: Your Favorite Series
Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters
Seriously, there are dozens of series I could answer. I love series! I love following characters who grow and change and whose lives influence the plot of any given book. Of course, I am a mystery devotee, and mysteries thrive with series characters.
But I'm going to have to go with Peters' series set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the adventures of a family of British Egyptologists. From Radcliffe Emerson and Amelia Peabody meeting at Amarna to the travails of raising a precocious son to the dangers of spying during WWI to reckless young love to the treasures of Egypt . . . I love these books. Forever and ever. My teen daughter just finished the first, CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK, and I can't wait for her to go on so we can discuss Ramses and Nefret and dahabeyahs on the Nile. If you like well-plotted mysteries, wonderfully evocative settings, and characters who make you laugh and cry, make a dash for Peters' books.
Day 4: Your Favorite Book in the Series
I'm not even going to beg pardon for choosing two, for even Peters' acknowledged that this was one very long and complicated story that, for publishing's necessity, had to be broken into two novels: THE FALCON AT THE PORTAL and HE SHALL THUNDER IN THE SKY.
There is always lots of Amelia and Emerson in the novels, but these two focus more on their son, Ramses, and the outbreak of war in Europe and their African and mid-Eastern protectorates. I threw FALCON AT THE PORTAL at the wall at 2:00 in the morning when I finished reading and realized that I was going to have wait an entire year for the resolution of spies and disastrous love affairs and murderous plots against innocents. But you won't have that problem!
Day 3: Your Favorite Series
Amelia Peabody mysteries by Elizabeth Peters
Seriously, there are dozens of series I could answer. I love series! I love following characters who grow and change and whose lives influence the plot of any given book. Of course, I am a mystery devotee, and mysteries thrive with series characters.
But I'm going to have to go with Peters' series set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the adventures of a family of British Egyptologists. From Radcliffe Emerson and Amelia Peabody meeting at Amarna to the travails of raising a precocious son to the dangers of spying during WWI to reckless young love to the treasures of Egypt . . . I love these books. Forever and ever. My teen daughter just finished the first, CROCODILE ON THE SANDBANK, and I can't wait for her to go on so we can discuss Ramses and Nefret and dahabeyahs on the Nile. If you like well-plotted mysteries, wonderfully evocative settings, and characters who make you laugh and cry, make a dash for Peters' books.
Day 4: Your Favorite Book in the Series
I'm not even going to beg pardon for choosing two, for even Peters' acknowledged that this was one very long and complicated story that, for publishing's necessity, had to be broken into two novels: THE FALCON AT THE PORTAL and HE SHALL THUNDER IN THE SKY.
There is always lots of Amelia and Emerson in the novels, but these two focus more on their son, Ramses, and the outbreak of war in Europe and their African and mid-Eastern protectorates. I threw FALCON AT THE PORTAL at the wall at 2:00 in the morning when I finished reading and realized that I was going to have wait an entire year for the resolution of spies and disastrous love affairs and murderous plots against innocents. But you won't have that problem!
