Austenland, Shannon Hale

One of the big jokes around the Children's Room in the library where I work is how I check books out, don't read them and turn them in, and then check them out again, with the whole cycle repeating, sometimes more than once. It's not that I just check books out for the sake of checking them out (although sometimes I do just that; I feel sad for the books that never get to leave the library). It's just that I have so many books checked out, I never get to all of them (remember the name of the blog?). It's like the old phrase, "eyes bigger than my stomach", only in these cases, it's "eyes bigger than the time I have to read 14 books".

Austenland, by Shannon Hale, was one of those books. I swear, I checked it out three times before FINALLY reading it. It's not even a long book. Or very thought-provoking. It shouldn't have taken so much time. I just always pushed it to the bottom of the pile. Well this time I was determined to finish it, and finish it I did. And then, half-way through, I learned that a film version of the book just premiered at Sundance. So now I feel great because even though it took me 3 tries, I am still somewhat ahead of the curve on this one.

I have seen "Sense and Sensibility" (cried right along with Elinor when Edward was finally able to tell her he loved her, cried BUCKETS when Marianne thanked Colonel Brandon for bringing her mother) and "Clueless" and have read and seen "Pride and Prejudice" (more than one version, but really, it's the Colin Firth one that counts) and have loved them all. And then one day, whilst paging through Netflix choices, I came upon a little gem called "Lost in Austen", a BBC mini-series. If you haven't seen it, make the time and watch it. Seriously. Stop reading this and go watch it. Then come back and let me know what you thought. Go. Now.

OK. So now you've seen it and I'm certain you love it too. We can now move on. Well, when I first found it online, Austenland kind of reminded me of "Lost in Austen" and so I was completely drawn to it. But for various unimportant reasons I could never fit it into my reading schedule. Well I am so glad I finally did. It is not a book that is going to save lives, but it might make you reevaluate the life you are living.

Jane Hayes (yes, she is perfectly named, isn't she?), a single thirty something, is obsessed with Jane Austen, and especially with Mr Darcy. So much so that her real-life relationships always fall short for her. Imagine her delight when her aunt, who she barely knew, leaves her something special in her will: an all-expenses paid trip to England's Austenland, a Jane Austen-themed getaway where you can go and live, total immersion style, like a Jane Austen character for a few weeks. Our heroine decides to take advantage of this opportunity to not only rid herself of her Darcy obsession but to also swear off all men entirely. Now, since this is all about Jane Austen, we all know that's not going to really happen, but getting to what eventually does happen is a wonderful journey. Yes, it's kind of a "What I needed was always inside of me" book, kind of a "Don't give up on your dreams" book, it's a little bit of fluff, but it will make you smile, it will make you happy, and that is a good, good thing.

(And here are a few pictures from the upcoming movie. I think Keri Russell will be SMASHING as Jane Hayes and Jennifer Coolidge is going to kill as Ms. Charming.)

I Set the Goal, the Goal Didn't Set Me!

So, last year I set a reading goal of 100 books. And I totally did it. It was such a great feeling too. I loved looking back at all the books and remembering them, some I loved, some I REALLY loved and then some I read because I had set a goal of reading 100 books.
When January 1st rolled around, I needed to set my new goal and of course I wanted to challenge myself and go for more than 100 books. Using a very scientific method which consisting of totally picking a number from out of the air, I decided to set my goal at 115. A nice round number. A nice doable number. This will be fun.

I track the books I want to read, am reading and have read on goodreads.com. I also set my goal on goodreads.com and so it tracks that for me as well. And it does it in such a nice way too. Currently, it is letting me know that, at my current pace, I am 4 books behind schedule. FOUR BOOKS! See, I had the flu, and my daughter had the flu and so I really didn't feel like doing anything at all, but I still had to take care of my sick child and then take care of myself and so I really fell behind in my reading. And now I feel incredible pressure to catch up, which has me thinking I need to give up sleep, give up taking care of my kid, give up going to work, until I have caught up and am back on my reading schedule. This sounds totally reasonable, right?

Yeah, maybe not so much so. So, instead, I will choose some shorter books, some graphic novels (always great to increase your reading total) and will just keep pressing forward, ever vigilant in my ongoing quest to read 15 books more this year than I did the last. But most of all, I will ENJOY the books I am reading. I will not rush through them, not really reading them because I am too busy reading them. I set the goal, the goal didn't set me. So I will take each book one book at a time. Well, actually, 3 books one at a time, because it's totally normal to be reading a book-book while also reading an e-book and listening to an audio book, right? Totally normal, right?

The Goddess Inheritance, Aimee Carter

When I was about 3/4 of the way through the second book of the series, Goddess Interrupted, I realized that not all of the books of the series had been released yet. On the day I finished the second one the dark clouds closed around me. I was just really upset that I was going to have to wait for the end. And then suddenly, the clouds parted and the sun appeared for I remembered the wonder that is NetGalley! I quickly signed in and searched...and waited...and the choirs began to sing for there it was! I quickly requested it and a few loooong days later, I had it downloaded and ready to go. So, before anything else is said, THANK YOU NETGALLEY!
This book picks up just about nine months after the last one ended. Our heroine Kate is pregnant but has been kidnapped by Cronos and his daughter, Calliope, who is still the very definition of vengeful and so is hell bent on destroying all that Kate holds dear. For her entire pregnancy, Kate's family back in the Underworld knows nothing of either her captivity or the baby that is on its way. But now, her husband Henry (Hades) has found out and is on his way to save her. Sounds like everything is gonna be a-okay, right? Yeah, um, not so much so. Cronos is not just a Titan, he's the Titan, and he is still pretty mad about being captured and locked away eons ago. So he's not just going to let Henry come in and take his pretty new toy away. What follows will quite literally be the battle to end all battles. With everything at stake, her own life, the life of her family, the life of every single person alive, what will Kate do? 
I did enjoy this final (?) piece of the trilogy, and read through it very quickly, but do still have a couple of issues with it. I was still not completely sold on the character of Kate. Just like in the second book, Kate was still so insecure about whether or not Henry really loved her, and just like in the second book, it got tiresome. I know that not liking the main character 100% should seem to be a complete hindrance to enjoying the book, but I really liked the characters around her and that made up for it.
My other issue was Cronos' destruction of a few major cities. This just seemed to be glossed over in the book. Yes, Athens was just destroyed which means millions of people just died, but hey, does Henry love me more than he ever loved Persephone? I just would have liked to  have seen a little more reaction from the various gods to the fact that the earth is being destroyed. 
Even with those two issues, I did enjoy this book and this series. I have a sneaking suspicion we haven't seen the end of these characters. Way too much room was left for either another sequel or a spin-off series. 
I recommend this book and this series for girls age 13 and up.

Favorite Things 2012 - Books Edition

I realized that with my first Favorite Thing post, I devoted it entirely to one book, The Cranes Dance. I really loved it, don't get me wrong, but now I have kind of set up my other favorite books of 2012 to look like I didn't like them as much because I won't be devoting a whole blog post to each of them. Lesson learned. Having said that, I hereby affirm that each of the books listed below were loved by me just as much as I loved The Cranes Dance.

First up, my favorites in juvenile fiction:

A Hero for Wondla, Brian DiTerlizzi. The sequel to A Search for Wondla. I love these books. Just a wonderful adventure with a wonderful heroine.

Wonderstruck, Brian Selznick. By the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, this is another novel that mixes words with pictures in a wonderful way. The story can be told without the words, or without the pictures, but together the story is all the more rich and exciting.

The Ink Drinker, Eric Sanvoisin. A tiny little book, and a wicked one at that. It tells the story of a vampire, but this vampire doesn't drink blood; he drinks the ink out of books!

An Elephant in the Garden, Michael Morpurgo. Takes place during WWII, and is based on the true story of how the Dresden Zoo was bombed and how the elephant was spared.

Next, my favorites in young adult fiction:

Cinder, Marissa Meyer. A fantastic, very modern (meaning this one has robots and cyborgs and flying cars!) take on the classic Cinderella story.

The Selection, Kiera Cass. Taking place in the future, but very inspired by today's "The Bachelor", it's the ultimate dating competition as the prince looks to find his princess.

The Goddess Test, Aimee Carter. This is actually a three book series, and I read them all within a span of about a month. Great series about the Greek Gods living in and dealing with modern times.

Suite Scarlett, Maureen Johnson. A fluffy book about a 15-year old girl, named Scarlett, whose family owns a NYC hotel. Naturally she has to work there in the summer instead of going on a great summer vacation, but maybe, just maybe, this year won't be so bad now that the glamorous Mrs. Amberson has rented a room.

Glass Houses, Rachel Caine. College freshman Claire Danvers needs a new place to live because her dorm is turning deadly. The town she's in isn't exactly a safe haven either since the vampires running the place would love to get their teeth in her. Even though one of her new roommates is a ghost, maybe Glass House will keep her alive. First book in a series.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone, Laini Taylor. This was such a refreshing read. It is almost impossible to even say what it is about, because it is so different from all other YA books. Angels and monsters, a heroine who has to collect human teeth for her adopted father (who just happens to be a devil), star-crossed love...like I said, difficult to adequately describe so just go ahead and read it for yourself.

Gregor the Overlander, Suzanne Collins. How do I love this series...let me count the ways. Actually, I don't think I can. Let me just say that this is an amazing series, with fantastic characters that you will genuinely care for and with adventures that have real consequences for the young hero Gregor. I shed many a tear, both happy and sad, throughout this series. I keep hoping that Collins will write just one more book about Gregor; I miss him that much.

And finally, grown-up fiction:

The Twelve, Justin Cronin. This is the sequel to the unbelievably good The Passage, which came out in 2010 and which kept me up for many a night. Pretty simple premise, vampires are real, but they're real because we CREATED them. A lab experiment gone horribly wrong, vampires took over the world and both these books tell of the time after their creation. I loved this sequel so much because it didn't tell so much about the vampires anymore, but more about the surviving humans and about how they were just as much monsters as the real ones.

The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern. Movie rights for this were snapped up almost as soon as this was published, ironically by David Heyman who produced the Harry Potter films. The Night Circus has often been compared to Harry Potter, thanks to the central plot of two magicians in a battle. But the real magic in this book, corny as it may sound, is love. The language in this book is dreamlike and ethereal. You can see the world even as you are reading about it. A beautiful story.

The Age of Miracles, Karen Thompson Walker. I am of the opinion that this should actually be a YA novel, but apparently the Library of Congress disagrees. Oh well. What if the earth's rotation started slowing down? How would every day life be affected? This all-too-real story is told through the eyes of a young girl named Julia, only 11 years old. Time slows down and days literally turn into weeks. Everyone and everything is affected and all too soon, it is difficult to remember the carefree life they knew before. A haunting story that ends too soon.

Gone Girl, GIllian Flynn. I don't think there is anything I can say to add to the heaps of praise this book has received. A truly twisted tale of marriage gone wrong - gone right? - that will have you thinking and talking long after you turn the final page. All that praise? Totally worth it.

Ready, Player One, Ernest Cline. As a child of the 80's, I LOVED this book. The world has become almost entirely plugged in. Everything is done on a seriously amped up internet. The whole world is connected through a virtual world. Students go to school, but never leave the comfort of their couch. Adventurers go to other worlds, can even make their own world. Of course, none of this is free, and so when the creator of the technology (think Steve Jobs) that created this virtual world dies and leaves behind the ultimate treasure hunt, those that seek the treasure will find that there are those who will go to any extreme to win. This one grabbed me from the first page and never let go. I have been talking about this one all year long. LOVED it.

Whew. So there you have it. My favorite books of last year. I have a feeling you've already put them all on your to-read list. : )

Breaking Stalin's Nose, Eugene Yelchin

First book read in 2013! I remember reading about this book a while ago, but the library I work in does not have a copy (I hope to remedy that!). I was in a different city's library (because I am a library whore, no loyalty whatsoever) and saw it just waiting for me. So I applied for and got my card and then happily walked out with this little gem of a book.

My bachelor's degree is in Russian Studies (focusing on literature) and so I was really excited to read this book. I have spent a lot of time - A LOT - reading adult Russian literature, so it was very different reading a book written about that world but told using the voice and perspective of a child. 

The story takes place during the 1930's in a Moscow that lived in fear of Stalin's dictatorial hold over what was still the Soviet Union. Little Sasha, only ten years old, is a firm believer in Communism and just might be Stalin's biggest fan. Sasha's father works for the state police which was Stalin's means of hunting down and arresting (usually executing) enemies of the state. Most of these "enemies" were totally innocent, but that did not matter. One day though, the state police arrive at Sasha's communal home and take his father away. How could this be? His father was once commended by Stalin for his excellent work. And on this day of all days? Today is the day Sasha gets to join the Soviet Young Pioneers! This is the day he has been dreaming of since he was 6 years old. Surely Comrade Stalin will fix this, but if he doesn't, what will Sasha do? This day turns out to be a life-altering day for the young boy as his eyes are opened to a reality he never knew existed.

The little boy in this story has to deal in one day with his entire world collapsing around him, learning truths no child should ever have to learn, and he has to do it all on his own. The book ends in a rather cliffhanger way, and is almost too neat in the way it happens, but overall, I felt that it was a very good telling of one boy's passage into adulthood, albeit one that happened far too soon. The violence is implied but never actually seen and so younger readers should be okay with this one. I would hope that children reading this would go to the adults around them and start asking important questions about blind trust and secrets that our societies keep. I would recommend this book for boys or girls, age 10 and up.