She's a Lady - Tom Jones

Beauty Queens

Author: Libba Bray
Pages: 390
Publisher: Scholastic Press

Very Brief Summary:
Lord of the Flies...with Beauty Queens. I could tell you more, but, really, that's all you need to know.

Review:
Thus far, I have been hugely skeptical of Libba Bray. I read A Great and Terrible Beauty and found it neither great nor terrible; mostly, I thought it was boring. After that let down, I had little desire to read more of her stuff, despite the crazy buzz about Going Bovine (and the pressure of my friend Nori). Allow me to happily renounce any bad thing I have said about Libba Bray in the past! This book was off the hook awesome and I am now very glad that I gave into the impulse to purchase A Great and Terrible Beauty (from Goodwill), since I hope to find things I missed before.

Why is this book so great? Well, how about I give you a little (or long) list.

1. It's a dystopia.
   
2. Beauty Queens stranded on an island...who doesn't want to see that? Also, how did the Corporation not think of that?
3. The mocking of pretty much every aspect of pop culture, most especially of reality television.
4. The Corporation. You may wonder why I would love an evil corporation that's trying to take over the world and doing all sorts of awful things. That's because the commercials remind me of Veridian Dynamics, so I spent the whole book imagining that it was The Corporation. Oh references, intended or not.
5. Girl power. For an example, check out Tiara's speech on page 335.
   
6. Love for the LGBT community.
7. Everyone didn't pair off in the end. I get so sick of that, sweet as it is. In real life, everyone doesn't find their true love at 16.
8. Every page is abso-friggin'-lutely hysterical. I dare you to read this book and not laugh out loud at least once.

So yeah, I definitely need to read the rest of Libba Bray's stuff and to procure a copy of this book for my very own, since I read one from the library. Also, I just realized that Libba Bray's name uses only letters from the word library. Coinkydink? I wonder...

Oh, and just for funsies, here is my one criticism of the book: on page 361, Adina says something (singsongs it, actually). Unfortunately, she's not actually in that scene yet. Wah wah. Editor fail. She enters on page 363.

That brings us to the song for today. Although there are a lot of things that would be hilarious and appropriate for today's book, I also cannot miss adding a reference to Miss Congeniality. I also love imagining Adina or Taylor reacting to some guy saying this to them. haha.

"She's got style, she's got grace, She's a winner.
She's a Lady. Whoa whoa whoa, She's a Lady.
Talkin' about that little lady, and the lady is mine.
Well she's never in the way
Always something nice to say, Oh what a blessing.
I can leave her on her own
Knowing she's okay alone, and there's no messing."

Three Is a Magic Number - Blind Melon

The Orphan Sister

Author: Gwendolen Gross
Pages: 283
ARC Acquired from: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

Brief Summary:
Clementine is a triplet, a fraternal sister accompanying identical twins. She has always felt a bit left out of their perfect relationship. Although she has some of the twinspeak, Olivia and Odette sometimes talk without her in their silent language. This is how it has always been, but now, with the mysterious disappearance of their father and her sisters' imminent deliveries of their first children things are beginning to change. Clem has to reevaluate much of her life to this point and figure out who she wants to be in the future.

Review:
Going into this, I didn't really have any expectations, but was hesitantly hopeful it might be interesting. I really didn't know anything about it, except that the triplet thing. I am happy to report that The Orphan Sister was about so much more than that. This story grabbed me from page one and I devoured it whole, the funny, the sweet, the romantic, the depressing and even the scenes about babies (which for me is saying something).

Clem has such a real voice that you really feel like you're getting to know her. She is intelligent and angry, broken and hopeful. There are so many facets to who she is and her problems feel like real life problems. Her hangups about being left out while also being afraid of the current balance falling apart are so illogical and lifelike. Of course, who doesn't like a heroine who has a veritable menagerie of creatures: two dogs, a ferret and a snake (a five foot boa constrictor).

The triplet/twin themes are used to explore concepts of individuality and identity. Are the twins stronger because they have each other or is Clem stronger because she's naturally more independent? The twin way of communicating was also completely fascinating. I wonder if people really do that, and suspect they might, which makes me wonder just what the human brain is capable of...

The other main aspects of the story deal with romantic relationships, that of Clem's mother and father, as well as Clem's love life. The former's resolution I did not find entirely satisfying exactly, but it was unsatisfying in a true to life way; everything does not always have a really good ending. Clem's love life involves a lot of grief, since her first, powerful love died while they were both still in college (where they met). This incapacitated her for a long while, but, even after recovering, it's hard to get over someone you never had a chance to encounter real life with.

This book was so beautiful and moving and was just perfect for what I wanted to read right now, even though I didn't realize that going in. Maybe I should be reading a bit more adult fiction; I've gotten so caught up in YA that I'd forgotten how great it can be.

"With the past and the present and the future
And faith and hope and charity
And the heart and the brain and the body
It'll give you three; it's a magic number"

A Strange Education - The Cinematics

Awaken
Awaken, Book 1

Author: Katie Kacvinsky
Pages:
ARC Acquired From: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
In a not too distant future, only about sixty years from today, people live in their homes, almost never leaving. Violence in schools (think of incidents like Columbine) began happening to such a degree that life became digital:

"About thirty years ago security fences became mandatory around all schools, policemen were stationed at every entrance, and metal detectors made going to class like passing through airport security. Students were stripped of all metal devices and had to check their coats and bags to be searched. They were only allowed to carry their books to and from class until the end of the day, when they were permitted to pick up their bags again. Ironically, this tightened security only made kids more creative. It became a challenge to smuggle guns into the schools. Shootings escalated....The repercussion led to digital schools 1-4. Now there is no choice. Even going to a public tutoring session is new; this has only been approved in the last few years. It's still banned in many states. A digital screen is like a bulletproof jacket." (176-178).

All interaction is done in a digital world; there is almost no face to face communication left. Madeline's dad created the digital schools. When she was young, she rebelled, nearly ending digital schools, getting her father arrested in the process. She now lives under house arrest, her father monitoring all activity until she turns 18. Then, she spontaneously decides to meet a guy she has been studying with online and begins questioning the digital school system yet again, as she experiences true life.

Review:
Awaken grabbed me from the very first page. The book starts with a journal entry by Madeline, which discusses the fact that people do not write longhand anymore and keep journals this way. Nor do they print books or use paper, what with there not being real trees anymore. A definite dystopia for a librarian and lover of literature! These journal entries are interspersed with the narration. There are only a few, but I think it works, because she only has one journal and cannot write too often or will not have anywhere else to write important things.

Of course, Awaken does have the immediate super duper love thing. Madeline falls for Justin the moment she sees him. From then on, she generally describes each first sight of him in a room thusly: "I instantly felt the energy in the room shift as if the lights dimmed or an air current changed direction" (150). This is definitely a bit much, but perhaps more understandable considering that this is almost the first time she has ever met someone her own age. So if you spent most of your time in your room on your computer, then left to meet a friend you chatted with and he turned out to be incredibly hot, nice, smart and trying to save the world, you might fall pretty hard pretty fast too.

Katie makes a good main character. She's brave sometimes, petrified sometimes, capable of defending herself and others when she needs to, incredibly intelligent and unaware of her amazingness. All of this combines to make her into a real character, a teenage girl trying to figure out her place in the world and what she wants to make of herself. It was always interesting when one of the journal entries would come up, because you could really see her working through the things that preceded. Plus, you got a view into what she hid in front of others, because she likes to really think through possibilities before committing herself to something.

This was a great dystopian read with some fantastic quotes that totally kept me rapt. From the ending of this one, a sequel is pretty much certain and I am most glad of it!

"The trouble is, nothing looks the same
The trouble is, I don't think it ever will

Oh, have you come for me?
Oh, have you come for me?

Pull me out of the ocean
Take me up in your arms again
Just the way with the love you send
Such a strange education
Leads me into your arms again
Cast away, lost again"

Can't Help Falling in Love - Ingrid Michaelson

Becoming George Sand

Author: Rosalind Brackenbury
Pages: 296
ARC Acquired from: Mariner Books via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Maria, a college french lit professor, has been having an affair with a grad student (in the sciences, so he's not her student). This has been happening for a while and she is completely caught up in the physical and emotional thrill of it. When her husband, Edward, clues in, as generally happens eventually, her life has to change. Her separation from her life as it once was firmly entrenches her within her George Sand obsession. She sees something of herself as she is and as she wants to be in this fascinating nineteenth century authoress.

Review:
The description of this book, at least as I wrote it, does not remotely do the book credit. Largely because the story is not the real point. I mean, it is and it isn't. More than being about a plot it's about what it's like being a woman, about the spaces between love and marriage, about feminism, and about literature and language. The writing is completely gorgeous, sucking me in from the first pages, even though the opening scenes chronicle the affair, a thing in which I have little interest. To me, there is no excuse for cheating and I do not believe Maria's romanticized idea of it (and not just because I know what happens later); the treatment of the affair in early pages reminds me of Chretien de Troyes, and how in that time folks believed that true love had to be extramarital.

Rather than speaking to what I loved and didn't (what little there was of that) as I usually do, I really want to include some of my favorite quotes and let the author speak for herself.

"'You can't be loved whatever you do. You have to be someone good, to be loved. People can't just love you for existing.'
'Hmm. Well, maybe. You don't believe in unconditional love?'
'Yes, I do, but it's for babies. You have to be worthy of love.'" (221).

"That's it, the last gesture of a long friendship lived over distance and time, without frequent meetings, between two languages; a friendship built over books, plays, poems, the written word." (252).

"What is it she needs, at this point in her life? To touch another life, to have it touch hers. To create, to understand. To give back. To be part of a whole." (286)

Brackenbury obviously wholeheartedly loves and appreciates literature, which makes her such a joy to read. I now want to check out George Sand and to read a biography of her life, as she sounds fascinating. Today's song is dedicated to George, Maria and all the other optimistic women who keep looking for love and thinking they've found it (and sometimes been wrong about that).

"Wise men say only fools rush in
But I can't help falling in love with you
Shall I stay
Would it be a sin
If I can't help falling in love with you"

Perfectly Heartless - Charlie Mole

Much Ado About Nothing

Author: William Shakespeare

My friend and I, being rather nerdy and unusual people, decided that the perfect way to conclude a night of beer drinking and pub food eating was to read Shakespeare aloud. The obvious play to begin with was Much Ado. The only way to read a play is to read it aloud, and there really should be different voices for different characters.

In our reading of the play, I realized just how much the play is inextricably linked with the movie version for me. My reading of certain characters totally stole from the actor's interpretations, just as my friend's did (especially the scene where Benedick talks funny while wearing a mask to find out what Beatrice really thinks of him). I also realized that, even though it has been a year or two since I watched the film, I can say with an exceedingly high rate of accuracy exactly which lines were and were not included in the movie.

Another thing I noticed that I had failed to pick up on before was that Beatrice and Benedick really are the main characters of the piece. I always assumed that Claudio and Hero were because all of the main ado was all about them. This assumption came from childhood, so I never reevaluated until just now. Now, I noticed how the play both begins and ends with discussion of Benedick and Beatrice, how many speeches Benedick has (more than Claudio does), and just how little Hero gets to speak. This was an obvious thing, but childhood assumptions can be difficult to overturn, because you inserted it in your brain as a Fact.

Much Ado About Nothing will always be one of my very favorite plays, Shakespeare or otherwise, even though Claudio (who was one of my first loves that I now rather regret...oh, Robert Sean Leonard's lazy eye I failed to notice) is kind of a lame jerk. Beatrick (as their couple name would be) are seriously some of the best characters that ever were. I will always love them, especially because I picture Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. Today's song is devoted to the terrible things Claudio does and also the silliness of the play.

Hold On - Jet

After the Golden Age

Author: Carrie Vaughn
Pages: 304
Publisher: Tor

Brief Summary:
A man with a gun kidnaps Celia West from off of the bus. This is rather irritating, but not all that scary for Celia. It's something she's used to, what with being the daughter of Commerce City's two most famous superheroes, Spark and Captain Olympus. As soon as their identities were revealed, she became a prime kidnapping target. This is the seventh time. At least, she meets a cute cop afterward. Celia has always wanted nothing more than to separate herself from her parent's double life (once she realized she did not inherit their powers anyway), but it doesn't take a telepath (like Dr. Mentis, another member of the Olympiad, her parent's superhero team) to figure out that Celia is only going to get more embroiled in Commerce City's troubles.

Review:
Recently, I discovered Carrie Vaughn via a dystopian anthology and then I read her new teen novel, Steel. Her YA effort was okay, but not stellar. At first, I thought After the Golden Age would be the same, as it had a slow beginning, but as I hit the midway point, it really took off (pardon the superhero-y pun).

Celia starts out as a somewhat annoying heroine. She is 25, but retains her teenage mistrust and irritation with her parents, because growing up with superheroes for parents is not as magical as everyone else thinks it should be. She doesn't really trust anyone actually. Her saving grace is that, although she is a continual victim of supervillain wannabes, she does not act like a victim (well, except when her family's considered). As the story goes on, Celia's able to deal with many of her demons, which allows her to accentuate the positive elements of her personality and someone I liked much more.

The romance was well done. I was somewhat worried that I was shipping the wrong person, but I was not, so yay! There's nothing worse than when you believe someone else is perfect for her, but the main character determinedly goes for the lame, stupid, obvious one. I definitely shipped her with the guy, right from the beginning and through to the end.

After the Golden Age reminded me most strongly of the Astro City graphic novel series, with the portrayal of both superheroes, ordinary folk and those who know who the masked heroes are and have to deal with that. For anyone who likes reading about superheroes, After the Golden Age is definitely worth checking out.

"You tried so hard to be someone
That you forgot who you are
You tried to fill some emptiness
‘Til all you had spilled over
Now everything’s so far away
That you don’t know where you are, you are"

Where Did Our Love Go - The Supremes

Where She Went
If I Stay, Book 2

Author: Gayle Forman
Pages: 264
ARC Acquired From: Penguin via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Picking up three years after where If I Stay left off, Where She Went chronicles events, both past and present, from Adam's point of view. Now a rock star, with all of the trappings, Adam is barely holding it together. He has never recovered from Mia's desertion, which happened quickly once she left for Juilliard. She just stopped calling, offering no closure for anyone. On the night before the start of the tour for Shooting Star's newest album, he goes to see her show, after seeing an advertisement for it on a billboard by happenstance. This begins their last night in New York City before they both have to leave on tours, one last night to get all their demons out and find closure.

Review:
After having really enjoyed If I Stay, I was pretty stoked to read the sequel. Even before starting out, I definitely thought it was rather odd to write a sequel for a book like If I Stay. The whole question of book one is whether Mia will choose to live or not. And while, I suppose she could have chosen to leave and the sequel could be about the afterlife or everyone reacting to her death, that's really not likely, and it's definitely not the case. So, bold move.

Another bold writing move was the change of the narrator from Mia to Adam. Even though Adam was a big part of If I Stay, I never got a real read on what he was like as a person; I could tell that Mia loved him and that he was a pretty good guy and that was enough. Then, I started reading Where She Went and I found myself hating him and the book in general, largely as a result. Adam's just a stereotype at the outset: a super successful rock star, who, whether intentionally or not, is hogging the spotlight, thus causing a rift with the band. He also pops pills, chain smokes and has trashed at least one hotel room. Plus, he has a hot actress girlfriend, which is an improvement on the one night stands he had before her. I could not stand all of this, even though I understood that it was him falling apart after Mia. At least fall apart in an original manner.

The book definitely picked up when he and Mia began interacting. After having read the flashbacks from If I Stay of their relationship, the reader has an idea of what they were like together, and now it's amazing to see them so stilted and awkward. They have grown and changed and are weighed down by all of the words unsaid.

My favorite aspect of the novel is definitely the one last night before they were both to depart on their tours. It has a Before Sunrise feel to it. I love that movie, so it's not surprising that I would dig that element here. While such a brief time period could be limiting, it has an interesting way of being very freeing, since it's your last chance and you just need to get things out. I thought that was very well done.

All and all, having finished the book, I'm not sure how I feel about the ending. It might be too optimistic, but, then again, maybe it works just right considering all the crap the characters had to go through to get there. Perhaps time will tell as I think back on the book. Either way, this is not a book you will want to miss reading if you enjoyed the first, even though it is quite different. I can offer a couple of readalikes too, both selected for characters overcoming grief (and the stupid things they have done in their grief): Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly and Adios, Nirvana by Conrad Wesselhoeft.

"Ooh, baby, baby
Where did our love go?
Ooh, don't you want me
Don't you want me no more"

Real World - The All-American Rejects

Wither
The Chemical Garden Trilogy, Book 1

Author: Lauren DeStefano
Pages: 358
Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Brief Summary:
Rhine Ellery and her twin brother Rowan have been alone since their parents died. They work together to earn enough money to survive and to defend their house from orphans and Gatherers (men who collect young women to sell). Advances in science made it possible to make perfect babies, which was great. Until the generation after that engineered one all started dying. Boys live to 25 and girls only to 20. This is how things are in the United States, the only country left; all that remains besides the U.S. are sporadic islands.

When 16 year old Rhine is taken by a Gatherer and sold to be the wife of a House Governer. She is one of three new wives brought in to comfort him as his first wife succumbs to the virus that kills off all girls of a certain age. Rhine wants nothing more than to escape this place and find her twin brother again, but that certainly will not be easy.

Review:
Wither was really good but also incredibly frustrating. I literally yelled at the book on several occasions. My irritation at the book and Rhine's decisions are an indication of quality in this case. Were the book more comfortable, it would not be doing the subject matter justice. There are serious themes being dealt with here: sexuality, gender, ethics and stockholm syndrome top the bill.

The world building was pretty amazing. While DeStefano has no real scientific reason for why the succeeding generation were all dying off a virus at those particular ages, I did not have too much trouble believing such a thing possible. It seems likely that messing with life through genetic engineering could have such horrible and unforeseen consequences. Perhaps most unlikely from my point of view was the precision of the deaths, with all women and men dying at the same ages. And why do men live five years longer?

Even more than this setting, I loved what she built out from this premise. The world she depicts is horrifying because of how possible it seems given a few crucial things gone wrong. I have no difficulty envisioning a society with such a limited life span turning women into reproduction machines. A small step from that is a return to bigamy, so that wealthy men can have a better chance of fathering progeny, and a powerful sex trade. As a woman, this is horrifying, and that is part of what made the book resonate so strongly with me.

This is the first in a trilogy, which I will definitely be super eager to read the next books of. The ending of Wither could easily have been an ending to Rhine's story, if an unclear one (not uncommon in dystopias), but I'm glad that it's not. The ending of this book struck me as a bit too positive and light given the tone of the rest of the novel, but with more books to come it is but a brief respite for our heroine. I can't wait to find out what happens next!

Also, I have to say that this is one of the prettiest books I have seen in a while. The formatting is gorgeous, not to mention the cover. Go out and find a copy to read!

"I woke up on this side. I thought it was a dream
At first we learned to walk then learned to scream"

Ache for You - Ben Lee

The Peach Keeper

Author: Sarah Addison Allen
Pages: 273
Publisher: Bantam

Brief Summary:
Willa Jackson moved back home to Walls of Water when her father died and left her the house. A prankster in school for reasons she never really understood, she felt guilty for having failed her educator father. Paxton Osgood, on the other hand, seems to have everything totally under control, just like she did in high school. She heads up the Women's Society Club, which performs charitable work while also giving the classy local ladies a chance to show off. Then again, Paxton still lives at home and has fallen in love with her best friend, who, she's pretty sure, is gay. Both Willa and Paxton are in for some surprises when the restoration of the old Jackson family home by the Osgood family unearths some family skeletons (literally).

Review:
The Peach Keeper is Allen's fourth novel, but only my second of hers. I read her first book, Garden Spells, last year and positively adored it. This one definitely did not disappoint and has convinced me that all of Allen's books will need to make their way into my personal collection at some point. Even though I do not normally care for southern fiction (ironic that, being a southern girl myself, Allen does it perfectly. The fact that the stories are set in the south both do and do not define the stories (which I realize is super unclear, but I know what I mean). The characters do not drawl everything, but there is a southern-ness that I can't really explain.

What makes Allen's work shine amongst other chick lit books out there is the magical realism. There is always an element of magic, not the Harry Potter kind, but magic all the same. It's a magic that, as the term suggests, is accepted as natural, and really does seem to be. The magic has a subtlety and possibility to it that makes me really want to believe that the real world is Allen's world.

Plus, there's the romance. I do not read too much chick lit anymore. At some point, it just stopped actually striking me as particularly romantic or believable. Allen's romances are quite simple. They don't try to surprise you too much; you know who's going to end up with whom, which frankly you pretty much always do. Again, the delightfulness of the romance stems from the sheer cuteness and the chillness of it. There is no bodice ripping or exuberant sex scenes, and yet you can feel your heart do little happy skips. Or maybe that's just me.

Although I think I preferred Garden Spells a bit overall, I still loved reading The Peach Keeper. I highly recommend Sarah Addison Allen to fans of chick lit and to people who really want to believe that love and magic really exist.

"There's no rhyme and there's no reason
You're the secret in the back of my skull
There's no logic, so please believe me
Our love's confusing, but it never gets dull"

Last of Days - A Fine Frenzy

The Demon Trapper's Daughter
The Demon Trappers, Book 1

Author: Jana Oliver
Pages: 296
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Brief Summary:
Riley Blackthorne wants to be a Demon Trapper, just like her dad. She is the first female in training to be a Demon Trapper, which is cool and all, but completely not easy. Demon Trapping involves an incredible amount of danger and is getting worse all the time. Now the demons have started to work together, something they never did before, and casualties are starting to mount. And why are all of the demons so interested in Riley?

Review:
Riley Blackthorne is one strong lady. She can take one heck of a beating and often gives back as good as she gets. She is no delicate flower. Her life is not glamorous and not one to be envied, even if there are a whole lot of really attractive guys in her vicinity expressing interest. I also like that there is no clear winner on the guy front, which is a bit rare to see in these teen paranormal series (it's more common for the heroine to have a number of choices and to not make a decision in the adult series). Not that Riley is playing them (another yay!), but I suspect her decision for now may not be her decision forever. It's also nice that, although Riley does think about boys (who wouldn't?), they are not her primary concern.

In addition to all the action and boy drama, there is a lot of religious stuff happening here. Thankfully, it all fits into the fantasy realm in such a way as to not come off too preachy. It's also really interesting that in this post-disaster of some sort world where demons and other paranormal nasties exist, the Vatican has a team of Demon Hunters that kills Lucifer's hordes. Funny how that is both very not how a church should be, but exactly what a church would do. I definitely look forward to finding out more about the way Oliver has set up this world in the sequel.

Recommended to YA, paranormal, fantasy and dystopia fans. A quick-paced exciting read with some thought-provoking themes.

" The world carries on without you
But nothing remains the same
I'll be lost without you
Until the last of days

The sun is in the east
Rising for the beasts and the beauties
I wish that I could tear it down
Plant it in the ground to warm your face"

One Little Slip - Barenaked Ladies

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians
Alcatraz, Book 1

Author: Brandon Sanderson
Pages: 308
Publisher: Scholastic

Brief Summary:
Alcatraz Smedry, sarcastic thirteen year old with serious skill in breaking things, has been passed from foster home to foster home all of his life. Wondering why? Did you not read how he is really good at breaking things? Seriously, he cannot open a door without the doorknob coming off in his hand. He always thought he was cursed, but then on his thirteenth birthday, he received a package from his parents containing his inheritance. And it was some sand. And then, suddenly, there's a man claiming to be his grandfather at the front door, a man with a gun in the kitchen, and his inheritance is missing, stolen by the evil librarians that rule the world. But at least he has his Talent of breaking things to help him as he and the Smedry crew raid the main branch of the library to get the sand back!

Review:
As a librarian, there was absolutely no way I could pass up this book. Evil librarians? I was so there. And boy did this book deliver the absurdities for which I was hoping. The story is told in a breaking the fourth wall kind of way, wherein the author (Sanderson claims to be Alcatraz who is pretending to be Sanderson so the librarians will not ban the book...or something like that) constantly puts the narrative on hold to talk to the reader. This tactic can seriously backfire and is not one I am generally a fan of. Sanderson pulled it off quite well here, largely because the character of Alcatraz has enough swagger, sarcasm and know-it-all-ness to make it seem appropriate and funny.

Similarly, Sanderson manages to sell the crazy elements of the plot by playing them up. He draws attention to all of the weird things and shrugs his shoulders literarily, making you do so too. (I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it does to me.) For example, I was skeptical of the Smedry Talents. Breaking things had some obvious utility, but tripping and arriving late sure did not seem at all helpful. But Sanderson made it work. So props to him.

Speaking of Sanderson, I got to see him speak at ALA 2010 and he seemed like a nice, nerdy gentleman. He talked in his spiel about how much he loves libraries and what an impact they had on him as a child. He even threw in a quote that I am fairly certain is a nod to himself as a teen. "The rebellious, trouble-making types looked through the fantasy section" (285). No wonder he believes that information is "the real power in this world," and that, since the librarians control the information, they could control the power (97). Awesome! I like the way this man thinks.

Why should you read this book?

• Sarcastic narrator = best kind of narrator
• Opening sentence: "So, there I was, tied to an altar made from outdated encyclopedias, about to get sacrificed to the dark powers by a cult of evil librarians" (1).
  
• The most kickass character is a 13 year old girl
• Off the wall, hilarious crazy moments
  
• Book-loving dinosaurs that speak with British accents
• Seriously, did you miss out on the evil librarians? Evil librarians!
  

"It was a recipe for disaster
A four course meal of no sirree
It seemed that happily ever after
Was happy everyone was after me"

The Secrets of the House - Jane Eyre Musical

The Thirteenth Tale

Author: Diane Setterfield
Pages: 406
Publisher: Atria Books

Brief Summary:
Margaret Lea works at her father's antiquarian bookshop and writes biographies of lesser known personages for fun. Otherwise, she spends most of her time journeying through the written world, particularly classics. One day, she receives a summons from famous, contemporary author, Vida Winter. Apparently, she has been selected to write the biography of the reclusive storyteller, who has never once told the truth of her past. Margaret is skeptical at first, but as the story begins, the story of twins, unfolds, she cannot resist being drawn into the drama.

Review:
I first read The Thirteenth Tale during my sophomore year in college. A good friend recommended it and, though busy with schoolwork (question mark?) I devoured the novel. From the first page, I was absorbed into its pages and the mystery they held. The resolution struck me as a bit unlikely, but I still loved it and purchased a copy when I got the chance.

Upon revisiting the story, I was able to appreciate even more the incredibly beautiful prose of Diane Setterfield. Her language lilts and carries me away in a delightful way. Her writing is both complicated and completely natural, much like the classic authors she frequently references. The storyline was both improved and diminished by my return journey. How? Well, the twist, which is so astounding, I remembered. This also made some of the more long-winded sections drag a bit, although the sections on Vida Winter's past always drew me in. At the same time, being able to really note all of the hints left for the reader let me appreciate the deft way in which the solution to the mystery was woven into the story. The plot seems less implausible with more attention paid to the details.

My only complaint is about the Postscriptum, which I found to be cheesy, overly fanciful and plain pointless. It really irritated me, because I loved the way the story resolved before I read it and then was unhappy with this new ending. Still, epilogues (or postscriptum, should one want to be fancy) have been the bane on the existence of many books (e.g. Crime and Punishment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and will likely continue to be. I, for one, will simply do my best to forget about the second ending. (And, knowing my memory, I shall triumph!)

Book lovers must read this! The early chapters of the novel are a love letter to reading that just made my heart soar with glee. Just make sure you sit down as you enjoy this one, because, as Margaret Lea cautions, "Reading can be dangerous" (4).

"The secrets of the house
Are just beyond these walls
They hide in long-forgotten shadows
Fragments of memories awakened and stirred
By a call my heart has heard"

To the Rescue from The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Atomic Weight of Secrets: Or, The Mysterious Arrival of the Men in Black
The Young Inventors Guild, Book 1

Author: Eden Unger Bowditch
Pages: 339
ARC Acquired From: Bancroft Press via NetGalley

Brief Summary:
Jasper and Lucy, Faye, Wallace, and Noah all have three things in common: they're young, brilliant scientists, children to brilliant scientists and unsure where those parents have gotten to. They do not know what has happened or why men in black, dressed in crazy costumes, are watching them and searching through their parents' stuff. At first, they are saddened but not overly concerned; their parents are busy people and both their weekend houses, complete with sweet nannies, and their school, which comes with a delightful teacher, are nice. As time passes and they continue not to get word from their parents, they start planning an escape, so that they can go find and possibly rescue their parents.

Review:
This book reminded me from the first pages of the Mysterious Benedict Society books by Trenton Lee Stewart (which incidentally are quite delightful). Although different in some aspects, they share the group of young people of immeasurable intelligence, all with their own skill to bring to the task at hand. Fans of the Mysterious Benedict Society should read this now! Non-fans should read both!

Every chapter title begins with a title and then an alternative title, just like book does. Part of me thinks that using this device in modern books is a bit pompous, but another part thinks that it's really awesome, so... Anyway, this method does work pretty well, given the historical fiction setting (late nineteenth century). Watch out for the cameo by some historical figures; it was clever and a bit unexpected.

The only weakness of the book is the nebulousness of the forces of evil. Nothing is really resolved or figured out at the end of the novel. Since this is the first in the series, this does not necessarily doom the book. The men in black are figures of menace (maybe?) throughout the book, but only sort of. There is a limit to how menacing people can be while dressed thus:

"Actually, there were two waiting carriages, one driven by a man wearing dark glasses, a black cape, and a bullfighter's hat that appeared to have actual horns coming out of either side, the other by a driver who seemed to be so short that he's have a hard time seeing over the knee guard on the coachman's seat. That said, his hat was so tall it seemed it would stretch higher than the man himself, is they were placed side by side. Like his fluffy jumper and ballooning trousers, the hat was black. His glasses, or rather goggles, were black, too." (58)

The Atomic Weight of Secrets is wonderfully written and a joy to read. It's in stores and libraries now, so look for it! I will be waiting impatiently for book two.

Shankill Butchers - The Decemberists

Battle Royale

Author: Koushun Takami
Pages: 617
Publisher: VIZ Media
Brief Summary:
In this alternative, dystopian history, most of Asia has been taken over by a crazy Dictator. Every year, third year junior high students (one class from each prefecture) are selected to take part in the Program. This year, Shuya Nanahara's class has been selected. Now, they have to kill one another. Forty two students left for a class trip and woke up in a classroom on an island. Only one may leave...alive.

Review:
Before there was The Hunger Games, there was Battle Royale, published in 1999. Having read and enjoyed Suzanne Collins' series, I really wanted to read this book to see just how similar they actually were. Certainly, she must have found some inspiration in this story; it seems unlikely that elements of her story are so similar without some familiarity with Battle Royale.

The Similarities:

• Dictatorship running a rather stupid Program to prevent its people from getting uppity.
  
• A character who has been through the game before, won and had to go back.
• Hesitant romance between main characters.
• Zones that become unsafe to force characters into conflict, rather than just hiding.
• Announcements on a regular schedule revealing who has died.
• The victor receives a more comfortable life and TV coverage after the Program ends.
  

The Differences:

• Battle Royale is perhaps even more violent. The kids here get a whole lot of guns and there are almost double the number of kids that have to die.
• Since they are fighting classmates, the kids know everyone, rather than just one other person.
• There is no way to volunteer to go in someone else's place. If your class is chosen, you're screwed.
• Battle Royale has a less clear ending.
  
• Battle Royale follows all of the characters, not just one, so you know what is going through everyone's minds.
• In The Hunger Games, you are eligible to participate from 12-18. In Battle Royale, you are eligible only when you are in the third year of junior high (equivalent to a high school freshman in the U.S.).
  

Battle Royale was definitely an interesting read. And I enjoyed it, in the way one can enjoy something as grisly and macabre as books about young folks killing one another at the behest of a scary government. The story was great. Unfortunately, the writing is not. What I don't know is whether it is as poorly written (seriously grammatically incorrect and awkward sentence structure) in Japanese or if it was poorly translated. The copy of the book I have is the first American edition I believe, so maybe the newer one has been better edited? I don't really know, but definitely watch out for that.

Hunger Games fans should not miss this. Next up for me: watching the live action movie.

"They used to be just like me and you
They used to be sweet little boys
But something went horribly askew"

The Lonely Princess - Henry Mancini

Aurelia
Aurelia, Book 1

Author: Anne Osterlund
Pages: 256
Publisher: Speak

Brief Summary:
Pretty much every little girl has imagined being a princess and how great that would be. Well, Aurelia is a princess, a crown princess, and her story shows that it's not everything our little kid selves hoped it was. Aurelia's mother left after her brother died in a horseback riding accident years ago. These losses caused her father the king to shut down; he hardly ever talks to her anymore. Her stepmother Elise and she do not have a great relationship, although she loves her stepsister Melody. Her last remaining real friend has just wedded and is moving away. Even worse than all of this, someone is trying to kill her. On the plus side, a cute guy from her youth is back to help protect her.

Review:
Aurelia is a book I selected primarily for the pretty cover and because it came up just below some awesome fairy tale revision I had read on Shelfari (although I don't remember what book). The main genres to be found in Aurelia are mystery, romance and intrigue. They are all done quite well and convincingly. Another awesome element of the book: the horses. You can tell that Osterlund, like many other girls (like me), adored horses as a child. Many are lovingly described, such that you can get a really clear picture of them in your mind.

The story is satisfying, but is not what makes this a really great read; the characters were what really sold me on this book. Aurelia is not your typical princess. For one thing, she frequently dresses up as a boy and escapes the castle, so that she can familiarize herself with her city. On these journeys, her favorite place to go is the docks, where an old sailor will tell her stories. Aurelia is clever, sarcastic and stifled by court life. She is vibrant and full of life. Robert, too, is well-characterized. The other characters are a bit one-dimensional, but not enough so to detract from the story significantly.

If you're looking for a good princess story, you've found one.

Colorful - The Verve Pipe

Shades of Grey
Shades of Grey, Book 1

Author: Jasper Fforde
Pages: 400
Publisher: Penguin

Brief Summary:
In this dystopian novel, people are losing their visual acuity. No one can see at night anymore and only some people retain any part of their color vision. Our hero, Eddie Russett, is blessed with the ability to see the color red quite well, a fact which will enable him to marry well and move up in society. This society is a rule-driven hierarchy based on color: your color determines your rank, profession and where you live. Eddie's life plan is thrown out of whack when he is sent to East Carmine, a town in the Outer Fringes, to perform a chair census, an assignment intended to teach him humility.

Review:
Fforde tackles a dystopia with the same flair for the absurd that colors (punned!) his previous works. In Shades of Grey, as with the Thursday Next books, the best parts are the little details, the references and the one liners. The frame of the novel is patently nonsensical. Just accept it and enjoy the delightful tidbits along the way.

Eddie is a likable enough main character, if a bit boring. Jane, the grey (thus colorless) who has caught his fancy, however, is fantastic: rude, mocking and sarcastic. In general, a hoot. In fact, she is a bit like me, only much more violent and determined to make a difference. Her ides of romance is one I can totally agree with: "'You may have noticed I have a temper, [Jane] said, 'but when I calmed down, I realized that this world, blighted and imperfect as it is, would be better with you in it.'" Now that's romance!

For any book lovers or librarians out there (and who else would be drawn to this book, really?), the chapter about the Unlibrary is a definite highlight. So too are the silly rules by which the society is governed, such as the fact that the production of spoons is forbidden. Each chapter begins with a new rule, so make sure to watch out for those. Many of them made me giggle.

Shades of Grey is definitely a bit clunky in places and feels a bit long at times, but was overall quite a fun read. The ending was a bit disheartening, but I suppose I cannot complain about that what with it being a dystopia and all. Still, that was easy to forget and I wanted a slightly happier conclusion. If you enjoy absurdist humor, Fforde is an author not to be missed.

"Look ahead as far as you can see it
We'll live in drama but we'll die in a comedy and
I know I can be colorful (we're living in color blind)
I know I can be gray (my colors fade away)
And I know this losers living fortunate
Cause I know, you will love me
Yes I know, you will love me
I know, you will love me
Either way"

Too Much Love Will Kill You - Queen

Delirium
Delirium, Book 1

Author: Lauren Oliver
Pages: 442
ARC Acquired From: my librarian friend Craig (I don't know where he acquired it from, sorry!)
Publisher: Harper Teen

Brief Summary:
Lena lives in a world where love, amor deliria nervosa, is a disease. She cannot wait for her eighteenth birthday when she will receive the cure that will make her safe from this fatal illness. She especially longs for the cure because once she has it everyone might stop treating her like she does not belong. Her mother underwent the cure three times, but it never stuck. Before they could try a fourth time, she committed suicide, leaving Lena with forbidden words: "I love you." Of course, when Lena meets someone, she starts to question whether the cure is to save the people or not...

Review:
I had very high hopes for Delirium, having read on a number of blogs that it was pretty much the most fantasmagorical book of the year. These kinds of expectations often wreak havoc on my reading experience, because the book just cannot live up to the hype. Delirium largely did.

The concept of this dystopia is endlessly fascinating, unlike any of the dystopias I have read before. Certainly, there are others where love is denied and not welcomed by the society (Brave New World, for example), but I have not read one where love was the main issue. The society's documents, which open every section (as is done in Unwind), were very interesting, especially the slightly altered Bible quotes. Very clever.

Dear reader, you may have already gathered that I really do not like Romeo and Juliet, but here it is again, weaved throughout the story. The initial reference was pretty hilarious though; in this world, they did actually allow the play to be read (unlike Shakespeare's love poems), because it was a perfect example of the dangers of love. Even the young saw it not as romantic, but as a horror story. Ha!

The beginning of this novel actually reminded me, oddly enough, of Footloose. The kids, who have not been treated for the love disease, are not allowed to have any fun. They have early curfews, boys and girls aren't allowed to mingle, and loud music and dancing are forbidden. As expected, many kids will find a way to do forbidden things, nor appreciating their parents stifling them. Of course, the comparison ends somewhere: Regulators armed with guns are not quite the same as John Lithgow armed with a Bible.

The only downside to Delirium was that much of the plot was pretty predictable. Still, I enjoyed the writing, the concept and the characters. I eagerly await book two! Highly recommended!

"Too much love will kill you
Every time
Too much love will kill you
It'll make your life a lie
Yes, too much love will kill you
And you won't understand why
You'd give your life, you'd sell your soul
But here it comes again
Too much love will kill you
In the end..."

So Says I - The Shins

Brave New Worlds

Editor: John Joseph Adams
Pages: 481 (but they are oversized pages)
Publisher: Night Shade Books

While reading this book over the past week or so, I have been asked by several people whether this book is a sequel to the classic dystopia written by Aldous Huxley. Answer: no, it isn't. The title is of course a reference to that work, but the book is not explicitly about Huxley's (although one story, "Arties Aren't Stupid" did remind me of it). Brave New Worlds is an anthology of dystopian stories by both famous and mostly unknown authors.

Like any anthology, the quality varies. Some of the stories I couldn't put down, while others I had to force myself to finish. The good definitely outweighed the bad for me in this reading experience though and I found a bunch of new authors to watch for!

The dystopian societies are ranged around a number of themes:

• Getting to live an easy life in exchange for suffering (either of one or many)
• Babies not allowed
  
• Not enough babies
• Mining (yeah, I don't know either...These were not my favorite stories)
  
• Removing all the homosexuals
• Removing all the heterosexuals
• Advertising
• Growing old too slowly
  
• Growing old too quickly
• And more...

A quick word about a couple favorites and least favorites.

The Best: I absolutely adored the story "Just Do It" by Heather Lindsley. Unfortunately, Heather has not yet written a book, so I can't read any more of her stuff. In her dystopian world, advertising has gone crazy! Ad men actually create darts that are thrown at people on the street. If you get hit by a dart, you get a craving so strong for something (i.e. french fries or fish sandwiches) that you have to go get whatever it is immediately. Even worse, it might not stop there.

Also awesome was "Caught in the Organ Draft" by Robert Silverberg. Although his name didn't ring any bells with me, Silverberg has been writing sci fi since the fifties and has a ton of books. Written in 1972, this short story considers a world where war is waged by robots to spare lives...so that all the young people can be used as organ donors as part of a draft. They only take non-vital organs, like the 'spare' kidney or lung, so it's cool, right? And the important adults can now live for upwards of a hundred and fifty years! If you liked Neal Shusterman's Unwind, you definitely don't want to miss this story.

The Worst: I actually liked "Amaryllis" by Carrie Vaughn, but in the context of the anthology, it was awful. The problem: it's not a dystopia. At all. The main character is being treated poorly by an authority figure and the society certainly isn't ideal, but her problem is resolved when they go to a higher authority. The higher authority fixes everything and not in a brainwashing kind of way. The editor even mentions in the story's introduction that it's not a dystopia. So why is it here?

"Sacrament" by Matt Williamson has, in my mind, the problem of the former, as well as being a story I did not enjoy and which did not, to me, seem particularly well-crafted. The story is from the perspective of a torturer in a society where advertising is art. The torturer likes his job, not in a creepy way, so he says, but takes pride in it. His father was one of the great ad-men/artists. The story lacks a point that I could find, does not successfully entwine the father's story with the son's and the main character is not unhappy with the world around him.

So yeah, lots of great stories (way more than I mentioned above, like "Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. and "Minority Report" by Philip K. Dick). Plus, there is awesome cover art and a fabulous bibliography of dystopian literature at the back! This is a must for dystopia fans.

"We've got rules and maps and guns in our backs
but we still can't just behave ourselves
even if to save our own lives, so says I, we are a brutal kind.

Cause this is nothing like we'd ever dreamt
tell Sir Thomas More we've got another failed attempt
cause if it makes them money they might just give you life this time."

Pure Imagination - Gene Wilder

A Little Princess

Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Genre: children's literature
Pages: 199
Publisher (of this terrifying edition on the right): Sterling Publishing, Co.

I am going to deviate from my standard formula here (and will probably do likewise for other books as well known as this one) and skip the summary portion. I am assuming that a good number of people will have grown up with this story, like I did. I actually have never read this book before (maybe...I might have read it when I was quite young, but this is a true statement so far as I recall). I usually post a picture of the cover of the edition I read, but I was really tempted not to here. Check out the ridiculously terrifying cover on my library copy!

Sara Crewe is a child gifted with a remarkable imagination, intelligence and a doting father. When her father dies, her intelligence is useful certainly, but it is her imagination that really pulls her through the tough times. She wonders in the beginning of the book whether she is actually nice or not, because she has never experienced a hardship. I really loved that when hardship came, she struggled to maintain her princess demeanor. She got angry and wanted to respond spitefully to ill treatment, but made the conscious decision to rise above. This makes Sara feel like a real girl, not like some absurd Pollyanna.

I am always happy to find another book lover, and such is Sara Crewe. One of the most trying moments of the book for her in her battle to keep her temper is when her reading is interrupted: "Never did she find anything so difficult as to keep herself from losing her temper when she was suddenly disturbed while absorbed in a book. People who are fond of books know the feeling of irritation which sweeps over them at such a moment." Delightful.

There was one element of the story that is a bit...odd...from a modern perspective. That is that the Indian servant, Ram Dass, watches Sara while she is inside and even comes into the room while she is sleeping. His intentions are entirely noble and he is doing good. Still...it's hard not to be at least a wee bit creeped out by that these days.

Although a children's book, this classic loses nothing when read by an older audience. I highly recommend this to anyone who believes in magic! Also, if you haven't seen it, definitely check out the 1995 film version, because it manages to capture the magic of the book and even improve upon the story (in my opinion)!

"If you want to view paradise
Simply look around and view it
Anything you want to, do it
Wanna change the world?
There's nothing
To it

There is no
Life I know
To compare with
Pure imagination
Living there
You'll be free
If you truly wish to be"