Misfit Salon

The Books They Gave Me

2012-02-02T03:00:00.000-08:00

I'm addicted to this tumblr site where people recount intimate stories of books their lovers have given them. Some of these are poignant. Others make me want to shake the writer and say, "Get over it!" However, I do agree with this one post that states the following :

"... it occurred to me that sharing books is an intimate act in a relationship. If sharing music is considered foreplay — which it is to me anyway — then sharing books is definitely going all the way. With music, you merely glimpse your infatuation’s tastes. Still, it’s easy to tune out a song you don’t particularly care for when you would rather listen to him talk or relish the comfort of his arms. But with books, you pay attention. You’re reading words; you’re consuming ideas and themes that move him; you’re connecting intellectually. Maybe even spiritually.

"I could be overthinking this. But I can’t help feel a sense of loss knowing that my book, marked by my handwriting — ideas and phrases that spoke to me, underlined, circled, highlighted — is floating in the world. Just like a man I once loved."

Picking a book for the one you love can be agonizing, especially if it's in the beginning stages of the relationship - it conveys so much meaning that is as yet unsaid. It's a promise and a sign. A symbol. Not only are the contents of the book important but the act of book-giving is a significant message in it of itself: I want you to know I've paid attention. I've thought about what moves you and what inspires you. This is what you mean to me.

In a very entertaining article, Allison Hill writes of how she's been seduced by literary lotharios, which starts with this promising sentence: "I once slept with a man because he gave me a copy of Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle."

What are some of the books you've given or have received that has special significance?

Ever been seduced by a man's literary game?

Literary Matches and Missed Connections

2012-01-30T03:00:00.000-08:00

Alternately a literary guessing game and series of funny what ifs: A sample of some personal want ads written by fictional characters. Try to guess who...

This one's my favorite:

sexy hobbitses - m4w (misty mountain) oh precious precious hobbitses! we loves your chubby fingers and furry feets. we will gives you a ring. we loves you, we loves you, we loves you forever!

AND

Ever want to play matchmaker with literary characters from different books? Flavorwire does the very thing; although, I take issue with the fictional couple of Hermione Granger and Artemis Fowl. Hermione belongs with Ron!!!

Which characters do you think would be perfect for one another?

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

2012-01-27T03:00:00.000-08:00

A captivating tale, set in Scotland in the early 1960s, that is both an homage to and a modern variation on the enduring classic Jane Eyre.

Fate has not been kind to Gemma Hardy. Orphaned by the age of ten, neglected by a bitter and cruel aunt, sent to a boarding school where she is both servant and student, young Gemma seems destined for a life of hardship and loneliness. Yet her bright spirit burns strong. Fiercely intelligent, singularly determined, Gemma overcomes each challenge and setback, growing stronger and more certain of her path. Now an independent young woman with dreams of the future, she accepts a position as an au pair on the remote and beautiful Orkney Islands.

But Gemma's biggest trial is about to begin . . . a journey of passion and betrayal, secrets and lies, redemption and discovery that will lead her to a life she's never dreamed.

A modern retelling of Jane Eyre? Of course I wanted The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey! While this aspect was what drew me to The Flight of Gemma Hardy, I also enjoyed Livesey's unique elements that made it distinct from Charlotte Bronte's masterpiece. However, those looking for a close parallel with Jane Eyre will be dissatisfied.

Though set in the 60s, the book begins much like the original: Gemma is a plain and unwanted relative who is sent to a harsh boarding school by her cold aunt. This segment of the book, along with the following part, when Gemma goes to the Orkney Islands to be a nanny to an unruly wild-child, are the two sections which I engaged me the most. Livesey's depiction of the terrible conditions in the boarding school and by contrast the stark, natural beauty of the Islands is fascinating.

As the title alludes to, Gemma is rendered as a fledgling bird who goes through trials and tragedies before finally taking flight. Rather than solely focus on Gemma's love affair with Mr. Rochester/Mr. Sinclair, Livesey takes her time exploring Gemma's rich inner life and emotional growth, slowly moving from a state of complete solitude to finding love and friendship, then finally discovering the truth about her origins.

"In the west the sky was still light and the bats were out, uttering their high-pitched cries. From the fields came the lonely, fluting call of the curlews. The beauty of the evening only made me lonelier. And what was I lonely for? I asked as I climbed on the gate and gazed down the road along which any car must come. I was used to being alone and I had more friends here than I had at any time since my uncle died. But I remembered how Mr. Sinclair had talked to me when the bee stung my hand, and how later he had asked my views about God, as if my answer mattered. In those moments I had felt seen by him, and I wanted, I thought as a bat swooped by, to go on being seen."

Enough of Jane Eyre's themes are recognizable to make The Flight of Gemma Hardy a sturdy retelling. However, I found Gemma's relationship with Mr. Sinclair to be lacking in passion. Further, there's a long section after Gemma runs away from the terrible secret she finds out about her beloved (not what you might expect) which was dull compared to the first two sections. Not even Gemma's flight to beautiful Iceland sufficiently enlivened the ending for me.

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

2012-01-25T03:00:00.000-08:00

Last spring, Nikki Beckett vanished, sucked into an underworld known as the Everneath, where immortals Feed on the emotions of despairing humans. Now she's returned- to her old life, her family, her friends- before being banished back to the underworld... this time forever. She has six months before the Everneath comes to claim her, six months for good-byes she can't find the words for, six months to find redemption, if it exists. Nikki longs to spend these months reconnecting with her boyfriend, Jack, the one person she loves more than anything. But there's a problem: Cole, the smoldering immortal who first enticed her to the Everneath, has followed Nikki to the mortal world. And he'll do whatever it takes to bring her back- this time as his queen. As Nikki's time grows short and her relationships begin slipping from her grasp, she's forced to make the hardest decision of her life: find a way to cheat fate and remain on the Surface with Jack or return to the Everneath and become Cole's...
Alright, I admit it; I was partially swayed to request Everneath by Brodi Ashton because of the cover. I'm easily seduced by beautiful red dresses. Not to mention the alluring premise of a young adult retelling of the Persephone myth which involves a race of Immortals draining emotions from humans. From several passages in the book, I could tell that Ashton knew the many facets of this myth well, as evidenced by the light exploration of some intriguing interpretations of Persephone's and Hades' roles. I also particularly liked how Ashton subtly revealed an interconnecting theme of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Another compelling aspect of Everneath is Nikki's time in the titular underworld. Unfortunately, the novel spends very little time recounting her experience there. In fact what could have made Everneath haunting and unforgettable - the mythical themes - are underutilized. The writing showed some glimmer of beautiful lyricism here and there but was mostly average and typical young adult telling not showing.

None of the characters resonated with me. For someone who had spent a hundred years asleep in the underworld, Nikki doesn't seem scarred enough, traumatized enough. She has only six months left to live above and spends most of that time doing ordinary, mundane things like homework. She's supposed to have survived intact because of her love for Jack but she wastes months avoiding him. Nikki and Jack's tepid relationship has none of the grandeur of the tragic romance of Orpheus and Eurydice. Cole, as the teenage Hades, is probably the most interesting, yet even this bad boy is one dimensional.

"'I want what Hades and Persephone had, and I can't do it without you. The only time the queen of the Everneath had been overthrown is when and Everliving has found his perfect match. I've spent my whole life--and it's a long one, trust me---looking for my perfect match, and it's you. I knew you were different from the first moment I met you. The first moment you placed your hands in mine.'"

A nonreader's recommendation: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2012-01-22T05:00:00.001-08:00

My nonreader 16-year-old has once again proven my theory: Nonreaders do not exist; they’re just dormant readers who haven’t met the right book yet.

Latest evidence:

A few nights ago, I came home to a stranger who looked like my son curled up on the sofa with The Hunger Games in his hand.

When I said that dinner was ready, it took him an abnormally long five minutes to come to the table. This is a kid who lives to eat.

He groaned when it was time to surrender his book for basketball practice.

“I wanna finish this tonight, Ma,” he says with resolve. “So I can start the next one. I’m so glad Uncle Mikey gave me the second one for Christmas.” (Guess whose brilliant idea it was to tip off Uncle Mikey.) “I keep telling myself I’ll just finish one chapter, but I can’t stop.” (Can’t stop?? Do you know how many perfect, uncracked spines are lined up on his bookcase? Years of tempting him with all kinds of books I wished, I prayed, that he’d simply start – with no such luck.))

I couldn’t resist trying to take a picture of him snuggled in his bed, propped up on pillows with a book in his hand. He was not so engrossed that he ducked just in time underneath the blankets. “Come on,” I wheedled. “Just one picture.”

“NO!”

“Please!”

“No, mom!” (burrows even deeper)

“Get outta there or I’ll take that book away from you.”

“Ha!" he sneers, "You? Take a book away from me? Yeah, right.” Damn this kid, calling my bluff.

The next morning, he got up bleary-eyed, having stayed up to finish. Getting ready for school, I saw him sticking Catching Fire in his backpack.

“When are you going to have time to read that in school?” I asked. There's no way he’d skip hanging out with his friends during lunch to read. He’s not a nerd like his mother.

“Well,” he said in a hopeful tone, “He might give us time in English to read. Maybe. Just in case.” Hmmm.

So here’s my vicarious review of The Hunger Games: It’s either so good that my son would rather read it than practice basketball /eat OR this is proof that the apocalypse is truly upon us.

The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb

2012-01-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

A powerfully dark and gripping tale of two men obsessed with one very charismatic, very damaged woman who’s determined to con from each of them everything she needs to survive.

The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb begins with a stunning sequence - one that made me wince and flinch with every excruciating sentence. A woman is falling down the stairs and we get a running narrative of her body's physical trauma. Her orbital orb cracking, rib fracturing - However, in between the descriptions of breaking bones, we get the woman's emotional reaction with memorable, lyrical passages in stark contrast to the painful ones.

"Pain had a voice. It spoke to her as she shot off the top step and forward into space, patiently explaining that this was not how her life was supposed to end."

Who is this woman? Who pushed her and why?

By the end of the book, we get the simple answers to these questions, but, like the characters, the truth is very complicated.

As the cryptic title might imply, the novel is about a thief of property, as well as emotions. Though we find out about the events leading up to the woman's fall, her childhood, and part of her adulthood, we never find out her true name. Instead we are given various names she uses and identities she assumes in different situations, in order to steal something from someone. Each time she wears a different face - innocent child, bright ingenue, trustworthy businesswoman, admirable victim - so convincingly that she is able to manipulate everyone around her.

The novel tells the alternating stories of two men this seductive con artist attempts to deceive: one is John, a newlywed of comfortable means who is set up as a relatively cautious, but ultimately easily duped victim of fraud.

In fascinating contrast, the other is Lawrence, a psychologist trained in the science of nonverbal psychological "tells." He's skilled in instantly discerning lies or concealment, no matter how artful that person is. Lawrence is so successful at what he does that he teaches seminars on how to analyze facial and other physical features for business purposes. If anyone can spot and unmask a con artist, it would be Lawrence.

The narrative from his perspective is the most intriguing part of the book. In fact, if such a seminar were offered in real life, I would take it. As I read, I wondered how much of myself I was revealing without saying a word, with every unguarded expression, facial tic, movement, posture, choice of clothes, etc. Our every visible aspect and other subtle clues give away our inner selves, even those desires and fears we're not aware of, let alone those we want to conceal. Anyone skilled in reading the signs would have great advantage, even power, over others.

"..[T]hings aren't necessarily what they appear at first...we deal with the liminal...with the partial, the hidden. To the experienced reader, faces and bodies are like a kabbalistic text in which every word stands for something other than what it seems."

The Face Thief is an impressive work of character study. Gottlieb explores the psychological terrain of his subjects in riveting detail. The novel is not so much about which of the con artist's would be victims pushed her, but what makes each of these characters tick and how their secret natures, despite their attempts at self-control, drive them towards their downfalls.

Where The Face Thief falters is what happens after the woman wakes up in a hospital and is confronted by the police. The plot, involving incredibly quick, superhuman recovery and police custody which is both supertight and incredibly lax, simply lost me at this point.

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine program for providing a copy for me to review!

The Thorn and The Blossom by Theodora Goss

2012-01-17T03:00:00.000-08:00

When Evelyn Morgan walked into the village bookstore, she didn’t know she would meet the love of her life. When Brendan Thorne handed her a medieval romance, he didn’t know it would change the course of his future. It was almost as if they were the cursed lovers in the old book itself . . .

The Thorn and the Blossom is a remarkable literary artifact: You can open the book in either direction to decide whether you’ll first read Brendan’s, or Evelyn’s account of the mysterious love affair. Choose a side, read it like a regular novel—and when you get to the end, you’ll find yourself at a whole new beginning.

I have been a fan of Theodora Goss's strange yet elegant fantasy short stories for some years now, so when I found about The Thorn and The Blossom, I was immediately interested. And when I heard about its unique, two-sided format, which correlated with the love story being told twice, each from the different perspectives of the protagonists, I was even more smitten.

I was overjoyed to receive what appeared to be the finished (or very close to it) copy: a beautiful hardcover tome in its own case, with woodcuts by Scott McKowen and the pages bound together in accordion-style. This is one gorgeous book; however, as other reviewers have noted, one that should be handled carefully or the pages might come apart. I think its delicate physical nature complements the otherworldly theme of fairies and magic hiding just below the surface of the ordinary world.

The Thorn and The Blossom has Goss's trademark style: subtle, layered writing with unexpected fantastical touches. Goss expands upon the Arthurian legend of Gawain and the Green Knight and the Green Man folklore to tell the star-crossed love story of modern day Evelyn and Brendan. The parallels between the myths and the present day are not broad or obvious; I love the depth of Goss's literary interpretation. An actual Book of the Green Knight (referred to in the story), with annotations and criticism, would make a fantastic companion piece.

Upon reading both versions of same story and reflecting upon them a day later, I felt the urge to reread. It's the kind of novel that gets more meaningful with each subsequent reading. The fantasy aspects here are subdued, hinted at but never fully emerges at the forefront, the progression of the thwarted relationship between Evelyn and Brendan is the centerpiece.

"'Gawan noticed that Elowen had collapsed. The spell had taken all her strength, and she lay dying. She promised him that they would be together again, that death could not defeat their love. But Morva had fallen in love with Gawan as well, and she was unaffected by Elowen's magic. Upon seeing them pledging their love to each other, she shrieked with anger and cast he own curse: Elowen could not be with the man she loved for a thousand years. With her last breath, Elowen told Gawan that she would be with him again after the thousand years had passed:

"'"Have patience, love, and we shall meet again
As surely as wild roses have their thorns
For weary years eventually pass."'"

While The Thorn and The Blossom was a lovely read, I felt that Goss's talents are better showcased in a short story format. A bit of the magic and tension are somewhat lost in a lengthier medium.

Some sites have labeled The Thorn and The Blossom as young adult, which is misleading. The protagonists are college age at the beginning and the story spans 10-15 years, so there are some sophisticated themes that will resonate more with older readers.

Read some of Theodora Goss's short stories.

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine program for providing a copy for me to review!

Intent

2012-01-13T03:00:00.000-08:00

In criminal law, the issue of intent or lack thereof can be the difference between guilty and not guilty verdicts. However, as it pertains to books, intent, while not criminal (mostly) and doesn't carry a possible sentence of 25 to life, should matter in book reviewing too.

Not too long ago, I read an article by Robert Pinsky titled "How Not To Write a Book Review" and distillation of that piece by Keir Graff. Pinsky's article quotes an 1818 review of John Keats's works - a review so scathing that it was rumored to have killed him. Not only was it plain mean, the reviewer rather proudly admitted that he HADN'T ACTUALLY READ Keats's poetry.

Pinsky follows with a trident of rules regarding a reviewer's "Golden Obligation":

"1. The review must tell what the book is about.
2. The review must tell what the book's author says about that thing the book is about.
3. The review must tell what the reviewer thinks about what the book's author says about that thing the book is about."

As an addendum, preceding these three fine rules should be the requirement that the reviewer has READ the book. Just a thought.

Graff states that #1 & #2 have to do with intent. What did the author intend for the book to be? If I'm reviewing Twilight, I shouldn't savage it because it doesn't compare to, say, To The Lighthouse. It's meant to be a vampire novel for the YA crowd and I should review it as such.

That's why I can give 5 stars to a chick lit book one week and 5 stars to a well-received literary novel in the next. If they both succeed in their intent, then they should be lauded accordingly.

That's as far as I go with intent though, because I believe that once a book is out into the wild, it has a life all its own that sometimes has nothing to do with the author's conscious intent.

Take, for example, this negative review of Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce by The Book Smugglers. [I don't always agree with their reviews, but they do write very detailed, thoughtful ones so I respect them]. Among other things, Ana and Thea jointly felt the book presented a theme "that associate girls that are self-confident and beautiful with being shallow and superficial and deserving of bad things happening to them." They also quoted passages to support this.

In one of the 118 comments [spark a firestorm much?], the author respectfully replied that "MY INTENTION WAS, BY NO MEANS, TO INSINUATE THAT ATTACKS ARE THE FAULT OF THE VICTIM." I have no doubt that the author was truthful in this; yet the passages quoted also buttress the reviewers' analysis. Then again, there were those who read the passages a different way, and their analyses are valid too. In this case, author's intent and qualified reviewer's opinion are at odds yet I cannot disregard either.

But have I picked up Sisters Red, which I had been excited about prior to the Smugglers' review? No.

What rules do you follow when reviewing?

Do you take the author's intent into account?

Do you believe a book can be taken in a way that is contradictory to how the author meant for it to be taken?

Which trumps the other, reviewer's opinion or author's intent?

Embers by Sandor Marai

2012-01-11T03:00:00.000-08:00

Sandor Marai is a Hungarian writer whose works have only recently been discovered by the West and translated into English in the past decade. As of this post, I counted only six books that are available in English. I've owned a copy of Embers by Sandor Marai for several years now but only recently did I finally open it - a few pages in I asked myself why in the world it took me that long to do so. I read it at one sitting, simply entranced by the writing. I'm sure this is in no small measure due to the translator, Carol Brown Janeway.

Embers is not large on plot; not much action happens. Most of the book centers around one extraordinary night which the 75-year-old General, an aristocrat born and reared in the waning days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has been planning for 41 years. His castle in the Hungarian countryside is stirring in preparation for an unexpected, but long-awaited, visit from his once closest friend, Konrad. It has been 41 years since the two have spoken. For this visit, the General will recreate the setting just as it was 41 years ago, down to the decorations, the meal, and the arrangement of furniture. It will be exactly the same except for the absence of his dead wife, Krisztina. For this is no ordinary meeting; on this night, the General and Konrad will confront each other about the events of so many years ago involving a hunt and Krisztina's death which have shadowed both men's lives.

The writing and the execution is what makes Embers transcendant - I was riveted from the first page. The details could be banal - two men, a beautiful, dead woman, a broken friendship, and betrayal. In Marai's skillful hands, the connection between these elements is provocative and mysterious; the reader is on tenterhooks waiting for the truth to explode.

"'We don't have long to live,' the General says abruptly, as if he were pronouncing the clinching statement in an unvoiced argument. 'Another year, maybe two, perhaps not even that much. We don't have long to live because you came back. As you are well aware. You had plenty of time to think in the tropics and then in your house near London. Forty-one years is a long time. You thought it all over, didn't you?...But then you came back, because you couldn't do anything else. And I've been waiting for you, because I couldn't do anything else. And we've both known that we would meet again, and then it would be all over with life and everything that gave our existence meaning and tension. A secret that lurks between the two of us has extraordinary power. It burns through the fabric of life like a scorching beam.'"

The contrasting settings of fin de siecle Vienna and the remote castle in Hungary depict in sumptuous detail the romantic idealism of the young versus the bitter loneliness of old age. Bright and talented in their youth, what derailed the promising futures of the General, Konrad, and Krisztina?

The reader doesn't find out the full truth - let me get that out of the way - but enough is revealed to make the conclusion to Embers a deeply satisfying one.

Archon: The Books of Raziel by Sabrina Benulis

2012-01-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first to admit that I was seduced by Archon's beautiful cover and the fascinating synopsis. I just came off of reading a wonderful angels and demons novel and so was receptive to this storyline. I was doubly encouraged when, upon reading the back of the ARC, I saw an enticing comparison to Angelology, one of my favorite reads of 2010. Regrettably, what initially lured me to Archon with promises of a heavenly read was not fulfilled.

"There are some things worse than death . . .

“For years, Angela Mathers has been plagued by visions of a supernatural being--an angel with beguiling sapphire eyes and magnificent bronze wings who haunts her thoughts and seduces her dreams. Newly freed from a mental institution where she has been locked away for two years, Angela hopes that being accepted at the Vatican's exclusive university, the West Wood Academy, will bring her peace and a semblance of normality.

“But Angela isn't normal. With her stain of dark red hair and alabaster skin, she is a blood head--a freak, a monster, and the possible fulfillment of a terrifying prophecy. Blessed with strange mystical powers, blood heads hold a special place in Luz, the remote island city that is home to the Academy. Among them, one special blood head is more powerful than all: the Archon, the human reincarnation of the dead angel, Raziel. And when the Archon arises as foretold, it will control the supernatural universe.

“Barely in control her own life, Angela has no ambition to control an entire universe, not when she's suddenly contending with a dangerous enemy determined to destroy her and a magnetic novitiate who wants to save her. But the choice may not be her own. . . .

“Torn between mortal love and angelic obsession, the young blood head must soon face the truth about herself and her world. It is she who holds the key to Heaven and Hell--and both will stop at nothing to possess her."

Archon doesn't suffer for lack of intriguing ideas: A supernatural realm composed of fallen angels in various, deadly but beautiful states of being - Thrones, Jinns, Fae, in addition to the demons and witches. A female Lucifer. A Golem-like creature. (And a villain named Stephanie - YAY!) I loved the fact that the line between which supernatural creature was evil and who was not was blurred or basically nonexistent. The demons resembled the angels and vice versa and the earthly priests were the worst sinners among the humans. I loved the sense of rotting menace and dark sin pervading this fallen world. Benulis has created her own unique and complex version of Paradise Lost; of heaven, hell, and life on earth; of how and why the angels fell in the first place; and the impending apocalypse prophetically called the Ruin.

I have no doubt that Benulis's vision of Archon’s world is complete and convincing – in her mind; however, that did not come across on the page for me.

I'm not sure if, three months prior to the release date, the uncorrected proof I received differed greatly from the final product but as it is, I will try to temper my review with the thought that perhaps some of my issues may stem from that.

I applaud novels which dispense with chapters of back story and start in media res, but maybe a little explication would have helped in this case. 80 pages in and I had very little idea what was going on, no idea about the rules of its world or why I should care about the Ruin the way all the characters did. And that state barely improved as the book progressed. I was so disoriented that I kept confirming that Archon was indeed the first book of the series because I continually felt like I jumped straight into the sequel.

Even worse, I didn't care about any of the characters (except for Sophia but she ... I would love to tell you what she is because that's one of Archon's fantastic ideas, but I won't spoil it for you).

I didn't care if the narcissistic heroine, Angela, lived or died. How could I when she was so dedicated to committing suicide? There were times when I wished she had succeeded. At one point, Angela comes across the dead body of schoolgirl and she only shows indifference; she had more reaction to a dead rat.

Angela did not interest me as she had no interest in living. All she cared about was the beautiful angel in her dreams. Which is why she wanted to kill herself - to be with him. Problem is, other than his beauty, I could not fathom why she would want to kill herself over him.

This obsession made no sense to me, as was Angela’s sudden infatuation with a beautiful novice priest and he with her. He commented on her painting and pouf! an immediate passionate connection ensues, not to be dampened even when he was going to let her be killed by his demonic cousin.

I was more interested in the villains (hard to tell who they were exactly as I could barely distinguish between the angels and demons since they all behaved in callous, murderous ways) than in Angela.

Archon is not Angelology; not even close. It reaches high and I would have loved for it to succeed; however, the story disappointingly fell below its ambitious premise.

Thank you to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review.

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

2012-01-05T03:00:00.000-08:00

A boy named Ben longs for the father he has never known. A girl named Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room, and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.

I was torn between turning the 637 pages of Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick as fast as I could to find out what happens next and wanting to linger over the marvelous illustrations. Wonderstruck is a book meant to be experienced over and over again, at the very least so that one can pore over every intricate detail of the artwork.

I love the way the alternating stories are told: one purely in image and one purely in prose until they merge towards the end. I kept trying to figure out how the two individual narratives set in different eras would eventually come together to form one story but Selznick successfully kept me in delighted suspense throughout the novel. Selznick is undoubtedly a unique alchemist of word and image but Wonderstruck also has its poignant substance.

The two protagonists, Ben and Rose, are lonely and in search of belonging to some place or to someone. In Ben’s case (1977), his beloved mother just died and he is lost without her. In Rose’s case (1927), she idolizes a famous actress, Lillian Mayhew, and keeps a scrapbook of her life. Their situations keep them isolated, even from well-meaning family members. Each decides to run away: Ben, to find the father he never met and Rose, to see Lillian Mayhew. Their journeys take them to that wonderland for kids of all ages: New York, and in a place that sets imaginations afire: The American Museum of Natural History.

As to what happens next, this is the only hint I’m going to give: In the afterword Selznick acknowledges that he was very much inspired by E.L. Konigsburg’s The Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and sprinkled references throughout Wonderstruck, daring the reader to find them. (Another excuse to reread :) )

"Ben remembered reading about curators...and thought about what it meant to curate your own life... What would it be like to pick and choose the objects and stories that would go into your own cabinet? How would Ben curate his own life? And then, thinking about his museum box, and his house, and his books, and the secret room, he realized he'd already begun doing it. Maybe, thought Ben, we are all cabinets of wonders."

If you’ve ever visited the American Museum of Natural History (or if you haven’t, here’s your chance!), if you love illustrated novels, if you just want to be entertained by a biblio cabinet of wonders – read Wonderstruck!

Wonderstruck website

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-08:00

What if saying hello to an old friend meant saying good-bye to life as you know it?

It’s been six years since Pen Calloway watched her best friends walk out of her life. And through the birth of her daughter, the death of her father, and the vicissitudes of single motherhood, she has never stopped missing them.

Pen, Cat, and Will met on their first day of college and formed what seemed like a magical and lifelong bond, only to see their friendship break apart amid the realities of adulthood. When, after years of silence, Cat—the bewitching, charismatic center of their group—e-mails Pen and Will with an urgent request to meet at their college reunion, they can’t refuse. But instead of a happy reconciliation, what awaits is a collision of past and present that sends Pen and Will, with Pen’s five-year-old daughter and Cat’s hostile husband in tow, on a journey across the world.

Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos has the kind of characters who either make you wish you were close friends with in real life or feel so familiar because they remind you of your bestest, closest friends – you know; the ones who you go way back with, the ones who knew you when you were a crazy mess and still loved you, the ones who no matter how long it's been between get togethers, you still pick up the conversation as if no time had passed at all.

Cat, Pen, and Will remind me of me and my best friend - so intimately connected that they seemed joined at the hip. I loved the way they talked to each other, witty, zany, and sweet as only people who know one another inside and out can talk.

De los Santos's celebration of this incredibly close friendship between the three and their other relationships is laugh-out-loud humorous, insightful, and stirringly poignant. As the novel alternates from their youthful past as an inseparable trio to the present, when Cat, Will, and Pen have not spoken for years because of a mysterious falling out, the story's sentimental nature is balanced by the reality of friends who for whatever reason inevitably grow up and apart.

"'You want to know the truth?'" Pen said. 'The truth is that, all these years, I have missed both of you more than I can describe. I have pined for you. I wanted you back the whole time.'

"Pen felt lighter after she'd said it. She had not planned to say it. In fact, she had planned not to because what in the world would be the point? To make herself vulnerable as a newborn chick? To make Will uncomfortable? To put him on the spot? And still: this lightness. Something about the night, about having listened to all that Jason had said and to be sitting in this precise spot under this precise sky thinking about Cat with Will made saying what she harbored in her heart feel natural. She didn't expect him to say it back or to even acknowledge it. She just wanted him to know."

I loved Falling Together not only because of the endearing characters but also because of de los Santos's depiction of the Philippines. In the last quarter of the novel, Pen, Will, Cat's husband, and Pen's daughter travel to the Philippines to search for the elusive Cat. Having read another novel earlier in the year which painted a very ugly picture of my home country, I approached this part of the novel with trepidation. I need not have worried; Falling Together, without glossing over the realities of a poor Third World country, does a wonderful and accurate job of celebrating what I hold dear: the strong, multi-generational family ties, the hospitality and warmth of the people, the natural wonders, and the FOOD! FYI, I have a litmus test for novels which so far have never been proven wrong; any book which has food descriptions that make my mouth water and my full stomach growl in hunger is one worth reading.

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine program for providing a copy for me to review!

Highlights of 2011

2011-12-29T20:00:00.001-08:00

Best Thriller (Tie): The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino and Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson

Best Middle Grade: This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel

Best Young Adult: Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Best Horror: The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey

Best nonfiction: The Rite by Matt Baglio

Best literary fiction: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

Best romance: The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

Best fantasy: Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

BEST BOOK OF 2011: ROTTERS by DANIEL KRAUS

For a list of all the books I read and reviewed in 2011, go here.

***

The only book my son requested this year. Repeatedly: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (full report of his reaction to come)

The book I brought for my office's Christmas exchange then ended up taking home for myself because no one else picked it (Don't give me that look; at least it's going to someone who really wants it.): The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Book I'm most looking forward to hiding out in my bedroom with, cup of hot chocolate on hand and the door barricaded against any interruptions (knock at the risk of being growled at and having a shoe thrown at you): Hemlock Grove by Brian McGreevy

I know you've already seen the trailer for this...but I JUST CANNOT WAIT!!!! The road goes ever on and on...

HAPPY READING!

Books Read and Reviewed in 2011

2011-12-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

January

1. My Mother She killed Me, My Father He Ate Me: Forty New Fairy Tales Edited by Kate Bernheimer #
2. His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik ^
3. Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik ^
4. Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities by Amy Stewart^
5. The Devotion of Suspect X by Keigo Higashino *
6. Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff #

February

7. A Widow's Story by Joyce Carol Oates *
8. The Rite by Matt Baglio ^#
9. The Poisoner's Handbook: The Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum ^
10. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill +
11. Embers by Sandor Marai #

March

12. The Altar of Bones by Philip Carter *
13. Moondogs by Alexander Yates *
14. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel ^
15. Night Road by Kristin Hannah *
16. Left Neglected by Lisa Genova *
17. The Sandalwood Tree by Elle Newmark *
18. The Vespertine by Saundra Mitchell *
19. Rotters by Daniel Kraus *
20. Chime by Franny Billingsley *

April

21. Amaryllis in Blueberry by Christina Meldrum *
22. The Baby Planner by Josie Brown *
23. In Stitches: A Memoir by Dr. Anthony Youn *
24. Prophecy by S.J. Parris *
25. A Conflict of Interest by Alan Mitzner *
26. In the Arms of Stone Angels by Jordan Dane *
27. Sister: A Novel by Rosamund Lupton *

May

28. The Dark City (Relic Master #1) by Catherine Fisher *
29. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs *
30. Before I Go to Sleep by S.J. Watson *
31. The Hypnotist by S.J. Rose *

June

32. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma *
33. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh *
34. Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin ^
35. The Ghost of Greenwich Village by Lorna Graham *
36. French Lessons by Ellen Sussman *
37. Dominance by Will Lavender *
38. Creep by Jennifer Hillier *

July

39. The Genesis Key by James Barney *
40. This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel *
41. Iron House by John Hart *
42. Spycatcher by Matthew Dunn *
43. The Taker by Alma Katsu *
44. Sanctus by Simon Toyne *

August

45. Juliet Immortal by Stacey Jay *
46. Crushed Seraphim by Debra Anastasia *
47. Wildwood by Colin Meloy *
48. The Restorer by Amanda Stevens #
49. Ruined by Paula Morris #
50. Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn ^
51. The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill ^
52. Among Others by Jo Walton ^
53. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor *

September

54. The Inquisitor's Apprentice by Chris Moriarty *
55. Lips Touch, Three Times by Laini Taylor ^
56. Archon by Sabrina Benulis *
57. Dark Souls by Paula Morris *
58. Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer by Laini Taylor ^
59. Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact by A.J. Hartley *
60. Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver *
61. Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick *

October

62. The Lost Angel by Javier Sierra *
63. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson *
64. In the Forests of the Night by Kersten Hamilton *
65. Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan *
66. Burned by Thomas Enger *
67. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements by Sam Kean ^
68. The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey #
69. Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu *
70. Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi *
71. The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark *

November

72. The Face Thief by Eli Gottlieb *
73. The Awakening by Kate Chopin #

December

74. Falling Together by Marisa de los Santos *
75. Everneath by Brodi Ashton *
76. The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss *

*review copies
#bought with my own money
^borrowed from the library
~e-books
+books won, given as a gift, or just plain free

The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark

2011-12-27T03:00:00.000-08:00

"I gasped, or tried to. My mouth opened, but I couldn’t draw breath. His lips, pearly wet, parted and he blew into my mouth. My lungs expanded beneath his weight. When I exhaled he sucked my breath in and his weight turned from cold marble into warm living flesh."

Since accepting a teaching position at remote Fairwick College in upstate New York, Callie McFay has experienced the same disturbingly erotic dream every night: A mist enters her bedroom, then takes the shape of a virile, seductive stranger who proceeds to ravish her in the most toe-curling, wholly satisfying ways possible. Perhaps these dreams are the result of her having written the bestselling book The Sex Lives of Demon Lovers. Callie’s lifelong passion is the intersection of lurid fairy tales and Gothic literature—which is why she’s found herself at Fairwick’s renowned folklore department, living in a once-stately Victorian house that, at first sight, seemed to call her name.

But Callie soon realizes that her dreams are alarmingly real. She has a demon lover—an incubus—and he will seduce her, pleasure her, and eventually suck the very life from her. Then Callie makes another startling discovery: Her incubus is not the only mythical creature in Fairwick. As the tenured witches of the college and the resident fairies in the surrounding woods prepare to cast out the demon, Callie must accomplish something infinitely more difficult—banishing this supernatural lover from her heart.

I was a bit apprehensive about requesting The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark. I had been wooed earlier in the year by a bestselling book with some similarities: witches in an academic setting, a supernatural lover, magic. It turned out to be a laughable love story with an irritating protagonist; I could not even finish it. The Demon Lover by Juliet Dark is the spellbinding, literary gothic romance with an intelligent heroine that disappointing book marketed itself as (but wasn't).

What got me to read The Demon Lover, despite my reservations, was the fact that Juliet Dark is the pseudonym for Carol Goodman - who is well-known for writing literary mysteries. I was right to trust my instincts for The Demon Lover is the grown-up's [insert any hot YA paranormal romance]; it's like the coolest lit professor ever decided to teach a class on gothic novels, then slipped in folklore on fairies, witches, vampires, and other magical creatures. There were references to Twilight, The Mysteries of Udolpho, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Dracula, The Faerie Queene, Tam Lin, and (what won my devotion) an outright homage to the queen of gothic romances, Victoria Holt. (Holt also penned a novel called The Demon Lover, which I don't think is a coincidence. And yeah, I own a copy.)

Clearly, Dark knows the traditions very well, subtly weaving in themes from the aforementioned within the narrative. The Demon Lover is a gothic novel that talks about gothic novels. I love the literary critical analyses made by Callie, who's a lit professor at Fairwick College, which simultaneously reflected The Demon Lover’s plot development and style.

I cannot write a review of this book without mentioning the erotic scenes - not only were women being ravished by men made of flesh and blood, but by moonlight, the wind, shadows. These sensuous, fever-inducing passages were addictive. But aside from that, Dark's writing is sumptuous, the setting - rich, and the plot - full of dark foreboding, mystery, and magic.

"'That is the Ganconer, as he's called in Celtic myth. His name means "love talker"...He's the incubus who rides his horse, the night mare, into the dreams of women whom he seduces. The women he comes to in their sleep fall under his spell and begin to waste away. He sucks them dry like vampire. He's what you write about in your book---the demon lover...But he is the most dangerous of demons because he is the most beautiful...the Ganconer assumes the shape of your heart's desire.'"

For a fan of gothic romance as I am, The Demon Lover was a lavish literary feast that not only celebrates the genre but enriches it by incorporating fairy lore, enchantment, incubi and other supernatural creatures.

If Victoria Holt and Possession's A.S. Byatt decided to collaborate on a paranormal novel, I think the result would be very much like The Demon Lover.

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine program for providing a copy for me to review!

Happy Holidays

2011-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Image by Imgur.

Just Dance

2011-12-22T03:00:00.000-08:00

This is random and completely unrelated to books but I thought I'd share with you what I consider to be the top romantic dance scenes in movies.

Beauty and the Beast - Belle & Beast

Beautiful in every way. Every little girl's dream fairy tale dance. Compare this scene to the end when the Prince in his human aspect dances with Belle in the same clothes, in the same ballroom, to the same music. No comparison, right?

Pride & Prejudice - Elizabeth & Mr. Darcy

Courtship of course is like a dance. This one is curious as it's more adversarial than romantic. But I love how this scene interprets that telling moment between two people when they're so mesmerized by each other that everyone else disappears and it feels like they're the only ones in the room. Elizabeth may loathe Mr. Darcy but how the sparks fly from her eyes when she looks at him and how heated her face gets during their exchange.

The Sound of Music - Captain and Maria -

The Captain is sexy from the moment he comes marching onto the screen, so stern and forbidding. Not so for the shabby nun-to-be, Maria. But in this scene, the wholesome convent girl suddenly becomes sexy herself, symbolically being moved from the children's realm by his dashing, gloved hand to that of the adults. She blooms so becomingly beneath his appreciative gaze.

The Swan - Princess Alexandra & the Professor

This is what inspired me to start thinking about romantic dance scenes in movies in the first place. Princess Alexandra (Grace Kelly) is trying to make Prince Henry (Alex McGuinness) jealous enough to ask for her hand in marriage so what does she do? Invite the poor but brilliant Professor (Louis Jourdan) to the ball. Throughout the movie the Princess has been curt and formal with the Professor, who is secretly in love with her, but in this scene, during their first dance together, watch how without one word, her icy demeanor slowly, gracefully melts under the heat of his unspoken adoration.

The English Patient - Count Almasy and Katherine

This is the shortest clip I've included and IMO the sexiest. Count Almasy's the brusque loner who loathes to talk, especially to her. Katherine's an English aristocrat and very much married. In these few moments she quickly realizes that he doesn't despise her at all. The desire in his scorching hot glance could make the worldliest woman blush. Certainly made me squirm in the theater when I saw it.

Strictly Ballroom montage - Scott & Fran

Fran is the one I most identify with - clumsy goof watching the gorgeous Scott from the wings. (Seriously, I could watch his backside forever.) She dares to present herself as his partner at a dance competition and he very reluctantly takes her on. This montage shows their secret practice sessions. Note how with every look and every move, Fran expresses her love for Scott.

What are your favorites?

Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu

2011-12-19T03:00:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, Hazel and Jack were best friends. But that was before he stopped talking to her and disappeared into a forest with a mysterious woman made of ice. Now, it's up to Hazel to go in after him. Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's "The Snow Queen," Breadcrumbs is a story of the struggle to hold on, and the things we leave behind.

The middle grade landscape is exploding with awesomeness for me right now, with Breadcrumbs by Anne Ursu being the latest offering from the genre that impressed me more and more with each page right up until the end. Anne Ursu gets it. Out-of- the-ballpark right. She gets the 5th grader’s voice and perspective so perfectly that if she told me she inhabited a 5th grader’s body for a year to write Breadcrumbs, I'd believe her. I love how true and authentic Hazel’s thoughts and reasoning are, this clever, spirited girl who is much too imaginative for the mundane people around her. Hazel is plucky and adventurous – not at all an ethereal otherworldly child even though she fiercely believes in magic.

“When they had drama, she was the only girl who volunteered for roles in the skits. When they had art, she was the only who painted Hogwarts. When they did writing, she was the only one who made up stories about girls with magic swords and great destinies.

“She felt like she was from a different planet than her schoolmates, and maybe it was true.”

When Hazel declares that she’s better than any of Jack’s guy friends, I believe her. Jack would be a fool not to prefer Hazel over anyone else.

Though sure of herself in that way, Hazel also knows that she’s very different from everyone else; when she says that she just doesn’t belong, the reader feels the melancholy of this astute insight by someone so young. Jack is the only true friend Hazel has. I love how they communicate in “bookspeak” - dementors, daemons, and magical wardrobes are woven in normal, every day conversation as a matter of course. And Ursu is clever enough to know that any reader of Breadcrumbs would get these references without further explanation.

“Now the world is more than it seems to be. You know this, of course, because you read stories. You understand that there is the surface and then there are all the things that glimmer and shift underneath it. And you know that not everyone believes in these things, that there are people—a great many people---who believe the world cannot be any more than what they can see with their eyes.

“But we know better.”

The world of makebelieve Jack and Hazel have created is her refuge from the real world, from her parents’ divorce, her isolation from people at school, and all the other disappointments in her life.

When Jack suddenly changes and stops being her friend, Hazel doesn’t just hope he’s been enchanted, her conviction is such that she knows only dark magic could come between them. And when he disappears, without hesitation, Hazel ventures in search of Jack, moving from the ordinary world to an enchanted one. Along the way, Hazel encounters a trail of twisted fairy tales – a woodsman, red shoes, swan skins, wolves, match girls – which are not at all what they seem.

This is Ursu’s genius – Breadcrumbs is never solely about a retelling of the Snow Queen. It makes the parallel between childhood friends growing up and apart from one another and the fairy tale of a witch spiriting a boy away from his best friend. Though she is searching for Jack, Hazel is also searching for a place of belonging.

“She looked at her shelves, filled with books in which the bad stuff that happened to people was caused by things like witches who lured people into the woods. In a weird way, the world seemed to make more sense that way. At least, it always had to Hazel.

“It was what she wanted to hear…That it had nothing to do with her. That it was magic. That a witch had enchanted him and swept him off into the night. That she could still get him back

“…

“It might be true that he had just changed that he didn’t want to be her friend anymore, that he had grown out of her like a puffy, purple jacket…It was most likely true.

“But what if it wasn’t?”

Misfit Magazine December Issue!

2011-12-16T05:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas Wish

Hillary Farley

As she fell into bed, she was startled by a shadowed figure in the corner. Not being the type to get scared of anything, Sally greeted the shadow with a “Merry Christmas.”

“Are you Sally?” The Shadow said back.

“Yeah, who are you? You don’t look like Santa or anything.”

“No, I’m not Santa, but he did send me regarding a certain Christmas wish recovered late last night. One of Santa’s helpers was able to retrieve the letter and pass it on to the proper authorities. You really shouldn’t cut it so close with your lists, you know.” Read more.

Books That Changed My Life: The Omnivore's Dilemma

2011-12-13T03:00:00.001-08:00

If you had told me some years ago that this would be the book that I would recommend most often, I would have said you were crazy.

I supposed I was ripe for The Omnivore's Dilemma when I picked it up; I love food, love to cook, love to eat. But I was in a stage where I was starting to view food beyond its biological necessity and capacity to provide pleasure. Curiosity spurred me.

What was I putting in my mouth and in my son's mouth?

Where did it come from?

What were the unseen costs incurred in its journey to my table?

This book answers all those questions and then some in uncomfortable, sometimes horrifying detail.

It sounds simple enough: Michael Pollan traces the origins of four meals: a fast food combo, a meal made with supermarket products labeled "organic" (there's a reason why "organic" is in quotes because it doesn't mean what you think it means), a meal made with ingredients from a sustainable farm, and a meal made from scratch - as in the guy hunts a wild boar, gathers wild mushrooms, and tries to harvest sea salt - scratch.

You find out how almost everything consumed has some form of corn in it, even unlikely products you don't eat, like batteries. Pollan takes you behind the shocking scenes of large-scale cattle and produce farming - prepare to be disgusted.

For most of the book, I felt that I never want to eat again, but then Pollan does something miraculous. By the time you finish the final course, you fall in love with food all over again. Pollan reminds you that food, in its simple and natural state, is a celebration.

How did I change? I grew as a consumer, as an eater. I heightened my awareness and gained knowledge and a newfound appreciation for what I ate. Because of that book, I modified my habits of consumption - not radically, but enough so that I know I am making a bit of difference.

Has a book ever revolutionized your way of thinking so that you changed an aspect of your lifestyle?

Favorite Fictional Character: Emily of New Moon

2011-12-10T08:30:00.000-08:00

Favorite Fictional Character is a meme run by the fabulous Ryan of Wordsmithonia.

Everybody knows about the much-beloved Anne of Green Gables, but not as many are acquainted with one of L.M. Montgomery's other heroines, Emily Starr. (Emily of New Moon, Emily Climbs, Emily's Quest)

Emily has some things in common with Anne - they're both orphans with vivid imaginations and writerly aspirations. The setting and time period of the Emily books are the same - turn of the century Prince Edward Island, just an enchanting literary place to visit.

Emily, however, is the quieter and more serious of the two. Where Anne is lively and vivacious, Emily is otherworldly and intensely dedicated to following her creative visions, which she calls "the flash." Montgomery portrays Emily as an ethereal soul, wise beyond her years.

Newly orphaned Emily comes to New Moon as a ward of her spinster relatives, stern Aunt Elizabeth and kind Aunt Laura. If you're thinking that the dynamics of this household mirror that of Marilla Cuthbert and Matthew Cuthbert - then you would be right. Good cop/bad cop. But hey, it's a formula that works! Only Aunt Elizabeth is really quite the bear, more so than Marilla ever was. Emily gets into trouble, not as much as Anne ever did (no one ever got into the scrapes Anne got into but Anne) - for having too much imagination, for her writing, for being stubborn and outspoken.

Along the way, Emily befriends the handsome Teddy, wild-child Ilse, and irascible Perry. They all have strong, colorful personalities, especially Ilse and Perry; watching them grow up and develop throughout three installments is as delightful as any of the Anne books.

Anne of Green Gables is a favorite, but there's a special place in my heart for the winsome Emily of New Moon.

My Book Boyfriend: Dr. Warthrop from The Monstrumologist Series

2011-12-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie of The Unread Reader.

Ah, Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. He's harsh, demanding, humorless, insensitive, and recalcitrant. He works his young assistant, Will Henry, to exhaustion, all the while hurling curses at him. To say that Dr. Pellinore Warthrop is not easily pleased or moved is a gross understatement. Yet, there is something strangely irresistible about this difficult man.

If we scrubbed the blood perpetually staining his fingers, flicked off the entrails decorating his clothes, dunked him in a hot bath and ran a comb through his unruly hair, I believe he would look like this.

First, he would have been a poet had he not decided to pursue monsters instead. Second, he plunged deep into the wilderness to rescue his best friend, the same man who married the only woman Warthrop ever loved. Having found that dying man, he carried him on his own weakened shoulders back to civilization. Third, against the entire league of Monstrumologists' weighty opinions, he defended his friend's reputation, though his was the lone voice of dissent.

I well understand why the beautiful Muriel Bates pined for Pellinore Warthrop, the man who chose monstrumology over her, why Will Henry vehemently refuses to be parted from him though he is a tough taskmaster: Warthrop may be harsh, but he is principled and uncompromising. He keeps his word even if it brings him harm. A fearless monster hunter with the heart of a poet. A brilliant loner. He would not make a good husband or boyfriend, but anybody who inspires such steadfast loyalty and loves so deeply is a worthy object of fantasy...

Blackbringer (Faeries of Dreamdark #1) by Laini Taylor

2011-12-05T08:00:00.000-08:00

When the ancient evil of the Blackbringer rises to unmake the world, only one determined faerie stands in its way. However, Magpie Windwitch, granddaughter of the West Wind, is not like other faeries. While her kind live in seclusion deep in the forests of Dreamdark, she's devoted her life to tracking down and recapturing devils escaped from their ancient bottles, just as her hero, the legendary Bellatrix, did 25,000 years ago. With her faithful gang of crows, she travels the world fighting where others would choose to flee. But when a devil escapes from a bottle sealed by the ancient Djinn King himself, the creator of the world, she may be in over her head. How can a single faerie, even with the help of her friends, hope to defeat the impenetrable darkness of the Blackbringer?

Blackbringer by Laini Taylor is the third novel I've read by Laini Taylor and so far she's 3 for 3. Blackbringer by Laini Taylor is the first of the Faeries of Dreamdark series; however, I have to caution you that according to Taylor's website, the publisher has no plans to publish more Dreamdark books so this one and Silksinger, the second, are it at this time.

Prior to Blackbringer by Laini Taylor, I read Daughter of Smoke and Bone (well-chronicled love for that!) and Lips Touch Three Times, both young adult fiction. Blackbringer by Laini Taylor has a very different tone from her later novels, being middle grade and high fantasy - but it has the hallmarks of her style: sumptuous prose and a world so original yet fully realized that I can easily believe these characters existing outside of the covers.

Dreamdark's genesis lore then is fitting: the great Magruwen dreamt the world and all its creatures into existence. But having hidden himself for thousands of years, he is now descending into a sleep of oblivion and forgetfulness. Blackbringer, a powerful, all-consuming demon is devouring Dreamdark as Magruwen sleeps. Mapie, an upstart faerie, braves deadly dangers to wake the Magruwen and save the fraying Tapestry of all life.

"Across the water in the hidden places beneath a vast city, a new thing was taking possession of the darkness. Legions of lesser devils had made their home here for centuries in the underbelly of the human world. Now they fled in panic on their cloven hooves and splayed toes.

"A furious wind howled in the underground passages. Those creatures who paused to look back over their shoulders found themselves swept up by a terrible hungers and ha scarcely time to wonder what was happening before they ceased to exist. Rats, imps, low devils, and quavering transclucent spirits roiled up and out of the sewer gates and made for whatever scraps of shadow they could find in the world above.

"Soon the catacombs were empty and the hungry one prowled on, hunting something far greater than this snack of devils...Vengeance had never been far from his thoughts all the thousands of years of his imprisonment, and now his time had come at last.

"Doom dawned."

There are whimsical flights of fancy, adventures, just the barest hint of a romance, some violence (don't hurt the faeries!), and being a Taylor novel, lots of darkness. Blackbringer by Laini Taylor is middle grade high fantasy at its most splendid.

Among Others by Jo Walton

2011-12-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

If you're a book lover, if you've ever looked at life through the prism of fiction, no matter what genre, if you've ever walked home from the library with an armful of books - you must read Among Others by Jo Walton.

Raised by a half-mad mother who dabbled in magic, Morwenna Phelps found refuge in two worlds. As a child growing up in Wales, she played among the spirits who made their homes in industrial ruins. But her mind found freedom and promise in the science fiction novels that were her closest companions. Then her mother tried to bend the spirits to dark ends, and Mori was forced to confront her in a magical battle that left her crippled--and her twin sister dead.

Fleeing to her father whom she barely knew, Mori was sent to boarding school in England–a place all but devoid of true magic. There, outcast and alone, she tempted fate by doing magic herself, in an attempt to find a circle of like-minded friends. But her magic also drew the attention of her mother, bringing about a reckoning that could no longer be put off…

Next to Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, Among Others is one of the most quotable books about literature I've ever read. 75% of my Goodreads Quotations gidget is from this book:

"Interlibrary loans are a wonder of the world and a glory of civilization.”

“Libraries really are wonderful. They're better than bookshops, even. I mean bookshops make a profit on selling you books, but libraries just sit there lending you books quietly out of the goodness of their hearts.”

“It doesn't matter. I have books, new books, and I can bear anything as long as there are books.”

As you might be able to glean from the above, the narrator of Among Others, Morwenna or Mori, for short, is a great reader, an outsider who finds refuge in fantasy and science fiction books. Mori is one of the more refreshing voices I've ever encountered mostly because she reminds me of the way I used to look at the world as a child (and the way I sometimes look at it now): through books. Not only is the narrative full of references to authors and novels and fictional characters, but Mori approaches each unknown experience by comparing it to something that happened in a book.

Because of her great love of sci-fi and fantasy and imaginative perspective, the matter-of-fact references to dark magic, witches and fairies in Mori's real world at first seemed as if she perhaps had too much imagination; that maybe in order to deal with the trauma of her twin's death and overwhelming anger at her mother, Mori created a fantasy world of her own. I was never sure one way or another for the first half but in the second half, the momentum was in full force, culminating in a spectacular climax worthy of the genre Mori so idealizes.

The magic elements in Among Others are mostly subdued and depicted by Mori, despite her love of the fantasy genre, in a matter-of-fact way, as natural as leaves and stones and shadows. She laments that real magic doesn't work the way it does in books. The fairies she encounters, for instance, are nothing like the ones in Tolkien; although for lack of anything better to call the one male fairy she befriends, she names him Glorfindel in her head.

The one thing I was uncomfortable with was a scene involving Mori's dad which dealt with a very troubling matter. In typical fashion, Mori starts examining it via novels she's read: I don't like it, but perhaps it's okay in some situations because it happened in this book - kind of reasoning. It seemed to take her biblio-minded perspective to an unhealthy extreme.

Otherwise - a very solid recommendation from me. You don't have to like science fiction or fantasy to love Among Others by Jo Walton, but if you've ever said, "That's like something out of a book" or believe in the magic of books, this one's for you.

Winners!

2011-12-02T04:55:00.000-08:00

The winner of Watch Me Die by Erica Spindler audio book is

V.R Barkowski!

The winner of the Saints & Sinners Giveaway is

Katharyn!

Both V.R. and Katharyn have been notified and the prize have either been mailed out already or ordered.

The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson

2011-11-29T03:00:00.000-08:00

On the pedestal of outstanding young adult fantasy with brave heroines, I have only ever placed two: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley and the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce. That is, until now. The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson has arrived to take its rightful place on that pedestal.

Every hundred years, a Bearer is born – one who is prophesied to perform an act of heroism that will affect generations to come. 16-year-old Elisa, the younger princess of Orovalle, is such a chosen one. However, despite having been reared for this great destiny, Elisa doesn’t feel she has greatness in her. She feels ill-suited as a princess or a warrior, unlike her much more accomplished and beautiful older sister, Alodia. Elisa finds refuge instead in her scholarly studies and the comfort of food. Her sheltered childhood changes the day she becomes the secret wife of the ruler of a neighboring kingdom as part of a treaty. Upon leaving her father’s home, Elisa suddenly finds herself in dangerous and deadly situations, forcing her to find out what it really means to be the chosen Bearer and if she will rise to her destiny or run from it.

Much of what pleases me about The Girl of Fire and Thorns has to do with Elisa. Her character grows from an insecure young woman who’s had others dictate her fate her whole life to a leader who blazes through danger and betrayal with decisive, heroic action. The seeds of the self she will grow into are faint at the beginning but Elisa establishes herself as smart, astute, and a quick learner. Though she has divined all she can through study and spiritual practice, she still doesn’t know how she will live up to being the Chosen one or what exactly is expected of her.

Elisa is a very relatable teen heroine. She has been painfully self-conscious about her weight and looks all her life, constantly comparing herself to her slim and perfect older sister. Her self-confidence plummets when she is humiliated in court for being fat. She tries to earn her handsome husband’s love yet he neglects her. Rather than wallowing in self-pity however, Elisa puts her game face on and tries to make the best of her situation (with secret trips to the castle kitchen).

"I see my life in sudden clarity. The hush whenever I walked into a room. Glances exchanged between my tutor and my sister. Hand-guarded whispers. Reassuring platitudes delivered from behind worried countenances. I thought it was because the world holds me in contempt, because I am so unlike my sister. Because I am fat.

"This creepy, wormy feeling is humiliation. I've excelled as a student; noticing details, solving logic puzzles, memorizing information. It's the one thing I've taken pride in.

"But how easily I was fooled. A stupid, stupid child...

"'Why,' I whisper. 'Why keep this from me?'"

Just when I thought the story was going to be about day-to-day court intrigues and secret heartache, the plot took an unexpected and thrilling turn as Elisa is tested to her limits by being thrown in one terrible predicament after another – which she overcomes with cunning and courage. Suddenly, her weight and how her husband feels about her become unimportant in the face of an impending war with a seemingly indestructible enemy. How she discovers what she’s capable of and what hidden powers she possesses, magical and otherwise, is a riveting yet bittersweet journey. She earns and pays the terrible price for fulfilling her destiny.

There is a romantic storyline but it doesn’t overwhelm the story or Elisa. It grows slowly, out of friendship. I applaud the fact that the love interest accepts and loves her just the way she is; he is perceptive enough to see the steel and fire of Elisa’s personality beneath the fat.

Almost every character is fully developed and had surprising depth and facets to them; like Elisa, not everyone is who he or she seems in the beginning.

The fantasy world created by Carson is curious and unlike what I’ve read in other fantasy novels; however, the place and character names, even the language(s) have a very Spanish flavor to them. There is a strong religious component central to the plot, as Elisa is a Bearer through God’s will. Since one of the rituals involves a “Sacrament,” Elisa spends a lot of time praying, and there are priests and nuns, I sensed a generic Catholic bent. Devoutness and faith are portrayed as Elisa’s strengths and help her combat her enemies, although she does have some realistic moments of crisis in which she question's God's will and plan for her.

As for the writing, Carson gets it right on all counts, lacking mistakes such as tedious info-dumping and predictability that have ruined many a novel for me. It’s so polished that I’d love to know who her editor is and hand out that person’s name to every novelist with great potential but out-of-control execution. Or perhaps it’s all Carson. Either way, the finished product should be a case study for young adult writers.

The magic burns and the unforgettable story pierces – I highly recommend The Girl of Fire and Thorns. Even better news? It's the first of a trilogy so I have more adventures to look forward to with Elisa.

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

Saints and Sinners Giveaway!

2011-11-26T10:00:00.000-08:00

Your favorite good boys... bad boys...
and 20 GIVEAWAYS in TWO DAYS!!!!

Hosted by Angela Kulig, author of Skeleton Lake and The Bookish Brunette!

I am giving away a copy of ONE of the following:

***RULES***

To enter, please comment on this post with your e-mail address.

Only Google followers of Misfit Salon are eligible.

This giveaway is open to anywhere Book Depository delivers!

Giveaway ends November 28, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

For other giveaways, please visit the following bloggers and authors:

The Bookish Brunette
Pages of Forbidden Love
Geeky Blogger's Book Blog
The Unread Reader
The Book Nympho
Book Passion for Life
In the Closet with a Bibliophile
Smash Attack Reads

Debra Anastasia
Abbi Glines
KM Parr
JL Bryan
KA Tucker
Angeline Kace
Taryn Browning
KC Neal
MR Merrick
Angela Kulig

My giveaway of an audio book of Watch Me Die by Erica Spindler is still ongoing, to end November 28, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST!

Being unfaithful to the one you love

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-08:00

Two years ago I read The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey and fell passionately in love with it. So I should have picked up the sequel, The Curse of the Wendigo, when it first came out, right? But I didn't. I neglected this series. Like any avowed bibliophile, I played the field a little. Okay, a lot. There were so many tempting books throwing themselves at me. Ones with flashy covers, wearing Rolexes and driving fast cars. Perhaps some of them didn't have that much going on inside. But they were popular and so easy...I got them for free!

Yet, for true love will not be forgot, The Monstrumologist remained in the back of my mind and once in awhile I'd remember it fondly, only to leave it on the back burner, sure that my old flame would be waiting when I wanted it again. Perhaps a dark portent of its fate, I bought The Curse of the Wendigo as an afterthought at a Borders closing sale.

Only when it seemed like it might be forever taken from me did I return, declaring my undying love. Earlier this year, I was shocked to learn that Simon and Schuster was pulling the plug on the series, right before the third book, Isle of Blood, was due to come out.

In a heroic outcome straight out of a fairy tale, a blogger more faithful than I immediately took action and campaigned tirelessly to rally support, resulting in the publisher reversing its decision. Thus, this series in distress was saved.

Break-up narrowly averted, what's our relationship like now? Well, let's just say - What the hell was I thinking, letting this beauty languish to chase after empty flings?! Having read The Curse of the Wendigo, which I think surpasses the first book (!), not an insubstantial feat, my initial feeling from two years ago has been re-affirmed.

The Monstrumologist series is exciting, surprising, multi-layered, well-written, the best of its genre, and keeps my heart beating fast from beginning to end. If possible, I'm more in love than ever. Forgive me for having stayed away so long, baby. I swear to be committed from this day forward.

Is there a series you love so much that if the publisher were to announce its imminent execution, you would rally with your last breath to rescue it?

Are there any that you feel guilty about neglecting?

Winner!

2011-11-22T03:00:00.001-08:00

The winner of In The Forests of the Night by Kersten Hamilton is

Unabridged Bookshelf!

Unabridged Bookshelf has been notified and has 48 hours to respond or I will pick a new winner.

Giveaway of an Audio Book of Watch Me Die by Erica Spindler!

2011-11-19T08:10:00.000-08:00

MacMillan has generously provided an audio book of Watch Me Die by Erica Spindler and read by Christina Delaine! Please scroll to the bottom for giveaway details.

Before Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, stained-glass restoration artist Mira Gallier had it all: a thriving business doing work she loved and an idyllic marriage to the perfect man. But the devastating storm stole her beloved husband – his body swept away by floodwaters, never to be found.

Now, after years of pain and turmoil, it looks as if Mira is finally on the verge of peace and emotional stability. But her life, like the magnificent windows blown to bits by Hurricane Katrina, is about to be shattered once again. And this time, it’s not a killer storm she faces, but a psychopath who will stop at nothing until he possesses her, body and soul…

First, church windows that she restored are vandalized, and the priest who looked over them brutally murdered. Spray-painted across the glass are the words: He Will Come to Judge the Living and the Dead. Then, New Orleans is rocked by a terrifying chain of murders that all seem to be linked to Mira. The police, led by homicide detective Spencer Malone, are following a string of clues left by the killer on each victim – and beginning to wonder if the murderer isn’t Mira Gallier herself.

As Mira begins to unravel under pressure from all sides – and fear for her life – it’s unclear whom she can trust. And when a man from her past appears out of nowhere, sparking something long forgotten in her heart, he quickly becomes the police’s new prime suspect. One by one, the people in Mira's life are targeted, until it’s clear that the killer has been saving her for last . . . and that there’s nowhere left to run.

To listen to an excerpt, go here.

Rules:

To enter, please comment with your e-mail address.

Only Google followers of Misfit Salon are eligible.

US mailing addresses only.

Giveaway ends November 26, 2011, 8:00 pm PST.

The winner will be announced here after November 26, 2011.

*************************************************************************************

***You have until 8:00 p.m. PST November 21, 2011 to win my arc of In the Forests of the Night by Kersten Hamilton. Enter here***

My Book Boyfriend: Finn of The Goblin Wars Trilogy

2011-11-16T05:00:00.000-08:00

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie of The Unread Reader.

It was very easy to picture Finn Mac Cumhaill (or the Mac Cumhaill), Teagan's love interest in Tyger Tyger and In the Forests of the Night by Kersten Hamilton. For one thing, right off the bat, Abby, Teagan's best friend exclaims, upon first seeing him: "Oh. My. God...Brad Pitt just moved in with you...he looks just like a young Brad Pitt."

"He was wearing a sleeveless T-shirt and jeans that hung on his wiry frame like they'd been bought for someone else. His blond hair was cropped short.... Finn stepped inside, and his eyes went first to the kitchen door, then the stairs. Teagan had seen a wolf do the same thing--check a new habitat for esit as soon as it entered. But the wolf had been frightened, and Finn was not...He wasn't feral. You had to be tame before you could turn feral. Finn Mac Cumhaill did not look like he had ever been tame."

"'Are you thickheaded?' Finn asked. 'I know your blood, and the heart that pumps it. I'm saying I'll walk with you down any path, as long as I'm able.'"

Wanna get to know Finn better? Enter my giveaway for In the Forests of the Night by Kersten Hamilton, here.

Winners!

2011-11-15T13:00:00.000-08:00

The winner of Fairy Metal Thunder by JL Bryan is

Andrea!

And because the previously announced winner of the audio book of Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones never responded to my e-mails, a new winner was picked:

Melinda!

Both have responded promptly and the prizes will be forthcoming.

Enter to win an arc of In the Forests of the Night by Kersten Hamilton, here. Ends 11/21/11.

And I spy at least another giveaway in the horizon, y'all...

In the Forests of the Night by Kersten Hamilton & Giveaway!

2011-11-13T05:25:00.000-08:00

Please scroll to the bottom for giveaway details.

The battle against goblinkind continues . . . but which side will Teagan be on?

Teagan, Finn, and Aiden have made it out of Mag Mell alive, but the Dark Man’s forces are hot on their heels. Back in Chicago, Tea’s goblin cousins show up at her school, sure she will come back to Mag Mell, as goblin blood is never passive once awoken. Soon she will belong to Fear Doirich and join them. In the meantime, they are happy to entertain themselves by trying to seduce, kidnap, or kill Tea’s family and friends. Tea knows she doesn’t have much time left, and she refuses to leave Finn or her family to be tortured and killed. A wild Stormrider, born to rule and reign, is growing stronger inside her. But as long as she can hold on, she’s still Teagan Wylltson, who plans to be a veterinarian and who heals the sick and hurting. The disease that’s destroying her—that’s destroying them all—has a name: Fear Doirich. And Teagan Wylltson is not going to let him win.

I'm pleased to report that the elements which made Tyger Tyger a wonderful fantasy novel re-appear in the second of the Goblin Wars trilogy by Kersten Hamilton, In the Forests of the Night.

My favorite character, then as now, the cute-as-a-button five-year-old Aiden, is even more endearing. Mamieo is still a feisty firecracker of a grandmother. Although Mr. Wylltson has got to have the best line in the novel: "'I'm a librarian...We practice believing seven impossible things before breakfast.'"

Music still plays a major magical role here, as Aiden's powers as a bard manifest themselves in the real world. One of the funnier scenes is when the evil social worker from the first book, the Skinner, comes knocking and Aiden starts singing a not so subtle song about how he feels about her. I'll let you find out for yourself which song that is. Hint: it's a Disney song.

As in the last book, literary references were woven throughout the narrative, which I very much enjoyed.

I also loved learning more Celtic mythology (especially new spooky creatures introduced such as the fearsome sluagh and strange phookas).

By this book's start, Teagan and Finn are pretty much an item - they've declared their love to each other. I love how the newly rescued Mr. Wylltson asserts his parental authority, albeit gently, and describes how true love really works and that it stands the test of time. Too often in young adult novels relationships skyrocket to promises of forever in an instant. Here, although Teagan is intoxicated with her attraction and feelings for Finn, she demonstrates good sense by stepping back and acknowledging that she doesn't know that much about him. In fact she adamantly pursues her interests outside of their relationship, such as her job with animal research and her plans to study veterinary medicine in college.

One of the more interesting scenes relate to Teagan's work with Oscar and Cindy, the apes. As with the Celtic lore, I was fascinated with what this book taught me, "disguised" as story :)

But the part that I had been holding my breath for (though with trepidation) was Teagan's unavoidable journey back to Mag Mell. And it does not disappoint: dangers, thrills, and a (too) brief stay in Fear Doirich's lively goblin city where we see a glimpse of Queen Mab herself.

"Teagan came awake suddenly, cold with sweat. She had dreamed she was being hunted by creatures with bloody muzzles and ember-bright eyes while voices spoke with words she didn't understand. She'd had the dream before, on the night that Finn had led the goblins aways. The night before her mother had collapsed and died.

"It was different this time-the yowling had followed her out of the dream. She thought at first that there were alley cats fighting in the street until she heard the words tangled in the yowls. Cat-sidhe were on the street outisde, crying out for death and marrowbones.

"Tee-ghaaan."

It's been a year since I've read Tyger Tyger and so I expected a bit of re-adjustment when I began In the Forests of the Night. However, I was very disoriented for a couple chapters because In the Forests of the Night starts right where Tyger Tyger left off, as if one book had been cut in two. I had a hard time recalling details and characters - and so I was bewildered for quite some time.

So, be warned - don't skip the first and go to the second. You will not understand a thing if you do so.

Another thing that I found myself wishing was finding out more about Teagan's mother. A more detailed story of how she grew up in Mag Mell, then left and met Teagan's father I think would make a great novella (hint, hint).

In the Forests of the Night was very much a middle book to me. I would have preferred that at least half of its scenes been cut (maybe more) and the remainder included with Tyger Tyger.

However, with the chilling ending of book two (I gasped and shuddered, guys), I know what comes in the book three will be very exciting. More Mag Mell, please!

***GIVEAWAY DETAILS***

I would love to give away my ARC. So if interested, please leave a comment with your e-mail address.

Only Google followers of Misfit Salon are eligible.

US mailing addresses only please.

Giveaway ends November 21, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

The winner will be contacted and announced here after November 21, 2011.

The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill

2011-11-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

The Butterfly Cabinet by Bernie McGill is a haunting and atmospheric novel set in 19th Century Ireland and inspired by true events.

You had a story for me...I wasn't ready to hear it before but I'll hear it now.

When Maddie McGlade, a former nanny, receives a letter from Anna, the last of her charges and now a married woman, she realises that the time has come to unburden herself of a secret that has gnawed at her for over seventy years. It is the story of the last day in the life of Charlotte Ormond, the four-year-old only daughter of the big house where Maddie was employed as a young girl. The Butterfly Cabinet also reveals the private thoughts of Charlotte's mother, Harriet. A proud, uncompromising woman, Harriet's great passion is collecting butterflies and pinning them into her cabinet; motherhood comes no more easily to her than does her role as mistress of a far-flung Irish estate. When her daughter dies, her community is quick to condemn her. At last Maddie, and Harriet’s prison diaries that Maddie has kept hidden under lock and key in the cabinet she has inherited, will reveal a more complex truth.

Going into the The Butterfly Cabinet, you know that four-year-old Charlotte died and her mother, Harriet, was sent to prison for it. One would think that Harriet would be easy to condemn, her guilt assured. We see Harriet as Maddie sees her - cold and exacting of everyone around her, including her own children. Her methods of discipline horrified me, as it horrified those around her. YET - unlikely as it seems, Harriet somehow coaxed reluctant sympathy from me.

By alternating the first person narrative from Maddie's to Harriet's perspective, McGill slowly exposes in heartwrenching detail of the misunderstandings and mistakes that added up to the tragic death.

McGill depicts these two voices - servant Maddie and aristocrat Harriet - masterfully. Each is distinct and instantly immerses you in each character's personality. Maddie's voice is young and idealistic, while Harriet's is proud and unflinching, sharp and precise as a pin. After initially seeing Harriet as a monster, I found myself almost in admiration of her. But for having had a cold mother herself, Harriet's inner passion and intelligence could have grown to a softer and more forgiving nature. So too, Harriet's driven personality was confined to the wrong era; had she lived in a more modern world, perhaps she would have had more outlets for her energies other than being a wife and mother.

"They think I will be afraid of her ghost, but what can her ghost do to me? They do not know the meaning of 'horror.' It is a silence in a dark room where there should have been an answer, it is a spot of blood on a lip; it is a small, slumped body; it is a doctor shaking his head; it is eighteen dark-dressed men in the drawing room with a dead child between them; it is the bile that rises in the throat each time one opens one's mouth to speak; it is the sound of words at an inquest that make no sense."

I didn't think the death of four-year-old child could become any more horrifying, but by the end, the sadness in knowing the full story was overwhelming.

"If I had been asked before I would have said that grief was a question of sadness, a matter involving tears. I did not know anything of the horror involved, the nagging nausea at the neck of the stomach, like an early pregnancy. I did not know that it was looking around at everyone and everything important in one's life with the knowledge that there was more pain to come: that every one of them has the potential to cause agony; that despite one's very best efforts, one has laid oneself open to loss."

Like Harriet's passion for collecting butterflies, to which the title refers, The Butterfly Cabinet has the ephemeral, tragic beauty of a pinned butterfly.

Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan Giveaway!

2011-11-07T03:00:00.000-08:00

Please scroll to the bottom for giveaway details.

Jason, Erin, Mitch, and Dred are the Assorted Zebras, a teenage garage band in Wisconsin with no fans and no gigs. Then Jason sneaks into the fairy world and steals four magic-fuled musical instruments, the kind fairies use to enchant and trick humans. The new instruments make the band a huge, overnight success, on their way to rock stardom. But the band members aren't exactly ready for fame, fortune, or the supernatural creatures sent by the fairies to track them down.

Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan is a fun and light young adult novel that impressed me in several ways.

Prior to this one, I had read a novel in the same genre, also dealing with fairies that frankly irritated me because the teen characters were annoying and had conversations that contributed very little to the story and did not sound real (in fact, I wanted to tear my hair out). Bryan's teen characters felt very authentic to me; the dialogue sounded real, the characters were three-dimensional, and the even better, it was funny without trying too hard (like the other one). I liked hanging out with these kids! I even liked the little sister, Katie!

Though my heart went out to poor, lovelorn Jason - who hasn't pined in secret for the unattainable - my favorite character is the goblin. I have never laughed so hard over someone (something?) so delightful yet repulsive at the same time.
I loved how Bryan integrated some fairy lore into the context of the modern storyline. I was intrigued with the brief forays into the magical world, which I hope will be explored further in the coming books.

"The keyboard sprouted silver wires that snaked around and plugged into Mitch's other keyboards, as well as the small laptop he kept connected to increase his range of sample and sound options. The old keyboard and the laptop turned silver, and the fairy runes etched themselves all over the surface of them, as if the magical instrument was infecting them like a virus."
Another thing I have to mention is the great editing - whoever edited Fairy Metal Thunder is sorely needed in mainstream publishing, judging by some YA novels I've read lately. Separate wheat from the chaff are words to edit by.

Goblins, fairies, elves and some bad-ass unicorns (trust me; you want to find out what they do) and magical instruments - Fairy Metal Thunder by J.L. Bryan is an entertaining, original read.

Thank you very much to J.L. Bryan for providing a copy for me to review!

***Giveaway details***

If you want to win this fun book, please leave a comment with your e-mail address to enter.

Must be a follower of this blog to be eligible.

US mailing addresses only - sorry!

Giveaway ends November 14, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

The winner will be chosen via random.org and announced here after November 14, 2011.

Good luck and rock on!

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi

2011-11-04T03:00:00.000-07:00

"You can't touch me," I whisper.

I'm lying, is what I don't tell him.

He can touch me, is what I'll never tell him.

But things happen when people touch me.

Strange things.

Bad things.

No one knows why Juliette's touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon.

But Juliette has plans of her own.

After a lifetime without freedom, she's finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she'd lost forever.

Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi is a thrilling romance that soars above its bleak dystopian setting.

The love story is full-blown and unabashed, but not over the top. It succeeded for me for two reasons. First, Mafi's writing, especially at the beginning, has a confessional, poetic quality that hypnotized me.

As Shatter Me is told in Juliette's point of view, the tender lyricism instantly conveyed her vulnerable emotional state. When the novel opens, Juliette is in a claustrophobic cell of concrete with only a small square window to the outside. She has been imprisoned in the asylum for 264 days, having been given up by her parents to the authorities for some unspeakable horror having to do with her touch. From an early age Juliette has been ostracized and isolated, feared and despised even by her own family. She believes herself to be a monster, untouchable physically and in every other way possible. She has only her imagination for company.

More than anything, she longs to connect with another human being, and this desperate flower of hope that blossoms in Juliette despite life’s ugliness was heartrending.

Though vulnerable, Juliette is not weak. We see her spine of steel when she is betrayed and then taken as prisoner by the Re-establishment, the military government ruling the wasteland of the future world.

I like how Mafi explores the dual nature of Juliette's condition, whether it is a curse or a gift, depending on how it is used. And that monstrosity has nothing to do with deadly power or might, but in how one chooses to use it. Although society's heinous actions could have, should have, bred a monster in Juliette, her inherent goodness has led to the opposite.

Which leads me to my second reason: the love story has admirable depth, in that the two lovers fall in love for all the right reasons, each other’s inner beauty and unerring moral compass. This may sound simple and idealistic but Mafi pulls it off. Every romantic fiber of my being trilled to these achingly beautiful scenes.

"'I'll find a way to talk to you,' he says, and his hands are reeling me in and my face is pressed against his chest and the world is suddenly brighter, bigger, beautiful. The world suddenly means something to me, the possibility of humanity means something to me, the entire universe stops in place and spins in the other direction and I'm the bird.

"I'm the bird and I'm flying away."

Despite the dream-like sections, the plot is solid with action and suspense. The Reestablishment’s sudden interest in Juliette leads to frightening situations. There were several scenes that made me cringe, but the one in a torture chamber was almost unbearable for me to read.

The outcome of that scene left me hanging; though I discovered something important to the plot, I had unanswered questions. Another scene involving cross-fire seemed to have too many easy coincidences and leaps of logic. And the ending did not quite match the tone of the rest of the book. Although, the synopsis on my ARC does give fair warning: “In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a world as riveting as The Hunger Games and a superhero story as thrilling as The X-Men.” You can see in which the direction the rest of the planned trilogy is headed.

I leave you with my favorite passage from Shatter Me, one that will likely be among my list of all-time best:

"I spent my life folded between the pages of books.

"In the absence of human relationships I formed bonds with paper characters. I lived love and loss through stories threaded in history; I experienced adolescence by association. My world is one interwoven web of words, stringing limb to limb, bone to sinew, thoughts and images all together. I am a being comprised of letters, a character created by sentences, a figment of imagination formed through fiction."

Release date: November 15, 2011

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

Burned by Thomas Enger

2011-11-01T03:00:00.000-07:00

Her blonde curls are soaked in blood. The ground has opened up and tried to swallow her. Only her head and torso are visible. Her rigid body is propped up by the damp earth; she looks like a single, long-stemmed, red rose…

A young woman has been buried up to her neck, then stoned to death. The brutality of the crime is shocking, and its implications are deeply puzzling. The method of murder resembles an honor killing, an execution style practiced rarely in the Middle East, and only when the victim has been accused of adultery. Yet such killings don't happen in Norway...

Investigative reporter Henning Juul has just returned to his job after an accident that killed his son and left him scarred from a fire, and his first assignment is to investigate and report on this brutal murder. Working with his ex-wife's new boyfriend proves difficult, but it's the lingering pain from his accident that's almost debilitating. Henning knows the arrest of the victim's boyfriend—a Pakistani native—is misguided, and he sets out to uncover the truth. This gritty, page-turning novel of suspense uncovers class divisions, racial conflicts, and deep emotions in the way that's reminiscent of the best of Scandinavian suspense, and heralds the arrival of a major talent.

As soon as I read the first unforgettable pages of Burned by Thomas Enger, I knew I was in great hands. The two chapters which open Burned masterfully set up the interlocking themes and moods of the rest of the novel. The dream-like quality of the first and very brief chapter, without any graphic images or any gore whatsoever, knocked me over with its tragic implications. If I had read anymore, I think I would have probably started sobbing. The second chapter is quite the opposite, harsh and jarring, shocking me with horrific description absent from the painful beginning. The images seared into my brain are ones I will not soon forget, if ever. This alternating technique, employed throughout Burned hooked me in multiple levels – emotionally, psychologically, while being a compelling story.

There are two stories here, the first being that of Henning, still reeling from the fiery death of his son from two years ago. He’s taking pills every day and changes the batteries of his eight fire alarms daily. One of the goals set by his psychologist, just the ability to light one match, is one he’s tried but failed to accomplish every day for the past two years. Is he scarred? You bet he is. His scars run so deep, they go from his disfigured face down to his broken soul. The pain he feels over his son’s death is hinted in the narrative, no unnecessary telling on Enger’s part. It is so painful, Henning refers to it as “That which he must not talk about.” By the end, through bits and broken pieces, the reader forms a partial picture of what happened. And it is bad.

The second story involves Henning’s return to his old job as a journalist for an Oslo paper. His first day back is gentle: he is assigned a sickening murder of a young college student that appears to be an honor killing by her Pakistani boyfriend. Of course, things are not what they seem, and as Henning digs more and more into the hydra-headed story, he uncovers unsavory and unexpected things about everyone involved, not the least of which is the racial tension and prejudices in modern-day Norway.

I am hesitant to even mention it, but as it’s bound to come up, please disregard any comparison to Steig Larsson. Though I adore Lisbeth Salander, I found Enger’s writing superior. For one thing, no tedious chapters on finance to slog through to get to the meat. The chapters are concise, direct, and packed with story – perhaps a result of the author’s journalistic background. I was fascinated with the insights into Norwegian culture and modern-day journalism, plus the interweaving stories were simply engrossing. A masterful debut thriller from an author who happens to be Scandinavian.

Thank you very much to Atria Books for providing a copy for me to review!

13 Days of Halloween: Laini Taylor and My Daughter of Smoke and Bone Weekend

2011-10-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

Friday night I had a blast not only meeting Laini Taylor but other San Francisco Bay Area bloggers - the awesome Jess of Confessions of a Book Hoarder, fashionable Nancy of A Lush Budget Production Tales of a Ravenous Reader, and ingeniously named Stephanie of Maybe Genius (soon to be published author of a YA steampunk novel!). Books, great company and the chocolate cafe afterwards - nope, it could not have been more perfect! Oh, wait, it can - Copperfield's Books handed out hamsa temporary tattoos and feathered masks!

It turns out Laini once lived in the town I grew up in and currently reside, as well as attended the local junior college so the book signing was a homecoming of sorts. I'm trying hard to remember if I've ever run into her but I don't recall a pink-haired girl around these parts :)

She wrote Daughter of Smoke and Bone while "cheating" on another book. She had just written Lips Touch Three Times and was hard at work on a sci-fi, post-apocalyptic novel set in another planet, with ballerinas. Not kidding. She was struggling with it when she was struck with what she called "a slutty new idea." Out of nowhere came a scene of a blue-haired girl talking to her father, who happens to be a monster. This scene was the most fun she's ever had writing.

For those of you have read the book - it's the scene with "inessential penises." For those of you who haven't read it, you'll just have to find out for yourself what that's about. Laini read this scene out loud and afterwards commented that that line is the most quoted from the book.

Having indulged herself with this fling, Laini went back to the other book and finished it out of a sense of duty. ("The difference between published writers and not published - published writers have learned how to finish a book.") She has never looked at it since and immediately went to work on Daughter of Smoke and Bone. With only the first 1/3 completed (which took her 1 1/2 years to write), the agent sold her book. She wrote the rest in 3-4 months. She plans on finishing the sequel by the end of the year to be published next September.

If you've read Lips Touch Three Times, then you'll know about Kizzy. Laini says that she was the most like Kizzy at that age, 17 or so - hungry for love and attention. And that blue-haired, tattooed, kick-ass Karou is who Kizzy wished she were.

Now that the book's come out, she's received the strangest gifts: jawbone earrings from her husband,a necklace of teeth from a fan.

My one question for Laini: If the Poison Kitchen in Prague was based on a real place. Nope. Totally made up. I breathed a sigh of relief on this one because having been to Prague, I would be kicking myself till Tuesday if I had missed a place this cool and bizarre on my trip.

To round off my weekend of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, my Halloween costume inspired by the book.

"Don't squander yourself, child. Wait for love."

Winner!

2011-10-30T09:45:00.000-07:00

The winner of the audio book of
Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones is

Rennel!

Congratulations!

Rennel has been notified and the prize will be sent out shortly. !

13 Days of Halloween: The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey

2011-10-27T15:00:00.000-07:00

With Halloween around the corner, and the rare instance of all my review books read, I was feeling very picky about what to pick up next. I needed something that would haunt my dreams, make me eye the clock at work with desperation so I could return to it, something so stunning that I would be left awestruck. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey was that book for me two years ago. The Curse of the Wendigo exceeded even that.

Dr. Warthrop is asked by his former fiancee to rescue her husband from the Wendigo, a creature that starves even as it gorges itself on human flesh, which has snatched him in the Canadian wilderness. Although Warthrop also considers the Wendigo to be fictitious, he relents and rescues her husband from death and starvation, and then sees the man transform into a Wendigo. Can the doctor and Will Henry hunt down the ultimate predator, who, like the legendary vampire, is neither living nor dead, whose hunger for human flesh is never satisfied? This second book in The Monstrumologist series explores the line between myth and reality, love and hate, genius and madness.

Like its predecessor, The Curse of the Wendigo strained my limits of horror. It repulsed and terrified the beejezus out of me. As with the first, I still can’t believe this is young adult. I loved every bloody, sickening minute of it. Perhaps because its ghastliness was not unremitting, like some B-grade horror movie. The story has weight and substance, with characters so compelling that you can’t help but follow them into the wilderness of terrors that awaits them, and writing so lyrical that it renders abomination with exquisite poetry.

"'It rides on the wind," the monstrumologist said, a faraway look in his dark eyes. 'In the absolute dark of the wilderness, a fell voice calls your name, the voice of damnation's desire, from the desolation that destroys...It is called Atcen...Djenu...Outiko...Vindiko. It has a dozen names in a dozen lands, and it is older than the hills, Will Henry. It feeds, and the more it feeds, the hungrier it becomes. It starves even as it gorges. It is the hunger that cannot be satisfied. In the Algonquine tongue its name literally means "the one who devours all mankind."

"...

"'...[F]rom the moment it knows you, you are doomed, Will Henry! There is no escaping it. It is a patient hunter and will endure all hardship, waiting to strike when you least expect it, and once you are in its icy grip, there is no hope of rescue. It bears you to unimaginable heights and plunges you to unfathomable depths. It crushes your soul; it breaks your breath in half. And, even as it eats you, you share in the feast. Yes! As you rise to the icy gates of heaven, you fall to the innermost circle of hell, you rejoice in the misery it brings--you become the hunger. Flying, you fall. Gorging, you starve...'"

Although we do learn more about the profession of monstrumology and get a stomach-churning, front row seat to another monstruous species, the fearsome wendigo, this sequel went beyond my expectations in that we learn more about the curmudgeonly Dr. Pellinore Warthrop. Out of his murky past comes knocking a beautiful woman with a disturbing plea: to find her missing husband, Warthrop’s best friend. Though the good doctor is tight-lipped, we, through Will Henry, glean tantalizing bits of a love triangle in his youth, for the beautiful woman, Muriel, used to be the doctor’s fiancée.

As a woman re-enters and upsets Warthrop’s life, so does Will Henry’s situation mirrors his master’s, as we are introduced to a vivacious and daring young lady, Lilly, who vexes and leads Will Henry to trouble of his own. Where one situation is sad and rather romantic, the other made me howl with laughter. No species is more baffling and dangerous, it seems for both the doctor and his assistant, than the female.

Another character that makes his debut is Dr. Abraham von Helrung – which no doubt you can guess is meant to stand in as the “real-life” Dr. Abraham Van Helsing. One of the themes of The Curse of the Wendigo is Warthrop’s insistence that vampires are fictional creations, namely by one sham actor turned writer, Bram Stoker, and that the wendigo, a monster very much like the vampire, is a symptom of psychosis.

Of course, the terrors the doctor and his faithful assistant encounter in the wilderness and in New York will convince the reader otherwise. The Curse of the Wendigo is a monstrous treat of literary horror!

13 Days of Halloween: Ruined by Paula Morris

2011-10-25T15:00:00.000-07:00

Ruined is a worthy addition to my Graveyard Bookshelf!

Rebecca couldn't feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She's staying in a creepy old house with her aunt. And at the snooty prep school, the filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she's invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he's got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city.

There's just one catch: Lisette is a ghost. A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle.

As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend -- and as she slowly learns to trust Anton Grey -- she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

As far as young adult novels go –Ruined by Paula Morris has a few of the conventions: teenage girl moves to a new city and goes to a new school, is an outsider. She runs afoul of the clique in control but attracts the notice of a handsome, popular boy. Romance ensues.

Ruined is a satisfying young adult novel in that sense; however, what elevates Ruined above the rest in my opinion is the setting and Paula Morris’s meticulous research into the rich and complex history of New Orleans and understanding of its current situation. It’s by no means comprehensive but Morris balances the plot, in fact enriches it, by incorporating the complicated class structure of old, wealthy Southern families and the status of free blacks in the 18th Century. The traditions of the former continue in some form to the present day in terms of balls and rituals, but Morris peels back the charming facade of such traditions to expose its racist and elitist origins. It’s not often that I read a young adult novel and somehow learn some riveting, though-provoking history by the end of it. It’s like eating chocolate cake and finding out it’s good for you!

Morris executes very well the subtle representation of racial tension throughout the centuries, even down to the present day, as the story is set post-Hurricane Katrina. Morris makes good use of Rebecca’s observations of New Orleans as an outsider so that I got a real picture of what it’s like to live there in the aftermath of a rebuilt city.

The story of Lisette, the ghost of a black girl murdered in the 18th Century and now haunting the famous Lafayette Cemetery, is central to the story; the romance, thank goodness is secondary. Lisette seems to double as a symbol of New Orleans’s dark history as well as the supernatural crux of Ruined. She didn’t seem, however, to have too much personality. Because she’s a ghost, she can’t be too substantial? Not sure.

"Rebecca slowly raised her head. The clouds obscuring the moon moved, and a strange silvery light brought the tombs around her in focus.

"The person standing over her wasn't Anton or any other guy. It was a black girl, about her age, looking down at Rebecca with curious interest. Her hair was long, hanging to one side in a loose braid. Her white blouse was ripped at one shoulder, and she was fingering her dark skirt, twitching it back and forth as though she was shooing flies.

"The girl and Rebecca stared at each other without speaking; she looked about as startled as Rebecca felt."

The twist itself was shocking and the climactic scene is scary and suspenseful; however, there was a component of the revelation that seemed illogical and lacking in common sense.

And although much of the story occurs in Lafayette Cemetery, the graveyard enthusiast in me wasn’t satisfied. I think Morris could have described this setting in more detail. I suppose I will just have to see it for myself, as it is in one of my top five cemeteries I’d love to visit.

13 Days of Halloween: The Restorer (The Graveyard Queen #1) by Amanda Stevens

2011-10-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

It was as though Amanda Stevens wrote The Restorer (The Graveyard Queen #1) with somebody just like me in mind: passionate about graveyards and loves reading well-written thrillers with strong heroines. The Restorer holds the preeminent place of honor in my Graveyard Bookshelf!

My name is Amelia Gray. I'm a cemetery restorer who sees ghosts. In order to protect myself from the parasitic nature of the dead, I've always held fast to the rules passed down from my father. But now a haunted police detective has entered my world and everything is changing, including the rules that have always kept me safe.

It started with the discovery of a young woman's brutalized body in an old Charleston graveyard I've been hired to restore. The clues to the killer—and to his other victims—lie in the headstone symbolism that only I can interpret. Devlin needs my help, but his ghosts shadow his every move, feeding off his warmth, sustaining their presence with his energy. To warn him would be to invite them into my life. I've vowed to keep my distance, but the pull of his magnetism grows ever stronger even as the symbols lead me closer to the killer and to the gossamer veil that separates this world from the next.

As I read, I wondered, can this book get anymore perfect?

First, I want to let you know that The Restorer was my reward for reading & reviewing a certain batch of books. Aren’t I nice to myself? I had started another graveyard novel by a well-known author with a supernatural twist as well...and it was a disappointment. The characters were annoying, the writing was mediocre, and the plot was slooow. There was none of that in this book; The Restorer gave me everything I wanted and more.

Amelia’s character is smart and relatable; whenever I started to think, oh, she’s going to act this way or that, Amelia would surprise me. Ever read a book and just get so sickened by a female character’s helplessness and stupidity that you couldn’t read on? TSTL I think is the term. Amelia was the opposite of that; she’d do what any smart woman with common sense would do and any mistakes she made were not out of character, a sacrifice to keep the plot interesting.

The unpredictable plot kept me on my toes. My guesses about the killer’s identity and motivations would swing from chapter to chapter as Stevens unearthed each character’s shady past.

But what drew me to The Restorer in the first place, what made me love it so much was the setting. Not only did most of the story take place in one cemetery or other, but Stevens also managed to weave in cemetery traditions regarding gravestones, epitaphs, etc., which were not only fascinating but also furthered the story. Add the supernatural dimension to this superbly constructed thriller, Amelia’s ability to see ghosts, and see if the hairs on your arms stand straight like mine did.

"'...The first and most important is this-never acknowledge the dead. Don't look at them, don't speak to them, don't let them sense your fear. Even when they touch you...

"'The second thing you must remember is this,' Papa said. 'Never stray too far from hallowed ground..."

"'Rule Number three,' he said. 'Keep your distance from those who are haunted if they seek you out, turn away from them, for they constitute a terrible threat and cannot be trusted.'"

You don’t have to have to be a graveyard enthusiast to enjoy The Restorer. Just read it if you want to shiver with fright a little, if you want a story that sets your heart racing, if you like your plots to throw some surprises and your heroines to be cool and a bit kickass. As if you can't tell - I am eagerly, breathlessly awaiting more from The Graveyard Queen series!

Winners!

2011-10-23T05:58:00.000-07:00

The winners of Dracula in Love by Karen Essex giveaway bonanza are:

Jessy

lisa:)

Melissa (My World in words and pages)

Congratulations!

All winners have been notified and the publicist will ship the prizes to them directly.

13 Days of Halloween: Giveaway of Second Grave on the Left Audio Book!

2011-10-21T02:00:00.000-07:00

MacMillan kindly provided an audio book of Second Grave on the Left by Darynda Jones.

Charley Davidson, Grim Reaper Extraordinaire, is back in this sexy, suspenseful novel of supernatural shenanigans -

When Charley is rudely awakened in the middle of the night by her best friend who tells her to get dressed quickly and tosses clothes out of the closet at her, she can’t help but wonder what Cookie’s up to. Leather scrunch boots with a floral miniskirt? Together? Seriously? Cookie explains that a friend of hers named Mimi disappeared five days earlier and that she just got a text from her setting up a meet at a coffee shop downtown. They show up at the coffee shop, but no Mimi. But Charley finds a message on the bathroom wall. Mimi left a clue, a woman’s name. Mimi’s husband explains that his wife had been acting strange since she found out an old friend of hers from high school had been found murdered a couple weeks prior. The same woman Mimi had named in her message.

Meanwhile, Reyes Alexander Farrow (otherwise known as the Son of Satan. Yes. Literally) has left his corporeal body and is haunting Charley. He’s left his body because he’s being tortured by demons who want to lure Charley closer. But Reyes can’t let that happen. Because if the demons get to Charley, they’ll have a portal to heaven. And if they have a portal to heaven…well, let’s just say it wouldn’t be pretty. Can Charley handle hot nights with Reyes and even hotter days tracking down a missing woman? Will Cookie ever get a true fashion sense? And is there enough coffee and chocolate in the world to fuel them as they do?

Listen to an excerpt here.

Rules:

To enter, please comment with your e-mail address.

Only Google followers of Misfit Salon are eligible.

US mailing addresses only.

Giveaway ends October 28, 2011, 8:00 pm PST.

The winner will be announced here after October 28, 2011.

*************************************************************************************

***You have until 8:00 p.m. PST tonight to win one of 3 paperback copies of Dracula in Love by Karen Essex. Enter here***

13 Days of Halloween: My Graveyard Bookshelf

2011-10-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

Ah, 13 days until my favorite day!

The theme this year is all about my passion: graveyards.

#1 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman: My favorite graveyard novel of all time. An orphaned toddler, whose family is murdered by a man named Jack, wanders into a graveyard and is adopted by its ghostly inhabitants. My review.

#2 Rotters by Daniel Kraus. The best read of 2011 for me (unless something else knocks my pants off in the next two months). A boy comes to live with his estranged father and enters the repulsive but fascinating world of graverobbing. Read the gushiest review I've ever written, here.

#3 Stiff by Mary Roach. Everything you wanted to know (or didn't want to know) about what happens to a dead body. Of course that includes what happens to a body after it's buried. Not pretty. I'm getting cremated, BTW. My review here.

#4 The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey. Nevermind that it's young adult. One of the best horror novels I've ever read. I'm still trembling from that climactic scene in the graveyard. My review here.

#5Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger: Woven within this ghostly tale of twins living in a London flat bordering Highgate Cemetery are true stories about the famous landmark. My review.

#6 & #7 Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: A graveyard of a different sort is featured in these novels. The avid bibliophile and taphophile meet, where else? but in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books:

"'What you see here is the sum of centuries of books that have been lost and forgotten, books condemned to be destroyed and silenced forever, books that preserve the memory and soul of times and marvels that no one remembers anymore."

"'Article one: the first time somebody comes here he has the right to choose a book...

"'Article two: upon adopting a book you undertake to protect it and do all you can to ensure it is never lost. For life...

"'Article three: you can bury your own book..."

Misfit Magazine October Issue!

2011-10-17T02:00:00.000-07:00

Read the October 2011 issue.

You Kill Me

by Milo James Fowler

Looking at you now, it’s tough sometimes to see the person I fell in love with. Your eyes, once hazel with enough blue in them to capture my attention, pulsate blood-clotted, staring at me with a hunger different from what overcame us in the back of your Toyota 4Runner all those years ago. Your lips, soft and tender back then, crack like dry plaster, gaping at me from where I’ve got you trussed up to the oven door. You grunt words I can't understand—maybe not even words at all. Primal needs. Read more.

Hiroko’s Game

by Sam Costello

“Just guess what we’re doing, Tadashi. It’s a game. What can it hurt?”

It probably wouldn’t hurt anything, I decided. I started with the plausible, the possible. But the situation confounded me: What could my new wife be doing in the bedroom of our new home, a home we hadn’t even slept in yet, whose rooms were dotted with pagodas of boxes and tangles of dust, but no furniture? Read more.

Giveaway of Dracula in Love by Karen Essex!

2011-10-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Have I got a treat for 3 lucky readers! To celebrate Dracula in Love's paperback release, Karen Essex has generously offered three copies to give away.

I reviewed this amazing book last year, which I called "a gothic feast of lush prose and ingenious reinvention of the classic." Those who read my reviews regularly know I don't give praise lightly. Dracula in Love no less than redeemed the vampire genre for me. Read my entire review here.

London, 1890. Mina Murray, the rosy-cheeked, quintessentially pure Victorian heroine, becomes Count Dracula’s object of desire. To preserve her chastity, five male “defenders” rush in to rescue her from the vampire’s evil clutches. This is the version of the story we've been told. But now, from Mina’s own pen, we discover that the story is vastly different when told from the female point of view.

Rules:

Just comment with your e-mail address to enter. Easy-peasy!

Only US mailing addresses - sorry!

The publicist will be mailing the prizes directly to winners.

Giveaway ends October 21, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST

Winners will be announced on this blog after October 21, 2011.

Dark Souls by Paula Morris

2011-10-12T02:00:00.000-07:00

In Dark Souls, Paula Morris gave me everything I loved about Ruined: abundant, entertaining history artfully woven into a ghostly tale and a setting rich in mood and atmosphere.

Welcome to York, England.

Mist lingers in the streets.

Narrow buildings cast long shadows.

This is the most haunted city in the world. . . .

Miranda Tennant arrives in York with a terrible, tragic secret. She is eager to lose herself amid the quaint cobblestones, hoping she won’t run into the countless ghosts who supposedly roam the city. . . .

Then she meets Nick, an intense, dark-eyed boy who knows all of York’s hidden places and histories. Miranda wonders if Nick is falling for her, but she is distracted by another boy -- one even more handsome and mysterious than Nick. He lives in the house across from Miranda and seems desperate to send her some sort of message. Could this boy be one of York’s haunted souls?

Soon, Miranda realizes that something dangerous -- and deadly -- is being planned. And she may have to face the darkest part of herself in order to unravel the mystery -- and find redemption.

The haunting beginning was well-done, restrained in its tragedy (see if you don't tear up!). In fact throughout Dark Souls, I learned about some of the most wretched true stories connected with the setting of York, England, in addition to the fictional narrative. Unlike some young adult novels where the author throws in some broad, generic details to half-heartedly establish the setting, by reading Dark Souls, I felt like I had actually been to York, not only from its most shocking history but in the way Morris envelops the reader in setting, with authentic dialogue/idioms, local architecture and not so well-known landmarks (I really want to go to Bettys and get some scones and hot chocolate after reading this book :)

I loved the way the relationship developed between Nick and Miranda - she was never sure what he really felt about her and that it wasn't one of those typical young adult insta-love situations (as depicted when Miranda becomes fascinated with the beautiful, mysterious boy next door). Nick came across as very real to me - an intense Goth teen with some serious, inner demons. I enjoyed all the characters in this book - the geeky history professor dad, the musician mom, the snarky older brother. Their interactions were genuine and made me laugh quite a few times. Props to Morris for depicting a young adult heroine who has parents who are PRESENT and actually meddle in her life - so refreshing!

Another way that Dark Souls went against the young adult grain is when Miranda attempts to talk to someone about her ghost-seeing abilities rather than not saying anything to anyone so that the plot can be unrealistically complicated.

I didn't guess until the last chapters where the ghostly tale was going but once I did, I felt frustrated with the three characters who seemed to take too long to figure it out. "Hurry!" I wanted to shout at them. Once they got there, the scene was exciting and kept me on the edge of my seat.

There are many ghostly dark souls in this novel but it's not too scary. It's appropriate for middle grade readers (including the sweet romance). However, I must caution you that there are mention of suicides, fatal car accidents, someone being crushed to death...

"...now Miranda could see the guy in the attic more clearly. He wore a white collarless shirt, open at the neck. There was something across the base of his throat--a dark line, like a ribbon or a leather string. Miranda squinted, trying to make it out. The candle flickered again, its flame dancing and quivering. And she realized that it wasn't a ribbon around his neck, or any kind of jewelry. It was a wound, dark with blood or bruising.

"The guy in the window smiled at her---just the glimmer of a smile---and raised his right hand to the window, resting his palm on the pane in an exact mirror image of her gesture. A chill rippled through Miranda's hand. The glass was cold, of course; it was snowing outside. But this was a sudden, intense cold, turning her fingertips numb and shooting some kind of electric currents down her arm. Miranda knew this cold. She knew exactly what it meant."

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact by A.J. Hartley

2011-10-09T05:00:00.000-07:00

Eleven-year-old Darwen Arkwright has spent his whole life in a tiny town in England. So when he is forced to move to Atlanta, Georgia, to live with his aunt, he knows things will be different - but what he finds there is beyond even his wildest imaginings!

Darwen discovers an enchanting world through the old mirror hanging in his closet - a world that holds as many dangers as it does wonders. Scrobblers on motorbikes with nets big enough to fit a human boy. Gnashers with no eyes, but monstrous mouths full of teeth. Flittercrakes with bat-like bodies and the faces of men. Along with his new friends Rich and Alexandra, Darwen becomes entangled in an adventure and a mystery that involves the safety of his entire school. They soon realize that the creatures are after something in our world - something that only human children possess.

Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact by A.J. Hartley starts off with with one of the most intriguing middle grade beginnings I've read lately; Darwen spies a strange creature flying through the mall which no one else can see and upon following it, leads him to an odd, out-of-place store:

"There was one more shop, right at the end of the corrider beside the exit sign, a tiny ramshackle place that looked like it had been lifted out of an entirely different location and dropped in... The exterior was made of chipped brick and ancient wood---the varnish stained and peeling---and little windows crisscrossed with lead. It looked like a shop from another age. Above its door, suspended from two chains, was a faded wooden sign with gold lettering:

"Mr. Octavius Peregrine's Reflectory Emporium: Mirrors Priceless and Perilous

"Clinging bat-like to the sign, its head cocked in Darwen's direction, was the little winged beast. It blew a raspberry at him, then hopped onto the wall of the shop and through a half-broken diamond of leaded window glass.

"Darwen ran to the door but hesitated as he put his hand on the tarnished brass handle. There was something odd about this place. He could feel it. The window displays were dusty, full of antique mirrors in ornate frames, many of them faded, speckled, and scratched, some with obvious cracks.

"'And how,' he wondered, 'could mirrors be "priceless and perilous"?'"

What those unusual mirrors hold are in fact portals to Silbrica, an enchanted world with creatures as charming as the fairy-like dellfeys, but also sinister, deadly ones like scrobblers, gnashers, and the Shade. And they really are as terrifying as they sound!

Silbrica becomes a refuge for the lonely Darwen, an outsider at his new school. He escapes to Silbrica through the mirror given to him by Mr. Peregrine. However, once the scrobblers and gnashers discover that a human child has entered Silbrica, they set about capturing him in order to find a way to enter this one.

Hartley is very successful in making the nightmarish creatures scary enough (one scene really had me trembling) but he is not quite as adept in depicting the not-so-scary aspects of Silbrica. As a result, this world didn't seem as real to me as it could have been.

I loved Darwen's character - fish out of water and trying to be stoic - my heart just went out to him as he bravely tried to manuever strange customs of his American school. Darwen's also dealing with the loss of his parents, and there comes a moment in the book when his grief comes to the forefront of the narrative and I thought it was going to go the way of a Harry Potter-esque treatment. How Hartley depicts this somber moment is just right, imbuing this fantasy novel some grounding in reality.

Darwen's camaraderie with Rich and Alexandra, other outsiders at his school, was convincing and made for some funny moments. These are kids you'd need if you ever get stuck in an enchanted world with scrobblers and gnashers after you!

Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact by A.J. Hartley is a solid middle grade fantasy adventure story with some scary thrills!

Darwen Arkwright and the Peregrine Pact website

Release date: October 13, 2011

Thank you very much to Penguin/Razorbill for providing a copy for me to review!

Winner

2011-10-09T04:55:00.000-07:00

Per random.org the winner of my Shameless Self-Promotion Giveaway is:

Vojalyn!!!!

Vojalyn has been notified and has 48 hours to respond before I pick another winner.

Thank you to everyone who assisted in my social networking efforts!

Psst...more giveaways up ahead. Keep a look out...

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill

2011-10-06T05:00:00.000-07:00

I have been hearing about The Woman in Black by Susan Hill for ages now and finally my brother got it for me for my birthday. (Thanks, Mikey!)

Barrister Arthur Kipps is sent to the country to settle the estate of the deceased Alice Drablow. In a hurry to finish his duties, and against the advice of the townspeople, Arthur decides to spend the night at the remote house, Eel Marsh House(with a name like this you know something bad is about to happen) which is unreachable during the night hours of high tide. What happens when Arthur becomes stranded at Eel Marsh House and its tragic repercussions will leave you shivering in fright.

The Woman in Black is a traditional ghost story, superbly told. You can read it one sitting and, in fact, I think it is best read uninterrupted - just before bed, I dare you! It belongs to a genre and a style best described as Dickens meets Wilkie Collins (I'm sure the title was carefully chosen) with a sinister dash of Poe thrown in. How surprised I was to learn that The Woman in Black was first published in 1983. Author Susan Hill nails the old-fashioned quality but it is the steadily alarming, atmospheric setting of The Woman in Black in which she excels.

"Fog was outdoors, hanging over the river, creeping in and out of alleyways and passages, swirling thickly between the bare trees of all the parks and gardens of the city, and indoors, too, seething through cracks and crannies like a sour breath, gaining a sly entrance at every opening of a door. It was a yellow fog, a filthy, evil-smelling fog, a fog that choked and blinded, smeared and stained. Groping their way blindly across roads, men and women took their lives in their hands, stumbling along the pavements, they cluthced at railings and at one another, for guidance.

"Sounds were deadened, shapes blurred...it was menacing and sinister disguising the familiar world and confusing the people in it, as they were confused by having their eyes covered and being turned about, in a game of blindman's bluff."

I did that thing where I yelled out loud at the book - "Don't open that door! Please don't open that door!" - but kept turning the pages still wanting, yet thoroughly scared, to find out what lay behind that door. And you will be too.

The Woman in Black has been adapted in a long running stage play since 1989 and will soon be a movie starring Daniel Radcliffe.

The Lost Angel by Javier Sierra

2011-10-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

In approximately seventy-two hours, a little-known Middle Eastern terrorist group plans to bring about the end of the world. Convinced that they are the descendents of angels, they believe they are on the verge of at last being returned to heaven. Central to their plan is the kidnapping of an undercover American scientist whose research has led him to an extraordinary secret: He is the keeper of a pair of mysterious artifacts said to grant their owner the power to communicate directly with God himself.

The scientist's only hope for survival is his young wife—a woman born with a rare psychic gift that can unleash the power of the sacred stones. But she must find the courage to save her husband, all while running from religious extremists and secret U.S. government agencies who want to use the stones for their own purposes.

I don't think I've ever been more impressed by a fiction writer as I have been by Javier Sierra. As part of his meticulous research into the religious, mythical, and historical details of The Lost Angel, Sierra actually climed Mt. Ararat in Turkey and Armenia, which is where the story's climax takes place. He's like the Krakauer of thrillers; beat that, Dan Brown!

The ARC I received is also quite impressive as it came with a beautiful, shiny glossary complete with photos and author's notes. There is no doubt that on the subject of angelology, including the many curious, obscure tangents flowing therefrom, Sierra has gone above and beyond merely penning a fast-paced thriller. He could probably write a dissertation on the subject!

As Sierra stated in the book trailer, every detail was grounded in fact, which made for some fascinating reading.

Noah's Ark, John Dee, the Book of Enoch, Gilgamesh, the Sumerians, Hopi Native Americans, secret societies, and more show up in The Lost Angel. Even the President of the United States and President Chester Arthur (yeah, forgot who he was, did ya? He becomes less forgettable here.) make appearances. There are so many connections and conspiracies in The Lost Angel that at some point it became too confusing for me. There were too many characters to keep track of. Too many coincidences. Not to mention a possible impending apocalyptic event.

"'Many men throughout history have died searching for this secret. All of humanity's greatest mysteries are tied to the search for direct communication with God. What were the Ark of the Covenant, the Holy Grail, and the Kaaba, if not took to get closer to Him? Dee was the last man in history to accomplish it. He achieved unrivaled fame in England for being able to communicate with heavenly beings.'"

I was frustrated with characters not giving straight answers but instead replying by saying something to the effect of, well for me to answer that question, I have to tell you this story first, which happens to be the complete history of electromagnetic field weaponry. It seemed to me that Sierra wanted to cram every bit of interesting tidbit he found in the course of his research into the story when I think some of that could have been whittled away and perhaps tucked into footnotes or an appendix.

Sierra does a great job of keeping the narrative suspenseful but I think The Lost Angel could have been less confusing for me if there were fewer characters and less digressions (which were interesting, but still dragged the plot down).

The climax, I never saw coming and was pretty amazing. I loved how I never could tell who were the villains in the story - was it the secret society? the President? the NSA? the Armenians?; my guesses changed every time the perspective changed (which was almost every chapter).

I was very dissatisfied with the ending. I found the protagonist's, Julia's, actions after the climactic event ridiculous. I'm not sure I can call it out of character as Sierra hardly developed her character for me to know. She was passive from beginning to end. I wanted to shake her for the way she reacted after having found out she had been used and betrayed.

Another thing that bugged me, surprisingly, was the motivation for possessing these mysterious artifacts which supposedly will let one communicate directly with God. For a book that immerses itself in a lot of biblical lore, this seems to contradict tenets of Christianity and other major religions. I'm so not religious, but I would think that believers don't need artifacts to communicate with God. I think that's called praying.

"'Who has any right to call God?'

"Roger Castle kept turning over the question in his mind...

"'And what in the world could any human say to God that would be even mildly interesting?'"

Thank you very much to Atria Books for providing a copy for me to review!

Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver

2011-09-30T05:00:00.000-07:00

Liesl lives in a tiny attic bedroom, locked away by her cruel stepmother. Her only friends are the shadows and the mice—until one night a ghost appears from the darkness. It is Po, who comes from the Other Side. Both Liesl and Po are lonely, but together they are less alone.

That same night, an alchemist’s apprentice, Will, bungles an important delivery. He accidentally switches a box containing the most powerful magic in the world with one containing something decidedly less remarkable.

Will’s mistake has tremendous consequences for Liesl and Po, and it draws the three of them together on an extraordinary journey.

Liesl and Po by Lauren Oliver is near perfect for me. Ostensibly a magical adventure of three friends, Liesl and Po is also a wistful and wondrous story of grief and loss and the afterlife.

Lauren Oliver’s writing in this novel is just right for middle grade, with layers of meaning and resonance that mark Liesl and Po as a possible future classic. Every so often Oliver would weave into Liesl and Po some profound observation so that I can imagine a child reading then re-reading this novel throughout the years and discovering a new truth and deeper meaning so that it becomes richer over time.

Po, the ghost; Liesl, the little girl locked up in the attic; and Will, the alchemist’s apprentice, were all so real to me – even Bundle, Po’s pet (neither cat nor dog but maybe both?). I grew to be very attached and protective of them by story’s end. But I most attached with Po, neither boy nor girl, and yet despite it’s indistinct physical form has quite the personality – loyal, true, and with a very unghostlike wit.

Snatches of fairy tales echo within Liesl and Po - a dead father, an evil stepmother, a magician/alchemist brewing the most powerful magic in the world, and a gray world that has lacked the sun for many years.

But the core of Liesl and Po lies with Liesl's quest to return her father's ashes to the willow tree where her mother is buried. Her grief and loneliness bring out the nebulous shadow of Po to her aid, a ghost from the Other Side. It is Po who helps Liesl put her father's spirit to rest and in doing so, also helps her to deal with his sudden death. Oliver's depiction of this great mystery is what makes Liesl and Po timeless.

Some of the most beautiful passages in this book describe the spirit world or The Other Side, where those who come from The Living Side pass through before going Beyond.

"'If you see him again, will give him a message for me?' Liesl asked Po.

"'The chances I will see him again are next to nothing,' Po said. The ghost did not want the girl to get her hopes up. It might not even recognize Liesl's father if it saw him again; by then, Liesl's father might not recognize himself. He might have begun to blur, letting the infinity tug on him gently from all sides, like sand being pulled by an eternal tide. He might have already begun the process of becoming part of the Everything. He would begin to feel the electricity from distant stars pulsing through him like a heartbeat. He would feel the weight of old planets on his shoulders, and he would feel the winds of distant corners of the universe blowing through him."

As to the illustrations by Kei Acedera, my ARC mostly had rough sketches, but I can tell the final work will probably be amazing. I vow to get a finished copy!

"When Bundle was tired, it like to disperse into Po. Bundle could not climb into Po's lap because Po had no lap, so instead it climbed inside: It curled up inside of Po's Essence, and Po walked for a time with the secret knowledge of this other thing, this other being, glowing at Po's very center like a star burning in the middle of darkness.

"Of all the miracles Po had seen in the time and space of its death, Po thought this--the absorption of another, the carrying of it--was the most bewildering and remarkable of all. Whenever Bundle separated again, Po was left with an ache of sadness that reminded the ghost of the body it had left behind."

The book trailer featuring the offical song for Liesl and Po: "A Train with Wings":

Liesl and Po website

Release date: October 4, 2011

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

Paradise

2011-09-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

Otherwise known as the 47th Annual San Francisco Big Book Sale

1 ham and cheese pastry from the Sunday Farmer’s market scarfed down hastily before diving into the fray

1 pain au chocolat to revive my flagging energy

26 books for $26

8 books put back with great regret because my bag couldn’t hold any more

1 very happy bargain book hunter

Overheard:

Someone on the cell phone: stream of excited Chinese, then “long-ass line” then more excited Chinese.

One woman sighing wearily to her friend, perhaps burnt out by the endless tables of books and having only brought one bag: “At this point, I’m only buying ones I’m really attached to.”

A husband and wife team, each with a shopping cart full of books shouting across the aisles to each other: “Do you need Voltaire?” “No, I don’t need Voltaire.” Pause. “Get it anyway.”

One girl to her friend: “Just buy it. It’ll make you look good to have it on your bookshelf.”

Shameless Self-Promotion Giveaway!

2011-09-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

Let's just call it exactly what it is! Those who dislike the crass business of following, friending, and liking, avert your eyes from the following display!

Winner gets to pick ONE from the following:

RULES:

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.

Google follower of Misfit Salon = 1 entry

Like Misfit Salon's Facebook page (Please state your Facebook name) = 1 entry

Twitter follower of Misfit Salon (Please state your Twitter name) = 1 entry

Friend me at Goodreads (Please state your Goodreads name) = 1 entry

Maximum of 4 entries.

This is international!

Giveaway ends October 8, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

The winner will be announced here after October 8, 2011.

Good luck!

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

2011-09-22T05:00:00.001-07:00

It would be utterly wrong for me to say Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor satisfied me. Not at all. With a breathless turn of the final page, I immediately craved MORE! More of the beautiful world of monsters Taylor conceived so vividly, more of the doomed love between the demon’s child and the seraph, more of Karou and Akiva, more Brimstone, Kishmish and Issa.

I knew nothing about this book prior to requesting it but how could I resist the following pastiche of dark and indelible images practically screaming my name:

Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Upon finishing Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I desperately wanted more despite the fact that it broke my heart in several ways.

The first, I won’t tell you about; although I really should so you won’t weep in sorrow as I did upon its discovery.

The second, you can already guess by the simple tagline: "Once upon a time a demon and angel fell in love. It did not end well.” Forbidden love or star-crossed lovers in young adult literature is commonplace. But in Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the story of the tragic lovers, once Taylor finally reveals it, deep into the heart of the book, wounded me, as only terribly beautiful things can.

The third way that Daughter of Smoke and Bone broke my heart is because it's not real. As seasoned and jaded a reader as I am (I'll admit it!), I simply didn't want to leave this world. Closing the book was like being rudely shoved awake from a surreal dreamscape of wonders.

"So it was in slum alleys and dark courtyards in Kuala Lumpur, Istanbul, San Francisco, Paris. Beautiful men and women with distorted shadows came and scorched their handprints onto doors before vanishing skyward, drafts of heat billowing behind them with the whumph of unseen wings. Here and there, feathers fell, and they were like tufts of white fire, disintegrating to ash as soon as they touched the ground. In Delhi, a Sister of Mercy reached out and caught one on her palm like a raindrop, but unlike a raindrop it burned, and left the perfect outline of a feather seared into her flesh.

"'Angel,' she whispered, relishing the pain.

"She was not exactly wrong."

Perhaps it has to do with the fact that Taylor writes with an artist's eye, conjuring fanciful visions for the reader. The story dances from one exotic setting to another, between real cities and imagined worlds. My visit to the real Prague left me underwhelmed but in this book, the city is enchanting; I questioned whether I ever truly saw Prague in the first place. The world beyond this earthly one, of the seraphim and the chimaera, is reminiscent of a Bosch painting, vibrant with strange creatures.

By this point, you're probably wondering, this is well and good but what is Daughter of Smoke and Bone about? Trust me when I say, you don't need to know - just fall headlong into it! However, if you insist: any synopsis I would give would be pockmarked with YA cliches and you'd question what it is that's so different about this book. And that's where good writing comes in - transforming cliches into marvels.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

You think you've had your fill of angels and demons, of doomed love, of paranormal young adult novels - make room for this one. Daughter of Smoke and Bone leaves all others in the dust of mediocrity.

Release date: September 27, 2011

Thank you so much to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

Lips Touch, Three Times by Laini Taylor

2011-09-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

I was so taken by Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (review forthcoming), that I immediately read her collection of three stories about young women, each of which involves a kiss: Lips Touch, Three Times .

A girl who’s always been in the shadows finds herself pursued by the unbelievably attractive new boy at school, who may or may not be the death of her. Another girl grows up mute because of a curse placed on her by a vindictive spirit, and later must decide whether to utter her first words to the boy she loves and risk killing everyone who hears her if the curse is real. And a third girl discovers that the real reason for her transient life with her mother has to do with belonging — literally belonging — to another world entirely, full of dreaded creatures who can transform into animals, and whose queen keeps little girls as personal pets until they grow to childbearing age.

With Lips Touch, Three Times , Taylor has cemented her place as my new favorite author - she is nothing less than an enchantress of fantasy. Each of the above stories bewitched me with worlds both familiar, as well as unique and never before seen. Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market" clearly influenced the first story, "Goblin Fruit," but Taylor weaves a lush and seductive new tale out of her inspiration that translates to so much more than a retelling.

"There is a certain kind of girl the goblins crave. You could walk across a high school campus and point them out: not her, her. The pert, lovely ones with butterfly tattoos in secret places, sitting on their boyfriends' laps? No, not them. The girls watching the lovely ones sitting on their boyfriends' laps? Yes.

"Them.

"The goblins want girls who dream so hard about being pretty their yearning leaves a palpable trail, a scent goblins can follow like sharks on a soft bloom of blood. The girls with hungry eyes who pray each night to wake up as someone else. Urgent, unkissed, wishful girls.

"Like Kizzy."

You see?

The depth and breadth of Taylor's influences are vast and diverse, from Rossetti to Indian folklore and the culture of British Raj. I read fantasy to escape, and to my joy each story here took me to a completely different place from the others.

Taylor's writing, like goblin fruit, is made of dark, potent magic and so enthralling that once you have a taste, you will desperately want more.

I must mention that as visually stunning Taylor's writing is, the accompanying illustrations by Jim Di Bartolo are equally beautiful. They tell the background of the stories, not the stories themselves so they're distinct narratives on their own.

It looks like the publisher is going with a new cover for the paperback to be released soon – which is a prime example of idiocy. Why the hell would you prefer a generic, banal cover over spectacular artwork????

This video is of a reading by Laini Taylor with images of the accompanying artwork by Jim De Bartolo.

More of Jim Di Bartolo’s artwork can be found here.

The Taker by Alma Katsu

2011-09-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Taker by Alma Katsu starts off with a sit-up-and-notice, can’t-wait-to-see-what-happens-next beginning. A woman in the emergency room is a suspect for murder and begs the doctor to help her escape from the authorities. To get him to listen to her wild, improbable tale, she cuts herself in front of him with a scalpel and he watches as the cut heals itself in front of his eyes. Having caught his attention, she then tells him is the story of her true love for a beautiful man that has lasted for over two centuries.

True love can last an eternity . . . but immortality comes at a price. . . .

On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her . . . despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.

Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town’s founder, Lanny will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley.

The center, the axis on which Lanny’s world and her motivation, and thus the entirety of The Taker, pivot is her unrequited love, Jonathan. So he must be the most fascinating creature in The Taker right? He must be to have captured her heart and soul so completely for centuries. Yet other than his unearthly beauty, which does become very important to the plot, I could see no reason for Lanny’s dangerous obsession with Jonathan.

"I knew Jonathan had the ability to burn me up with the brilliance of his attention, like a flame to paper. A girl could be destroyed in the instant of divine love. The question was, was it worth it?

"You might ask if I loved Jonathan for his beauty, and I would answer: that is a pointless question, for his great, uncommon beauty was an irreducible part of the whole...if his beauty drew my eye from the first, I'll not apologize for it, nor will I apologize for my desire to claim Jonathan for my own. To behold such beauty is to wish to possess it; it's desire that drives every collector. And I was hardly alone. Nearly every person who came to know Jonathan tried to possess him. This was his curse, and the curse of every person who loved him. But it was like being in love with the sun: brilliant and intoxicating to be near, but impossible to keep to oneself. It was hopeless to love him and yet it was hopeless not to.

"And so I was afflicted by Jonathan's curse, caught up in his terrible attraction, and both of us were doomed to suffer for it."

He is a feckless player for most of The Taker, uncommonly good-looking, but nothing special. Towards the end, and I mean within the last two chapters do we see a Jonathan worth loving, worth dying for, worth risking your soul for. Unfortunately, we do not witness his evolution; just a before and after.

Nor do we see Lanny evolve either. She’s besotted in the beginning and gets in trouble for it. She’s besotted in the middle and gets in trouble for it. She’s besotted in the end and gets in trouble for it. You have centuries to live, fortune to spend, and eternal youth... and yet you live an empty, purposeless life pining for a ne’er-do-well? It seems like such a waste, especially since she’s an otherwise intelligent and feisty woman. Time and again her obsession with Jonathan leads her to the edge and over, all in the name of love.

A very dynamic, if not likeable, character is the villainous Adair who mysteriously comes into Lanore’s and Jonathan’s lives. Finding out the dangerous secrets he holds is more compelling than any scene with Jonathan, as he is the source of the dark magic central to the story. Adair possesses the key to immortality, which is never fully explained. However, since The Taker is the first of a trilogy, I’m sure we’ll know more in the coming books.

The synopsis promises a dark, dark tale of obsession and The Taker does deliver; however - What ultimately made me want to stop reading – made me want to, though I didn’t because I almost always finish what I start – are the sadistic sexual scenes. I’ll concede that they could have been much more graphically written than they were, but by the middle of the book, I felt oversaturated by them. It could be a matter of personal taste but it was just too much depravity for me.

Towards the end, there were shocking, clever twists that I did not see coming- very well done if a bit rushed through.

Read the first chapter.

Thank you to Gallery Books for providing a copy for me to review!

My Book Boyfriend - Akiva from Daughter of Smoke and Bone

2011-09-13T05:00:00.001-07:00

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie of The Unread Reader.

Rarely does it happen that a character comes to life so vividly in my imagination that I can picture him clearly, sharply in my mind's eye. Akiva, the avenging warrior-angel from Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is one such figure. But in truth, all the characters in this novel are so unique in physical aspect and described so well that I could instantly picture them.

The teaser trailer below shows the publisher's take on Akiva but the Akiva who immediately came to my mind when reading is definitely Asian and of otherworldly, unsettling beauty. I could not find an exact match but I think between two of the most insanely beautiful Asian men I've ever beheld, Daniel Henney and Takeshi Kaneshiro, I can come pretty close. My Akiva has Daniel's sharp, sculpted angles with Takeshi's haunting eyes and full lips.

His gaze was heat across her cheeks, her lips. It was touch. His eyes were hypnotic, his brows black and velvet. He was copper and shadow, honey and menace, the severity of knife-blade cheekbones and a widow's peak like the point of a dagger. All that and the muted snap of invisible fire...

...kohl-rimmed eyes in a sun-bronzed face. Fire-colored eyes with a charge like sparks that seared a path through the air and kindled it...clearly he was not human, the man standing amid the tumult in absolute stillness. A pulse beat in the palms of her hands and she curled them into fists, feeling a wild hum in her blood.

Oh, thought Karou, staring at him. Oh. Angel indeed.

He stood revealed. The blade of his long sword gleamed white from the incandescence of his wings---vast shimmering wings, their reach so great they swept the walls on either side of the alley, each feather like the wind-tugged lick of a candle flame.

Those eyes.

His gaze was like a lit fuse, scorching the air between them. He was the most beautiful thing Karou had ever seen.

Her first thought, incongruous but overpowering, was to memorize him so she could draw him later.

Her second thought was that there wasn't going to be a later because he was going to kill her.

And just a couple more because...well, just because. I kinda just wanna keep looking at them. Do you mind?

Inspired by Karou, my fingers itching, I just decided to draw Akiva myself. I'm still not satisfied that I'll ever render him as he exists in my mind, but I had to try.

Some treasures for a few bucks

2011-09-10T05:00:00.000-07:00

Some recent finds from the library sale shelves:

How can I not buy Rosie Little's Cautionary Tales for Girls by Danielle Wood with such a spectacular start as this?

The Deflowering of Rosie Little

The Trouble with fellatio, in my view, is its lack of onomatopoeia. Take more honest words like suck, or gargle, or gurle and...ta-da! Their meanings are all neatly wrapped up in the way they sound. Whereas fellaito, all on its own, could leave you clueless. Especially in the week before your fifteenth birthday.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Curtis Klause is an older book about a female teenage werewolf published long before the current craze for such. Plus chocolate in the title. Had to have it.

Flames shot high, turning the night lurid with carnival light. Sparks took the place of stars. The century-old inn was a silhouette fronting hell, as everything Vivan knew was consumed in fire.

Homero Aridjis is a Mexican poet and, according to the back of the book, Persephone is his American literary debut. I was immediately lost in the sensual language.

Night grows over the city in women's small voices.
In women's scarlet breath.
In women's penduluous displayed fruits. Through women's
graves it tunnels into darkness. Through openings, voids, and
holes, night penetrates and moistens.

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan, I've read before but didn't own a copy.

"...she took out the scrap of paper with the writing she had showed me earlier. She nodded toward me and said with her hands: My family name, the name of all the bonesetters. She put the paper name in front of my face again and said, "Never forget this name, then placed it carefully on the altar."

I've been meaning to read Galileo's Daughter by Dava Sobel about the fruit of the scientist's illicit but longstanding love affair. Maria Celeste (named for the heavens) was sent to the convent since her parents were never married and from there she sent Galileo many letters, only 124 of which survive. This story saddens me in a way - as Maria Celeste was apparently as brilliant as her father but was cloistered all her life, unable to follow in his footsteps.

Finally, Snow by Orhan Pamuk because I am so enamored with his writing.

"The silence of snow, thought the man sitting just behind the bus driver. If this were the beginning of a poem, he would have called the thing he felt inside him the silence of snow."

Happiness!

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel

2011-09-07T05:00:00.000-07:00

This Dark Endeavor: The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel is not Frankenstein re-animated and recycled, but an impressive, seamless creation that pulses with life and energy of its own.

Victor Frankenstein leads a charmed life. He and his twin brother Konrad and their beautiful cousin Elizabeth take lessons at home and spend their spare time fencing and horseback riding. Along with their friend, Henry, they have explored all the hidden passageways and secret rooms of the palatial Frankenstein chateau. Except one.

The Dark Library contains ancient tomes written in strange languages, and filled with forbidden knowledge. Their father makes them promise never to visit the library again, but when Konrad becomes deathly ill, Victor knows he must find the book that contains the recipe for the legendary Elixir of Life.

The elixir needs only three ingredients. But impossible odds, dangerous alchemy, and a bitter love triangle threaten their quest at every turn.

Victor knows he must not fail. But his success depends on how far he is willing to push the boundaries of nature, science, and love – and how much he is willing to sacrifice.

This Dark Endeavor resonates with the essence of Mary Shelley's classic: A young Victor who has the arrogance, ingenuity and impatience of his future self but in this fictional incarnation, he is also possessed of an endearing charm and good intentions that imbue him with the possibility of greatness - all the more poignant for we know the dark path ahead of him. We see how obsession and penchant for danger take root in him, as his beloved brother falls ill and rather than trust in medicine for his cure, Victor turns to the black art of the occult.

"As one, we all turned toward the room. The skin of my neck was gooseflesh...We were ina surprisingly large room. Nearby was a torch jutting from a wall sconce, and I quickly lit it. The room brightened, an orange glow flickering over tables scattered with oddly-shaped glassware and metal instruments--and row upon row of shelves groaning with thick tomes.

"...

"I walked over to the bookshelves and squinted at their cracked spines. 'The titles are all Latin and Greek...and languages I've never seen.'

"...

"'And here,' said Konrad, paging through another volume, 'are instructions on how to speak to the dead.'

"I looked at my brother. I often had the uncanny feeling that I was waiting for his show of emotions so I could better know my own. Right now I saw fear rather than my own powerful fascination with the place."

So starts a dangerous pursuit to procure rare ingredients of near-mythical status. Before the book ends, we see Victor tested and pushed to the very edge, a scene which frankly made me shudder in horror mixed with admiration, for it so aptly paid homage to the classic.

Another touch I liked was the subtle nods to Mary Shelley and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, a feminist thinker way ahead of her time. The character of Elizabeth, the cousin with whom both Frankenstein boys are in love, is a firecracker of a girl who shows herself to be an equal to them in intellect and daring. She and Henry, a hilariously fearful but loveable friend, accompany Victor in his quest to cure his brother.

The plot is electrified with surprising twists and razor's edge turns. Danger, adventure, a touch of horror, an inventive and captivating story - no wonder This Dark Endeavor has been scooped up by Hollywood and will soon be a major motion picture!

Thank you very much to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

Winner!

2011-09-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

The winner of A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black audio book

is

Shoshana!

Sanctus by Simon Toyne

2011-09-04T05:00:00.000-07:00

A man climbs a cliff face in the oldest inhabited place on earth, a mountain known as the Citadel, a Vatican-like city-state that towers above the city of Ruin in modern-day Turkey. But this is no ordinary ascent. It is a dangerous, symbolic act—and thanks to the media, it is an event witnessed by the entire world.

Few people understand its consequence. But for foundation worker Kathryn Mann, and a handful of others, it's evidence that a revolution is at hand. For the Sancti, the cowled and secretive monks who live inside the Citadel, it could mean the end of everything they have built. They will stop at nothing to keep what is theirs, and they will break every law in every country and even kill to hold it fast. For American reporter Liv Adamsen, it spurs the memory of the beloved brother she lost years before, setting her on a journey across the world and into the heart of her own identity.

There she will make a discovery so shocking that it will change everything...

Is there merit to the comparisons of Sanctus by Simon Toyne to Da Vinci Code? I would say yes, on the surface.

Sanctus involves an ultra secret religious sect, the Sancti, who guards an impenetrable fortress/monastery called the Citadel. The fictional Citadel is situated near the summit of Taurus Mountain in Turkey and operates much like The Vatican - a law unto itself and funded with wealth accumulated through the centuries. No outsiders are allowed inside the walls of the Citadel for the Sancti are charged with protecting "the Sacrament." No one outside the Citadel knows what "the Sacrament" is exactly nor do all the monks; only a select few Sancti who have undergone initiation have glimpsed it for themselves.

In the chilling first chapter, Samuel, an initiate, has just found out what the mysterious Sacrament is. Horrified, he somehow escapes the Citadel and scales the mountain, at the summit of which he stands like a cross then plunges to his death. So right away we know the Sacrament is not holy at all, not if it's driven Simon to his death, and that the Sancti are probably not saints. In fact, through the course of the novel, we come to find out just how dangerous the Sancti are - men in robes are not to be crossed!

As the history of the Sancti is revealed and the story unfolds, a theme of "The Church" as evil and pagan as "good" emerges; however, perhaps to neutralize any controversy, Toyne does make a distinction that the Citadel and the Sancti existed before Christianity and only came to be connected with that religion through the ages.

"Liv had assumed the Citadel was a Christian shrine, but the text revealed that it had only aligned itself with Christianity in the Fourth Century, following the Roman emperor's conversion. Prior to that it had been independent of any organized religion, though it had exerted a huge influence in almost every ancient belief system: the Babylonians had considered it the first and greatest ziggurat; the ancient Greeks worshipped it as the home of the gods and renamed it Olympus; even the Egyptians held it as sacred, the pharaohs journeying across the sea to the Hittite Empire to visit the mountain. It was even believed by some that the great pyramids of Giza were attempts to re-create the mountain in the hope that the magical properties of the Citadel could be reproduced in Egypt.

"Once the Citadel had made its political move to endorse Christianity, the operational center of the Church moved to Rome to enjoy the full protection of the newly created Holy Roman Empire. The Citadel, however, remained the power behind the throne, issuing its edicts and dogma through Rome now, as well as a new version of everything through the publication of an authorized Bible. Any dissent from this official view was seen as heresy and was crushed, first by the might of the Roman amry and subsequently by any king and emperor trying to curry favor with the Church and, by extension, with God."

Liv Adamson, the fallen monk's sister, with the aid of a cop and a former U.S. Seal, attempts to do what no one else had been able to do: penetrate the Citadel's formidable walls to find out what drove her brother to his death. Her inquiry leads them straight to the Citadel's heart - the Sacrament itself.
The revelation is quite shocking and heretical - an unusual twist to Biblical canon. There were some hints leading up to it but not too overt so I was very much taken by surprise.

From the first pages to its last, Sanctus had many unforeseen twists and hardly-time-to-pause action. The imagined history of the Citadel and the Sancti as it ties in with Christianity is also fascinating.

There is some also symbology involved regarding the Greek letter Tau (on the cover) - supposedly the origin of the cross. I loved the parts tracing the significance of this letter and the supernatural turn the story took towards the end.

Sanctus has a feminist slant that grows more evident as it progresses, which I usually like. However, the conspiracy theory just seems too absolute for me to accept it. The villains, the monks, are the epitome of soulless evil. I would have like more development of Samuel's character - how he came to give up his earthly identity and take up the severe lifestyle of a monk.

Also, in order for Samuel to have been accepted into the order in the first place, he was required to have no family and undergoes a rigorous background check. The reason for why and how the monks somehow missed that he had a sister is thoroughly farfetched, even for this genre.

Another thing that bugged me is that Sanctus is set in Eastern Turkey and all but a few characters are Turkish, yet the Turkish characters speak English with American/British idioms. The Turkish cop sounds like he came straight out of a New York precinct. Save for their names, the American characters are indistinguishable from the Turkish characters.

Sanctus is the first of a planned trilogy, which surprised me as the ending seemed pretty final to me. I'm not sure where Toyne will go with the characters but he has established in Sanctus an exciting jumping point.

The Sanctus website

Release date: September 6, 2011

Thank you very much to William Morrow Books for providing a copy for me to review!

Wildwood by Colin Meloy

2011-09-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

Why wouldn’t I pant after this new middle grade fantasy? The synopsis had echoes of Labyrinth, illustrated by the same artist of The Mysterious Benedict Society, and written by The Decembrists’ Colin Meloy. Plus, the Impassable Wilderness. Just the idea of it conjures images of exciting adventures.

Prue McKeel’s life is ordinary. At least until her baby brother is abducted by a murder of crows. And then things get really weird.

You see, on every map of Portland, Oregon, there is a big splotch of green on the edge of the city labeled “I.W.” This stands for “Impassable Wilderness.” No one’s ever gone in—or at least returned to tell of it.

And this is where the crows take her brother.

So begins an adventure that will take Prue and her friend Curtis deep into the Impassable Wilderness. There they uncover a secret world in the midst of violent upheaval, a world full of warring creatures, peaceable mystics, and powerful figures with the darkest intentions. And what begins as a rescue mission becomes something much bigger as the two friends find themselves entwined in a struggle for the very freedom of this wilderness.

A wilderness the locals call Wildwood.

Wildwood by Colin Meloy can best be summed up as a love letter to Oregon with strong overtones of Narnia and some classic fairy tale tropes. I’ve only been to Portland once, having driven for 13 hours straight from California. The ride is a beautiful one, as the highway is at all times surrounded by lush, green forests. If there was indeed a magical Impassable Wilderness bordering Portland, I would not be surprised at all. I’m not sure if Meloy grew up in the area or has lived there long enough to develop a love for it, but either way, woven throughout Wildwood is a series of subtle homages to the Northwest, indicating a deep fondness and intimate knowledge of its natural wonders.

"As long as Prue could remember, every map she had ever sen of Portland and the surrounding countryside had been blotted with a large, dark green patch in the center, stretching like a growth of moss from the northwest corner to the southwest, and alabeled with the mysterious initials 'I.W.' She hadn't thought to ask about it until one night, before Mac was born... Her dad had brought home a new atlas and they were lying in the recliner together, leafing through the pages and tracing their fingers over boundary lines and sounding out the exotic place-names of far-flung countries. When they arrived at a map of Oregon, Prue pointed to the small, inset map of Portland on the page and asked the question that had always confounded her: 'What's I.W.?'

"'Nothing honey,' had been her father's reply...'There are places in the world where people just don't end up living. Maybe it's too cold or there are too many trees or the mountains are too steep to climb. But whatever the reason, no one has thought to build a road there and without roads, there are no houses and without houses, no cities...It stands for "Impassable Wilderness." And that's just what it is.'"

Wildwood has many imaginative touches – human-like animals who can speak, a majestic Owl King who leads the Avian inhabitants of the wilderness, the wise Mystics, a deadly Ivy that once awakened hungers for the blood of an Outsider.

Prue, as the brave and clever heroine, is the kind of girl I would love to have been best friends with when I was a kid. She has admirable pluck that would make you want to follow her into the wilderness and back.

Curtis, her friend who insists on helping Prue find her baby brother, begins the story as a loyal sidekick but almost takes over the story with heroic adventures of his own.

Like most villains, the Dowager Governess is probably the most fascinating creature in Wildwood. She is depicted in such a way that at times she commanded my reluctant admiration and sympathy. Brendan, the King of the Bandits, is Peter Pan all grown up – wild and lawless but a good guy.

Despite these elements, there’s something missing from Wildwood. It was hard to put my finger on it, as separately, all the fantastical details of Wildwood’s world, the plot, and the characters seem to indicate the makings of a new children’s classic. Something I might have read over and over again as a kid and even dreamt about, as I have with some of my favorite fantasy books. Yet these details together lack that elusive quality which would make Wildwood something I can envision as a beloved childhood book. I think it has to do with resonance.

And unlike Narnia, Wildwood is not a place I feel like visiting again. I pondered this fact; was it because I’m reading it through an adult’s eyes? I’d have to say no, because I’ve read other middle grade fantasy books within the past year, in fact, featuring magical lands even scarier than Wildwood, which left me intrigued rather than indifferent. A book that comes to mind is Tyger, Tyger by Kersten Hamilton, with a similar plot line of a young woman braving the land of the goblins to find her father. That world resonated with me; Wildwood did not. It might have to do with the fact that Wildwood's inhabitants and most of its rules don’t appear to be that different from the Outside. It aappears that Wildwood might be a political satire on some level.

There are some dark twists to the story, which is not immune to the deaths of “good” characters. One scene in particular, which involves Prue and her brother’s parents, frankly left me shocked and skeptical. It preys upon children’s secret fears of abandonment, which happens in many stories, but the way the supposedly loving parents reacted was was jarringly out of character. At first I thought it might have been a scene that Prue imagined and so I thought it was cleverly done; however, it turned to be real within the story. If any parent acted the way they did, no child would ever want to return them. They’d prefer to stay put in the wilderness.

Meloy appears to be commenting on parenthood here, juxtaposing the Dowager Governess’ obsessive love for her dead son with Prue’s parents’ desperation for a child of their own, going to extreme lengths to have one. The former is imbued with tragedy and lends the villainess some complexity and sympathy, while the latter is out of whack. I’ve complained before about absent parents in kids books and YA but this seems just as unbelievable – even in a fantasy novel.

Thank you to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black Audio Book Giveaway!

2011-08-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

Is there a more fun way to mark the end of summer other than a little giveaway?

MacMillan kindly provided me with an audio book of A Death in Summer by Benjamin Black, as read by John Keating.

On a sweltering summer afternoon, newspaper tycoon Richard Jewell—known to his many enemies as Diamond Dick—is discovered with his head blown off by a shotgun blast. But is it suicide or murder? For help with the investigation, Detective Inspector Hackett calls in his old friend Quirke, who has unusual access to Dublin's elite.

Jewell's coolly elegant French wife, Françoise, seems less than shocked by her husband's death. But Dannie, Jewell's high-strung sister, is devastated, and Quirke is surprised to learn that in her grief she has turned to an unexpected friend: David Sinclair, Quirke's ambitious assistant in the pathology lab at the Hospital of the Holy Family. Further, Sinclair has been seeing Quirke's fractious daughter Phoebe, and an unlikely romance is blossoming between the two. As a record heat wave envelops the city and the secret deals underpinning Diamond Dick's empire begin to be revealed, Quirke and Hackett find themselves caught up in a dark web of intrigue and violence that threatens to end in disaster.

Tightly plotted and gorgeously written, A Death in Summer proves to the brilliant but sometimes reckless Quirke that in a city where old money and the right bloodlines rule, he is by no means safe from mortal danger.

8 CDs; running time 10 hours

To enter please leave a comment with your e-mail address on this post.

The giveaway ends on September 5, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

Only US addresses please.

The winner will be picked by Random.org, as always, and will be announced here after September 5, 2011.

Good luck!

Write A Post, Help a Dog!

2011-08-28T14:00:00.000-07:00

I don't have a dog, but I have a blog and once I saw this at Books and Things, I knew that copying, pasting, and publishing this post was a no-brainer thing to do. SO easy!

Pedigree is resurrecting is insanely successful Write a Post, Help a Dog program. In 2010, 391 bloggers wrote about the program and with each post, Pedigree donated 20 pounds of its Healthy Longevity dog food to shelter animals. In all, 7,820 pounds of food was donated to two shelters renowned for their care of senior dogs: Muttville Senior Dog Rescue in San Francisco and Castaway Critters in Harrisburg, Pa.

How you can help in 2011

Simply spread the word about Write a Post, Help a Dog 2011 and once again Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of food for each blogger's post. Here's all you need to include in your post:

•The Write a Post, Help a Dog program is aimed at raising awareness and food for the more than four million dogs that wind up in shelters and breed rescues each year.
•For each blog post mentioning the Pedigree Foundation from now until midnight ET on September 3, Pedigree will donate 20 pounds of its new dry Pedigree recipe food for dogs -- its best recipe ever -- to a shelter, because every dog deserves leading nutrition.
•The Pedigree Foundation -- a 501 (C)(3) nonprofit organization is committed to helping dogs by providing grants to shelters and rescues and encouraging dog adoption. This year the Foundation has already raised more than $376,570 against its goal of $1.5 million to carry out its work to fund grants that not only help shelters operate, but to further shelter innovations.
The Pedigree Foundation depends on charitable contributions from individuals to carry out its mission to help dogs find loving homes. In addition to writing a blog post, here's how you can help:

•Donate online at http://pedigreefoundation.org/donate.aspx
•Apply for a shelter grant from the Pedigree Foundation by completing a form at www.pedigreefoundation.org
•Purchase Dogs Rule Gear at www.dogsrulegear.com where the proceeds go to the Pedigree Foundation to help loving dogs find a home. SPECIAL OFFER: Get 10 percent off Dogs Rule Gear by using the promo code BlogPaws10 from August 22 - September 30.

Then, link up to our Blog Hop, hosted by the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers to help spread the word about Write a Post, Help a Dog. I linked up through Books and Things, here.

You talkin' to me?

2011-08-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

I once met someone and after about15 minutes of conversation, I was asked, “Are you a reader?” All I could do was laugh at what I thought to be a rather silly question. “Am I reader? Am I reader?” You've been talking to me for 15 minutes, can’t you tell??? I wanted to ask. Isn’t obvious I’m a reader? What kind of question is that? But I’m the silly one. The tattoo on my forehead saying “Bibliophile” is only visible under black light, kind of like traces of blood in a murder scene.

I was at a gathering when the topic of books came up. I mentioned I was about to start Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin and needed to finish in five days because it was due at the library. One of the women turned to me, aghast, “Are you going to take time off work?” I laughed, until I realized she was serious. “It’s really dense,” she warned, shaking her head at the unheard of notion that I, I would dare read Game of Thrones in 5 days. I might as well be some fool hobbit trying to penetrate Mordor without Sauron getting wind of it. A murderous look must have stolen over my face because my friend quickly interrupted, “Oh, Stephanie’s a great reader. She’ll finish it by then.” My friend was wrong. I finished it in 4 days. And it’s not dense. Dense is Wolf Hall, biaatch. Game of Thrones is long. There’s a difference.

You can mistake me for Japanese even though I’m a Filipina; you can assume I wear a size larger than I actually do; you can even assume that I'm 5'1" when I'm exactly 5'1 3/4", but do not assume I picked up my first book yesterday. Just don't do it. It's like asking a woman you've just met when the baby's due when she's obviously merely bloated - the fastest way to get on my sh$#t list.

Ever been insulted as a reader?

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

2011-08-23T05:00:00.000-07:00

If I read the Flower Dictionary (included in the back of the book) correctly, where I to gift you with a nosegay, it would be composed of wisteria (welcome), peppermint (warmth of feeling), and lupine (imagination).

The Victorian language of flowers was used to convey romantic expressions: honeysuckle for devotion, aster for patience, and red roses for love. But for Victoria Jones, it’s been more useful in communicating grief, mistrust, and solitude. After a childhood spent in the foster-care system, she is unable to get close to anybody, and her only connection to the world is through flowers and their meanings.

Now eighteen and emancipated from the system, Victoria has nowhere to go and sleeps in a public park, where she plants a small garden of her own. Soon a local florist discovers her talents, and Victoria realizes that she has a gift for helping others through the flowers she chooses for them. But a mysterious vendor at the flower market inspires her to question what’s been missing in her life. And when she’s forced to confront a painful secret from her past, she must decide whether it’s worth risking everything for a second chance at happiness.

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh is a beautifully arranged bouquet of regret, magic, love, and hope.

Tough girl Victoria, thrown into one foster home to another until her 18th birthday, shuns emotional attachment with anyone. She won’t let anyone in nor will she reach out to anyone, until one day she reluctantly begins an unusual, wordless dialogue with a similarly gruff flower vendor. Through offerings of flowers, an old-fashioned courtship ensues, each token symbolizing a message. I have to confess, this part melted my oh-so-sentimental heart. In an age of carelessly written texts, the way Grant wooed Victoria, patiently knocking down her thick walls with each meaningful flower, was thrilling to read. Intrigued against her will, Victoria lets Grant in. The novel alternates between Victoria’s present with Grant, and the past when Victoria was a child and for the first time allowed herself to love a foster parent. Hints of something terrible that happened in the past which derailed Victoria’s dreams of being part of a family now endanger her fragile, budding relationship with the poetic Grant.

In The Language of Flowers the power of meaningful communication drives the story – tragedies occur when characters are unable to talk to those they love the most. Words, letters, phone calls are difficult to make when there is so much hurt and guilt keeping one from making the first step. Mothers and daughters, sisters, lovers -- all of these relationships in the book are flowers in need of nurturing.

In Victoria’s case, she had no skills to connect with anyone, no form of expression as intimately close to her heart and soul as that of the language of flowers, taught to her by the first person she loved. It is through flowers that she learns to open up to people and then to affect others’ lives in magical ways by making bouquets expressing their secret dreams and their future possibilities.

"'You know, now that I think about it, she's never really been a happy woman...but she was passionate. And smart. And interested. She always had an opinion, even about things she knew nothing about. I miss that.'

"It was the request for which I had prepared. 'I understand.' I said, setting to work. I pinched tendrils of periwinkle at the roots until they hung in long, limp strands, and grabbed a dozen bright white spider mums. I wrapped the periwinkle tightly around the base of the mums like a ribbon and used florist's wire to create loose curlicues of the leafy groundcover around a multilayer explosion of mums. The effect was like fireworks, dizzying and grand.

...

"While I worked, I thought about Earl's wife, tried to bring forth an image of the once passionate woman: her tired, withdrawn, unsuspecting face. Would she react to the wild bouquet of mums and periwinkle, truth and tender recollections? I felt sure she would, and imagined the relief and gratitude on Earl's face as he boiled water for tea, provoking the opinionated woman he had missed into discussion of politics or poetry."

Even if I hadn’t been so taken with this novel’s beautiful prose and fascinating instruction in the language of flowers, I would have enjoyed it anyhow because of the lovely setting – the San Francisco Bay Area. I recognized almost every scene, from the gorgeous Flower Market’s riot of blooms, to McKinley Park where Victoria makes her home, and Napa Valley, with its acres of lush vineyards. Diffenbaugh, a local, paid wonderful tribute to this area, even making the famous fog seem magical :)

Thank you to the Amazon Vine Program for providing a copy for me to review!

Of Wolves and Princes

2011-08-21T05:00:00.002-07:00

I invite you to read Misfit Magazine's latest issue...

Lycanthrope by Cezarija Abartis

“People think it’s the protein,” the Wolf Man said. “It’s not the protein I’m after. It’s love. I want to be understood. Look at this. My body is betraying me. Look--gray hairs growing out of my skin. My skin used to be smooth.” He waved his hand as if to shake off a glove or clinging moth. Read more.

The Prince of Apples by Timothy Miller

When he was young, he’d run the cart to market, his winged feet making short work of the miles as he imagined many dangers along the way. A stick had been his golden sword, and monsters and villains had fallen by the score. That was long ago, before the fever had taken his sight. These days his joints seemed greased with shards of broken glass. Read more.

My Niece and Bookish Vacay

2011-08-19T05:15:00.000-07:00

The reason for my brief absence from the blogosphere:

My beautiful one-and-a-half month old niece.

My present to her:

My present to my brother and his wife (narrated by none other than SOAP superstar, Samuel L. Jackson):

When I wasn't marveling over her incredibly delicate toes and tiny fingers curling over mine and just the sheer newborness of my niece, I indulged in some purely for pleasure books by the pool:

And what bibliogeek on vacation doesn't go into a bookstore...

or two...

or three?

Contemplating subversion...

And have time to drop by the ultramodern and sleek Seattle Central Public Library?

They even have a section of books in Tagalog!

Loved spending time with my family and wish it could have lasted longer. Christmas can't come too soon...

Winners!

2011-08-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Winners of my August Contests (answers below) are:

Contest #1: Lieder Madchen

Contest #2: Bookish in a Box

Contest #3: Tiffany Drew (who got all but #5, which was originally published as Bid Time Return, the book on which Somewhere in Time is based.)

The Winner of Summer Rental audio book by Mary Kay Andrews is:

heyIwanttoreadthat

Congratulations! All the winners have been contacted and prizes will be mailed out shortly.

***Answers to August contests***

Contest #1

1. Hamlet (painting is of Ophelia by John Edward Millais)
2. Lady of Shalott (poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson; painting by John William Waterhouse)
3. La Belle Dame Sans Merci (poem by John Keats; painting by John William Waterhouse)
4. A Midsummer Night's Dream (painting by Marc Chagall)
5. Romeo and Juliet

Contest #2

1. Her Fearful Symmetry (by Audrey Niffenegger)
2. Pet Sematary (by Stephen King)
3. Halfway to the Grave (by Jeaniene Frost)
4. The Graveyard Book (by Neil Gaiman)
5. The Gravedigger's Daughter (by Joyce Carol Oates)
6. Rotters (by Daniel Kraus)
7. The Monstrumologist (by Rick Yancey)

Contest #3

1. The Last of the Mohicans (theme from movie of the same name)
2. Gone with the Wind (theme from movie of the same name)
3. Romeo and Juliet (theme from movie of the same name)
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ("Pure Imagination" from the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory)
5. Bid Time Return (original title of book written by Richard Matheson; theme from the movie Somewhere in Time)
6. Lady of Shalott (poem by Alfred Lord Tennyson; sung and composed by Loreena McKennitt)

August Contest #3

2011-08-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

For the third and final August contest, I have embedded a video below with 6 musical clues, roughly 30 seconds each, related to a literary work: a book, a play, or a poem. All but one are from a movie adaptation.

Name the ORIGINAL book, play or poem NOT the name of the movie (if applicable). Don't forget to number accordingly.

Please put your answers in a comment below. You may only comment once; your first answers will be the ones accepted. You have until 5:00 p.m. PST, August 18, 2011, to submit your answers. The first person who provides the most correct answers wins this round and gets to pick ONE book from the following:

Only Google followers of Misfit Salon are eligible to enter.

All comments/answers will be invisible until all the winners are announced, sometime after August 18, 2011. You will know you have successfully entered your comment when a message pops up stating “Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval.”

Good luck!

****

Enter to win an audio book of Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews, here. Giveaway to end tonight, 8:00 p.m. PST.

August Contest #2

2011-08-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

I admit that this second August contest is a direct ripoff of the New Yorker’s weekly covers contest, for which I very seldom have all the answers.

Below are partial covers from books which all have one uniting theme. If you recognize at least one cover then you can quickly figure out what that theme is. [Hint: related to one of my passions.]

Please name the book to which the partial covers correspond. Don't forget to number accordingly.

Please put your answers in a comment below. You may only comment once; your first answers will be the ones accepted. You have until 5:00 p.m. PST, August 16, 2011, to submit your answers. The first person who provides the most correct answers wins this round and gets to pick ONE book from the following:

Only Google followers of Misfit Salon are eligible to enter.

All comments/answers will be invisible until all the winners are announced, sometime after August 18, 2011. You will know you have successfully entered your comment when a message pops up stating “Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval.”

Good luck and watch out for the third and final August contest, coming up!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

****

Enter to win an audio book of Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews, here. Giveaway to end on August 17, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

August Contest #1

2011-08-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my first August contest!

Below are famous pieces of art which depict literary works, either a play or a poem. Name the play or poem which corresponds with each piece of art. Don't forget to number accordingly.

Please put your answers in a comment below. You may only comment once; your first answers will be the ones accepted. You have until 10:00 a.m. PST, August 14, 2011, to submit your answers. The first person who provides the most correct answers wins this round and gets to pick ONE book from the following:

Only Google followers of Misfit Salon are eligible to enter.

All comments/answers will be invisible until all the winners are announced, sometime after August 18, 2011. You will know you have successfully entered your comment when a message pops up stating “Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval..”

Good luck and watch out for the second and third August contests, coming up!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

****

Enter to win an audio book of Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews, here. Giveaway to end on August 17, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

August Contests Announcement!

2011-08-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

I will be absent from the blogosphere very briefly; but in my absence I’ve concocted three literary-related contests to be posted over the next week. I won’t tell you when or what day they'll be posted; you just have to keep a look out for them. I would suggest subscribing to Misfit Salon in your Google Reader if you don’t already so that you will be notified immediately when a contest posts – as the first person to have the most correct answers wins each contest.

Three contests, three winners.

The winner of the first contest gets to pick ONE book from the following:

The winner of the second contest gets to pick ONE book from the following:

The winner of the third contest gets to pick ONE book from the following:

You may enter as many of the contests as you wish. Just put your answers in a comment for that contest post. You may only comment once per contest; your first answers will be the ones accepted for that particular contest. You will have 24 hours to submit your answers for each contest.

All comments/answers will be invisible until all the winners are announced, sometime after August 18, 2011. You will know you have successfully entered your comment when a message pops up stating “Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval.”

Only Google followers of Misfit Salon are eligible to enter.

Good luck!

****

Enter to win an audio book of Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews, here. Giveaway to end on August 17, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews Audio Book Giveaway!

2011-08-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

A summer giveaway treat for someone...

MacMillan kindly provided me with an audio book of Summer Rental by Mary Kay Andrews, read by Isabel Keating. Read giveaway details below.

Sometimes, when you need a change in your life, the tide just happens to pull you in the right direction….

Ellis, Julia, and Dorie. Best friends since Catholic grade school, they now find themselves, in their mid-thirties, at the crossroads of life and love. Ellis, recently fired from a job she gave everything to, is rudderless and now beginning to question the choices she’s made over the past decade of her life. Julia—whose caustic wit covers up her wounds–has a man who loves her and is offering her the world, but she can’t hide from how deeply insecure she feels about her looks, her brains, her life. And Dorie has just been shockingly betrayed by the man she loved and trusted the most in the world…though this is just the tip of the iceberg of her problems and secrets. A month in North Carolina’s Outer Banks is just what they each of them needs.

Ty Bazemore is their landlord, though he’s hanging on to the rambling old beach house by a thin thread. After an inauspicious first meeting with Ellis, the two find themselves disturbingly attracted to one another, even as Ty is about to lose everything he’s ever cared about.

Maryn Shackleford is a stranger, and a woman on the run. Maryn needs just a few things in life: no questions, a good hiding place, and a new identity. Ellis, Julia, and Dorie can provide what Maryn wants; can they also provide what she needs?

Five people questioning everything they ever thought they knew about life. Five people on a journey that will uncover their secrets and point them on the path to forgiveness. Five people who each need a sea change, and one month in a summer rental that might just give it to them.

Praise:

“A one-of-a-kind vacation story brought to vibrant life through Isabel Keating’s audio performance, Summer Rental is highly recommended.” – The Midwest Book Review

“Summer Rental…made me wish I had rented a beach house for a month with some ‘girlfriends’…Summer Rental, with its clear characterizations and snappy repartee, works whether you are lolling in a beach chair with the sound of waves in the background, or if you are cured up on the sofa in your own living room… Isabel Keating does an AWESOME job of finding different voices for all five main characters, and even the minor characters are distinct.” – A Travelers Library

“…Mary Kay Andrews weaves that old summer magic to bring things to a satisfying, if not at times shocking, ending. After all, this is real life she’s writing about but what fun to be the fly on the wall watching, or I should say in this case, hearing how it all happens as you listen to SUMMER RENTAL by May Kay Andrews” – Bookin’ with Bingo

12 CDs

To listen to an audio excerpt, click here.

To enter please leave a comment with your e-mail address on this post.

The giveaway ends on August 17, 2011, 8:00 p.m. PST.

Only US addresses please.

The winner will be picked by Random.org, as always, and will be announced here after August 17, 2011.

Good luck!