Good Omens

May20 by Anna

By Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett

This is less of a book review, since I’ve read Good Omens at least half a dozen times, and more of a PSA:

GO READ THIS BOOK!

Seriously, it is awesome! The basic premise is inspired by Antichrist-genre movies, such as “The Omen” (which I also love, but you don’t need to in order to love this book), but with a twist: what if the Satanic nuns, who were supposed to switch the infant Antichrist with the newborn of the American consulate, accidentally misplaced him instead, and he ended up being raised by perfectly normal and very British middle-class parents in a small English country town?

After introducing the premise, settings, and characters within the first 60 pages, the majority of the book takes place over the four very busy days before The End Of The World. High-jinx ensue, of course, and there is a surprisingly wide array of players, including angels, demons, nuns, witches and fortune-tellers, witch hunters, nosy neighbors, and, of course, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett excel at creating literary screwball comedies with dozens of characters all running around at cross-purposes. To my mind, though, the two authors are so perfectly matched because each balances the other’s weaknesses as well. Gaiman can get a bit melodramatic, while Pratchett is often too silly for me, so the two of them together create a fast-paced story with a light touch that doesn’t get bogged down in either symbolism or puns.

—Anna

In Lieu of Books . . . Links

May15 by Kinsey

Last week everything I had on hold at the library came in all at once, and every single book is big and giant and something I desperately want to read (Clockwork Princess! Life After Life! The Interestings!). So right now I’m wishing I could take a few days off work to hibernate with my books. While I make way through my teetering pile of hardback novels, here are a couple of links where you can actually read new content.

I first stumbled across the Bookavore tumblr when someone linked to a series she did on getting organized. That may sound like the dullest thing you could read on the internet, but it was actually fascinating and personal and helpful. Then I realized that the the author, who used to work in a bookstore and is now at a library, is a fantastic source of book recommendations. Maybe it’s a professional requirement, but she reads a much broader range of things than I do, so when I follow her guidance I end up places I never expected. For example, I just finished reading Sum It Up, the autobiography of Pat Summitt, the incredibly successful coach of Tennessee’s women’s basketball team. Does that sounds dull? IT IS NOT. I originally read it because Bookavore said it was really a book on how to manage people, which it is, but also Pat Summit is a kind of superhero. I would highly recommend both Sum It Up and Bookavore.

The second link might be my new favorite thing on the Internet. After a friend and I had a conversation this week about The Great Gatsby, she sent me a link to an article about Zelda Fitzgerald. The article is smart and informative, but also fun, which I think comes across in its title: Zelda Fitzgerald – Just A Total Mess Or What? It’s actually part of a series called Shelved Dolls, which I believe is about misunderstood/ignored women in history, from an online magazine called The Gloss. The other Shelved Dolls articles I read were great too, including this one that is relevant to Biblio-theray: Ayn Rand – I’m Going To Make You Like Her. Now, I’ve not thoroughly vetted The Gloss, so I don’t want to make any blanket claims, but it seems like a smarter, less obnoxious version of Jezebel. Which would be a good thing, because I used to adore Jezebel but don’t read anymore, since at some point it started to feel like getting yelled at about celebrities and the worst kind of sensational news stories. I intend to read more of the Gloss and see if it can fill my need for fun, informational, feminist news source, even if I still don’t like Ayn Rand.

Comic Book Glut

May14 by Rebecca

Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration
By Nobuhiro Watsuki
2013

This was one of the free comic books that I picked up at Free Comic Book Day. It is a teaser for an AU (alternate universe) version of Rurouni Kenshin by the original author. It was fun, but mostly I enjoyed it because it reminded me how much I love this series. The actual teaser itself wasn’t all that great. It reintroduced the characters and held their first meeting at an arranged illegal fighting/gambling event, which just seemed like a bit of over-the-top, idiotic, self-indulgence.

While the reboot wasn’t so great, I definitely recommend the whole original series of Rurouni Kenshin, following Himura Kenshin, an amazing swordsman who, after a bloody past during the civil war, made an oath to never kill again but still manages to find and be found by a whole lot of trouble. The anime series based on the manga is also really good, and the recent live-action movie was excellent! (The animated movies, branded “Samurai X”, however, should be avoided.)

Anyway, seeing more of these characters written and drawn by the original author made me bounce around grinning with excitement. But the actual thing wasn’t all that good. It was a it of self-indulgent fluff, and while there’s nothing wrong with self-indulgent fluff, if you actually want to read a good AU take on this series, fandom (in the person of Vathara) has provided several better options, including the urban fantasy Blades of Blood and it’s sequel Witchy Woman, the Star Wars-crossover Shadows in Starlight, or the historical fantasy Gargoyles-crossover All I Need is a Miracle (which is a direct response to the awfulness of the animated movies).

So this series is awesome, and I highly recommend it, but this particular comic book is not the best example of it.

Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon
By Matt Fraction, David Aja, and Javier Pulido
2013

I’ve never really followed any of the Hawkeye comic books, but I enjoyed The Avengers movie a lot and the characters cameo in the Thor movie made me grin. So a new stand-alone comic book about Hawkeye at my library caught my eye. It was a whole lot of fun.

It’s a look at what Hawkeye, aka Clint Barton, is doing when he’s not out being a superhero Avenger… which is mostly getting into other types of trouble and going out being a secret agent for SHIELD. But it also involves hanging out with his neighbors at a rooftop barbeque/potluck.

Anna pointed out that the stories in this collection are all a bit grim, which I was going to argue with, except, okay, yes, they are a bit grim. But it left me happy. I liked it. Even though it does kind of imply that one of the main requirements of being a superhero is the ability to take a beating.

The Book of Five Rings
By Miyamoto Musashi, Sean Michael Wilson, Chie Kutsuwada, and William Scott Wilson
2012

I picked this book up because I have struggled to read The Book of Five Rings for a while now. It was highly recommended by a seventh-don black belt that I was training with. And yet, I found it super uninteresting and unhelpful. In some ways it read (to me) like The Art of War, except without the value. The graphic novel version makes up for some of that lack by being really well illustrated. And from everything I’ve read, Musashi himself was a fascinating character and I wouldn’t mind reading more about him, despite not caring for his writing.

Anyway, I actually highly recommend the graphic novel as a precursor to the plain unabridged text of The Book of Five Rings. It will give you a taste of the text while making subject more accessible. It’s readable in about an hour. Then, if you find the graphic novel appealing, maybe you should try reading the original text in its entirety.

Although, really, I mostly recommend Sun Tzu’s The Art of War instead.

Elektra Lives Again
By Frank Miller
2002

I read a couple of Daredevil series before and really enjoyed them (Frank Miller’s Daredevil: The Man Without Fear is excellent, as is David Mack’s Daredevil: Vision Quest although it largely focuses on a different character), but over all the quality of Daredevil comics varies wildly, so I also read a couple of Daredevil series before that I didn’t enjoy at all. Elektra is Daredevil (aka Matt Murdock)’s tragic girlfriend, a zombie-ninja-assassin who has her own spin-off series, but I had never read any of her comics that were any good at all… until now. This collection really brought her to life (haha!) as a character, despite her being a zombie ninja assassin. I liked the writing and the illustrations and just the whole feel for it. Well done.

Plus, there are two more Elektra graphic novels by Frank Miller for me to look forward to.

Red Glove and Black Heart

May8 by Anna

By Holly Black

I previously reviewed the first in this trilogy, White Cat, which I absolutely loved. I can’t really review these subsequent books, though, because it is the kind of series where even reading the back blurb of each book gives away brilliant twist endings from the previous book. I can’t just not review them, though, because they are awesome! I wanted another chance to tell everyone to go out and read the whole series. I swear you’ll just devour all three in one lost weekend of literary debauchery!

Anyway, without any spoilers for any of the books, Red Glove really brought home to me what I love so much about these books: they are noir mysteries, full of old school gangsters and con men and corrupt cops, but also noir-lite, set in high school, or rather an up-scale preparatory school. Our protagonist is classic teen boy, often angry and with poor decision-making skills, but is also a very amusing and often clever smart-ass.

Red Glove spends more time in the school itself than White Cat, which I appreciated. I really love world-building and just the mundane details of the school life were fascinating to me (I especially loved the school scenes in Harry Potter, too).

Each book, too, gets a little wider in scope. White Cat deals with the protagonist’s direct family, while Red Glove extends more into the criminal world surrounding the family (I swear, these are all elements introduced right off the bat, and not spoilers). Black Heart goes even further and deals with the politics and government of the world. Unfortunately, I believe that this series has been planned as a trilogy with no subsequent books anticipated, though I would be a happy reader if Holly Black decided to revisit it.

—Anna

Book Clubs

May5 by Rebecca

ButteryBooks.com

This is a website that provides ideas for book clubs, but with a strong focus on what the menus should be. Including the mixed drinks. It looks super good.

It also provides some interesting discussion questions.

I haven’t actually joined any book clubs, because I always thought that they would be like high school English class (ie, a combination of boring, pretentious, and frustrating.) This bit of prejudice (like most instances of prejudice) came from absolutely no evidence. This website provides a good counter-argument that a book club might be a whole lot of fun.

Free Comic Book Day

May3 by Anna

It’s that most wonderful time of the year (tomorrow)! On the first Saturday of May each year, comic book stores around the country host Free Comic Book Day, where they offer free special edition comics from the various publishers, as well as store-wide sales and raffles. The free editions aren’t the best stories, of course, but they can be good introductions to new series, and if you are a comic book fan, it is just a fun community event. The official website has a store finder, and I definitely recommend just stopping by your local store if you have any interest in comic books.

—Anna

Eleanor and Park

Apr30 by Kinsey

Back in October, I wrote a review of Rainbow Rowell’s Attachements, mostly focusing on how sweet and charming I thought it was. Based on that, I assumed that I would like her new novel, Eleanor and Park, as well. I was not prepared for how much I LOVED this book. People, you have all got to go read Eleanor and Park.

Here is a short list of the things about this book that were awesome:

It’s a love story between two misfits (that’s Eleanor and Park), and for once the misfits actually seem like they don’t fit in. Eleanor is not a nerdy girl who takes her glasses off and then she’s a model–she (and, in his own way, Park) are truly complicated people who struggle to blend in and relate.
The portrayal of high school life–with it’s tentative and ever-shifting alliances–is as on-point as I’ve ever read.
The point of view alternates between Eleanor and Park, and both of their voices are so distinct and clear–it felt like I got to know two different people. I also love it when a book gives me an insight into teenage boys, and Park is a really stunning character.
It’s set in the 90s, so if you’re old like me, it will bring back fun memories. (They listen to the Smiths on a Walkman–raise your hand with me if you also did that!)
It made me cry on an airplane, but also made me so happy that I am planning to buy my own copy so I can read it whenever I want.

My library classified this as YA and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to teens, but it’s complex enough that I might consider it an adult book.

Kinsey’s Three Word Review: Better than words.

You might also like: Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (read the book, then see the movie–they’re both good)

Stalking Authors, the Ilona Andrews edition

Apr29 by Rebecca

Periodically I like to drop by the websites of my favorite authors to see when their next books are coming out and if they have anything new and interesting up.

Lois McMaster Bujold doesn’t tend to update her website very much, alas. But she does actively support fanfiction, which I appreciate.

Patricia Briggs is pretty good with her website, although she’s gotten somewhat less active on it as her career has taken off.

Ilona Andrews is still very active on social media, including their own website, AND posts regular free stuff.

Robin McKinely has a decent website, although I’m generally somewhat disappointed in her. I love her early work (The Blue Sword, The Hero and the Crown, and Beauty) and feel like Sunshine was her absolute Best Book Ever! Ever since, it’s been just kind of down hill. But I still like to check up on her, periodically, to see if maybe there will be a sequel to Sunshine at some point, or if any of her more recent books look good.

Megan Whalen Turner has possibly the least active author’s website I’ve seen, and yet I still check back because, by god, if there’s going to be another book in series, I will start stalking bookstores and possibly publisher’s warehouses in the hopes of getting to it just that much sooner. (So far, no luck. I will just have to re-read the four that already exist.)

Anyway, this is all a long wind up to letting you guys know that Ilona Andrews has the first chapter of her next book up! This is book 6 is the Kate Daniels series, Magic Rises, due out on July 30, 2013. Yay! You can read the excerpt: HERE!!!

I love this series.

However… the chapter raises some concerns for me.

Thus: Here Be Spoilers (for both Book 5 and for Book 6).

Continue reading →

Vampires in the Lemon Grove

Apr26 by Anna

By Karen Russell

My wonderful friend Lori sent me this just because she thought I’d like it and it arrived in the mail in the middle of my Atlas Shrugged doldrums, and it was such a mood lifter, just having it on my to-read shelf. The cover is just so bright and graphic!

I had heard of the author, Karen Russell, through a brief review of her previous book Swamplandia!, which I had assumed was a comic narrative of Florida craziness á la Elmore Leonard. If it is anything like this book, though, (and I believe it is, according to the blurbs on the back cover) my assumptions are way off. Vampires in the Lemon Grove is the strangest book! It is a collection of short stories, and when I described the premise of each story to Rebecca, they just sounded kind of absurd:

“All silkworms in the Western hemisphere have died, so China is now the sole proprietor of silk, and in order to meet the now increased demand, they have discovered a way to turn women into more efficient silk worms.”

Rebecca said, “hmm.”

But, this story and the others are just beautifully written and poetic, even. Russell emphasizes the senses in her writing, describing not just the sights, but also the sounds, smells, tastes and touch of the worlds she builds. In the titular lemon groves, she describes the sun on the fluttering leaves, the feel of the wind that blows through the grove, the smell of lemon that pervades, and the sweet tartness of the lemons and lemonade.

The silkworm story took a bizarre and, quite frankly, almost silly premise and created layers upon layers of symbolism. The disenfranchised, used for production and others’ profit, find hope in self-identity and transformation. Each story was like this; reading them felt like scuba diving or spelunking, moving deeper and deeper through layers of alien landscapes. The stories themselves, too, seemed to each move a little deeper into the human psyche, getting darker and darker, until the last two broke my heart. So, take that as a caution: don’t avoid reading the book, by any means, but just be emotionally prepared.

It wasn’t a quick read because I wanted to savor each story for several days after reading it and before reading the next one. The only criticism I have is that each story ended too soon, almost abruptly, and each time I was left sort of blinking my way out of the story’s world and wanting to know far, far more about the characters.

Three word review: “otherworldly, emotionally devastating”*

*I’m not promising to always follow Kinsey’s lead with the three word reviews (though I love her addition), but I found these in the NPR review, and they just seem spot-on.

—Anna

E. L. Konigsburg

Apr22 by Kinsey

This past Friday, E.L. Konigsburg died. In case you don’t recognize the name, she wrote From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and was one of the most influential children’s book authors of the 20th century.

If you haven’t read From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, you should really go track it down immediately because it is delightful. It is about two suburban children–Claudia and her little brother Jamie–who run away from home to New York City and set up house in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. They eat from automats and sleep in the museum’s Tudor bed and end up solving a mystery before returning safely home. When I first read it, I lived in a tiny town in Texas and Claudia’s New York City seemed like another world. But I desperately wanted to see her world, and I put at least some of the responsibility for my love of big cities and current city residence on this book. Plus, the first time I went to New York, I went to the Met and tried to find the fountain where Claudia and her brother took their baths and collected coins. (I never did find it–I think if it ever was a real fountain, it’s not there anymore. Also, I’m sad I can’t eat at an automat.)

When I saw the news about Konigsburg (via Twitter, of course, because how else do I learn things these days), the first thing I thought of was From The Mixed-Up Files. But when I looked up her full catalog, I was reminded that she wrote a whole pile of books that I loved as a child–a partial list includes:

A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver
Up from Jericho Tel
Father’s Arcane Daughter
Jennifer, Hecate, Macbeth, William McKinley, and Me, Elizabeth

Both as a kid and now as an adult, I loved that her stories always seemed to have a twist. A Proud Taste for Scarlet and Miniver is about Eleanor of Aquitaine, but rather than a simple historical fiction biography for kids, it is about Eleanor looking back on her life from Heaven, while waiting to see whether Henry II will get in. And Up From Jericho Tel is your basic friendship-between-two-outcasts except that in this case the two kids end up also befriending the ghost of Tallulah Bankhead. Yes, really. I also loved the way all these books give a lot of power to the opinions and needs of kids, without turning into “message” books. For example, in From The Mixed-Up Files, Claudia decides to run away from home not due to any dark secret, but because she is ready for adventure and feels like there is more to life than her elementary school routine. Sure, Claudia comes off as a little overdramatic, but the message I always took from the book was that it was imminently reasonable to wish for more. And while Claudia ultimately decides that she misses her family and the comforts of home, she also doesn’t give up on her adventure until she feels like she can return with something new and special that will change her everyday life. (I’m trying not to spoil this 40-year-old book, just in case someone decides to track it down for the first time based on my review.)

Konigsburg gave kids a lot of credit, both by creating child characters with agency and ideas, and by trusting that her readers could handle some ambiguity and the occasional ghost of an actress or queen. I was sorry to hear of her death, but so glad that she wrote as many wonderful books as she did.

Kinsey’s Three Word Review of E.L. Konigsburg: Go read everything!

You might also like: The Westing Game always reminded me of her books—a story with a heart where nothing is too obvious.