Month: June 2009

Here Lies Arthur

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by Philip Reeve
ages: 13+
First sentence: Even the woods are burning.
Book 4 for the 48 HRC

I am a sucker for all things Arthurian. I love the myth recreated (but not the myth retold, as I discovered last year), the sweeping themes of loyalty and betrayal and unity.

Philip Reeve takes it all and turns it on its head, and I found that I still love it.

Gwyna is just a girl when Arthur — war-lord, Bear, and bully — ransacks her house, burning it to the ground because her lord Ban wouldn’t pay tribute to Arthur. She escapes, swimming downstream until she’s far enough away. Except she’s discovered by Myrddin, and taken into his service. From this point, the threads of the legends are there — the lady in the lake, Gwenhwyfar and Lancelot (though under a different name), the battles, Cei, the betrayal, Arthur’s death — but not in the way that it’s normally presented. Through Gwyna, everything takes on a different, harsher light, but really, that’s not the point of the book.

The real point, I found when I turned the last page, is all about stories. See, Myrddin’s job in this book was to go around trying to boost Arthur’s reputation by spreading stories about him. Which worked for a while, but eventually, it all fell apart. But, by that time, Gwyna was so — enraptured by? devoted to? sold on them? — the stories, she couldn’t let them die. I liked this quote from the end:

I didn’t tell what really happened, of course. At first I felt ashamed to be telling lies for a living, and it stung me that I could not tell the truth. But as the year ripened and our road wound west I came to see that it didn’t matter what the truth had been. The real Arthur had just been a little tyrant in an age of tyrants. What mattered about him was the stories.

And always at the end someone would ask, ” Is it true he’s not dead? Not really dead? Will Arthur return?” And I’d think, “Christ, I hope not!” But they weren’t thinking of the Arthur I’d known. It was Myrddin’s Arthur, the wisest and fairest and best king they had ever heard of. You can’t blame people for wanting to believe there’d been a man like that once, and might be again.

So. In the end, Arthur was just a petty tyrant, and all that’s left of him is glorified stories of days long ago. Then again, it’s the stories that really matter.

Right?

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s, or your local independent bookstore.

48 Hour Book Challenge Update 2

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Since I updated yesterday yesterday I have:

  • Read for 4 hours and 35 minutes
  • Blogged for 45 minutes (not counting right now, of course)
  • Donated blood
  • Weeded the garden
  • Slept a bit
  • Cleaned the kitchen (It was starting to bother me)
  • Went out to eat (there was nothing in the house!)
  • Managed to get my kids to pick up a bit
  • and finished one book (still wish I could read faster), adding 439 pages to my total.

I’m going trying to finish two more books before my time is up by 8 a.m. tomorrow. Crossing my fingers, anyway.

Fire Study

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by Maria V. Snyder
ages: 14+
First sentence: “That’s pathetic, Yelena,” Dax complained.
Book three for the 48 HRC.

First off, can I tell you how much more I like the paperback cover (over there on the right), than the hardback covers on the other two books. Much, much better. (Even though a woman’s feet doesn’t really have much to do with the story. And Yelena would never wear a dress…)

I have also decided that it’s easier to review a series as one whole rather than three separate posts, since the same things apply for this one as did the last two. Valik and Yelena are still awesome. The action is kicking, though it really doesn’t go much of anywhere until Valik shows up, unexpectedly on page 200 (exactly). And then, it goes in places I wasn’t expecting, which isn’t a bad thing. I liked the religion of sorts that Snyder developed for the world, and while she let political strings dangle, it did resolve in a way that wasn’t entirely unsatisfying. She also juggled too many characters for my taste, and ended up leaving many things unresolved. Maybe there will be more books?

At any rate, it was an extremely enjoyable series to read — fun, with a dark edge, action-packed, interesting world, and compelling characters and plot. It’s difficult to do all that in a fantasy series. And Snyder succeeded quite admirably.

Buy it at: Amazon, Powell’s, or your local independent bookstore.

Magic Study

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by Maria V. Snyder
ages: 14+
First sentence: “We’re here,” Irys said.
Book 2 for 48 HRC

When we last left our amazing duo of Valik and Yelena, she was exiled because she was a magician. The only hope for her was to head south into Sitia, the land of magicians, in the hopes that she could be reconciled with her family, and learn how to control her new found abilities, even if it means being separated from the love of her life.

Unfortnately, because she is Yelena, that also means trouble.

This one is as action-packed as the first in the series (and as dark; Snyder has a thing for bad guys torturing young girls/children… why is it less disturbing when it’s a fantasy novel than if it’s a “true crime” one?), but it’s more about Yelena and less about Valik. Which has its drawbacks, since Valik is well… awesome. (So, what did he look like for you? Me, he came off as Richard Armitage. Don’t ask me why. Could be that we watched Robin Hood last night…) And so, while the book doesn’t feel stalled, it lacks the certain sparkle that Valik brings. And, it lacks the tension of the first one — I think I like books with romantic conflict better than ones where the main characters are all lovey-dovey (even Robin Hood in season two has lost some of its sauciness… sigh.) — but that doesn’t mean it was bad. Far from it.

On to the third!

Buy it at Amazon, Powell’s, or your local independent bookstore.

48 Hour Book Challenge Update

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You really want to know how the last 12 hours have gone, don’t you? 🙂

Official start time: 8 a.m.
Books read: 2 (Poison Study and Magic Study; review soon)
Time reading: 9 hours 25 minutes (man, I wish I could read faster)
Time blogging: 30 minutes

Pages read: 653

Oh, and Hubby has been a God-send today; he’s managed A&K beautifully, taking them to the zoo for four hours! (I would never have done that!) M hasn’t read at all, choosing to hang out with friends and do her 2 hours volunteering at the library and watching a movie this evening. Of course, the house is a mess, the laundry barely got done, and none of the kids are bathed, but who cares! I’m having fun reading. 🙂

Poison Study

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by Maria V. Snyder
ages: 14+ (though M read it and was okay with it)
First sentence: “Locked in darkness that surrounded me like a coffin, I had nothing to distract me from my memories.”
First one for the 48 hour Book Challenge

Shall I list the people who inspired me to check out the book (Em, Kailana, Tricia, Corinne, and M, among others…)?

Or should I just say that yeah, yeah, yeah, this one is good? Really, really, really good. And that I was lame in letting it sit on my nightstand for so long (except I did that on purpose, because I knew it would be an awesome trilogy to read for this challenge).

Basic story: Yelena is in prison for murder. When her execution date comes up, she is offered a choice: hanging now, or become the Commander’s food taster. She — of course, since the book is longer than three pages — decides to take the gamble and become the food taster. It’s more complicated than that, because the General whose son she murdered is out for revenge, and well, things get, um, complicated with Valik, the Commander’s chief of security and her boss. Assassinations, revenge, plot twists, betrayal, friendship…

Remember that list I had for the perfect fantasy? Yep. This one works, too.

And I’m off to read the next in the triology.

Buy it at: Amazon, Powell’s, or your local independent bookstore.

48 Hour Book Challenge Pile

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I’m off — though I think I won’t start until after I get back from exercising, sometime around 10 a.m. (And since we have late-late church on Sunday, it shouldn’t matter…) I’m going to be donating a penny a page read to First Book; we’ll see how much I can get read!

M may or may not be reading with me… sometimes she sounds excited about it, other times, I’m just a big dork and she looks at me funny when I suggest it. So, we’ll see.

Here’s what I’ll be choosing from:


I’m actually quite excited. About all of these. And the 48 hours I have to read as many of them as I can…

The Painter from Shanghai

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by Jennifer Cody Epstein
ages: adult
First sentence: “When the session is over, Yulaing retreats to the chipped sink in the atelier’s corner.”

I don’t know how to start this. After my recent experience with historical fiction, you would think I would be more wary about reading more. But, perhaps my experience was that I was too close to the subject, and that hindered my enjoyment of it.

Well, nothing could be further from my life than that of the Chinese painter Pan Yuliang.

Epstein’s book reads like a good Zhang Yimou movie — a harsh, brutal, lush, hopeful, soaring, and gripping glimpse into China’s past. Yuliang was sold into prostitution at age 14 by her uncle, in order to pay off opium debts. After several years in the brothel, she is rescued by Pan Zanhua, a government worker who ends up taking Yuliang as his second wife in order to avoid scandal. It’s through Zanhua, though, that Yuliang was introduced to art, and because of him that she managed to find her true calling in life.

Not that it was easy: it was difficult for a woman in China in the 1920s to get into an art program, it was controversial for artists to paint nudes, and after she got a scholarship to Paris and later Rome, it was difficult and controversial for her to go back again. But, through it all, she stayed true to her art, her passion, even when it cost her dearly.

Sure, there’s probably that line-blurring, and perhaps someone will even complain that Epstein didn’t get it “right”. But, for me, Epstein’s novel is a lush look into the world of postmpressionist art, the politics of China as well as Yuliang’s life over several decades. It might sound like a lot to handle in one novel, but Epstein makes it work. She even makes present tense narration — something which usually grates on me — work beautifully. It’s a lyrical first work, and makes one hopeful for what Epstein has to offer us in the future. My only complaint is that it didn’t come with pictures; thankfully, Epstein has rectified that by putting samples of the artist’s work up on her webpage.

Of course, as always with a TLC tour, there are a myriad of opinions to choose from. Be sure to check them all out:

Tuesday, June 2nd: The Literate Housewife Review
Wednesday, June 3rd: Book-a-Rama
Monday, June 8th: She is Too Fond of Books
Tuesday, June 9th: S. Krishna’s Books
Wednesday, June 10th: Becky’s Book Reviews
Thursday, June 11th: Redlady’s Reading Room
Monday, June 15th: Dolce Bellezza
Tuesday, June 16th: Peeking Between the Pages
Wednesday, June 17th: A Work in Progress
Thursday, June 18th: Beth Fish Reads
Monday, June 22nd: Pop Culture Junkie
Tuesday, June 23rd: Do They Have Salsa in China?
Wednesday, June 24th: Bookworm with a View
Thursday, June 25th: So Many Precious Books, So Little Time
Friday, June 26th: Savvy Verse and Wit
Monday, June 29th: Nerd’s Eye View

Buy it from: Amazon, Powell’s, or your local independent bookstore

Library Loot #21

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M and C have their own library cards, and they looked at me all funny when I told them I wanted to type up their books. So… for the summer, you just get the books that are on my card. 😦

Oh, and this week’s letter was Z.

For A/K:
Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present, by Charlotte Zolotow
The Seashore Book, by Charlotte Zolotow/Illus. by Wendell Minor
Saturday Night at the Beastro, by Jane Breskin Zablen and Steven Zablen
Clara Ann Cookie, Go to Bed!, by Harriet Ziefert/Illus. by Emily Bolam**
I Swapped My Dog, by Harriet Zieffert/Illus. by Emily Bolam
Lunchtime for a Purple Snake, by Harriet Ziefert/Illus by Todd McKie**
A Harry The Dirty Dog Treasury: Three Stories, by Gene Zion/Illus. by Margaret Bloy Graham**
Dora Saves the Snow Princess (Dora the Explorer) requisite Dora book; but there was no Mo books in. 😦
Peter Spit a Seed at Sue, by Jackie French Koller/Illus. by John Manders

For me (and M, if she wants):
Dream Girl, by Lauren Mechling*
Ink Exchange (Wicked Lovely), by Melissa Marr*
That Summer, by Sarah Dessen
Garden Spells , by Sarah Addison Allen
The Talisman Ring, by Georgette Heyer
Tales From Outer Suburbia, Shaun Tan

The roundup is either at Out of the Blue or A Striped Armchair.

*Ones that M eventually read.
**Picture books we really liked.

How Not to be Popular

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by Jennifer Ziegler
ages: 13+
First sentence: “Oh crap.”

Sugar Magnolia Dempsey — Maggie to everyone but Les and Rosie, her parents — is tired of moving. She’s been moving all her life, mostly because Les and Rosie — second-generation hippies, determined to see the country, Buddhist in philosophy, convinced that family is all they need, and hilarious as characters — can’t seem to settle down. Which is all fine and good, except Maggie had a life — good friends and even a boyfriend — in Portland, and she’s been dragged to Austin, Texas because her mom has enrolled in a massage therapy certification program.

When her boyfriend breaks up with her, via email, three weeks after she left, she decides that the hurt must stop. So. To soothe her wounded heart, and to protect herself from the inevitable move, she decides that what she really needs is to be the opposite of popular. Instead of ingratiating herself into the in-crowd, like she has in the past, she’s going to go the “loser” way: tacky clothes, terrible accessories, the “wrong” friends, the “wrong” crowd.

There are moments of sheer hilarity among the stereotyped high school characters. The popular kids, the Bippys, are mean snobs. The losers, of course, are real and nice and fun to be with. Maggie’s perceptions and observations of high school life are spot-on, even if she’s a bit backward in her thinking. Which is why it all (of course) backfires on her. And she’s left to figure her way out of the mess.

I liked this book, but I think what I liked best about it was hearing M read it first. She shared with me bits and pieces of it — she loved Hank and Frank and Drip and even Jack , saying that they were her crowd. Penny’s love of Mr. Spock cracked her up. As did the fact that Jack wore a tie on his date with Maggie (“Dude, you DON’T wear a tie on a date!”). She even cried a little at the end.

You can’t get a better recommendation than that.

Buy it at: Amazon, Powell’s, or your local independent bookstore.