Author: booknutgirls

booknutgirls http://thebooknutdotcom.wordpress.com I read. I blog. I sell books. I chauffeur my kids. What more do you need to know?

Austenland

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There is no way I’ll be able to write anything remotely objective for this book. (Though I’m going to try for the June issue of Estella.)

So, I’m just going to leave you with my favorite quote from the book. Jane’s (she’s the main character) trying to explain her fascination with Austen and the whole Regency thing to a guy she’s met. She says, “I don’t think I could explain it to a man. If you were a woman, all I’d have to say is ‘Colin Firth in a wet shirt’ and you’d say ‘Ah’.”

Ah, indeed.

If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go pop in the DVD now.

Caddie Woodlawn

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I felt like I was sorely neglecting the Newbery project that I’ve signed up for (not having read anything since Higher Power of Lucky, back in March), so I read this little gem of a book by Carol Ryrie Brink.

My full review is over at the Newbery Project.

Around the World in 80 Days

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Michael Palin is my favorite Monty Python. This is not something I discovered as a teenager — I’d seen Holy Grail, but that’s about it — but as an adult. See, I married a Monty Python Fan. He uses two of their movies in his classes (“They’re full of great philosophical points,” he says). We own not only the entire series on DVD, but also every special that they have come out with. We have books on the Pythons. And, being the loving, devoted wife that I am, I’ve watched it with him (he’s working on getting the girls hooked), and yes, have gotten sucked into it (well, it is funny…). In the process, I’ve come up with my own Beatleesque descriptions of all of them: I don’t get Terry Gilliam, I find Terry Jones often unfunny, Graham Chapman is the straight man (yes, I get the irony), Eric Idle is just smarmy, John Cleese is a great physical comedian, but Michael Palin is my favorite.

So, what does all this have to do with a Jules Verne book?

Well, way back in 1988, when I was 16, and Michael Palin was 45 (I know, he’s older than my dad!), the BBC got him to see if he could do what Phileas Fogg did in the Verne book: travel around the world in 80 days (or less). I’m sure he didn’t know when he started that this would become a second career of sorts for him — he’s done six of these, and is working on a seventh — and that’s how I came to this book. I’ve long wanted to watch these travel documentaries (being a fan of both travel documentaries and Michael Palin), but they were never to be seen in the video stores of Jonesboro and Macomb (same with Bollywood movies, but I digress). Along came Netflix, and I found that they really do carry everything. We’ve watched Sahara — good, but the ending was too abrupt — and are 2/3 of the way through Himalaya (which has been really good so far). And watching those got me curious about the earlier ones.

He’s written a book to accompany each of his travels, and I reserved a copy of the first one. The gimmick was to follow the Verne book as closely as possible, without using airplanes. The book’s basically his diary of the trip — broken up into little segments for each day. And it’s fascinating. He’s an engaging, funny writer (favorite part: the initiation he got for crossing the International Dateline on a merchant ship. At one point, he commented that it was worse than being in a Terry Gilliam film). I loved seeing the world through his eyes. He really is a people person, making friends with whomever will talk to him, searching out the unusual and unspectacular, and he’s genuinely curious about the world. I was saddened by the lack of respect for the earth that many people had in 1988 (but I had to keep reminding myself that it was nearly 20 years ago) — and it made me wonder how much the world has changed, if at all (I doubt he’d do it again, but I’d be to see what it would be like now, 20 years down the road). There was also the constant pressure to keep up with a fictional character. He was lagging way behind Fogg for quite a while — over sea travel isn’t nearly as easy as it was in the 1880s — but caught up from Tokyo to Los Angeles, and across America, so he ended up on time. But only barely. I liked his descriptions of culture shock going from country to country — a realization just how different we really are.

I also realized that there was a lot more information in the book than would or could appear in the BBC series. So, I’m curious and need to get the tape and watch it. And conversely, I should probably get the books to all the other ones, too. And I probably will. Eventually.

So Y’all Want to Know

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What the book scene is like here in Wichita, right?

You ask, I deliver. Check out the interview with Sarah Bagby, too (She’s the manager of a local indie bookstore). That was an interesting experience (though it was very trying for my babysitter; dear little K doesn’t like it when Mommy’s away). Thankfully, I didn’t come off like a complete bumbling fool.

Oh, and while you’re there, check out the other stuff in the issue. It’s a good one.

Riddle-Master

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Wow. I don’t know where to start with this trilogy — The Riddle-Master of Hed, Heir of Sea and Fire, and Harpist in the Wind — by Patricia McKillip. I’m at a loss for words.

It’s a huge, dense book, a homage to Lord of the Rings. And as a homage, it’s brilliant. Instead of copying the world, or the ideas from Tolkien, she used the themes — of redemption, of the passing of an age, of harnessing and the temptation of power — to craft a masterful work. I was caught up in the story, in the world, wanting to know the answers.

But… it was almost too dense. I would read passages and think “What the heck just happened?”, and re-read them. And they wouldn’t be any clearer. I’d go on with the hope that everything would make itself known in the end. I suppose if you read a book entitled Riddle-Master things are probably going to be confusing for a while. But, when the end finally came, and the resolution, I was oddly disappointed. Perhaps it was that I saw it coming pages before, but just didn’t quite figure it out. Or perhaps it was too pat and I wanted more. But I don’t know what that would entail.

I really enjoyed the first and second books. The first is Morgan (the Riddler of the title, the Prince of Hed, the Star-Bearer) figuring out his destiny, and traveling the realm looking for the High One (think High King) to get some answers. It ends with a spectacular cliff-hanger, which isn’t fully resolved until the end of the third book. The second is all about Raederle, who is Morgan’s love, companion, friend. Morgan disappeared for over a year after the end of the first book. She got worried. And, despite the objections of her father and all the other land-rulers (think oh, the lesser kings in LOTR), she and Morgan’s sister Tristan, and Lyra (a kick-butt guard; think Eowyn) they go looking for him. Raederle figures things out about herself, for herself, and becomes, gradually, Morgan’s equal (or at least comes close) in power. It’s quite the book.

The third, however, doesn’t work as well. It builds up, and builds up, but is way too dense to have made much sense to me. I tried to get it, but it all came crashing down in the end, a huge battle, thousands of lives lost, power thrown and hurled everywhere, and I couldn’t visualize it. I didn’t get it. I don’t get it. Someone will have to explain it all to me.

Still. I’m not sorry I read it. Thanks again, Corrine, for sending the book. I’ll get it back to you soon.

Bloggers vs. Reviewers

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I’m not going to weigh in on this debate (being one of those who are blogging reviews…), but for a thoughtful overview, check out Betsy’s thoughtful post on the whole debate.

In other news, I finished Riddle-Master of Hed last night. And I’m SO glad that Corrine sent me the whole trilogy, because it ends with a major cliffhanger. I would be totally up the proverbial river if I’d checked it out from the library. Maybe I should talk to them about it.

The, um, review will be forthcoming, after I finish the other two books.

River Secrets

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I’m reading a lot of fantasy books these days, but almost none are from my Once Upon a Time challenge list. I will get to those eventually…

I threw this one in here (I figured it would be a quick read), because I discovered the library had it while searching for books for M. Not to pass a Shannon Hale book up, I threw it in the bag and took it home. Where it sat and called me and nagged me until I finished Temeraire and I could happily indulge myself in Hale’s wonderful storytelling.

I liked this one. A lot. At least, a lot better than I liked Enna Burning. The basic plot: Razo (the sheep boy from Goose Girl, and Enna’s good friend) is asked to be a part of an envoy accompanying the ambassador to Tira, following the uncertain end to the war between Bayern and Tira. Times are uneasy; there are elements in Tira that want to go back to war with Bayern, and it’s up to the ambassador and the soldiers to stop the assembly from voting to go to war.

Razo’s role in all this is uncertain until about a third of the way through the book, when he gest a special assignment: discover who’s behind the burned bodies that Razo keeps discovering.

I enjoyed this for many reasons. Hale’s a great storyteller, and has a way of describing a world and yet letting her characters be characters rather than elements of the world (which is more difficult to achieve than you would believe). I liked Razo’s development from an insecure kid to a self-aware, and confident young man. I liked Dasha as a counterweight to Razo. I loved Enna and Finn’s romance. And Radiance, the Tiran prince, cracked me up.

Unfortunately, while she alluded to Enna Burning, and pretty much explained the really important parts, you can’t effectively skip that book and read this one. This one makes more sense having read Enna Burning, and there were times when I wished I had read it more recently.

And, this one makes it worth your time.

Black Powder War

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When we last checked in with Temeraire, I wasn’t all that thrilled with the story line. However, Hubby insisted that the next one in the sequence was worth slogging through Throne of Jade, so I kept with it.

And he was right.

If anything, Naomi Novik is becoming a better writer. The first book was solely carried on the novelty of the idea. The second she tired subtlety and totally fell flat. But this time, she managed delightful ambiguity along with all the daredevil adventures and suspense. And, I have to say, it’s the best of the three.

Laurence and Temeraire are waiting to leave China and head back to England when 1) a fire breaks out on the ship and delays the journey and 2) they get urgent orders to head to Turkey to pick up some eggs that were bought by the British government. They decide, because of incident number 1, that it would be faster to go overland. For that, they need a guide, and get a sort of nomad, Tharkay, to fill the role. I loved Tharkay as a character. Is he loyal to Temeraire and Laurence? Is he a traitor? What is his deal? Kept me guessing the whole book.

That, and Lien (the dragon of the bad guy in book two) becomes a rogue element, eventually signing up with the French army as part of her revenge against Temeraire. There’s a brilliant passage where she confronts Temeraire and explains what she’s going to do to him. Chilling.

On top of that, they endure sandstorm, avalanche, mistrust, betrayal, loss, death, and a host of other things before their journey is done. Yeah, it’s a little over the top, but I was left hanging, desperate to know what happens next.

Great reading.

Bwaa-haaa-haa!

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So, a while back, Leila posted about Shannon Hale’s new book, Austenland, which isn’t due out until June. And while I wasn’t exactly green with envy, I was just a little bit jealous. Then I got to thinking: hey, I write for Estella’s Revenge. I wonder, if I contacted Shannon Hale’s people, if I could get a copy of the book, too. And, so I did. And ta-da! I have in my grubby little hands, an advance review copy of Austenland. (does a little happy dance)

Y’all will just have to wait on what I think of it, though. I’ve got an interview and review lined up for the June issue, to coincide with the pub date.

In other news, I’ve got Rick Riordan’s latest, Titan’s Curse, coming, too. M is REALLY happy about that one.

I think I like this book reviewing thing. (grin)