An item of business, first. When I put Wildwood Dancing on my list for the Once Upon a Time challenge, I was confident that my wonderful local library would have it in and I would get to read it. Well, it’s days before the challenge ends, and, my wonderful local library has failed me. The book is still “on order” and since I’m the second person in line to read it, it ain’t goin’ to happen, at least for this challenge. (Oh, I know, I could BUY the book, but I have a thing about buying books before I read them, because if I don’t like it, I feel like it’s a waste of money, and yes, I know that’s a hangup I have. But then, that’s why there are libraries, right?)

So. I wandered the stacks, and discovered Beast, by Donna Jo Napoli. You have to understand that I read Zel by Napoli probably 10 years ago and had such a viscerally negative reaction (don’t remember why) to it, that I’ve avoided Napoli books since. So it was amazing that I even managed to take it home, let alone read it.

And I remembered why I didn’t like Napoli books.

It’s not the stories — this one is Beauty and the Beast from the Beast’s point of view, with an added twist that he was Persian and Muslim — it’s the storytelling. It’s not just that she’s incredibly graphic in her descriptions of things (did I really NEED to know about how Prince Orasmyn rutted with lionesses soon after he was transformed? Really?) but it’s also that she just gets lost in page after page after page of internal monologue and exposition. Which really got dull after a while. I didn’t care all that much about Orasmyn or his plight (I think I was supposed to), and I didn’t feel the transformation. How did he come to love Belle? Why? Was it just because she was there? He wasn’t a sympathetic prince. Then there was the whole unanswered questions at the end. He’s Muslim, she’s Christian. How are they going to make this relationship work? Is she going to go back to Persia with him? Will she convert? (He won’t.) How will she deal with life in Persia? Will they just stay in the castle in France, instead? (Okay, maybe it’s just me that has these questions at the end of the book. )

While I didn’t hate this book, it did little to change my opinion of Napoli.

In other news, I saw Midsummer Night’s Dream on Friday and loved it. And I’m going to try and read it, and now that I can picture what’s going on in my mind, I’ll probably enjoy it more.

I must be getting impatient with youth fiction books.

This one sounded great in the Chinaberry write up (“this delightful historical novel delves into the delicate complexities of royal life and vibrantly brings to life the day-to-day goings on in 17th century France. A truly great read!”): a 14-year-old girl with an excellent nose and memory for smells gets appointed to make perfumes for King Louis XIV’s mistress the Marquise de Montespan. Said girl discovers a plot to poison the queen, foils said plot (entirely on her own — is it really believable that a respected doctor would listen to 1) a new servant and 2) a youngish girl, even if her sense of smell is impeccable??), and then ends up happily ever after in the queen’s service while said marquise gets shunted off to the side.

Could have been a great book. Maybe something was lost in the translation — Annie Pietri is French — but whatever the reason, it really didn’t grab my attention. Nothing about the book. Not even the pages and pages and pages and pages of smells that were described. Not even the murder plot (there was absolutely no suspense or build up). Not even the “oh wait the king knew my dead mother so we can all live happily ever after” ending.

Sigh. I guess the point of catalog write ups is to make you want to buy a book, even if it isn’t all that great. Thank heavens for libraries.

I have come to realize that in many ways, books are like food. Nourishment for the soul. Some books can be devoured like cheap (but good) pizza or my personal favorite, cake. Other books are meant to be savored, each part for its own sake, like a fine meal. Under the Tuscan Sun, by Frances Mayes, is one of those to be savored.

I originally heard of this from the movie trailers I saw two years ago. I thought it was some sappy American-finds-love-and-herself-in-Italy love story. Sort of a white verson of How Stella Got Her Groove Back. And I didn’t think about it again, until I came across the book in the travel essay section of the book store. I had no idea it wasn’t a fiction book. It is a love story, though, but about a woman’s love with a house, a place, a dream. She already has a companion/lover/partner, Ed, who is compliant in all her dreams, though I think the house is technically hers. It’s a truly beautiful book to read, and I’m not one to usually read books for the sure pleasure of the language. Her descriptions of the land, the area of Cortone in Tuscanny, the house itself and all the rennovations, are fabulous and picturesque. I will never see the movie, because nothing can be as wonderful as Mayes’s descriptions of the place, except for probably the place itself.

All that being said, while this book is something to be savored, it’s not necessarily something I would want to read again and again. But, like the experience of a fine meal, it’s the memory of the book and it’s pictures that will linger on. It’ll probably make me wax poetic and be lyrical for a while. At least, until the next time I have cheap pizza.

A while back, Amira was listing books she’s read and enjoyed. Naturally, I jotted the ones I’d never heard of (and sounded interesting) down and set about trying to find them at our limited library. Quest for a Maid, by Frances Mary Hendry is one of those.

I really liked it. I think I’m often surprised how much I like historical fiction. This one was a good Arthurian-style book: a bit of history, a bit of myth, some magic — but not overly so, and a lot of good adventure with a little bit of understated love story thrown in. I found the accent writing (I’m sure there’s a name for when the writer writes dialogue in dialect, but I’m not sure what it is) a bit disconcerting at first (I always do), but I got used to it.

The basic plot: It’s set in Scotland, though I’m not sure of the time period, my Scottish history being a bit lax. Meg, though some interesting circumstances, becomes betrothed to Davie, acquires Peem as a manservant and through the influence of her witch-sister Inge ends up on a boat to fetch the Maid of Norroway so she can marry Prince Edward of England. Of course, things go wrong, and Meg, Davie and Peem save the day. But I’m not going to tell you how; you’ll have to read it for yourself.

A good read.