25 Libraries
Every Voracious Reader Must Absolutely Visit
"Hey there, I
just found you your next vacation spots," Buzzfeed noted
in showcasing
"25 libraries every voracious reader must absolutely visit
The 39 Best
Independent Bookshops in the U.K. & Ireland
"What makes a
good bookshop?" asked the i Paper in showcasing its picks
for "the 39
best independent bookshops in the U.K. and Ireland
"The best
bookshops combine an understanding of their customers with the
knowledge to
supply the right read at the right time," the i Paper
wrote. "The
best bookshops put the theatre in retail, and the ker-ching
in browsing. The
bookshops shortlisted for the British Book Awards
one thing in
common: they are all growing their businesses in a market
that is flat, and
difficult....
"The 39
independent bookshops that feature here thrive by making their
shops centers of
discussion, venues for book launches, oases for
authors, and the
home for themed events (Harry Potter evening anyone?).
They are active
participants in their communities, forging links with
schools, libraries
and other local institutions and providing space for
book readers to
gather. Many run coffee shops, some sell ice-cream, and
others even have a
drinks license.... And, of course, part of these
shops' charm is
their individuality--catering for local interests with
local decision
making, supporting local writers and handselling books
that appeal to
repeat customers."
The Girl Who Wouldn't Die by Randall Platt was an impulse buy from a recent visit to The Sequel, a lovely little bookstore in Enumclaw. This past week they were having a "Shop Hop" because Easter is coming up, and all the local stores were sporting signs and special discounts. I was fresh from having my Remicade infusion (for Crohns Disease) at St Elizabeth's Hospital, and my wonderful son thought we should make a stop at the only bookstore within 25 miles, because he knows how much I enjoy rooting around a bookstore for bargain books. This particular hardback was shelved in the New (instead of Used) section, and I think it might be considered a YA book, though it certainly doesn't read like a typical YA novel at all. This is the story of a young woman who dressed as a boy during the occupation of Poland and who was known to run with a street gang under the name of the Arab of Warsaw. Here is the blurb:
It’s 1939 in Poland, and Arab knows that standing up for
anyone—especially her Jewish family—only paints a target on her back. So
she plans to survive the Nazi occupation the way she always has:
disguise herself as an Aryan boy, lead her street gang, and sell
whatever she can steal.But though Arab starts the war with the one goal of staying alive, others have different ideas for her. When a stranger asks for her help with a covert rescue mission, Arab has to make a choice. Trying to be a hero is a surefire way to get killed. But if she doesn’t do it, who will?
Hard-hitting and unforgettable, The Girl Who Wouldn’t Die is a story about survival, the necessity of resistance, and the hope that can be found when the world is at its darkest.
The prose is taut as a bowstring and the plot moves at lightening speed in this page turner of a novel that I just could not put down. I loved Arab and her fierce determination and street smarts in dealings with all the Nazis overrunning her home town and killing all of the Jewish people she's grown up with. She is so determined in the face of such long and terrible odds that I couldn't help but admire her. Unfortunately, we never find out what happened to her, in the end, only that she helped a number of Jewish children get out of Poland and to safety. Other than the open-ended final pages, this was a nearly-perfect novel that I can't give anything but an A to, and recommend it to anyone who wants to read a unique POV of WWII in occupied Poland.
Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers by Sara Ackerman was also a WWII story, this time set in Hawaii in the year 1944, well after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The characters and the setting are exotic enough that this could have been a great read. Instead, the prose was stilted and awkward, the characters stereotypical and the plot plodding and predictable. One of the protagonists, Ella, daughter of what I ended up calling "wilting Violet," is a real mess of a child who wets herself, picks scabs on her skin and pulls out her hair because she's incapable of telling her mother about the man who shot and killed her father. Ella has no courage, and is spoiled by her wimpy mother who can't say no to her, no matter how ridiculous her daughter's demands may be. And Violet is always whining or worried or feeling guilt about something, enough so that it's annoying and boring. I also wanted to smack Ella about every 10 minutes in the book, and I found her chapters to be stupid and dull. I nearly quit reading the book before I finished the first 100 pages, but I figured it might get better once Violet and her friends (who were more interesting and should have had more time in the spotlight) opened their pie stand at the military base. Sadly, it really didn't get better. Here's the blurb:
Hawaii, 1944. The Pacific battles of World War II continue to
threaten American soil, and on the home front, the bonds of friendship
and the strength of love are tested.Violet Iverson and her young daughter, Ella, are piecing their lives together one year after the disappearance of her husband. As rumors swirl and questions about his loyalties surface, Violet believes Ella knows something. But Ella is stubbornly silent. Something—or someone—has scared her. And with the island overrun by troops training for a secret mission, tension and suspicion between neighbors is rising.
Violet bands together with her close friends to get through the difficult days. To support themselves, they open a pie stand near the military base, offering the soldiers a little homemade comfort. Try as she might, Violet can’t ignore her attraction to the brash marine who comes to her aid when the women are accused of spying. Desperate to discover the truth behind what happened to her husband, while keeping her friends and daughter safe, Violet is torn by guilt, fear and longing as she faces losing everything. Again.
Though there is an inevitable HEA, getting there is tortuous for anyone who enjoys well written characters and elegant prose. I'd give this book a C-, and only recommend it to those who wonder what life in Hawaii was like during the last years of the WWII.
A Vicky Hill Exclusive! by Hannah Dennison was a cheap paperback British mystery that I found at the Sequel and couldn't pass up for the price. It reads like a combination of Monty Python, The Office and Scooby Doo, with a dash of yellow journalism thrown in for good measure. The protagonist, Vicky Hill, is utterly ridiculous, a reporter who yearns for a cheesy headline as some long for chocolate. The farce aspect of the book only gets worse from there, as Vicky tries to solve a mystery and manages to make nearly everyone in town loathe her, with the exception of "Topaz" (not her real name, of course) who seems to long for a lesbian relationship with Vicky, and longs for her job in equal measure. Here's the blurb: Vicky Hill has two goals in life: to escape the never-ending boredom of
funeral reporting and find the right man. Then a tip leads to what might
be the scoop of a lifetime. There is a bizarre connection between three
grisly chicken corpses and the unusual death of a local hedge-jumping
enthusiast Sir Hugh Trewallyn. Suddenly, it seems that this quiet market
town harbours more than its fair share of secrets but when Vicky opens
Gipping's Pandora's box, her own secrets come back to haunt her...
If Vicky's gullibility and naive nature don't put you off, her clumsy efforts to solve the mystery by blundering around town will. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, to be honest, as I was unaware that British tabloids were this sexually charged and that editors and lead reporters were intent on sexually harassing and abusing every woman in their employ. Of course, like most idiots in British fiction, Vicky manages to come out of all this smelling like a rose, so all is well that ends well. Still, the prose was cheesy and the plot meandering, and though its a fast read, I didn't really like the characters enough to want to read more. Stupid people do not inspire me, and this book is full of ridiculous, stupid people and very sexist, creepy men. I'd give it a C, and only recommend it to those who love cozy mysteries enough to laugh at the bizarre foibles of Vicky Hill (and those who don't mind excessive use of exclamation points).
Shimmer and Burn by Mary Taranta is a new fantasy YA series that I gathered was supposed to be different, as in more inclusive of people of color and gender differences. While the former proved to be true, the latter wasn't. This was, however, a well written novel that has a brilliant, swift plot and mesmerizing characters developed in a unique world. Here's the blurb:
To save her sister’s life, Faris must smuggle magic into a
plague-ridden neighboring kingdom in this exciting and dangerous start
to a brand-new fantasy duology.Faris grew up fighting to survive in the slums of Brindaigel while caring for her sister, Cadence. But when Cadence is caught trying to flee the kingdom and is sold into slavery, Faris reluctantly agrees to a lucrative scheme to buy her back, inadvertently binding herself to the power-hungry Princess Bryn, who wants to steal her father’s throne.
Now Faris must smuggle stolen magic into neighboring Avinea to incite its prince to alliance—magic that addicts in the war-torn country can sense in her blood and can steal with a touch. She and Bryn turn to a handsome traveling magician, North, who offers protection from Avinea’s many dangers, but he cannot save Faris from Bryn’s cruelty as she leverages Cadence’s freedom to force Faris to do anything—or kill anyone—she asks. Yet Faris is as fierce as Bryn, and even as she finds herself falling for North, she develops schemes of her own.
With the fate of kingdoms at stake, Faris, Bryn, and North maneuver through a dangerous game of magical and political machinations, where lives can be destroyed—or saved—with only a touch. Publisher's Weekly: Taranta’s debut features a tough-as-nails heroine, a complicated magic system, and a gritty fantasy world full of menace and wonder. Despite the threat of plague in surrounding Avinea, 16-year-old Faris Locke longs to escape the walled city of Brindaigel and the brutality of King Perrotte. After Faris, her sister Cadence, and her beloved Thaelan are caught attempting to flee, Cadence is sold into slavery, Thaelan is hanged, and Faris is forced to brawl for money in hopes of buying Cadence’s freedom. When the king’s executioner offers Faris a job, she can’t refuse, but she’ll be bound by magic to Princess Bryn, who is determined to take her father’s throne. After escaping to Avinea through the sewers, Faris and Bryn meet a magician named North and his apprentice, who are determined to stop the plague and save Avinea. In a crowded fantasy field, Taranta’s story stands out for its mature writing, inventive and scary creatures (and even scarier humans), and complex and often ruthless characters. The conclusion suggests that Faris’s adventures are only getting started.
I agree with PW that the prose here is mature and the characters well defined, ie the bad people are really awful and the good people are really wonderful. That said, I felt that Faris' sister Cadence wasn't really worth all the fuss, as she didn't listen to her sister or to reason, and seemed to think it was okay to worship the guardsmen while treating her sister like crap. But, as with most heroines in YA novels, Faris has no decent parents to rely on (her father is a drunken loser who sells her out without a second thought, and her mother tried to kill her when she was still prepubescent), so the only real family she has left is this one bratty sibling who has become an enchanted mindless slave. My only other problem is that Faris treats her "desire" for North as something that is all consuming, imperative, and necessary, when there are women who have survived without sex, desire or love for a long time. Because she is strong, she is able to walk away from him (because she knows that the infection of bad magic will kill both of them if she doesn't) but it is a near thing, and that kind of melodramatic passion seems somewhat out of place in this "gritty" world with its cruel take on magic that kills just as often as it proves useful. Still, I'd give this book a B+, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys Victoria Aveyard's YA series, the Hunger Games or Divergent series. The same self-sacrificing, strong young woman reigns supreme here.
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