A Red Herring Without Mustard by Alan Bradley

"Oh there you are, you odious little prawn..." Ophelia "Feely" de Luce, sister of Flavia de Luce from A Red Herring Without Mustard

Is there anyone better at the stinging insult, the perfect put-down, the withering glance or the subtle, yet vicious revenge as the British? I think not!
Just as they excel at creating marvelous actors and wonderful classic and science fiction television programs (witness "Lark Rise to Candleford," "Upstairs, Downstairs" and the glorious "Dr Who"), the British detective who is brilliant, witty and eccentric has become an icon of the mystery genre of fiction.
Thus I had to stop a moment and whisper "God save the Queen!" as I delved into the latest delicious mystery by the always astute Alan Bradley, who is actually a Canadian, not a Brit.
Flavia de Luce is the 11-year-old heroine of Bradleys mysteries, set in the English countryside of the 1950s at a suitably decaying estate full of hidden passageways and unused, spooky rooms. This time our intrepid Flavia is dragged into a mystery when, after burning down her fortune-telling tent, Flavia finds an old gypsy woman covered in blood in her caravan on the grounds of Buckshaw, the de Luce estate (and again, I must pause to say I just adore the way the British have names for their homes; it makes them seem like characters unto themselves), barely alive. Soon after, Flavia stumbles across the old gypsy's granddaughter, Porcelain, and the two of them discover the body of a local poacher and thief hanging dead from the fountain statue of Poseidon. There are plenty of red herrings that Flavia must root through in this edition, however, as she wends her way along the rutted country roads on her trusty bicycle, Gladys. She even finds that a local portrait artist had painted a portrait of her mother and her sisters, with herself as a baby, and just never had the courage to have her grieving father pick it up. She also comes across a strange religious sect and the neighbors secret.
As a reader you can always count on Bradley to write spotless, thoroughly engaging prose that reads much like an updated version of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes mysteries. He drags you into Flavia's world and before you know it, the denouement has happened and you're at the end, after having been unable to put the book down for fear of missing out on what Flavia is up to next. That is really the worst that can be said of Flavia de Luce mysteries, they end too soon, leaving the reader salivating for more of this bright young girls world full of chemistry experiments and sisterly torment. "A Red Herring Without Mustard" deserves a solid A, and I'd recommend it to anyone who finds the British as fascinating as I do, or those who relish a good mystery solved by an improbable heroine.
Now I am on to the marvelous new book of Diana Tregarde supernatural mysteries, "Trio of Sorcery" by Mercedes Lackey, who never disappoints. I also got a copy of Patricia Briggs "Masques and Wolfsbane" because it sounded somewhat interesting. We shall see.
This was an interesting article, from Shelf Awareness:
Flavorwire showcased "ten of our favorite retold stories
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10968721. Some
of the following plots are lifted from ancient myths, while others come
from relatively new novels. All have put a new spin on familiar tales,
but have been able to make them their own."
And lastly, this is just a sad note on the passing of typewriters:
A moment of silence, please, to mark the end of an era. Godrej and
Boyce, the last company in the world still manufacturing typewriters,
has shut down its production plant in Mumbai, India, with just a few
hundred machines left in stock. The Daily Mail
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10959111
reported that even though "typewriters became obsolete years ago in the
west, they were still common in India--until recently. Demand for the
machines has sunk in the last ten years as consumers switch to
computers."

More Tidbits

"It is necessary to write, if the days are not to slip
emptily by. How else, indeed, to clap the net over the
butterfly of the moment? For the moment passes, it is
forgotten; the mood is gone; life itself is gone. That
is where the writer scores over his fellows: he catches
the changes of his mind on the hop."

~ Vita Sackville-West

From Shelf Awareness:

Flavorwire showcased the 10 most badly bungled classic-book-to-film
adaptations including the "wacky, flatulent 3-D family comedy version of Gulliver's
Travels" that was released on DVD yesterday.
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10930638


---

Bookshelf/kitten video of the day
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10930639,
courtesy of the Book Lady's Blog, which vowed that this "is the
first--and probably the only--time I'm posting a cat video. But it's
Wednesday, and we all need a break, right?"

I think this is a marvelous idea from the designer who created one of the sexiest men's colognes I've ever smelled on a man, my husband, back when I first met him in 1989. Now I would LOVE it if he'd buy me this cologne that smells like a book!
Karl Lagerfeld, fashion designer, artist, photographer and book lover,
plans to open a bookstore in New York City together with Gerhard Steidl,
who has published many of his books and with whom he has an imprint
called Edition 7L, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
.

Called Word and Image, the store would highlight Steidl titles as well
as books from other publishers chosen by Lagerfeld and build on what has
been a profitable business in Lagerfeld's 7L bookstore in Paris: selling
custom libraries to readers. Steidl told the paper that the best
location for the store would be in lower Manhattan near the New Museum
on the Bowery.

One title to be carried is a sweet novelty: a hardcover book called
Paper Passion whose interior will be hollowed out to hold a container of
a new perfume with the same name that smells of paper--an idea Lagerfeld
had while leafing through the new Chanel catalog.

Finally, I wrote this letter to the founder of Luna Guitars on Monday:

Dear Ms Yvonne,
I just wanted to drop you a line and say that your guitars are the most beautiful instruments I've ever seen! They look more like pieces of art than instruments, yet they clearly function perfectly in making music while being aesthetically pleasing, especially to women.
I was thrilled to see you add my favorite symbol of transformation and rebirth, the butterfly, to your guitars, and I hope that one day I will be able to afford to buy one for myself, and fulfill a dream I've had since I was a teenager in the 1970s of playing guitar like Ann and Nancy Wilson of "Heart."
Thank you, also, for your lovely catalogs, which I've spent hours poring over and enjoying, not just for the guitars but for the stories of those who own them and play them.
What a wonderful legacy you've made in creating Luna guitars.
Thank you, again.
Sincerely,
DeAnn Rossetti

She responded on Tuesday with this lovely letter (though I love their guitars, $400-600 per instrument is not really affordable):

Dear DeAnn......

Wow! You just made my day = )

Thank you for your lovely and kind words. It's hearing from players like you that keeps me going! We have tried really hard to keep our instruments accessible, so I hope that you will soon be holding a Butterfly in your arms and living your dream!

Warm wishes,

Yvonne

Yvonne de Villiers
Creative Director/Designer
Luna Guitars
4924 W. Waters Ave.
Tampa, FL 33634
800-793-5273
yvonne@lunaguitars.com
"Join the Luna Tribe!"

A Stew of Book News, from Accessories to Movies

Below are some wonderful gleanings from Shelf Awareness, the booksellers and librarians listserve:

Best literary birthday letter ever
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10894204.
In 1889, Mark Twain wrote a congratulatory message to Walt Whitman on
the occasion of the poet's 70th birthday. Letters of Note presented this
eloquent missive, which was "not just a birthday wish, but a stunning
4-page love letter to human endeavor, as seen during Whitman's
lifetime."

This really is an awesome letter, though it is hard to read Twains handwriting.

"What do you get for the book nerd who has everything--or at least all
of the paperbacks that their apartment can hold?" asked Flavorwire
before helpfully offering a few irresistible suggestions in a post
headlined "Design Porn: Accessories for Bookworms
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10887803.

Really cool typewriter necklace and the ring made out of a book is gorgeous!

Book Review: The Year We Left Home
A war at the beginning (Vietnam) and one at the end (Iraq) frames an
American family's path through 30 years of life in America, from 1973 to
2003. It is a portrait of the Erickson family of Grenada, Iowa, in
alternating viewpoints of family members and their cousin, Chip, a
damaged vet of the Vietnam War.

The story opens with Anita's wedding to Jeff. She is the eldest of four
children; the others are Ryan, Blake and Victoria. Through vignettes
that capture moments of their lives both important and ordinary,
Thompson (author of the story collection Do Not Deny Me) paints a
picture--who they are, what they want and what they will eventually
settle for. The constant thread throughout all their stories is that
these are basically good-hearted individuals, often saddled with more
than they are equipped to handle. Anita's husband is a banker,
responsible for foreclosing on loans to farmers Anita has known all her
life. At one of the farm auctions, Anita cleans out their bank accounts
and gives the money to now-homeless relatives. Ryan does Chip a great
kindness when Chip is past 50 and on his uppers. Ryan buys the farmhouse
that once belonged to Uncle Norm and Aunt Martha, now long gone, but
prototypical examples of that exemplary American farm couple: thrifty,
hardworking, honest, church-going and long-suffering. He worked every
day while she canned, cooked and cleaned. Blake says of them: "They
didn't think in terms of happy."

Each of the Erickson children has thought in those terms, however, and
mostly have come up short in the happiness department. Each of them has
endured a difficult situation, hoping things would change. Anita has
become the smiling Realtor of the Year displayed on the back of the
grocery cart to compensate for Jeff, who turned out to be a chronic
alcoholic and is now barely hanging on to sobriety. Ryan says of his
marriage to Ellen: "At some point in their life together he had assumed
the burden of making her happy. Her most familiar mood, what he thought
of as her default position, was one of exasperated suffering." Blake
married "beneath him" and his mother and Anita never let him forget it.
Torrie made a bad decision that altered her life forever.

This all sounds grim, but it isn't. In Thompson's engaging style, each
characters has a life filled with much humor, insight, reconciliation
and understanding. Ryan tried to escape Iowa to a life in academe, only
to find that he was ill-suited for it. His consolation prize was being
at the beginning of the computer revolution and making a ton of money.
Anita never wanted to leave familiar surroundings--and didn't want
anyone else to, either. Chip is the wild card here. He bangs around the
country and Mexico, a real rolling stone, returning to Iowa with his
lungs and liver shot, grateful to Ryan and ready to settle down. At
story's end, the next generation is starting to leave Iowa. Who knows
what their outcome will be? Jean Thompson pulls the reader into this
novel and keeps us hoping for the best for her characters, as she
chronicles events and shows us their interior lives.--Valerie Ryan

I could have written the above book about my own family, growing up in Iowa...but you have to be from the tall corn state to know how true the line is about Iowa being a good place to be "from."

Atlas Shrugged: Part I, the first in a series of films based on the book
by Ayn Rand, opens April 15. Taylor Schilling stars as Dagny Taggart, a
railroad executive trying to fix a country plagued by social and
economic decay. Directed by Paul Johansson.

I was totally into the works of Ayn Rand when I was in high school, and I recall being moved to tears by Atlas Shrugged many times. I can't imagine how well the characters will hold up under the weight of filming this epic novel, or whether Rands philosophy will come off as being too cold and ruthless. We shall see. I have no idea who Taylor Schilling is, but I hope he's manly enough to change the world, at least for the duration of the movie.

Admitting "books can be harder to kick out than termites," Laura Jofre
chronicled her experiences with the delicate art of book purging in an
Associated Press piece
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10882216
"In the name of renewal (and family peace), my husband and I repurposed
our rec room into a master bedroom and let our girls, ages 12 and 6,
have their own rooms. In the process, we had to redistribute everyone's
books. In the process, I was forced to admit it: I had too many books."

Oh my, do I ever know the pain of book purging, which I undertake about twice a year. It nearly kills me to part with books, even ones that were so-so at best. So I empathize with Ms Jofre.

http://flavorwire.com/169166/what-your-favorite-kids-book-then-says-about-you-now

This is an interesting article that claims to be able to tell something about your character as a person by what your favorite books were as a child. I can't say I really agree with that idea, but it does have an interesting kernel of understanding human nature in it.

Today I was fortunate enough to use my Barnes and Noble membership and buy 3 new books at the Bellevue Barnes and Noble: Shady Lady by Ann Aquirre, The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg (One wonders if she's any relation to Elizabeth Berg, an author whose works I've read and enjoyed), and Vampire Love, and anthology that includes a poem by the delicious Neil Gaiman. I also snapped up a copy of the new American Dr Who Insider magazine--hurrah! I can't wait to read all these treasures.

Spring Reading

As usual, I'd like to begin my post with a tidbit from Shelf Awareness, and then progress to short reviews of the 5 books I've read in the past couple of months:

What is the future of libraries in the e-book age? "Libraries have
always been thought of as a kind of 'temple of books'... a place you can
go to for peace and quiet, a place to read and think," NPR's
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10851967
Lynn Neary said in her report on a new era in lending. "They are
intricate part of the fabric that pulls a community together. But if
they are to be relevant in the future they will have to make space for
themselves in the digital community as well."

Christopher Platt, director of collections and circulation at the New
York Public Library, told Neary that libraries "use intermediaries to
manage both their physical and digital book collections. He thinks
libraries could work with these intermediaries to develop subscription
packages of e-books. Libraries would pay the publishers for these
subscriptions and use them as they see fit."

"So I'd buy a title with 1,000 uses," Platt observed, "and then it's up
to us and our readers whether those 1,000 uses get used simultaneously
in the first few days or whether they get drawn out over time. And then
if they do get used quickly, we'll buy more."

Roberta Stevens, president of the American Library Association, would
like to see more publishers involved in the e-book conversation: "When
we look at the future then we have to really think very seriously about
what is our role--and how can we actually serve the millions and
millions of people who use our public libraries everyday if we can't
even get access to titles."

I've read:
Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
Lady of Hay by Barbara Erskine
Star Trek: The Lives of Dax edited by Marco Palmieri
Magic on the Hunt by Devon Monk

Starting with Wise Man's Fear, I honestly loved this novel as much as I loved the first book in the series, The Name of the Wind. Rothfuss is a master storyteller, and his epic tale of the life of the legendary Kvothe is just un-put-downable. Reading his books makes me wonder where the heck Rothfuss has been all my life. He just appeared out of nowhere with this tour De force of genius and we're supposed to believe he's never published anything before? Hmmm...makes me wonder.

The Swan Thieves is Elizabeth Kostova's second novel, following The Historian, which I enjoyed eventually, after it got off to a very slow start. The Swan Thieves falls prey, unfortunately, to the sophomore curse, and is an awful novel, full of tedious characters, dreadfully dull prose and a plot that drags like an anchor in tar. What is even more annoying is that the protagonist just sort of spontaneously gets better and is released from a mental health facility for no apparent reason by a vain psychiatrist who is sleeping with the protagonists ex-girlfriend. There is a lot of that in this book, leering old men who fall in love with gorgeous young women and go to all sorts of lengths to get them into bed, which is, frankly, revolting and disgusting. The painting by artists in the book is just merely a backdrop for all the sleazy old man romantic antics, and we're never really given a reason to like any of the men in this book, because it seems the women get the crap end of things every time, no matter the era. It takes some doing to make France and Impressionist artists boring, but Kostova manages it in 561 pages of rambling prose. I would recommend that anyone who liked the Historian skip this novel and move on to something better.

A Lesson in Secrets is the 8th novel in Winspear's Maisie Dobbs mystery series, and it's a gem. As was quoted by USA Today on the back cover: "Sometimes when you adore a series, you're terrified to crack open the next installment, fearing disappointment. Fortunately, Winspear fans can rest easy. Her new Maisie Dobbs mystery is...excellent." Which is most certainly true. In this installment, Maisie is asked to go undercover for Scotland Yards Secret Service (kind of like the CIA in America) as a professor at a college dedicated to pacifism, run by a man who stole a pacifist children's book, Greville Liddicote. When Liddicote is murdered in his office, Maisie has to do some serious sleuthing to find out whodunit. I couldn't figure out who was the culprit until the end, either, which is a testament to Winspear's skills as an author. Maisie is still mourning her mentor Maurice, who left her a substantial fortune, and we discover that she's doing good with the money, buying a house for Billy and his family and helping a gal whose husband was killed find paying work. The novel takes place in 1932-33, so things are starting to get ugly in Germany with the Nazi party, and I'd bet that Maisie will be involved in WWII in the next novel. I sincerely hope she gets married to James Compton in the next novel, too, because, though I love her independence and brilliant mind, I think Maisie deserves a happy and fulfilling relationship, especially if she is going to get involved in yet another war.
I highly recommend this novel for those who love a solid mystery and a good tale, well told.

Lady of Hay is the first novel I've read by Barbara Erskine, and as it has to do with reincarnation and British and Welsh people, I figured it would be a real page-turner for me. Alas, it was not, being more along the lines of the Swan Thieves in terms of unlikeable male characters and horribly wimpy, stupid female characters who were all, of course, pretty redheads or blonds. There was a great deal of melodrama, weepy scenes, bitchy backstabbing and swooning going on, to the point of heaving-bosoms-style romance novels, which I detest. In this maudlin novel, we're expected to believe that Jo, a reporter, is the reincarnation of Matilda De Braose, a noblewoman of the 13th century who had three men wildly in love with her, Richard De Clare, a knight, William De Braose, her husband, and King John, Henry II's nasty youngest son, who comes off here as a sociopathic rapist. Apparently, three of the men in Jo's life, her photographer, her ex-boyfriend and his brother are the reincarnations of these three men and therefore obsessed with Jo and doing everything in their power to 'possess' her completely, which usually means they want to beat her and rape her or try to kill her. Jo waffles constantly between loving and hating them, and cries a lot, which doesn't endear her to the reader at all, it just makes her seem weak and ridiculous. Each chapter has back and forth versions of Mathilda's terrible life in the 13th century, followed by how poorly Jo is faring in the 20th century (the 1980s). The lengthy discussions of the political climate of the 13th century really bogged down the plot, and Jo's endless whining, coupled with the bitchy women around her constantly trying to make her life miserable got really old, really fast. I think about 200 pages could have been edited from this book without it losing anything, and in fact would make the book less dull. It would also be a good idea for the female characters to get a grip and be less wimpy. At any rate, I found the middle of the book hard going, and nearly gave up. I wouldn't really recommend this to anyone but the most die-hard historical romance fans.

Fortunately, I have the latest Allie Beckstrom novel, Magic on the Hunt, to wash the wussy women taste out of my brain. This is the 6th of Devon Monks "Magic" series, and though I have read all her other Beckstrom novels, this one is just as exciting as the previous books, with Allie B full of fight, ready to take on the bad guys and see justice done with her handsome boyfriend, Zayvion, to help. I really enjoy these paperback urban fantasy novels, mainly because the protagonist is realistic and intelligent, and the novels are set in Portland, Oregon, a favorite place for booklovers everywhere, myself included. Much like Jim Butchers Harry Dresden, Chicago Wizard at large, Allie Beckstrom gets the snot beat out of her and is always in danger of losing her life while fighting evil magicians who want to take over the world. But, also like Harry, she seems to be able to pull a rabbit out of her hat in each book, and though she gets battered and bruised and ends up in the hospital a lot, she has 9 lives and survives each encounter. This time is no exception, and at the end we have the birth of Allies half-brother to look forward to. I have to say that I wonder how many more books we'll have to go through before she gets her father, Daniel, out of her head and into a body or gone into another dimension, but I wasn't fond of the ancient coin-demon who possessed Harry Dresden for a couple of books, either. Still, the book deserves an A for the glory that is Allie and Zay on the hunt and kicking arse in their own inimitable fashion.

As to the Star Trek: The Lives of Dax book, I happened across this gem at a church rummage sale, of all places, and though I'd never seen its like before, (its trade paperback size, which is unusual) and I'm not generally a fan of Star Trek novels, I had to buy it because Dax was one of my favorite characters on Deep Space 9. In my experience, Star Trek novels are mostly poorly written, with a few exceptions such as the Captains Table series and a couple of novels by Christie Golden (and one by Peter David that was hilarious). Hence my reservations about this book. I need not have worried, however, as each author who took on telling the tale of one of the symbiont's lives was respectful of the characters background and the Star Trek universe in general. It was also a relief to discover that all the authors were professional writers, not just fans out to write a "Mary Sue or Marty Stu" tale as an ego trip. I would recommend this book to anyone who was a fan of Deep Space 9 or any of the Star Trek series. The prose was clean and delightful, the lives of Dax fascinating and most of the plots moved at warp speed.

The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay

First, some great articles in Flavorwire, via Shelf Awareness, about books, authors, movies and Hollywood:

"10 famous authors who went Hollywood"
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10784758
were showcased by Flavorwire, which noted, "Since their inception, the
moving pictures have offered scribes the opportunity for comparatively
easy money--a few weeks' work dashing off a screenplay or a punch-up job
to subsidize the year it's going to take to write The Great American
Novel."

Flavorwire also featured "books that inspired fashion designers
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10784759,"
along with a quote from Virginia Woolf's Orlando: "Vain trifles as they
seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than merely to keep
us warm."

Braving dangerous territory, Flavorwire dared to select 10 movies that
were better than the book
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz10791951,
noting the commonly held belief "that film adaptations of novels are
always inferior to the original isn't always borne out by the facts."

I am a bit more than halfway through my library book clubs chosen novel, The Power of One, which is about an English kid growing up during WW2 in South Africa. I have to mention how surprised I am by it's rich landscape of characters and fascinating language and protagonist. I am not one who usually finds boxing or racism or violence at all interesting, yet this book has me riveted to the page, each chapter revealing more about this scrappy kid Peekay and his extraordinary life. I am really looking forward to discussing it with my fellow book clubbers in April.

Happy St Patricks Day with Book lists!

What better way to celebrate St Patrick's Day than with a free book? If you are lucky enough to live on the East Coast, you can get one from these locations, and if you live on the West Coast, you can just enjoy the list of Irish authors whose books will delight and entertain you on this happy holiday. My late friend Rosemarie Larson, God rest her soul, would be thrilled, as she was a mighty bibliophile her whole life. Erin Go Bragh! The following is from Shelf Awareness:

In Washington, D.C., Solas Nua will
celebrate the sixth annual Irish Book Day
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10758142 by stationing "one
hundred volunteers around dozens of metro stops in the city from 6 a.m.
until the end of the evening commute and hand out a whopping 10,000
books for free on the streets of D.C. The books are by current Irish
writers and this is our way of celebrating Ireland's national holiday."

The inaugural Irish Arts Center Book Day
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10758145 will take place in New
York City: "Keep an eye out for Book Day volunteers handing out books by
Irish and Irish American authors, free, at subway stops and
transportation hubs across all five boroughs.

The Huffington Post
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10758150's
readers chose their "favorite books by Irish authors and about all
things Irish. James Joyce of course took the lead, but there were a few
surprises."

Marjorie Kehe, the Christian Science Monitor's book editor, improved
upon her 2010 list of the "10 best books about Ireland
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10758151
(which I still stand by)" with five additional titles
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10758152.


For the last word, we go to the old country itself.
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10758153, Ireland's
National Public Service broadcaster, featured a top 10 Irish writers
list, but with this caveat: "Like all Best of... lists, this top ten
invites discourse if not outright criticism. But that's why we love
them. Donal O'Donoghue lays his bets and takes his chances on our
greatest living writers."

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

First, a wonderful idea from Shelf Awareness, my favorite librarians/booksellers blog: Author Nicola Morgan joined the discussion with a proposal for Our World
Book Night
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10682873:
"One day between now and next Saturday (March 5th), let's each of us buy
a book, preferably from an actual bookshop, or direct from a publisher.
Any book. Write inside it: 'Given in the spirit of World Book Night,
March 5th 2011 and bought from [insert name of shop]--please enjoy and
tell people about it.' And give it to someone. Anyone. A friend or
stranger, a library or school or doctor's surgery or anything. Then go
home, and enjoy whatever you're reading yourself."

She summed up the advantages of Our World Book Night succinctly: "It's
very simple and everyone wins: the bookshop, the recipient, the author,
the publisher, the agent, even you, the giver, because you'll enjoy the
frisson of pleasure that comes from giving. There are no losers. That's
why I like it. And I'll be buying my book from the Edinburgh Bookshop."

In the Guardian
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10682874,
Stuart Evers agreed and even upped the ante, recommending a Local
Bookshop Year: "Opinion over the giving away of thousands of books on
World Book Night seems to be divided--but whatever side you fall on
Morgan's proposition is too good to resist.... Bookshops get the
much-needed sales, and we as readers get to choose something that we
have sponsored rather than the publishers. It is the ideal time for
those who love popping into a good book shop to get back into the buying
habit."

Some authors have "raised doubts about the mass giveaway, arguing that
it could impact negatively on independent booksellers struggling to
survive in a particularly tough retail climate, while failing to reward
authors properly for their work," the Guardian noted.

Novelist Susan Hill also backed Morgan's plan, saying, "One of my
publishers has had to spend £40,000 on printing books to give away
which is £40,000 he cannot now use to publish and promote new
authors. This is a much better idea and I'm up for it."

On her blog
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10682875
yesterday, Morgan clarified her position by expressing full support for
World Book Day because of its focus on children and literacy, and
contending that she is not necessarily anti-World Book Night: "I think
WBN is a great idea. I think the idea of any of us giving our own
property away when we choose to is a great idea. I think that anything
that encourages and inspires reading is a great idea. I think some great
ideas have significant costs. I think sometimes those significant costs
can be avoided. I think some great ideas are more complicated than they
need to be, but hey, I don't have to deal with the complications."

I totally agree that anything that inspires people to read and relish books is a great idea. I plan on trying to do this next year in March on the 5th, and seeing what happens. Though I do have to say that I am constantly giving books away to relatives, friends, and neighbors throughout the year. Just ask anyone who knows me and they'll tell you that I am quite generous with my finds, especially if I am familiar with what kind/genre of books a person likes.

Also, this is a book I must find a copy of, because it amazes me that a man would write it: Dan Abrams, author of Man Down: Proof Beyond a
Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies,
World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About
Everything Else (Abrams, $17.95, 9780810998292).

Now, on to A Discovery of Witches!
For some odd reason, this book isn't classified as genre fiction, when it is evidently clear, after the first few pages, that it's a paranormal romance novel. For some reason, the publishers, Viking, seem to think that as long as there are enough historical references and research in the book, that somehow removes it from the genre fiction category straight into regular fiction or even, heaven forfend, literary fiction. But their efforts are in vain, because the protagonist, Diana Bishop, falls in love with a thousand year old French vampire (can anyone hear the editors whispering that there need to be more "Twilight"-style romance novels on the shelves, because Stephanie Meyers made all that money on her poorly-written rip off of a Ray Bradbury novella?)named Matthew Clairmont, head of a Knights Templar order, wine connoisseur and of course, handsome and controlling in that cold way that seems to somehow make women swoon with desire (not this woman, but that's another story). Diana Bishop is the last of a long line of witches, and at the outset, she refuses her heritage, preferring to work in the sciences and research history instead, so that she can explain the existence of the inexplicable 'magic' that killed her parents. In the course of her research at the Bodelian Library in England, she manages to summon an ancient text known as Ashmole 782, a bespelled alchemical text that has been lost or centuries to witches, vampires and the peasantry of the supernatural world, daemons. Feeling its spells and sorcery as a palimpsest on its pages, Bishop freaks out enough to return the book back to the stacks, not knowing that in finding and opening the book, she's made herself a target for those factions who have been seeking it for their own uses (the vampires fear it has spells to rid the world of them, the witches believe it is theirs originally and has spells of immortality and the daemons believe it contains information on how they came into being.) Soon Bishop is being hunted by people of all three factions, and while dealing with her magic re-surfacing (her parents bound it within her with spells until it would become necessary for her to use magic to survive) she also gets abducted, beat up and rescued several times by the manly vampire--all done in a very "damsel in distress" fashion. Bishops lesbian aunts, who are both witches, are constantly calling her and trying to keep her out of danger, only to encounter her new love, Clairmont the courtly vampire, whom witches are naturally supposed to despise. It then comes to light that the Congregation, a group of 3 vampires, three witches and three daemons, have written a set of rules that all agreed to follow that includes no fraternizing or falling in love with the enemy, meaning any of the other species of magical beings. Hence they begin hunting poor Bishop as well, now that she's professed her love of the undead Clairmont. The book ends with the star-crossed lovers deciding to go back in time to escape these hunters and to find someone who can teach Bishop how to reign in her magical powers, which are, of course, amazing and cover more types of magic than have been seen in centuries. The ending is barely an HEA, as we don't know how the couple will survive and find what they need in Will Shakespeare's England, but I'd imagine the sequel is just a year away, so we won't have to dwell on it for long.
I found this book to be like a mash-up of popular songs, with something for every Twilight, Sookie Stackhouse, Patricia Briggs, Harry Potter, Count St Germain and Dr Who fan out there, with all those lovely historical trivia and tidbits added in, and all that romance to appeal to the ladies. The cliches of having the heroine saved constantly by the hero, and allowing herself to be controlled and protected by him, as well as being a delicate blonde (heroines are always petite blondes or stunning petite raven haired temptresses in romance fiction--no larger women or buxom tall redheads allowed) who devolves into a childish state when the chips are down made me rather ill, and also made me lose a bit of respect for the author, who should have been able to imagine something less trite. However, though the prose was also a bit rough in spots, the plot moved along at a nice even pace and the characters were interesting enough to keep reading. The background of the novel, in upper New York state, France and England, also kept me reading and savoring the historical bits that Harkness stuffed into the novel like pimento-stuffed olives. Since it's her first book, I'd give the author a solid B, and recommend it to anyone interested in the history of alchemy, witches and the supernatural.

Having Deja Vu with Allison Pearson

Full disclosure, I am the same age as Allison Pearson, and I have read her first book "I Don't Know How She Does It." Now she's come out with a new book about what it is like to be 13 and in love with teen idol David Cassidy, and I am having deja vu, because I was also 13 in 1974, and also had a crush on David Cassidy after watching countless episodes of the Partridge Family (and wishing I could be Susan Dey so I could just look at him every day, squeal!)
Here's NPR's take on the book and an interview with the author, whom I'd love to meet.
But first, I HAVE to get a copy of this book!

When writer Allison Pearson was growing up in Wales in the mid-1970s, she thought she knew exactly what it would take to woo David Cassidy, the teen idol who played Keith in The Partridge Family.

The color brown. And lots of it.

"I had read, when I was a child, that his favorite color was brown, and so for about 18 months during my precious adolescence, I had worn brown," she says. "And I looked absolutely dreadful in brown because I was a very skinny, sallow little girl. I looked yellow in brown."

But Pearson didn't only change her appearance. She also worked on her diction. A Welsh accent, she was sure, would never attract Cassidy's attention.

"I taught myself lots of American expressions just so he wouldn't think that [I] was a stupid Welsh girl," she says. "Americans say 'mad' meaning 'angry,' not 'crazy.' And [they say] 'bathroom,' not 'loo.' These crucial distinctions were going to endear me to him ... just in case David Cassidy happened to be in South Wales, which was 5,000 miles away from his home in California, but you never knew when you needed to have all of the facts about him at your disposal."

Pearson, now 50, eventually stopped pining for Cassidy. She became a columnist for London's Evening Standard and Daily Telegraph and wrote a best-selling novel about middle-class working mothers called I Don't Know How She Does It.

I Think I Love You
By Allison Pearson
Hardcover, 336 pages
Knopf
List Price: $24.95


But now she's translated her teenage obsession with Cassidy into a second novel, I Think I Love You. It's about, not surprisingly, a teenage girl named Petra who's living in Wales in 1974, who falls madly in love with David Cassidy. In 1998, when Petra is nearing 40 and has her own children, she decides to take an all-expenses-paid trip to Las Vegas to meet her teen idol — and re-examines her youthful passions in the process.

So why did Pearson choose, out of all the teen idols in existence, the Partridge Family's dreamy star David Cassidy?

When I told my female friends now that I was writing about a 13-year-old girl, without exception they all said, 'I would not go back to being 13 for a million pounds.'

- Allison Pearson

"I was 13 in 1974 and he bestrode my teenage world like a Colossus in a white jumpsuit with silver embroidery," Pearson says. "Girls slightly younger tended to be Donny Osmond girls or Michael Jackson girls but for my generation, it tended to be David Cassidy."

But it wasn't just the obsession with her teen idol that Pearson wanted to explore. It was everything about 13-year-old girls — the teen magazines, the fan culture, and conflicted feelings of vulnerability and passion — that she immersed herself in before writing the book. And that wasn't always easy, she says.

"One of the challenges in recreating that 13-year-old mind-et is that you're still constructing yourself," she says. "You're still wondering who you are and trying to get that kind of feeling of transparency, of looking back to that young girl. One thing that did give me pause for thought, when I told my female friends now that I was writing about a 13-year-old girl, without exception they all said, 'I would not go back to being 13 for a million pounds.' "

But she did, eventually, go back to Cassidy. In 2004, Pearson was asked to interview him for a magazine profile. And to prepare, she decided to read his autobiography.

"It was absolutely jaw-dropping stuff about groupies and the kind of life he had," she says. "And what struck me, so forcefully, was that, as a grown woman and the mother of two children, I was not shocked by what he was writing about, but I could feel within myself, the 13-year-old girl who had loved him was really shocked. And I thought, 'Now isn't that interesting.' We carry our younger selves with us our whole lives and we can measure out of lives by music we've loved or icons we've loved. So that was my first real vertiginous falling perception, that this creature David Cassidy that I had loved was a manufactured being."

Before she interviewed Cassidy in person, Pearson says that she remembered thinking just one thing: that she didn't want to pity him.

"It was very important to me, to [not pity] someone who had loomed so large in my imagination," she says. "But the book isn't just about David Cassidy. It's about love and its delusions."
Allison Pearson is a staff writer for the Daily Telegraph. She lives in Cambridge with her husband and two children.

Mulligatawny, A Stew of Stuff

When I moved to Washington state back in 1991, there were 365 bookstores in the Seattle area, one for every single day of the year. I nearly swooned with bibliophilic delight! Now, as with newspapers, the book industry is drying up, becoming smaller and there are far fewer bookstores to be had. Still, I am fortunate to be able to shop at Island Books on Mercer Island, Baker Street Books in Black Diamond and Elliott Bay, now on Capitol Hill in Seattle. And when we go to Portland for my husband's favorite past time, Drum and Bugle Corps competitions, I get to sneak into Powells City of Books, one of my favorite spots in Oregon.
So I was delighted to read the following in Shelf Awareness:

As the digital age continues to draw a bead on traditional indies, the
Everett, Wash., Daily Herald observed
that "the cultural coroners are out in force again, pronouncing the time
of death for all bookstores. But people like bookstores. They especially
like, and are loyal to, independent bookstores. People who write books
also especially like bookstores. That's where they give readings
(libraries too!) and meet people who read their books....

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10599775

"Community is key. In the Northwest, we are lucky to have plenty of our
own examples: Village Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10599776 in Bellingham,
Watermark Book Co http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10599777. in Anacortes,
Elliott Bay Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10599778 in Seattle, Auntie's
Bookstore http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10599779 in Spokane and Powell's Books
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10599780 in Portland. Funny how a 'dead' business also
continues to sound like one of the best things that could happen for the
future of downtown Everett."

I've just finished reading three books, The gorgeous "The Bards of Bone Plain" by my favorite fantasy author Patricia McKillip, "Destiny Times Six" a book written in Astrology's heydey in the 1970s by Katherine de Jersey and the final book in the "Fever" series, "Shadowfever" by Karen Marie Moning.
McKillip's prose was, as always, splendid and spellbinding, and the story sad and glorious, while Ms de Jersey had some fascinating takes on people via their astrological chart, and I felt that I learned something about astrology and how the planets influence us, or don't, as the case may be.
Shadowfever was a juicy tome full of climaxes, confrontations, and background/explanations of what and who everyone really was, including the main character, whose journey was long, twisted and in the end, worth all the pain.

Layoffs at Powells City of Books

From Shelf Awareness comes this bad news about one of the greatest bookstores in America, Powells City of Books in Portland, Oregon:

Citing "an industry-wide decline in new book sales, rising healthcare
costs, and the economy," Powell's Books, Portland, Ore., yesterday laid
off 31 employees, the Oregonian
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10566902
reported. The affected booksellers represent about 7% of the company's
400 employees, mostly floor workers and seven or eight in the group
managing the company's website.

Ryan Van Winkle, a representative for Powell's union, said that the
affected employees were members of the union and that no management or
security guards had been laid off. According to a memo to employees, pay
for non-union staff has been frozen for at least a year and the company
has suspended contributions to its 401(k) plan.

Van Winkle told the Portland Mercury
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10566903
that Powell's and the union had worked together during the past year to
avoid layoffs by reducing hours, among other changes. Van Winkle said
that the union is "worried about doing more work with less people and
also, frankly, being sure that this doesn't disrupt the work the union
does, like filling those cut jobs with managers or temporary workers."

The company said of the layoffs: "This undesirable course of action was
taken only after serious consideration of other possible options and a
careful evaluation of the future."

In the memo to the staff, Powell's said that sales this fiscal year are
down, with "the largest decreases" in new book sales, "a clear
indication that we are losing sales to electronic books and reading
devices." The company expects new book sales to continue to erode "over
the next year" and that it can compensate only in part "with solid used
book sales and growth in gift sales."

It is just horrifying that this far into the recession, there are still people losing their jobs, especially in the book industry, an industry that I love more than I love my own media industry with it's host of jobless journalists (or underpaid ones, like myself). I've heard many people spout the nonsense that the recession is over, and the American economy is in 'recovery' but I have yet to see where anyone, outside of the banks and auto companies that got bailouts, has really recovered at all, when most seem to be daily trying not to sink.

Also from Shelf Awareness, some interesting bookends:

Bookends "are more than just decorative (and in some cases, dangerous)
objects--they're also pretty darn useful," Flavorwire observed in
showcasing "10 Shelf-Worthy Bookends"
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10566920.

And finally, the wonderful Nancy Pearl has revised her rules of reading (and I totally agree with her findings, I might add):

Nancy Pearl's Revised 'Rule of 50'

"On the spur of the moment, with no particular psychological or literary
theory in mind to justify it, I developed my Rule of 50: Give a book 50
pages. When you get to the bottom of Page 50, ask yourself if you're
really liking the book. If you are, of course, then great, keep on
reading. But if you're not, then put it down and look for another....

"This rule of 50 worked exceedingly well until I entered my own 50s. As
I wended my way toward 60, and beyond, I could no longer avoid the
realization that, while the reading time remaining in my life was
growing shorter, the world of books that I wanted to read was, if
anything, growing larger. In a flash of, if I do say so myself,
brilliance, I realized that my Rule of 50 was incomplete. It needed an
addendum. And here it is: When you are 51 years of age or older,
subtract your age from 100, and the resulting number (which, of course,
gets smaller every year) is the number of pages you should read before
you can guiltlessly give up on a book. As the saying goes, 'Age has its
privileges.' And the ultimate privilege of age, of course, is that when
you turn 100, you are authorized (by the Rule of 50) to judge a book by
its cover."

--Nancy Pearl (librarian, author and action figure) in the Toronto Globe
& Mail
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10572559.

Save the Libraries (in the UK) on Saturday

It would appear that libraries in the United Kingdom are in as difficult financial straits as many American businesses and institutions. Yet libraries are the bedrock of any community, as necessary as city hall and city councils. So I support these folks in Britain with my heartfelt hope that they can reopen the libraries and with my eyeballs reading tomorrow.
From Mediabistro's GalleyCat:
Libraries
Save Our Libraries Day Is Tomorrow
By Maryann Yin on February 4, 2011 3:47 PM

Tomorrow (February 5th), readers around the U.K. will gather to protest the more than 350 possible library closures in England–Voices for the Library’s special “save our libraries day of action.” The group’s Facebook page already counts 740 participants.

The day of action will feature read-ins around the country. In addition, author appearances and storytelling events are also planned.

Librarians and information professionals formed Voices for the Library last August with this goal: “[To create] a place for everyone who loves libraries to share their stories and experiences of the value of public libraries. We don’t want to lose our libraries, and we aim to ensure future generations continue to enjoy access to free unbiased public libraries and librarians.” (via Publishers Weekly)

And last but not least, a very funny video about getting kids to read the classics. from Shelf Awareness:
"Did Charles Dickens like jam, Dad?" Buzzfeed featured a video exploring
the funny, if unlikely, potential for getting kids to read the classics
with tasty editions like Dickens' Fruit Corners
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10549595. It's
a book... and it's jam.

Carousel Tides by Sharon Lee

I've long been a fan of Sharon Lee and Steve Millers Liaden Universe series, mainly because it contains some of the most realistic, intricate world building in existence, plus the characters are perfectly wonderful. Which is where I run into a problem writing reviews of their work. There are only so many superlatives to use when describing such finely-wrought science fiction.
Imagine my frustration, then, in trying to discuss Sharon Lees solo efforts, such as her latest, Carousel Tides, a work of dark fantasy.
I could use the old "elevator pitch" style of saying Carousel Tides combines legendary storytelling ala Ray Bradbury with characters reminiscent of David Eddings Belgariad series mingled with Lois McMaster Bujold's fast-paced plot styles and Lees own musical prose...but I'd have to assume that everyone has read all the aforementioned authors and knows what I am talking about.
How best to understand Sharon Lee's work? To paraphrase Nike, Just Read It. You will not be sorry that you did, I can guarantee that.
Carousel Tides is the story of Kate Archer, the grand daughter of elemental beings who, after repudiating her heritage as one who draws power from the earth, returns home to the Maine coast to set her grandmothers affairs in order, only to find that the Carousel she's now responsible for needs the wards on it's bewitched beings replenished, and that no one knows where her grandmother is, nor can they give her any information on the towns newest resident, who appears to be ready for a magical take over of some kind, and wants our heroine out of the way. Discussions with magical creatures, from selkies to fire elementals ensues, and though Kate and the other protagonists win the day, there are still windows left open for more stories in this mileau. I found the book engrossing and the characters fascinating, as expected with anything that Lee sets her hand to...she's a craftsperson of serious vision with a prose style that seems casual and loose, until you try to find a flaw in it, when you realize it's as smooth and flawless as finely-wrought silk.
So, I recommend this novel for fantasy fans, classics readers, those who enjoy myths and legends or fables, and those who appreciate good old fashioned storytelling done right. A solid A for Carousel Tides.

So Many Books, So Little Free Time

I hereby notify my vast (ha) readership that for the next two weeks, I will be managing the Mercer Island Patch site along with my husband, and I will not have any time to post to any of my blogs.
I have a stack of great fiction that I got for my 50th birthday this past Sunday, but I will doubtless have scant few moments to pick them up and read them. I got Paul Darrow's (Avon on the 70s British SF series Blakes 7) autobiography, called "You're Him, Aren't You?" and I got a copy of Patricia McKillips "The Bards of Bone Plain" and Alan Dean Fosters "The Human Blend" as well as Sharon Lee and Steve Millers "Mouse and Dragon" and Jennifer Cruisie and Bob Mayer's "Don't Look Down."
Anyway, here's a few items that I thought would be of interest from Shelf Awareness:
"I am not a Luddite (she said, somewhat defensively), and I do not
oppose all change simply because it is change.... Here's my bottom line:
There's no way to avoid using energy either to print books or
manufacture e-readers, to transport books or to transport e-readers, and
disposal issues crop up in both cases, as well, so why would I elect to
read in a format that requires additional inputs of energy? Why not just
take my book out under a tree or to the beach or read it on the front
porch or under the lamp that's turned on in the winter evening, anyway,
so I won't be tripping over my dog when I get up from my chair to go to
bed?

"It will be a while before all the dust from the new e-reader revolution
settles, and the final settling may not come in my lifetime. Meanwhile,
I'm watching the dust storm with interest and sticking with my
old-fashioned books. As the Water Rat said of his old riverbank: 'It's
my world, and I don't want any other.' "

--Pamela Grath, owner of Dog Ears Books http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10363465,
Northport, Mich., on her Books in Northport blog
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10363466

This is so true, I love the smell of books!
Number 16 among New York magazine's Reasons to Love New York
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10353388: "Because
We're Home to Not Only the Publishing Industry But Also to a Woman Who
Spends Her Days Smelling Books"

Six months ago, artist Rachael Morrison, who works at the Museum of
Modern Art's library, began wondering about the unscented future of
e-books and "decided to spend her lunch breaks chronicling the unique
scent of each book in the MoMA stacks." Morrison said that "smelling
books is really nostalgic for me--I am often reminded of my
grandparents' homes, or libraries where I used to go when I was a
child."

I loved Douglas Adam's books, so I would really like to see these series:
BBC Four released a trailer
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10353394 for
the upcoming series Dirk Gently, based on two novels by the late Douglas
Adams--Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and The Long Dark
Tea-Time of the Soul. Blastr
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10353395 observed that
BBC Four "bills the show as a 'drama,' but if it uses any of its source
material, it should contain plenty of light British wit, ghosts and the
poetry of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It may even involve the creation of
all life on Earth."

A Holiday Treat/An Irish Country Girl

Happy Holidays, to all my fellow Bibliophiles! As a special treat, as a list of Nancy Pearl, Seattles doyenne of books and book lore, picks her favorite memoirs:

http://www.npr.org/2010/12/03/131392774/happy-holidays-voyeurs-nancy-pearl-picks-memoirs

Then, a quote that I know that I can relate to, as an book lover who still feels the thrill of anticipation every single time I delve into a new book:
(From Shelf Awareness)
"I learned to read at the age of five, in Brother Justiniano's class at
the De la Salle Academy in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It is the most important
thing that has ever happened to me. Almost seventy years later I
remember clearly how the magic of translating the words in books into
images enriched my life, breaking the barriers of time and space and
allowing me to travel with Captain Nemo twenty thousand leagues under
the sea, fight with d'Artagnan, Athos, Portos, and Aramis against the
intrigues threatening the Queen in the days of the secretive Richelieu,
or stumble through the sewers of Paris, transformed into Jean Valjean
carrying Marius's inert body on my back.

"Reading changed dreams into life and life into dreams and placed the
universe of literature within reach of the boy I once was. My mother
told me the first things I wrote were continuations of the stories I
read because it made me sad when they concluded or because I wanted to
change their endings. And perhaps this is what I have spent my life
doing without realizing it: prolonging in time, as I grew, matured, and
aged, the stories that filled my childhood with exaltation and
adventures."

--Mario Vargas Llosa in his Nobel Lecture
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10334483,
"In Praise of Reading and Fiction," which he delivered yesterday in
Sweden.

I just finished reading "An Irish Country Girl" the 4th book in the series by Patrick Taylor, a physician from Northern Ireland. This delicious volume was even more appropriate, as it is set during the Christmas season in the tiny town of Ballybucklbo in Ireland. The Irish are, as everyone knows, talented storytellers to a man and woman, and in this case, we hear the story of Maureen "Kinky" Kincaid; her family life, her development of the 'second sight' and her marriage to the love of her life, who died at sea after only a year of marriage. The story begins with Kinky telling the 'fairy tale' of her elder sisters love, who didn't believe in the wee folk and was taken by those selfsame fae when he cuts down their favored tree on a cold night in November that is dedicated to the 'good folk.' As Kinky tells the tale to a group of young carolers, you can almost hear the brogue and feel the chill winds and snow set out by the fox and the raven, harbingers of the faeries, or Bean Sidhe, pronounced Ban Shee. The only problem with this, and the whole book, is that Taylor draws the story out longer than need be, padding what would make a nice short story into many chapters, and then adding on what seems like a whole different story in the middle and trying to cap it with the same ghost story at the end. Though it ties up well, the ending seems rushed, and we don't learn more about things that the author could have embellished, like Kinky and Paudeen's first year of marriage, or their wedding, or the storm that took Paudeens life. Still, I'd give this book a solid B+, and recommend it to all who have read Patrick Taylor's Irish Country Doctor series and often wondered about his miraculous housekeeper and cook.

Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold

From Anu Garg's "Word A Day" files: In heaven, the police are British, the chefs are French, the mechanics are German, the lovers are Italian, and everything is organized by the Swiss.
In hell, the police are German, the chefs are British, the mechanics are French, the lovers are Swiss, and everything is organized by the Italians.


Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, is reported to have said, "I speak Spanish to God, Italian to women, French to men, and German to my horse."

Cryoburn is Lois McMaster Bujolds first Miles Vorkosigan novel in around 10 years, I believe, and those of us who are big fans of one of the few handicapped space heroes in existence are all a-twitter with glee.
Publisher's Weekly summarized the plot thus: "Only five days after arriving on Kibou-daini for a cryonics conference, interplanetary diplomat Miles Vorkosigan narrowly escapes kidnapping. Drugged, dazed, and alone, he is taken in by Jin Sato, whose mother was the leader of a cryonics reform movement until being declared mentally ill and involuntarily frozen. Now Jin lives in a building full of squatters running an illegal cryonics clinic. Under imperial orders to investigate the shady dealings of the cryo cartels, Miles connects the far-flung pieces and exposes a sneaky plot. Bujold introduces appealing characters to join familiar ones in exploring the ramifications of a planet-wide culture of postponing death, and her deft and absorbing writing easily corrals the complex plot and softens the blow of a tear-jerking conclusion."
Copyright © PWxyz, LLC

Though there were a lot more politics in this novel than I like, Bujold never let the plot lag with rants about any particular faction. She maintained the integrity of the characters throughout their trials and troubles, and Miles, as usual, comes out of this mess smelling like a rose. One of the things I admire most about Miles is his ability to think his way out of trouble, and view life like a situational chess match, where he's usually two moves ahead of his opponent. We get to see his clone-brother Mark in all his deal-making glory, too, though Miles comments that he wishes his brother would differentiate himself in some other way than being overweight. Personally, I found that remark a bit offensive, and I wanted to smack Miles in the head and say "Listen, Pookie, your clone brother has been through Hades and back, so at least allow him to be whatever size he chooses...let him make his life and his body his own." Yes, I know that calling someone of Lord Auditor Miles Vorkosigan "Pookie" would doubtless get me thrown in a Barrayar dungeon, but it would be worth it to see the look on his face. That's another thing I enjoy about Bujolds characters--they seem so real, you find yourself wanting to meet them.
Jin Sato was an interesting young character, though I enjoyed his spunky little sister more toward the end of the book. I found the whole "cryogenic suspension" business, with the buying and selling of contracts to keep people frozen, fascinating, and it was interesting to learn that those who'd be revived didn't often acclimate well in their new world/time. I would wish to be able to be frozen and return to life at at time when they'd found cures for many diseases and had some kind of rejuvenation process for old age so you could enjoy the new time you'd revived into. The whole idea of giving votes to the dead/frozen, however, was creepy,and I was happy to see that Miles thwarted the evil cryogenics company plan to take over his home world via cryo-corpse votes. The ending was nice and tidy, and it left the reader hopeful that Jin and his sister and mother had found a new father and a new home in the Barrayar consulate with a diplomat living there. Though Bujold mentions Miles wife and his children, we see little of them in this novel, which was one of my few disappointments with it, as I'd love to know about his home life and how he deals with his kids on a day to day basis. Still, it was a fast and satisfying read, and I sincerely hope that there's another Miles book on the horizon. A solid A for this science fiction novel that I'd recommend to anyone who has read the other Miles novels and who loves them as dearly as I do for not just their characters, but also the smart, witty prose and lightspeed plots that Bujold wields with ease.

Beautiful Libraries

It's not when you have access to them that you appreciate libraries fully, it's when, like this week, they close due to a huge snowstorm, and you find yourself staring longingly through the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of your favorite librarians and fellow bibliophiles that you truly appreciate the impact that libraries have on your life. Not that I would do any of that, of course. The Maple Valley Library should definitely be on the list of lovely libraries. I have been thankful for libraries my entire life.

Here's a tidbit on beautiful libraries from Shelf Awareness:
Flavorwire
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10274859
showcased the "Most Beautiful Public Libraries in the U.S.," observing
that "most roundups of beautiful libraries focus on what's inside. And
while we love vaulted ceilings and overflowing bookshelves as much as
the next guy, we'd argue that the facades are just as important. From
futuristic steel-and-glass structures to early American structures
steeped in design history, here are ten public libraries that prove that
free books and Internet access don't need to be the only reason you
visit these architectural gems."

Also, my favorite actress, the marvelous Emma Thompson, weighs in on books with this oh-so-true quote:

Books 'Turn Up in Your Life When You Most Need Them'

"I think books are like people, in the sense that they'll turn up in
your life when you most need them. After my father died, the book that
sort of saved my life was Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel
One Hundred Years of Solitude. Because of that experience, I firmly
believe there are books whose greatness actually enables you to live, to
do something. And sometimes, human beings need story and narrative more
than they need nourishment and food."

--Actress Emma Thompson on choosing seven "books that made a difference"
for O magazine
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10274838.

Finally, I bought myself a copy of "Remarkable Creatures" by Tracy Chevalier for Thanksgiving, and I intend to stuff myself full of good food and good prose today, all day!
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Killbox by Ann Aguirre/The Gentleman Poet by Kathryn Johnson

First, another great quote from Shelf Awareness:
"Even with all of the so-called new media out there, books still have
the potential to be the most powerful medium of them all. Complex ideas
are explored over hundreds of pages and over several days, giving the
ideas time to sink in and take root, changing a person. Being exposed to
an idea or concept through social media or an article just doesn't have
the same impact. Meeting authors who yield this power wisely is still a
thrill."

--Don Allen, publications director, Busboys and Poets
http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10261477, Washington, D.C.

Killbox is the 4th book in Ann Aguirre's Sirantha Jax science fiction series, and though it contains her usual roller-coaster ride action and space adventure, it also ties up a lot of loose ends in Jax's life, readying us for what I can only assume is the final novel in the series.

Jax has the genetic mutation to navigate grimspace and get ships from place to place across the galaxy, and because she was concieved in grimspace, she is also able to heal herself of the side effects that damage most "jumpers" and make them eventually unable to jump anymore.
Killbox has Jax quitting her ambassadorial role and mentoring a young jumper, as well as spending time with her beloved March and creating a militia to keep ships and colonies from being attacked by pirates or the cannibalistic Morgut, creatures who see humanity as a tasty food source.
I found the pace of this novel measured and deliberate, yet still exciting. The characters are, as always, full-bodied and fascinating, and the love scenes enthralling...few people can write a modern bedroom scene as well as Ann Aguirre. I was glad to see Jax take control of her destiny in this novel, though I was a bit freaked out by the ending of the book, which leaves us not knowing if Jax will survive her attempt to reset the beacons of grimspace to thwart the Morgut. It was interesting to watch her use her new implants and scientific advances to actually hear what the Morgut say, and realize that they are sentient, though confused by the idea that their 'meat' doesn't want to be slaughtered due to our own sentience. Jax's support systems and friends all fall away at once, and Jax realizes that it all comes down to her and her special skills to save the universe. I was gratified to note that Jax's evil mafioso mother died a heroic death, and that she and March are on stable ground in their relationship. I will be awaiting the next installment eagerly, as now I have to know if Jax's plan works, and if she and Hit make it back alive. I'd give Killbox a solid A, and recommend it to all who've read the other Sirantha Jax novels.

The Gentleman Poet by Kathryn Johnson is an interesting fictional take on the life of a servant in Shakespeares time, and on the origins of Shakespeare's "The Tempest."
The protagonist, Elizabeth Miranda Persons, a young girl who has been forced into indentured servitude by the plague and persecution of Catholics by Queen Elizabeth I, her namesake, is working for a mean and cruel old woman of the gentry when she takes a voyage from England to the Virginia colonies in the "new world" on a ship called the Sea Venture. Unfortunately, the 150 passenger vessel is wreaked off the coast of Bermuda, and Miranda is forced to cook and clean not only for the Mistress Horton, but also for the Admiral and the other sailors and shipwreaked folk, including William Strachey, who is actually William Shakespeare. Miranda and William strike up a friendship, and William uses their story to write The Tempest, while also nudging Miranda towards Thomas, the ships cook, who at first horrifies her because she's seen women raped and has nearly been raped herself. Miranda's recipes are added into each couple of chapters, which is fascinating, as she was working with fresh seafood and game animals, as well as tubers and herbs found in Bermuda. She's a good enough cook that she's able to teach Thomas the use of herbs and spices to add flavor to the food, and soon the two are in love and wed, with Miranda pregnant as they make their way to the colonies via a slapped together ship. Unfortunately, Thomas is killed by Native Americans, and Miranda is left with a choice of either marrying a man she doesn't love or moving back to England with William and starting up her own Inn and restaurant in one of Shakespeare's homes. She chooses the latter, and the author leaves us with a decent HEA to wrap things up. I found the history fascinating and the recipes authentic in this book, and though the plot dragged a bit in spots, overall it was a well done novel. I'd give it a B+, and recommend The Gentleman Poet to those interested in Shakespeare, history and historical food.

Namaah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey

First, a bit of business, I found this link to a lovely story on a local school librarian who is making a difference, and the article makes a good case for the importance of librarians in schools, at a time when librarians are being phased out of schools and our King County Library System.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2013355006_litlife08.html

Also, a bit from Kevin Bacon, who appears to be a smart guy (who knew?) as reported in the wonderful Shelf Awareness:

Noting actor Kevin Bacon's philosophy of reading--"You can sit around
and complain that Hollywood doesn't make any good movies. But you can
generate your own material. So I read books."--Word & Film
http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10216971
recommended a checklist of Bacon's movies "to find great reading
material."

Now, about Namaah's Curse, the latest novel from the incredible imagination of Jacqueline Carey. I've read all of Carey's "Kushiel's" series, which were like some richly-scented chocolate dessert--they're impossible to resist and once you start reading them, no amount of will power can get you to stop. Also like chocolate, they're decadent and not to everyone's taste--they have lots of sexuality in them, and there's pain-as-pleasure attached to some of it, yet it's never gratuitous or slimy. Carey writes her sex scenes with true reverence and love...you can feel the sincere passion, the glorying in the beauty of the human form, the sensuality and erotic joy of sexuality and orgasm pouring forth from each chapter. Yet Carey doesn't overindulge in sex scenes to the detriment of her stories. Her plots never lag, there's no lame dialogue or cliche'd euphemisms to make you cringe and wish she'd get back to the subject at hand. And her characters SHINE, brightly and beautifully, fully created and seeming to breathe right off the page. First and foremost, Carey is a resplendent storyteller of the Sheherazad school, the kind of author whose prose draws you in, engrosses you and doesn't let you go until the last word is spent.
I was so enthralled by the Kushiel's books that I was sad to see them end. However, Carey decided to start a new series with Moirin, a descendant of some of the characters from the Kushiels books, and place her 100 years later in time. Moirin has some of the powers of the Bear clan but is also a child of Namaah, so she's a sexual adept as well, though not a courtesan, as was Phaedra, the protagonist from the first series. We were introduced to Moirin in Namaah's Kiss, where she met up with a Chinese sage and his assistant Bao, and fell in love with Bao, reviving him with her spirit in the last part of the book. Namaah's Curse takes place in China and Mongolia, where Moirin must go to find Bao, her soul mate, and her adventures along the way take several interesting twists and turns. One of those turns is meeting fanatical Christians, and, as Moirin's people of Terre D'Ange view sex as a sacrament, you can imagine how ugly things get when a Christian cult leader tries to torture confessions out of Moirin, and force her to submit to patriarchal Christian dogma. Fortunately, she's rescued by a half D'Angeline boy, whom she gifts with his first sexual experience, helping him to gain Namaah's blessing. I daresay no one describes oral sex with as much heat as Carey, and if there is any through-line or theme to her books, it is that nothing is as healthy, healing and good for body and soul as a long roll in the hay with someone you love. But Carey also manages to add in chunks of history, in this case Asian history that fascinating and add to the stew of the story, making it more robust.
At any rate, I enjoyed this second book in the Namaah's series, and look forward to the third. I'd give it a solid A, and recommend Namaah's Curse to fantasy-loving adults with open minds and hearts who find Asian culture and history fascinating.

The Glass Trilogy by Maria V Snyder and Sidejobs

Maria V Snyder is the author of the "Poison Study" series that I bought initially for the cover of the first book, but read with great enjoyment once I discovered the finely-wrought prose and fascinating characters inside it.
She did a spin off from that series with a character named Opal Cowan, a magician glassblower who could make glass animals that served as a kind of cell phone, and who could also drain the power from other magicians and encase it in diamonds.
In Storm Glass, we learned about Opal's family and her glass-making powers, as well as her frailty as a person. While she managed to help contain some seriously bad Daviian warpers in glass and save the day, she constantly whined and allowed others to tell her what to do and run roughshod over her own feelings. Even when her boyfriend changes souls with the warper who hurt her, she allows herself to be lulled into sleeping with the guy, though she knows something is 'wrong' with him. I found Opal a bit hard to take in the first novel, because she was so flawed, ignorant and immature, she made me want to slap her more than root for her. Yet I read the next book in the series, "Sea Glass" anyway, and was surprised at how determined and tenacious Opal had become. She spends a great deal of time in this book trying to find Ulrick, the man who exchanged bodies with Develn, the warper who tortured her twice and tried to kill her, and is now supposedly in love with her (that part strained my credulity). Meanwhile, Opals rather fickle affections have been bestowed on a "stormdancer" named Kade, who can magically suck the energy from violent weather and encase it in glass orbs created specially by Opal, until she teaches others to make the unbreakable orbs.Unfortunately, no one believes Opals story that her boyfriend has switched bodies, so she has to find both men and prove it, which she manages to do in the end. Spy Glass, the final book in the series, finds Opal at a loss because, in order to keep some hostiles from causing trouble, Opal had to drain their magic and her own into an orb. These nasty fellows managed to get Opals blood when they captured and tortured her (again), so now Opal, ever dogged in her pursuits, goes after the blood thieves to see if she can regain her messenger-glass making powers. While she's also more mature in this book, Opal is still somewhat niave and takes ridiculous risks without thinking it through. She does learn to defend herself from the marvelous Valek, a uber-spy character from the Poison Study series, but she still manages to get herself into horrible trouble with a cult on the coast who are enslaving people and using black diamonds and pearls to further their magical goals. Fortunately, Opal doesn't take things lying down, as she used to, so with her new backbone and training, she is able to help rout the bad guys (she even kills the man who enslaved her) and find her true love in the former Daviian Warper who tortured and nearly killed her. I know, it still strains credulity that she would throw over the stormdancer Kade for a scumbag who repeatedly hurt her, but he is now supposedly not addicted to blood magic anymore, has done time in a prison and reformed himself by doing everything he can to help Opal. I really don't think any amount of assistance and 'reform' would make me want to forgive someone who had tortured me physically and emotionally twice. But Opal seems to fall into bed with him rather quickly, and seems to believe he's now a good guy on the slightest evidence. Personally, I would have killed him at the first opportunity, but that's just me. I don't forgive that kind of suffering.
However, Opal marries Develn, and adopts two orphans, and things get wrapped up with a nice HEA bow at the end, which is satisfying to me as a reader. It's one of the things I appreciate about Maria V Snyder, her ability to bring her tales to a beautifully-finessed ending. Snyder's prose is, as always, sterling, and her plots have not an ounce of fat on them as they swim along like that Olympic swimmer Phelps--swiftly, cleanly and gracefully. But what I like best about Snyders stories is her ability to craft characters that fascinate and engage the reader because they seem so real and alive. I gather another "Study" book is going to be out soon, and I can hardly wait to pick it up and read of the further adventures of my favorite Snyder characters, Yelena and Valek. Meanwhile, I'd give the "Glass" series a B+ overall and an A- for the final book in the series, "Spy Glass." I'd recommend this series to any artistic teenager or adult who finds glass making and magic fascinating.
I've also just read Jim Butcher's "Side Jobs" a compendium of short stories about the wonderful wizard of Chicago, Harry Dresden. Let me be honest, I've had a tremendous crush on Harry since I first read about him years ago. I love that he's such a hero, but in such a smart-assed, fumbling and often messed up way. He's flawed, but his heart is in the right place, and he's smart enough to be able to use his faults to his advantage to capture or kill the bad guys. He's also a big softie when it comes to dealing with women, children and animals, like his huge Fu-dog Mouse, or his cat Mister. The thing that bothers me about the Dresden Files is that Harry gets beaten to a pulp and nearly killed in every single installment. And in the last full-length novel, Changes, Jim Butcher leaves us hanging as to whether Harry will live or die by shooting him on the last page of the book, which is just a low-down dirty trick, if you ask me. I was told that "Side Jobs" had a short story in it that takes place right after Harry is shot on his boat, so I assumed there would be some hint or answer in that text that would keep me going until the next Dresden Files book is published next year. But nooooo, Butcher gives us a whole story with the marvelous Karrin Murphy, beloved cop friend of Harrys, who can't believe he's dead, but doesn't try to find him during the run of the story, either. Dresden fans are left with a vague feeling that he 'might' still be alive because there has been no corpse recovered and buried, but other than Murphy's hope that he's still alive, we've got precious little to go on. This makes me want to smack Jim Butcher's fanny for teasing Dresden fans this way--its cruel, and I don't like it. Either tell us he's alive or tell us he's dead, but don't insinuate things in such a wimpy way that we don't know squat by the end of the tale. I believe even Harry Dresden himself would be pissed off at his fans being treated this way. That said, I really enjoyed the rest of the short stories in this tome, though I'd already read three of them in other anthologies. Even the first story which Butcher claims is his first attempt and therefore awful, is really a delight. It seems obvious to me, and I am sure to other Dresden File fans that Butcher has a great deal of writing talent, and it shines through no matter where it is deployed. I'd give this book an A, mainly because it's indispensable to those who know and love Harry Dresden. But I reserve the right to give the final story in the book a C for "nice try, but you didn't tell us what we want/need to know." I'd recommend "Side Jobs" to anyone who loves wizards and magic with an urban, gritty feel and a large dose of mystery.

The End of the Novel Live!

From Shelf Awareness, because they do a better wrap up of this event that I could:

As we reported last week
over the course of six days, live and online, 36 Northwest authors wrote
a novel. It was completed Saturday evening and will be published as an
e-book by Open Road Integrated Media. Fans watched the novel being
written--and, in one case, drawn--added their comments in person and via
live chat, and had a grand time bidding during various auctions. Over
72,000 words were typed (the goal was 50,000), and thousands of online
viewers spent 165,000 minutes watching The Novel! Live!
http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10133129 unfold. While most viewers were from the
U.S., there were also hundreds from Australia, Canada, the U.K., India,
the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Austria, New Zealand and Spain. And even
better, nearly $10,000 was raised for literacy (hint: you can still
donate http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10133130 and
push that number over $10K).

We checked with one of the instigators of this project, author Jennie
Shortridge, and asked her for statistics of the kind we are really
interested in:

* Most words typed: Mary Guterson: 4,560
* Least swearing in text: Suzanne Selfors: 0 curse words
* Most breaks from writing: Erik Larson: 2; he also wins for most coffee
consumed, 4 cups
* Most freakish and horrifying incident for an author: a stuck "delete"
key during Jarret Middleton's turn at bat--it cost him five paragraphs
of text (which he replaced overnight, so he gets the best-natured author
award as well)
* Most remote author contribution: Kit Bakke from Shanghai
* Most valiant effort by an author: Maria Dahvana Headley, who typed via
Gmail chat from her sickbed with a 102-degree fever
* Best channeling of a non-human character: Stephanie Kallos, who wrote
from a crow's point of view
* Highest bid for an auction item: $450 for the name of the
protagonist's long-lost father, online from Isabella in New York
* Mostly unlikely auction item: a replica of Habib the crow, who dangled
above the stage on the last day, went for $100. (We sent a volunteer out
into the streets of Capitol Hill Saturday morning to find a crow, and
after no luck at various stores, actually encountered a man with a fake
crow on Pine Street, and haggled him down from $60 to $30). Runners-up:
plastic skulls named for dead authors, which brought in as much as $40
each in online auctions, and many signed (and re-signed) books
* Longest distances traveled by authors to participate: Jamie Ford from
Montana and Mary Guterson from Los Angeles
* Longest distance traveled by a volunteer to participate: aspiring
19-year-old author Rachel Kelly from Gresham, Ore.
*

Erik Larson and auctioneer John Roderick, lead singer and guitarist in
the band The Long Winters.

Most costume changes by an author: 4 by Susan Wiggs, who morphed from
Viking princess to pajama-ed author to sequined goddess to queen of
hearts during her two-hour stint
* Most catch-up sleep required by organizing Seattle7Writers' members: a
tie between Garth Stein and Jennie Shortridge

Check out The Novel! Live! http://news.shelf-awareness.com/ct.jsp?uz3642037Biz10133131 and
watch the book being created. Congratulations to everyone who made this
happen with such enthusiasm and panache, from the writers to the
volunteers to the food suppliers to the fans, and to Hugo House for
providing a cozy venue (and a bar).--Marilyn Dahl