I'm Really Bad At Posting During a Series, Apparently

I managed to stretch my reading of "The Nightmare Garden" to 17 days - I wanted to have book 3 in hand before I finished this one so that I wouldn't have to wait between books! I inadvertently saw a spoiler about this novel, and I knew I didn't want to reach that point in the story without being able to continue right away. I jumped right into "The Mirrored Shard" so I've been spending more time reading than writing!

I really loved this novel, it's a great adventure. Each story in the series features Aoife trying to rescue a loved one, traveling between realms and discovering things about herself and her heritage.  There's wonderful foreshadowing throughout the stories, although the execution doesn't always fulfill my expectations.  For instance, I was a little disappointed with the climax - I felt that the trial wasn't nearly as trying as it could have been.  That may have been an 'adult reading YA' issue, though.  It's hard for me to keep perspective as regards that. I think my problem is that the story is so huge I find myself wishing it were an adult novel, I feel like it would have 'much more muchness'.

I liked Aoife much more in this novel than the first, not that I didn't like her in the first, it's just that by the end of this novel I see her more as a person than just a... well. a brat!  She's very much a know-it-all teenager (as she should be!) but she's obviously grown up a bit, although she is still rushing about half-cocked.

I should have another post up in the next few days, as I'm going to force myself to write and post before I pick up my next read!

Happy reading!

In Which I Am Late (again), And I Ramble (a bit)

For the second time in as many months, I feel the need to issue a Trigger Warning.  Better safe than sorry, right?

I finished reading "The Iron Thorn" by Caitlin Kittredge late last Friday night. It is a great young-adult novel. I loved it so much I jumped right into the second book,which is why this post is so very very late.  My apologies. The bright side is I'm already half-way through "The Nightmare Garden", so that post should be up relatively soon!

This is the first steam punk novel I've ever read (gasp! I hope you aren't too shocked). I adore steam punk music and fashion, but I was struggling to get into the story for about 100 pages and I began to worry that maybe I actually don't like steam punk.  Then, very suddenly, I got hooked by the story and Aoife's world. It reminded me of something Steven Galloway said: the first 1/3 of a novel teaches you the rules of reading that novel. So true! It's a brand new world, which entails a lot of back ground world building. It's not the most intense, sexy part of a story, but it is vital to making the story work. And this story? Works like a well-oiled machine. It's gorgeous.

Another confession: I've never read any Lovecraft, and Kittredge uses a lot of Lovecraftian locations and monsters, so I found my self spending a bit of time on the Google-box to flesh out the back ground.  I'm not really a horror fan in any format, as I am prone to nightmares, but I suspect this series is a  great sort of 'soft-core' introduction to Lovecraft. Horror-lite, if you will.  It's perfect for me, and I'm intrigued enough that I may even try an actual Lovecraft novel later in the year. So, please don't take away my 'geek cred' just yet!

This is where my trigger warning comes into effect. I'm maybe a bit old-fashioned, and definitely very uptight, so there are elements of this story that I feel are not so young adult appropriate.  At the very least, the idea of my niece or nephew reading it and not fully understanding it makes me a bit squeamish. Aoife is a complex character, and in addition to the many problems all heroine's face (absent parents, pressure to fit in, first love, rescue attempts, bringing down Orwellian dictatorships and breaking worlds), she is also dealing with mental illness.  Part of how she copes with her internal pain is by self-harming. It is not a subject I am unfamiliar with, but it was a bit unexpected.  Although it really shouldn't be.  Kittredge's characters do trend toward the dark and damaged, and there is really no reason why her YA characters would be any different.  I haven't been reading much YA recently, but I have noticed that darker themes are becoming more common place, so I'm willing to believe that it's just my naivete that allows me to believe teens aren't already reading these things.  All the same, I think I'll wait another four years before suggesting this one to my own niece.

For now, though, I'm going to get back to reading "The Nightmare Garden" - Aoife is in trouble again...

Happy reading!

I Would Like To Put This Book In The Freezer

This post may be considered a Spoiler and may also require a Trigger Warning.

Please consider yourself warned.


Still with me? OK...

I wasn't 100% sure what book I was going to read next. The bookshelf supplied me with book three in the Sister Fidelma mystery series by Peter Tremayne, "Suffer Little Children", which took me 8 days to read. I was looking forward to reading a relatively light Celtic mystery with murderous monks and nuns, full of neat little historical notes, with a heavy dose of Irish flavour. I was not expecting the medieval equivalent of Sandy Hook. Literally, 20 small children and 4 adults. Just unlucky timing on my part. If I had read the book a year or two ago I would still have been sad, but it probably wouldn't have resulted in me wanting to 'put the book in the freezer', if you know what I mean. I rarely cry over books but, yeah, this one got me bawling. Absolutely heart wrenching. Here's me returning to genre fiction to escape, and Fidelma gives me a sucker punch to the gut. Ugh.

I was already slightly irritated by this novel. This is the first novel in the series that is set in Ireland (book one is in England, book two in Rome) and Tremayne takes advantage of the locale to introduce the use of the Irish language, which is fantastic.  I love Irish, it's a gorgeous language.  My problem with it's use in this novel is that whenever a character uses an Irish term in conversation with another Irish speaker they follow it up with an explanation! I can accept the 'term, definition' style in non-dialogue narrative, but within dialogue it's ridiculous.  No one talks like that! There's a list of character names and descriptions, and a historical note (although my copy seems to have been printed without the noted map, which was also annoying) so there should be no issue with adding footnotes or a glossary if a character uses a non-English word.  I would prefer to be flipping pages than dealing with clunky, fake dialogue. It takes me right out of the story.

I complain, but I did enjoy this novel.  For one thing, the mystery itself did not disappoint. This series is great for political and religious intrigue, in addition to the regular human foibles which can supply motive. I did figure out who the killer was before the reveal, which was cool for me.  I never actually try to 'solve' the mystery, I rather enjoy that 'aha!' moment when the detective reveals the identity of the murderer, but in this case it did pick my spirits up a bit. So it has that going for it.  Also, I really enjoy the historical aspects of the stories.  Fidelma's Ireland is a place of equality for women, and a place of great scholarship.  Tremayne is the pseudonym of Celtic historian Peter Berresford Ellis, so all the historical laws and details are accurate.  It really adds a lovely depth to the story.  I just wish the story didn't include children being hacked to death.

Moving on.  My next read is one I've been looking forward to for nearly a year, Caitlin Kittredge's "The Iron Thorn", the first novel in her Iron Codex young adult / alternative history / steam punk series. The third volume is due out on February 12th, so I think maybe a marathon read is in order! I'm expecting darkness from this series, but hopefully no scenes involve the mass murder of children.  I'm so over that.

Happy reading!

Turn Off Doctor Who Good

The first novel read in 2013, Rob Thurman's "Moonshine", was completely devoured in 5 days! 5 days over a weekend counts as 'devouring' for me, since most of my reading is done on the bus and I spend less time on the bus on the weekend, and I also spend Sunday catching up on TV so it's basically a write off.  This weekend, though, found me thinking, "Another episode of Doctor Who? But... I could read, instead!" I can't think of the last book I read that was 'turn off Doctor Who' good but, seriously, this novel was That Good.  Which is crazy talk, because one can never have enough Doctor Who!

The Leandros stories are very action packed, which means that lots of the 'boring' elements are jumped over with frequent use of 'two days later' or Cal (the half-demon protagonist who makes me feel like a cougar) being unconscious for an extended period of time, and coming to when the action is about to get going again.  It's a teeny bit irritating on occasion, but it does keep the story moving at a quick pace so that's nice. Literally never a dull moment. There are lots of twists and turns in the plot, and every scene matters, which is awesome.  It's a  very economical style of storytelling, almost the complete opposite of so much of the 'literature' I've been reading lately! 

A bit of a tangent here, but one of the things I was interested in exploring when I began my Booker challenge was how my taste in novels would change, if at all, as a result of genre deprivation. Maybe two novels isn't enough for a definitive answer on that one, but I feel pretty confident in saying that it hasn't changed my taste at all, it's just made me appreciate genre stories even more than I did before. I enjoy the adventure/mystery/suspense of these stories more than I could ever appreciate the navel gazing of the literati.  Not that there aren't non-genre novels I enjoy, obviously! I just prefer genre writing.  End tangent.

Working in a used-book store, I see a lot of urban and paranormal fantasy books.  One of the things I love about this series is that Rob goes beyond the current fads in fantasy characters, delving deeper into mythology.  There are werewolves and vampires, yes, but also a plethora of other nasties! I love the level of research that she puts into the non-human elements of the story. I even looked up a few I wasn't familiar with, although Rob does a great job of describing them all in their creepy evilness so it isn't necessary if you don't enjoy doing extracurricular research for a novel! There are also demons of her own device, primarily the Auphe, who are the nastiest of the nasties and thoroughly frightening. The scariest of the monsters for me, so far, was in the first book, "Nightlife", but both novels have moments where I'm so scared I find I'm holding my breath as I read! 

I realize I haven't said really anything about the plot, but it's twisty and turny, and I don't want to spoil any of that for you.  Suffice to say I loved this book, and the ending was OMG heart wrenching! If you like urban fantasy at all, I'm sure you'll love this series!

I'm going to go rifle through my bookshelves and find my next read.  I have a few thoughts on what it may be, but I may surprise myself....

Happy reading!

Super-Bugs and First Novels

The holidays are past for another year, I hope you found time to read amongst the madness joy of your festivities! My choice for my first non-Booker book, and my last novel of 2012, was Daniel Kalla's medical thriller "Resistance". I figured I had a few extra days off so I could afford to be kept up all night! It took me 10 days, between December 20th and 30th, I'm just a bit late to posting about it!  I read two of Kalla's other titles, "Cold Plague" and "Pandemic", a few years ago and they were fantastic! Both those novels feature Noah Haldane, an investigator with the WHO, who puts me in mind of a more realistic Robert Langdon, jetting around the world solving mysteries. I think I finished both of them in under 5 days, they were so intense!

"Resistance" wasn't quite as suspenseful as the Haldane books, but it was still a very fun read. It was more of a mystery than a thriller, about a super bug being intentionally spread among drug addicts along the west coast of North America. The medical terminology is kept light, and all necessary concepts are explained clearly and concisely. Some science professionals get too technical in their novels, and I find myself just skimming any parts that I don't get. I've never felt that the story is held back by the technical aspects in any of Kalla's novels, which is nice. It also helps that the topics he explores are socially relevant. An antibiotic resistant super bug is a real threat, and the over-use of antibiotics is frequently covered in the media, so the base knowledge is already there. I found it directly relevant to my own life as well, as a friend was admitted to hospital with pneumonia (and several other infections) shortly after I started reading this novel, so that certainly helped with my own fear levels!

I found this story read a lot like a 'first novel', even though it's Kalla's second, in that the bones of the structure are fairly obvious. It really doesn't hurt the story any, I just found myself noticing what he was doing as a writer. Also, with such a large cast of characters - a drug researcher, a CDC official, an infectious disease specialist, a police detective, and a shady criminal all share narrative space - some of them do come across a bit... not stereo-typed, but maybe flat? It's difficult for a character to show real growth when you're only 'with' them every fourth chapter. I am looking forward to reading his more recent novels to see how his writing has progressed. I've heard particularly good things about "The Far Side of the Sky", which I understand may be the beginning of a trilogy.

My first read for the new year is Rob Thurman's "Moonshine" - the second book in her Leandros series.  Although it also suffered from some 'first novel' issues, I loved the first book! The characters were interesting and funny, plus the story was action packed! I've heard great things about how the series progresses, so I'm really looking forward to this one!

A very Happy New Year to you all! May all your 2013 reading be enjoyable!

Choosing Between Darkness and Joy

I've been trying to listen to the audio book of Pat Barker's "Regeneration", a story about a soldier in World War I who writes a manifesto condemning the war and is listed as mentally unstable as a result. It's dark.  I'm not very far into it, because every time I try to 'read' it I just feel overwhelmed by the darkness.  The other title I've been trying to read is Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" - I've only gotten about 1/8th into the novel, and while it's not as dark, it is very heavy in terms of descriptive passages and I'm having a heck of a time trying to get into the story. It just isn't fun for me anymore, so  I'm moving on, and it feels great. Moving beyond the Man Booker list means the tone of the posts is going to change a bit.  Most of you only know me through this blog, so it may be a bit like getting to know me all over again.  I hope you still like me!

My father and I have a conversation about twice a year about entertainment, how we choose what we read and watch, and why we like the things we do. My dad, who is a brilliant man, always says that he chooses books, TV shows, and movies for their ability to help him escape the darkness of everyday reality.  I think it's a great philosophy. 

I know lots of people enjoy dark, gritty entertainment, the type with "real world" problems, but I go to the arts to increase the joy in my life. That doesn't mean it's all sunshine and rainbows, just that good wins more often than bad. I like to laugh, and I do so quite freely, and everything (and everyone, for that matter) that I love makes me laugh to some degree. That's not to say I don't appreciate art which deals with loss. Some of my favourite songs are of heartbreak. Almost all of my favourite books have at least one tragedy that breaks my heart. Art reflects life, and life contains that pain. But, I choose to see life as being primarily a bright and joyful experience. So when I go to art, the love and joy need to overwhelm the darkness. This may seem like a contradiction when you see how many serial killers are on my list of favourite characters, but I go to thrillers for pure escapism, which is fun. Which is joyful.  It makes sense to me.

For the past 15 months I've been collecting books that I want to read, and I'm feeling so spoilt for choice that I'm tempted to re-read a favourite book simply to avoid making the decision about what to read next.  I have an odd habit with books I'm really looking forward to. I buy them right away, and then keep them unread.  My theory is that once I read the book, I'll no longer have it to look forward to.  So I build up a little stockpile of my favourite authors until I reach a breaking point, at which I gorge myself on them over the course of a month (or sometimes just a couple of weeks!). I sometimes do the same thing with a 'new to me' author who has several titles published already. I enjoy a total immersion style of fandom.

Currently I have multiple titles from (in no particular order):
Rob Thurman
Chelsea Cain
Daniel Kalla
Kelly Meding
Caitlin Kittredge
Jeff Lindsay
Kathy Reichs
Maggie Sefton
Peter Tremayne
Devon Monk
Tanya Huff
Roddy Doyle
Anton Strout
Jim Butcher
Ariana Franklin
Lev Grossman

plus individual titles by another half dozen authors, a bunch of history and mythology books, books by friends, and some new authors I want to try, all awaiting my pleasure!

Ever since I started reading the Man Booker books I've felt as though I am battling the clock.  Looking at my list of 'pleasure' reading, I feel like I've got all the time in the world, it's just a matter of making a start somewhere, and they will all get read! It's a pretty great feeling!

Happy Reading!

Not A Review Of Celtic Thunder

I finished reading Graham Swift's "Last Orders" on Tuesday, November 27th - it took me 15 days to read it, but I've been having a difficult time blogging about it. Not that I didn't enjoy the novel - I really did! - I've just been distracted this week. Completely lacking focus on anything that doesn't directly involve Celtic Thunder.  The day job has suffered, sleep has suffered, reading has suffered (I can't read while listening to music - weird, I know!), and I'm fairly certain that my friends, Twitter followers and family would really like me to just Shut. The. Fuck. Up. but I had an amazing time at the concert on Monday, I'm really excited to see the acoustic Hurricane Sandy benefit concert next weekend, and I'm seriously tempted by the cruise next November. It's been an emotionally busy week for me! I do feel bad about not blogging, but I really couldn't focus, and I didn't want to write an entire post just about how amazingly fun the show was.  So that's all I will say about it! ;)

I was a bit concerned that "Last Orders" would be similar to "The Old Devils" - just a bunch of old people drinking and depressing me.  Turns out it's more of a road trip story, with the four principle characters driving across country to spread the ashes of a recently deceased friend, Jack.  During the trip they all privately reflect on their relationships with Jack.  It's also a story about family, the ones we chose and the ones we don't, and how their expectations of us (and ours of them!) affect our lives. There are moments of bittersweet humour and revelations about the interconnections in their past, some surprising and some obvious, all told in bite sized chapters which fit perfectly into my 'bus reader' schedule.  I wanted the novel to go beyond it's natural conclusion because I really grew to care about the characters - which means, of course, that Swift did his job perfectly!

The theme of isolation ran deep in this novel, highlighted by the characters seeming inability to have an intimate conversation with each other.  They are all more or less alone, and facing mortality, but they never speak to each other about the fears that come along with that, even as they are all preoccupied with them in their own thoughts.  They worry about their children, and who will see to their remains when they pass on.  Despite that, it feels like a hopeful novel, as they all still have time left to them in which they can try to reconnect.  There's something beautiful about that.

All said, I really enjoyed this novel, will gladly recommend it, and I'm looking forward to reading more of Graham Swift's writing in the future.  For now, my next read is Arundhati Roy's "The God Of Small Things" - which has been in my purse since Tuesday, and hasn't been opened once.  Also, I'm no further along in Pat Baker's Regeneration trilogy because as hard as it is for me to read while listening to music, it is 100% more difficult to 'read' an audio book while listening to music!

In my defence, it was a really amazing concert!

Happy reading!