Short Reviews: September 2013. Princess of Mars

Princess of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs, ISBN: 978-1598531657 (Library of America hc reprint) 

Re-read September 18, 2013

I love John Carter so much.  

Only noticed two typos in this edition, one instance of "I" leading off a sentence instead of "is," and one where "throat" was "thoat" (which second mistake I'm much more forgiving of in this particular story where "thoat" is a valid wordchoice of itself.

I only wish there were better hc options for the rest of the series.  I hate having mismatched sets, but this one was so pretty I couldn't pass it up, especially since it had a lovely Tarzan reprint as it's buddy.  I think I'll probably re-read that one this week.  I'm apparently on a Burroughs kick.   

Short Reviews: August 2013. The Amaranth Enchantment, A Beautiful Friendship, Fire Season, The Whole-Brain Child

The Whole-Brain Child, Daniel J. Siegel (M.D.) & Tina Payne Bryson (Ph.D.).  ISBN: 9780553807912

Read August 15, 2013

Nonfiction: parenting, CBT/mindfulness, neuroscience.

Slight (149 pages, with comic strips, illustrations, and boxed text) and overly-optimistic volume on using mindfulness and awareness of brain development to guide child mental development and to simultaneously manage their behavior by using age-appropriate and helpful interventions and tools to build their self-awareness, self-control, empathy, and mental/emotional vocabulary.  The ideas are good and proven, but the authors do tend to give the impression that using these techniques will instantly result in a cooperative and pliant child through their cartoon before-and-after comparisons and their choices in real-life examples.  I'm not so optimistic, but I'm not knocking the techniques, just the presentation.  The subtitle is: Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind, and I don't know that these ideas and techniques are quite so revolutionary as all that, but I admit that is a good title key-word to throw out to get attention in a glutted parenting-technique bookshelf.  Nifty for a reminder on how to help use stressful situations as "teachable moments" instead, but not worth purchasing. 

A Beautiful Friendship & Fire Season, David Weber & Jane Lindskold.
(re-read) August 11 & 12, 2013
Introducing these to my husband, who is working his way through the main Honor storyline and needed a break before the story splits into three branches.  I figured now is the best time to start the short stories to introduce all of the supporting cast that's been promoted to heading whole books, and he was wanting treecats, so I gave him the short stories A Beautiful Friendship (from More than Honor) and The Stray (from Worlds of Honor) to fill out the background.  He's on Beautiful Friendship the YA book today, and will probably get to Fire Season later this week.  I think after that I'll go with What Price Dreams (also in Worlds of Honor) immediately afterwards, and give him Treecat Wars when it comes out in October (after I finish devouring it myself, of course).  He reads a lot slower than me, so while he was working through the shorts, I of course had to re-read these two again since it had been a few months since Fire Season came out.  God I love treecats.

The Amaranth Enchantment, Julie Berry.  ISBN: 1599903342
(re-read)  August 8, 2013
YA (really JUV) fairy-tale-ish.  Lucinda's terrible life with her meanspirited Aunt and dishwater Uncle fractures almost instantly when the Lady Beryl, the Amaranth Witch, walks into Uncle's goldsmith shop.  Lucinda is a cipher of a character, and all of the fairy-tale tropes are followed to a T, including the "fairy" godmother, instant falling in love with the handsome prince, and a thief who isn't who he seems.  A strange and unexplained goat with dog-like characteristics is a puzzle, but that's the only odd note out of a story where every event (and person) is tied together into an intricate net of coincidences and interrelationships and causalities.  Pleasant enough while reading, the whole mess devolves into a multitude of thorny and irritating questions when thought about afterwards (where was the villain's guardian this whole time?)  (what is up with the goat?)  (why does the whole kingdom not know about a missing prince?) (why is everyone in the "other world" so damn selfish that poor Beryl has to get the shaft AGAIN?).  Pretty, but rather frustrating.

Short Reviews: July 2013. Last Days of an Immortal, Rocketeer Adventures, The Dance, Chloe and the Lion

Chloe and the Lion, Mac Barnett, illus Adam Rex.  ISBN: 9781423113348

July 25, 2013

Picture Book:  An interesting fourth-wall-demolishing foray into the conflicts and challenges in the picture book author vs illustrator relationship.  The story of Chloe and the lion that attacks her takes a backseat to the developing interpersonal drama between Mac and Adam when Adam decides that lions aren't impressive enough, and illustrates a dragon instead.  Mac tries to do without, but quickly realizes his talents do not lie in the drawing department.  Chloe assists, as does the lion, and everything ends happily ever after.

The Dance, Garry Smalley & Dan Walsh.  ISBN: 978-0800721480
July 10, 2013
Christian relationship-repair manual thinly disguised as fiction.  :)  The heroine has been trying to get her self-absorbed pompous insufferable husband to pay attention to her (and the kids) for their entire marriage.  Finally she gives up, and hopes that if she leaves home it will be the clue-by-four that he needs upside the head.  She takes dance lessons to feel happy, and he gets relationship counseling from an elderly lady, and everything's hunky-dory in about 150 pages and less than half-a-year.  

Rocketeer Adventures, Vol 1 and Vol 2, (various authors, various illustrators) IDW Publishing.
ISBN: 978-1613770344 & 978-1613774014
July 9, 2013
Graphic Novel.  Collected stand-alone tribute stories in the Rocketeer universe (which I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know was a popular and loved comic series before the movie (which I'm also somewhat ashamed to admit that I really do like) came out in 1991) after the passing of the creator Dave Stevens.  I liked the first volume better than the second, mainly due to the artwork.  The second, while populated with "big names" had a lot of really odd stylistic choices, and I find my preferred art to be really representational and as realistic as possible.  Personal choice.  Not having read the original comics, I can't say anything regarding the quality of the stories, but they were all fun, and all pulpy, and all independent of each other.

Last Days of an Immortal, Gwen De Bonneval & Fabian Vehlmann (translated from the French by Edward Gauvin).  ISBN: 978-1936393442
July 5, 2013
Graphic Novel.  If it wasn't for the clothing-optional human society, and the graphic (no pun intended) sex scenes (which didn't really have anything to do with the plot) I would have thought this was intended for younger readers.  It is VERY reminiscent of Asimov and early "philosophical" science-fiction.  I have to admit, I got more than a little confused by all of the "echoes" and wasn't entirely sure who was who at any given time, but that really didn't matter that much.  Weird but mentally stimulating.

Short Reviews: July 2013. Pirate Diary, Queen Victoria's Book of Spells, Dark Crystal Creation Myths

The Dark Crystal creation Myths, Vol 1 & Vol 2 (Vol 3 TBA), Brian Froud.
ISBN: 978-1936393008 & 978-1936393800
July 3, 2013
I love The Dark Crystal.  I know that makse me such a stereotypical child of the '80s, but I can't help it.  These two gorgeous hardcover books of graphic novelized "prequel" story are delightful reminders of the mystery and mystique of that strange world populated by such odd and entrancing creatures.  Can't find a release date for Volume 3 yet, and that makes me sad.  These are beautiful physical artifacts. 

Queen Victoria's Book of Spells, anthology collected by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling.  ISBN: 978-0765332271
July 2, 2013
Collection of 18 "gaslamp fantasies" set in Victoriana.
Authors: Dale Baile, Elizabeth Bear, James P. Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Theodora Goss, Leanna Renee Hieber, Kathe Koja, Ellen Kushner & Caroline Stevermer, Tanith Lee, Gregory Maguire, Maureen McHugh, Veronica Schanoes, Delia Sherman, Catherynne M. Valente, Genevieve Valentine, Kaaron Warren, Elizabeth Wein, Jane Yolen.
Highlights: Dale Bailey's Mr Splitfoot is about the sisters who popularized the spiritualist movement - very creepy.  Gregory Macguire's A Few Twigs He Left Behind is a sweet coda to the story of Mr Scrooge.  Ellen Kushner & Caroline Stevermer's The Importance of the Superficial is written entirely in letters, which was interesting and delightful to read.  Theodora Goss' Estella Saves the Village is a sweet excercise in recognizing and matching characters from actual Victorian and Edwardian literature (including Mr Holmes, who is MARRIED!).

Pirate Diary: The Journal of Jake Carpenter, Richard Platt (illus Chris Riddell).  ISBN: 0763608483
July 1, 2013
Illustrated oversize juv fiction.  Set in early 1700s, boy sets sail from Charleston, gets conscripted as a pirate (and has a better time as a pirate than as a sailor) and returns safely home again due to the Grace of King George.  Lashings, maroonings, amputations, and death, but no gore due to careful composition angles.  

Short Reviews: June 2013. Zita the Spacegirl, Hereville: Mirka, Garden Princess

Zita the Spacegirl: Far from Home (Book 1), &
Legends of Zita the Spacegirl (Book 2), Ben Hatke (author & illustrator)
ISBN: 978-1596436954 & ISBN: 978-1596438064
Summer 2011 & June 27, 2013
Juv Graphic Novel:  In the first installment, Zita jumps into a space portal to save her best friend from being sacrificed on a far-away world as a prophecy fortold, picking up a crew of random down-and-out lifeforms along the way.  In the second, a holographic recorder-bot sees a poster for the now-famous Zita, and impersonates her, while Zita gets branded a criminal in her attempts to rectify the situation.  BOTH EXELLENT, although book 2 gives short shrift to the backup characters from book 1, and sets Zita up to head off alone, so we may not get much of them in book 3 either, which is sad.

Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword (vol 1) and
How Mirka Met a Meteorite (vol 2), Barry Deutsch. 
ISBN: 978-0810984226, 978-1419703980
Spring 2011, June 26, 2013.
Juvenile Graphic Novel:  Odd little fairy-style stories with a kick-ass heroine that reminds me strongly of the Hale's Rapunzel's Revenge.  Orthodox Judaism does feature strongly, but it's less religious and more cultural.

Garden Princess, Kristin Kladstrup.  ISBN: 978-0763656850
June 26, 2013
Juvenile fantasy, "ordinary princess" style.  Adela isn't beautiful, and doesn't like to be "princessy" - she'd rather garden.  But when her very handsome friend and her equally beautiful step-sister get invited to a garden party by mysterious Lady Hortensia, Adela just has to come along to see the garden.  Hortensia is a HORRIBLE name, the story isn't too original, but - turning a thieving guest into a magpie and an "ordinary" princess into a dandelion is delicious, and the scenes of lovestruck courtiers failing miserably at housekeeping were hysterical. 

Short Reviews: June 2013. Unnatural Creatures, Movement of Stars, Dragonswood, Written in Red

Written in Red, Anne Bishop.  ISBN: 978-0451464965
June 25, 2013
Author is very lucky for Charles de Lint's blurb on the back, otherwise the cover and inital "Brief History of the World" would NOT have interested me enough to pick it up.  Oddly light in tone for the subject matter, only a few described scenes of torture/gore - everything else is insinuated.  Very little background on the main character and her past.  Interesting world, plot is standard "bunch of strong characters (mostly men) feel obligated to protect a persecuted innocent (usually a woman) to the death, despite cultural/historical/prejudical indications otherwise."  Characters engaging despite the plot.  Loved Winter, loved Grandfather, loved the ponies.

Dragonswood, Janet Lee Carey.  ISBN: 0803735049 (no ISBN13)
June 24, 2013
"Sequel" to Dragon's Keep, with very few characters in common.  (I have NOT read Dragon's Keep)  Tess regularly flees her abusive homelife into the forbidden forests; home to dragons, feykin, and witches.  She's eventually condemned as a witch, tortured, and flees with her friends into a fairly cliched story of huntsmen-cum-princes living in the woods, wise elder dragons, scheming fae, conniving "Prince John" councilors, and of course the requisite misunderstood prophecy.  Enjoyed the fleeing and huntsmen-hiding more than the climax, sadly.

The Movement of Stars, Amy Brill.  ISBN: 978-1594487446
June 16-22, 2013
Interesting fictionalized version of Maria Mitchell.  I was very interested in the Quaker trappings and the adherance to "Discipline" but wasn't able to find more information on that subject easily.  The love story was sweet, but very much out of place for those characters in that time-period, and that was jarring.  Very feminist, almost strident.  Good, but not exceedingly engaging.

Unnatural Creatures, (collected by) Neil Gaiman.  ISBN: 978-0062236296
June 16-22, 2013
Short stories (very old and very new) collected and introduced individually by Gaiman.  Exceedingly nice little collection, and very happy to see some older and lesser-known gems in the mix.  Can't pick a favorite, but Sunbird has stuck in my mind for over a week now.

Short Reviews: June 2013. Women of the Silk, Steadfast, One and Only, Bird King

The Bird King: an artist's notebook, Shaun Tan.  ISBN: 978-0545465137
June 16-22, 2013
A lovely little bound sketchbook of Tan's ideas and drawn ruminations and early/preliminary sketches from his other published works.  The man has a thing for people with bird heads, and his sceneries remind me of Bosch at times; creepy but really enthralling.  Makes me ache that I can't draw.

One and Only: The Freedom of Having an Only Child, and the Joy of Being One, Lauren Sandler.  ISBN: 978-1451626957
June 10-15, 2013
Nonfiction: Debunks bad press re: onlies, but admits that human perceptions reinforce stereotypes even if false.  Also notes that people tend to blame hardship on whatever differentiates themselves from others, so onlies blame their social or relationship problems on their only-child status.  Interesting read.

Steadfast, Mercedes Lackey.  ISBN: 978-0756408015
June 10-15, 2013
Elemental Masters (but just Magicians here) story, based on Steadfast Tin Soldier.  Overall Meh.  Pleasant read, no peril, no problems.  Nice dragon.

Women of the Silk, Gail Tsukiyama.  ISBN: 978-0312099435
June 3-7, 2013
Oddly flat, affectless telling of "extra" daughters in China sent into the silk factories on the eve of the Japanese invasion.  Despite the title, the silk factories not actually necessary to, or highlighted in the plot.  Read for possible research/background for my "mill girls" story.

Short Reviews: May 2013. Libriomancer & Disaster Diaries

Libriomancer, Jim C. Hines.  ISBN: 978-0756407391
May 2013
Urban fantasy.  Excellent story (I didn't even mind the fire-spider!) with an intriguing magical system based on the creative spark of fiction writers, and the power of the written (typed/inked/tattooed) word available to practitioners.  Awaiting a sequel (Codex Born)

The Disaster Diaries, Sam Sheridan.  ISBN - 9781594205279
May 2013
Funny trip through various unlikely apocalypsae, especially considered that they're all strung together into one single narrative, beginning with a mega-quake, proceeding through into a zombie infestation, escape from totalitarian government, into a desert wasteland road-warrior phase, then a Postman-like scenario, and finally into a nuclear winter.  The fictional narratives are fun and engaging, but they don't always point directly to the real-world lessons that the author learns or experiences.  I'm sure that trapping and tanning is important, but perhaps more so is orienteering, no?  Good companion to such books as the Zombie Survival Guide, but a bit hefty to make it into the Bug-Out Bag.  

Short Reviews: April 2013. The Vine Basket, Josanne La Valley

The Vine Basket, Josanne La Valley.  ISBN: 978-0547848013
April 2013
Interesting but emotionally flat tale of an ethnic-minority Chinese girl in northwestern China attempting to balance loyalty to the Party, the traditions of her own people, and the limitations on what daughters are good for.  Plot and characters alike could have been MUCH better with a stronger author.

Short Reviews: March 2013: Ashton Place Series, Pretty-Girl 13, Orleans, Freaks

Freaks, Kieran Larwood.  ISBN: 978-0545474245March 2013
Sheba is a wolf-girl raised as a side-show freak, and bought to join a troupe in London, joining a Strongman, a women with a strange connection to her rats, a monkey boy, and a mysterious ninja girl with cat eyes.  When a mudlark sneaks into the show, Sheba realizes life could always be worse.  Then the mudlark vanishes, and the poor desparate parents turn to the Freaks for help, or vengeance.  Set around the Great Exhibition.  Creepy villainess. 

Orleans, Sherri L. Smith.  ISBN: 978-0399252945
March 2013
YA virus/illness dystopia.  Fen lives in the quarantined former American states of Louisiana, Texas, and Florida.  She, like most other residents, suffers from an unspecified Fever that impacts different blood types differently.  Mainly an extended chase-escape narrative as Fen tries desperately to rescue an infant (an amazingly durable infant) from the hell she calls home.

Pretty Girl-13, Liz Coley.  ISBN: 978-0062127372
March 2013
YA psychological thriller.  Angie is kidnapped at age 13, and blocks the whole multi-year experience.  Relies heavily on psychobabble about DID/multiple personality syndrome.  Overly simplistic and lighthearted for a very complicated and traumatic real-life subject matter.

The Incorrigible Childern of Ashton Place, Maryrose Wood (series in progress)
The Mysterious Howling (ISBN: 978-0061791055) read 2010
The Hidden Gallery (ISBN: 978-0061791123) read 2011
The Unseen Guest (ISBN: 978-0061791185) read Spring 2013
Juv "manners" fiction, leaning fantastical.  Brilliant.  For everyone who likes the wordplay of Snicket but needs something a little less depressing.  Werewolves and feral children and governesses with copper hair and mysterious pasts.  Did I mention it was brilliant?

Short Reviews: February 2013. Scarlet, City of a Thousand Dolls

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicals 2), Marissa Meyer.  ISBN: 978-0312642969 
Feb. 2013 Love the covers on these books.  Sequel to Cinder, with lunar werewolves and a fiesty new girl to root for.  While I liked the lunar weres, having read Cinder, their "mystery" was a little on the obvious side.  The deviations from the standard fairy tale were stronger here, and I felt that the story was a little more adult (torture and death onscreen rather than off).  I'm not overly immersed in the characters, but I am VERY curious about the world.  


City of a Thousand Dolls, Miriam Forster.  ISBN: 978-0062121301 Feb. 2013 Juv fantasy set in a "magical" China-analogue.  Really wanted to like this, but severe flaws in plotting and tone just killed it right off.

Short Reviews: January 2013. Ironskin, Tina Connolly

Ironskin, Tina Connolly.  ISBN: 9780765330598

January 2013

YA: This book reminded me very strongly of Jenna Starborn, in that it really does quite simply take Jane Eyre, mess around with the setting, and let it fly again.  I enjoyed Jenna Starborn, and I did enjoy Ironskin also, but I do think that the world-building in the former was a little more realized.  There were some implications in this endeavor that weren't fully dealt with, and several others which were just left to hang unresolved.  

However!  While the setting in Jenna Starborn is pretty ho-hum Victoriana in space, THIS setting is really very interesting.  I would have LOVED to see an original story set in this world, rather than a re-hash of a classic.  I got the impression that a lot of thought had gone into creating an interesting concept for a world, and then when it came time to write a story - they choked up.  I totally understand that; I'm a worldbuilder, and a character writer myself, not a plotter.  But I do feel somewhat cheated that this really very interesting scenery and background was wasted on a watered down YA edition of Jane Eyre.  

A world in the twilight of an Empire powered by the stolen life-energy of the fae really deserves something a bit more original.

ETA: apparently there is now a sequel: Copperhead.

Masks, E. C. Blake

Masks, E. C. Blake
ISBN: 9780756407599
Read December 22, 2013

Fantasy: A pampered child of the magical aristocracy is shocked and challenged when her rite of passage goes horribly wrong, branding her a traitor and a threat to her magical, god-like ruler.

I like stories where magical implements (collars, masks, gloves, brands, diadems) are used as indicators of caste, class, or magical/mundane ability/profession.  Apparently, lots of other people do also, because they turn up all over the place.

In this iteration, the Masks are required in public for everyone over the age of 15, and they denote profession and magical talent through color, tint, and design.  Mara's father is a high-ranking Masker, and as his daughter, she's expected to inherit both his magical ability and his court position in due time.  Instead, the Masking goes horribly wrong, and Mara is thrown free of her society and the implied magical caste system it enforces.

I knew going in that this was going to be a series, and I hesitated, because first books often suffer from cliffhanger syndrome, but I read it anyway, and I'm glad I did.

I'm very fond of the worldbuilding so far, I'm deeply impressed with the thought taken in handling the implications of magic and Masking, and I finish the book finding myself not trusting anyone, not even Mara.  Pretty nifty.

The only real downside is that Mara is fast on the way to being a stereotypical "super magic girl" and while that doesn't HAVE to be badly done, it very rarely escapes that fate.  I'm hoping something will help ground her out or provide a magical counterbalance in the next book.

I do have to also say that while I do think that most authors ignore the necessary bodily functions in their epic fantasy quest narratives, the number and amount of mentions given to attending to the necessaries was a little amusing, but I don't think it was meant to be.

Portraits of Little Women (set 1 of 3), Susan Beth Pfeffer

Portraits of Little Women: Set 1: 
Meg's Story: ISBN:0385325207
Jo's Story: ISBN: 0385325231
Beth's Story: ISBN: 0385325266
Amy's Story: ISBN: 0385325290
Susan Beth Pfeffer
Read December 15-18

Fiction: Pfeffer has written a set of "prequels" to Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott.  This is a set of three series, each comprising four books featuring each of the four sisters of the March family when they are 10 years old.   This set of Portraits is the first.  The second set of Portraits are Meg/Jo/Beth/Amy Makes a Friend, and I'm gathering them together for a read now.   After that, I'll find and read the final set: A Gift for Meg/Jo/Beth/Amy.  These books are so far very similar in design to the American Girl books, but seem to be a bit shorter.

Meg is invited to a picnic hosted by a wealthy (and somewhat snobbish) neighbor, but when a family emergency calls the housekeeper away, Meg has to babysit her younger siblings - instead of going to the picnic.  Always levelheaded, Meg contrives to watch the girls AND go to the picnic, and learns a few lessons about pride and kindness.

Jo overhears her Aunt March offering to adopt one of the March girls and keep her as a companion, to relieve some of the financial strain on their parents.  In a fit of filial duty, Jo prepares for the theatrical role of a lifetime; a womanly, submissive, and patient companion to her irascible aunt.

Beth is treated to the trip of a lifetime, going to New York with her parents.  There the shy Beth blossoms, surrounded by culture and beauty.  She also meets a quite famous personage, but when she returns home, even her sisters disbelieve her adventures.

Amy is delighted when a photographer sets up shop in town.  A real photograph, to forever immortalize her beauty, is just what she's always wanted.  But photography is expensive, and Father's just been called away to support the Union Army as a Chaplain.  Will Amy's good heart win out over her superficially selfish nature?

Nothing earth-shattering here, but excellent "clean reads" especially useful for a precocious reader, and fun little tidbits to build anticipation of reading Little Women itself, either solo or as a bedtime serial.

On Writing, Stephen King

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
Stephen King
ISBN: 0684853523
Read December 15, 2013

Nonfiction: personal and professional memoir of author Stephen King.

I have had this book on my To-Read list forever it seems, and finally decided to pick it up.  I don't know that I feel the same way about plot (he doesn't like the idea of plotting) and I'm not sure that I'm right there with him on "excavating" existing story ideas, like revealing the David hidden inside the marble.  However, those two little personal approaches aside, he has presented an excellent and compulsively readable treatise.

He's also presented a fairly intimate portrait of himself, and I was a bit shocked at the forthright nature of his confessions of drug and alcohol abuse.  Him including a biography of sorts wasn't necessary to the theme, and I thought it was very brave and open of him to do so, in the hopes that background information would help to make the advice ring more true.

When I put a book to the side for a long time, especially if it's one that I have expectations about, I'm often disappointed when I finally get round to it.  This time, I wasn't let down in the least, and instead, I'm heading into the holidays with a more determined attitude towards my own creative outlets and my commitments to them.

Stand Straight Ella Kate, Kate and M. Sarah Klise

Stand Straight, Ella Kate: The True Story of a Real Giant, Kate and M. Sarah Klise
ISBN: 9780803734043
Read December 2, 2013

Picture Book (SC Picture Book Award Winner for 2012-2013)

Ella Kate was perfectly normal, until she turned seven.  After that, she grew at an astonishing rate, eventually topping out at 8'4" with size 24 shoes.

Beginning at age 17, she took her unusual height and used it to make a profit, working for a Chicago museum of oddities and making $1000 in a single month (which is an INSANE amount of money for anyone in 1890, let alone a 17 year old girl).

She got a taste of the wide world outside her small-town plains homestead, and continued touring for almost 20 years before her death at age 40.

The illustrations by Sarah Klise are deceptively simple - the expressions on the faces are spot-on and the body language is likewise quite deft for the otherwise flat "naive" illustrations.  Perhaps the most interesting part of the book is the endpapers, where various factoids about Ella Kate are illustrated and recorded - everything from a full-size recreation of a glove, to her shoe-size, to the height of her dresser.

The story is told straightforwardly, with no extra sentimentality or excess, which I think well-suits what we're shown of Ella Kate's actual character.  The story wisely ends with her on tour, planning to see as much of the world as possible, leaving it to the nonfiction coda (complete with an actual photograph) to tell about the end of her life.

Excellent for storytime, or for kids interested in "larger than life" folklore heroes or fairy-tale giants.

Curtsies & Conspiracies, Gail Carriger

Curtsies & Conspiracies, Gail Carriger

ISBN: 9780316190114

Read November 6, 2013

YA Fantasy: Finishing School Book 2 (After Etiquette & Espionage) related to the Soulless series.

Excellent installment, and even better than the first (which I thought was a bit weak, compared to Soulless).  Sophronia is finishing up her second term of her debut year at the dirigible-housed mock-Finishing School for young ladies of espionage.  Her mid-term grades are excellent, but she's been shunned by the entire student body because of them.  No worries - she's got plenty to keep her occupied: the Sooties (especially Soap), the invasion of a deployment of Apprentice Evil Genusi from their opposing school (especially Felix, Lord Mersey, he of the unfortunate cut during the climactic dance in E&E), and the interesting question of the crystal relay that Veive is working on in secret, and several of the professors are involved in - even more secretly!

Wheels upon wheels turn rapidly, and there are many more parties involved in the action this time around, which makes for occasional confusions.  However all is forgiven by the appearance of a certain foppish rove vampire who shall remain nameless for the purposes of avoiding unnecessary spoilers.  

Needless to say, this series is delightful, and I'm glad that Carriger has upped her game so nicely for the YA set.

Still Star-Crossed, Melinda Taub

Still Star-Crossed, Melinda Taub
ISBN: 9780385743501
Read November 24, 2013

YA: "sequel" to Romeo and Juliet, in Shakespearean English, in the style of Much Ado About Nothing.

Confession time: I didn't ever get to be a typical teenager.  Crap went down in my life starting around age 10, and pretty much that whole next decade was a total write-off.  So I have to admit that I've always been slightly amused and bemused by Romeo and Juliet - I never got to have that sort of experience in my own life, and I couldn't understand how they could be so stupid and so passionate while they were so young and naive.  Even now, having had boyfriends and a husband, I still don't understand that very particular type of passionate teen crush.  Because of that, Romeo and Juliet is one of my least-favorite plays.  Now, that said, I love Shakespeare with a passion, so even my least-favorite play isn't bad, I just never really sympathized with the protagonists.

So I was a bit trepidatious when this one came across my desk.  "Oh God," I thought, "it wasn't messy and passionate and stupid enough, here's round two!"  But, reader, I was WRONG.

Oh yeah, it is a sequel, and it does deal with Benvolio and Rosaline, Montague and Capulet, but it's much more a comedy of errors than a tragedy.  Now, don't get me wrong, people are going to die, but that's pretty much a given in a Shakespeare play anyway.

It's written in novel form, in beautiful formal English (soooo wonderful to see in a YA book, you can't even imagine) and the characters are perfectly matched against each other.  There's madness and ambition and love and snarky comebacks and it really is pretty much perfect.  Very Princess Bride.  Almost enough to make me like Romeo and Juliet itself just a little bit more.

Cat Sense, John Bradshaw

Cat Sense: How the New Feline Science Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet, John Bradshaw
ISBN: 9780465031016
Read November 23, 2013

Nonfiction: Cat behavior.

The author has a particular point to make, and he's not shy about making it over and over and over again - cats have done really well so far to keep up with changing expectations, but we're moving too fast for them to keep up without us beginning to purposefully breed for behavior and attitude, like we do with dogs.

Whether his point will make an impact on the larger cat-breeding societies, who knows, but I for one think that he's right.

Besides his overall axe, he does present some really good studies (footnoted and bibliographied) showing cat ancestry, the history of wild cats, the archaeological evidence for cat-human interactions (scanty though it is) and then on into modern cat genetics.

There was also a decent section discussing training cats (yes it can be done) and talking about the variations in personality that have been noted in different breeds, and for different coat-colors.  He uses that of course as a springboard back to his grinding, but again, it's a solid point, and if the spay/neuter/indoor cat movement catches on worldwide, the cat population will be solidly in the hands of cat breeders, who right now seem much more interested in splashy coats and "wild" ancestry (the wild-domestic blends that are causing so many owners havoc now because they aren't tame cats) than in producing cats that can live indoors, in small habitats (apartment-sized) shared with other pets, especially other cats.

Right now, that's something the cat isn't really great at - it's up to us to help them make it as a modern pet.

The Truesight Trilogy, David Stahler Jr.

Truesight Trilogy, David Stahler Jr.
1) Truesight: ISBN: 0060522852
2) The Seer: ISBN: 9780060522889
3) Otherspace: ISBN: 9780060522919

Juv/YA science fiction: a boy escapes from a repressive society where sight is blamed for the ills of humanity.

I'm glad that I'm reviewing these as a whole, because I have to say that the first is the weakest of the bunch, and as a standalone, you're really just better off re-reading The Giver again.  However, because it sets up the next two, which are much more interesting, it does become worth it.

In Truesight, Jacob's friend Delaney is a rebel.  Their society is made up of blind people - most genetically altered, but some voluntarily blinding themselves to join.  Her father is the head of their isolated, communal society, but she isn't happy there.  She wants more - she wants to SEE.  Jacob doesn't care about any of that, he's just worried what the community will assign him as his career.  Until the headaches that he has been getting regularly are joined by a dull grey blur, which slowly resolves into true sight.  While he's hiding this horrific secret, Delaney finally pushes her father too far, and she's reported as a suicide.  Jacob is the last to (literally) see her beforehand, but he doesn't have time to worry about that - his secret is too hot to keep, and now his community is demanding that he go under the knife to lose his sight.  Suddenly, Jacob has to make a very hard choice between the life he always thought he knew, and the life he now knows is real, because he's seen it with his own eyes.

In The Seer, provincial community is left far behind as both Jacob and Delaney navigate the world of the seeing, trying to figure out a place where they fit in, and where they won't be exploited or returned home.  Delaney especially has a rough time of it, as her musical aptitude make her the perfect target for unscrupulous media moguls.  Jacob pledged to help her, but he's being more and more distracted by headaches, visions, and a strange choral voice in his head, pleading with him to come and find them.  Is Jacob's sight a blessing or a curse?

In Otherspace, Jacob is off on his own, finally trying to solve the mystery of the voices in his head.  He partners with a space captain, and tries to hide from an enigmatic and threatening stranger who seems to be stalking him, meeting up with witches and seers, and facing both unexpected betrayal and the promise of a new home after all hope is lost.

None of these books truly stand alone as decent reads, but together they make a nice little space-age fable about acceptance, understanding, friendship, and finding your own path in the world.

A solid "middle grade" read, this set would also be quite good for younger adept readers who have mastered The Giver or The House of Stairs, and want more mental/psychological puzzles to occupy themselves.

  

Wednesdays at the Castle, Jessica Day George

Wednesdays at the Castle, Jessica Day George
ISBN: 9781599906454
Read November 21, 2013
Juv: Sequel to Tuesdays at the Castle

Argh!  Cliffhangers!

Also griffins, which mollifies me a bit.  But really?  After such a beautiful first self-contained book, a cliffhanger?  Hmph.>

Attempting to put that aside, I still love everyone, from Celie herself, her lovely family, to Prince Lulath (he's so delightful, he reminds me of Lord Akeldama from Carriger's Parasol Protectorate and Finishing School series.  LOVE them both) and the oddly-proportioned visiting Wizard.  Characterization remains a really strong point for this writer.

The Castle is acting hinky all of a sudden, but Celie's up to her eyebrows with a new responsibility that the Castle is determined should be kept VERY SECRET.  Those two seemingly disparate events of course are symptoms of a greater problem, but there we get back to my distress at the CLIFFHANGER ENDING.

The next in line, Thursdays... is planned for spring of 2014, so hopefully not too long a wait.  Still, a bit of a peeve for me.

Mister Seahorse, Eric Carle

Mister Seahorse, Eric Carle
ISBN: 0399242694Read November 20, 2013

Picture Book: nonfiction-esque meet-and-greet following Mr Seahorse as he encounters other daddy sea creatures while he parents his own offspring.


I really like this book.  Not as much as his classics like The Grouchy Ladybug, but this one is really nice.  Why?  It focuses on FATHERS.  Do you know how hard it is to find a good fatherhood book that isn't maudlin or sappy or trite or tired or actually an "issues" book in disguise (meaning "this book is about fatherhood BUT REALLY it's about divorce and adjusting to a single parent household" or "this book is about fatherhood BUT REALLY it's about the importance of fathers even if they are currently in jail" type books).

This one is just what it purports to be: a seahorse father, and a whole passel of other sea creature fathers, all keeping their children (mostly in egg form) in various odd ways.

One niggle: one of the fishies refers to watching over his own children as "babysitting" which is really a hot button phrase these days, so if that bugs you, either avoid or expect to rephrase.  

For themed use (read: Storytimes) I'm going to pair this one up with Teri Sloat's I'm a Duck! which avoids being trite or maudlin through beautiful expressive use of language, and sweet but not too cutesy rough-edged illustrations that follow the life-cycle of a mallard from hatching to parenthood.