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Welcome, one and all, to our NIGHT STUDY blog tour post! Read on to find out more about the sequel to SHADOW STUDY, including an interview with author Maria V. Snyder, and a giveaway (open internationally)!
Ever since being kidnapped from the Illiais Jungle as a child, Yelena Zaltana's life has been fraught with peril. But the recent loss of her Soulfinding abilities has endangered her more than ever before. As she desperately searches for a way to reclaim her magic, her enemies are closing in, and neither Ixia nor Sitia is safe for her anymore. Especially since the growing discord between the two countries and the possibility of a war threatens everything Yelena holds dear.
Valek is determined to protect Yelena, but he's quickly running out of options. The Commander suspects that his loyalties are divided, and he's been keeping secrets from Valek... secrets that put him, Yelena and all their friends in terrible danger. As they uncover the various layers of the Commander's mysterious plans, they realize it's far more sinister than they could have ever imagined.
When Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. She survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia.
Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands—and protect her relationship with Valek.
Suddenly, though, dissent is rising. And Valek’s job—and his life—are in danger.
As Yelena tries to uncover her enemies, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked.And now she must find a way to keep not only herself but all that she holds dear alive.
About the Author
Maria V. Snyder changed from being a meteorologist to a novelist in 1995, when she began writing to keep her sanity while raising two children. Since then, she has published numerous freelance articles in magazines and newspapers, and teaches fiction-writing classes at the local college and area libraries. The classes give her the wonderful opportunity to encourage fellow writers, and to keep improving her craft.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Maria always had a fascination with big storms. Dreaming of chasing tornados, Maria earned a bachelors of science degree in meteorology at Penn State University. But she discovered, much to her chagrin, that forecasting the weather wasn't one of her skills. In order to chase tornados you had to predict where they might form. Creating fantasy worlds where she has complete control of the weather was more agreeable to her.
Maria's research on food-tasting methods with an expert chocolate taster, her husband, turned out to be a delicious bonus while writing Poison Study.
Maria has a brown belt in Isshinryu Karate, and enjoys playing volleyball and the cello. Traveling in general and via cruise ship in particular are her biggest distractions from writing. Maria has traveled to Belize, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal.
Maria lives with her husband, son, daughter and yellow lab, Hazelnut, in Pennsylvania where she is at work on more LUNA novels. She also earned a master's degree in writing fiction from Seton Hill University.
Readers are welcome to contact Maria at the following email address: [email protected].
RNSL: The world of the Study series is so deep and wide now, how do you keep the details (about characters, plot, etc.) straight?
MVS: I have a couple things I do to help me keep all the details organized. For each of my novels, I have an old fashioned notebook where I write down all those details for the book, including the story's timeline and all my research notes. I also have an Excel spreadsheet that has details for all my characters from the books. That spreadsheet is a wonderful resource. I can't take any credit for that as Natalie, one of my readers, put it together for me. She also did one for each of my other series as well! The last thing I do is just refer back to the book. I keep a copy of all my books next to my computer.
RNSL: Authors are so connected to social media now. How much do you let fan reactions affect the decisions you make when you write?
MVS: I really enjoy interacting with my readers, but I let the story develop without worrying about their reactions. However, I do think about them when I'm writing. I smile and think, “Oh, they're going to love this.” Or “I hope they don't kill me over this.” :) And I did write more Study books for them.
RNSL: From your first book to this one (your 14th novel!), has your writing style or method changed, and how?
MVS: I don't think my style has changed, but I have started writing from multiple POVs in my books and doing third person because I wanted a challenge and I really like showing what's going on with the other characters in the books. My method is about the same. I still use the notebooks. However, when my kids were little, I wrote when they were at school. Now, I write at night and love it.
RNSL: We love hearing about the things that inspire you from the real world that end up in your Ixia/Sitia stories. Has Night Study added any new hobbies or interests to your list?
MVS: I've learned quite a bit about plants, including cross breeding and grafting techniques for Night Study. It's doubtful the knowledge will help me as all my attempts to grow green things has resulted in failure.
RNSL: What's your preferred writing fuel right now?
MVS: Decaffeinated English Breakfast tea for when I'm writing and then, if I hit my word count for the evening, a glass of red wine to celebrate.
RNSL: You dropped the biggest bombshell at the end of Shadow Study! Do you think it accomplished what you set out to do?
MVS: I knew I wanted to reveal that bombshell near the end of the novel. I really didn't plan to make it the very last line, but when I reached that point in the story, it felt right. And I think it was fun for my readers since it's not quite a cliff-hanger—the main plot/story was resolved, but it gave them something they'd been hoping for and something to think about while waiting for Night Study.
RNSL: Will the next Study book be the last, and if so, how do you feel about the series ending/rolling along?
MVS: Dawn Study will be the last for Yelena and Valek. Yelena's journey was the focus of the first three books and these new ones are a bit more focused on Valek's journey. And that's a good thing—I think writing more about them I would have to raise the stakes so much it would be like “jumping the shark.” There are a few characters—Reema, Teegan, Fisk, Heli, and Quinn—that I would like to explore more and might write a few books about them—no plans yet as I usually like a break and a chance to do something new before I return to a world.
RNSL: The cover changes in tone from Shadow Study to Night Study--I like them both, but prefer the direction Night Study is going in. Can you discuss the changes?
MVS: Yes I can! The reason is I had more input into Night Study's cover! I expressed my concerns about Shadow Study's US cover to my new editor—I really wished they hadn't put a model on the cover—not that she wasn't beautiful, but her makeup was so over the top, it appeared as if she had a black eye! So when they were designing Night Study, I was able to give the art department more feedback.
RNSL: Were there any other book or series ideas percolating while you worked on Night Study? If you can't share details, can you discuss what it's like for you to have multiple ideas vying for attention?
MVS: I generally concentrate on one book or story at a time—I can't work on a short story in the afternoon and a novel at night. I have to stop one to work on another. However, I do get ideas and I write them down when they come to me. When I have time between projects, I explore those ideas. Right now I don't have any set plans for what's next, which is kind of scary! I have three different novel ideas and I'll see which one of those my publisher will be interested in (if any!).
Giveaway Details
6 Winners will receive a finished copy of NIGHT STUDY, US Only.
4 winners will receive a finished copy of NIGHT STUDY, International.
I have something a little different for you today--two adult gift books--prizing/samples provided by Penguin Random House.
First, you should know that both books are based off of Tumblr. I love Tumblr. I also love both of these specific Tumblrs, though I was only familiar with the second one before this.
The first one is a little serious, which would be great for someone who loves words and photographs: All the Words Are Yours: Haiku on Love by Tyler Knott Gregson.
Every day for the past six years, Tyler Knott Gregson has written a simple haiku about love, and posted it online. These heartfelt poems have attracted a large and loyal following around the world. This highly anticipated follow-up to Chasers of the Light, presents Tyler’s favorites, some previously unpublished, accompanied by his signature photographs, which capture the rich texture of daily life.
This vibrant collection reveals the intimate reflections of one of poetry’s most popular new voices — honest, vulnerable, generous, and truly present in the gift that is each moment.
Some will calm, some will soothe, some will arouse desire. You definitely don't want to mail the whole book to your mother. Actually, probably 80% you wouldn't want to discuss with her unless you have a very, very, very comfortable relationship.
This is definitely something you want to give to someone you love love.
Now we move on to my favorite of the two: Men & Cats by Marie-Eva Gatuingt & Alice Chaygneaud.
Now, this your mom might enjoy. Assuming she likes scantily clad men. And cute cats.
About the book
A brilliant collection of photographs that brings together two of the world’s favorite things: hot men and cute kittens.
Based on the chic French Tumblr Des Hommes et des Chatons, Men & Cats presents an original collection of 50 pairs of sexy men and adorable cats. Each clever match-up shows a heartthrob posing alongside a cat in a similar pose or with a similar expression. Not sure if you want to look at sexy men or cute cats? With this book, you don’t have to choose.
But, before you visit Des Hommes et des Chatons on Tumblr, I have to warn you some of the pics may be NSFW. Here are some of the more tame ones (i.e. they've mostly got clothes on):
Can't promise you these are all in the book. Actually on second glance *flips through entire book again* Yup. Nope. None of these are in the book. But you get the picture, don't you?
No purchase is necessary to enter a giveaway. Void where prohibited.
We are not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged items.
One set of entries per household please.
If you are under 13, please get a parent or guardian's permission to enter, as you will be sharing personal info such as an email address. Actually TBH for this one, you probably should be significantly older than 13. I'm just saying.
Winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter widget a day or two after the contest ends.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to to the email, otherwise we will pick a new winner.
If you have any questions, feel free to email us at [email protected]
PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANY PERSONAL INFO IN THE COMMENTS. Sorry for the caps, but we always get people leaving their email in the comments. Rafflecopter will collect all that without having personal info in the comments for all the world (and spambots) to find.
In anticipation of the 10th anniversary of POISON STUDY by Maria V. Snyder, we’re hosting a read-along! The read-along will take place from October 1st-31st and we will be reading a few chapters a week--see the schedule below. This is a great opportunity for those of us that are hardcore fans of the series to re-read the book and for those of you that have been wanting to read the book to finally do it!
Those of you who know me well know that Maria V. Snyder was instrumental in encouraging me to write about and promote books and literacy. I can just lose myself in the action and emotion of the books she writes. They really transport me to another world. I hope you decide to come along for a ride!
We have some amazing bloggers helping host the read-along. You can participate and follow along on any of their blogs!
1. Just sign up in the Linky below and let us know you’re participating! (During the read-along you will be able to add your blog posts to a Rafflecopter for a chance to win one of the awesome giveaway prizes!) 2. Post once a week during the month of October (preferably on Friday or Saturday). The post can be about anything you’ve read that week. 3. Join the conversation on Twitter. There will be no set times, just tweet when the mood strikes, using the hashtag #PoisonStudyReadAlong
Maria will be hosting an open Q&A session on her Poison Study 10 Year Celebration Facebook Page, so if you have questions for her while reading head on over there! The characters from POISON STUDY will also be answering questions there, so feel free to stop by and ask Yelena, Valek, Ari, Janco - or anyone else you meet in POISON STUDY - anything you’d like to know. Maria will also be posting links to her website where she’ll be sharing chapter notes and hosting an exclusive giveaway!
The read-along schedule
October 4th-10th: Chapters 1-8 October 11th-17th: Chapters 9-17 October 18th-24th: Chapters 18-25 October 25th-31st: Chapters 26-32 and closing post
The giveaway
In conjunction with the read-along there will also be a blog tour the first two weeks of October. The read-along and blog tour will hosting the same amazing “10 prizes for 10 years” giveaway, and some of these prizes are very, very rare!
If you do not have a copy of the book, you can grab it at any book retailer. Links to where you can find it for purchase online are below.
About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered an extraordinary reprieve. She’ll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace—and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia.
And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly’s Dust—and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison.
As Yelena tries to escape her new dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and Yelena develops magical powers she can’t control. Her life is threatened again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear...
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Thanks to Ace for including us in the blog tour for Sylvia Izzo Hunter's Lady of Magick! Review copy and giveaway book are provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Read on for more information!
I really loved The Midnight Queen, Sylvia Izzo Hunter's deliciously wordy compote of Tudor alternate history stewed in a heady mix of magic and romance. Please note, if you haven't read the first book, the About section and review of the sequel contains unavoidable spoilers. If you don't wish to read spoilers, skip down to the giveaway.
About the Book
Sylvia Izzo Hunter brought “both rural Brittany and an alternative Regency England to vivid life”* in The Midnight Queen, her debut novel of history, magic, and myth. Now, in her new Noctis Magicae novel, Sophie and Gray Marshall are ensnared in an arcane plot that threatens to undo them both.
In her second year of studies at Merlin College, Oxford, Sophie Marshall is feeling alienated among fellow students who fail to welcome a woman to their ranks. So when her husband, Gray, is invited north as a visiting lecturer at the University in Din Edin, they leap at the chance. There, Sophie’s hunger for magical knowledge can finally be nourished. But soon, Sophie must put her newly learned skills to the test.
Sophie returns home one day to find a note from Gray—he’s been summoned urgently to London. But when he doesn’t return, and none of her spells can find a trace of him, she realizes something sinister has befallen him. With the help of her sister, Joanna, she delves into Gray’s disappearance, and soon finds herself in a web of magick and intrigue that threatens not just Gray, but the entire kingdom.
*National Bestselling Author Juliet Marillier
Alethea's Review
Fans of fantasy and romance need look no further than Sylvia Izzo Hunter's Lady of Magick for an entertaining read full of royal intrigue, daringly disobedient young ladies, and regional politics. When her husband Gray is invited to a foreign university as a guest lecturer, twenty-year-old Sophie Marshall (the recently reinstated "Lost" Princess Royal of England, Edith Augusta) rejoices, having heard that unlike Merlin, her current Oxford college, the Alban magic schools treat women no differently than men in terms of what they are allowed and expected to do. Tensions between Alba and England are at a low boil, but eventually she and Gray are granted leave to go abroad. At least she can rely on her wits and magick (and a pair of her father's undercover agents) to keep her royal identity relatively under wraps.
When an alliance is announced between their heir and an English prince, the news kicks off protests and unrest in Alba. Determined to stick it out to the end of the school year at least, Sophie relies on new friends to help her and Gray stay safe while continuing their teaching and studies. Meanwhile in London, Joanna, as an aide to Gray's brother-in-law Lord Kergabet, tries to juggle discretion in her work with the desire to keep her sister safely informed of problems looming on the horizon. Things take a turn for the worse when Gray is kidnapped, and a conspiracy starts to emerge signaling that mounting political pressures are about to erupt.
I adore the relationship between Sophie and Gray, as for all their newly-weddedness, they're rarely precious. They have interests and friends besides each other, but manage to balance those priorities with more pressing matters, like, say, the fate of several kingdoms. Those looking for clean-ish reads will appreciate Hunter's fade-to-black approach to love scenes. (And may I remind you that they're husband and wife?) That said, the novel isn't solely focused on heterosexual relationships, but introduces platonic and homosexual ones as well, however some of the latter may as yet be unexplored. I suspect we'll find out more about it in the next book (I sure hope there's a next book!)
Hunter manages to take a fairly frivolous first impression (young marrieds study magic abroad) and turn it into a thoughtful, brilliant tapestry, adding depth and a layer of seriousness to what could have been a purely escapist yarn. The author also does a credible job of weaving the intricate threads of world-building and characterization to produce a substantial, yet still thoroughly diverting tale of drawing rooms, state lines, family ties, and ancient power.
Sylvia Izzo Hunter was born in Calgary, Alberta, but now lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter. Visit her online at http://sylviaizzohunter.ca or on Twitter at @sylviawritesthings.
Giveaway Time!
Win Sylvia Izzo Hunter's Lady of Magick. Prize provided by the publisher. If you comment on the post, Alethea will throw in a copy of The Midnight Queen (or another paperback if you say you already have it!) if you are chosen as the winner!
Please use the hashtags #LadyofMagick and #ad if you tweet. Just enter with the Rafflecopter widget below!
Open to US, ends 9/18/2015.
No purchase is necessary to enter a giveaway. Void where prohibited.
We and the publisher are not responsible for lost, stolen, or damaged items.
One set of entries per household please.
If you are under 13, please get a parent or guardian's permission to enter, as you will be sharing personal info such as an email address.
Winner will be chosen randomly via Rafflecopter widget a day or two after the contest ends.
Winner will have 48 hours to respond to to the email, otherwise we will pick a new winner.
If you have any questions, feel free to email us at [email protected]
PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE ANY PERSONAL INFO IN THE COMMENTS. Sorry for the caps, but we always get people leaving their email in the comments. Rafflecopter will collect all that without having personal info in the comments for all the world (and spambots) to find.
I picked up the adult novel 2 A.M. at The Cat's Pajamas by Marie-Helene Bertino because the flap copy begins "Madeleine Altimari is a smart-mouthed, rebellious nine-year-old who also happens to be an aspiring jazz singer."
As my faithful readers are well aware, I enjoy reading adult fiction with child main characters. I liked The Cat's Pajamas a great deal. However, because Madeline is one of three main characters (it's an episodic book that you may have to be kind of zenny to get into--and I am) and the other two are adults, I can't say this is really an adult book with a child main character. (Wait. Pedro gets a lot of time, so maybe there are four main characters. Pedro is a dog.)
Why am I mentioning this book at all, then? Because of this wonderful passage:
"Madeline has no friends: Not because she contains a tender grace that fifth graders detect and loath. Not because she has a natural ability that points her starward, though she does. Madeline has no friends because she is a jerk."
I finished that last line and thought, Why don't I see things like this in kids' books? Wouldn't child readers appreciate this kind of observation?
0 Comments on Here's Something I Don't See In Many Children's Books as of 1/1/1900
You guys! I am so excited. You can't even imagine.
I remember the first time the name "Maria V. Snyder" registered in my brain. All these calls had been coming in to the store (formerly Borders Glendale, may it rest in peace) for a book called Fire Study. Well, all our copies sold out the first Tuesday they were on sale, and it just made me wonder--what the heck? It was the third book in a fantasy trilogy and I'd never heard of it before, which was unusual because I was usually all over the sci-fi/fantasy section.
I went home with the first book that night, read through to morning, went to work, bought the second book (the third book was sold out at that point, so I had to order it), then went home "sick" because at that point I had been awake for two days, read some more, and I don't even remember what happened the next day because I probably blacked out, haha! (And yes, this is the origin story of my blog name).
So I'm happy to be part of the blog tour for the 4th Study book--technically, the first book of the Soulfinders series--Shadow Study. Read on for a description, my review, and an international giveaway (there will be 10 winners! you don't want to miss this!)
Note: No spoilers in this review, but if you haven't read the original trilogy starting with Poison Study, you may be a little confused. I'll be revealing things that sound like they might be spoilers, but they happen in the first few chapters of Shadow Study and are mentioned in the synopsis. So read at your own risk!
Okay, okay--truth. This was not a true Stay-Up-All-Night rating, in that I read Shadow Study over a couple of weeks in little fits and starts, instead of a night-long binge-read resulting in calling out sick the next day. This happened because I have a day job, and I'd like to keep that day job. There are also little things like chores, errands, general hygiene (why does proper dental care take so long?), classes, and commuting that take up my time. I would sneak little bits of it here and there. So yeah, I did put it down for many hours at a time. But I really didn't want to.
Maria V. Snyder fans had been clamoring for a continuation to the Study series set in Ixia/Sitia for years. And boy, did we get it. Yelena, everyone's favorite Soulfinder and ex-poison taster, is back--except someone has poisoned her and somehow taken away her magic. Uh-oh.
True to form, Snyder's story splits Yelena from her heartmate, Valek, as he returns to Ixia to sort out some shady business--smuggling, skullduggery, and a young upstart assassin who's after his job. Yelena, meanwhile, tries to find a cure for her condition, made extra tricky by the need to keep the loss of her powers a secret. If Study Series fans know anything, it's that everything will get much, much worse before they get any better.
At least, neither of our protagonists is truly alone in their endeavors: fan favorites Ari and Janco from Valek's elite forces are back, as well as the intrepid, street-smart Fisk and Yelena's brother, Leif, to provide support and the usual shenanigans. Opal from the Glass Series plays a part as well--as do many, many other characters from previous books. Halfway through, I was wishing for a dramatis personae since it's been a few years since I read the Study books over again.
As the unknown villains continue to evade them, more questions than answers crop up: why did the Sitian Council not warn Yelena that a powerful magician escaped from prison? Would the Commander welcome Yelena back to Ixia if he found out she no longer had magical abilities? How are smugglers getting past Valek's usually whip-smart security forces?
Hardcore fans are in for a treat with the beginning of the Soulfinders series, but new readers should probably go back and read the first three books (completionists will also want to read Opal's series and all of the free novellas before attempting Shadow Study). Those who've persevered will be rewarded with an action-packed spinoff series including--gasp!--flashbacks to Valek's training days, when people would call him "Kingkiller" only in jest.
Once again, Snyder leaves readers on the edge of their seats, and will leave them craving more.
New York Times bestselling author Maria V. Snyder wowed readers with Poison Study, the unforgettable story of poison taster Yelena. Now she's back with a new tale of intrigue.
Once, only her own life hung in the balance…
Oddly enough, when Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. But she'd survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia. Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands—and protect her relationship with Valek.
Suddenly, though, they are beset on all sides by those vying for power through politics and intrigue. Valek's job and his life are in danger. As Yelena tries to uncover the scope of these plots, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked. She must keep that a secret—or her enemies will discover just how vulnerable she really is—while searching for who or what is responsible for neutralizing her powers.
Yes, the days of tasting poisons were much simpler. And certainly not as dangerous…
Praise
"After years of clamoring, fans of Snyder's awesome Study series are about to be rewarded with a new adventure featuring former poison taster turned Soulfinder Yelena Zaltana. Snyder's complex world and rich characterization are what have made this series so unforgettable, and she doesn't miss a beat in this new installment. Having Yelena, Valek, Ari, Janco and the rest back is pure reading pleasure!" 4.5 stars, March 2015 ~ RT Book Reviews on Shadow Study
"Doing full justice to the plot of this original and entertaining epic fantasy is impossible. Suffice it to say that the action is nonstop. The many characters leap to life, particularly Yelena, whose first-person narrative is riveting." ~ RT Book Reviews on Fire Study
About the author
Maria V. Snyder changed from being a meteorologist to a novelist in 1995, when she began writing to keep her sanity while raising two children. Since then, she has published numerous freelance articles in magazines and newspapers, and teaches fiction-writing classes at the local college and area libraries. The classes give her the wonderful opportunity to encourage fellow writers, and to keep improving her craft.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Maria always had a fascination with big storms. Dreaming of chasing tornados, Maria earned a bachelors of science degree in meteorology at Penn State University. But she discovered, much to her chagrin, that forecasting the weather wasn't one of her skills. In order to chase tornados you had to predict where they might form. Creating fantasy worlds where she has complete control of the weather was more agreeable to her.
Writing proved to be more enjoyable than meteorology, and Maria returned to school to earn a Master of Arts degree in fiction writing from Seton Hill University. Unable to part company with Seton Hill and its wonderful writing program, Maria is currently a teacher and mentor for the MFA program.
Maria's research on food-tasting methods with an expert chocolate taster, her husband, turned out to be a delicious bonus while writing Poison Study.
Maria has a brown belt in Isshinryu Karate, and enjoys playing volleyball and the cello. Traveling in general and via cruise ship in particular are her biggest distractions from writing. Maria has traveled to Belize, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Europe, Mexico, the Caribbean and through the Panama Canal.
Maria lives with her family and a black cat name Valek (a.k.a. the bug assassin!) in Pennsylvania where she is at work on NIGHT STUDY, the second book of the NEW set of three Study books with Yelena and Valek!
Readers are welcome to contact Maria at the following email address: [email protected].
The blog tour is giving away 10 finished copies of SHADOW STUDY! Open Internationally. Enter using the Rafflecopter below! Don't forget to leave some comment love (no, it's not mandatory, it's just nice!) for all of the blog tour hosts.
So I've been sitting on this book review for a while. I've had really mixed feelings about The New Indian Slow Cooker. The book is pretty gorgeous, with delectable photography and easy-to-follow layouts. Recipe introductions, instructions, and descriptions of ingredients used in this cuisine are helpfully clear and concise for helping the home cook navigate unfamiliar territory, making this a great intro to Indian food. The structure of most of the recipes also reduces the intimidation factor quite a bit, though slow cooker aficionados should note that there is more prep involved than you would expect from a normal slow cooker manual. Onions, for example, need to be cooked through on the stove before adding them into the mix; spices need to be roasted and ground (I've done this by hand and also in a spice grinder).
The variety of dishes is as I expected--staples like chicken tikka masala and my favorite butter chicken--are featured alongside everything you need for a meal, including rice dishes, paneer, raita, and chutneys. Simmering them for a long time at a low heat made a lot of sense, and the recipes were easy to prepare. However, while my test batches of curry were pretty successful (I'm looking at you, lamb vindaloo), one of the recipes I wanted to master the most (baingan bharta, a spicy eggplant curry) didn't come out nearly as I expected. Stewing the vegetables (mostly eggplant and potato) in the slow cooker didn't produce the smoky flavor I'd come to associate with the dish, nevermind that my usual exposure to it was through the Trader Joe's frozen food aisle (and the item is now, sadly, discontinued). I think I'll actually roast the eggplants next time.
Additionally, some of the recipes struck me as pretty Westernized, not authentic, but then I also think it makes acquiring or substituting ingredients somewhat easier, especially if you don't happen to live near a good Indian supermarket.
The size and soft binding of the book is great for leaving it open while you cook. Get a splatter-shield, though--I learned that lesson the hard way while frying onions. It's worth reading cover to cover, if for nothing else than to get a better idea of which spices combine to make a particular flavor. There are also little tips sprinkled throughout that I'd only expect to learn while learning from an experienced cook (like adding ice to a sauce pan before adding milk to make the yogurt). And actually, I got the cookbook right around the time my slow cooker broke--I have been preparing most of the recipes on a very low flame on the stove top, so you don't even really need a slow cooker if you get the principles of how heat affects your ingredients.
I'd recommend this to adventurous cooks getting ready to venture into Indian cuisine, but not to slow-cookers expecting a quick fix-and-forget meal.
- ALETHEA -
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for review purposes.
0 Comments on The New Indian Slow Cooker as of 1/1/1900
Publication date: 2 September 2014 by Potter Craft
Category: Adult nonfiction
Keywords: Knitting, crafts
Format: Paperback, ebook
Source: Finished paperback copy from publisher
You guys! This book! I can't contain myself. I can't even right now. It's SO good.
You have to understand, I love cables. I love lace. I love dropped and elongated stitches. I love twists and wraps... and they're all in here.
It has not one, but two--TWO!--tams. My favorite kind of hat to knit.
I even learned something new after 13 years of knitting. I'd never heard of a life line before, but now it makes total sense to string a piece of thread through your work at intervals so that if you have to rip out a few rows, you won't lose too much ground.
There is also a great but somewhat scary section on beading. But don't worry, the book reassures me, "All these designs will be beautiful without beads!" So I can maybe attempt the Laden Cowl without before trying my hand at beading.
Ahem.
Laura Nelkin's book of accessories has everything I look for in a knitting book. Gorgeous photography shows off the designs, almost all of which are something I would not only make for myself (no gifts! all mine!) but also look fun and interesting to knit. it's well-organized and easy to read. It offers helpful information about choosing yarn fibers and colors for each project, and the looks are very modern and wearable. I think the techniques in this book will definitely flex my lace and cable muscles. I can barely believe this is her debut book, though I do recognize her style (my friend Stephanie teaches the Mudra Cuff in one of her Knitting University classes).
I'm not a huge fan of knitted jewelry, but I can definitely see myself knocking out a few of the cuffs and bracelets for holiday gifts. Ditto the tams and the great Folly Cloche (which reminds me of something the fabulous Miss Fisher would wear).
For myself, the Laden Cowl and Las Cruces Shawl are high up on my list to cast on. Really, the only project I don't ever see myself making are the Bootsy Boot Toppers (only because I am not a boot-wearer, and not anything to do with the pattern itself).
I would definitely recommend Knockout Knits to an intermediate knitter who knows how to read a pattern and has the basics down pat, maybe someone who is a little bored with the same-old same-old drill. You have to be willing to drop and pick up stitches, a scary trick for a beginning knitter who isn't yet comfortable with tensioning and pattern repeats.
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for review purposes.
by Ann E. Briated
illustrated by Allie Ogg
Bailiwick Press 2014
No. Wrong. Sorry. Not for kids. Terrible parody with no redeeming qualities. Seriously.
You would be hard pressed to find a parody of a children's classic more tone deaf and misguided as this. The idea of a children's book parody should have echoes of childhood skewered with a winking eye. Goodnight Brew seems to labor under
0 Comments on goodnight brew as of 9/13/2014 10:58:00 AM
Never again will I refer to stitches on my sewing machine as "the one that looks like shark teeth" or "the zigzaggy one with the thread on the edge". Super Stitches Sewing is the Rosetta Stone of embroidery hieroglyphics I didn't even know I needed.
Not only does Nicole Vasbinder explain what each stitch looks like, how the machine moves to create it, and what it's used for, she also explains what fabric you are probably going to want to use it with, the right threads/needles, and step-by-step instructions for using them effectively in your sewing. The book is cleverly organized. It gives you alternate names for each stitch, and substitutes in case your machine doesn't have that one. It's also a lot prettier and easier to read than my sewing machine's manual. I especially appreciate the Expert Tips scattered throughout the book--Vasbinder anticipates what problems a beginner might run into and explains how to avoid these pitfalls.
If I had to say one negative thing about the book, it would be that the tools & equipment section I usually expect to see in the beginning of the book is actually in the back. Most of my other sewing books start out with a detailed explanation of terms and items needed for executing each technique. I'm not an expert sewist by any means, in fact I sew infrequently out of fear. So when I started reading and ran into unfamiliar terms like "wing needle" or "overcast foot", I got a little nervous, even though I knew I could probably check Google or YouTube for more info.
Then I reached the end of the hand-stitching chapter and found explanations and diagrams for the various needles, threads, presser feet, and sewing terms mentioned in the book. It even includes explanations of how to change stitches on a manual, mechanical, and a computerized sewing machine. I might actually finish out the year knowing what all the little sliders, knobs, and buttons are for.
Aside from the thoroughness of the book, I appreciate that there's not much in the way of projects to distract you from the information. There's just enough to give you ideas, but not enough to overwhelm and confuse. I think this would be a great tool for a beginner-to-intermediate sewist to make a cloth sampler book of stitches and actually explore how to use a sewing machine beyond the usual straight and zigzag stitches. My first goal: hem a skirt with Straight Blind Hem Stitch (page 30), which I can now stop calling "the one that looks like a bunch of plateaus".
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for review purposes.
0 Comments on Super Stitches Sewing as of 1/1/1900
Publication date: 05 June 2012 by Random House Audio
Category: Adult Mystery Thriller Suspense
Keywords: Kidnapping, Murder, Crime
Format: Hardcover, ebook, audiobook
Source: Purchased from Audible.com
Having read Gillian Flynn's debut, Sharp Objects, I was really looking forward to her nightmarish account of a marriage gone completely to hell. An unemployed writer, Nick Dunne, drags his silver-spoon-fed, New York City born-and-bred wife Amy to his hometown in Missouri to help out his aging parents. Their relationship shreds apart over a combination of money troubles, petty arguments, and deep-seated resentments. On their fifth wedding anniversary, when Nick comes home to an empty house, he becomes the chief suspect in Amy's disappearance and possible murder.
While the first part felt a bit slow, dragging along with two really unlikeable main characters, the second part blew up, took off, and didn't slow down until the last 30 minutes or so. The self-referential, inside-jokey-ness of the plot and dialogue kept me hooked, even though at times I wasn't quite sure who I was rooting for--Amy, the victimized wife, or Nick, the put-upon husband? The twist comes early, but then keeps on twisting until you can't see the end. The ending chilled me, though it left me wanting a different outcome.
I'm really looking forward to the film version from David Fincher. While I didn't like the ending of the novel, I hear the third act has been rewritten for the movie, and I look forward to the possibility of getting a more satisfying ending. I think Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck (a man with "a face you want to punch", as the character of Nick is described) are perfectly cast.
The audiobook readers, Julia Whelan (Amy) and Kirby Heyborne (Nick) sound like they're really having fun on this production. Not only do they get to say the darndest things, they get to imbue the material with such vitriol and attitude that the last 2/3rds of the audiobook sounds virtually unstoppable. I seriously had to force myself to stop listening and go to sleep so that I wouldn't be a total wreck at work the next day. I'd definitely listen to other audiobooks they read.
Flynn writes her characters' voices with flair, shifting into their different moods and personas quickly and easily. She throws out so many red herrings, you hardly suspect that more than one of them--heck, almost all of them--turn out to be real. All in all, Gone Girl was exactly the escapist thriller I wanted for a zingy summer read.
I usually avoid Nicky Epstein designs, as they frequently don't match the kind of clothes I want to make. I'm a very practical knitter in general; while I love to knit complicated cables and lace, I also like the pieces I create to be things I can wear comfortably all the time, whether I'm going to the office, out and about, or just sitting at home knitting more things. Epstein's designs tend to appear much more precious and frilly than I'd normally wear.
I took a chance that Knitting Reimagined would have at least a couple of projects I could envision wearing, and that's about all I got. I'll agree that the designs are imaginative, playing with construction techniques, turning oddly-shaped sections at weird angles, and utilizing just about every show-offy skill there is: entrelac, intarsia, you name it. However, considering the amount of time it takes to finish a project if your knitting schedule is hampered by things like a day job or other hands-on activity, I don't think there are many pieces I would bother starting. On this very short list are the Crisscross Weave Tank with its braided back strap (p. 92), the dainty Edging Epilogue Dress (p. 162), and maybe, just maybe, the Directional Vest (p. 78), minus the swirly I-cord closure in front.
One thing I do like about the book is that a "re-imagine it" section appears at the beginning of each pattern. It took me up to the third or fourth pass through this book to really take them to heart, otherwise I wouldn't even have been able to come up with the handful of projects that I might want to make and wear. Even then, occasionally even these miss the mark; on the Quintessential Cable Pullover, for example, it states "You'll want to keep the unique sleeve construction and the flaps..." No, no you won't. This pullover is a busy mess of tight cables, ribs, and flaps that make it look like the upside-down parapets of a castle. Compiled with poufed shoulders, an additional band of cable over each wrist, and a collar (optional, the re-imagine section notes, you can leave it off for "a sleek V-neck"), it's a hot mess of a sweater.
One project I'm still on the fence about is the Buttons and Bows Manteau (p. 124). It's a dress-length jacket in a lightweight mint-green yarn, with tucks adding texture to the skirt of the piece. There are two pink bows adorning the front on either side of the buttoned opening, and another one in back over a pleat to shape the waist. The optional ruffled collar is in the same contrasting color. My first thought is to change the color scheme entirely. The "re-imagine it" note suggests, "Remove bows or add even more to create the look you want." Add even more? Crazy talk. I really like the undulating shape of the tucks, but I'm already considering undertaking this piece in a purple sportweight yarn and replacing the bows with puffy stars to make a sort of deconstructed Lumpy Space Princess outfit for next year's Comic-Con. In other words, I'm not seriously considering making this unless it's part of a costume.
I'll spare you and the designer my descriptions of the projects I didn't like and can't re-imagine into a marginally wearable ensemble; that would just be hurtful snark. I can't decide if some of them are just tragically old-fashioned, or trying and failing to reach into the realm of couture. My modern/pragmatic biases aside, the book itself is fine. Photographs are taken from thoughtful angles and if nothing else, jog the imagination towards "this would look almost OK if..." The instructions and charts are clear, at least the ones that I read through completely for the handful of projects I think I might someday attempt. I can tell that this book really tried to stretch past the boundaries of the typical knitting pattern; it just doesn't quite make it past the edge.
I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for review purposes.
0 Comments on Knitting Reimagined by Nicky Epstein as of 1/1/1900
Today, my little lads and lasses, I have something different for you. An adult book for our club.
Home to Woefield by Susan Juby takes a cliched memoir subject, the city person getting back to the earth by moving on to a farm, and makes it funny. And she makes it funny without making any of her characters into ridiculous jokes.
Prudence Burns is seriously into sustainability but not having good luck with it in New York. She thinks a great opportunity opens up for her when she inherits a pretty much good-for-nothing farm in Canada. Prudence isn't totally ignorant of how to make a go of it in an organic kind of way, and she's a hard worker. She also earns the good will of all around her. Her problem is that she's overly optimistic.
With the farm she also inherits an elderly hired hand, who's not a great deal of help. She soon takes in a young alcoholic recluse whose main connection with the world is through the celebrity and metal blogs he runs. The three of them also end up with a preteen and her chickens.
These characters could have ended up as cliches, especially the preteen. She could have easily fallen into the wise-beyond-her-years stereotype. Instead, she is a damaged innocent. The elderly, foul-mouthed Earl and the equally foul-mouthed young Seth are also damaged. All these characters benefit from Prudence's can do sustainability.
This is the first book I can recall coming across that I think is comparable to Saving the Planet & Stuff in that it finds humor in the struggle to live environmentally/sustainably without degrading those who are making the effort to do it. Prudence is not the butt of any jokes here. She recognizes them.
Juby is the author of a number of books for teens or that are marketed to both teens and adults. I'm reading Getting the Girl, whose main character seems like a younger Seth (my favorite from Home to Woefield), Seth before he suffered what he believed to be a humiliation he could never recover from and hit the sauce. I expect to be trying Alice, I Think soon, too.
Home to Woefield was recommended by a friend, by the way. Word of mouth.
0 Comments on Environmental Book Club as of 7/11/2014 12:51:00 AM
If you've heard lots of good things about Dare Me by Megan Abbott, believe them. This is a terrific adult thriller about those YA cliches, bitchy cheerleaders.
Main character Addy is the beta female in a cheerleader squad. She serves her alpha "captain," Beth, and initially seems very comfortable in that spot in the hierarchy and with her relationship with the traditionally awful Beth. The two of them are tight, tight, tight. Their world is disturbed right off the bat when a new cheer leading coach comes in, one as badass as Beth. I wondered, myself, if she wasn't a former Beth, reliving the good old days as best she can. To do it, though, she has to battle Beth. Among the things they're battling for is the beta, Addy.
Oh, yeah. And there's a guy.
Whenever I read an adult book with a young protagonist, my immediate question is Why? Why is this an adult book, not a YA or children's book? Theme, I was told once, is an important factor in what makes YA YA. Dare Me falls well within the noir genre, and the noir themes that apply here are far more adult than YA. Okay, my understanding of noir is shaky. But I've been reading about themes involving a fate that can't be avoided, as well as despair, darkness, and obsession. None of the cheerleaders in Dare Me are made happy by anything they do or achieve. And their coach? She knows things aren't going to get any better.
Is this all there is? How's that for a theme? It's not one traditionally associated with YA, which usually deals with moving into the adult world, finding a place in society, etc.
I felt the homoerotic touch was unnecessary. It risked making the story just a common all-about-love thing. On the other hand, don't noir protagonists often have at least a sexual attraction to a femme fatale? In which case, Dare Me was giving a neat twist to classic noir.
0 Comments on An Adult Book About Cheerleaders as of 6/23/2014 10:27:00 PM
Lauren doesn't want to face the diagnosis; she fears the news that her mother's cancer has returned. Without planning or even conscious intent, she sets off driving, trying to escape her troubles. Three hundred miles later, Lauren is lost in the desert, surrounded by a dust storm. Finally, she escapes the storm and finds a town where she hopes to get gas, a phone to call her mother, and a hotel room for the night. What she finds instead is a town strangely cluttered with trash, and populated by residents who seem troubled. This is the town of Lost, where everything that is lost - including people - ends up. There's no escape from Lost unless you find what you've lost. With the help of a precocious child named Claire and a mysterious, charismatic man named Peter who calls himself the Finder, Lauren tries to find a way to get out of Lost and back to her mother.
The Lost is Durst's first foray into adult fiction, and what an adult debut it is! As with her YA's, she doesn't disappoint. An intriguing and twilight-zoneish premise, fascinating characters, and a highly readable story make this a book you won't want to miss.
I don't think that Durst gets the recognition she deserves for being one of the best writers of literary fantasy today. I've followed her books since her first one, Into the Wild, which I loved, but over the years since then she's honed her craft to a exceptional level. Her literary technique is masterful, yet doesn't get in the way of telling a good story.
The Lost is a very character-driven story. Although there are a few edge-of-your-seat moments, the plot is primarily driven by Lauren's character arc. It's a mesmerizing book that's hard to put down, and one that proves a book doesn't have to be driven by a frenetic plot to be a page-turner. As you can imagine from the title, everyone in the town of Lost is, well, lost in some way, and the book revolves around a theme of finding your way. Even the Finder, who is supposedly there to help people, seems, in some ways, more lost than anyone. Lauren's journey of self-discovery unspools gradually, as her relationships with Claire and Peter develop and the details of her past life are teased out.
The town itself is fascinating and well developed, almost a character in itself. The streets are cluttered with piles of things that were lost: keys, socks, luggage, and even things like foreclosed houses scattered all over, creating an odd juxtaposition of different architecture. It's all a little bit creepy, as well, in a Stephen King kind of way. The idea sounds like a cliche, but it's so much more than that and the reality and details of life in Lost are fully fleshed out. Survival is a big part of life in Lost; residents have to scavenge among the piles to find the necessities of life. And not everyone in Lost is friendly, in fact, some are decidedly unfriendly. So Lauren has to learn how to survive in Lost as well as trying to figure out how to get home.
I hope I won't be spoiling too much if I say that there's a powerful chemistry between Lauren and Peter right from the start, but I won't say much more than that. It's handled well, and while it's an important element, it doesn't take over the story.
Diversity?
None of the three main characters appear to be people of color in this book. One of the important secondary characters, Victoria, who runs the diner, is described as having rich brown skin. In conversation with Durst, she confirmed that Victoria is African-American. She also told me that Peter is half Native American, but the reader doesn't learn this explicitly until book 3.
Any relationships in the book were heterosexual, and all characters appear to be cisgender. Since Lost draws in all sorts of lost people, one could reasonably expect to see a diversity in Lost reflective of society in general, however, I didn't see that. There's quite a variety of people in Lost, but other than the one character, none were described in a way (that I noticed) that would lead me to believe they were from an underrepresented group.
Who would like this book
Adult and teens who like a well-written, slightly dark, character-driven fantasy with an intriguing premise and a bit of a romantic interest. Although The Lost was published for the adult market and has an adult protagonist, I think it has a strong teen crossover appeal.
FTC required disclosure: Review copy sent by the publisher to enable me to write this review. The bookstore links above are affiliate links, and I earn a very small percentage of any sales made through the links. Neither of these things influenced my review.
0 Comments on Book Review: The Lost by Sarah Beth Durst as of 5/28/2014 4:03:00 PM
Imagine a world with no sun. A world where the only heat and light comes from geothermal energy and bioluminescent plants and animals, and everything else is dark. Imagine a community of 532 people living on this planet, all descended from two astronauts who were stranded on the planet. (And yes, there was some incest in order for 532 people to be descended from only two.)
One hundred and sixty-three years after Tommy and Angela were stranded on Eden, their descendants still live in Circle Valley, where the landing vehicle originally came down, because Angela told the family to stay close, so that they could be found when rescue arrived from Earth. Food in Circle Valley is running out, but outside of Circle Valley is the Snowy Dark, and no one has ever crossed the Snowy Dark to find out what (if anything) lies beyond. Everyone in Family fears to leave the valley, lest they be stranded when the rescue comes from Earth.
Everyone except teen ("newhair") John Redlantern. John feels suffocated in the closeness and stagnation of family, and he asks the questions that everyone else is afraid to ask. No one will listen, so John does the unthinkable, with consequences that will affect everyone in Family and cause lasting change.
Dark Eden is a compelling story and a fascinating study of a society with characteristics derived from its unique environment, as well as from its tragic origin story. As the book progresses, it starts to become clear that the origin story portrays a very dysfunctional family. How would it affect an entire society to be based on such dysfunctional origins?
The worldbuilding is amazing. Although I have trouble imagining how a planet like Eden could exist, every detail of the world is so well developed, the ecosystem consistent and logical, that it came across as fully realized and believable. All that detail is developed very naturally through the story and the characters; there are no infodumps. The society, culture, and language are all distinctive and consistent.
The characters are interesting, diverse, and well-developed. John Redlantern is a bit of an anti-hero. Although he is honestly trying to help Family, he acts also out of self-interest, restlessness, and a compulsion for change. John's sometimes-lover and co-conspirator, Tina Spiketree, is an equally interesting and complex character. In addition to John and Tina, there is a rich tapestry of well-developed characters, some of whom become point-of-view characters for a short time.
Story is an important theme running throughout Dark Eden. Obviously the origin story plays a significant role. As in many cultures, the stories from the past are retold and reenacted at important events. These stories are distorted by the lens of time, and by people who don't really understand, in some cases, what the stories mean, because they have no experience with things that could form a basis for understanding. John Redlantern is keenly aware of the power of story; he consciously makes choices that will make him a mythic character to other people, and he wonders how his descendants will tell his story in the future.
The title of the book fits on multiple levels. The planet is named Eden, and obviously Tommy and Angela are its Adam and Eve. But Earth is the Eden that they've been exiled from. The Family doesn't seem to have a religion or worship any gods, but waiting for the return to Earth has an almost religious fervor to it. Later in the book, there is also a kind of Cain and Abel vibe happening.
Dark Eden is an astonishing, compelling, and unique science-fiction story. If you like science fiction and this isn't on your TBR, it probably should be.
Note: Dark Eden is published for the adult market, but I think it has crossover appeal for teens. Besides the teen protagonists, it has a teen outlook and themes of social change that will appeal to teens. There is some fairly explicit sex, so it would be best for mature teens, but sex is not uncommon in YA today. And in spite of the explicit nature of the sex, it's some of the least sexy sex I've read in books — it's supposed to be, because it's another symptom of the stagnation of this society.
Diversity?
Mother Angela was black, according to the stories, and Tommy was white (Jewish, if I remember right). One minor character in the Family is described as being a "dark bloke with dark curly hair," but other than that, I didn't see any other mention of racial characteristics. Given the description of Angela and Tommy, I think it's safe to assume that everyone in Family would have multiracial characteristics.
Nations are mentioned in the stories from the past, but because the people in Family have no basis for understanding — their closest analogue is the smaller groups within Family —it doesn't really pay a role.
At one point, Tina is thinking about how all of the boys want to "slip" (have sex) with her, and then she adds, "except those who prefer boys." Although I didn't notice any same-sex couplings in the book, it seems that in this society they're accepted as routine.
Cleft lip and club foot are common congenital deformities in Family, probably due to the incest and inbreeding. These play a significant role in the story. The effect of the deformities on the individuals is shown, without it degenerating into stereotypes. And they are individuals, that have distinctive personalities of which the disability is only a facet. One adult character is angry and mean as a result of bullying in childhood, but others are caring, respected members of society. One boy with clubfoot who appears to be an object of pity in the beginning ends up becoming a leader.
Who would like this book: Mature teens and adults who enjoy unique science fiction with richly developed worldbuilding and characters
FTC required disclosure: Review copy sent by the publisher to enable me to write this review. The bookstore links above are affiliate links, and I earn a very small percentage of any sales made through the links. Neither of these things influenced my review.
0 Comments on Book Review: Dark Eden by Chris Beckett as of 5/20/2014 2:46:00 AM
Feeling down and reflective today. Everything seems slow. The morning has moved by me with no effort or action on my part, aside from a writing part of song that has long been tickling the inside of my brain. The Internet is sluggishly loading, my email seems stuck, and even as I'm writing this post I'm reading above the ominous "An error occurred while trying to save of publish your post. Please try again."
Oh I'm trying. Lord knows, I'm trying.
I planned to start the week off with a review but it feels more like a quoting sort of day. And not even from a title that needs to be shared, as it's old news online, but it was a book that truly moved me in an unexpected way. See, I have issues with the darkness of Neil Gaiman's tales where I respect the artistry of his craft but often find it isn't for me. Not so with The Ocean at the End of the Lane. I was hooked from a haunting description of childhood that felt much like mine:
I was not happy as a child, although from time to time I was content. I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else.
Isn't that ridiculously telling for two sentences? The story itself is not like my life, as it then moves into an allegorical fairy tale slash horror story that kept me enthralled slash quaking. Beautifully done and leading to one of the most moving descriptions of the existential emptiness that I've ever read. Though it's towards the end of the book, I don't think it gives away anything - except maybe the heart of the book. But you've probably all read it anyway, so here:
How can you be happy in this world? You have a hole in your heart. You have a gateway inside you to lands beyond the world you know. They will call you, as you grow. There can never be a time when you forget them, when you are not, in your heart, questing after something you cannot have, something you cannot even properly imagine, the lack of which will spoil your sleep and your day and your life, until you close your eyes for the final time...
...
Okay, maybe I need to take a walk or pet a puppy or something.
Links to material on Amazon.com contained within this post may be affiliate links for the Amazon Associates program, for which this site may receive a referral fee.
0 Comments on Existential Emptiness in The Ocean at the End of the Lane as of 5/19/2014 1:08:00 PM
Flavia has an incredibly unique, sharp voice, and she's extremely knowledgeable about a sophisticated subject, chemistry. While she jumps on her bike and has the kinds of adventures that are the stuff of children's books, that voice that adult readers love so much might not be acceptable to child readers. Adults like her because a child shouldn't sound like she does or do the things she does. Child readers might just find her unbelievable. Adults don't care about believing her. Adults like that this brilliant child knows nothing about sex. In this most recent book, she thought she could use her massive knowledge of science to bring someone back from the dead. It was a childish belief that adult readers would find touching. Child readers, on the other hand, might not get that this attempt on Flavia's part was more about character than plot.
I also suspect that Flavia isn't an entirely reliable narrator when it comes to her family. She perceives her sisters as hating her, but they have routinely come through for her over the course of the series. And in this volume it's clear that she hasn't understood her father's behavior toward her. I'm not aware of a lot of unreliable narrators in children's books or even YA.
In all these books a mom has been missing--a classic children's book situation. In The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches, we get an actual dead parent. Children's literature is littered with those. What is really fascinating about Vaulted Arches, though, is that here we get a child suddenly learning that her family has a special function and that she is chosen--not those others--to be part of it. This is a cliche of children's fantasy, and there is almost a whiff of fantasy about Flavia at that point.
So what have we got here? While these definitely aren't children's books, do they have enough children's elements to bring young readers into the world of adult reading?
For years I've been thinking about writing a memoirish book of essays about my experience as a maritial arts student. I even had a working title, Black Belt Essays. I even wrote and published two said essays. But that's as far as I've gotten with this project because of the time issues I keep writing about on Tuesdays and poor discipline and whine, whine, whine.
Of course, my weak grasp of zennyness tells me that wanting, as in wanting to have written that book, as in wanting someone else not to have written it first, leads to unhappiness. Damn straight about that. But soon this moment of wanting and unhappiness will be in the past and over, and I will be on to another moment in which I will be slow and inept about other things. Yeah. I'm sitting here waiting for that. And waiting.
Oh. Here's a cheery thought. Schorn's book is about karate, and mine would have been about taekwondo. Plus, she teaches karate, while I can barely manage to maintain my own taekwondo skills, let alone teach anyone else. (I've already written one essay on that subject and am sure I can probably wring two or three more on it.) So if we both end up writing martial arts memoirs, they wouldn't be anything alike.
Now, that's a relief. I'm into that better feeling moment already.
0 Comments on A Flash Essay On Writer Envy as of 4/19/2013 8:30:00 PM
World Book Night is a week from tomorrow, and a couple of days ago I finished reading The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, the book I'll be giving. I chose this book on the recommendation of a family member. As it turns out, the protagonist, Victoria, is a young woman in her late teens who has just left the foster care system. We follow two story lines in alternating chapters, one about Victoria's childhood involvement with Elizabeth, the foster mother who teaches her the language of flowers, and the second about her experience as she tries (or I should say, is almost forced) to make a life for herself. The young character makes this a book of particular interest to me, because I like to ponder the differences between a children's/YA book with a child/YA character and an adult book with a child/YA character.
Flowers is a good book in which Diffenbaugh, a first-time novelist, shows a lot of control. For instance, in places she teeters on the edge of what I like to call the Magical Mommy, treating motherhood as some kind of mystical experience that has the potential to cure all. But she juuuust pulls back. Victoria is also only able to maintain herself because she happens to run into people who take to her and offer significant help. Coincidence is never good in fiction, but I was able to accept it here because the people who help her are outsiders. (And maybe because my experience of the world suggests that many young people like Victoria only succeed at all because someone helped them help.)
Diffenbaugh also does a good job showing why Victoria is filled with anger and does ugly things. In lots of books with characters like that the behavior is just there without enough development to make what they're doing make sense. Readers are expected to accept it and move on with the story.
What readers of this blog might find particularly interesting about this book is that while it's an adult book, I thought it seemed very much like a YA problem novel--a teenager, usually a girl, has a specific problem that, after much struggle, she overcomes. If you removed the Victorian language of flowers from The Language of Flowers, I think it would have seemed even more like a bare bones YA problem novel.
I think this is a novel that could end up on library book lists for teenagers, just as I thought Alice Bliss would.
0 Comments on My World Book Night Book as of 4/15/2013 10:04:00 PM
Nancy Springer, author of Rowan Hood and a number of other children's books, published an adult book this past Tuesday. In a guest post at Sharon's Garden of Book Reviews, Nancy describes Dark Lie as not for kids and very much for adults. "...It's a psychological suspense thriller, for gosh sake, with deep insights and dark shadows and creepy people and sexual weirdness..." I can take or leave deep insights but creepy people and sexual weirdness are always a draw for me.
Because I enjoy telling humiliating stories about myself, I'll refer you to this nearly ten year old blog post describing how I came to meet Nancy. Note that I'm only saying that I've met her. I don't claim to know her.
As it turns out, I have one of her Enola Holmes books upstairs in my To Be Read pile.
0 Comments on New Publishing Venture For A Children's Author as of 11/8/2012 7:36:00 PM
I stumbled upon a "book blogger hop," a term I'd never heard before, at Crazy for Books. It looks as if a book blogger hop is simply a situation in which a bunch of bloggers all do posts on the same subject. Maybe it's a meme? Does the word "hop" relate to the 1950s dance, making a blogger hop a sort of social gathering? Yes, yes, once again I am overthinking.
So hops occur regularly at Crazy for Books and involve all the participating bloggers responding to a writing prompt. I have a bad history with things like writing prompts and themed issues of literary journals. I am rarely able to come up with material when I'm asked.
This week's hop prompt is an interesting one for me. What book series do you never want to see end? Ha-ha, you're thinking. You're going to come up dry again, Gail, because you hate series. No, I do not hate series. I really, really dislike serials, which is a different thing. What is striking about this blog prompt is that I can actually answer the question.
I am hoping that Lonely Werewolf Girl and Curse of the Wolf Girl by Martin Millar will be more than a novel and sequel. I really would enjoy a full-blown series here. I'm sure I could read at least two more novels. And I hope that taking part in this hop, as I am doing, will give the books a little more attention. Right now I feel as if Sheila Ruth at Wands and Worlds and I are close to being Wolf Girl's entire fan base.
0 Comments on Hoping For More Wolf Girl as of 9/12/2012 8:50:00 PM
There are a lot of misfit-boy stories out there. There are a lot of misfit-boy-who-likes-comics-or-some-other-formerly-outsider-interest out there. It's a scenario that I probably liked the first few times I saw it, but, you know me. My tolerance for familiarity isn't all that great. The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep And Never Had To by D.C. Pierson is very well done, but I almost gave up on it early on, because even though it is funny and poignant, lots of those misfit-boy stories are funny and poignant. I felt I'd read it before.
I stuck with it, though, and the payoff was that Pierson has mashed up that well known misfit-boy story with a science fiction tale. The science fiction aspect actually comes right out of the comic book world the main character, Darren, and his friend, Eric (the boy who couldn't sleep), have been creating. This is what gives The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep And Never Had To a feel of the new. That's what kept me reading.
Pierson is a subtle and impressive writer. An example: Darren, our main character, has an older brother who is like something out of A Clockwork Orange, which is mentioned at one point. (The brother is probably modeling himself on Fight Club, but I haven't seen that, so I can't be sure.) Big Bro' really is repugnant. Yet, he goes to Outback with his father and younger brother every week. The three of them take off at Christmas time. In what passes as a generous act, he gives his younger brother drugs and doesn't make him pay for them. In this chilling guy is something rather family oriented. A reader can feel that if he doesn't get killed or imprisoned, he could turn out okay.
I found The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep And Never Had To in the YA section of my local library. Yet it appears to have been published as an adult book. It seems a YA book to me. Yes, Darren is telling his story after it occurs--a couple of years after it occurs, when he's a freshman in college. We're hardly talking a whole lot of adult perspective on the experience here. Yes, there's a lot of rank language and drug use and some real sex, not just the thinking about it kind. I can't recall having read a YA with drug use, but certainly rank language and sex appears in the genre. I can't think of a real reason why this couldn't have been published as YA. I do think it can be viewed as coming-of-age--"Oh, I had a life-changing, grown-up experience." Personally, I think adult readers like that kind of thing more than teenagers do, so maybe these kinds of books get published as adult because that's where their biggest fans may be.
Plot Project: I don't think Darren's story is about something he wants and struggles to get. It's much more about a disturbance to his world--he finds out that his new friend never sleeps, is sort of a living and breathing science fiction character. What possibilities does that open?
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The Guardian obit for author Barry Unsworth mentions a number of books he wrote but, of course, not the one I read, Losing Nelson. It was good, too. Though not a children's book. Not even YA.
0 Comments on Of Course as of 6/16/2012 2:53:00 PM
And, also, didn't there used to be a list of top adult books for teens? Does that exist somewhere? Is Flavia on that, at least, even if she's been passed by for an Alex, an award given to "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18?"
I am, of course, speaking of Flavia de Luce, the eleven-year-old heroine of a series of mysteries set in early 1950's England written by Alan Bradley. She is an incredible creation, one who can carry a book on her narrow shoulders. She sometimes does, because her plots aren't always as powerful as she is. She is both incredibly sophisticated, in terms of her knowledge of chemistry and murder, and touchingly innocent--her knowledge of sex is pretty much nil and in her most recent outing, I am Half-sick of Shadows, she is on the fence about the existence of Santa.
Though these books are not serials (I spit on serials), there are some intriguing questions hovering over all of them. What really happened to Flavia's mother, the late, lamented Harriet? Why is there so much conflict between Flavia and her older sisters? Is Flavia merely an unreliable narrator, perceiving her sisters as hating her, though in each book at least one of them does something significant for her? Or is there some family mystery there waiting to be revealed? Dogger, the shell-shocked war veteran who takes care of the whole family, appears to be able to do just about anything. What's that about?
I was reading quite a good book on plot at the same time I was reading I am Half-sick of Shadows. I couldn't help noticing that while I was being told in my plot book to get the story going right away, Flavia's murder mystery didn't actually start until halfway through the book. But, then, the laws of chemistry are the only rules she recognizes.
2 Comments on How Come Flavia Has Never Won An Alex Award?, last added: 2/29/2012
I'm so glad to read your post, Gail. I saw Flavia on the shelf of audiobooks last week when I was perusing for a car trip. I selected another book, and was disappointed. Next time, thanks to you--Flavia!
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I'm so glad to read your post, Gail. I saw Flavia on the shelf of audiobooks last week when I was perusing for a car trip. I selected another book, and was disappointed. Next time, thanks to you--Flavia!
She has an extremely strong voice. Depending on the reader, an audiobook could be great.