Blog Tour & Book Review: The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore

The Serpent of Venice: A Novel I’m thrilled to be participating in the blog tour for the brand-new Christopher Moore novel, The Serpent of Venice.

Christopher Moore writes about demons, sea monster, and vampires. Also about Jesus and Impressionist painters, talking fruitbats and humpback whales. In other words, this is an author who defies categorization, yet one thing is for sure: If you don’t fall on the floor laughing at least a few times reading any of his many novels, well… you’re probably doing it wrong!

Moore’s trademark humor is firmly in place in his newest novel, The Serpent of Venice, a follow-up to his 2009 novel Fool. Fool is a retelling of King Lear, with the king’s fool Pocket serving as main character and very clever (and occasionally obscene) narrator. In The Serpent of Venice, Moore returns to Shakespeare with the further adventures of Pocket, using as his framework not one but two Shakespearean plays, plus a little Edgar Allan Poe for good measure.

Loosely weaving together the plotlines of The Merchant of Venice and Othello (trust me, it works), with a bit of The Cask of Amontillado thrown in as well, The Serpent of Venice follows Pocket the Fool as he maneuvers his way through the devilish machinations of a host of scheming bad guys. He meets up with Shylock and his daughter Jessica, confronts the evil Iago, befriends the great general Othello and his wife Desdemona — and plays all sides against one another, with daring, wit, agility, and plenty of Christopher Moore’s trademark “heinous fuckery most foul”.

Remarkably, Moore weaves the source material into his outrageous new work almost seamlessly, so that for those who enjoy such things, it’s possible to take certain scenes and follow along paragraph by paragraph, and compare back to the same scene in the Shakespearean plays. Combining these works, modernizing the language as needed, adding in raucous humor and heaps of vulgarity — plus Marco Polo, a sea serpent, and a monkey named Jeff — may sound like a crazy mess, but in The Serpent of Venice, there’s a certain beauty to the wackiness, and it really holds together in a way that’s a wonder to behold.

Fans of the author will be gratified, as always, by his quirky, irreverent approach to language, not afraid to take some of the most honored works in the English canon and stand them on their ears:

“Thou mendacious fuckweasel,” said Emilia, almost spitting it, disgusted now rather than hysterical.

“Methinks the lady doth protest too much,” said Iago.

“Methinks the lady protests just the right amount,” said Emilia. “Methinks the lady is just getting fucking started protesting.”

Even from the book’s very beginning, we get a dose of prime Moore in the introduction “The Stage” that lets us know what we’re in for:

Strangely, although most of the characters are Venetian, everybody speaks English, and with an English accent.

Unless otherwise described, assume conditions to be humid.

For me, one of the most amazing pieces of this book is the author’s afterward. After laughing my way through the book itself, it was fascinating to read about the author’s research, his careful study of the source material, the decisions he made about the setting and time periods, and the historical elements woven into the story. Without being too preachy or teachy, he manages to convey a ton of information in these few short pages, so that I walked away from The Serpent of Venice not just having laughed, but also having learned about Venetian history in the 13th century, racism and anti-Semitism in Shakespeare’s time… and what Christopher Moore really thinks about *ahem* being intimate with dragons.

Either Christopher Moore’s crazy approach to life and writing appeals to you or it doesn’t — and if it does, The Serpent of Venice is a treat. Fans will absolutely want to read The Serpent of Venice, and will not be disappointed. If you’ve never read anything by Christopher Moore — and you like to laugh and you’re not easily offended — I’d say give him a try! For Shakespeare with a twist, start with Fool and then read The Serpent of Venice… and if those appeal to your sense of offbeat humor, you’ll end up wanting to read everything else in the author’s catalog of funny, weird, and wonderful books.

About the Author:

Christopher Moore is the author of eleven novels, including the international bestsellers, Lamb, A Dirty Job and You Suck. His latest novel is Fool, a retelling of King Lear from the perspective of Pocket, the Fool.

Chris was born in Toledo, Ohio and grew up in Mansfield, Ohio. His father was a highway patrolman and his mother sold major appliances at a department store. He attended Ohio State University and Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara. He moved to California when he was 19 years old and lived on the Central Coast until 2003, when he moved to Hawaii.

Before publishing his first novel, Practical Demonkeeping in 1992, he worked as a roofer, a grocery clerk, a hotel night auditor, and insurance broker, a waiter, a photographer, and a rock and roll DJ. Chris has drawn on all of these work experiences to create the characters in his books. When he’s not writing, Chris enjoys ocean kayaking, scuba diving, photography, and sumi-e ink painting. He divides his time between Hawaii and San Francisco.

Christopher Moore’s website: http://www.chrismoore.com/

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The details:

Title: The Serpent of Venice
Author: Christopher Moore
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication date: April 22, 2014
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Adult fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of TLC Book Tours

For further information, visit the author’s website or stop by TLC Book Tours to view other blog tour hosts.

21Apr2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Characters With Essential Survival Skills

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Characters Who… (choose a characteristic and find ten characters who fit). So many options! Characters who make the best friends? Characters I’d like to invite for dinner? It’s so hard to narrow it down!

Going with my chosen theme, these are my picks for characters who you’d want by your side in a crisis — characters who have the skills it takes to survive!

1) Claire Fraser (Outlander series): You’ve got to hand it to Claire. She manages the transition from 20th century to 18th century without missing a beat, and adapts her modern-day physician skills to become a healer woman in her new home. Medicinal herbs, home-brewed penicillin, hand-made ether for surgical anesthetic — Claire can do it all!

2) Brianna Randall MacKenzie (Outlander series): Just as inventive as her mother Claire, although with a different focus. Bree is an excellent shot, can hunt for dinner any day of the week, and in her spare time figures out how to create a kiln and make water pipes from clay.

3) Darla Edmunds (Ashfall series): Darla, a super-talented teen, is the key to survival for her entire community. She invents Bikezilla (a hybrid bicycle/snowmobile that can be used to haul just about anything), bike-powered corn mills, wind-powered turbines, and central heating. When there’s no electricity and everyone is on the verge of starvation, Darla figures out how to feed, house, and warm hundreds of people at a time.

4) Lauren Olamina (Parable of the Sower): Lauren founds a religion, protects her people, creates a community, and keeps hope alive when the world seems to be falling to pieces. She also thinks ahead to the little things, like stocking up on ammo and plant seeds.

5) Tyrion Lannister (A Song of Ice and Fire): Tyrion seems to always manage to survive, somehow, by using his wits and his tongue. Whether these will continue to work for him remains to be seen.

6) Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games): No explanation needed, right?

7) Yorick Brown (Y: The Last Man): After all males on the planet are wiped out in an instant, Yorick is literally the last man on Earth — and there are plenty of people who’d like to get rid of him too. He survives through goofiness, charm, and his ability to roll with the punches and not give up. Despite his slacker exterior, Yorick excels at forging alliances, and the biggest plus in his fight for survival is the excellent team he holds together.

8) Hig (The Dog Stars): Being a pilot is a matter of survival for Hig in this post-apocalyptic novel, in which viewing the surrounding terrain from the air and being able to spot danger before it arrives at his door is what’s kept him alive for so long.

9) Bilbo Baggins (The Hobbit): Never underestimate the survival ability of a burglar! For a simple hobbit who never wanted to leave his own comfy home, Bilbo certainly has a talent for getting into and out of the unlikeliest of places. And clearly, being able to solve riddles when your life is on the line is no small ~~feet~~ feat.

10) Harry Dresden (The Dresden Files): Not only is Harry the only professional wizard in Chicago, he’s a man with the ability to face down any foe, human or otherwise, cast enchantments and spells, and even come back from the dead. Can’t beat that for a survival skill!

What character traits were on your mind this week? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

Do you host a book blog meme? Do you participate in a meme that you really, really love? I’m building a Book Blog Meme Directory, and need your help! If you know of a great meme to include — or if you host one yourself — please drop me a note on my Contact page and I’ll be sure to add your info!

21Apr2014

The Monday Agenda 4/21/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Not a lofty, ambitious to-be-read list consisting of 100+ book titles. Just a simple plan for the upcoming week — what I’m reading now, what I plan to read next, and what I’m hoping to squeeze in among the nooks and crannies.

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

Another crazy week, with almost no reading time… frustrating! As a result, I barely made a dent in my intended reading pile for the week.

Far From You Burial Rites D'Aulaires' Book of Norse Myths

Far From You by Tess Sharpe: Done! My review is here.

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: I started this one much later than I’d wanted to, and so far have read about two-thirds. Beautifully written, but with a bleakness that makes it hard to sit through without getting up to look at the sunshine or smell the roses.

In the world of reading with my kiddo, we’re happily working our way through D’Aulaires’ Book of Norse Myths, thanks to which we’re learning that Thor doesn’t really look like Chris Hemsworth and Loki isn’t really Thor’s brother. Crazy shenanigans! Lots of fun, too.

Fresh Catch:

So many goodies! This week was the Spring Book Sale sponsored by our local friends of the public library organization, and it was a blast. Thousands upon thousands of books for sale, all paperbacks only $2! Here’s what I picked up for myself:

Plus a few for my kiddo:

On top of which, I just happened to be ambling by the neighborhood used book store earlier this week — and stumbled across a copy of The Humans by Matt Haig, which I’d borrowed from the library last year and loved! What a lucky week for me!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

The Here and Now She Is Not Invisible Savage Girl

First, I need to finish reading Burial Rites before my book group discusses it on Wednesday. After that, I’m really not sure what I’ll be in the mood for, but here’s what I’m thinking I’ll read… subject to my whims and fancies, of course:

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

She Is Not Invisible by Marcu Sedgwick

Savage Girl by Jean Zimmerman

Random pop culture goodness:

I’m now caught up on the first two weeks of the new season of Mad Men. I’m not sure that I care that much any more, but for now, I’m still watching. I’m loving the new seasons of Game of Thrones and Orphan Black! Although I think I need a refresher on all the clones and what they were up to at the end of last season…

And also in the works:

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon continues! Coming up this week: Chapters 69 – 73 Want to join in? Contact me and I’ll provide all the details!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

19Apr2014

Book Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: Far From You by Tess Sharpe

Far From You

Nine months. Two weeks. Six days.

That’s how long recovering addict Sophie’s been drug-free. Four months ago her best friend, Mina, died in what everyone believes was a drug deal gone wrong – a deal they think Sophie set up. Only Sophie knows the truth. She and Mina shared a secret, but there was no drug deal. Mina was deliberately murdered.

Forced into rehab for an addiction she’d already beaten, Sophie’s finally out and on the trail of the killer – but can she track them down before they come for her?

You know how you sometimes start a book thinking you know exactly what to expect based on the blurbs and synopses… and then it turns out to be something else entirely? Far From You is one of those — and that’s not a bad thing at all.

Based on the promos I’d read, I was expecting a more or less straightforward teen murder mystery. Nope.

Because, yeah, there’s a murder. And yes, it’s a mystery. But no, that’s not really the point of this book at all.

Far From You starts with a bang — or really, with two bangs. Within the first couple of pages, we learn that Sophie Winters and her best friend were confronted by a masked gunman when they were 17, and while Sophie survived, Mina died at the crime scene, bloody and suffering. We also find out that three years earlier, the two girls were in a car crash while being driven by Mina’s big brother Trevor. Mina and Trev walked away with minor injuries, but Sophie was wrecked — twisted, broken, resuscitated after her heart stopped during surgery, and left with a body full of scars and never-ending pain.

From that powerful beginning, we follow Sophie’s narration as she recounts multiple timelines: her present-day struggles, her memories of the time after the car accident, and her memories of the events surrounding Mina’s murder. At the same time, we learn Sophie’s terrible truth: After the car crash, she became crushingly dependent on pain pills, and was finally forced into rehab at her cool aunt’s house after hitting rock bottom and lying to her family and friends for years. She returned home just weeks before the murder, clean and ready to move forward. But at the crime scene where Mina had been murdered and Sophie had been knocked over the head, the police found a bottle of pills in Sophie’s jacket, and absolutely no one would believe that she hadn’t relapsed.

Instead of mourning for her friend and helping the police investigate the murder, Sophie is shipped off to a rehabilitation center for three months — and the police label the crime a drug deal gone bad, and basically shut down the investigation.

The plot of Far From You really kicks in when Sophie is released from rehab, angry and devastated. Despite being clean for nine months, she’s considered an actively using addict by her parents and friends, and is seen as being to blame for Mina’s murder. Sophie acknowledges that she’s an addict and clings fiercely to her hard-won sobriety, despite the pain that continues to wrack her body — but she’s furious that no one will listen to her, and what’s worse, nothing is being done to catch Mina’s killer.

Sophie has to take matters into her own hands, with help from a small number of trusted friends including Trev, to find out what really happened the night Mina died and find some small measure of peace. But can she do this without endangering herself and everyone left in her life? Are some stones better left unturned?

Okay, that’s the action part of the plot. But where Far From You really excels and moves into unexpected territory is in its exploration of the friendship between Sophie and Mina, what secrets were kept and which questions were never answered, and how a person can survive when the center of her universe is ripped away from her.

Sophie and Mina had been best friends since they met in grade school, and over the years they developed a trust and love that had ups and downs, but never broke or fell apart. There’s much more to their relationship than either girl ever acknowledged, and Sophie only slowly opens up enough to start sharing the true depths of her loss with the people who still matter to her.

Beyond the murder mystery, Far From You is a deeply personal character study, and we come to know Sophie’s deepest fears and most painful emotions. She’s wrecked, truly, both from everything her body has endured and even more so from the trauma of Mina’s loss. She’s hurt by the mistrust of everyone around her, and frustrated at not being heard. She’s angry — oh so angry — that Mina has been taken from her, angry that nothing has been done about it, angry that she couldn’t stop it. And she suffers greatly as she comes to terms with who she is — an addict who doesn’t quite have her life together, who is holding onto being clean with everything she has, and still worries that it won’t be enough.

I feel that it would be a disservice to potential readers to go into more detail about the complicated, intertwined relationships and friendships in Far From You, as these are best discovered through reading the book. I’ll simply say that the emotional connections, the devotion and love between unexpected characters, can be heartbreaking as well as lovely to read.

As for the murder itself, I can’t say that I was surprised when the mystery was resolved. I’d guessed the killer’s identity and a had a vague idea of the motive, but hadn’t managed to put every detail in place — and that’s fine. I was engrossed in the investigation and compiling of clues, breathless as the tension and danger mounted, and intrigued by the unraveling of the murder and the events leading up to it.

Far From You is an intense and unusual young adult novel. If you need a happily ever after and a romance tied up in a pretty ribbon, this may not be the book for you. What I appreciated about the conclusion of Far From You is its refusal to graft a happy ending onto a tragic story. Sophie can and will move forward, but the bottom line is that Mina is gone, forever. It would be fake to leave Sophie with a sunny new beginning. She’s a wonderful character, flawed but powerful, but as we leave her, she still has a long way to go. There’s hope for her future, but she’ll have to work at it every day. And that, to me, is exactly the right kind of ending for this story.

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The details:

Title: Far From You
Author: Tess Sharpe
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Publication date: April 8, 2014
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Review copy courtesy of Disney-Hyperion via NetGalley

18Apr2014

Flashback Friday: Half Magic

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Flashback Friday is a weekly tradition started here at Bookshelf Fantasies, focusing on showing some love for the older books in our lives and on our shelves. If you’d like to join in, just pick a book published at least five years ago, post your Flashback Friday pick on your blog, and let us all know about that special book from your reading past and why it matters to you. Don’t forget to link up!

It’s a childhood favorite for this week’s Flashback Friday!

Half Magic by Edward Eager
(published 1954)

Synopsis (Amazon):

Edward Eager has been delighting young readers for more than 40 years with stories that mix magic and reality. Half Magic, the most popular of his tales about four children who encounter magical coins, time-travel herb gardens, and other unlikely devices, is a warm, funny, original adventure. The “Half Magic” of the title refers to a coin that the children find. Through a comical series of coincidences, they discover that the coin is magic. Well, it’s not totally magic–it’s only (you guessed it) half magic. That means there’s a certain logic to the wishes one must make to generate a desired outcome. Imagine the results emerging from inaccurate efforts: “half” invisible, “half” rescued, “half” everything!

If this book doesn’t delight you, then you, my friend, have no appreciation for magic!

Too judgmental? Sorry…

Half Magic is an enchanting book, and one that stands the test of time pretty well too. I remembered it vaguely from eons ago (a.k.a, my childhood), then read it again with my daughter and then again with my son — and each time, the magic just shone through. Despite some old-fashioned word usage, the overall themes and ideas are crystal clear and utterly entertaining: Four children, having a rather boring summer, find a magical coin that grants wishes — except it only grants half wishes. When someone wishes they were home, they find themselves suddenly on the side of the road, halfway there. Wish not to be somewhere… and you may find yourself halfway invisible with people shrieking about seeing a ghost. On and on the adventure goes, as the kids figure out the trick: Wish for double of whatever you want, and when it’s divided in half, you’ll end up with what you really want… which is a lot harder and takes a lot more cleverness than you might think.

Edward Eager wrote seven books in his magic series, some more directly linked than others. I remember Knight’s Castle as being one of the most amazing reads of my childhood (and have only recently come up with a copy, so I’ll need to reread it pronto), and have read Magic By The Lake with my son (not as great as Half Magic, but still a really good time).

Have you read any Edward Eager books? Which were your favorites? And if you had a coin that granted half wishes, what would you wish for? (My wish? To have the time to read every book I own — twice!)

What flashback book is on your mind this week?

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: To join in the Flashback Friday fun:

Grab the Flashback Friday button
Post your own Flashback Friday entry on your blog (and mention Bookshelf Fantasies as the host of the meme, if you please!)
Leave your link in the comments below
Check out other FF posts… and discover some terrific hidden gems to add to your TBR piles!

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17Apr2014

Thursday Quotables: A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Posted in Outlander, Thursday Quotables by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome back to Thursday Quotables! This weekly feature is the place to highlight a great quote, line, or passage discovered during your reading each week. Whether it’s something funny, startling, gut-wrenching, or just really beautifully written, Thursday Quotables is where my favorite lines of the week will be, and you’re invited to join in!

Source:

A Breath of Snow and Ashes (Outlander, #6)

A Breath of Snow and Ashes
Diana Gabaldon
2005

What lines made you laugh, cry, or gasp this week? Do tell!

If you’d like to participate in Thursday Quotables, it’s really simple:

Write a Thursday Quotables post on your blog. Try to pick something from whatever you’re reading now. And please be sure to include a link back to Bookshelf Fantasies in your post (http://www.bookshelffantasies.com), if you’d be so kind!
Leave your link in the comments — or, if you have a quote to share but not a blog post, you can leave your quote in the comments too!
Visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

15Apr2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday: Shifting Shadows

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

There’s nothing like a Wednesday for thinking about the books we want to read! My Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday post is linking up with two fabulous book memes, Wishlist Wednesday (hosted by Pen to Paper) and Waiting on Wednesday (hosted by Breaking the Spine).

My most wished-for book this week is:

Shifting Shadows: Stories From The World of Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs
(Release date: September 2, 2014)

This one is strictly for the fans! If you love the Mercy Thompson series, then you’ll be as excited as I was this week to learn that a collection of Mercy stories will be released this fall — to include a mix of new and previously published stories.

Synopsis via Goodreads:

A collection of all-new and previously published short stories featuring Mercy Thompson, “one of the best heroines in the urban fantasy genre today” (Fiction Vixen Book Reviews), and the characters she calls friends…

Includes the new stories…
“Silver”
“Roses in Winter”
“Redemption”
“Hollow”

…and reader favorites
“Fairy Gifts”
“Gray”
“Alpha and Omega”
“Seeing Eye”
“The Star of David”
“In Red, with Pearls”

I’ve read some — but not all — of the already published stories, and can’t wait to catch up on the ones I’ve missed and read some new ones as well. The Mercy series is one of my favorites, and since there won’t be another new novel until 2015, I’m delighted to get a story collection to hold me over!

What are you wishing for this Wednesday?

Looking for some bookish fun on Thursdays and Fridays? Come join me for my regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday! You can find out more here — come share the book love!

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14Apr2014

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Bookish Things (That Aren’t Books) That I’d Like To Own

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, featuring a different top 10 theme each week. This week’s topic is Top Ten Bookish Things (That Aren’t Books) That I’d Like To Own. Book goodies? Oh, be still, my little book-obsessed heart!

Here’s what I’m lusting after the most:

1) A new book light: Probably the least expensive item on my list. I have a clip-on book light that I’ve had for years, and I think it’s time to upgrade to something sleeker and less clunky. Maybe something like this:

2) I love cool/different/attractive bookends (although, speaking realistically, I have very little need for bookends because my bookshelves are all full to overflowing). Still, if I were going to buy bookends, here are a few I’d probably consider:

3) Bookmarks: As in, I can never have enough. I don’t particularly care for fancy bookmarks with gems, beads, or dangly bits. But some of my favorite things to collect when I travel are plain old paper bookmarks from the different places I visit… and since I love to travel, I hope I’ll have lots and lots more to add to my collection, like these:

4) A new e-reader, perhaps? I have an older Kindle which works just fine, plus I can use the Kindle app on my IPad. I prefer my old Kindle over the IPad, as I don’t like reading on back-lit screens. Still, I’m a little teensy bit tempted by the Kindle Paperwhite. Has anyone tried one of these? What do you think?

5) Bookish T-shirts! Because booklovers need to proclaim their bookish ways with pride! I love the entire collection over at Out of Print, especially these:

(Images from the Out of Print website; and really, I love every single shirt and design on their site!)

6) A custom print from Ideal Bookshelf: I love just about everything these amazingly creative folks have to offer, and I’m crazy about the My Ideal Bookshelf book. I’m so tempted to buy myself framed prints or notecards or bookmarks… but if I were ever to truly splurge, I think a custom design would be the way to go!

Here’s their fantasy shelf print, as an example:

https://i0.wp.com/cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0172/1910/products/IdealBookshelf629_Fantasy_large.jpg

Image belongs to Ideal Bookshelf (see more at www.idealbookshelf.com)

7) Now we’re really getting into my daydream realm… but if we’re talking bookish delights, then I’d like a reading nook something like this:

8) … or a cozy hammock on a beach:

9) A big comfy armchair would be nice…

10) … or my ultimate fantasy space for reading, a room full of pillows!

… which I think I’ve wanted ever since reading Dr. Seuss’s I Had Trouble In Getting to Solla Sollew

Then I dreamed I was sleeping on billowy billows
Of soft silk and satin marshmallow-stuffed pillows.

What are your bookish desires? Share your links, and I’ll come check out your top 10!

If you enjoyed this post, please consider following Bookshelf Fantasies! And don’t forget to check out our regular weekly features, Thursday Quotables and Flashback Friday. Happy reading!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

14Apr2014

The Monday Agenda 4/14/2014

Posted in The Monday Check-In by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

How did I do with last week’s agenda?

The Ghost Train to New Orleans (The Shambling Guides, #2) Love Letters to the Dead The Serpent of Venice

The Ghost Train to New Orleans by Mur Lafferty: Done! My review is here.

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira: Done! My review is here.

The Serpent of Venice by Christopher Moore: Done! Be sure to check out my blog tour post on April 22nd.

Fresh Catch:

I behaved myself this week — didn’t buy, borrow, or request any new books! All bets are off for the coming week though — my library’s big spring sale starts on Tuesday, and that’s always dangerous territory for me!

What’s on my reading agenda for the coming week?

Far From You The Here and Now Burial Rites

Coming up this week:

Far From You by Tess Sharpe

The Here and Now by Ann Brashares

And for an upcoming book group discussion: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent

Random pop culture goodness:

Orphan Black returns this week!

Image credit: http://adn-z.deviantart.com/art/Orphan-Black-Simpsonized-393146267

And is anyone watching the AMC’s new series, Turn, about a Revolutionary War spy ring?

I saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier last weekend, and was super impressed with the way the movie’s events carried over into Agents of SHIELD.

And yeah, Mad Men is back too, and I’m not sure that I care…

And also in the works:

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon continues! Coming up this week: Chapters 64 – 68. Want to join in? Contact me and I’ll provide all the details!

So many book, so little time…

That’s my agenda. What’s yours? Add your comments to share your bookish agenda for the week.

12Apr2014

Book Review: Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira

Love Letters to the Dead

In Love Letters to the Dead, main character Laurel starts high school six months after the death of her sister May, and is still deeply grieving her loss. Wanting a fresh start away from sympathetic comments and intrusive stares, Laurel transfers to the school on the other side of town where she knows no one and no one knows her. Friendless and alone, she tries to figure out where, if at all, she fits in, while dealing with her loss and pain as she puzzles through the events leading to May’s death.

At the start of the school year, Laurel’s English teacher gives the class a strange first assignment: Write a letter to someone who’s dead. Laurel doesn’t turn in the assignment, but she does write the letter — to Kurt Cobain — and then, finding it an outlet for her inner turmoil, she keeps writing. Letters follow letters, and Laurel fills up a notebook with letters to dead people: She writes not just to Kurt Cobain, but also to River Phoenix, Judy Garland, Janis Joplin, Amelia Earhart, and more.

Meanwhile, Laurel slowly finds her way, making two good friends, Hannah and Natalie, and attracting the eye of the cute boy she’s noticed. Sky is a junior, cool enough that everyone seems to like him, but not interested in being part of the popular crowd. Sky seems to be wounded in some way as well, and bit by bit the two are drawn together. But Laurel keeps the story of her loss to herself, and by keeping her pain separate, also keeps a big chunk of herself from the people who care about her. Meanwhile, her home life is silent and painful, as her mother has moved away, her father is withdrawn and depressed, and her aunt, with whom she lives part-time, is a lonely religious nut with a Mr. Ed obsession. Laurel blames herself for her family’s disintegration, but through the power of her new-found friendships and her self-expression via her letters to the dead, she finally starts to come to terms with what happened and to realize that in order to move forward, she has to let go of the past.

Love Letters to the Dead is almost unbearably sad. Laurel’s pain blazes off the page, and her self-loathing and blame are awful yet totally believable. As readers, we don’t know at first exactly what happened to May or how she died — but as the pieces come together, we come to realize that there are layers upon layers of contributing factors, and that while each family member blames him or herself in some way, the sad fact remains that May’s death was simply a terrible accident capping off a long period of unfortunate events.

Meanwhile, no one here gets by unscathed. The supporting characters also go through tremendous challenges and pain. Secret love, public shame, an abusive home life, mental health challenges, and simple neglect factor into the characters’ lives. They skip school, they drink, they make poor choices and take dangerous risks — so that the fact that they all emerge at the end of the year in relatively good shape, and better off than they started, is rather remarkable. Bad things happen — a lot — and while the characters are all interesting, well-drawn, and sympathetic, it does start to feel like an overdose of trauma after a while.

Laurel’s voice is interesting, as she wades through the jumbled mess of her thoughts and emotions and tries to make sense of all that has happened. It’s moving and melancholy to see her reflections on her relationship with May and how her worship of her big sister prevents her from facing the truth. Laurel adored her big sister all her life, and always thought of May as magical, with a perfect life, completely happy, enchanting everyone who came into her orbit. Over the course of the year covered in Love Letters to the Dead, Laurel confronts the truth about May’s life and challenges, how May’s actions led to tragic consequences for each of them, and comes to a place where she can remember May with love and regret, but freed from the need to idolize or over-glamorize her poor lost sister.

In many ways, this book succeeds in showing one girl’s transformative year, and the power of self-expression to free oneself from the walls created within. But at the same time, I did feel that the construct of the book is flawed, and takes away from the ring of authenticity for which the author seems to be striving.

Writing letters to famous dead people just doesn’t really work as an overarching concept. The portions of the letters addressed to the individuals don’t ring true, and are actually a distraction from the character’s journey. Do we need to see her lecturing Kurt Cobain on what his suicide would have meant to his daughter? Or telling River Phoenix why she thinks his life turned out the way it did? For these two and several others, Laurel’s writing sounds presumptuous and like a stretch outside of what the character might do or say. Each time this happened, I felt pulled out of the narrative of Laurel’s story and reminded of the fact that I was reading about a fictional character, rather than continuing to be absorbed by the events and emotions of the book.

So my reaction to this book is truly 50/50: It’s powerful and sad, and conveys a great deal about loss and healing, friendship and honesty, pain and love. At the same time, the tone of the book is uneven, and ultimately a good and moving story is weighed down by the structure used to tell it.

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The details:

Title: Love Letters to the Dead
Author: Ava Dellaira
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date: April 1, 2014
Length: 323 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Review copy courtesy of Farrar, Straus and Giroux via NetGalley