2012: My year in books

Posted in The Reading Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s that time of year, when every newspaper, magazine, blog, and website is filled with “Best of” and “Top Ten” lists for the year that’s coming to a close. So why not jump on the bandwagon?

2012 was a year filled with great and memorable books (aren’t they all?). For me, it’s hard to pin down the absolute “best” books of the year, but this post is my own little way of summing up what I loved, what I hated, what made me laugh, what made me cry… and just about everything in between.

[Note: Included here are books that I read in 2012. Many were released in 2012, but some are older. Hey, it’s my list. Make of it what you will.]

Favorite quirky titles: Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple and Tell The Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt are the winners here, with honorable mention to The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison. Even better than the titles: The fact that I really enjoyed all three of these terrific novels.

Biggest sources of shame: That I read the Fifty Shades trilogy, pretty much without stopping to breathe, over the course of a weekend. Good literature? Nope. But impossible to tear your eyes away from? Absolutely.

Sexy without shame: The lovely Ocean’s Surrender by Denise Townsend. Good writing, interesting characters, and scorching hot action. Erotic and classy, but never cheesy.

Favorite new graphic novel series: Without doubt, gotta be the Fables series by Bill Willingham. I love everything about it, managed to gobble up all 17 volumes plus the spin-off Jack of Fables series and several other Fables-related stand-alones. Waiting impatiently for volume 18, due out in January.

Favorite new series of the non-illustrated variety: I think I’d have to go with the Mercy Thompson series, the outstanding urban fantasy series by Patricia Briggs. Populated by shape-shifters, werewolves, vampires, fey, and all sorts of things that go bump in the night, yet grounded in relatable characters who have day jobs, homes, and bills to pay, this series has just the right mix of real life and supernatural.

Best twisty-turny plots: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn and Before I Go To Sleep by S. J. Watson. Absolute roller-coaster rides.

Favorite illustrated book for kids: Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick. From the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, a simply beautiful and heart-breaking story in which the illustrations are part of the narrative. Appropriate for middle grade readers and above. (This grown-up was reduced to tears)

Favorite illustrated book for grown-ups: Sacré Bleu by Christopher Moore. You just can’t go wrong with a Christopher Moore book. Sacré Bleu, set in Paris, with a star-studded cast of Impressionist painters plus a few otherworldly types thrown in, is funny, fast-paced, and altogether full of win.

Books that I was happy to cry over: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein put me through an emotional wringer, but they’re such excellent books that I didn’t mind in the slightest.

Most powerful YA fiction read in 2012: See above.

Best YA fiction that should just be marketed as great fiction rather than confined to YA: See above.

Loveliest author encounter: When I heard that Mary Doria Russell, author of The Sparrow (love, love, love) was coming to my city to speak at a high school, I contacted her to see if the event was open to the public. It wasn’t, but she arranged for me to attend as her guest. Her appearance was wonderful, and I was so impressed by the reactions of the high school students (at an all-girls Catholic school, no less!) to this difficult and often very adult subject matter. As an added treat, I had time before her presentation to sit and talk with her, and she could not have been friendlier. Afterward, I mentioned in a thank-you email to Ms. Russell that my book group had chosen her novel Doc as our next book, and she directed me to the book group page at Random House, where I was able to request a book chat with her. My little book group and I then spent an hour on the phone with Ms. Russell, and she was absolutely delightful — warm, funny, smart, gracious, and welcoming. We all came out of that discussion practically walking on air.

Best armchair travels via fiction: Antarctica, via Where’d You Go Bernadette; Orkney Islands and Iceland via The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey; Mississippi River via Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin; Alaska via The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey.

Most haunting dystopias and apocalypses: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller; The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson; Flashback by Dan Simmons.

Best end-of-a-series to be read with a cup of tea: Timeless, the 5th and final volume in Gail Carriger’s fabulous Parasol Protectorate series.

Weirdest set-ups for great books: Going Bovine by Libba Bray, about a teenager dying of mad cow disease; and Every Day by David Levithan, about A, who wakes up in a different body every day.

Most enjoyable forays into other time periods: The Diviners by Libba Bray, one of my favorites of the year, full of flappers and insouciant fun in the New York of the roaring 1920s; and Doc by Mary Doria Russell, historical fiction about Doc Holliday that was completely lovely to read.

Biggest disappointment (but I read it anyway): Opinions are very divided on The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling. Count me as one of the naysayers.

Biggest disappointments that I just couldn’t finish: The Evolution of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin (enjoyed the first in this series, but just couldn’t get into book #2) and The Red House by Mark Haddon.

Most unique use of language: The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan. The author’s use of words to create a setting, a mood, and a culture is beyond description. The story itself is beautiful, but it’s Margo Lanagan’s way with the English language that truly sets this book apart from everything else I’ve read this year. (Plus, the cover is really pretty!)

Don’t read if you’re going on a cruise: The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan and The House of Velvet and Glass by Katherine Howe would not be good choices to read during a sea voyage. If you plan to stay on dry land, however, these are both quite good.

Don’t read if you’re pregnant: Breed by Chase Novak and Talulla Rising by Glen Duncan. Fantastically creepy horror, excellent books, but they’ll certainly wipe your mind clean of happy little pink and blue bunnies and lambs.

Best books with airport encounters: The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith (good outcome) and Stolen by Lucy Christopher (bad outcome).

Best book that sounds like it’s about travel (but it’s not): Looking for Alaska by John Green.

Best use of a bookstore as a romantic setting: Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.

Great fiction that taught me a thing or two: Gold by Chris Cleve, which taught me all about Olympic bicycle racing and Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness, which taught me about alchemy (and also how uncomfortable it is to dress as an Elizabethan-era woman). And dare I add Breed by Chase Novak? Breed taught me not to fly off to former Soviet-bloc countries to seek experimental fertility treatments from shady doctors. (Clearly, I’m still a bit traumatized by that book. Scary.)

Best riffs on classics: The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey, a re-telling of Jane Eyre, and Death Comes to Pemberley by P. D. James, set in the world of Pride and Prejudice.

Best reunion with old friends: All of the books in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer graphic novel series. So great to hang out with the Scoobies again!

Futuristic worlds I don’t want to live in: Flashback by Dan Simmons is a chilling portrayal of a future United States that’s utterly bleak and hopeless, and yet depressingly easy to envision. And Because It Is My Blood by Gabrielle Zevin is set in a world in which chocolate is illegal. Tell me that’s not a terrifying thought!

Children’s book that might seem like a Harry Potter rip-off (but isn’t): The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson. (This one came first)

Fun books to read with a kid: The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Woods; Chomp by Carl Hiassen; Half Magic by Edward Eager; The Haunting of Granite Falls by Eva Ibbotson.

And finally…

Books that just plain old made me happy:

All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen: Brilliantly comedic steampunk cross-dressing fun.
Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith: Lovely, spirited, romantic YA tales with non-cookie-cutter characters.
Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter: Who would have thought that a book about 1960s Hollywood, Italian fishing villages, and Richard Burton could be such a great read?

… and many more, which, for whatever reason, I can’t quite categorize but still really enjoyed (plus a few that are probably better off forgotten). It’s been a great year of reading! I can’t wait to see what treasures I’ll uncover in 2013!

27Dec2012

Flashback Friday: Second Nature by Alice Hoffman

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s time, once again, for Flashback Friday…

Flashback Friday is a chance to dig deep in the darkest nooks of our bookshelves and pull out the good stuff from way back. As a reader, a blogger, and a consumer, I tend to focus on new, new, new… but what about the old favorites, the hidden gems? On Flashback Fridays, I want to hit the pause button for a moment and concentrate on older books that are deserving of attention.

If you’d like to join in, here are the Flashback Friday book selection guidelines:

Has to be something you’ve read yourself
Has to still be available, preferably still in print
Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Other than that, the sky’s the limit! Join me, please, and let us all know: what are the books you’ve read that you always rave about? What books from your past do you wish EVERYONE would read? Pick something from five years ago, or go all the way back to the Canterbury Tales if you want. It’s Flashback Friday time!

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

Newest edition. Pretty, but really provides no clue what this book is about.

This looks like the one I read, way back when.

Second Nature by Alice Hoffman

(published 1994)

I have a love/hate relationship with Alice Hoffman. Not with her personally (we’ve never had the pleasure of meeting), but with her novels. When they work for me, I fall in love. But when they don’t, I tend to really, really dislike them. Second Nature goes into the “love” column, along with Practical Magic and The Dovekeepers, among others.

The Amazon description of Second Nature is a bit vague:

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Dovekeepers, Second Nature tells the story of a suburban woman, Robin Moore, who discovers her own free spirit through a stranger she brings home to her perfectly ordered neighborhood. As Robin impulsively draws this beautiful, uncivilized man into her world — meanwhile coping with divorce and a troubled teenage son — she begins to question her wisdom and doubt her own heart, and ultimately she changes her ideas about love and humanity.

Not so different from the generic chick-lit, suburban love story type of fiction, right? Well, no. What they’re not telling you is that the man who enters the life of the main character was raised by wolves — so when they say “uncivilized”, they really mean uncivilized.

A little more info from the Library Journal synopsis:

Hoffman continues her sensitive portrayal of outcasts, growing more bizarre with each book. Here she introduces Stephen, raised by wolves and about to be declared incurably insane, who is rescued by a woman in the midst of a messy divorce. This small Long Island town is complete with pettiness, busybodies, and interrelated lives. Robin’s estranged husband is on the police force, her brother is Stephen’s psychiatrist, and her teenage son dates the girl next door, whose sister is murdered. It is one of many murders (first animals, then humans), all easy to blame on you-know-who.

Okay, yes, bizarre might be an apt description. But it’s also passionate and lovely, and I love a good story that doesn’t follow along the well-trodden path. Maybe every single plot detail doesn’t quite hold up to logical scrutiny, but that’s beside the point. What makes Second Nature work, at least for me, is the depth of emotion and fire that practically drip from the pages.

So, what’s your favorite blast from the past? Leave a tip for your fellow booklovers, and share the wealth. It’s time to dust off our old favorites and get them back into circulation!

Note from your friendly Bookshelf Fantasies host: To join in the Flashback Friday bloghop, post about a book you love on your blog, and share your link below. Don’t have a blog post to share? Then share your favorite oldie-but-goodie in the comments section. Jump in!

27Dec2012

A modest proposal: My cure for sequel-phobia

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I would like to make a proposal that could revolutionize reading and solve a serious problem facing today’s bookworms.

A brief aside: No, I’m not suggesting an approach on the magnitude of curing the common cold, solving the Middle East crisis, or ending world hunger. But believe me, I can’t be the only reader out there plagued by this issue.

The issue is this: In a world with so many books to read, how is a devoted reader supposed to keep plots and characters straight when a year or more elapses between publication of volumes in a series? I typically read 100+ books in a year. I don’t care how much I loved book 1; if a year goes by before book 2 is available, there’s a really good chance I won’t remember how the first book ended.

It’s not that I don’t care (usually) or that my memory is getting a bit shabby (well, let’s assume that’s not the case). Just think about how many other book plots I’ve followed in the intervening year, how many other characters’ lives I’ve become enmeshed in. How can I possibly pick up where I left off a year ago with no loss of detail? And if I don’t remember all the details, how can I possibly care about what happens next? As a result, one of three scenarios is likely. One, I will read the book anyway, remember just enough to get by, and hope to figure out whatever I’ve forgotten as I move along. Two, I start the book, realize I don’t remember enough of the storyline to really enjoy it, and walk away. Or three, since it’s been a year, I realize that I’m no longer interested in finding out what happens next, and don’t even bother starting book 2.

I’m sure none of these outcomes are what the publisher or author is hoping for.

My solution? Hey, here’s where all my hours of TV viewing prove useful. You know how each episode of your favorite one hour drama starts off with a “Previously on…” segment, giving a brief recap of the major plot points that have already happened so you can start the new episode with the relevant details fresh in your mind? Well, why not provide something like that in books in a series? Wouldn’t it be helpful to have a “previously” page when you pick up book 2? It could be a one-page cheat sheet, a bullet-pointed list of what you need to know, what happened at the end of the previous book, and what the unresolved issues are.

Take, for example, The Cat In The Hat Comes Back. You don’t remember what happened in The Cat In The Hat? Well, a previously page included in book 2 could identify:

A boy and his sister were left along in a house for the day.
A mischievous cat came along and entertained them, but trashed the house.
Drama ensued when the children’s mother appeared about to enter the house.
The cat saved the day by cleaning everything up at the last minute.
The cat promised to return another time for more fun.
The children’s mother had no idea that anything unusual had occurred during her absence.

See? Now we’re all ready for book two. (Silly example, I know, but you get the point).

I had a fortunate experience with a very gracious author recently. When the 2nd book in her most recent series was released, I realized that I couldn’t remember exactly what had happened to each character at the end of the first book. I figured, it’s better to ask than not to read the book at all, so I sent a message to the author via Goodreads asking if she had a synopsis available anywhere on her website so I could refresh my memory. She sent me quite a lovely response, with a list (bullet-pointed!) of about 15 major facts to know from the conclusion of the 1st book. She also pointed out that she’s gotten that same question from a lot of readers (so Ha! it’s not just me) and that she should really find a way to put something online — with big, huge spoiler alerts plastered all over it — so that returning readers could access the information if they wanted. Because she sent me this information, I picked up book 2, was able to jump back in to the story without feeling at a loss, and ended up not only enjoying the book, but very much looking forward to book 3.

I could name several series that I’ve started but haven’t continued, and it’s largely due to the same issue: Too much time has gone by and the story from the first book is no longer fresh in my mind. Granted, for my favorite authors and series, I’ll always re-read the previous book because I don’t want to lose a single detail. Examples that come to mind are Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series, George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire, Deborah Harkness’s All Souls Trilogy, and the Harry Potter series. But in most other cases, my mantra of “so many books, so little time” holds true. I’m just not going to spend time re-reading a book unless I absolutely loved it. And so, in most cases, my sequel-phobia kicks in, and the odds of my sticking with a series are not that great.

So come on! Wouldn’t you love a “previously” page in all your sequels and series? Would having an easy reference like that make you more invested? Would it make you more likely to continue with a story that you read over a year ago?

Listen, what do the publishers have to lose? A few people who maybe would have started the series at book 1 but now figure they’ll just jump in at #2? Seems unlikely. But by providing easily accessible “previously” pages for ongoing series, there’s a lot to gain — namely, returning readers who can reinvest in a series and carry on without feeling disconnected or losing interest altogether.

25Dec2012

Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

And now, for this week’s Wishlist Wednesday…

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Help spread the word! The code will be at the bottom of the post under the linky.
Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.
Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it’s on your wishlist.
Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post.
Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My Wishlist Wednesday book is:

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

Scheduled for publication in March 2013, Frost Burned is the 7th book in Patricia Briggs’s outstanding Mercy Thompson series. Since I’m a big spoiler-phobe, rather than giving a preview of book seven, I’ll share this description of the first book in the series, Moon Called:

From Amazon:

Mercy Thompson’s life is not exactly normal. Her next-door neighbor is a werewolf. Her former boss is a gremlin. And she’s fixing a VW bus for a vampire. But then, Mercy isn’t exactly normal herself.

Mercy is a shape-shifter, with powers that she slowly comes to understand over the course of the series. And she’s a tough woman who kicks butt, literally. Martial arts expert and VW mechanic, Mercy has always been something of an outsider and a loner. But as the books progress, Mercy develops deeper ties to the werewolf pack next door, as well as to various and sundry members of the supernatural world in her little corner of Washington State.

I discovered this series earlier this year, read all six books in a row, and then read the spin-off Alpha and Omega series as well. This is top-notch urban fantasy, with a strong, intelligent woman as the main character, plus an intriguing array of supporting characters. I particularly love the author’s inventiveness in defining and describing wolf pack dynamics. I haven’t encountered this type of approach in any other supernatural or fantasy-oriented books that I’ve read. The combination of love story, urban grittiness, and supernatural mystery really works, and I just can’t wait for the next installment!

Quick note to Wishlist Wednesday bloggers: Come on back to Bookshelf Fantasies for Flashback Friday! Join me in celebrating the older gems hidden away on our bookshelves. See the introductory post for more details, and come back this Friday to add your flashback favorites!

25Dec2012

Anne Hathaway made me cry: A trip to see Les Miz

Posted in Pop Culture by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

The rain was pouring, the theater was packed, and I was a big soggy mess. I saw Les Miserables today, and it blew me away, start to finish. I’d read some not-so-favorable reviews, complaining about everything from the length to the singing to the production values. I don’t know what they were talking about.

Yes, the movie is long. But so what? It was simply stunning. Hugh Jackman was a strong, fiery, tormented Jean Valjean, and man, can he sing!

I didn’t expect to be so moved by the story. After all, I’ve read the book, I’ve seen the stage version several times, I’ve listened to the soundtrack about a zillion times more than that. So it’s not like there were any surprises.

And yet, once Anne Hathaway’s Fantine started her descent into her own personal hell… instant waterworks. And stupid me, with only two measly tissues in my pocket. Every time I recovered, another tear-wrenching scene would come along to start me crying all over again.

The cast was fantastic. Even Russell Crowe (who — according to our local film critic — can’t sing) pulled off a stunning turn with his acting and singing as Inspector Javert. I’m not going to list the entire cast here, but I was especially moved by the young men playing the revolutionaries, taking a hopeless stand on the barricades for the sake of what they believed.

I’m no film critic, not by a long stretch, so all I can do is voice my opinion and relate my own reaction, which is this: Les Miserables is certainly the best movie I’ve seen in a long while, and judging by the faces of the people leaving the theater with me, I’d say they all felt the same.

I feel like I’ve been through the wringer, but at the same time, I feel quite uplifted. And when’s the last time a movie made you feel that way? Go see it. But bring tissues.

25Dec2012

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Movie Versions of Classic Books

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top 10 Tuesday new

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 — well, it’s a freebie. Everyone participating can make up their own theme, so mine is:

Top Ten Movie Versions of Classic Books

I’m planning to see the Les Misérables movie tomorrow, and that got me thinking: What other movies, inspired by classic books, have I loved over the years? (Unlike most top 10 lists coming out at this time of year, my list is not specific to 2012). This is a totally subjective list, based on nothing more than my own enjoyment of the films. The only consistent criterion I’m applying here is that I’ve actually read all of the books mentioned.

So here goes:

1) ??Les Misérables??

Reserving judgement, of course, until I’ve actually seen the movie, but just seeing the trailers has blown me away. I first saw the stage version of the musical in London many years ago, which was memorable for many reasons, not least because I had last minute tickets for cheap seats about a thousand balcony levels up and found the experience positively dizzying. Following that, I decided to read the book — not an abridged version, thank you very much — and walked away from that experience in love with the characters and with a deep and abiding knowledge of Parisian sewers and convents. I’ve since seen the musical several times, have listened to the soundtrack enough to have it memorized, and may even have splurged on a French version of the soundtrack. (But don’t tell; it makes me sound obsessive).

2) Pride and Prejudice: The BBC version, of course. There are countless other versions, remakes, modernizations, and reimaginings, and I even liked the Keira Knightley version (mostly because of Donald Sutherland as Mr. Bennet), but the BBC (Colin Firth) production wins hands-down for me. Although… Bride and Prejudice — c’mon, that one rocked.

3) Vanity Fair: Did anyone else read the book after seeing the movie? I loved Reese Witherspoon, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and James Purefoy in director Mira Nair’s adaptation of William Makepeace Thackeray’s novel… but I ended up loving the book even more. Becky Sharp is not a nice woman, but boy, does she know how to make waves!

4) Romeo and Juliet: As with the Jane Austen books, there are countless movie versions of Romeo and Juliet, but the one that is unparalleled, for me, is the 1968 movie directed by Franco Zeffirelli. Perhaps because I first saw it at a young, impressionable age, I remember it as being incredibly sensual and beautiful and utterly romantic. I suppose I should watch it again one of these days and see how it’s held up, and then perhaps check out the Claire Danes/Leonardo DiCaprio version for comparison’s sake. And if we’re talking “inspired by”, mustn’t forget West Side Story either. Oh, Tony. Oh, Maria.

5) 10 Things I Hate About You: Sure, if we’re talking adaptations of Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, I suppose I could have picked the Elizabeth Taylor/Richard Burton movie (which is wonderful, by the way) or perhaps the 1953 musical Kiss Me Kate, but in my mind, 10 Things I Hate About You is tops. This charming adaptation captures the comedy of the original, and Heath Ledger and Julia Stiles are just superb.

6) Emma and Clueless: Two great movies from one great book. I really love the Gwyneth Paltrow version of Emma (Jeremy Northam makes a dreamy Mr. Knightly), and Alicia Silverstone’s Clueless is a pitch-perfect ’90s update. Both movies are terrific. Don’t make me choose.

7) Dangerous Liaisons: Based on the 1782 epistolary French novel by Choderlos de Laclos, the movie was a perfect forum for a dazzling cast. Glenn Close and John Malkovich are absolutely deadly in this movie. Even Keanu Reeves was not too bad. Must. Watch. Again.

Jane-Eyre-movie-image-Michael Fassbender-Mia-Wasikowska

8) Jane Eyre: Again, another classic with many different movie adaptations. But for purposes of this list, I’m going with the most recent. The 2011 movie starring Mia Wasikowski was lovely to look at and wonderfully acted. Sure, the plot was a bit compressed at times and parts were skimmed over entirely. Still, the gothic mood of the moors was perfectly captured. My only complaint might be that Michael Fassbender is, in fact, too handsome to play Rochester. Not that that’s much of a complaint, really.

Room with a view

9) Hard to choose — pretty much anything featuring Helena Bonham Carter (without insane wigs and bad teeth) could go here. Wings of the Dove, based on the Henry James novel, was the first HBC movie that came to mind, but in the end, I’ll go with A Room With A View. So beautiful, so romantic…

much ado

10) For my 10th and final choice, I’m going with a movie that has not been released yet, but which I’m oh-so-eager to see: Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Joss Whedon, and featuring a Whedon-verse array of favorites, including Nathan Fillion, Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, and Fran Kranz. The movie is scheduled for release in June 2013. Who’s with me?

So what are your favorite movies from classic books? Which Pride and Prejudice do you love best? Can you sing along with Tony and Maria on “Tonight”? And do prefer Helena Bonham Carter as a young ingenue or as a crazy minion of the Dark Lord? Sound off in the comments!

(And wishing, for one and all, health, happiness, and love during the holidays and in the coming year. May your days be merry and bright!)

Save

24Dec2012

The Monday agenda

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.

Wishing good cheer, happy holidays, and delightful reading to all! What’s on the agenda this week?

From last week:

Graphic novels galore! I read all of the books I’d planned to — possible a first for me! You can find my comments on the seven graphic novels I read this past week here.

Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm by Philip Pullman: Didn’t end up starting this one. I want to — really, I do! — but just not right now.

My son and I still haven’t started a new read-aloud yet. He was sick for most of the week, and when he’s sick, we stick with the “comfort food” of good old Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss’s Sleep Book, If I Ran The Circus, Scrambled Eggs Super, The Sneetches… the reading equivalent of chicken soup.

And this week’s new agenda:

I’ve just started Cold Days by Jim Butcher, the newest release in the Dresden Files series. This is book 14, and Harry is still going strong! This should be fun.

The library stack is growing again. Waiting to be read are Sailor Twain, a graphic novel by Mark Siegel, and YA novel Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins.

Also on my agenda for this week: Spend some time savoring two lovely new gift books that I treated myself to after receiving a couple of gift cards: My Ideal Bookshelf by Jane Mount and Thessaly La Force (I’m absolutely drooling over this book) and Buffy: The Making of a Slayer by Nancy Holder.

So many book, so little time…

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

23Dec2012

My week in graphic novels

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Last week, after finishing a couple of heftier and long-awaited novels, I made my own personal proclamation: It’s Graphic Novel Week!

Seven days and seven books later, here’s what I read and what I thought:

First up was Soulless: The Manga, Volume 2 by Gail Carriger (author) and Rem (artist). This manga version of Changeless, the 2nd book in the wonderful Parasol Protectorate series of novels, is a rather delightful affair, even for someone like me who doesn’t typically care for manga-style illustration. While I occasionally found the artwork a bit too cartoon-y, there are moments and scenes that are just wonderfully conveyed, including the Scottish settings, the steampunk gadgets and gewgaws, the fashion (and rather atrocious hats), and some of the interplay between main characters. I would never recommend the manga version as a sole introduction to Gail Carriger’s work, but for anyone who’s read and enjoyed the series, these manga volumes are a nice, amusing side dish.

Next was the continuing stories spun off from my beloved Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. As anyone who was a fan knows, the TV series ended after seven seasons, but Buffy lives on! Under the auspices of creator Joss Whedon, Buffy’s story continued in comic form through season 8, which wrapped up in 2011, and in the newer (and ongoing) season 9. This past week, I had the pleasure of reading the 2nd volume in season 9, On Your Own, as well as the 2nd volume in the spin-off Angel & Faith series, Daddy Issues. Reading these comic series are like visiting with old friends. The gang (or most of the gang) is back! We get to hang out with Buffy, Willow, Spike, Xander, Dawn, and more. The series remains true to the characters as they existed in the TV series, but with a natural growth and progression through the ensuing action. While the season 8 plotline was a bit more convoluted than was truly necessary for good storytelling, the season 9 plot so far is engrossing, surprising, and yes, even touching. Meanwhile, I’m finding myself much more interested in the Angel and Faith spin-off than I thought I’d be, as the two team up to atone for past sins, right some wrongs, deal with visits from important figures from their pasts, and put some bad guys in their places. Both of these volumes were quick but engaging reads, and I can’t wait to see what happens next.

After that, I moved on to the world of Fables by Bill Willingham. While the Fables series has been around since 2002, I was not introduced to Fables until earlier this year — at which point I fell madly in love and gobbled up the entire series as quickly as I could. Which left me completely bereft once I realized I was all caught up and had to simply sit and wait for the next volume to be released. (Side note: Fables, Volume 18: Cubs in Toyland is due out in January 2013!). Luckily for me, two new side projects were released in fairest-1 November: Werewolves of the Heartland, a stand-alone volume centered on Bigby Wolf — only my very favorite character from the Fables ‘verse! — and volume one of a new ongoing series, Fairest, which focuses on some of the female Fables. Both of these, while enjoyable, were more or less filler for me. Werewolves of the Heartland follows Bigby on an adventure alluded to in the main Fables series, in which Bigby sets off in search of a new safe location for the Fables in exile. I won’t get into too much of the plot, but it’s nice to see Bigby in action again — although for the most part, it just left me hungry to return to the main series. (January, hurry up!) Fairest was fun, but I’ll have to see where the series goes as a whole. Volume 1 focuses on Briar Rose (aka Sleeping Beauty), Ali Baba, and the Ice Queen. Interesting and entertaining, but again, it mostly just whets my appetite for the main body of the series. Still, for a Fables fan, these are good choices for the in-between months.

wrinkle-graphic A Wrinkle In Time (or more accurately, according to the book jacket, Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle In Time: The Graphic Novel by Hope Larson) was my next choice. This was such an interesting reading experience. It’s been many years since I’ve read the original novel, yet it made such an indelible impression upon me that I approached the graphic novel with some misgivings, wondering how on earth it could succeed in capturing the essence of Madeleine L’Engle’s masterpiece. Fortunately, the graphic novel does a wonderful job of conveying the spirit of the novel, with simple but expressive illustrations that portray the characters’ emotions and struggles quite well. Meg in particular comes across in a manner so true to the novel — full of doubts and insecurities, driven by love for her family, confronting her anger and frustrations on a daily basis, and trying to become her own person while caring for those she loves. My only hesitation about this edition is that, in a way, it moves too fast. The journey to find Meg’s father and all the events surrounding it happen quickly, and I wonder whether a person reading the graphic novel without having read the original would get the same level of emotional impact. I enjoyed it a great deal, but it’s no replacement for the “real thing”.

Finally — and I’m still recovering from this one — I read the latest volume in the Locke & Key series by Joe Hill. Volume 5, Clockworks, continues right where the previous volume left off, with the Locke children in terrible danger and with no adults available or able to help. In volume 5, we get two very important pieces of Key House history — the origin of the keys in 1775, and the fateful events of 1988 involving the children’s father and his friends at the end of their senior year of high school. Both historical pieces are powerful and disturbing, and finally answer some questions that are essential to understanding the mystery and terror of the story. Locke & Key is scary, suspenseful, creepy, tragic, and un-put-down-able. This series just blows me away. Joe Hill is a master storyteller, and the illustrations are crisp, frightening, gory, and just generally wonderful. Highly, highly recommended.

And there you have it! Seven days, seven graphic novels, one very satisfied reader! Let’s do this again soon, shall we? Meanwhile, back to reading books without pictures… sigh.

Save

18Dec2012

Wishlist Wednesday

Posted in Wishlist Wednesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

And now, for this week’s Wishlist Wednesday…

The concept is to post about one book from our wish lists that we can’t wait to read. Want to play? Here’s how:

Follow Pen to Paper as host of the meme.
Please consider adding the blog hop button to your blog somewhere, so others can find it easily and join in too! Help spread the word! The code will be at the bottom of the post under the linky.
Pick a book from your wishlist that you are dying to get to put on your shelves.
Do a post telling your readers about the book and why it’s on your wishlist.
Add your blog to the linky at the bottom of the post at Pen to Paper.
Put a link back to Pen to Paper somewhere in your post.
Visit the other blogs and enjoy!

My Wishlist Wednesday book is:

Mrs. Queen Takes The Train by William Kuhn

From Amazon:

After decades of service and years of watching her family’s troubles splashed across the tabloids, Britain’s Queen is beginning to feel her age. She needs some proper cheering up. An unexpected opportunity offers her relief: an impromptu visit to a place that holds happy memories—the former royal yacht, Britannia, now moored near Edinburgh. Hidden beneath a skull-emblazoned hoodie, the limber Elizabeth (thank goodness for yoga) walks out of Buckingham Palace into the freedom of a rainy London day and heads for King’s Cross to catch a train to Scotland. But a characterful cast of royal attendants has discovered her missing. In uneasy alliance a lady-in-waiting, a butler, an equerry, a girl from the stables, a dresser, and a clerk from the shop that supplies Her Majesty’s cheese set out to find her and bring her back before her absence becomes a national scandal.

Mrs Queen Takes the Train is a clever novel, offering a fresh look at a woman who wonders if she, like Britannia herself, has, too, become a relic of the past. William Kuhn paints a charming yet biting portrait of British social, political, and generational rivalries—between upstairs and downstairs, the monarchy and the government, the old and the young. Comic and poignant, fast paced and clever, this delightful debut tweaks the pomp of the monarchy, going beneath its rigid formality to reveal the human heart of the woman at its center.

I started off with a very sad-sounding book for this week’s selection, and I just couldn’t bring myself to stick with it. Who needs sad right now?

Mrs. Queen Takes The Train has been getting some really positive reviews from people whose opinions I trust, and I think it sounds rather delightful and adorable! I’d definitely be up for reading something whimsical and off-beat, and this one seems to fit the bill. I’ve put in a request at my public library… now I just have to wait.

Has anyone read it yet? What did you think?

17Dec2012

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Read in 2012

Posted in Top Ten Tuesday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Top 10 Tuesday new 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 Books I Read In 2012

I almost passed on this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, as I’m putting together one or two “best of ” lists for year-end and didn’t want to end up repeating myself. Then I thought I’d take a purely quantitative approach for this week’s topic, so I scooted on over to Goodreads, downloaded my books into an Excel spreadsheet (call me a nerd, but I really love spreadsheets), and sorted all of my 2012 books by the ratings I gave them.

I try to be consistent with my stars on Goodreads, and only give 5 stars to books that I consider to have excellent writing and/or an unforgettable or unique plot, or books that have had an indelible impact on me as a person and as a reader. The books included on this week’s Top Ten list are all books that I rated 5 stars. Some of these have reviews elsewhere on this blog, so if you want to know more, click on the links provided below.

Let’s get on with it! Here are my top-rated books of 2012, according to my oh-so-scientific Goodreads ratings:

1) Doc by Mary Doria Russell: Mary Doria Russell never fails to impress me, and all of the books I’ve read by her have simply blown me away. The Sparrow is and will always be my favorite, but Doc — historical fiction centering on Doc Holliday — surprised me by how much it got under my skin.

2) The Fault In Our Stars by John Green: I cried buckets. A powerful, amazing, wonderful book.

3) Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple: Funny, fresh, utterly delightful. (review)

4) The Dog Stars by Peter Heller: I loved this book about survival and love. Gorgeous writing plus a breathtaking plot. (review)

5) The Brides of Rollrock Island by Margo Lanagan: Margo Lanagan uses words and language in a way unmatched in anything else I’ve read. Beautiful. (review)

6) Locke and Key (graphic novel series) by Joe Hill: Creepy, scary, and wonderful.

7) Fables (graphic novel series) by Bill Willingham: I am head over heels in love with this series, and can’t wait for the next installment.

8) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein: Another young adult novel that left me in tears and kept me guessing until the end. Outstanding. (review)

9) Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin: An early work by George R. R. Martin, Fevre Dream is both historical fiction and a new and haunting twist on the vampire genre, with the terrific writing and world-building you’d expect from this author.

10) All Men of Genius by Lev AC Rosen: Steampunk, Oscar Wilde, Shakespeare, cross-dressing, rampaging automata… this book has it all! All Men of Genius was impossible to put down and just an incredible amount of fun.

There’s so many more that I read and enjoyed this past year! Overall, I’d say that 2012 was a reading year that rocked.

Save