Shelf Control #7: Small Damages

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Bookshelf Fantasies… Shelf Control!

Shelf Control is all about the books we want to read — and already own! Consider this a variation of a Wishing & Waiting post… but looking at books already available, and in most cases, sitting right there on our shelves and e-readers.

Want to join in? See the guidelines and linky at the bottom of the post, and jump on board! Let’s take control of our shelves!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: Small Damages
Author: Beth Kephart
Published: 2012
Length: 304 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

It’s senior year, and while Kenzie should be looking forward to prom and starting college in the fall, she is mourning the loss of her father. She finds solace in the one person she trusts, her boyfriend, and she soon finds herself pregnant. Kenzie’s boyfriend and mother do not understand her determination to keep the baby. She is sent to southern Spain for the summer, where she will live out her pregnancy as a cook’s assistant on a bull ranch, and her baby will be adopted by a Spanish couple.

Alone and resentful in a foreign country, Kenzie is at first sullen and difficult. She begins to open her eyes and her heart to the beauty that is all around her and inside of her.

How I got it:

I bought it!

When I got it:

Back in 2012, right when it was released.

Why I want to read it:

I read a review of this book in my local newspaper when it was first published. The review was glowing, and I thought this sounded like a terrific, sensitive take on teen pregnancy. I’m not sure why I’ve let it just sit on my shelf for this long, but I do want to make a point of reading it soon!

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Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link below!
And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and have fun!

For more on why I’ve started Shelf Control, check out my introductory post here, or read all about my out-of-control book inventory, here.

And if you’d like to post a Shelf Control button on your own blog, here’s an image to download (with my gratitude, of course!):

26Oct2015

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Weird, Wild, Wonderful Witchy Books

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, leading up to Halloween, I’m focusing on ten books about witches… some cute, some not so much, some the real deal, and some the wrongly accused. What do they have in common? They’re all about witches… and they’re all pretty awesome.

Witches for kids:

1) Old Black Witch by Wende and Harry Devlin

2) The Witches by Roald Dahl

3) The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

4) The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling (Hi, Hermione!!)

Falsely accused witches:

5) The Crucible by Arthur Miller

6) Outlander by Diana Gabaldon: Yes, there’s a witch trial! And no, Claire may be a time traveler with special healing powers, but a witch, she ain’t.

Talented witches:

7) A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

8) The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe

Fairy tale witches:

9) Wicked by Gregory Maguire

10) Fables, volume 10: The Witches by Bill Willingham

And an extra one, just for fun..

Whether on TV or in comic book form, there’s no denying that Willow is one awesome witch!

Are you ready for Halloween yet?

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 feature, Thursday Quotables. 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!

26Oct2015

The Monday Check-In ~ 10/26/2015

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

My Monday tradition, including a look back and a look ahead — what I read last week, what new books came my way, and what books are keeping me busy right now. Plus a smattering of other stuff too.

Life:

I’m back! I took last week off from blogging, reading, and pretty much everything else except my son’s bar mitzvah. It was a wonderful experience, and we were all so proud of our lovely young man. But, whew! Between the event itself and the whirlwind arrivals and departures of various visiting relatives and friends, it was all pretty exhausting. I’m happy to have had a quiet weekend to read in the sun, do laundry, go for a couple of walks, and just chill.

On a related note, earlier this week I shared a beautiful poem that really resonated with me as I thought about my son, his big milestone, and my hopes for his future. Check it out here.

What did I read last week?

I’m finally reading again! I managed to finish just one book:

Sense & Sensibility by Joanne Trollope: Check out my review, here.

Fresh Catch:

This week’s new arrivals:

One purchased and two from the library… quite a fun mix!

I also received an ARC of a gender-bended twist on a classic, which fits right in with my year of Austen:

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

I’m starting with After You by Jojo Moyes, since it’s a library book with a wait list. Can’t keep folks waiting too long!

Now playing via audiobook:

I’m on a classics roll! I just finished listening to Pride and Prejudice (outstanding!), and decided to listen to The Call of the Wild next. This should be fun! I’ve never read the book.

Ongoing reads:

My book group is getting so close to the end of both of these — only two weeks to go for North and South, and we’ll finish A Breath of Snow and Ashes in early December.

So many book, so little time…

24Oct2015

Book Review: Sense & Sensibility by Joanne Trollope

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Another Austen Project book… read!

As I discussed in my review of Val McDermid’s Northanger Abbey, The Austen Project is a publishing concept that pairs up bestselling contemporary authors with the works of Jane Austen, with the goal of creating six reimagined versions of the classic novels. So far, three have been published, with the next projected for release in 2016.

This new version of Sense and Sensibility is written by bestselling author Joanna Trollope, who imagines the Dashwood family in almost familiar terms — finding themselves displaced from their lovely home by their half-brother and his money-hungry wife, having to rely on the kindness of distant relatives to start fresh, and figuring out the ups and downs of love, infatuation, and everything in between.

But this Sense & Sensibility is set in the 21st century, and of course, there are changes from the original. Elinor, practical as ever, is an architecture student. Marianne, frail and subject to the whims of passionate feeling, is severely asthmatic and must always be looked after. The often overlooked youngest, Margaret (or here, Mags), petulant and whiny, always plugged into her headphones, appreciates any cute boyfriend of her sisters’ — so long as he drives an awesome car.

The cast of characters is much the same as in the Austen version, with Marianne’s love interest Willoughby portrayed here as gorgeous but shiftless Wills, all too ready to throw Marianne over for the sake of romancing a millionaire’s daughter. We also have Bill Brandon, an utterly good guy running a non-profit home for mentally challenged individuals at his Delaford estate, and hapless Edward Ferrars, whose controlling mother has bullied him into utter dependence. The awful characters — especially Fanny Dashwood and the Steele sisters — are every bit as awful here. After all, selfishness, emotional manipulation, and obsessions with money are timeless!

The essential storyline follows the familiar path, but with elements changed to make more sense in the modern setting. There are hospital visits and interior decorators, school carpools and even a job for Elinor. But the sisters’ defining characteristics are what we know from Austen: Elinor is steady and logical, steering the family through hard times through her practical management when everyone else in her family is busy feeling all the feels — and Marianne, throwing herself headlong into love with no regard for anything but listening to her heart and relying 100% on her emotions to lead the way.

Start to finish, I was pretty charmed by this version of Sense & Sensibility. It’s no replacement for the classic Austen novel, and I’m not convinced that it would work as a stand-alone. But as a companion piece to the classic, it’s quite endearing. While the rush to marriage may feel a bit forced at times in a modern setting, as framed in the context of status-hungry social climbers and defiantly old school, old money families, it makes a sad sort of sense. Throw in social media, and you have Marianne devastated not just by a broken heart, but by public humiliation via YouTube.

The writing is light in tone, with just enough winking acknowledgement that this is a retelling:

“Hasn’t she got a boyfriend yet? She’s old enough.”

“She’s fourteen. Honestly, Abi, it’s all you ever think about. You’re like those nineteenth-century novels where marriage is the only career option for a middle class girl.”

Joanna Trollope’s Sense & Sensibility is a fun read that’s sure to amuse anyone who loves the Jane Austen classic and is open to seeing the story retold with a modernized twist. It doesn’t require a whole lot of concentration, but it should at least make you smile!

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The details:

Title: Sense & Sensibility
Author: Joanne Trollope
Publisher: Harper
Publication date: January 1, 2013
Length: 362 pages
Genre: Fiction
Source: Purchased

21Oct2015

Thursday Quotables: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Posted in 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!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
(published 2009)

I was a little stuck for a Thursday Quotables book this week. I’ve barely touched a book for the past 10 days, after a whirlwind family celebration (and plenty of houseguests). I’m listening to the audiobook version of Pride and Prejudice, and was happy to remember that I had this zombified version sitting on my shelf.

The classic opening, with a twist:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains. Never was this truth more plain that during the recent attacks at Netherfield Park, in which a household of eighteen was slaughtered and consumed by a horde of the living dead.

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!
Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

20Oct2015

Shelf Control #6: The Last Policeman

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Bookshelf Fantasies… Shelf Control!

Want to join in? See the guidelines and linky at the bottom of the post, and jump on board! Let’s take control of our shelves!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: The Last Policeman
Author: Ben H. Winters
Published: 2012
Length: 336 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

What’s the point in solving murders if we’re all going to die soon, anyway?

Detective Hank Palace has faced this question ever since asteroid 2011GV1 hovered into view. There’s no chance left. No hope. Just six precious months until impact.

The Last Policeman presents a fascinating portrait of a pre-apocalyptic United States. The economy spirals downward while crops rot in the fields. Churches and synagogues are packed. People all over the world are walking off the job—but not Hank Palace. He’s investigating a death by hanging in a city that sees a dozen suicides every week—except this one feels suspicious, and Palace is the only cop who cares.

The first in a trilogy, The Last Policeman offers a mystery set on the brink of an apocalypse. As Palace’s investigation plays out under the shadow of 2011GV1, we’re confronted by hard questions way beyond “whodunit.” What basis does civilization rest upon? What is life worth? What would any of us do, what would we really do, if our days were numbered?

How I got it:

I was offered review copies of the three books in this trilogy when the 3rd book was being released (and feel very ashamed that I still haven’t read them!).

When I got it:

Last year.

Why I want to read it:

I love asteroids-crashing-into-Earth stories, as weird as that may sound. Remember those two asteroid movies that came out pretty much at the exact same time — Deep Impact and Armageddon? Big fan here. The Last Policeman trilogy sounds weird and off-beat, and all sorts of awesome. I solemnly swear to read this book with in the next six months! And if it’s as good as I’m hoping, maybe I’ll even do a binge-read of all three.

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link below!
And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and have fun!

For more on why I’ve started Shelf Control, check out my introductory post here, or read all about my out-of-control book inventory, here.

And if you’d like to post a Shelf Control button on your own blog, here’s an image to download (with my gratitude, of course!):

20Oct2015

For my son

Posted in Family & Life by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I’ve been away from my blog, and pretty much everything online, for the past week because of a big, joyous family event — my son’s bar mitzvah! My little guy is 13, and (according to Jewish tradition, if not reality), a man!

The celebration was wonderful, my kiddo did an amazing job, and it was great (but exhausting) to have family and friends visiting from all across the country. I managed to get through the ceremony itself without shedding any tears, but I was absolutely bursting with love and pride.

I gave a little talk as part of the service, focusing on the kiddo’s achievements and my hopes and prayers for his future. I kept it pretty brief and straight-forward, because he didn’t want to have to stand there while I engaged in emotional drama, so I didn’t include one thing that I really had hoped to fit in.

I came across this incredible poem last week, and felt that it summed up so perfectly what I wish for my son. I couldn’t include it at the bar mitzvah, but didn’t want to not use it in some way, and hope to find some nice way to share it with the kiddo (in a way that he won’t think is lame).

Meanwhile, I thought I’d share it here, and hope that you all find it as beautiful as I do.

_________________

Please Bring Strange Things
by Ursula LeGuin

Please bring strange things.
Please come bringing new things.
Let very old things come into your hands.
Let what you do not know come into your eyes.
Let desert sand harden your feet.
Let the arch of your feet be the mountains.
Let the paths of your fingertips be your maps
and the ways you go be the lines on your palms.
Let there be deep snow in your inbreathing
and your outbreath be the shining of ice.
May your mouth contain the shapes of strange words.
May you smell food cooking you have not eaten.
May the spring of a foreign river be your navel.
May your soul be at home where there are no houses.
Walk carefully, well loved one,
walk mindfully, well loved one,
walk fearlessly, well loved one.
Return with us, return to us,
be always coming home.

15Oct2015

Thursday Quotables: Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope

Posted in 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!

NEW! Thursday Quotables is now using a Linky tool! Be sure to add your link if you have a Thursday Quotables post to share.

Sense & Sensibility by Joanna Trollope
(published October 29, 2013)

This is not your mother’s Jane Austen:

Marianne was crying again. She was the only person Elinor had ever encountered who could cry and still look ravishing. Her nose never seemed to swell or redden, and she appeared able just to let huge tears slide slowly down her face in a way that one ex-boyfriend had said wistfully simply made him want to lick them off her jawline.

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!
Click on the linky button (look for the cute froggie face) below to add your link.
After you link up, I’d love it if you’d leave a comment about my quote for this week.
Be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables, and have fun!

14Oct2015

Shelf Control #5: The Uncertain Places

Posted in Shelf Control by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Welcome to the newest weekly feature here at Bookshelf Fantasies… Shelf Control!

Want to join in? See the guidelines and linky at the bottom of the post, and jump on board! Let’s take control of our shelves!

My Shelf Control pick this week is:

Title: The Uncertain Places
Author: Lisa Goldstein
Published: 2011
Length: 237 pages

What it’s about (synopsis via Goodreads):

In this long-awaited new novel from American Book Award winner Lisa Goldstein, an ages-old family secret breaches the boundaries between reality and magic, revealing the places between them.

When Berkeley student Will Taylor is introduced by his best friend, Ben, to the mysterious Feierabend sisters, Will quickly falls for enigmatic Livvy, a chemistry major and accomplished chef. But Livvy’s family—vivacious actress Maddie, family historian Rose, and their mother, absent-minded Sylvia—are behaving strangely. The Feierabend women believe that luck is their handmaiden, and so it is, almost as though they are living in a fairy tale.

But the price for such gifts is extremely high. Will and Ben will unravel the riddle of a supernatural bargain, hoping to save Livvy from what appears to be an inescapable fate.

How I got it:

I bought it.

When I got it:

Several years ago.

Why I want to read it:

I read a review of this book shortly after its release, and the reviewer absolutely raved about how great it is. I picked up a copy on my next visit to a bookstore, but somehow ended up shelving it and never picking it up again. I still think it sounds like something I’d love!

__________________________________

Want to participate in Shelf Control? Here’s how:

Write a blog post about a book that you own that you haven’t read yet.
Add your link below!
And if you’d be so kind, I’d appreciate a link back from your own post.
Check out other posts, and have fun!

For more on why I’ve started Shelf Control, check out my introductory post here, or read all about my out-of-control book inventory, here.

And if you’d like to post a Shelf Control button on your own blog, here’s an image to download (with my gratitude, of course!):

12Oct2015

The Monday Check-In ~ 10/12/2015

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

A programming note:

Bookshelf Fantasies may be in semi-silent mode for the next week, as I have a big family event coming up. Lots of relatives coming to town, lots of logistics, lots of scurrying from point A to point B to point C. You probably won’t see me blogging much this week, but never fear! My regular features, Shelf Control and Thursday Quotables, will be happening on schedule, just like always. Anyway, please forgive me in advance if I’m slow at responding to comments or otherwise absent. I’ll catch you on the flip side!

What did I read last week?

Due to the craziness chez moi, I’ve barely read a thing all week, and I anticipate more of the same for the week to come. I did manage to finish one book:

Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid: Quite a fun reimagining of the Austen classic. Check out my review, here.

In addition to which, I made my way through a terrific audiobook:

Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear: My review is here.

Fresh Catch:

This week’s new arrivals:

So excited for both of these!

What will I be reading during the coming week?

Currently in my hands:

The Unfortunate Decisions of Dahlia Moss by Max Wirestone: I wanted light and fluffy since my concentration is shot this week — but as of the 50% mark, I’m feeling like this might be even lighter and fluffier than I can really take. We shall see.

Now playing via audiobook:

During my year of Austen, I listened to all of Jane Austen’s books via audio except Pride and Prejudice. Maybe because this is the Austen novel that I’ve already read the most times, I wasn’t feeling drawn to the audiobook — and the fact that this is the only one not narrated by Juliet Stevenson was a deterrent as well. Well, I guess I’m over it! Again, basing decisions on my lack of ability to fully concentrate this week, I figured that something I was already very familiar with would be the best bet for my next listen, and you know what? It’s a great choice! I’m enjoying the P&P audio quite a bit when I have time to listen, but don’t feel any pressure to give it more attention than I can easily spare. Win!