Thursday Quotables: The Eyes of the Dragon

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!

The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King
(first published 1987)

Once, in a kingdom called Delain, there was a King with two sons. Delain was a very old kingdom and it had had hundreds of Kings, perhaps even thousands; when time goes on long enough, not even historians can remember everything. Roland the Good was neither the best nor the worst King ever to rule the land. He tried very hard not to do anyone great evil and mostly succeeded. He also tried very hard to do great works, but, unfortunately, he didn’t succeed so well at that. The result was a very mediocre King; he doubted if he would be remembered long after he was dead.

It’s been many, many years since I first read The Eyes of the Dragon — so many, actually, that it really feels brand new. I’m just starting this book with my son, and that opening already made me happy.

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 below (next to the cute froggy face) to link up your post! And be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables too.
Have a quote to share but not a blog post? Leave your quote in the comments.
Have fun!

21Jan2014

Wishing & Waiting on Wednesday

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).

I’m really looking forward to:

The Possibilities by Kaui Hart Hemmings
(to be released May 13, 2014)

Synopsis via Goodreads:

In this highly anticipated novel from the bestselling author of The Descendants, a grieving mother struggles to overcome her son’s death, when a strange girl enters her life with a secret that changes them both forever.

Sarah St. John, a single mother, is reeling from grief: Three months ago, her twenty-one-year-old son, Cully, died in an avalanche near their home in the ski resort town of Breckenridge, Colorado.

As Sarah tries her best to go through the stages—the anger, the sadness, the letting go—she has trouble keeping her grief at bay and moving on with life. Her father, a retiree who has become addicted to QVC, urges Sarah to go back to work at Breckenridge’s local morning show. Her best friend, a recent divorcee who always manages to say the wrong things, convinces Sarah to sort through Cully’s belongings. Slowly, she comes to terms with a world without the swish of her son’s ski pants or the rolling of his skateboard outside her window. Then a girl named Kit appears on Sarah’s doorstep—and she’s carrying Cully’s child.

The Possibilities is a tender and darkly funny story about the fracturing and healing that takes place within a family after tragedy. Told in Kaui Hart Hemmings’s unsentimental and refreshingly wry style—praised as “audaciously comic” by The New Yorker—this uplifting novel asks difficult questions about what we risk to keep our loved ones close.

I’m so excited to have received an ARC for this book! I really enjoyed The Descendants, and look forward to reading The Possibilities as well — even without the added benefit of the Hawaiian setting of The Descendants.

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!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

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!

20Jan2014

New release + giveaway: Board Stiff by Piers Anthony

Posted in Fun and Whimsy by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I’m delighted to share the cover and synopsis of the newest fantasy novel from Piers Anthony:

The 38th installment of the Xanth fantasy series will delight fans of the witty and comical style that only Piers Anthony can deliver. Best known for his Xanth series, Anthony is the author of over 100 books and has had more than twenty-one novels hit the best-seller list.

Be careful what you wish for…

“I’m actually a smart girl who would make any man an excellent wife. But no man sees that. No man is interested in my mind or personality, just my whatevers. So here is my wish: I’m board stiff. I want Adventure, Excitement, and Romance.”

So begins Piers Anthony’s 38th Xanth novel, in which Irrelevant Candy, looks at her reflection in the water of the shallow well and sees luxuriant midnight black hair to her breathtakingly slender waist, matching dark eyes in a lovely face. A torso coming yea-close to absolute perfection. She was man’s desire. That was part of the problem.

And in the shallow magic of a wishing well, she asks her wish to be granted. Something happens. A sudden whirlwind surrounds her, lifting her up and ripping off her clothing. She is changing, somehow. Then she falls flat on the ground.

Literally. She has been transformed into a flat, stiff board with two knotholes for eyes.

What fun! If you’re a fan of fantasy, be sure to enter to win a print copy of Board Stiff! (Giveaway available to US residents only… sorry!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

20Jan2014

Book Review: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott

Heartbeat

Grief and anger explode off the page in Heartbeat, a young adult novel that fairly sizzles with its main character’s rage. 17-year-old Emma is consumed by pain over the loss of her mother, who is brain-dead but being kept alive by machines for the sake of her unborn baby. Emma’s stepfather Dan brings Emma to the hospital each day to visit her mother, but Emma can barely control her hatred and resentment toward Dan and toward the baby. Once completely devoted to her studies and determined to be top of the class, Emma now goes through the motions and can’t be botheredwith schoolwork. Once happy and in a loving relationship with her kind stepfather, Emma now blames him for her mother’s death, and literally locks him out of her room and her life.

The sole link to her former happy life is Emma’s best friend Olivia, who provides her with daily chitchat and distraction. And then Emma meets Caleb, the only person at her school who’s anywhere near as messed up as she is, and Emma gradually learns that pain and grief come in all different forms — but so does love.

Heartbeat is painfully sad to read, and yet it’s also quite beautiful in many ways. In learning the depths of Emma’s loss, we see her memories of the time before, and just how happy a family full of love can be. By peeling back layer after layer of family memories and experiences, the author shows us how devastating all of this is for Emma — not just the loss of her mother, but the loss of the love and safety she she once felt in her home and with her family.

Emma’s rage is the flip side of that love and is the way that she channels the grief that overwhelms her. Emma’s memories of her relationship with her mother are lovely and wistful, and the suddenness and senselessness of her loss come across with a visceral impact. Emma will never get her mother back, but by the end of Heartbeat, she’s beginning to find glimmers of hope for a future that might still have meaning and even love in it.

Heartbeat shows us the anger of a someone who’s lost the person at the center of her life. I read Heartbeat with tears in my eyes — but despite the pain and loss, there’s an honesty and fierceness in the writing that makes this an important and emotionally compelling book. I recommend Heartbeat for anyone who appreciates young adult fiction that doesn’t shy away from difficult subjects. It is not an easy book to read, but it is strong and memorable, moving and definitely thought-provoking.

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The details:

Title: Heartbeat
Author: Elizabeth Scott
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Publication date: January 28, 2014
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Young adult contemporary
Source: Review copy courtesy of Harlequin Teen via NetGalley

20Jan2014

The Monday Agenda 1/20/2014

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?

The Vanishing Dirty Magic (The Prospero's War, #1) Cruel Beauty Heartbeat

The Vanishing by Wendy Webb: Done! My review is here.

Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells: I read a few chapters, then decided it wasn’t for me — at least, not right now. It looks like fun urban fantasy, but I suppose I just wasn’t in the mood. Maybe another time.

Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge: Done! My review is here.

Heartbeat by Elizabeth Scott: I just finished this book late on Sunday, with more than a few tears in my eyes. Review to follow.
Updated to add: The review for Heartbeat is up now, here.

Dinosaur Summer by Greg Bear: My kiddo and I finished reading this terrific sci-fi adventure story this past week. My thoughts on Dinosaur Summer are here.

Fresh Catch:

It’s a bonanza of books, some new and some picked up from the used bookstore:

The Splendour Falls Joe Golem and the Drowning City: An Illustrated Novel

The Haunting of Hill House Hollow City (Miss Peregrine, #2)

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

First up, a couple of ARCs for January new releases:

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy The Swiss Affair

Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy by Karen Foxlee

The Swiss Affair by Emylia Hall

If I finish both of these, I’ll be caught up on review copies for the month, and can then indulge myself with a book or two just for me! The one I’m most looking forward to? The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley! This is one author who has never let me down, and I’m really excited to read this new reissue of one of her older books.

My son and I are debating our choices for our next “together” book. Right now, we’re leaning toward The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King. So far, he’s liked the first few chapters that we’ve read, so this is looking like a definite maybe. My kiddo’s first Stephen King — what a great milestone!

The Outlander Book Club’s re-read of An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon is now underway! The goal is to read a chapter each weekday, from now until June, finishing just in time for the release of the next Outlander book, Written In My Own Heart’s Blood. Up this week in Echo: chapters 4 -8. Want to join in? Just let me know 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.

19Jan2014

Book Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: Cruel Beauty by Rosamund Hodge

Cruel Beauty What do you get when you put Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard, and Greek mythology in a blender?

Probably something that looks a lot like Cruel Beauty!

In this new YA fantasy novel, 17-year-old Nyx is doomed to marry the demon who rules her land, as the price due for a bargain her father made before her birth. Nyx has spent her whole life dreading and preparing for her fate, filled with anger at her father for sacrificing her so easily and filled with dismay, knowing that she has no chance of surviving. Nyx’s purpose is not just to wed the ruler, but to bring about his destruction, in order to free her people and avenge her mother’s death.

Easier said than done. When Nyx finally arrives at the ruined castle, she meets her new husband — incredibly handsome, of course — as well as the shadow servant, Shade, who is forced to obey but seems to be on her side. Secrets abound, and Nyx realizes that her task will be even harder than she imagined… especially when her hatred for her husband and captor starts turning into something else.

In Cruel Beauty, there’s a whole mish-mosh of fairy tale and mythology stirred together. The land of Arcadia worships the Greek gods, and their stories and curses inform the actions of Nyx and the rest of the characters. The main tale of the girl promised to the hideous creature and then falling in love is straight out of Beauty and the Beast, although twisted and turned quite a bit along the way. There’s a magical system as well, as Hermetic works (related to the god Hermes) are what allow people to harness the elements of air, earth, fire, and water.

So does it all work? For the most part, I’d say yes. The plot gets overly complicated with so many different fantastical and mythological sources contributing to the mix. The Hermetic concepts take up space and seem to be very important early on — but don’t really matter much by the end of the story. There’s magic and dark spirits and curses and bargains… and the plot ends up practically tying itself into knots to make it all connect and work out in the end.

But, despite the convoluted story line, I enjoyed Cruel Beauty quite a bit. I think it helps that I read it straight through, all in one day. Yes, it’s that compelling — one of those books where you vow to stop after one more chapter… and suddenly an hour or two have slipped by. If I’d read it in smaller chunks or over the course of a week, maybe I would have taken more time to think about the plot developments and poke holes at certain pieces. But gobbling it up all at once, nothing bothered me too much…

Because wow. That’s some love story! Nyx and her captor do a slow burn, gradually moving from mistrust and outright dislike to grudging respect and amusement, and finally, kindness and affection — despite Nyx’s horrible sense that she betrays her family and her people by feeling anything for this strange and seemingly cruel man. Their passion is palpable, and feels like the kind of epic love that can make someone risk eternal suffering for the sake of the other.

Oh, and can we just take a minute to gaze at that cover? Gorgeous.

Overall, Cruel Beauty is probably over-plotted, but it’s a thrilling and oddly moving narrative none the less. If you enjoy fairy tale retellings, magical worlds, and dark secrets, this is one new release that you shouldn’t miss.

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The details:

Title: Cruel Beauty
Author: Rosamund Hodge
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication date: January 28, 2014
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Young adult fantasy
Source: Review copy courtesy of Balzer + Bray via Edelweiss

17Jan2014

Book Review: The Vanishing by Wendy Webb

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: The Vanishing by Wendy Webb

The Vanishing Julia Bishop is left friendless and penniless after her husband is exposed as the “midwestern Bernie Madoff” and then kills himself. Faced with foreclosure, unpaid bills, stalkers, and death threats, Julia’s life is bleak indeed until a stranger shows up with a bizarre proposal: Adrian Sinclair offers Julia a position as companion to his elderly mother, famous author Amaris Sinclair — who supposedly died ten years earlier. If she accepts, Julia will be given a chance to escape her old life and live at Havenwood, a huge mansion in the wilderness of northern Minnesota. She’ll spend her days with the woman who first inspired her to write, and most importantly, she’ll get a fresh start just when her life seems utterly hopeless.

Havenwood is beautiful, elegant, and mysterious. Isolated in the woods, it’s the perfect hideout, but seems to be hiding secrets of its own. Why does everything seem so familiar? Why does Julia keep hearing strange voices? Whose footprints are in the snow? Why is the family so excited about Julia’s arrival? And who is that hot guy out by the stables?

As days go by, Julia realizes that the the strange occurrences at Havenwood may be sinister, and even dangerous. Despite her fondness for the family (and the hot guy in the stables), she suspects that her job offer may have strings attached that are not in her best interest. As the spookiness mounts, the only answers may lie in uncovering the past…

… and that’s about as much synopsis as you’ll get out of me!

The Vanishing sets a tone of gothic mystery and eerie supernatural goings-on, and at the same time tells the story of a seemingly ordinary woman whose life has gotten completely messed up and out of control. Havenwood is beautifully described, and made me yearn for my own wilderness adventure — in a gorgeous mansion, of course!

It’s hard to suspend disbelief throughout the story, as plot pieces begin to mount that don’t quite make sense. Really, Julia is willing to head off to parts unknown with a complete stranger, no cell phones or outside contact allowed? And really, she believes this stranger has just randomly selected her as a trusted companion for his mother because he feels sorry for her? And the instant sparks that fly between Julia and the hot stable guy? (Okay, his name is Drew, and he’s part of the family whose property it is, but still…) I thought insta-love was just a YA plot device!

Granted, a lot of these issues are ameliorated by the unraveling of the central mystery, but those answers come so late in the book that they don’t really outweigh the sheer lack of believability earlier on. Somehow, even though there are answers, I didn’t find them convincing enough to balance out my impatience and incredulity.

What really drove me crazy, though, was Julia’s insistence on behaving like a doomed female character from a horror movie. Oh, the power’s gone out and there might be an intruder? Gee, the hot guy told me to stay in my room and lock the door… so I think I’ll grab a lantern and explore the pitch-black hallways all by myself instead. Hmm, I’ve seen disturbing visions and heard scary noises in the library and east wing? Let me go back there and poke around some more! Just cut it out, Julia, okay?

Overall, as the story delves deeper into the history of Havenwood and its connection to the Spiritualist movement of the 1800s, it becomes both more interesting and more eerie. I enjoyed the use of historical documents and the recaptured memories of a fateful seance, which we first see in the book’s introduction, as well as the sharp contrast of an elegant manor house set in a dangerous and untamed landscape.

I never felt terribly engaged in the love story and had a hard time accepting many of Julia’s actions or beliefs. Still, while some of the plot elements felt far-fetched and not well grounded, The Vanishing held my attention and still managed to deliver a few good chills along the way.

_________________________________________

The details:

Title: The Vanishing
Author: Wendy Webb
Publisher: Hyperion
Publication date: January 21, 2014
Genre: Gothic fiction
Source: Review copy courtesy of Hyperion via NetGalley

16Jan2014

Flashback Friday: Good in Bed

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!

Keeping things light this week! My pick for Flashback Friday:

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner
(published 2001)

Synopsis (Goodreads):

For twenty-eight years, things have been tripping along nicely for Cannie Shapiro. Sure, her mother has come charging out of the closet, and her father has long since dropped out of her world. But she loves her friends, her rat terrier, Nifkin, and her job as pop culture reporter for The Philadelphia Examiner. She’s even made a tenuous peace with her plus-size body.

But the day she opens up a national women’s magazine and sees the words “Loving a Larger Woman” above her ex-boyfriend’s byline, Cannie is plunged into misery…and the most amazing year of her life. From Philadelphia to Hollywood and back home again, she charts a new course for herself: mourning her losses, facing her past, and figuring out who she is and who she can become.

Good in Bed is probably the first book I heard referred to as “chick lit” — and while in general I really dislike the term for its derogatory overtones (but that’s a topic for another blog post!), I don’t mind it so much here. Maybe that’s because Good in Bed defies all the expectations that “chick lit” seems to promise — hearts and flowers, shopping, BFFs and looking for love. Yes, some of that does factor into this book, but it’s also honest, sneaky, snarky, and in places, really devastating too.

Granted, the synopsis does make Good in Bed sound like a single-girl-on-the-prowl type of book — but it’s really a deeply emotional portrayal of a woman who is smart and strong, and who goes through some unimaginably painful experiences. Cannie is not perfect by a long shot, and maybe that’s why so many women relate to her. She doesn’t have great taste in men, things don’t always work out for her, and her weight is an ongoing issue. She goes through one particularly terrible experience, and the chapters dealing with this are truly heartbreaking — so that when she does find moments of happiness, we really want to cheer.

Good in Bed isn’t high-brow literature by any means, but it’s a terrifically fun read with a big heart and surprising depths. For someone who doesn’t usually frequently the “chick lit” sections of the bookstore, enjoying this book was a great surprise.

Have you read Good in Bed? If so, how does it measure up for you against other books lumped under the “chick lit” heading?

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
Mention Bookshelf Fantasies as the host of the meme
Leave your link below
Check out other FF posts via the linky
… and discover some terrific hidden gems to add to your TBR piles!

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

16Jan2014

Typos, blunders, and goofs: How much do you want to know?

Posted in Blogging by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

I had one of THOSE moments yesterday: I finished a review, proofread it for the third time, hit “publish”… and then immediately found a case of glaring apostrophe abuse — horror of horrors! Easily fixed, but what if I hadn’t caught it?

We all know that errors slip through no matter how diligent we are about proofreading. So here’s my question: If a goof slips by you, would you want to know? And in what circumstances?

Twice in the last few months, while visiting a blog for the first time, I’ve notice typos in pretty prominent places. In one case, the typo was an extra letter in one of the blog’s menu titles on the sidebar — something that every single visitor to the blog would see. In the second case, I saw a typo on a graphic that the blogger uses for a repeating feature. I thought about it, because I know some people get very touchy when they feel they’re being criticized. But I applied the “would I want to know?” yardstick, and decided that yes, if I had an error in a header on one of my pages, I would absolutely want to know so I could fix it. In both cases, I emailed the blog host privately and told her what I’d noticed (and made sure to express — honestly — that I really enjoyed visiting the blog and just wanted to help), and in both cases I got very nice responses along the lines of “Oh my god, I can’t believe I didn’t catch that, thank you so much!”

It got me thinking: When is it a good idea to let someone know about a problem on their blog? And when is it intrusive or offensive?

For me, applying the “would I want to know” approach, I can see a variety of answers, depending on the situation.

For a typo or spelling error in a blog title, page title, graphic, or something similarly prominent — yes, absolutely!

For a typo, punctuation problem, etc in the body of a blog post… well, maybe. It seems kind of embarrassing to have something like that pointed out. It was probably just a case of working too quickly, and it’s a minor detail. On the other hand, if I’d repeatedly gotten something wrong (like misspelling a character’s name over and over again), I’d probably like the chance to fix it, if it’s an important element.

For a missing image or a broken link — yes, absolutely! If something I’d intentionally included in a post stops working or connects to the wrong place, I’d love for someone to tell me. Again, easily fixable, so I’d imagine anyone would appreciate a heads-up on something like this.

“Annoying” or otherwise problematic layout issues — well, most likely not. Listen, I don’t really like certain looks on blogs, such as hard-to-read fonts, not enough or too much contrast between background and text, etc, but each blogger comes up with a look that works for him or her, and I would never second-guess someone else’s taste or style. I think I’d only want to know if something was causing technical glitches such as slow page loads or other such issues. Unless a blogger specifically asks (“hey, what do you think of my new design?” or “which color you do you prefer?”), it’s a no-win situation offering input on something as personal as the look of a blog. Kind of like telling someone you don’t like their hair style or the shirt they’re wearing. Unless the person (or blogger) is your bestie, it’s probably not going to go over well.

Factual errors — hmm, that’s a tough one. I suppose if I stated something that’s just out and out wrong (oh, like Stephen King is the author of A Game of Thrones or Anne Rice won the Nobel Prize), I’d appreciate some fact-checking. But there are a lot of shades of gray when it comes to “wrong”, and one person’s helpful hint might be someone else’s slap in the face.

What’s your take on the issue? When would you want a reader to let you know if they spot a goof on your blog — and when would it be unsolicited (and unwanted) meddling?

Have you ever contacted a blogger about an error? How was it received?

Share your thoughts, please!

15Jan2014

Thursday Quotables: Harrowgate

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!

Harrowgate

Harrowgate by Kate Maruyama
47North, 2013

Two coffins. One large, blonde wood, absolutely covered in white-and-cream-colored roses and Easter lilies and calla lilies, surrounded by green leaves of various shapes and sizes. They make the coffin look as if its organs have exploded out of its center and now lie in twisted tendrils, draping down its sides. Next to it, a small white coffin, barely visible for its matching disembowelment of flowers.

Creepy enough for ya? If you’d like to know more about Harrowgate, check out my review here.

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 below (next to the cute froggy face) to link up your post! And be sure to visit other linked blogs to view their Thursday Quotables too.
Have a quote to share but not a blog post? Leave your quote in the comments.
Have fun!