Happy Hanukkah to me! A celebration – with books.

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Earlier this week, I wrote a blog post as part of the Top Ten Tuesday blog hop, about the top 10 books I’d like to receive as gifts this holiday season (or any holiday season, or ever, really). I bemoaned the fact that no one in my family or circle of friends buys me books, for reasons too sad to get into again (but you can read my post here, if you’d like).

But really, it wasn’t entirely fair for me to make this statement, as my wonderful and amazing daughter is the exception to the rule. A brief moment of mommy bragginess: My daughter, age 22, is smart, funny, caring, and a reader; she’s the light of my life, and everything a mother could want in a daughter. We make each other laugh; we share the same taste in books, movies, TV shows… you name it.

And so, darling daughter — currently spending a year in Alaska as an Americorps volunteer — sent the family a package in time for Hanukkah, which we opened tonight after latkes were eaten, candles were lit, songs were sung. And in that package was a book for me! And guess what? It was:

A book that I didn’t already own
A book that I hadn’t already read
A book that I hadn’t even known existed
A BOOK THAT I LOVE!

Success! My girl is amazing. She got me… drumroll, please… the brand-new graphic novel of A Wrinkle In Time! A Wrinkle In Time is only one of my very favorite children’s books, and now THERE’S A GRAPHIC NOVEL! (Please excuse my excessive use of caps lock — I’m a tad overexcited at the moment).

You know when someone gives you a present, and you open it up and it’s not really something you’re all that into, but you smile and say “wow!” and “oh my god” and other inane things intended to show happiness with something you could really do without? This was not one of those times. Darling daughter picked out the perfect something — something that I’ll enjoy, something I’m excited to receive, and most important to me, something that shows that she really knows me.

I can’t wait to read my new book. I love my daughter. Basically, I’m a happy camper.

See? The way to a booklover’s heart is through her bookshelves. ‘Tis the season to give and receive good books. And, oh yeah, one more time: I love my daughter.

18Nov2012

Book Review: A Trail of Fire by Diana Gabaldon

Posted in Book Reviews by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Book Review: A Trail of Fire by Diana Gabaldon

If you happened to read my blog post earlier in the week, then you’ll know that I was doing imaginary cartwheels and handsprings over the arrival of A Trail of Fire. Needless to say, I read it and I loved it. Perhaps that should be the entirety of my review right there.

A Trail of Fire is essential reading for fans of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series and its related spin-off novels and novellas. I have a hard time imagining that someone who had never read any of Ms. Gabaldon’s works would enjoy this collection, as they’d have no familiarity with the main characters and their associated backstories. So if you’ve read this much of my review, and haven’t read Outlander — well, what are you waiting for? It’s an outstanding work of historical fiction, and your life will be better for having read it. So go! Get thee to a bookstore!

A Trail of Fire is a compilation of “four Outlander tales”, as it says on the cover. Of the four, three have been published previously as part of anthologies, and one is brand new. Here’s the catch: A Trail of Fire has not been published in the US, and my understanding is that it won’t be, at least not for some time to come. Bear with me if my understanding of copyrights leaves a bit to be desired, but the gist of the matter is that the three anthologized stories belong, in essence, to those anthologies, and therefore can’t be republished (at least not yet) in some other format. The new story will be published in the US in March 2013 as part of yet another anthology, but readers in the US who are chomping at the bit and just can’t wait another moment will have to get their fix by ordering from an overseas supplier (such as Amazon UK — which is what I did — or The Book Depository, to name but two potential resources) or from Diana Gabaldon’s hometown bookstore, The Poisoned Pen in Phoenix, Arizona, which has a supply of signed editions available for shipment.

Back to the review! The contents of A Trail of Fire are:

1) A Leaf on the Wind of All Hallows: Previously published in the Songs of Love and Death anthology, this tale tells the story of Roger McKenzie’s parents, Jerry and Dolly. From the Outlander series, we know that Roger was orphaned during WWII and then raised by his uncle, the Reverend Wakefield. Roger tells Claire that his father was a Spitfire pilot, shot down over the English Channel, and that his mother died during the London Blitz. That’s all we know, and all that Roger knows as well. This lovely story fills in the blanks, and it’s both tragic and achingly romantic. Jerry and Dolly’s love story is incredibly moving and terribly sad, and it’s a tribute to Diana Gabaldon’s mastery of her art that we come to care so deeply about these previously unknown characters in such a short tale. (Short, by the way, is relative — most Gabaldon novels tend to the 1,000 page length, so a story of under 50 pages is practically miniscule by comparison). Because “Leaf” has woven into it some plot points from the seventh book in the Outlander series, Echo in the Bone, it should only be read after that novel. Hands down, this is my favorite piece in A Trail of Fire.

2) The Custom of the Army: This story originally appeared in the Warriors anthology, and fittingly, has a very military theme. “Custom” is a Lord John story, focusing on Lord John Grey, who plays a supporting yet important role throughout the Outlander series and is the star of his own spin-off series as well. The Lord John books and novellas tend to be historical mysteries in which Lord John’s aristocracy and military position come into play, and “Custom” fits right in. Set in London and Quebec in 1959, “Custom” is an enthralling look at the inner workings of the British army and a dramatic battlefield adventure as well. Lord John himself, as always, is a charming and honorable protagonist.

3) Lord John and the Plague of Zombies: This story first appeared in the anthology Down These Strange Streets, and is another historical mystery featuring our beloved Lord John. “Plague of Zombies” is set in Jamaica in 1761, and features Lord John taking command of a battalion tasked with controlling a slave rebellion, until events take a turn toward the unexplained, creepy, and supernatural. This story in particular ties in nicely with the main Outlander series, bringing in settings and characters also encountered in the third book, Voyager.

4) The Space Between: The new one! This is the story responsible for all those overseas orders from the rabid fans who just can’t wait… and a nice addition to the canon it is indeed. The Space Between takes place after events in Echo in the Bone. The storyline follows two family members we’ve not spent much time with before, new widower Michael Murray and nun-to-be Joan McKimmie, as they return from Scotland to Paris to embark on new chapters in their lives. Familiar characters from earlier in the Outlander series pop up as well, including Mother Hildegarde, the mysterious Master Raymond, and the presumed dead Comte St. Germain. The Space Between provides more theories and new tidbits on the rituals and necessities of time travel (which is quite important in the series), and adds many new clues for fans to mull over while waiting for the next big novel — expected by the end of 2013, or so we all hope.

As I think I’ve made clear, a reader who is unfamiliar with the Outlander series will most likely be completed befuddled by A Trail of Fire. But for the Outlander devotees, it just shouldn’t be missed. I gave in to temptation and bought A Trail of Fire instead of waiting for The Space Between to become available in the new anthology, The Mad Scientist’s Guide To World Domination. Did I need to? Not really… but it is nice to have the stories collected in one volume.

27Oct2012

A punch in the heart: Books that take your breath away

Posted in Bookish Thoughts by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Do you ever feel physically drained after reading a book? Have you ever read a book so intense that you feel like you’ve been bruised and beaten? And I don’t necessarily mean that in a bad way: it’s just that I have such a visceral reaction to certain books that I end up feeling like I can barely draw a breath.

And yet, books that pack such a tremendous punch often end up being my favorites.

Take my reading experience of the past week. Knowing that I’d be attending a speaking event featuring author Mary Doria Russell, I decided to re-read her first novel The Sparrow. The Sparrow has been one of my best-loved books ever since I first encountered it. I first read The Sparrow in 2005, after picking it up in a used book store. Why I originally decided to read it, I don’t know. I think I’d heard of the book before, but certainly it wasn’t one that had been recommended to me by anyone I knew. And yet, something about it drew me, and once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down. I’ve since read The Sparrow several times, on my own and with a book group, and each time, I find something new to love in it, some new ideas to mull over, some new emotional response to the moral dilemmas it presents.

I’m sure I annoyed my friends and family to an even higher degree than usual this week, as I kept finding passages to read aloud, or burst out with outrage or sorrow over something that had befallen one of the characters. It’s amusing, in a way, that I’d react so strongly to something I’ve read before. Clearly, the book holds no surprises for me at this point, and yet the joys and sorrows of the characters still affect me as if they were happening to real people whom I care about.

I want to protect Emilio Sandoz. I’d love to be friends with Anne Edwards and get invited to one of her fabulous dinner parties. I’d like to spend time with Sofia Mendes and get her to loosen up a bit — maybe having a woman friend would be healthy for her. I’d love to hang out with D. W. Yarbrough and get the benefit of his words of wisdom. I could go on and on, but you see the point. The Sparrow is not some huge, 1000+ page doorstop of a book, but within its pages, the author has created not only an entire fictional world, but a cast of characters whom I feel I know. And when bad things happen to them — and they do, as it’s made clear from the very first page — it hurts. On the other hand, when these characters encounter beauty and joy — and again, they do — I want to celebrate with them and share in the glory of the moment.

I suppose the reason I’m even sitting down to write this is to preserve in some way my moments in the world contained within The Sparrow. I finished reading it late last night, and I just don’t feel quite ready to dive into something else and leave behind the mood and the emotions evoked by this book.

I know there have been a handful of other books in my reading life that have affected me as strongly (or nearly as strongly). What about you? What books have you read that have made a dent in your heart? What books ensnare your emotions and don’t let go? I find that while these type of books may be difficult to get through, they’re ultimately the ones that I love the best. Share your thoughts, please!

19Oct2012

Flashback Friday: The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler

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.

My rules — since I’m making this up:

Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
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:

The Basic Eight by Daniel Handler

(published 1998)

From Amazon:

Flannery Culp is 19, precocious, pretentious and incarcerated. Accused of Satanism and convicted of murder, she and her seven friends (the “Basic Eight”) have been reviled and misunderstood on the Winnie Moprah Show and similar tabloid venues. So Flannery has typed up and annotated the journals of her high school years in order to tell her real story: “Perhaps they’ll look at my name under the introduction with disdain, expecting apologies or pleas for pity. I have none here.” Handler’s sharply observed, mischievous first novel consists of Flannery’s diaries from the beginning of her senior year to the Halloween murder of Adam State and its aftermath. The journals detail Flan’s life in her clique of upper-middle-class San Francisco school friends, who desperately emulate adulthood by throwing dinner parties and carrying liquor flasks. Kate (“the Queen Bee”), Natasha (“less like a high school student and more like an actress playing a high school student on TV”), Gabriel (“the kindest boy in the world” and in love with Flan) and the rest begin experimenting with the hallucinogen absinthe. Squabbles once easily resolved grow deeper and darker when Natasha poisons the biology teacher who has been tormenting Flan. Should the Basic Eight turn on, and turn in, one of their own? Handler deftly keeps the mood light even as the plot careens forward, and as Flan, never a reliable narrator, becomes increasingly unhinged. The links between teen social life, tabloid culture and serious violence have been explored and exploited before, but Handler, and Flannery, know that. If they’re not the first to use such material, they may well be the coolest. Handler’s confident satire is not only cheeky but packed with downright lovable characters whose youthful misadventures keep the novel neatly balanced between absurdity and poignancy. (Publishers Weekly)

The Basic Eight, Daniel Handler’s first novel, is a wicked, funny, snarky story of high school, friendship, cliques, media, and murder. Before he became famous for his hugely successful Lemony Snicket book series, Handler wrote this novel, set in a fictional San Francisco high school not so very different from the real San Francisco high school that he attended.

To call The Basic Eight irreverent is putting it mildly. (Rumor has it that Handler was banned from the high school’s alumni wall of fame based on this book and its absolute skewering of the school’s faculty).

The plot moves in all sorts of weird and wonderful directions. Interspersed throughout are vocabulary lists and essay questions:

1. In this chapter, Flannery writes: “I lead a ridiculous life.” Do you agree with her assessment? Why or why not? Do you lead a ridiculous life? Why or why not?

I’m always surprised that more people haven’t heard of this book. The Basic Eight is dark and twisted, and at the same time, manages to be uproariously funny. Flipping back through the book as I write this and remembering how much fun I had with it, I’m quite tempted to read it all over again. Be warned: this is one of those books that springs so many surprises on you, you’ll want to go back to the beginning as soon as you’re done and see what clues you missed the first time around.

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: This is my baby-steps attempt at a blog hop! Join in, post a Friday Flashback 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. Let’s get this party started!

12Oct2012

Flashback Friday: My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

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

My rules — since I’m making this up:

Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
Has to still be available, preferably still in print
Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki

(published 1998)

From Amazon:

The perfect fiction companion to The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food

Now that Michael Pollan’s New York Times bestsellers have opened up a national dialogue about where food really comes from, conscientious readers everywhere will want to devour My Year of Meats. When documentarian Jane Takagi-Little finally lands a job producing a Japanese television show that just happens to be sponsored by the American meat-exporting industry, she begins to uncover some unsavory truths about love, fertility, and a very dangerous hormone called DES. A modern-day take on Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, veteran filmmaker Ruth Ozeki’s novel has been hailed as “rare and provocative” (USA Today) and “up-to-the-minute” (Chicago Tribune).

You know how being a part of a book group is supposed to widen your reading horizons by exposing you to great works that you might not otherwise have picked up? My Year of Meats is a perfect example of that for me. I’m not a foodie, I hadn’t heard about this book, and I would probably not be drawn to a book with a cow on the cover under normal circumstances. But hey, I’m a cooperative book group member, so when my group selected My Year of Meats as our next book, I obediently picked up a copy. And I’m so glad that I did.

Ruth Ozeki’s first novel packs a powerful punch. At times humorous and tongue-in-cheek, My Year of Meats, in telling the story of a woman learning some hidden truths about a troublesome industry, offers its own exposé of the business of growing, manufacturing, tinkering with, and selling meat. At the same time, this is a work of fiction with engaging lead and secondary characters, a propulsive plot, and terrific writing.

I’ve recommended My Year of Meats to many people over the years, with great success. Be warned: once you read this, you may never look at the steak on your plate in quite the same way again.

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!

5Oct2012

Flashback Friday: Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

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

Flashback Fridays 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.

My rules — since I’m making this up:

Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
Has to still be available, preferably still in print
Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

Nine Princes In Amber by Roger Zelazny

(published 1970)

Roger Zelazny’s Amber Chronicles simply astounded me when I first encountered them quite a while back (no, I will not disclose just how many decades ago that was or how old I was — suffice it to say that I was vibrant and youthful and wore clothes that my children would mock). These books were among my early forays into the world of science fiction and fantasy, an area of my reading history that was sorely lacking during my childhood and youth. I admit it now: I’d never read Narnia, had read The Hobbit but no other Tolkien (horrors! I’m ashamed of my younger self!), and had only recently been introduced to Dune. And then I met Amber, and it rocked my world.

From Goodreads:

Amber, the one real world, wherein all others, including our own Earth, are but Shadows. Amber burns in Corwin’s blood. Exiled on Shadow Earth for centuries, the prince is about to return to Amber to make a mad and desperate rush upon the throne. From Arden to the blood-slippery Stairway into the Sea, the air is electrified with the powers of Eric, Random, Bleys, Caine, and all the princes of Amber whom Corwin must overcome. Yet, his savage path is blocked and guarded by eerie structures beyond imaging impossible realities forged by demonic assassins and staggering horrors to challenge the might of Corwin’s superhuman fury.

I barely remember the details, but I do know that I loved this book and the ones that followed. The Amber Chronicles consist of ten books in all, although I believe I only made it through 6 or 7 of them. (Hey, it was the 80s — I was busy!). Still, I know I fell in love with the concept of the shadow worlds, the battle for the throne, and the labyrinth-like Pattern that the royal family members must walk in order to gain access to other worlds. It was epic and dramatic high fantasy, and I’d never encountered anything quite like it before.

Last year at a book sale, I picked up an all-in-one volume of the entire Amber Chronicles, and it’s been sitting on my shelf ever since. Maybe it’s time to dust it off and give it a whirl. It’s entirely possible that it will feel incredibly dated at this point — but somehow, I have a feeling that I’ll be drawn into Corwin’s story once again and won’t be able to let go until I reach the end.

If you’re a fan of today’s bestselling fantasy series, such as George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire or Patrick Rothfuss’s The Kingkiller Chronicle, why not go back in time and give Amber a try?

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!

27Sep2012

Flashback Friday: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

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

My rules — since I’m making this up:

Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
Has to still be available, preferably still in print
Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Add your link below — join in for Flashback Friday!

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters

(published 2002)

A book that quite simply took my breath away.

From Amazon:

Sue Trinder is an orphan, left as an infant in the care of Mrs. Sucksby, a “baby farmer,” who raised her with unusual tenderness, as if Sue were her own. Mrs. Sucksby’s household, with its fussy babies calmed with doses of gin, also hosts a transient family of petty thieves—fingersmiths—for whom this house in the heart of a mean London slum is home.

One day, the most beloved thief of all arrives—Gentleman, an elegant con man, who carries with him an enticing proposition for Sue: If she wins a position as the maid to Maud Lilly, a naïve gentlewoman, and aids Gentleman in her seduction, then they will all share in Maud’s vast inheritance. Once the inheritance is secured, Maud will be disposed of—passed off as mad, and made to live out the rest of her days in a lunatic asylum.

With dreams of paying back the kindness of her adopted family, Sue agrees to the plan. Once in, however, Sue begins to pity her helpless mark and care for Maud Lilly in unexpected ways…But no one and nothing is as it seems in this Dickensian novel of thrills and reversals.

The New York Times Book Review has called Sarah Waters a writer of “startling power” and The Seattle Times has praised her work as “gripping, astute fiction that feeds the mind and the senses.” Fingersmith marks a major leap forward in this young and brilliant career.

I first read Fingersmith in early 2011, after picking it up at a used book sale several months earlier. I hadn’t heard of the book or the author previously, but a booklover friend ordered me to “READ THAT BOOK IMMEDIATELY!” When someone with good book taste (i.e., book taste that aligns nicely with my own!) tells me that emphatically to read a particular book, I tend to listen. And in the case of Fingersmith, I’m oh so glad that I did.

Here’s what I wrote on Goodreads when I finished the book:

At the risk of gushing, let me just say that I LOVED this book. I can’t remember the last book that made me gasp out loud while reading — and this one did it at least three times. Fingersmith, set in Victorian England, gets its start, literally, in a den of thieves. It manages to incorporate every possible trope of the era, yet does so in a way that’s both fresh and startling. To disclose anything of the plot would be to ruin the joy of being shocked to the core by the twists and turns of this unusual book. Filled with well-drawn characters, including pickpockets and thieves, con men and gaolers, insane asylums nurses and booksellers, the mad and the suffering, Fingersmith is an evocative period piece as well as a superb literary adventure. I can’t recommend it highly enough, or give enough praise to the author’s achievement. I certainly look forward to reading more of her work!

I don’t give out five star reviews very often, but when I do, I really mean it. Fingersmith was absolutely a five-star book for me. Since reading Fingersmith, I’ve slowly been working my way through the rest of Sarah Waters’s books. (Really enjoyed Tipping the Velvet, liked The Little Stranger, looking forward to reading Affinity and The Night Watch).

Do yourself a favor: Read Fingersmith. And be sure to avoid all plot summaries! The shocks and surprises are not too be missed; don’t ruin it by peeking ahead!

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!

21Sep2012

Flashback Friday: The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

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

My rules — since I’m making this up:

Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
Has to still be available, preferably still in print
Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Add your link below — join in for Flashback Friday!

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

The Ginger Tree by Oswald Wynd

(published 1997)

A lush, sweeping story, at once historical fiction, an exploration of non-Western culture and mores, and an in-depth journey into a woman’s soul.

From Amazon:

In 1903, a young Scotswoman named Mary Mackenzie sets sail for China to marry her betrothed, a military attache in Peking. But soon after her arrival, Mary falls into an adulterous affair with a young Japanese nobleman, scandalizing the British community. Casting her out of the European community, her compatriots tear her away from her small daughter. A woman abandoned and alone, Mary learns to survive over forty tumultuous years in Asia, including two world wars and the cataclysmic Tokyo earthquake of 1923.

Mary’s story is romantic and heartbreaking, and rings all too true given the historical context. She is scorned by her European compatriots, discarded by both husband and lover, and separated from her children, and has simply nowhere to turn and no one to rely upon except herself. Mary’s journey is full of sorrow, yet ultimately her determination and survival are quite inspiring.

The writing in The Ginger Tree is lovely, and I was amazed by how well a male writer captured a woman’s emotions and inner turmoil in language that felt true and honest. This book is firmly ensconced on my favorites shelf, and I consistently recommend it to friends looking for an engaging, powerful story. If you enjoy historical fiction and strong, intelligent female characters, don’t miss The Ginger Tree.

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: This is my baby-steps attempt at a blog hop! Join in, post a Friday Flashback on your blog, and share your link below. Let’s get this party started!

14Sep2012

Flashback Friday: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

It’s time, once again, for Flashback Friday. My, how the week flies by!

My rules — since I’m making this up:

Has to be something I’ve (you’ve) read myself (yourself) — oh, you know what I mean!
Has to still be available, preferably still in print
Must have been originally published 5 or more years ago

Add your link below — join in for Flashback Friday!

My pick for this week’s Flashback Friday:

My very own copy, fresh from the shelf! Excuse the shaky photography, please. Hey, it’s the book that counts!

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn

(published 2001)

Simply one of the most delicious books I’ve ever read, sure to delight anyone who’s every played with words, laughed at a clever twist of phrase, or admired a quirky anagram.

From Amazon:

Ella Minnow Pea is a girl living happily on the fictional island of Nollop off the coast of South Carolina. Nollop was named after Nevin Nollop, author of the immortal pangram, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Now Ella finds herself acting to save her friends, family, and fellow citizens from the encroaching totalitarianism of the island’s Council, which has banned the use of certain letters of the alphabet as they fall from a memorial statue of Nevin Nollop. As the letters progressively drop from the statue they also disappear from the novel. The result is both a hilarious and moving story of one girl’s fight for freedom of expression, as well as a linguistic tour de force sure to delight word lovers everywhere.

A pangram, by the way, is a sentence containing every letter of the alphabet. This clever, clever book is framed by the famous quick brown fox pangram, and moves into marvelous insanity as the people of Nollop lose the right to use letters of the alphabet as they fall from the statue of their island’s hero. As each letter drops, author Mark Dunn drops it from the novel as well. If you think that’s an easy feat, you clearly haven’t read Ella Minnow Pea yet! The verbal gymnastics are quite magnificent to behold, and yet the story itself is engaging and dynamic, not just second-fiddle to some truly impressive wordplay.

The *uick brown fox *umps over the la*y dog

Looking back through Ella Minnow Pea is so much fun, such a great reminder of how much I loved this book when I first read it, that it may be time to dust it off and read it again. If you’re visiting Bookshelf Fantasies, I’m guessing you’re a booklover, which in my mind equates to wordlover… in which case, pick up a copy of Ella Minnow Pea and give yourself a real treat.

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

7Sep2012

Flashback Friday: The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

Posted in Flashback Friday by Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

Et voila! A new weekly event here at Bookshelf Fantasies!

Flashback Fridays will be 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.

My rules — since I’m making this up:

Has to be something I’ve read myself
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! As soon as I figure out how**, I’ll open this up to others, so put your thinking caps on: 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!

**I think I’ve got it! Add your link below — join in for Flashback Friday!

And without further ado, here’s my inaugural pick for Flashback Friday:

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

(published 1996)

From Amazon:

In 2019, humanity finally finds proof of extraterrestrial life when a listening post in Puerto Rico picks up exquisite singing from a planet which will come to be known as Rakhat. While United Nations diplomats endlessly debate a possible first contact mission, the Society of Jesus quietly organizes an eight-person scientific expedition of its own. What the Jesuits find is a world so beyond comprehension that it will lead them to question the meaning of being “human.” When the lone survivor of the expedition, Emilio Sandoz, returns to Earth in 2059, he will try to explain what went wrong… Words like “provocative” and “compelling” will come to mind as you read this shocking novel about first contact with a race that creates music akin to both poetry and prayer.

I can’t overstate just how very much I love this book. It has it all: compelling characters, a science fiction slant, discovery of new worlds, fascinating interpersonal dynamics, and a confounding mystery at its core.

Lead character Emilio is so magnetic, so fascinating, and so wounded that I wanted to jump into the story to protect and defend him. Author Mary Doria Russell, an anthropologist by training, creates a world unto itself, with culture, mores, and languages that are unique and yet fully formed.

Whenever I’m asked to name my favorite books, The Sparrow is right there in the top 5. Over the years, I’ve given copies to friends and family members, and I’ve recommended it to dozens more. If you’ve never read The Sparrow, give it a try! You’ll thank me for it — I promise.

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