65 Books in a Year: Book #9 Neverwhere

Neverwhere is one of the first books that I bought on my Nook. It was on-sale for cheap and I 'confirmed' without a second thought. And, yet...I didn't read it. I devoured American Gods and still there Neverwhere sat. I drooled through Stardust and still didn't read it. I even knew it was about London and still...nothing.

I read about the BBC radio version coming out later this month and my interest surged. I read that I'd be listening to James McEvoy and the delicious voice of Benedict Cumberbatch and I flippin' opened up the old Nook, hoping that I read the book fast enough to be finished before I listened.

From the opening line:

"The night before he went to London, Richard Mayhew was not enjoying himself."

I was hooked.

Neverwhere is the song I sing every time I look at a tube map or flip through old pictures. Neverwhere is London and, if you love that city or have a passion for any city, really, this book will definitely fill your heart with delight and your mind will wonder about the city above, beside and below you.

While this book has some great main characters; Richard and Door really are quite lovely and Hunter and the Marquis are also tops. It's the city characters that make this book so darned awesome. There's actually an earl in charge of Earl's Court. The Angel Islington and the Black Friars with their dark names like Obsidian are just fun to imagine...and 'Mind the Gap' turns into a scary phrase of warning.

Here's a book that pay homage to the wonderful city that is London. This book is soooo darned good that I want more...I need a New York Below and a Paris Below and, and, and...I don't want to leave the characters or the world. What a perfect ending...sigh.

Can't wait to listen to the BBC Radio 4 version.

OK, so funny tidbit...I keep on reading reviews that compare this book to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. I find that funny since I couldn't help, but imagine Richard Mayhew being played by Martin Freeman who played Arthur Dent in the Hitchhiker's Guide movie...strangeness.

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

I absolutely love the writing of Graham Greene. I especially enjoy his Catholic novels. I was introduced to these deeply personal and rich novels in college when I had to read Brighton Rock for a lit class. I became obsessed with the idea of a novel getting away from you. The idea of Green trying to write a detective story that turned into a morality tale is an idea I still find fascinating. I read The Heart of the Matter and The End of the Affair on my own later that year and a few years later a friend let me borrow The Power and the Glory. Although these books are just too perfect, my favorite, by far, is The End of the Affair.

I have always been a sucker for a love story where one person in the relationship loves the other person so much that they can never be together; add to that mix some sort of love triangle in which there's an insipid husband or myopic lover and I am sold.

I think it is because of this book that I understand the fact that in order to truly hate someone or something you truly are feeling something (pain, anger et cetera) towards the very thing you are trying to forget, and, having feelings means there's still hope of reconcilation. Hate can turn into love just as easy as love can become hate. It's when there isn't any feeling at all that you've got to worry. The heart knows even when the mind doesn't really want to at all and when you read this novel you understand what happens between Sarah and Maurice way before Maurice does and you understand that Maurice's pain at never seeing Sarah again is because he loves her so much. You may not realize the fact that she loves him too until the very end, but you know that Maurice's is a mean, selfish man because he feels too much not because he feels nothing at all.

The End of the Affair not only has all of these traits, it also has a gorgeous movie (the version starring Ralph Fiennes and Julianne Moore). There is a scene, which starts on the couch and ends on some stairs, that is so sexy and romantic and tragic at the same time I hold my breath when I watch it. 

Watch the movie, read the book...learn a lesson or two about sacrifice and redemption, do it...do it...now.

65 Books in a Year: Book #5 Londoners

I'm genuinely having a hard time writing a review for this book. If I could go by the introduction alone it would get an A++. It is nostalgic, personal, descriptive, gives a beautiful homage to the A to Zed (the 1998 copy of which I still have--although if you look at it pages just fall out because I used it so much) and it opens with one of my favorite quotes of all time ("When a man is tired of London he is tired of life, for there is in London all that life can afford" ~Samuel Johnson). It's too bad that Londoners, well, at least the majority of the 80+ interviews that make it into the book seem to have forgotten all about Johnson.

OK, so reading most of these interviews made me depressed and yearn for a London I guess doesn't really exist if you live there. While reading I was reminded of an interview Stephen Fry conducted with a former Essex guy who now lives in California. Fry asked the guy why he, one of the two most famous modern British guys, chose to live in America and the guy replied, "I think there's just a conspicuous lack of cynicism and skepticism...". After reading this book I'm only beginning to see what he's talking about.

I love that this book is set up pretty much like Stud Terkel's Working, in the sense that there are tiny little stories categorized by a common theme, but the stories don't have to be read in order to get a sense of the place and time in which they were written. I get, from the few stories that I connected with, that London is as vastly different as any city, and, that it is a city's history that differentiates it from any other. I guess the sense that, whether it is realized or not, one falls in love with a city based on its history.

Stories of note:

• the black dancer who became a plumber, yes, plumber...
• the woman who is from the Middle East who still hasn't told her parents that she's modern and living with her boyfriend
• the manicurist who can tell more about the collective economy than most economists merely by looking at the people who get their nails done and for what reasons
• the guy who's spent his time in London revitalizing Canary Wharf
• the story of the rickshaw driver and his passenger's fetish for feet and socks
• the teacher who, across The Pond, has the same struggles with students and parents and motivation and admistration and frustration that I have as a teacher in little 'ole Missouri
• the dominatrix, the beekeeper, the Wiccan priestess
• the funeral director who targets immigrant families because, well, funerals are a business that last generations
• the city planner who understands that greatness cannot be planned...this man loves himself some London
• Adam Byatt and his flavor for all things traditional, yet modern...I would like to try some John Dory

Oh, and I'm totally curious about the 100+ interviews that didn't make the cut...I wonder if I'll ever be able to read those? I'm also curious if this same feeling of weariness is so prevalent in other cities should you interview 'the man on the street' in say Paris or New York or Los Angeles. I wonder what Taylor thinks of London.

Thank goodness there's that delicious intro talking about rain and umbrellas and, London as 'propulsion, [that] rewards those people who push forward'. There's loads of great stuff in this book, I learned so much (see my list below), however, if I went by these stories alone I'd never take public transportation anywhere, I'd not yearn for London, a city I definitely yearn for, and, *whimper* I'd be tired of life, I'd be tired of London.

What I learned:

• 'Places make the best lovers...'
• 'People's worst qualities come out at night...'
• Cornershop's Handcream for a Generation
• 7/7 Terrorist Attacks
• Stephen Lawrence, a racially motivated attack improperly handled, for years, by the police
• I am part of the easyJet culture
• "Dog Man Star" by Suede
• The Jam
• The Long Good Friday
• John Dory...it's a fish, by the way
• words: vertiginous, cenotaph, Canberra, biro, plinth, Geordie, alluvium, cormorants, courgette, grotty, paracetamol, pissoir, peripatetic

All right, all right! I may love this book, just not the people in it!

And, here the covers I wish I had instead:

55 Books in a Year: Book #35 Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell

I may love this book. No really, I may be in deep, deep love with this book.

And, look at all the reasons why:

1] The Language

From the very first paragraph I could tell that this book was a wonderful labor of love

“Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians. They met upon the third Wednesday of every month and read each other long, dull papers upon the history of English magic.” 

“He understood for the first time that the world is not dumb at all, but merely waiting for someone to speak to it in a language it understands.” 

“There was very little about her face and figure that was in any way remarkable, but it was the sort of face which, when animated by conversation or laughter, is completely transformed. She had a lovely disposition, a quick mind and a fondness for the comical. She was always very ready to smile and, since a smile is the most becoming ornament that any lady can wear, she had been known upon occasion to outshine women who were acknowledged beauties in three countries.” 

and, my favorite

“Can a magician kill a man by magic?” Lord Wellington asked Strange. Strange frowned. He seemed to dislike the question. “I suppose a magician might,” he admitted, “but a gentleman never would.” 

2] The Plot

There's the first book of magic...it's been eaten by a drunk man who is later hanged for his crime. There's Mr. Norrell who is such an insecure nit-wit that he goes around buying up all the books of magic and there's his apprentice a dashing man whose only true greatness is that he is truly an amazing magician. There's a war with France, marriages, secrets and lust for power. At a great cost, there is a woman who has been brought back from the dead. Add to that a faerie who loves all things shiny and collects them to his castle. There's a prophecy that these men are bound to perform as they are responsible for bringing magic back to England. And, I love the footnotes as they talk about the world in which this book exist and enhance my pleasure.

3] The Themes

Friendship

Norrell and Strange have a binding relationship. They complete each other.

True Love

Strange's sacrifice for Arabella is truly the best part of the book.

Social Relationships

Stephen Black, Lady Pole, Arabella and the Mad King George are all marginalized characters who play big roles in the book. They are characters who could have changed the course of the novel had they not been marginalized.

The Roles of Men and Women

If only Strange had made attention to Arabella, if only Norrell would have thought of Lady Pole's feelings...if only, if only...

4] Jonathan Strange

Yes, he needs a whole section. At first, he seems like a little bit of a prissy no job loafer, but he becomes the heart of the book. He risk everything to make sure that his wife is safe. He is a gentleman who takes pride in what he can do. 

I am a Strangeite all the way and appreciate that magic is the first of his many professions that he did well, for a long period of time and honestly. I love that he says that a magician could use magic to kill a person, but a gentleman would never do so. I also like that Strange has a fondness for Norrell, even though he knows how Norrell is towards him and others. I think that it is this aspect of his personality that helps him to understand King George and his madness. Strange is truly a compassionate person who understands and strives to understand those around him...to not only better his magic and himself, but so that others can be better of, as well.

I do not like how Strange treats women, especially Arabella. When he's so progressive in his action and thoughts concerning magic (doesn't mind if women learn magic etc.), he still treats his wife like property, listens to her only when it suits him and most of the time after the fact his not listening has gotten him into trouble, and believes his wife's greatest pleasure is to be entertained. Gah, Strange, gah!

He is such a complex character.

5] The Otherworld characters

The Gentleman with the Thistledown hair (we all know that we can't know a faerie's real name) maybe #1 on my list of characters I love to hate and not because he's annoying, but because he is sincere and misguided. He really wants Stephen Black to be a king and he thinks that Lady Pole and Arabella are better off with him. He is the best faerie.

Vinculus is also pretty awesome and his BIG role in this book is so subtle it is just pure genius.

6] The Setting

Regency England...I didn't even know I loved this time period in England...I do love that Mad King George.

If I could possibly find a flaw with this book it would have to be with the fact that in reading about this book I saw that it was being compared to the writings of Dickens and Austen...it's neither really as it is something beautiful and marvelous and all its own. I hear there's supposed to be a sequel...how delicious!

55 Books in a Year: Book #23 Robinson Crusoe

So, it should be illegal to have illustrated classics...they are very misleading. From about the age of 10 until I started this book, I thought Robinson Crusoe was just about a guy who got stranded on an island, met a properly clothed native named Friday and got off the island a rich man.

And, I thought it would be a bit of an easy read.

11 pages and at least one 160 (approximately) word sentence in, I realized so many things about weren't exactly as they appeared.

Let me break it down

A guy who got stranded on an island
Yes, Crusoe gets stranded on an island. He gets stranded on an island for almost 29 years and about 3 years in he realizes that he can't get off the island alone. There's also about 100 pages of detail about how he goes against his father's wishes and goes out to sea, makes a fortune and loses it and makes a fortune again, becomes a slave, runs away, owns a plantation and plans the voyage that is to be his final one for a long time. He also goes on and on about praying and religion and how he does both well in times of stress. He builds a house. He talks about how money really is a waste. He details planting crops and taming a parrot and shooting cats. He watches cannibals eat people. It's not as exciting as it sounds.

Met a properly clothed native named Friday
Friday is about to be eaten by cannibals. He is, in fact, part of them. Crusoe teaches him to be a good Christian, this, of course, means that he can no longer eat people and he must wear clothes. Crusoe points out that Friday is a better Christian than he is because Friday is naive. I liked reading about Friday the most as I found Defoe's description of Crusoe's view of Friday quite progressive. Crusoe treats Friday as an equal and considers him a friend, although he is dark skinned.

Got off the island a rich man
I have no idea why I thought this book was more like Treasure Island or Swiss Family Robinson with island treasure hunts and jewels and such, but I did. I was amazed to find that Crusoe had made his money before he left and instead of spending more years wasting it by creating adventures and buying stuff, it accrues value and he, alone on the island, learns how to take pleasure in the simple. If only every man got to spend time away from society during his most wayward years.

To say I disliked this book would be a bit harsh. I am glad I read this adult version of this book. There are so many allusions I understand on a deeper level, especially all of those presented by Betteredge in The Moonstone. I don't really see myself going back to it as a reference and if I want a Crusoe fix, I think I'll stick to that mini-series starring Pierce Brosnan.

55 Books in a Year: Book #4 Around the World in 80 Days

It all started innocently enough...I was catching up on my Pierce Brosnan. How does one do that you ask? Watch all his Bond movies, think about watching Thornbirds (then realize that's Richard Chamberlain, not Pierce), move on to a season of "Remington Steele", then dig deep, finding old gems like "The Lawnmower Man" and watch the whole mini-series "Around the World in 80 Days". And, if you're like me, this will prompt you to read the book as you've never read the book before and you've put it down as part of your Classics Challenge and will feel compelled to start it immediately.

This book is a delightfully easy read written during one of Verne's and France's low-points, but accents, what I'm sure many believe, the highest point of the British Empire. I am positive that if you read this book and "Shooting an Elephant" by George Orwell (an essay about the shooting of an elephant in India, written about 60 years later) you will have a perfect picture of British Imperalism and a well rounded idea of the British Empire.  If Orwell's is the Modern, not so positive aspects than Verne's is the Victorian, idealized version. Phileas Fogg can do no wrong. He is punctual, precise and phelgmatic. He fires his valet for the tiniest of errors and can be counted on to do exactly what he as always done. When one of the members of his prestigious gentlemen's club says he can't possible make it around the world in 80 days, he calmly says he can and will. Betting £20,000 (half of his whole worth) he leaves that night with the French valet he has just hired. 


The best part of the book is reading Fogg's conversion from a stodgy and eccentric man to a man that has gained love and true friendship; even if he does keep all of his Britishness--not that this is in any way a bad thing.

Some things that are in the book that aren't in the movies and visa versa:

1. An extra girl (in the mini-series, at least) who never appears in the book.

2. I've always seen and thought of Passepartout of being the comic relief falling over himself and others and getting into trouble. In the book it seems like he helps Fogg as much as he hinders, and actually does a lot more good than I thought originally.

3. And, the biggest one...There isn't a hot air balloon in the book, don't get too excited about that. There are steam engines and boats and carriages, but no hot air balloons. Yeah, I was fooled by every...cover...I've...ever seen...ever.

Anyway, read the book and imagine Pierce Brosnan, you'll have a grand time.

4 Stars   

50 Books in a Year: Book #32 American Gods

OK, so trying to explain this book is like trying to explain The Fountainhead...usually what I say about that book goes a little something like this: It's a book about this guy Howard Roark, who wants to build buildings his own way and people don't want him to and he's all for helping people, but not at the sake of himself and supposedly there's a rape scene and he gives a 40ish page speech. I love this book so much that I can't talk about it properly. This is not the book at all, but when I try to talk about it, I get all jumbled about and just can't sell it. And, I sooo want to sell it!

I want to sell this book as well! Here's my botched attempt at telling you what it's about: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, is about this guy named Shadow who gets out of prison early because of the death of his wife and gets hired by a man named Wednesday, who is more than he seems and they go all around America recruiting Old Gods to fight the New Gods of today.

But, it's so much more than that!

This book is about one of my favorite subjects: What it means to be an American and to live in The United States of America. It's about what I talk to my students about all year--American culture, Pop Culture and reverence and Faith/faith. It's about the journey we all take to figure out who we are.

It starts out with Shadow having a fight with a leprechaun and receiving a gold coin that inadvertently stops his wife from being totally dead, she assist him through-out the whole book and saves him from death more than once. There are some gods, like this kobold, who wish they'd never been brought over from the Old World and two Old Gods (Loki and Odin--who Shadow finds out is his father) who want to live so badly, they almost pull off the greatest con ever. There's an excellent conversation between Johnny Appleseed and some other tall tale heroes about why Paul Bunyan (who is a manufactured tall-tale) isn't as cool as those that are based on real people. The God Media is a beautiful newscaster and Technology is a fat kid full of computer parts. And, it seems the more we (as Americans) 'worship' our gods the stronger they are...Jesus in America is not as strong as He used to be, but He can't even get someone to give him a ride in the Middle East. And, who are the stronger gods, the New Gods, of course, and while a god can die (they have feelings and can hurt like the rest of us), if you believe in that god he/she can reappear. The thing is that most gods seem to not have enough people believing in them to reappear as healthy active beings. For instance, Wednesday is this old wisened man and Easter is a beautiful middle-aged blonde because people still celebrate her, even if they do for the wrong reasons.

To understand this book it's important understand world religions, American tourism (I want to visit the House on the Rock so bad now), culture and counter-culture, Native American mysticism and your own beliefs and how they play into what decisions you make and who you are.

And, there's this lovely strong female character, Sam Black Crow, who has the best monologue ever:

"I can believe things that are true and things that aren't true and I can believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not.

I can believe in Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny and the Beatles and Marilyn Monroe and Elvis and Mister Ed. Listen - I believe that people are perfectable, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones that look like wrinkled lemurs and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women.

I believe that the future sucks and I believe that the future rocks and I believe that one day White Buffalo Woman is going to come back and kick everyone's ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems communicating and that the decline in good sex in America is coincident with the decline in drive-in movie theaters from state to state.

I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste.

I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like martians in War of the Worlds.

I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were Edith Sitwell and Don Marquis, that jade is dried dragon sperm, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a one-armed Siberian shaman.

I believe that mankind's destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that it's aerodynamically impossible for a bumble bee to fly, that light is a wave and a particle, that there's a cat in a box somewhere who's alive and dead at the same time (although if they don't ever open the box to feed it it'll eventually just be two different kinds of dead), and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself.

I believe in a personal god who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with her girlfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind luck.

I believe that anyone who says sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too.

I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system.

I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that you might as well lie back and enjoy it."

The lady at Border's said that she loved it and hoped I would to, I do! If you read this book because you like Stardust you will be surprised as this book is deeper and longer and will make you question, if even you don't like it!

Did I sell it? If not, go out and read it anyway...you won't be sorry!

5 Stars

50 Books in a Year: Book #30 One Day

Please be warned this blog post contains SPOILERS for the following books: One Day, Message in a Bottle, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Lord of the Rings, The Way We Were, A Walk to Remember, Atonement, Bridges of Madison County, The Time Travelers Wife, The English Patient

Here's what I posted on GoodReads just mere minutes after finishing this book:

This is the first book that is so beautiful that I want to quote it and keep it with me, and, yet I hate it...I mean seriously hate it! I am sorry I read it, if I hadn't bought it on the Nook I'd burn it. I don't want to read anymore books by this author just incase he tricks me again! I want to...I am crying...shame on David Nicholls...*insert cuss-words here* And, no I WILL NOT be watching the movie...seriously! Yes, I hated the ending that much, not since Atonement have I felt this emotionally cheated.

Emma Morley dies and no, I,  in know way, saw that coming. Why didn't I see that coming because this book One Day by David Nicholls (a name that will be seared in my brain so I don't slip up and buy one of this books) was not advertised as a book in the same vain as Message in a Bottle. See, the thing is I hate when books have needless death and dying. I hate books that intentionally kill off characters you love (think the Weasley twin in HP7) to make you cry, not to propel the plot along. And, in this book, after reading about 360 pages of a wonderfully tormented friendship on the verge of something more I was relating to the characters, to the places (I mean Emma has a flat in Earl's Court, really, Earl's Court) and I was relating to the hurt and desire of wanting your best friend...hmm...I was relating soooo much, that when Emma died I felt like a friend died and my breathing became erratic and my world darkened. Frankly, if I'd known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have read the book as I do not read such books. And, that's just it...I feel that Mr. Nicholls had Emma die towards the end (because yes, there's still like 30ish pages after her death...I don't know why...I suppose so you can short out your Nook crying while reading) because that was the ending no one expected. This is what I feel Nicholas Sparks, who is on my banned book list did with Message in a Bottle and what I feel Ian McEwan did in Atonement (what a shame the ending of that was!) and what I feel The Time Travelers Wife was, I mean that book doesn't even adhere to the science of time-travel or the science it creates in the story (if you can...um...er...'meet' yourself, you can also 'save' yourself...I mean he even knew what was over there in the forest...gah!). I'm not into gimmicks and I am not into tricks while reading. I don't have to guess the ending and I don't have to see it coming, but I do have to feel, at the end, that the book and its characters led to the conclusion.

I have for many years read books that use to death or separation to propel the plot. I was a little sad that Boromir died in Lord of the Rings, I was a little sad when Jaimie died in A Walk to Remember, and, I cried like someone died at the end of Bridges of Madison County (you know the part where all she has to do is get out of the truck and leave her whole life behind to be with the one she loves and she's there grabbing at the handle and you know she isn't going to do it, but you want her to, you really want her to), I don't mind that The English Patient dies, I don't mind that Hubbell and Katie never get together in The Way We Were. I understand weakness and I understand death when it is used in a proper way to drive home the major themes and symbols of a book or movie. Nicholls used Emma's death to do neither.

I read a review on GoodReads (I read many reviews looking for closure and answers) that talked about how David Nicholls wrote a book that didn't really address any audience and therefore made a certain type of audience incredibly upset. This is true, maybe he didn't understand his audience. I know I'm all for learning about relationship mistakes in a work of fiction, I just don't need characters to die to do that. I also know that there are people who love this book, just like there are people who can't get enough of Nicholas Sparks.

I have had enough of both.

2 Stars

50 Books in a Year: Book #29 Stardust

          My sister is a lover of Fantasy. She's read more Fantasy books that I know and has turned me on to several series I didn't know existed. The problem *whispers* is that if she knows a book is a movie, she watches it instead of reads it (I know, it's shocking). A few years ago she raved about this movie she watched called "Stardust", to this day she loves it despite the fact that Claire Danes is in it and she claims that my mother (who dislikes all things magical) likes it and has seen it several times. I have never seen the movie, but when I saw the book at the used bookstore I recognized the title and bought it, not knowing the plot.

          The plot goes a little something like this...from Goodreads:

Stardust is an utterly charming fairy tale in the tradition of The Princess Bride and The Neverending Story. Neil Gaiman, creator of the darkly elegant Sandman comics and author of The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, tells the story of young Tristran Thorn and his adventures in the land of Faerie. One fateful night, Tristran promises his beloved that he will retrieve a fallen star for her from beyond the Wall that stands between their rural English town (called, appropriately, Wall) and the Faerie realm. No one ever ventures beyond the Wall except to attend an enchanted flea market that is held every nine years (and during which, unbeknownst to him, Tristran was conceived). But Tristran bravely sets out to fetch the fallen star and thus win the hand of his love. His adventures in the magical land will keep you turning pages as fast as you can--he and the star escape evil old witches, deadly clutching trees, goblin press-gangs, and the scheming sons of the dead Lord of Stormhold. The story is by turns thrillingly scary and very funny. You'll love goofy, earnest Tristran and the talking animals, gnomes, magic trees, and other irresistible denizens of Faerie that he encounters in his travels. Stardust is a perfect read-aloud book, a brand-new fairy tale you'll want to share with a kid, or maybe hoard for yourself. 

          I love, love, love, love, love this book. I've already recommended it to all my friends and my sister (she just bought it...*whispers* to read). Frankly, this book has everything you could possibly want in a book lovely dialogue, romance, fights, intrigue and a unicorn, yes! This really is a book for everybody and I totally understand why they made it into a movie, as you don't really have to be a lover of Fantasy to understand it. I think that if you read this book you'll want to read more Fantasy and you may even want to read more Neil Gaiman. What I like about this book is that it's easy enough to read in a day, but still for those who want something with more depth, perfect for a summer read. I finished it on a Saturday in a house full of children. I could not put it down.
          That's what happened to me...I'm not really sure that I'm going to watch "Stardust", as I don't want to ruin my love of the book, but I'm now reading American Gods, and I read his blog and follow him on Twitter. I think Twitter was made for such things!

5 Stars


This book is recommended for people who also enjoy: The Princess Bride, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Time Quartet, The Last Unicorn, The Neverending Story (which I have only seen, but own), The Amber Chronicles, Ella Enchanted, The Lord of the Rings.

If you are new or old to the Neil Gaiman experience check out his blog. An awesome post with a lovely Craig Fergeson interview can be found here.

50 Books in a Year: Book #12 Jane Eyre

          OK, so sad day...I cannot find nor did I bring the Nook charger, which means no more The Apothecary's Daughter until I can remedy the situation.

          On the way here (that means in the airport and on the plane) I started reading another book (one I'm reading for Free Press) and then started, this morning, my official read for this week, Jane Eyre. I have not read more than one book at once in such a long time that I feel like a college student or high schooler balancing my reading between kid, trip, socializing and work...sigh, the olden days.

          Over at Goodreads there's a Jane Eyre challenge, you know read the book/watch the movie type thing. If it wasn't for Goodreads I wouldn't even know there was going to be a new movie. This is how out of it I've been lately.

          I remember reading Jane Eyre, the first time, at about the same time I first read Rebecca. I remember thinking that they had similar moods and tones and...*please don't hurt me* I remember liking Rebecca more. Reading Jane Eyre again, I know the exact reason why I like Rebecca more...I dislike the Dickensian via Great Expectations and Oliver Twist,  Orphan Annie, horrible extended family Pride and Prejudice-esque, A Little Princess (hope I've given you enough literary adjectives to help you understand what I'm talking about) beginning. It doesn't fit with the rest of the book. I can't wait until I get out of this part and into the rest of it...and at approximately 6 chapters a day, I should be there sometime tomorrow.

          Good news is once I'm finished I get to watch the movie. I think it will be a fun date night for when I get back, just me, Christopher Lee, Jane and Rochester. I will not watch the new movie until I finish the book. It's a rule.

          This book also covers two of my reading challenges...WOOT.

50 books in a Year: Book #7 Little Bee

          Last week during our Snow-cation I got a lot of nuthin' accomplished. Frankly, I needed the time to just read and talk and play with the tiny person while watching PBS Kids, it was refreshing. My friend Aimee (who does not have, but should create a blog--hint, oh, hint...) reads my blog and noticed that both my friend Michelle and I are doing the British book challenge and found just the book for us. She said, and I quote, "It's British, it's World, read it and tell me if we should teach it at the Senior level".

         I did not read it right away (you all know how long it takes me to read books that are recommended: see Demian), but told her I would have it done in time enough for her to order it, if it becomes the book they choose...although I didn't buy it, didn't download it and didn't know when I was going to get the time to...lalalala *whistles* and then my husband needed work boots and we had to make a trip to Springfield. He bought boots at Bass Pro and then we went to the used bookstore.

         Now, I want to talk a minute about my delicious obsession/love/amour for used bookstores. I love the smell of used bookstores, the feeling, the old carpeting and rugs and cats (the used bookstore in Mansfield has two) and the fact that the people who work at the store know where books are without looking in a computer and I love that even though you haven't visited a used bookstore in a while those people treat you like you came in yesterday. I especially love Hooked on Books, a bookstore I've been frequenting since I started college in 1994. I no longer had any book credit, but that didn't stop me from letting the tiny tot pick out two books (I put several children's books on the floor and let her choose the ones she wanted), Imogene's Antler's and Circus Counting, and I picked out two books for myself Dr. No and this book Little Bee.
          I started reading it almost immediately (having finished Forgive My Fins rather quickly) and am in love with the main character Little Bee and her story of perseverance and determination. I also like that it is a book set in London and surrounding areas and is about a history of the Nigerian people that I am only beginning to realize. Chris Cleave has also fully developed the psyche of a woman in the other main character (this is one of those books where one voice narrates a chapter and then the other voice narrates a chapter adding to the story) and her struggles in dealing with her family. I don't really want to give too much away, and, frankly, I'm still reading so I'm in the dark about a lot of what is going on...but I am enjoying the suspense and the character development and the language. Cleave really knows how to weave a sentence into telling us the most profound details. And, look at the cover...it's so beautiful that when I'm reading I have to hide the cover so Lila doesn't grab the book out of my hand as she is prone to do.
         I can tell this books is going to be one of those that stays with me forever. And, to think, I was apprehensive in reading this book because I thought it was going to be about another spelling bee or bee keeper!

Ps. Yesterday the blog received an award I posted about it last evening, but have added some recipents, I'm now up to 12!)