55 Books in a Year: Book #36 Sea Change

Sea Change by Aimee Friedman is a beautiful story of the sea and of budding teen romance and coming-of-age in a small town in the South...it is a story of mystery, suspense, history and family. I can't really tell if it's a story about mermaids. I think it wants to be. I think it thinks it is. I'm not so sure.

Miranda comes from a long Southern family who vacations every year on Selkie (no there aren't any selkies in this book) Island. Miranda and her mother have gone back to the island to pack up their family home. While doing this Miranda falls for a local boy whose mysteriousness seems to be tied into a book of mermaids found on her grandmothers' bookshelf and to the island itself.

The story of Miranda's growth into a girl who becomes a young adult who doesn't just do what she's told and doesn't live in her life by stereotypes. I really liked how Friedman gives us that stereotypical Southern Belle and Southern Gentleman in several of the teen characters, but then she gives us characters who defy those stereotypes. I like that Miranda learns that just because you fight or disagree with your parents that doesn't mean they don't love you or that you don't love them. I especially love that there is a side of Miranda that she didn't even know existed and I love that her grandmother, even in her death, is helping her find that side.

Leo, a boy she meets on the coast of the island, is everything any girl wants in a man. He passionate and compassionate and good-looking, he loves all the things that she loves (science, sea creatures) and is from the island.

The only thing is, Leo, may or may not be a merman.

This is where Aimee Friedman lost me.

She spends all of this time setting up this mystery. Mercreatures are attracted to red and gold; the whole entire town of fishermen is decked out in red and gold. Leo is always mysteriously near water and has a vast knowledge of the lore and science surrounding the island. However, all of this back story never really comes to any type of conclusion.

I didn't mind the strange reason Miranda and Leo have a fight and I didn't mind how Miranda's mother seems to lose her mind once on the island flirting with an old flame and acting like a debutante. I did mind that this is supposed to be a mermaid story, even better a story about a merboy, and there's only a slight instant of tail fin. I don't mind connecting the dots in a mystery, but is it really a mystery if the author only just gives us a wee-bit to be curious about. In the end no questions are answered and, frankly, there are more questions asked. Is the guy on the ferry mer too? Is Miranda part mer? Was her grandmother and, in turn, her mother? At first, I thought that I had a bad copy of the book, that's how much is missing, but after reading other reviews I think this may be the intention of the novel. This book wants a sequel, although I hear there isn't one in the works at all.

This book has a lovely romance and is a great story of the growth of a girl who learns that things can live outside of her comfort zone and knowledge. If you are reading this book in the hopes of having a little mermaid action you may be disappointed. Maybe.

Review from Coffee and Cliffhangers

Riding Seaward on the Waves...Splash into Summer Day #1

So, I've been waiting for this week for a little while now, I'm looking forward to reading reviews, and have already entered several giveaways for mermaid books and swag.

[Here's the linky if you are participating or want to read other mermaid posts]

“I have seen them riding seaward on the waves 

Combing the white hair of the waves blown back 

When the wind blows the water white and black. 

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea 

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown 

Till human voices wake us, and we drown.” 

― T.S. Eliot

I have always loved mermaids, below you will find links to the mermaid (so far) for this blog:

Forgive My Fins (and an intro to my obsession)
Hoorah More Fin Books and more mermaid tales
The Little Mermaid
Between the Land and the Sea
Fins are Forever
Tangled Tides
Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings


I also have a lovely (well, at least I think so...) Pinterest board.

Follow it here

If you, too, love mermaids, might we suggest going the distance and following the MerBooks blog. It can be found:

BLOG
TWITTER
GOODREADS

and join the reading challenge on Goodreads...here.

What mermaid books are you looking forward to reading or have read this year? Who is your favorite mermaid?

The Conscientious Reader
July 9th     Introduction, Why I love mermaids, recap of my mermaid things thus far,
                Pinterest board, MerBooks blog etc.
July 10th   Review: Sea Change
July 11th   Review: Everblue
July 12th   Real Mermaids Don't Wear Toe Rings: Chocolate Mug Cake...yeah, I'm making
                it and talking about it
July 13th   Recap of Splash of Summer: favorite post, links

and, check-out the blog I share with my English teacher friends for a giveaway!

Infinite Summer #3: The McDonald's of the Soul and a thing about water

Think of these Sunday posts as jumping off places...discuss what I've posted, post something yourself, answer questions, ask questions, add links...do whatever it takes to make this experience enjoyable and understandable for you!

These post will be CHOCK FULL OF SPOILERS for the reading for that week (Just in case you didn't already know that!). I think knowing this will stop those of us that aren't at a certain place from reading on and will enable those of us who are writing to do so without worrying if someone knows that fact or not. If you are reading ahead and want to post about the pages ahead please wait and if you want to talk about other books, not Infinite Jest and are giving spoilers please indicate that in some fashion...even a *spoiler* before the comment would be nice.

And, finally, if there is anything I can do to make this run more smoothly please don't hesitate to message me on here, on twitter or on Goodreads and I'll see what I can do.

Let's begin the discussion...


OK, so I've been reading Infinite Jest and some YA fiction for a Goodreads group I'm in and...well, I've been watching Jim Gaffigan and I am finding so many connections...my brain is full of Hal and the gang. Thank-you very much DFW.

“I’m tired of people acting like they’re better than McDonald’s. It’s like, you may have never set foot in McDonald’s but you have your own McDonald’s. Maybe instead of buying a Big Mac you read Us Weekly. Hey, that’s still McDonald’s, it’s just served up a little different. Maybe your McDonald’s is telling yourself that a Starbucks frappuccino is not a milkshake. Or maybe you watch Glee. It’s all McDonald’s. McDonald’s of the soul.”— Jim Gaffigan, Mr. Universe

What connections to DFW and everyday life have you noticed?

I deviated off-course (yeah, it's that darned book for $3.99)
I think we're far enough along in the book that we can start seeing how it's changing us...or, should I say, I can start seeing how it's changing me...If you haven't, read "A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again" (the link is to the Harper's article; I printed it just in case it will be taken down later)

And, then there's this beautiful thing...the LiveJournal (every time I get finished with a section I read its LiveJournal counterpart, I am loving the LiveJournal!) talks about DFW's Kenyon Commencement Speech and finally I broke down and read and listened to it and teared up (thinking about my own life, the lives of those around me and, of course, DFW, a man who I will never meet, but who feels like someone I know).

Transcript here, and you can listen to it (I would suggest you do both; maybe simultaneously):

Then, I wanted to watch these movies again (both of which I only have on VHS, bummer):

And, I wanted to be in college again...except for I'm not really sure that's exactly what I'm feeling it's just the best way of summing it all up.

If we must talk about the book...
I love how the movies keep coming back and it's fun to have something to imagine while rereading some of their descriptions. I also love looking at the pictures again.

I am finding that I like Michael Pemulis. I hope that he isn't a shady character.

"Tennis and the Feral Prodigy"...wow...

"...talent is its own expectation: it is there from the start and either lived up to or lost." 

"By repeating this term over and over, perhaps in the same rhythm at which you squeeze a ball, you can reduce it to an empty series of phonemes, just formants and fricatives, trochaically stressed, signifying zip." 

"If you are an adolescent, here is the trick to being neither quite a nerd nor quite a jock: be no one." 

"It is easier than you think." 

"This is also how not to fear sleep or dreams. Never tell anyone where you are. Please learn the pragmatics of expressing fear: sometimes words that seem to express really invoke."

 "But in the interval, if it is an interval: here is Motrin for your joints, Noxgema for your burn, Lemon Pledge if you prefer nausea to burn, Contracol for your back, benzoin for your hands, Epsom salts and anti-inflammatories for your ankle, and extracurriculars for your folks, who just wanted to make sure you didn't miss anything they got."

Finally, a little house-keeping:

The ereader and physical copy
of this edition are not the same...

1] Thank-you Deana for noticing...it would seem that the ereader and physical versions published from the same year do not have the same page numbers. I used my ebook, the physical book one time (yes, in the bookstore, no I do not own two copies of the book), and the information from infinitesummer to calculate the page numbers.
Amanda, who owns the physical copy, and I, poured over it to figure out the flaw. The physical book does it at 981 which means in essence we don't need the last two weeks, my book ends at 1203 (which I thought was a bit odd, but calculated it up to the transfer to ereader). When I did the math (to convert % to page number) it all worked out, based on my limited knowledge of the book and I didn't notice the error until Deana mailed me and then AGD was talking about something in the section I hadn't gotten to although I read all the pages. If you go by infinitesummer index (I used it to figure out where I should be and realized that I was about 100 pages in the red), you should be fine and heck! being ahead in the reading, must be better than I am...behind (less than I was on Thursday and hopefully caught up on the plane) on the reading. I can fix the page number thing (so it aligns in perpetuity), but can't now because I am reading the book and don't want to look ahead. I've been very good at not spoiling things for myself. Sorry, if this has caused anyone confusion!
2] If you haven't signed up officially, please do so here.
3] Catch up on all of our IJ stuff and things here.
4] All of the books on this list are $3.99 on the Nook, including A Supposedly Funny Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments ...go snag it while it's there to be snagged!
5] And, keep the convo coming, I am loving it and it helps me to understand the book and my viewpoints so much more.
6] I will not be coming back here until after the 12th (I will still post daily, but will not be on Twitter or Facebook, or able to reply to comments or such), as I'll be at a conference in Las Vegas learning about high school journalism and hanging out with my husband sans the tiny person. And, when I'm away I like to be away...and, I'm sure I'll have work to do and places to go anyway...

I wish you way more than luck.

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!

Taking Chance

I'm not one for war movies, I'm not one for propaganda, I'm not one for political agendas or discussion of war as an anecdote, and yet this past Memorial Day I was compelled to watch in its entirety more than once (it was on various HBOs all day long) the HBO original movie Taking Chance. Taking Chance is a breath-taking look at an aspect of war we seldom think about, that of bringing our fallen soldiers home.

Chance Phelps died on Good Friday 2004 when his convoy came under attack and he continued firing to ensure the safety of those under his watch. He was 19 and not unlike any of the men and women I know, friends and former students who have been changed or have changed others by what they have experienced in the Middle East. I'm sure we all have personal stories of people who have gone to war as one person and come back as another and, I'm sure that we all have stories of people we know who didn't come back at all. This movie not only makes you think about those people (I will leave you to think about your stories and your people as I think of mine; one of which is about a boy who now has a bridge named after him and another is about a friend my mother had who died in Vietnam) it brings home the fact that those men and women and their stories do not just belong to you. There are several scenes at the end of the movie, such as an anecdote about Chance going out to defend his friends in nothing but a gun and shower shoes, a touching moment with his family as they are being given his personal effects and a montage of video clips, that show us who Chance Phelps was to those around him. The film, however, focuses on who Chance becomes to LtCol Michael Strobl, the man who volunteered to take him across country back to his family and it focuses on who Chance becomes to us, the people to whom he gave his last measure of devotion.

I bring this movie up and am writing about it (over a month after my initial viewing) because I was/am moved beyond measure. In a time where the media and political attitude go out of their way to treat our presence in the Middle East as nothing but fodder for debate and late night news ratings this movie brings home the fact that we are all (whether we are for or against our presence on foreign soil and no matter what we see as the reasons there) one country flying under the flag of the United States of America and when one of us dies, in the armed forces or as a civilian, we should all mourn the loss and celebrate the life of that person. We don't know how they have touched and will continue to touch us and shape us.

If only all movies could be this subtle and beautiful.

Read the essay that inspired the movie here.

Learn more about PFC Chance Phelps here. 

55 Books in a Year: Book #34 Kiss Me I'm Irish

Through one of my friends I Goodreads I found and joined a group titled The Knights of the Round Table. This book has been created to give people books to read in exchange for honest reviews. If you want to know more information check it out.

There were two books up for grabs for review and the minute I researched this one I knew that I wanted to review it. A strong-willed Cornish girl, Emily, is propelled into the future when she accidentally stumbles upon a time portal. She is glad to have escaped being sent to a convent, but is perplexed by modern America (Tennessee to be exact), its scantly dressed women and its convenient amenities (there's a scene with a toilet and a shower that is just hilarious). Of course, all of that changes when she gets to know Liam a dobro playing (I'm not sure why there isn't a dobro on the cover) Irish boy and Emily has a thing for Irish boys just ask the stable boy or the footman or her pompous great-aunt.

So, Emily gets propelled to the modern day South were things aren't at all what they seem to be and Liam isn't at all like all the other Irish boys. First of all, he runs hot and then cold and then hotter than hot and when he plays the dobro she can't help but think if him inapproriately. Add to this the pixie that got her there in the first place, Liam's sister, a band in need of a big break and scary coin dealer in need of gold and you've got all the fun and adventure for this story.

I enjoyed all three main characters (Liam, Emily and Tinker), and frankly I enjoyed the story of magic and schmoopiness and lovely music.

Adorable light summer read, perfect for a lazy Saturday when one should be doing productive things like cleaning the living room or doing laundry. I still feel all smiley.

If you really want to get in it go to Bella Street's website and go to the Kiss Me, I'm Irish page, she's got a playlist and everything.

55 Books in a Year: Book #33 Changeless

So, after I read Soulless I spent a lot of time on Gail Carriger's website/bloggie thing. It's a pretty awesome site, but it's even cooler after you've read her book and gotten into the minds of her characters...she's pretty adorable. There's a daily dose (your moment of parasol, your infusion of cute, your tisane of smart, and your writerly tinctures) and she's so clever all of the time.

This book isn't really much different than the first. There are some adorable times with Lord and Lady Maccon (why buy nightgowns, really?), there's a scene where Lord Maccon is naked in the middle of London...that was fun to imagine *cough, cough*, Ivy's love life also heats up which is pretty fun to read about, there's a fight on a dirigible (who's reasons and answers aren't totally fleshed out by the end of the book, I believe on purpose!), and there's a mummy full of mystical wonder. Alexia's sister is also along for the ride, I'm still not really sure why she's in the book as there are enough characters to keep track of without her whining and complaining and flirting and fainting. There are some new gadgets like the aether transmitter and the book takes place mostly in Scotland.

You know actually when I think about it, this story much like the story from the first book is full of mystery and kept me on my toes throughout. It's the characters that didn't really do it for me. Like I mentioned there's Alexia's sister (I can't even remember her name), Ivy is especially annoying and faints too and often, and then there's this character a tall French lady, Madame Lefoux, who Alexia thinks may be a spy (this woman has some sort of crush on Alexia that I just found distracting and unnecessary), Angelique shows her true colors, and Lord Maccon's wolf and human (yes, human) descendants are a bit stubborn and don't understand why he is so angry with them.

So, storywise, Book Two in the Parasol Protectorate series is just as good as the first. It's the characters that make it a little less than the first. It isn't until the end that this truly comes into fruition. Since I don't have to wait until the third book, I know everything turns out all right in the end I'm not too worried about it...I'm pretty sure that if I'd read the book when it first came out I'd have been as tee'd off as heck. This is one of the majors reasons that I wait until a series is finished before digging in.


If you can manage to not get annoyed by Felicity-wait! that's the sister's name--or ticked off at Lord Maccon, Ivy or the French Spy you are in for a wild and fun ride through the moors of Scotland. I won't be picking up the third book until after the Summer...I've read the blog and know what's going on...I'm willing to wait. And, yeah, this review seems a little disjointed because I don't know where I stand on this book...let's just end with I love it, go read it...and, if you can't wait you'd better have that third book ready!