Quickies and the Christmas List!

Book #2 is mid-edit/mid-design right now for Rozlyn Press, which explains the lack of postings happening on ye old Leaf. The Galveston Chronicles is going to be amazing, though, and my absence here will make up for itself when you read Audra Martin D’Aroma’s debut. Trust me, you will love it. (Visit TGC’s page at Rozlyn Press)

I haven’t been not-reading though, I mean seriously, when would I ever stop? In the last few months the most recent books I’ve read were The Magicians by Lev Grossman and The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri,

The Magicians is The Chronicles of Narnia meets Harry Potter with some adult content sprinkled in. Really fun, really speedy. The lack of complete detail makes the book seem to fly by. In just over 200 pages Quentin had been accepted into a magical school, gone through all four years, and graduated. And although Grossman clearly borrows from other magically themed books, his additional plot points and characters are original enough for me to forgive his obvious references to Narnia, the White Witch, the Pevensie children, and all things Hogwarts. If you like those, you’ll like this. I’m very much hoping I receive the sequel for Christmas. (4 stars)

The Namesake is a coming-of-age story about the Ganguli family and their transition from a traditional Indian family to a more-Americanized version of themselves. Gogol Ganguli is born and raised in America but his parents stick with their home’s traditions. As he grows, Gogol fights the expectations of his parents and rebels to create a modern version of himself, away from his Indian heritage. It is a beautiful and at time tragic story of a boy growing into a man, struggling to find himself. The writing is smooth and fluid, and we really come to empathize with Gogol, understanding the reasons for the paths he chooses, but knowing it will not end happily for him we must wait and watch Lahiri’s plot unfold. Definitely recommended. (4 stars)

And for fun, these are the books on my 2011 Christmas List:

 

 

 

 

 

Hoping Santa brings me at least a couple of these readable goodies!

P.S. Who’s the cool kid now, y’all. My quirkily-unique name is all the rage in Book 3 of the Game of Thrones series. Yeah, yeah! Alayne in the house!

Quickie: The Strain (Book 1 of The Stain Trilogy) by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan

I read this book in fits and starts during the end of my pregnancy and the first weeks after my daughter was born. That was over two months ago so the exact details of The Strain escape me, but I remember enjoying it!

Basically a jet lands at JFK and dies; it’s completely dark, no one gets off, and law enforcement isn’t sure if anyone on board is alive. Lo-and-behold a couple poor souls survive but they’re infected with a nasty blood-sucking-wormy-vampire-creating disease and Eph Goodweather of the CDC is the first guy to figure out not all is well. It gets pretty gruesome, especially when the newly infected people escape and run rampant all over New York with slimy blood-sucking tongues. Apparently this infection stems from one super old vampire who is one of a few really old vamps, and has decided to break the truce these old dead-dudes had with one another and start creating new vampires. I’m sure books two and three will about the older vampires getting this guy under control.

Overall, super gross, but in a good, I-don’t-want-to-put-this-book-down way. The dialogue writing got to be a bit repetitive, lots of “he said,” and “she said,” which is amateur, but it’s easy to look past. Definitely recommended for fans of vampire science-fiction thrillers. Book two, The Fall, is already out and I plan to get my hands on it sometime in the future.

4 stars

Quicky: Catskin by Kelly Link (From My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me by Kate Bernheimer (Editor))

I’m currently reading an anthology of forty new fairy tales written by various authors and compiled by Kate Bernheimer. I decided to post a Quicky about one of the fairy tales, Catskin by Kelly Link.

Some of these children had run away and others had died. Some of them she had simply misplaced, or accidentally left behind on buses. It is to be hoped that these children were later adopted into good homes, or reunited with their natural parents. If you are looking for a happy ending in this story, than perhaps you should stop reading here and picture these children, these parents, their reunions.

Are you still reading?

With these words Kelly Link ensnares the reader into her plot. Using a classic fairy tale warning from a neutral but informative narrator, we’re sucked, in wondering about the witch and her cats and her children and their house. Catskin is easy enough to follow in the beginning, but a happy and fluffy tale this is not. Dark and twisted, Link’s writing becomes deliciously disturbing the closer we move to the end. It’s one of those grim fairy tales, the kind with secret compartments with kidnapped children and cats who can speak but you’d rather they didn’t. Mysterious, tormented, haunting and a little bizarre, Catskin is a fabulous original. I hope the rest of the tales in this book are as intriguing!

Friday Finds: Juliet (Also a Quickie)

Friday Finds is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. I’m disguising my current read as my Find because I need to tell you readers how lovely it is. Thus, today’s Find, is also a Quickie. Woo!

Juliet by Anne Fortier

Quickie description: Julie Jacobs’ great Aunt dies and leaves everything to her evil-twin sister Janice. Julie gets nothing but a passport under her real name, Giulietta, and a mysterious letter from her aunt referring to some dramatic secret hidden in her bloodline, a possible link to the real Juliet and Romeo, and a treasure to find in Siena, Italy. Off our Julie/Giulietta goes and in Italy she finds mysterious letters and journals which narrate throughout the book, giving us two stories: Giulietta in present day searching for a link to her past, and Giulietta in 1340 as she meets, and falls in love with, her Romeo. Insert melodramatic sigh here, because that’s what I do every time I read Giulietta and Romeo’s bits of the book. Juliet can be compared to a love-story-version of The Historian, minus the vampires (thank goodness). It’s delicious. If it were a cake I would take a bite out of the very middle and it would be divine. Stay tuned for my full review once I finish the rest of the book.

Jury Duty?! And a Quicky: Such a Pretty Face

Hello my loves! In case you’re wondering where I am and why I am not commenting on your fabulous postings, please know that it’s not because I don’t love you. I’m in JURY DUTY! Wee? I’m one of the last numbers (same thing that happened last time I served) but this time instead of being stuck there for ten hours, they let us go at 1 today with the wonderful stipulation that those of us left had to call some number after 3 to find out if we were supposed to return tomorrow if they hadn’t filled the jury. So, lucky me, I’m headed back on Friday. The good news is that I got to read over 100 pages of Such a Pretty Face today, which has endeared my heart to Cathy Lamb and her skill in the writing department. I have about 75 pages left which means, pending sequesterment (is that a word?) I should be able to finish it during my remaining courtroom hours tomorrow. Which brings me to…

A Quicky! It’s been forever, I know. I tease you and that’s not fair. But for real, you should be reading Cathy Lamb because I know you and I know you like the literary ladies that I like which means I can tell you that Such a Pretty Face is like Sarah Addison Allen (minus the magic bits) mixed with Marilynne Robinson (Housekeeping) mixed with Lori Lansens (The Wife’s Tale); which is my roundabooot way of saying it’s purely wonderful and I love it.

Quicky: The Passage. Plus some side-notes.

Once upon a time a handful of unknown months ago I got an email or saw a posting for a book that had a sample of one of the first chapters to read. The chapter sample was a collection of emails from one guy sent to another guy. The guy sending the emails was in a jungle somewhere with a team of scientists and military folk. For a while now I’ve been wondering what happened to that book. The chapter sample was intriguing and suspenseful (crazy bats attack everyone, there’s a strange statue, it’s all adventuresome and right up my alley). But for a long time I couldn’t remember the name of the book, or the author, and so I’ve always had this lingering disappointment that I never got to know what happens to those scientists and what that weird statue is all about. What book was it that I read? Who was the author?

This morning, dear readers, I got my answer. It’s THE PASSAGE! I was so excited waiting for the bus when I started reading chapters with EMAILS! And then I got to the part about the BATS and I said “Success!” out loud right at the bus stop, and was met with strange looks and cackling from bystanders. Okay, the “Success!” part isn’t exactly true, and neither are the cackles, but I am very excited that this is THE book and soon I shall find out what happens to those poor scientists.

The book is long, it’s the first in a trilogy, there’s a movie in the works, and it’s going to be a phenomenon. I’m only thirty pages in though so don’t ask my opinion yet!

Side note one: If you read my post for The Sunday Salon a bit further down the page you’ll know I was plagued with a lack of nature music yesterday while I was writing. Well, plop a “Success!” stamp on this puppy: Pandora.com has it’s own Nature Sounds Radio Station which I’m officially semi-obsessed with now. Hooray! 

Side note two: The Kobo. Not as adorable as the Nook, but far cheaper and just as classy looking, even in black and white. Though e-readers aren’t for me personally (my book collection is too nice to stop now), professionally I am happy that Borders not only jumped into the mix (partnered with Kobo), but that they made theirs more reasonably priced (thought not as fancy). And it comes with 100 free titles from Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Jack London, and tons of others. Kudos to the Kobo. I’ll be looking forward to the reviews.

Friday Finds: The Chimera Seed Quicky: The Wives of Henry Oades

Greetings and salutations, my friends. Happy Friday! Hope you’re all up to good fun this weekend. Me? I’m hoping to see Legion tomorrow, and I’m also wishing for a chess set (hint). Other than that I would like to relax and read. I’ve got a few good books in the mail recently, I’ll post them for In My Mailbox/Mailbox Monday, however today, for Friday Finds, I’m going to give you a sneak-peak of one of them. Thanks to an email from the author, my find is The Chimera Seed by Matthew Tully.

Immortality is possible, but the cost of eternal life is death.
 
Richard Tiernan’s sudden death sparks a chain of events that threatens the survival of the human species. The visionary scientist’s son and only heir, Dr. Michael Tiernan, inherits Oisín Pharmaceuticals and learns of his father’s astonishing secret. Hidden away in the little Sardinian town of Boroneddu, Michael discovers his father’s greatest legacy: the fountain of youth.
 
In possession of Dionysinol, the most dynamic anti-aging drug ever engineered, Michael Tiernan aspires to turn Oisín Pharmaceuticals into an empire. His plans rapidly unravel when he becomes ensnared in a cutthroat game of pharmaceutical espionage and learns just how far some people will go to acquire immortality and how far others will go to destroy it.
 
The Chimera Seed transports the reader to Italy, where the genetically-engineered Niamh grape grows, and back to the United States, where politics, corruption, greed, obsession, revenge, passion and moral imperatives make Dionysinol the most sought-after and dangerous substance on Earth.

Mmhmm, you read that? I love conspiracy and corruption! Can’t wait to start this one.  Friday Finds is hosted by Should Be Reading.

As an added bonus for y’all today I thought I’d give you a Quicky. Haven’t done one in a while, and I feel appropriately enamored with my current read to want to gush a little: The Wives of Henry Oades by Johanna Moran. It takes place in the late 1800s which is not what I was expecting based on the description and the cover, so I was a little surprised, and a tad skeptical when I started. The woes of bigamy in the 1800s? Really, now? But then it got good. The characters are touching and Moran’s writing is impeccable and artistic; often with first novels the writing feels a little young and inexperienced, but not the case with Moran. The writing and voice are mature and aged, like a good wine or a nice gouda, perhaps. Either way, I’m finding this novel delicious and can’t wait to see how the rest of it goes.

Quicky: Garden Spells. Also, where’s the BTT?

Holy chills, Batman! It’s freezing outside! According to the weather sites it feels like NEGATIVE FIVE DEGREES. Now, I know to some of you, that doesn’t seem like much, but I’m frigid! Why am I flying to Minnesota on Monday again? Oh yeah, family… Christmas… presents!

So there does not appear to be a new Booking Through Thursday question up today, which is sad and I’m hoping one makes itself known later on. For now, I’ll give you a Quicky. You know you want one.

I’m reading Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen right now, which you probably know. What you may not know is that it’s wonderful. I’m about half-way through and it’s magical and mysterious and enchanting and sparkly. Claire Waverley is used to her routine, her secluded lifestyle where she lets no one in except her crazy cousin Evanelle. Waverley’s are different, they’re special and they have special gifts. Claire’s gift is the way she works with the edible flowers she grows in her garden. The townspeople of Bascom, North Carolina know she’s strange and they stay away from her, but they can’t resist her foods and her flowers. Enter into the picture Sydney Waverley, Claire’s estranged sister, and her daughter Bay. Having run away from Bay’s abusive father, Sydney returns to Bascom, to home. And begins to make a life in the town she always despised. But her return stirs pot for the Claire and for the town, and who knows what magic might be disturbed.

If you like magical realism, you will like this. It’s tasty and enticing and Sarah Addison Allen’s novels are too delectable not to love. I cannot wait for The Girl Who Chased The Moon!

UPDATE: Thanks to Freda for letting me know when the BTT question went up! Here it is:

What do you think of speed-reading? Is it a good way to get through a lot of books, or does the speed-reader miss depth and nuance? Do you speed-read? Is some material better suited to speed-reading than others?

I don’t speed-read, not because I am against it, which I am, but because I can’t. I’ve tried, and I find I see the words, in hyper-quick succession, but they don’t really hit my brain and make themselves understood. Thus I’m anti-speedy because there is more to a piece of writing than the words: there’s feeling, and voice, and flow and those things can’t be effectively understood if you’re only skimming the lines. Kudos to you though, if you can speed-read and understand it all and get the message. 

Post your answers here and at Booking Through Thursday.

The Sunday Salon – Quicky: The Atlantis Code

Happy Sunday Doodles. For today I thought I’d post a Quicky on The Atlantis Code by Charles Brokaw. A Quicky is posting of my initial thoughts on the book I’m reading.

To give you an idea of what The Atlantis Code is about, I will transcribe the first line of the back-cover book synopsis: “A thrill-seeking Harvard linguistics professor and an ultrasecret branch of the Catholic Church go head-to-head in a race to uncover the secrets of the lost city of Atlantis.” And now I will perform a magic trick, with no smoke or mirrors. I shall read your mind, my Doodle, and tell you what you are thinking. You are thinking: Heck, that sounds a like The DaVinci Code but with Atlantis! And yes, I was thinking it as well. I wish Brokaw had picked another university, ANY other university than Harvard, because sadly all of his readers are no doubt going to compare his book to Dan Brown’s novels because he made a protagonist who happens to be a Harvard professor.

Setting that aside, I had high hopes for The Atlantis Code, like I usually do with books. I was really looking forward to starting it since I love action/adventure/mystery/sci-fi/lost-secret types of books, and it’s been a while since I’ve been able to indulge in one. I’ve been slightly disappointed so far, I am sad to say. The main character, Thomas Lourds (Harvard dude) seems like a playboy, who happens to be ridiculously smart and knows pretty much every single language known to all mankind, past and present. He’s supposed to be middle-aged and sexy, a la George Clooney I’m thinking, but his mind can only focus on flirtation and belly rings when it’s not trying to transcribe ancient artifacts. Setting aside my dislike of Lourds, I’m able to acknowledge the fact that the plot is starting to pick up, thank goodness. I’m finally to the point of action books that I like: they’re running for their lives!!! Secrets are flying, conspiracies are hiding, artifacts are popping up out of nowhere and they’re super-duper old, and I love it. It reminds me of James Rollins’ first sci-fi books which I’ve just added to my Christmas wish-list because I got rid of them all way back in the day (stupid!).

Anyways, I am enjoying this book much more now, I just wish Robert Langdon Thomas Lourds would stop thinking about belly rings and boobs and stop trying to flirt with Leslie, who is apparently a dimwit.

What are you doing today?

Quicky: The Palace of Strange Girls by Sallie Day

Time for a quicky, my friends. I’ve got a super busy day ahead (meetings, counter coverage, lunch, and staff retreat) so before I disappear into the blogosphere again with no updates, I thought I’d post my latest impressions on The Palace of Strange Girls. At first, I was a little underwhelmed by this book; it seemed amateurish and jumpy. However, I am happy to report that things seem to be looking up! I’ve settled into the rhythm of the time changes between present(ish) and past. It helps that each jump is labled with the date, but if you’re anything like me, you’ve forgotten what the old date was and spend 5 minutes flipping back through the book looking for a point of reference. I’m able now to let go of the flippage and just trust that if there’s a date, it means it’s either going back in time, or forward, and the writing will usually tell me which is the case. Now I’m starting to get into the juicy stuff. I’ve met the main characters (the members of the Singleton family) and now I’m starting to see that they’ve all got secrets. And secrets means juice (as in juicy) and drama and unopened letters and hidden agendas and affairs and betrayal (of the cotton industry) and (hopefully) there’s much more where that came from. I’ll keep you updated.

Toodles for now.