Blackmailing Bovines and Other Farm Oddities

One book that always seemed strange to me was Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin. Despite being a Caldecott Honor Book, I never picked this one up for Z. Of course, he was exposed to it in preschool this past school year and when we saw it at the library he was extremely excited--so excited that he screamed the title out in the middle of the room. After I reminded him about library etiquette, we checked out the book and brought it home. He immediately jumped up on the couch and started reading it and I got to hear the story of the "cows that type" for the first time.

The cows discover a typewriter in the barn and learn to type. One day they type a letter to the farmer to let him know that they are cold and they want electric blankets. When he scoffs at their request, the cows leave a note on the door that says "No milk today." The farmer can't believe this and is even more shocked to find that the hens have joined in and are holding out on egg-laying until they also get electric blankets. The farmer sends them back a terse note via a duck and waits to hear the answer. Finally, the cows offer to exchange their typewriter for the electric blankets. The farmer agrees and thinks that things are great ... until he realizes the duck took the typewriter and now the ducks want a diving board for the pond!

This is a cute book. The sketch-type drawings are realistic and colorful. So, when we went back to the library, we grabbed another book by this pair -- Click, Clack, Quackity-Quack: An Alphabetical Adventure.

This one wasn't as interesting for Z as it is just an alphabet book. However, for younger children, this is a fun and unique presentation of the standard ABCs:

Animals awake
beneath blue blankets.
Clickety-clack!

This book features many more animals and a tasty picnic. It seems to be out of print so you will have to look for it at your home library.

Learning about labor negotiations,
K and Z


Buy Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type on Amazon or find it at your local library.

New Release: The Devlin Diary

The second novel by author Christi Phillips is the newly released The Devlin Diary. I recently reviewed her first book featuring the brainy but impulsive graduate student, Claire Donovan. I liked the strong back story and the discovery aspect in the first novel but thought a few of the characters seemed a bit over the top. This second foray into the world of historical research fiction is more of the same but, unlike the first, actually reads more like two unrelated stories -- both are interesting but the marriage between the two isn't convincing.

Claire is back as a guest lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge, thanks to her strong research skills and newly minted PhD. If she has a successful guest year, she will be offered the position of fellow. She quickly finds that she has trouble navigating both the world of professional academia and the social rules of the British. When a colleague steals Claire's research idea, she confronts him--and punches him in the face--in front of a large number of witnesses. When this man turns up dead the same night, details start emerging about both his personal and academic lives. Claire must navigate this minefield to reclaim her research topic and to find out the secret that this man was trying to reveal.

In the seventeenth century, Hannah Devlin, is a non-licensed female physician. She has lost everything else in her life--father, husband, child--and has thrown herself into her work. When she is ordered to attend to the mistress of the king, she has no choice but to obey or be prosecuted for her profession. Once in court, Hannah learns that there is some mystery behind the death of the king's sister, Henriette-Anne, a few years prior and that those with knowledge of this event are starting to turn up dead. When her father's death is linked to this same serial killer, Hannah feels compelled to bring the truth to light.

Though Claire finds Hannah's diary near the beginning of the story, she doesn't even begin to understand what it is about until over half-way through the book. And then she doesn't even really research to solve the mystery but only needs to translate the shorthand of the diary for Hannah to reveal all. The stories have some forced parallels written in (choosing the "right" man or the more glamorous man) that don't necessarily ring true either. Still, this wasn't a terrible choice for a summer read. I just didn't feel it had some of the strengths of the first book. I will admit enjoying the descriptions of Trinity College and the Wren and Pepys Libraries though! Please go see some of the other reviews on the blog tour today. I'm sure there will be many varying opinions on this one!

Wondering what I would sacrifice for my career,
K


Buy The Devlin Diary on Amazon or find it at your local library.


This book is being reviewed at some of the following sites today:
S. Krishna’s Books
All About {n}
Jenn’s Bookshelf
Beth Fish Reads
Booking Mama
The Literate Housewife Review
Book Soulmates
Chick With Books
Gimme More Books
Book Bird Dog
Bookin’ with “BINGO”
My Friend Amy
Books and Needlepoint
A Working Title
Must Read Faster
Shhh I’m Reading
Debbie’s World of Books
The Tome Traveller’s Weblog
Write for a Reader
A Sea of Books
I Heart Monster
Pick of the Literate
Kingdom Books Blog
Drey’s Library
The Jaydit Reader
A Book Bloggers Diary

"In an unremarkable room, in a nondescript building, a man sat working on very non-nondescript theories."

One book that I have looked at various times yet never picked up until now is this one, Un Lun Dun by China Miéville. The girl on the cover caught my attention as did the ghostly building and the color scheme. I can't deny being intrigued by the author's name and the strange title as well. This is British author Miéville's first foray into fiction for a younger audience and he is the writer as well as illustrator of this amazing story. It is fantasy in the vein of Alice in Wonderland, the films of Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away) or the novels of Neil Gaiman.

Pronouncing each syllable to rhyme with "fun", you soon realize that the place the title refers to is UnLondon. UnLondon is an "abcity", a sort of mirror city where everything is different but related to the real city. UnLondon is in trouble from a large toxic cloud called "Smog" and their prophecies speak of a young girl who will come and save them all. They believe these predictions are coming true when Zanna comes through into their world, bringing along her friend Deeba. However, when Zanna is hurt and is forced back to the real world, Deeba has to take on the task of saving UnLondon herself. With the help of unique characters she meets along the way, she begins to understand that being the un-hero might be the only way to save the un-world.

I can't believe I didn't pick up this book sooner! It's exactly the sort of fantasy I like with alternate worlds and strange characters and rules. There is no word of a Miyazaki movie based on this book yet but it would be perfect with its young heroine, the strange world of repurposed gadgets and machines, the environmental message and the cast of bizarre but fascinating supporting characters. This book completes my first task in the Take A Chance Challenge -- "Judge A Book By Its Cover". I judged correctly this time!

Refreshed after my journey to UnLondon,
K


Buy Un Lun Dun on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Poe Fridays: An Enigma

This week's Poe Fridays reading is the poem, An Enigma.

"Seldom we find," says Solomon Don Dunce,
"Half an idea in the profoundest sonnet.
Through all the flimsy things we see at once
As easily as through a Naples bonnet--
Trash of all trash!--how can a lady don it?
Yet heavier far than your Petrarchan stuff--
Owl-downy nonsense that the faintest puff
Twirls into trunk-paper the while you con it."
And, veritably, Sol is right enough.
The general tuckermanities are arrant
Bubbles--ephemeral and so transparent--
But this is, now--you may depend upon it--
Stable, opaque, immortal--all by dint
Of the dear names that lie concealed within't.

This is a tribute poem that claims that sonnets are shallow and fluffy. Is he being sarcastic? I'm not sure. He certainly thought that his intellect was superior to that of many people he encountered so maybe he thought this dig would go unnoticed? Or is he being sincere that this woman's hidden name (Sarah Anna Lewis) is enough to redeem the cheesiest poem? I'm not quite sure but I think I'm a bad person for hoping he's being snarky.

Since next Poe Friday is during the holiday weekend (for my American readers), I thought we could choose a longer story and use two weeks to read it. I have chosen The Gold Bug which you can read here if you don't have a copy. We will discuss it on July 10!

Doing just fine without a tribute poem,
K

New Blogger Friends and New Books

On Monday, Z and I went to a bookish meetup at local bookstore Third Place Books here in Seattle. We met a couple of local bloggers and authors including

Marilyn of Marilyn's Romance Reviews
Ciara Stewart blogger and author
Wendi of Wendi's Book Corner
Sheila Roberts, author
and the world famous publicist, Miriam Parker of Hachette Book Group.

We traded ARCs and talked about what makes a blog tour successful and interesting. If you are in the area, we will be meeting again probably around the end of October and would love to have more bloggers and authors to chat with!

Since I was at a bookstore, it would have been silly to leave empty-handed so I ended up with two used hardcover books, Jasper Fforde's The Fourth Bear and Umberto Eco's The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana.

Breaking out of our shells,
K and Z

New Release: Distant Waves

A couple of months ago this book caught my eye and I finally just got the chance to read it. I was attracted to Suzanne Weyn's Distant Waves: A Novel of the Titanic because it featured Nikola Tesla. While it turns out that Tesla is not a major character in the book--though he has a major influence on events--it has much more to offer readers.

Jane Taylor is the second of five sisters being raised by their widowed mother. When Jane is only four, her mother decides to move the family to Spirit Vale, a spiritualistic community near Buffalo, New York. Here Mrs. Taylor takes up as a medium and the girls grow up in a very unconventional way. The story picks back up when Jane is sixteen and decides she wants to be a journalist. She decides to enter a contest by writing about Nikola Tesla, whom the family met once. She finds out that he lives at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City and she and her older sister Mimi sneak off to NYC hoping for an interview. This trip ends up being the beginning of a chain of events that changes these girls' lives forever.

This is a hard book to summarize because it really has a lot of different interlaced plot threads. It addresses spiritualism in the early 1900s, the work of Nikola Tesla and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and the disaster of the Titanic. There are love stories, family conflicts and business deals. This makes for a very fast-paced book that certainly whets one's appetite to delve further into some of these events. My only problem with the book was that it didn't seem to be well edited. There were a couple of wrong words, some timing discrepancies (like changes in the age gaps between the sisters) and some continuity issues (Jane rides a train to New York when she is four and then gushes when she goes on her "first" train ride when she is sixteen). The initial dialogue in the book is also a bit strange with a four year old and a six year old having a discussion about postmarks. Their voices weren't written any differently than when they were teens. Despite these small flaws, this book was very interesting and I sped through it, waiting to find out what befell the Taylor sisters.

Looking forward to the next time I meet Tesla,
K


Buy Distant Waves: A Novel Of The Titanic on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Characters for Kids

If any of you have younger siblings, kids or grandkids, there's a good chance that you recognize Kai-lan. Her show on Nick Jr., Ni Hao, Kai-Lan, has sparked Z's interest in Chinese. The show is about handling emotions and feelings but it also teaches some basic Chinese words. This last week we bought a large Kai-lan floor puzzle that has English words like cloud and house and flower and then their characters and English pronunciations. When we went to the library on the same day, we lucked out and they had set out a book that fit right in to this new interest.

The Pet Dragon by illustrator Christoph Niemann is his attempt to expose kids to the beauty and order of Chinese characters. This is the story of a young girl who gets a baby dragon. They become fast friends and have many adventures. Unfortunately, they get a little too rough while playing in the house and they make Lin's father angry. He insists that the dragon be in a cage. This makes the dragon unhappy and he disappears so Lin must go on a quest to find him. When she finally finds him, he is bigger and happier than she could have ever imagined.

Though I don't expect Z to become fluent in Chinese from these small resources, I think that the language and culture exposure is great for his growing mind and world view. And one day, when he chooses a second language to study, it just might be Mandarin.

Here are some sample pages from The Pet Dragon. Did I mention that it's a beautiful book?





再见 (zài jiàn),
K and Z

"Her hands looked unnaturally pale in the moonlight."

In preparation for my reading of the new release The Devlin Diary by Christi Phillips, I decided to grab a copy of her first novel featuring historian Claire Donovan, The Rossetti Letter. And so I was again transported to Venice for another adventure featuring intrigue, violence and lovemaking.

Claire Donovan is a graduate student at Harvard writing her thesis on the so-called Spanish Conspiracy, a 1618 plot by high-ranking Spaniards to attack and conquer Venice, a missing jewel in the crown of Spanish dominance. After presenting a draft of her research to a local historical society, one of the kindly old ladies shows her an article that references a Cambridge professor who seems to be about to release a book on this same obscure topic. When the opportunity arises for Claire to travel to Venice (to chaperone fifteen year old Gwen), she decides to attend a historical conference to meet this mysterious author. In Venice, Claire finds that her personal life is as dead as the history she studies and she makes an attempt to breathe new life into both of them.

This book seemed like an intersection between two books that I have recently read. We have the female graduate student caught up in the past (The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane) who happens to be the divorced woman rediscovering herself in Venice (The Glassblower of Murano). Like both of these other novels, this one also shifts between a narrative from the past and the current one. I would rank this one below The Glassblower because it wasn't as compelling but above Deliverance Dane because Claire was a smarter and less annoying character than Connie. I liked that some issues were unresolved in this book without screaming "series". I look forward to Claire's next historical journey.

Steering my gondola clear of Venice for a bit,
K


Buy The Rossetti Letter on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Poe Fridays: The Island of the Fay

This week's Poe Fridays offering was the short story The Island of the Fay. You can read it here.

This was mostly a musing on a personal experience of nature with a short tale at the end about an island in a small river --

My position enabled me to include in a single view both the eastern and western extremities of the islet; and I observed a singularly-marked difference in their aspects. The latter was all one radiant harem of garden beauties. It glowed and blushed beneath the eyes of the slant sunlight, and fairly laughed with flowers. The grass was short, springy, sweet-scented, and Asphodel-interspersed. The trees were lithe, mirthful, erect -- bright, slender, and graceful, -- of eastern figure and foliage, with bark smooth, glossy, and parti-colored. There seemed a deep sense of life and joy about all; and although no airs blew from out the heavens, yet every thing had motion through the gentle sweepings to and fro of innumerable butterflies, that might have been mistaken for tulips with wings.

The other or eastern end of the isle was whelmed in the blackest shade. A sombre, yet beautiful and peaceful gloom here pervaded all things. The trees were dark in color, and mournful in form and attitude, wreathing themselves into sad, solemn, and spectral shapes that conveyed ideas of mortal sorrow and untimely death. The grass wore the deep tint of the cypress, and the heads of its blades hung droopingly, and hither and thither among it were many small unsightly hillocks, low and narrow, and not very long, that had the aspect of graves, but were not; although over and all about them the rue and the rosemary clambered. The shade of the trees fell heavily upon the water, and seemed to bury itself therein, impregnating the depths of the element with darkness. I fancied that each shadow, as the sun descended lower and lower, separated itself sullenly from the trunk that gave it birth, and thus became absorbed by the stream; while other shadows issued momently from the trees, taking the place of their predecessors thus entombed.

A fay is a fairy and the end of this tale is the imagining of the fairy's life cycle. This was really a fantasy piece with Poe imagining that there is a sort of earth spirit that you can connect with in nature. As we read more of these works by Poe, we come to see that his work is far more diverse than we are lead to believe.

For next week, let's read the brief poem An Enigma. Hopefully it will not remain so for long.

Looking for the hidden side of nature,
K

Book v. Movie: Night at the Museum

Last weekend we went to the bookstore and chose Milan Trenc's picture book The Night at the Museum. We had seen the Ben Stiller movie many times but didn't know until recently that it was based on a book. As this is only a thirty page picture book, I guess we could say "loosely based". This is a cute book about Larry who starts on his first night as a security guard and falls asleep only to find that the dinosaur skeleton room that he was guarding is now empty. He goes around the museum and finds that everything has come to life -- the animals and even the representations of people! He spends the whole night working hard to feed and exercise all of the animals and learns how things work in this unique job.

The film version of this story obviously had to have a more complicated story in order to fill the movie so there is a light-hearted conspiracy added. The guard, Larry, is also given an ex-wife and a kid and the issues that come with that. And last, but not least, there's a museum docent as a love interest. It's a little cheesy in parts but it also has some good messages about working hard and using your brain. The book doesn't really have a message, just an idea.

A sequel, Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian, is in theatres now but we will probably just wait to see it on DVD.

Verdict: Let your kids watch the movie but definitely take a look at the book. It's full of fun animals and spunky security guards and is appropriate for all ages!

Wishing for one magical night with the dinos,
K and Z


Buy the book The Night at the Museum on Amazon or find it at your local library.

New Release: Cousin Kate

A few things that you are guaranteed when you pick up a Georgette Heyer novel of any kind are unique characters and a fast-paced plot. I have yet to find a Heyer that doesn't deliver on these elements. Cousin Kate is a gothic novel that has a lot of family tension and a somewhat suspenseful plot but, ultimately, I'm not sure if it quite delivers.

Kate is a young twenty-something who has lost both her parents and must find her own way in the world. She fails as a governess (by no fault of her own) and returns to live with her nurse. Though her nurse is entirely devoted to her, she worries that Kate will be forced to more drastic measures to support herself and so she contacts Kate's father's half-sister to see if some of her family will take her in. Surprisingly, this aunt shows up almost immediately and offers to take Kate back to the home she shares with her titled, elderly husband and her nineteen year old son. After some time spent in the home, Kate starts to become suspicious about the real situation in the household and her aunt's motives for bringing her there.

The characters are well-formed and some are similar to her mystery characters in that they are pleasantly unpleasant. However, this story builds slowly and while you wait for something grand to happen, there are only small occurrences that are a little disappointing. Then, all of a sudden, there is a climax that comes out of nowhere and is just as quickly dismissed by those involved. I still enjoyed this book and it was entertaining but I wished it would have been a bit more -- a bit more forceful, a bit darker, a bit more, well, gothic.

Still waiting to hear from the rich distant relative,
K


Buy Cousin Kate on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Today, I Read

I am falling behind in my reading so I have taken time to read rather than blog. Today, you get to enjoy this pleasant Seattle summer photo. Tomorrow, you get a review of the spunky Cousin Kate.

Off to Venice and a "shocking conspiracy",
K

Children's Summer Reading Programs

One of the things that Z and I accomplished last year was the local library's summer reading program. They had a nice version of it for preschoolers that included singing and taking walks. They release the new summer program today and I'm not sure if he will participate in the preschool program or the youth program.

Some of the corporate summer reading programs are:
Barnes & Noble - read eight books and get a coupon for a free book (grades 1-6)
Borders - read eight books and save 50% on various items (12 and under)
Half-Price Books - read 15 minutes per day and earn a $3 gift card (12 and under)
Scholastic Summer Challenge - log minutes read each day for chances to win prizes - also a younger kids' game

Feel free to leave any other children's summer reading programs or ideas in the comments section! We'll keep you updated on our progress through the local library program.

Building our summer reading list,
K and Z

New Release: The Marriage Bureau for Rich People

One of the reasons that I choose to read review copies of books is that I can agree to read ones that are not typical books that I would select to purchase. Though I read a fair number of novels set in India, I probably would not have picked up Farahad Zama's The Marriage Bureau for Rich People. I am glad to have been able to read this book after all.

This is a simple book with a simple premise. Mr. Ali, a Muslim Indian living in a coastal city, is bored in his retirement and so he opens a marriage bureau in his home. He has a kind and intelligent wife and an activist son with whom he clashes on a regular basis. When business picks up, he hires a young woman, Aruna, to be his assistant who has her own issues to overcome before she can get married. This book uses the work of the bureau to expose the current courting and wedding traditions of both Muslims and Hindus in India.

For all of this book's simplicity, there was much to learn from it. There were discussions of caste, religion, diet and social issues. It was really quite fascinating and the plots in the book all highlight different issues for the unmarried of India. There were a few things that I hoped would be explained to a higher extent and I will probably search for more books on these same topics. This book was a pleasant introduction to a world so different from our own.

Happy in a love marriage,
K


Buy The Marriage Bureau for Rich People on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Poe Fridays: Diddling

This week's Poe Fridays short story was the interestingly named Diddling. You can read it here.

Before I read this story, I had no idea what "diddling" was. As a matter of fact, it took a page or so of this story before I really figured it out. Apparently, it's an old term for grifting. This story was more of an essay about swindling -- what qualities the "diddler" has and some common examples of "diddles". Here is one that he cites --

A bold diddle is this. A camp-meeting, or something similar, is to be held at a certain spot which is accessible only by means of a freebridge. A diddler stations himself upon this bridge, respectfully informs all passers by of the new county law, which establishes a toll of one cent for foot passengers, two for horses and donkeys, and so forth, and so forth. Some grumble but all submit, and the diddler goes home a wealthier man by some fifty or sixty dollars well earned. This taking a toll from a great crowd of people is an excessively troublesome thing.

This was a very amusing tale and was totally unexpected from Poe. I would not even recognize it as his if it wasn't for the wit of the piece. I wonder if he did research for the story or if he knew something of diddling himself. Anyway, this was another refreshing break from the macabre.

Next week's Poe Fridays selection is another short story, The Island of the Fay.

On the lookout for diddlers,
K

A Cheap Trip to the Bookstore

Today I decided to take advantage of one of my last days of alone time before summer vacation and head to Half Price Books while Z was at school. I was looking for a couple of specific books for my brother but didn't find what I was looking for. I did however find three new-looking hardcover books for two dollars each. Here's what I brought home --

Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende -- I've been meaning to read something by Allende for years so when I saw this one on the clearance carts, I just decided to go for it and start with this one.

The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde -- I'm sure you've figured out by now that I'm a huge fan of the Thursday Next series but I've always been tentative about the newer Nursery Crimes series. However, recently I looked at my TBR books and found that they were much too serious. I needed something with some humor and so Fforde it is!

The Sister by Poppy Adams -- I read and reviewed this book already but it was a library copy and I'm sure I will want to read it again and try and figure out more of its secrets. So again, at two dollars for a hardcover, I couldn't pass this up!

Buying joy in a bag at six dollars a pop,
K

Early Review: The Angel's Game

Just as I thought would happen, once I started reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón's new novel, The Angel's Game, I couldn't put it down.

This book is a prequel of sorts to The Shadow of the Wind. This book happens in the time when Sempere Sr. was himself the son of the bookseller, living in the shop above the store. The Semperes are not the focus of this story, however, but rather a young writer named David Martín. David is an orphan, raised in the newsroom of a local paper and supported by the generosity of a wealthy benefactor. He is given the opportunity to write but only under pseudonyms and in a base style for the masses. David is tired of not getting credit or compensation for his efforts so when a mysterious publisher contacts him about writing one world-changing book, he enters a bargain that he will come to regret. Again touching on the themes of love and loss as he did in Shadow, Zafón also ventures this time into the murky region of good and evil. Though this book enters the realm of the supernatural, it spends most of its time in the darkest parts of man's own soul.

This book again takes us through the most glorious and also the most destitute parts of Barcelona. Luckily, David takes us again to visit The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and we actually learn more about this mysterious library and its history. The supernatural element disappointed me a bit only because The Shadow of the Wind was so fantastic at exploring only the hearts and minds of men. Still, this was an interesting study of the basis of religion and the forces and motives behind it. The mystery itself was strong and there were parts of the narrative when I couldn't tell at all what direction it would take. This was a strong second offering by Zafón.

This book will be released next Tuesday (June 16).

Wondering if a visit to modern-day Barcelona would ruin the magic,
K


Buy The Angel's Game on Amazon or find it at your local library.

The Angel's Game ARC Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to the winner of an ARC of The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, the fourth commenter (per random.org),

Kevin Parker!

I am about a third of the way through this book now and it's good! It has some of the same characters and locations as The Shadow of the Wind and is about a writer but this is a very different type of story. It's dark and very mysterious and I have no idea where it's going to go. I hope to finish and have my review up in the next day or two.

Back to Barcelona,
K

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

How do I love thee, Pride and Prejudice, let me count the ways ...

One, I loved thee in 1995 as a mini-series with the fantastic Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. This was the first time that I knew of thee and I fell in love every time my college roommates put thee on. I will always be in their debt for introducing us.

Two, I loved thee as a 1940 film with Mr. Darcy portrayed by the brooding genius, Laurence Olivier. Though you were highly modified and more than a bit silly in parts, thy love story was still touching.

Three, I loved thee in 2005 as another film, this time with the saucy Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennett. Though thy cast was somewhat marginal, the overall period feeling you gave was charming.

Four, I loved thee as a 2004 Bollywood remake with the beautiful Aishwarya Rai as Lalita (Elizabeth) and a plethora of exciting dance numbers. Thy updated story was well executed and the addition of Indian cultural mores was pleasant.

Five, I loved thee most of all as a novel, the fantastic original by Jane Austen. I finally read thee and you were more than I ever thought you could be. You had hidden depths of humor and character. You were yet another example of Austen's remarkable talent and imagination. I can't wait until we can be together again.

This is another book finished for the 1% Well-Read Challenge. I can't believe that I had never read this book! I really thought I had because I knew the story so well. Now I feel so much more complete in my lifetime reading list and in my Austen reading. This is really a must read for almost every reader.

Can't think of anything witty -- too much Darcy to look at,
K


Buy Pride and Prejudice (Oxford World's Classics) on Amazon or find it at your local library.

"I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time."

Comment on this post to participate in a giveaway for an ARC of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's new novel The Angel's Game.

In preparation for my upcoming read of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's new novel, I decided to re-read his first one -- The Shadow of the Wind. It had been years since I first read it and though I remembered loving it, I couldn't remember details or the style of writing. I am so glad to have taken this time to revisit such a great book! The writing (especially for a translated book) is fantastic and the plot is satisfyingly twisty and angsty.

Daniel is a ten-year-old boy whose father is a bookseller. One day, his father takes him to the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books", a sort of holding place for books that are in transition between owners. When someone visits the cemetery for the first time, that person gets to choose any book they fancy. Daniel chooses a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. After racing through the book in one night, he goes in search of other books by Carax only to find that someone has been collecting all of Carax's published books and burning them. As Daniel gets older, he uncovers more and more about this true story from the past, putting himself and his family in danger.

There are so many love stories told in this novel -- Daniel's parents, Daniel and his first and second loves, Julián and his true love and many others. Most are disfunctional or limited by the social mores of the time but they are all touching. The mystery of Carax is fabulously crafted and, even the second time through, was shocking in parts. This is just one of the rare near-perfect novels and I can't wait to read Zafón's next book.

Now on to the contest ...
I luckily received two copies of the ARC of The Angel's Game. I would love to share one with another reader (in the U.S. or Canada) who is interested. As this book comes out quite soon (June 16th), I am going to make this a short contest and try my best to get this sent out before the release date. So go ahead and leave a comment on this post (with your e-mail address if you don't have it in your profile) by end of day Monday (June 8) if you are interested. I will announce the winner on Tuesday.

Hoping for a second fantastic read,
K


Buy The Shadow of the Wind on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Poe Fridays: The Assignation

This week's Poe Fridays short story is The Assignation. You can read it here.

In this story set in Venice, the narrator tells of a man he knows slightly, a man of some consequence, that he doesn't name. While traveling in a gondola one night, the narrator sees this man rescue the young child of a Marchesa from the canal. When the child has been returned to the woman, she whispers to the young man that she will submit and that they can be together an hour after sunrise. The man then hitches a ride home in the narrator's gondola. He asks him to return to the home early in the morning and our narrator witnesses the "reuniting" of the man and the Marchesa when a page from the Marchesa's home comes to announce her death by poisoning. This story is possibly (loosely) based on a Venetian affair had by Lord Byron.

This was a very sad love story. A young woman has married an older man out of convenience and thereby cannot unite with the love of her life except in death. This was a somewhat strange story as most of the narrative was taken up with a tour of the young man's gaudy home. I suppose they spoke of beauty and desire through the description of the art.

Next week's Poe Fridays reading will be the short story, Diddling. Based on the title, I'm hoping for something light-hearted.

Wondering if anyone writes happy stories about Venice,
K

New Release: The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

My favorite books by first time authors are those that you would never know were first novels. Katherine Howe has accomplished this feat with her first novel, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane. With the encouragement of her friend, author Matthew Pearl, Howe has imagined a glimpse into the history of American witchcraft.

Connie is a graduate student at Harvard who specializes in colonial America. When she is asked by her mother to go through her deceased grandmother's possessions and clean her house for sale, Connie is unwittingly drawn into a mystery from the past. She finds a key in an old bible and rolled inside the stem of the key is a slip of paper with the name "Deliverance Dane" on it. After some research, she finds that Dane may have left behind a "physick book" or book of spells after her execution in Salem. Connie sees the book as her chance for an amazing doctoral dissertation but it turns into a quest for so much more.

In my opinion, this book was really successful because of Howe's inclusion of scenes from the past with Dane, her daughter and her granddaughter. They give the reader information that Connie would never have been able to find through her research. This allows for a sense of completeness to the story that wouldn't have been there if it was strictly written from the modern perspective.

My only problem with the story were the few times that I seemed to piece together the clues faster than Connie did -- and she was supposed to be a semi-expert in the subject! I don't know if she is supposed to have been clouded by her anxieties and stress or if I just have the advantage by being a semi-expert in mystery novels. ::wink:: Otherwise, this is a strong novel about a very interesting (though dark) period in American history.

This book will be released next week (June 9).

Looking for the magic in everyday life,
K


Buy The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Bedtime Story: James and the Giant Peach

For the last month or so, Z's bedtime story has been Roald Dahl's classic James and the Giant Peach. When we started reading one chapter a night, I didn't realize that this book has 39 chapters! However, it managed to keep our interest and we've had a fun time reading it.

I'll admit that I never read this Dahl classic when I was a kid. I can't remember why I never chose it but maybe the lure of another story with "Chocolate" in the title just overshadowed it. Z and I have watched Henry Selick's stop-animation retelling of the story but never knew how it compared to the original. Now that we've finished this bedtime story, we know!

The original Roald Dahl story is definitely crankier and somewhat less fanciful but definitely exciting. There were a couple of times where I had to quick edit during my reading (one racist remark and a few choice insults). I probably wouldn't have changed anything but the racist remark if Z was older. This book has a good message about keeping your head during hard times and using your brain. It was also humorous and inventive and has some fun insect facts. I hope we enjoy our next story as much as we enjoyed this one!

Dreaming about seagull travel and Cloud-Men,
K and Z


Buy James and the Giant Peach on Amazon or find it at your local library.

New Release: My Cousin Rachel

After finally reading Rebecca, I felt very lucky to have a review copy of another Daphne du Maurier novel, My Cousin Rachel. This one has been recently re-released by Sourcebooks and I am so excited for readers to rediscover it!

The story is rather simple. Young Philip is raised by his bachelor cousin Ambrose. While away in Italy for his health, Ambrose meets and improbably marries a distant cousin, Rachel. Philip starts receiving troubling letters from Ambrose and eventually is worried enough to travel to Italy. However, he arrives too late and finds that Ambrose has died and Rachel has left. Philip vows his revenge against the woman that he believes responsible for his guardian's death and returns to England. Three weeks later, Rachel shows up at Philip's home. He is prepared to hate her but is surprised by her kind manner and deference to his feelings. He eventually falls madly in love with her. Will this lead to his downfall the same way that it led to Ambrose's?

While reading this book, I kept comparing it to Wilkie Collins' Armadale. It was similar with the older woman that comes into the life of the younger man. But while in Armadale you are fully aware of Lydia Gwilt's vengeful plan and her deception of young Alan, in this book you aren't sure of Rachel's history or intentions. Yet this story gives the same feeling of discomfort as you read about the downfall of an innocent, if naive, young man.

This novel has the same attention to detail that Rebecca had and presents another beautiful country estate for readers to covet. While the story wasn't as heart-breaking and emotional as Rebecca, it was definitely entertaining and suspenseful.

Loving a tense potboiler,
K


Buy My Cousin Rachel on Amazon or find it at your local library.

Take a Chance Challenge

The excellent Jenners at Find Your Next Book Here has created an imaginative and fun six month challenge -- the Take a Chance Challenge. Here's the rundown:

There are 10 tasks in all -- 7 involve finding a book to read in very random ways. The last three tasks are about taking chances as a writer as you are challenged to take on the role of short story writer, poet and movie/book reviewer. The challenge is meant to be fun and no pressure. Complete as many or a few of the 10 challenges as you want. However, the more you complete, the more chances you'll get to win the grand prize.

Here is the list of ten random and fun challenges. There aren't any that I would be averse to trying. When I choose a book for each task, I will add it here.

Random Book Selection. Go to the library. Position yourself in a section such as Fiction, Non-Fiction, Mystery, Children (whatever section you want). Then write down random directions for yourself (for example, third row, second shelf, fifth book from right). Follow your directions and see what book you find. Check that book out of the library, read it and then write about it. (If you prefer, you can do the same at a bookstore and buy the book!)

My local library is very asymmetrical. The shelves are all over the place and are many different heights. So, I did a weird version of this in that I stood way back from the youth section, said "okay, that aisle" and counted the number of shelves. Then I peeked around the corner to see how tall they were and picked a shelf. Finally, I picked a number and then walked to the shelf. I ended up with Ophie Out of Oz by Kathleen O'Dell. (I picked the youth section because I'm running out of time!)

review 11/25/09

Random Word. Go to this random word generator and generate a random word. Find a book with this word in the title. Read the book and write about it.

My random word was SIMPLE and I will read The Simple Art of Murder by Raymond Chandler, a collection of short stories and essays.

review 11/29/09

Birth Year Book. Find a book that was published or copyrighted in the year of your birth. Read the book and write about it.

Although I could cheat and use a book on my TBR pile that was published in 1975 (Lord John by Georgette Heyer), I will stick with the spirit of this challenge and choose Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. I've always been curious about Doctorow.

review 11/17/09

Judge A Book By Its Cover. Pick out a book based SOLELY on the cover. First, write about what you expect the book to be about based on the cover art. Then read the book and write about how the book was different from and/or similar to what the cover art led you to expect.

I am using this chance to read a book that I have picked up based on the cover multiple times and then always decided against it for one reason or another - Un Lun Dun by China Miéville.

review 6/28/09

Phoning An Author. Pick a random last name out of the phone book. Find an author with the same last name and read a book by them. Write about it. (I'm flexible ... if the first random name you pick is Xprxyrsss, you can pick again!)

Okay ... so, my husb hates phonebooks and so ours go straight into the recycle bin. But luckily I have my AMC Classic Movie Companion and so I went to the actor listings at the back and landed on Orson Welles. My book will be Gaia Girls:Way of Water by Lee Welles.

review 7/15/09

Public Spying. Find someone who is reading a book in public. Find out what book they are reading and then read the same book. Write about it.

I spied one of my fellow Kindergarten moms reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I had heard the title of this book mentioned before but had never looked it up.

review 11/23/09

Random Bestseller. Go to Random.org and, using the True Random Number Generator, enter the number 1950 for the min. and 2008 for the max. and then hit generate. Then go to this site and find the year that Random.org generated for you and click on it. Then find the bestseller list for the week that would contain your birthday for that year. Choose one of the bestsellers from the list that comes up, read it and write about it.

I randomly got 1964. The number one book (on the list at this point for 14 weeks) is The Spy Who Came in From the Cold by John Le Carré.

review 8/11/09

Lit Riff (inspired by the book Lit Riffs by Matthew Miele.) Choose a song and then write a brief story that is inspired by or further explains the lyrics of the song.

task post - 11/15/09

Poetic Review. Write a book review in three different forms of verse: haiku, limerick and free verse. (You can pick any book you want to write about.)

I will poetically review The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal by Sean Dixon.

review 7/16/09

Movie/Book Comparison. Find a book that you haven't read that has a movie based on it that you haven't seen. Read the book and watch the movie within a few days of each other. Write about your reactions to both the book and the movie and compare the two.

I was going to do Portrait of a Lady but decided on something lighter for summer -- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke with the recently-on-DVD film starring Brendan Frasier. I've heard only good things about the book but mostly not so good stuff about the movie so I'm really excited to do this comparison!

review 7/20/09

If you want to sign up for this challenge, head over to Jenners' challenge page!

Planning my next library trip,
K