Comfort Reads: Conrad's Fate and The Pinhoe Egg

I was feeling a tad stressed out while getting everything ready for our vacation and was having trouble concentrating on a new read so I turned to my friend Diana Wynne Jones for help. The only Chrestomanci volume that I hadn't reread recently was this one and so I grabbed it and immediately got lost in these wonderful stories about Christopher and Cat Chant. I loved these stories when I first read them so it was like visiting old friends. Conrad's Fate stood out for having so very many bad parents and guardians. The Pinhoe Egg explored the dark side of magic in the hands of the greedy and petty and, well, I think it might actually be my favorite Chrestomanci book. With great characters and a bit of romance, these stories were the perfect escape before my actual escape.

I have to admit to feeling quite sad though that there will be no more Chrestomanci tales. These characters and worlds are so rich that there must have been hundreds of stories waiting to be told, out there in the fictional ether. Sigh.

With a bit of magic and melancholy,
K

New Release: Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder

In January, I read the first in Catriona McPherson's Dandy Gilver series (again, I believe that it wasn't actually the first she wrote in the series but rather the first published by Minotaur Books) and now the second book has been released -- Dandy Gilver and an Unsuitable Day for a Murder.

Taking place in the Scottish town of Dunfermline, Dandy is called in when a teenaged girl goes missing. But the woman who summoned her, grandmother of the young lady, seems irritated when Dandy shows up and curtly explains that she was expecting her the next day. Dandy can't understand why someone would postpone looking for a missing person, but that's just the first strange thing in a story of warring department stores, family secrets and murder.

Dunfermline City Chambers, from Wikipedia

Though this story differed quite a bit from the first--where Dandy had to pose as a lady's maid--this still wasn't your typical detective story because, in this case, Dandy ends up working simply to find out the truth rather than working for a specific client. This shows a lot about her personality and her morals and I enjoyed that aspect of it. The story did take a ridiculous number of twists and turns that actually took some effort for me to follow but, once I had it all figured out, it was worth it.

Having a dandy of a time,
K

New Release: The Secrets of Mary Bowser

Destined to be on many "best of the year" lists, Lois Leveen has truly brought history to life in The Secrets of Mary Bowser. Starting from the briefest of mentions of this remarkable woman in historical records, Leveen deftly fleshes out the story of Mary Bowser, a freed slave who was educated in Philadelphia and who returned to Virginia to become a spy for the Union during the Civil War. Exploring such weighty topics as slavery, abolitionism, religion and war, this is also a story about family, friendship and the spaces in between.

I know many of you may already have started seeing positive reviews about this novel and some of you might even have review copies. I strongly urge you not to put off reading this one. It does not read like a first novel at all thanks to Leveen's smooth prose and tight story. The story is, in fact, so believable that the reader must constantly remind herself that much of it is only supposition. But if Mary Bowser was even half the woman that she is made out to be, then she deserves to have her story told.

I also had the opportunity to meet Lois at Third Place Books on Tuesday night and hear her read from the book. I even asked a couple of questions, something I rarely do. It was an enlightening evening and led me to an even greater appreciation of the novel. If you happen to be in Birmingham, Alabama, you can go to one of her events tonight!

In awe of those who came before,
K

New Release: The Obsidian Blade

I'm trying to branch out a bit in my science fiction reading so I accepted a review copy of The Obsidian Blade, the first book in a new YA trilogy, The Klaatu Diskos, by Pete Hautman. This was a story with lots of action, compelling characters and a truly world-threatening situation. It was a quick read though it deals with some weighty issues.

Tucker is a teenager who becomes very confused when his father disappears off of the roof of their house and he sees a shimmering in the air at the very spot where it happened. But his dad returns an hour later, walking up the street with a strange foreign girl in tow, acting like nothing happened. When Tucker's mom then starts exhibiting strange emotional symptoms, he wonders if there is something to those unearthly shimmering disks in the sky. There's only one way to find out ...

This book has a bit of everything -- time travel, future dystopia, mysterious beings and hyper-advanced technology. It incorporates a lot of different elements but I was definitely able to keep up with it all. Tucker was a great character, as was his uncle Kosh. Their actions were fully supported by their experiences. I wasn't quite as happy with Tucker's parents. His father's emotional distance and motivation were both suspect. And some readers might be put off by Hautman's use of religious and biblical events in the father's story. The plot line of Tucker's mother's mental illness and diagnosis bothered me too. I still would like to know what has happened to all of them, though, so I will look for the next book in the series when it comes out.

Sticking to one timeline,
K

New-ish Release: The Somnambulist

The Somnambulist by Millais (1871)

It's a bit strange for me to be reading a lot of Victorian fiction in the spring but after The Solitary House, I was in the mood for more so I grabbed The Somnambulist by Essie Fox as my next read. This is one that I was looking forward to and I really enjoyed it. The only way that it suffered in my super-picky mind was because I was expecting a neo-Victorian novel of the variety written by Michael Cox (his books could almost have been actual Victorian novels) whereas this one had some decidedly modern topics and scenes.

Told from the point of view of Phoebe Turner, a young lady of modest means, this is a tale of devotion, deception and redemption. In a household torn in two between the performing arts and religion, between aunt and mother, Phoebe isn't entirely sure who she is or who she wants to become -- and a number of things will push her in many different ways before she becomes a woman with her own mind and heart.

Though I was never entirely sympathetic to Phoebe, her story was compelling and I enjoyed this story. As I said before, I was a bit surprised by some hot and steamy scenes but only because of my own expectations for this novel. There's also a strong thread of anti-Semitism through the novel, something that readers of Victorian novels will be familiar with, though perhaps not to the extent that it is explored in this book. There is also a bit of the supernatural in the story -- just enough to add some flavor and to cause the reader to question Phoebe's reliability as a narrator (and her mental health). All of these elements are put together very well and I hope that Essie Fox has another book in the works.

Wide awake,
K

A Common Dilemma: Choosing Vacation Reads

We all have had this dilemma at one time or another -- which books do we bring with us on vacation? How many books for how many days? Do we choose ARCs that are due for reading or use our time away for "fun" books? Short books versus long books, paperbacks versus hardcovers -- there are just so many factors that it is not a quick decision. I've been thinking about this for weeks so far!

I'm taking a ten day trip (about six hours of flight each way) and I am trying to decide on my books. The ones I'm currently considering are

The Uninvited Guests by Sadie Jones (ARC)
The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (ARC)

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

The Prestige by Christopher Priest
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor


There are a couple others that I might consider but I'm leaning toward three or four of these (Jones, Pratchett, Peters and Willis). As you can see, I'm going for fun reads with the ARCs being fun ones as well, even if they are required reading. They're all paperbacks though the ARCs are oversized. But now I have to decide if four books is enough ...

Packing the essentials,
K

A Year of Dickens: New Release: The Solitary House

I asked for a Library Thing review copy of The Solitary House by Lynn Shepherd (called Tom-All-Alone's in the UK) knowing only the briefest of details about it but knowing also that it was bound to fit my interests perfectly. So imagine my joyful surprise when I read the first sentence of the book and immediately recognized it as being almost the exact starting words as one of my favorite Dickens novels, Bleak House --

London. Michaelmas term lately over, and the Lord Chancellor sitting in Lincoln’s Inn Hall.

However, Shepherd's story starts as Michaelmas term has lately begun because this is not the story of Esther Summerson and her family and friends, although that story does live in the background of this one. Rather, it is the story of Charles Maddox, a detective who is trying track down a child that has gone missing many years before. While trying to care for his ailing uncle and mentor, he is summoned to the powerful Mr. Edward Tulkinghorn and is given a seemingly simple case by the formidable lawyer. The ways that these two stories eventually come together is unimaginable, the cases turning out to be just as twisted as the course that Shepherd leads us down through this marriage of old and new stories.

After the pleasant surprise that this was a novel inspired by Dickens, I was even more thrilled to see another favorite novel incorporated later in the tale -- which I won't reveal to you because it's quite a wonderful and unexpected thing. I immediately wanted to reread these two favorites because The Solitary House is written from a place of devotion to these novels and it comes through constantly. But the story that Shepherd has created on her own is just as strong and my worry that it wouldn't live up to the novels that it borrowed from was unfounded. The only moment I was unhappy was when I had to relive one of the saddest moments in Bleak House and, in my opinion, in all of literature. Regardless of my dread of that heartbreaking scene, this was a wonderful novel that would have made Dickens proud in its exposure and denunciation of some of the myriad injustices of Victorian London. I can't wait to read Shepherd's next novel (and I've decided to reread Bleak House for my Year of Dickens after all).

A wonderful read lately over,
K

Happy 8th Birthday, Z!

There's nothing I love more than this kid.

photo by k

He lives in his own world of exploration and learning ...

photo by k

and he is happiest when he's lost in a good book.

photo by k

He loves openly and completely ...

photo by k

and he's mine, all mine.

Happy eighth birthday to my favorite kid in the world. You're growing up too fast but I can't wait to see what's in store for you during the next eight years.

Love,
Mom

Mistborn Read-Along: Chapter 35 to The End

the paperback trilogy boxset

The discussion for the final section of Mistborn: The Final Empire has moved up a couple of days because, well, we all couldn't wait to finish it! It wasn't one that I thought I would ever read and yet here I am, waiting impatiently for us to start reading the next two books of the series. Now that I've read two of his books, I think that what Brandon Sanderson excels at the most is bringing an unfamiliar world to the reader in a way that makes it feel familiar and comfortable. If you've been curious about reading fantasy and don't know where to start, he's a good choice!

Please note that this post WILL contain spoilers. These are questions about the ending of the book.

These final questions are from Carl ...


1. So, what do you think of Kelsier's plan now? Or his 'plan within a plan'? How do you feel the late introduction of the kandra and how it fit into Kelsier's plan?


It's kind of amazing how far ahead Kelsier thought things out and planned. That he really knew his friends/colleagues well is shown in the way that they immediately pick up where he left off and things really do move forward in the way he planned. It's super interesting to have the kandra revealed after we were already convinced that he was a man, an actor, who was doing an amazing job of imitating a noble. Now we have to wonder how many kandras there are and whether we can trust that anyone is themselves going forward. We already know that this kandra has abandoned Kelsier's body but who has it become now? It said it would return and be guided by Vin so when will that be and will she decide to use its services after all? It's nice to have this revealed as a fresh plot line right at the end of this book. It will serve as one way to see how different Vin and Kelsier really are.


2. The final section of the book was very Vin-centric. How do you feel about the choices she made and did you have any worries/fears about what might happen to her before everything was resolved?


I was amazed by the choices she made. She took the role that she thought was hers, that of assassin, and went all out with it. She had faith in Kelsier's plan and his belief in the Eleventh Metal. I definitely worried about her -- especially after she was stripped of all her metals. I wonder if we'll learn more about what they made her ingest and how it was able to eliminate metals. I was also worried that this would be the last time that Sazed was going to save her -- that he wasn't going to survive the rescue attempt. Now that Kelsier has died, I don't feel safe about anyone surviving the series anymore so we'll just have to wait and see!


3. After all that, we find out that the Lord Ruler wasn't the prophesied one after all. Surprised? Had you figured it out? What thoughts do you have about the big reveal, including how it tied into Sazed's people?


I was completely surprised though then everything made a lot more sense. The man who wrote the diary entries seemed a lot like Kelsier and it was hard to imagine someone like that becoming so incredibly evil. And it explains why he (the diarist) didn't seem to have any powers. The Lord Ruler's powers are based in those of Terrismen. Though I wonder if we'll ever find out how he also ended up with allomancy.


4. There was some back and forth about Elend throughout the story and we finally got to see him take a greater stand. Any predictions about what might happen in book two with Elend taking on leadership duties?


Well, Elend doesn't exactly have a lot of leadership experience so it will be interesting to see how much the different factions--noble and skaa--are able to sway him. But if anyone can stand up against pressure, it might just be him. I wonder if his father is still alive though -- that's one person that I can see trying to muscle in and take Elend's place. Lord Venture is just awful.


5. Lastly, provide a little wrap up of your experience with the book. What do you think Sanderson's strengths are? How does this book stack up against other fantasies you've read?


As I said above, I think Sanderson excels in creating a fantasy world that doesn't feel entirely unfamiliar. In a way, this reminds me of Tolkien. Though we have new names and races, they aren't hard to keep track of. This is my second Sanderson book and he's quickly becoming a trusted author for a compelling story that stretches the imagination and the intellect.

Sighing with satisfaction and anticipation,
K

Mistborn Read-Along: Chapter 25 through Chapter 34

the paperback Spanish cover

We're one section away from the end of Mistborn: The Final Empire and I feel like I'm watching a compelling miniseries and I don't want to wait until next week for the ending! Brandon Sanderson has written a world that easily comes to life in the mind's eye. In fact, as soon as I answer these questions, I'm going to read the last five chapters. Then I'm going to wait impatiently for the group reads of books two and three in June!

The questions for this week's reading come from Lynn --

Please note that this post WILL contain spoilers.

1. Well, we finally got our long awaited view of the Lord Ruler, firstly just a brief glimpse during the executions and then during the fight with Kelsier. What do you now think about him and the myths surrounding him? And, given his strength do you think he can be beaten?


Well, we thought the Inquisitors couldn't be beaten but we just saw one killed so I don't think the Lord Ruler is invincible. However, it turns out that he's every bit as young and strong as the myths implied and I think that it's going to take something amazing to bring him down. I wouldn't be surprised if another prophecy is revealed soon.

2. We seemed to suffer a number of set backs to the plans this week. The army had already been all but destroyed and following a bit of a rethink/regroup/coming up with a Plan B things still have gone disastrously astray. What do you think the Crew will do now??


Oh, things have gone so incredibly wrong! The only thing that has gone right is that Elend has come after Vin -- which is not at all relevant to the plan. :) I have no idea what they will do now. I think it depends on if Vin steps up as a leader. The others already seemed to be deferring to her a bit and I think that if she gave them the right cause, they would willingly step up to support her.

3. What was your reaction to Kelsier’s response to finding Marsh dead? I can’t help feeling that there are going to be some serious economic repercussions to destroying the crystals – what sort of impact do you think this will have, not just on the nobles but on the skaa?


This was the moment when Kelsier truly had nothing else to lose. He thought he was at that point already but never realized that he wasn't alone--not yet--because he had his brother. But this was the moment that he was truly alone and I think it broke something in his mind. I think destroying the crystals was an amazing idea although the Lord Ruler still has stockpiles and he's not going to be willing to part with any of it now. I can see the collapse of the entire house system, which affects both nobles and the skaa.

4. Finally, each week we learn a little bit more of the Lord Ruler’s history. And each week it has a different impact. This week’s snippets had the same impact – I was really interested in the excerpt when he mentions that the Darkness is not as oppressive when higher up in the mountains – do you have any more ideas about the Darkness?


It seems like the Darkness should be related to the ash and brown plants but it was defeated so I'm not sure if the way the world is now is just the aftermath or if there's something else going on. We still know very little about the Darkness.

5. (I did have another query – but it might be too much??) I was wondering about Elend and Vin – they’ve also had their ups and downs this week but seem determined to work round them – can you see anything of a future for these two or is there too much history between the nobles and skaa and too much difference and prejudice between the two?


I can definitely see a future between Elend and Vin. They are young and are breaking free of those things they've always believed and I think they could be the Adam and Eve of a new generation. I see a lot of potential for them as long as Elend can deal with what is obviously Vin's destiny -- destroying the Lord Ruler.

Thinking only of revenge,
K