May Jacket Flap-a-Thon

Happy summer! Perhaps the best thing about the end of May is a move into summer reading. (Am I the only one who reads books seasonally?) The light stuff, the fluff, the summer-feeling books. What are the books you've put aside for your summer reading?

Trash (David Fickling Books): "In an unnamed Third World country, in the not-so-distant future, three “dumpsite boys” make a living picking through the mountains of garbage on the outskirts of a large city. One unlucky-lucky day, Raphael finds something very special and very mysterious. So mysterious that he decides to keep it, even when the city police offer a handsome reward for its return. That decision brings with it terrifying consequences, and soon the dumpsite boys must use all of their cunning and courage to stay ahead of their pursuers. It’s up to Raphael, Gardo, and Rat—boys who have no education, no parents, no homes, and no money—to solve the mystery and right a terrible wrong. Andy Mulligan has written a powerful story about unthinkable poverty—and the kind of hope and determination that can transcend it. With twists and turns, unrelenting action, and deep, raw emotion, Trash is a heart-pounding, breath-holding novel."

Everything this says is true, and yet it doesn't capture the half of what this novel is. Brilliant.


Enchanted Ivy (Margaret K. McElderry): "What Lily Carter wants most in the world is to attend Princeton University just like her grandfather. When she finally visits the campus, Grandpa surprises her: She has been selected to take the top-secret Legacy Test. Passing means automatic acceptance to Princeton. Sweet! Lily's test is to find the Ivy Key. But what is she looking for? Where does she start? As she searches, Lily is joined by Tye, a cute college boy with orange and black hair who says he's her guard. That's weird. But things get seriously strange when a gargoyle talks to her. He tells her that there are two Princetons—the ordinary one and a magical one—and the Key opens the gate between them. But there are more secrets that surround Lily. Worse secrets. When Lily enters the magical Princeton, she uncovers old betrayals and new dangers, and a chance at her dream becomes a fight for her life. Soon Lily is caught in a power struggle between two worlds, with her family at its center. In a place where Knights slay monsters, boys are were-tigers, and dragons might be out for blood, Lily will need all of her ingenuity and courage—and a little magic—to unite the worlds and unlock the secrets of her past and her future."

The problem with this one is that it gives away more than it should; it's pretty much the whole book, even if it keeps one secret. That said, it does make the book sound quite compelling.

The Devil Went Down to Austin (Bantam): "Rick Riordan, triple-crown winner of the Edgar, Anthony, and Shamus Awards, brings his fast-talking, hard-living, Texas-hip P.I. Tres Navarre to the heart of the Lone Star State—Austin—to unravel a case so dark, twisted, and deadly, it can only involve family.... Tres Navarre, the P.I. with a Ph.D. in literature, heads to Austin for a laid-back summer teaching gig. But he’s in store for a whole lot more. His big brother Garrett--computer whiz, Jimmy Buffett fanatic, and all-around eccentric—is hoping to retire a multimillionaire by the fall. He’s bet his career and the Navarre family ranch to do it. Then Garrett’s oldest friend and business partner is murdered—and Garrett is the only suspect. As Tres delves into Garrett’s bizarre world to find the truth behind the murder, he comes face to face with the damaged relationships, violent lives, and billion-dollar schemes of a high-tech world gone haywire. Connecting them all is beautiful Lake Travis and the shocking secret that lies within its depths. Now, as Tres struggles with his own troubled family past and to clear his brother’s name, he finds himself stalked by a cold-blooded killer—one who could spell the death of both Navarres."

Yes, the book is as good as the copy makes it sound.

Other books read this month:
I Now Pronounce You Someone Else
Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps
The Fairy Godmother
A Gift From Childhood
The Throne of Fire
Reckless (Audiobook)
Anastasia's Secret
On Fortune's Wheel
Our Only May Amelia
Okay for Now

Our Only May Amelia

by Jennifer L. Holm
ages: 10+
First sentence: "My brother Wilbert tells me that I was the first ever girl born in Nasel, that I was A Miracle."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

This one has been on my radar for years, but was never quite enough to push me to read it. However, with the buzz about the sequel -- The Trouble With May Amelia -- I got curious enough to pick up both of them at the library a couple weeks back.

It helps, too, that I've been in the mood for middle grade fiction.

May Amelia is the only girl on the Nasel river, in the middle of rural Washington, 1899. She's twelve, has seven older brothers, and always seems to be Getting Into Trouble. She's both A Miracle to her family and That Troublesome Girl, something which she finds terribly conflicting. All she wants to do is have adventure: go fishing, maybe hunting, and run around like her brothers, but with her Mama pregnant for the first time in a long while, much of the household work falls to May Amelia. It's not an easy life but it's a good one, or at least May Amelia will come to think so.

It's not a book with a lot of plot -- there is some, but to tell you what happens will spoil much of the charm of the book -- but it's one that holds your attention. It's a grand example of voice: May Amelia's personality comes through loud and clear, and she's an interesting, amazing girl to get to know. She feels deeply, and lives fully, wanting to be treated the same as her brothers. Holm's affection for the stories and the Finnish immigrants is plain in the storytelling; there's a delightful homeyness to the book that just makes one smile, even through the tough times.

For there are tough times: Holm doesn't sugarcoat the past at all. It's gritty, but never so much that it's not accessible to the middle grade audience it's intended for. Instead, it gives an honest, yet loving, look at a homesteader's fate, and life for a girl around the turn of the century. Both of which makes this book priceless.

Okay for Now

by Gary Schmidt
ages: 11+
First sentence: "Joe Pepitone once gave me his New York Yankees baseball cap."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Doug Swieteck had a decent, if a bit rough, life. That is until his dad -- because of his friend Ernie Eco -- up and moves the family to "stupid" Marysville, New York for a new job. It's 1968, and Doug's oldest brother is off in Vietnam, and things are tight at home. It's not easy settling in to the new town, especially since everyone has Doug and his older brother (not to mention his slacker and somewhat abusive father) pegged for hoodlums.

Things go up and down for Doug -- who has one of the more personable voices I've read in a long time; he's speaking directly to the reader, but only once does the whole "dear reader" thing -- as he discovers James Audubon's drawings of birds. I've never seen the pictures live, but from the illustrations in the book, I can see why they move Doug so fundamentally. It's a look at how art and nature can influence our lives for the better, if one takes the time to understand it. In fact, if I had to pick a real theme of the book it would be that: people are more than the sum of their parts, and by taking the time to get to know and understand them, the world can be a better place.

The book could have teetered over into the maudlin, with issues of domestic violence and the war in Vietnam. But it never did. It stayed right on the edge of dark and heartbreaking, infused with hope and light and humor. It's one of the most hopeful books I've read in a long time, and definitely one of the most perfect.

The Devil Went Down to Austin

by Rick Riordan
ages: adult
First sentence: "The first time I knew I would kill?"
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Our erstwhile college professor and PI, Tres Navarre, is off to UT Austin for the summer to teach a class in Medieval English lit. Which means, since he's not interested in getting an apartment for six weeks, he gets to bunk with his older brother, computer programmer extraordinaire, Garrett.

Except, because it's Tres, things don't quite go as smoothly as planned. He ends up going early because he's found that Garrett's mortgaged the family ranch to cover costs for his new start-up tech business. Which is failing. Badly. And then, Garrett's partner and long-time friend, Jimmy, ends up shot dead, and Garrett's the main suspect. So, it's up to Tres (well, it's not, but Tres decides it is) to figure out who, besides his paraplegic older brother, could have done the dirty deed. Throw in a scheming ex-wife, some rich but estranged relatives, and a cutthroat businessman out for blood, and you've got some dangerous people to deal with. Not to mention Tres's ex, a successful corporate lawyer, that he hasn't seen in two years.

Just like in The Last King of Texas, Riordan piles it on fast and furious. He's moved the local to Austin, and while he doesn't have the same affection for that town as he has for San Antonio, he captures the unique flavor of Austin and the UT campus. That said, the town itself takes a backseat to the story, which is all kinds of gripping. It's an incredibly gritty story, but for different reasons than King was: dealing with domestic issues as well as business ones. Still, Riordan puts the reader through the paces, keeping us guessing as to who the real murderer is. And when the twists come (and they are there), it's enough to knock you out of your seat. And yet, they are not out of nowhere: the ground has been laid, and it makes perfect sense when they do come, right at the end. But, even with the grittiness and twists and turns, Riordan doesn't skimp on character: Tres is fleshed out even more, and the relationship he has with his ex is a fascinating, complex one.

I would say I'm finding it hard to believe I'm hooked on these mysteries, but honestly, I'm not. I adore Riordan's writing. And these definitely qualify as good Riordan writing.

10 Questions for Andy Mulligan

I know, today is supposed to be blogger interviews, but I spaced signing up for one. Thankfully, I have this lovely interview with the amazing and interesting Andy Mulligan, author of Trash (which I loved) for your reading pleasure.

MF: How did you get the inspiration for the story in Trash?
AM: I was living in Manila, and my very well-resourced school was raising money for its polar opposite: a dumpsite school in the most squalid part of the city. I heard so much about it, and finally visited. But the detail that set the story rolling was told by a friend of mine. He told me that the children who worked on this dumpsite spent a large part of their day crawling through human excrement, because so much ends up on the dump. That was the little vision of hell that took hold, and turned into Trash.

MF: Wow. That's definitely an image that will stick with you. You describe Trash as, first and foremost, a thriller. How did you make the decision to tell the story that way, instead of as a straightforward tale of poverty?
AM: Stories need engines. I’m used to standing in front of a class of children with a story, not a concept: and stories, in some ways, are such primitive things – someone has an adventure. Here is a character you instantly recognize: a boy or girl, not so different from you. You want him to do well – you want him to surprise you. You want to be entertained.

MF: It was definitely entertaining! But, the book also gave me a lot to think about when I was done. What do you hope readers get from reading the book?
AM: I don’t know. I want them to have been entertained, and in some way stretched. The good books that I read stretch me: whether it’s Dickens, Elmore Leonard, John Grisham – they put me in the shoes of someone, and I learn stuff. I fly somewhere. The bad books I read make me more intolerant and more stupid. Specifically, Trash asks the reader to spend some time with some children who are fighting for a better world – there’s a lot of value in that.

MF: Why did you decide to tell the story from the point of view of several narrators, instead of just Raphael's?
AM: The book was going to be first person Raphael all the way, but his voice was too limited. He saw the world in just one, very clear way. I got frustrated with him, so handing over to his friends was such a relief. It was a decision that made itself, at the desk, when I started another chapter and thought, "Oh, not you again…"

MF: Do you have a favorite character or scene?
AM: Yes. No. The moment I talk about a favourite scene I feel guilty about the others. I guess the bit that cracks me is when Rat saves Pia, and for the first time in his life he is the carer. He mashes banana for her, and is so tender. The denouement, amongst ghosts, flowers and graves, as the typhoon is crashing in – I’m still moved by that, and it’s pure Manila – a city I do love.

MF: From what I can tell, Trash is vastly different from your first novel, Ribblestrop. What were the challenges/similarities/differences between the two novels?
AM: Ribblestrop is about conquering against the odds too – it’s about healing. The children fight, just as the Trash children fight – and they win, and win they must. I was at a Q&A a while ago, and someone asked me if I set out to write "feelgood books". My thought was, yes, rather than feelbad… I love 1984 and Catcher in the Rye and American Psycho – books that take me to dark, feelbad places. But I like happy endings – I’m with Shakespeare in his last plays, I want reconciliation, and people realizing they need each other. I don’t want to read Zola on my deathbed: I want Dickens, or Rowling, or someone who says things can be and will be better. But that makes me sound like a born again, or some hippy evangelical, which I’m not – I’m actually a very cynical soul. But I don’t want to be.

MF: Did you always intend to write for a younger audience, or did you just somehow fall into it?
AM: I think I’ve spent so long teaching children in schools that the voice comes naturally. I’m also suspicious that I’m not really mature enough to write a grown-ups' book.

MF: Who or what inspires your writing?
AM: Stories come at you all the time, begging to be written down. And I meet people, all the time, so odd or interesting that I think, "Surely, there’s a book for him." The main characters in my books are all fused from the children I’ve taught or met, and though it’s hard to get going in the mornings, sometimes, I actually love the process of pushing the chapters forward. Then the revising, then the uprooting, then the replanting. It’s the most satisfying thing.

MF: What's the last book you read and loved, and why did you love it?
AM: I loved Richard Harris' "Imperium", about Cicero and Ancient Rome. And another historical book, "Wolf Hall" about Cromwell. I’m going through a big history fad at the moment, and I love these writers who help me imagine other worlds. "Wolf Hall" in particular makes such sense of the past, in a way that absolutely informs the present. 2011 is clearer to me now, having ready about the 16th century.

MF: What can we expect next from you, if you don't mind telling us?< Ribblestrop 3 is underway – I finished part one last night, so I know where that’s going now. I hope to have it done by the end of the summer. But my other book, which is top secret, is on my publisher’s desk even now. He may hate it or love it – I really don’t know. It’s for children again, set in a primary school – but it’s very strange and very English. I want to do the American version, which will give me an excuse to spend some quality time in the States – and that’s something I long to do.

MF: Thank you so much for your time!
AM: It’s a pleasure. Thank you for reading.

You can see more about Andy and his books at his website.

Best of 2011, Halfway Through

I don't have a giveaway for you today, for Armchair BEA. Sorry. On the other hand, at Armchair BEA Central, there is a list of people who will have giveaways for you today. However, as a consolation prize, I do have links to reviews of five of the best books I've read (so far) this year.


Trash, by Andy Mulligan


The Last King of Texas, by Rick Riordan


A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith


The Disappearing Spoon, by Sean Kean


The True Meaning of Smekday, by Adam Rex

And as a bonus, five books I desperately want to get my hands on. Soon.



What's on your list of favorite books this year?

Hi, My Name is Melissa and I'm a Bookaholic

Hi, Melissa! Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I've been blogging here at Book Nut for 6 1/2 years, which makes me a verifiable oldie in the blogosphere. I'm still at it, though, partially because I have a rotten memory for books I've read, and it's quite handy to point people who ask in the direction of my blog. But, mostly, I think, I'm still at it because the book blogging community, possibly because it's huge and diverse, is a wonderful community to be a part of.

What is it that you like to read?

I like to say I'm a book omnivore, and that I'll read a little bit of everything. Which is true, though I do have to admit that every single time I try to read one of those true crime thrillers I completely hate them. I'm still wondering why publishers keep pitching them to me. That said, I have a passion for and a general leaning towards kids -- middle grade and YA -- books.

Why those in particular?

Because I like them. Seriously. Good writing, good stories, tightly told. You really can't beat a good middle grade or YA book. (Okay, maybe it's also a little because I don't want to grow up.)

So, if you're such a bookaholic, why aren't you in New York at BEA?

Because I'm a bookaholic who's married to a university professor and the mother of four daughters. I'd love to go an experience the whole madhouse of BEA, to see other bloggers and just have fun, but I'm allowed one trip a year, and I choose to attend KidLitCon, because that's where my passion is. Someday, that might change. But for now, I'm sitting in my chair in the corner (or on my bed sometimes), following my twitter feed, being slightly jealous of all the cool things I'm missing at BEA.


Check out the other participants intros on the BEA website!

Sunday Salon: Better Late than Never

I've been meaning to do this for weeks, I tell you. And yet, the weeks just seem to get busier and busier, and with school ending this Tuesday (really? EEK! So not ready.) I figured I had to sit down and get these two things out.

First off, it's time for Mother Reader's 48 hour book challenge. Woot! If you haven't done this before, give it a whirl. Pop over here for the guidelines, as well as here for frequently asked questions about it all. And then join us next weekend (where does the time go?) reading as much as you possibly can. (I'm planning on tackling my backlog of publisher-sent books. That is, if I can get through all the library books before hand.)

Secondly, it's time for Nerds Heart YA again! The shortlist was announced a couple weeks ago -- I've read three, amazingly -- and it's a great list of books. I've got the pleasure of being a first-round judge again, and I'm actually quite excited about the two books I'm judging between. (And my library has both! Woot!) Stay tuned for my decision in about a month, and follow all the first round action at the blog, or on Twitter.

Thirdly, it's Armchair BEA time (for those of us too cheap/broke/whatever) to actually go and brave the madhouse that is Book Expo America. (Someday....) The schedule for the week is here. I'm going to try and participate (at least a little bit). Stay tuned!

I think that's about it. Here's to summer!

Reread: On Fortune's Wheel

by Cynthia Voight
ages: 13+
First sentence: "What she saw first was a moving shadow."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

One of the benefits of having a blog and rereading a book, is going back and looking at what you wrote about it the first time. At which point, you cringe, and think to yourself, "Dang, I've gotten so much better at this blogging thing!"

My last sentence still stands, though: this book is a pleasure to read.

It follows Birle, the daughter of an Innkeeper, who is monumentally unhappy with her life. She's just agreed to get married, mostly out of desperation, when she spots someone trying to steal a boat from her father. Being a bit foolhardy, she takes off after the thief, and ends up on Fortune's Wheel. The thief turns out to be Orien, the grandson of the Earl, who is running from his fate as the Earl to be. Their fortune goes from bad to worse as they are marooned on an island, and from there sold into slavery. Throughout it, though, they have the love that they developed for each other. And fortune, for better or for ill.

It's a lovely, simple story, elegantly told. Voight is a master storyteller, and even if there wasn't a whole lot going on plot-wise, she manages to make the characters and the situations compelling enough that it doesn't matter if there's not much going on. Voight doesn't go in for flashy things, especially in this historical-feeling book. There's no magic, no grand intrigue, just two people going through life trying to make the best of the situations thrown at them.

Which makes it an absolutely beautiful book.

Anastasia's Secret

by Susanne Dunlap
ages: 13+
First sentence: "We are surrounded by guards."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher

Historical fiction is a tricky thing. Mostly, I think, because the author is taking real people and situations and trying to make them compelling and interesting while fitting in the structure bound by history. It's a delicate balance, one that requires facts as well as enabling the reader to see past the facts to create a whole (albeit fictional) character.

Dunlap has decided to tackle the Romanov family and the years before the Russian revolution. It's primarily Anastasia's story, one of her infatuation and romantic involvement with a palace guard who joins the Bolsheviks, in the end. It spans four or five years of time, from when Anastasia's 13 until after her 17th birthday. Dunlap weaves the romance in and out of the political situation, providing a setting for this princess and pauper story.

I'll be up front with it: it doesn't have a happily ever after ending. Dunlap sticks with history and leaves Anastasia's ending open-ended. But, aside from that, I felt like this book was unbalanced; the romance and the political situation seemed at odds with each other. Either it was that there wasn't enough of one or too much of the other, but I never really connected with the book. Everything seemed distant and remote, jumbled and disconnected. I wanted to like Anastasia and her love, Sasha. I even wanted to feel sympathetic to the Romanov family, but I never got there. I'm wondering if it was because it was oversimplified to fit for a younger audience, and that things would have been more fleshed out in a adult novel. Whatever the reason, this one didn't work as well as I would have liked it to.

That said, it's a grand introduction to all things Russian.

Audiobook: Reckless

by Cornelia Funke
ages: 12+
Read by Elliot Hill
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

When Jacob was 11, his father disappeared. After a year of missing him, and being angry at his disappearance, Jacob enters his father's study, and following some cryptic notes, ends up falling through a mirror into a completely different world.

Fast forward 12 years, and Jacob has made a life for himself in the Mirrorworld as a Finder for the Empress Therese of Austry. Then once (and once is all it took) his younger brother Will followed him through the mirror and was attacked by the Goyl, stone people who are at war with the humans. As a result, Will is slowly turning into the jade Goyl, cursed by the Dark Fairy to be the protector for the Goyl king.

Jacob is angry -- at himself, at the fairy, at the world, at Will -- and has vowed to do anything to save his brother. This leads himself, Will, Will's girlfriend Clara (who came through the mirror after him), and a shape-shifter by the name of Fox (who's been Jacob's companion for years, and wishes that Jacob could realize that she's more than just his shadow) on an interesting, dangerous and possible futile adventure across the world hoping to save Will from becoming a Goyl for good.

It's a clever story, turning Grimm's fairy tales upside down, weaving them through this dark tale. And don't get me wrong, with the age of the characters and the intensity of the tale, I kept wondering why this was a middle grade novel. It's scary. It's intense. It's not for the faint-of-heart. But it wasn't until I read the review of it at Charlotte's Library, that I realized that it really is a coming-of-age story, and not just a fairy tale. Charlotte puts it quite nicely:

Despite the ostensibly already grown-up age of the central characters, this is a book about growing-up, about how the relationships of brothers and friends, and perceptions of oneself, change in terrifying ways as adulthood is entered. Jacob might be 24 on paper, but the young man in the mirror world is more an avatar of oldness exploring a fantasy world than a convincing adult--his character is still very much that of the reckless adolescent, confused by his emotional responses to the questions posed by growing up. Although sex lurks in the background (it's never explicitly or centrally part of the story), for Jacob it is still the hormonally charged lust of the adolescent--he has yet to learn love (oh poor Fox. I felt for her so very much).

It makes so much more sense when viewed at it this way. Though, like Charlotte, I'd be loathe to give it to the younger middle grade readers, for this isn't of the faint of heart. And as the jacket flap warns: it's not a happily-ever-after.

As for the medium, I think I enjoyed listening to it better (though there were times when I
wondered about who was speaking; I gather Jacob talked to himself quite a bit) than I would have reading it. Hill did an admirable job narrating as well as with the character's voices, which helped me get into the story in a way I wouldn't have if I'd read the print version. It also helped that I couldn't look to the end to see if it all turned out "okay".

Also, props to Funke for creating such an elaborate and interesting world. She, much like Rowling, has an incredible imagination and a gift for making everything pop off the page. It's a strange book, but one that I think will stay with me for quite a while.

A Gift From Childhood

Memories of an African Boyhood
by Baba Wague Diakite
ages: 10+
First sentence: "A little boy sat on the dirt floor with a bowl of millet porridge between his legs."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

I've been sitting here trying to figure out a way to summarize this book, and I'm coming up short. How do you summarize a man's reflections on his childhood, his experiences in a small village in Mali, and the life lessons that taught him? You can't.

His parents, for cultural if not financial reasons, sent Diakite and his siblings to live in the small village where his father grew up to be raised by their grandparents. He stayed for several years, until he was in his early teens, learning about the ways of the village. While there's no real over-arching narrative, the stories do follow a bit of a timeline from when he arrived at the village through until he met his wife, came to American and settled in here. The stories themselves are interesting; none are very long, and they each shed light on what life in a small, rural African village is like. There's some commentary on imperialism and on materialism, but it's not heavy-handed, or even all that present. The art, done by Diakite as well, helps give the book the feeling of being told African folktales from the hand of an experienced and talented storyteller.

His is a fascinating life, and a good story about how differences, the "other" if you will, can enrich all our lives.

The Throne of Fire

by Rick Riordan
ages: 11+
First sentence: "Carter here."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

When we last left our erstwhile heroes, siblings Carter and Sadie Kane, they had defeated the god Set but had realized there was a greater threat: Apophis, the god of Chaos, is rising, and if the Kanes don’t find a way to stop him, he will swallow the sun and the world as we know it will end. To do this, the Kanes need to piece together the Book of Ra — no easy task — and wake the Sun God in hopes that he can rally the gods and magicians in order to put a stop to Chaos once and for all.

It sounds like a tough job, but if anyone can do it Carter and Sadie can — with a little help from new trainees Walt and Jaz, as well as the god of dwarves, and one of my favorite characters, Bes.

A note of warning: it’s a nearly 500-page book, and the first 100 pages are glacially slow. So slow, that for the first time I can remember, I considered abandoning a Riordan book. I stuck it out: it is Rick Riordan after all, and I just didn’t believe he could write a clunker. And he didn’t. I’m going to pull out the tired rock analogy here, because it fits. This book is a huge, enormous boulder. And once it gets going, it really goes. It’s interesting, and funny, and uses magic in clever ways. I still feel like I’m missing something with not knowing my Egyptian mythology well, but for the most part I thought this book gelled better than The Red Pyramid. At the very least, while the book wraps up, it leaves for some interesting threads to be dealt with in the next novel.

There’s something for everyone: twists and turns, adventure and a wee bit of romance, magic and intrigue, humor and suspense. In the end, it’s more than worth the time it takes to get through the beginning.

Enchanted Ivy

by Sarah Beth Durst
ages: 13+
First sentence: "'Almost there,' Grandpa said."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Lily has lived her whole life with her Grandpa and her mom in Philadelphia. Never gone anywhere, never done much, mostly because her mom isn't quite, well, completely all there. She's artistic and fun and interesting, but is also subject to brain hiccups.

Grandpa, on the other hand, is a graduate of Princeton, and goes to the reunions every year. And this year, the spring of Lily's junior year, he's decided to take both Lily and her mom along, much to Lily's excitement: Princeton is exactly where she wants to go to school.

But once she gets there, she discovers that not everything is exactly as it seems. The gargoyles talk. Her father is a Knight. There's a boy with black and orange hair. And there's a whole alternative Princeton, full of magical creatures. And Lily's been given a test to find the Key. Little does she know how deeply her family is involved in all this.

It's a clever premise, making an old institution like Princeton magical, creating a whole alternate universe that's connected through the Princeton gate. Durst plays with ideas of unity and cooperation as well as touching on fear of the unknown and how that tends to make groups overly cautious. She also addresses the idea of doing wrong for the right reasons. There's adventure and romance (a bit of a love triangle) as well.

But, even with all that, it didn't quite work for me. I usually love Durst's stuff, but this one felt off. The romance didn't quite work, even though the boys were more than awesome. The bad guy wasn't evil enough for me. And then there's the whole fact that she introduced a whole new character two-thirds of the way through the book. Generally, that doesn't bother me, but it was enough of a plot twist that it threw me for a loop. It changed the game, and it made things a lot darker than they were initially setting out to be. And while I liked the dark element, the timing felt off to me.

That said, it really made me want to visit Princeton.

The Fairy Godmother

by Mercedes Lackey
ages: adult
First sentence: "This is not the way to spend a beautiful spring morning! Elena Klovis thought, as she peered around the pile of bandboxes in her arms."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Elena was supposed to be stuck in a tale. You know, the one where she sleeps by the fireplace, spending her days doing all sorts of grudge work for her step-mother and step-sisters? And then she gets to go to the ball and marry a prince?

Except, she doesn't.

She turns 21, and her step-mother and -sisters decide that this part of the Kingdom isn't doing them any favors (not to mention that their debts are mounting), so they take off and leave Elena the house. Which the debtors then claim. Elena figures that she can't do any worse in life, and so tries to get hired out.

And that's when her life gets interesting. She is picked up as an Apprentice to the Fairy Godmother. See, in the 500 Kindgoms, there's this thing called The Tradition: magic that is pushing, pulling, forcing people into tales. And it's the Godmother's role to direct, push, pull, prod and help people into, along in, or out of these stories. The best part of the book, I think, was working with Elena as she learned about the magic and how to manipulate the stories. The Tradition is a powerful thing, and if one doesn't think about what one wishes, or even says, dire consequences abound. There were clever asides to several fairy tales, as well as the categorization of characters. It's all very organized and delineated, which made me smile.

Of course, there has to be a love interest, and that shows up in the form of Alexander, the stubborn prince who ends up as a donkey for several chapters. He's arrogant, angry and conceited, but eventually learns his lesson and takes on his own destiny, which includes breaking tradition and falling in love with a Godmother. I expected things to slow way down, but Lackey has got her books down (she should after as many as she's written), and managed to throw a couple of steamy sex scenes in there as well as giving us a big finale to end on, both which served to, um, keep my interest.

It's fluff, but it's fun, enjoyable fantasy fluff. And I can't say anything bad about that at all.

Sunday Salon: An Ode to Travel Books

(I know it's Mother's Day, here in the US. I'm not particularly fond of it -- even though I am being spoiled with breakfast in bed served by my beautiful daughters -- so I'm not going to write about it.)

At my in-person book group this month, we got to talking about traveling, both with and without kids. At one point, I said that I long to travel and to see new things, and that it sometimes frustrates me that I won't get to see all I want to see. Then I said, "That's why I read travel books." I immediately thought of this piece that I first wrote this for Estella's Revenge, back in May 2008. I thought it'd be good to share again.

**********

I adore travel books.

By "travel books," I don't mean the travel guides that line the shelves of the bookstore with lists of what to do and where to go (though I have to admit, I do like reading those, too), nor do I mean novels where a certain place is essential to the plot. No, what I mean are the non-fiction books, an author taking a journey somewhere, experiencing a different life for a while, and then writing about his or her experience.

Those are the travel books I love.

I have also called them "place books" because, for me, the most important element of the book needs to be a sense of wonder and excitement and anticipation about the places the author sees and the people the author meets. Without some element of respect and wonder, the book just becomes a catalog of events, a journey not worth taking. But with it, the book transports, taking me places and doing things I would never dream of doing (like giving up normal life for a house in Tuscany, or sailing the world following Captain Cook, or walking the length of the Appalachian Trail), experiencing new, unusual, and sometimes incredible places and people.

I love these books for many reasons. It's because I can be inspired and entertained by these escapades in ways I can't when they are fictional characters. Real people did these real things: it's enough to motivate me to be just a little bit better, work just a little bit outside the mold, and think a bit more outside the box. It's also because they're accessible: most of these writers are journalists, and they write in a way that resonates with me in ways that novelists sometimes don't. And it's partly because it allows me to see the world in a way I couldn't when I travel, even if I could imagine myself going some of these places. I want to visit Antigua, and live there for a month, and get to know the local people, but time and money and lifestyle just don't mesh with that ideal. I admire these people, admire their willingness to get up and go and do.

Perhaps there's a bit of a traveler in all of us, wanting to reach out and experience something beyond our mundane lives. Here is a list of 15 of my favorites, as well as others that sound interesting, to get you started (all descriptions of books I haven't read came -- in part -- from Powells.com):

1. There will never, ever be a travel list without some book of Bill Bryson's. He is, in my mind, the king of travel writers, the epitome of interesting journeys, witty observation, and superb writing. My two personal favorites are Walk in the Woods about his experiences walking the Appalachian Trail and In a Sunburned Country, about his escapades across Australia.

2. Around the World in 80 Days -- not the Jules Verne novel, but the one by Michael Palin. Yes, it's the same guy from Monty Python (and A Fish Called Wanda) fame. He's spent the last 20 years traveling the world for the BBC in a series of specials. Around the World was the first one, the one that started it all. Watch the shows; they are interesting and fun, but also pick up the companion books. Palin's a good writer with dry wit and self-deprecating humor, yet he never forgets a love and awe for the places he's been and the people he's met.

3. Ciao, America! -- Capturing the odd sights and scents of Beppe Severgnini's destination, Washington D.C., this book is a tale of quirky discoveries in a country obsessed with ice cubes, air-conditioning, recliner chairs, and after-dinner cappuccinos. From their first encounters with cryptic rental listings to their back-to-Europe yard sale twelve months later, the Severgninis explore their new territory with the self-described patience of mildly inappropriate beachcombers.

4. Confederates in the Attic -- While Tony Horwitz isn't usually considered a travel writer, I lump him in because his books usually involve some sort of journey and a strong sense of place. I've read all his books, but my favorite (hands down) is this one. If you haven't read his escapades through the deep south, please do. It's funny, and that's the God's-honest truth. (I had a Southern lady tell me once that Horwitz just "got" Southerners.) His newest is A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World -- about the Europeans who preceded the Pilgrims to America. Not a travel book, per se, but it sounds fascinating.

5. Down the Nile -- I read the blurb on the back of this book, and thought to myself that Rosemary Mahoney is a woman with cahones, because not many women would even consider doing what she did. She was determined to take a solo trip down the Egyptian Nile in a small boat, even though civil unrest and vexing local traditions conspired to create obstacles every step of the way. Whether she's confronting deeply held beliefs about non-Muslim women, finding connections to past chroniclers of the Nile, or coming to the dramatic realization that fear can engender unwarranted violence, Rosemary Mahoney's informed curiosity about the world, her glorious prose, and her wit never fail to captivate.

6. Eat, Pray, Love -- Facing an early mid-life crisis at age 30, Elizabeth Gilbert decided to take a year of life to find herself. Traveling to Italy (the art of pleasure), India (the art of devotion) and Indonesia (for a balance between the two), this book is the chronicle of her adventures and insights. An intensely articulate and moving memoir of self-discovery, it's is about what can happen when you claim responsibility for your own contentment and stop trying to live in imitation of society's ideals.

7. An Embarrassment of Mangoes -- author Ann Vanderhoof and her husband Steve take off for two years on a sailboat and head south from Toronto to the Caribbean. It's the story of their adventures, of life on a smallish sailboat, and of the people they met on the islands. Wonderful, inspiring and fascinating.

8. The Geography of Bliss -- self-proclaimed grump Eric Weiner travels from America to Iceland to India in search of happiness, or, in the crabby author's case, moments of "un-unhappiness." The book uses a beguiling mixture of travel, psychology, science and humor to investigate not what happiness is, but where it is.

9. Japanland: A Year in Search of Wa -- documentary film maker Karin Muller spends a year in Japan trying to figure out the meaning of wa: a transcendent state of harmony, of flow, of being in the zone. With only her Western perspective to guide her, though, she discovers in sometimes awkward, sometimes awesomely funny interactions just how maddeningly complicated it is being Japanese. She as also written Along the Inca Road, about her journeys in Ecuador, Peru, Brazil, and Chile.

10. No Touch Monkey! -- Curator of kitsch and unabashed aficionada of pop culture, Ayun Halliday offers bemused, self-deprecating narration of her itinerant foibles as examples of how not to travel abroad. An admitted bumbling vacationer, Halliday shares, with razorsharp wit and to hilarious effect, the travel stories most are too self-conscious to tell. Besides, who can resist a book with a Steven Colbert blurb on the cover?

11. The Royal Road to Romance -- This is the oldest travel book I've read. It was written in 1925, but it's an exciting and amazing tale of Richard Halliburton's journeys around the world. He literally bummed his way, hitching rides on steamers, stealing trips on trains, biking, walking... things that very few people these days would even think of doing. It's wonderful to read, with a jaunty style that just captivated me. Halliburton was everything a travel writer should be: rash, daring and a lot of fun to accompany on his adventures.

12. Tales of a Female Nomad - In 1986, at the age of 48 and facing an impending divorce, Rita Goldmen Gelman gave up all her possessions and decided to live in third world countries, experiencing what the natives experience. She no longer has a home, and she only owns what she can carry on her back. It's a fascinating and inspiring tale of her experiences.

13. Under the Tuscan Sun -- A love story by Frances Mayes about a her love for a house, a place, a dream. A truly beautiful book to read: her descriptions of the land, the area of Cortone in Tuscany, the house itself and all the renovations, are fabulous and picturesque. She's written several other books including A Year in the World.

14. A Year in Provence -- Like Under the Tuscan Sun, this month-by-month account chronicles the charms and frustrations that Peter Mayle and his wife — and their two large dogs — experience their first year in the remote country of the Luberon restoring a two-centuries-old stone farmhouse that they bought on sight.

15. Yemen: The Unknown Arabia -- Writing with an intimacy and a depth of knowledge gained through thirteen years among the Yemenis, Mackintosh-Smith is a traveling companion of the best sort--erudite, witty, and eccentric. Crossing mountain, desert, ocean, and three millennia of history, he reveals a land that, in the words of a contemporary poet, has become the dictionary of its people.

Do you have any others to add to the list?

Mom

A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps
edited by Dave Isay
ages: adult
First sentence: "StoryCorps launched October 23, 2003, in Grand Central Terminal in New City."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by TLC Tours

I didn't quite know what to expect, going into this one. It's a series of conversations from the StoryCorps booths about mothers. Since there's no coherent narrative, and since every story is just a snippet, really, I figured it'd be an easy, but not very substantial read.

On the one hand, I was right: it was an easy read. I breezed through it in an afternoon, but not only because it's an easy read. It's also an engaging one. Maybe it's because I have an odd fascination with oral histories, but I found the stories, even if they were just snippets, to be fascinating.

There's stories of mothers dying, of mothers caring, of mothers working, of mothers giving up babies, of mothers adopting children, of hard times and good times. It's a broad collection of remembrances, from every walk of life. It was touching and interesting and sweet, even if it wasn't especially memorable or life-changing. A lovely antidote to all the extreme mom stories: both the ones that make you feel guilty because you're not doing enough, and the ones that make you feel smug because you're so much better than that.

However, I think it was something Dave Isay wrote in the afterward that moved me the most:

I hope you'll spread the word about our efforts. We want to encourage the entire nation to take the time to ask life's important questions of a loved one -- or even a stranger -- and really listen to the answers. We hope to shower this country with more of the sorts of stories you've just read -- authentic voices that remind us what's truly important, that tell real American stories, and that show us all the possibilities life presents when lived to its fullest.

It made me want to seek out a booth for a conversation of my own. Which, I suppose, is the best thing you can get out of the book.

I Now Pronounce You Someone Else

by Erin McCahan
ages: 15+
First sentence: "I was switched at birth."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

Bronwen Oliver, age 18, doesn't know who she is.

Well, she does, to a point. She doesn't know how she fits into her family She's heard from her overbearing and inflexible mom for years that she doesn't know where Bronwen came from. Bronwen's mom tries to make her fit; taking her to dye her hair is just the least of things. Her stepfather, Whitt, is a slight buffer, but has become more distant in recent. All this gave rise to a hopeful fantasy of Bronwen's, that she still sometimes holds on to: that she was switched at birth, and really belongs in someone else's family.

She's just been dumped by her boyfriend, because she won't put out on prom night (gotta give the book props: Bronwen has decided to wait until marriage, and sticks to her guns). Then she meets Jared Sondervan, college senior, swoon-worthy male extraordinaire, home for the summer. It's not quite love at first sight, but pretty darn close. Soon, they're spending as much time as they can together, kissing passionately, telling secrets about their deepest selves in spite of Bronwen's tendency to not rock the boat, and creating memories.

And then Jared proposes.

At first, in spite of all the objections, Brownwen is all gung-ho about the idea. The Sondervans are an incredible family. Bronwen loves their son, so what if she's 18 and he's 20?

On the one hand, I loved this little book. It was sweet, romantic, lovely and funny. (Then again, I'm from Michigan, so I get the Ohio jokes.) But it's not all sweet, romantic, lovely fun: there's a darker side about acceptance within your family and of yourself. Is she wanting to marry Jared because she loves him, or just because she hates her family? McCahan weaves the two sides of the book together practically seamlessly; like Sarah Dessen's books, the darkness gives the fluff depth and makes it work better.

On the other hand, I really didn't like the ending. I won't spoil it for you, but know that I wished it had ended less fairy-tale-like.

But that wasn't enough to spoil the rest of the book for me.

Trash

by Andy Mulligan
ages: 13+
First sentence: "My name is Raphael Fernandez and I am a dumpsite boy."
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!

There are very few books that can both break your heart, keep you guessing, and make you cheer at the very same time. This is one of those books.

Set in an unnamed third world country (that, because of the author's background, I visualized as the Philippines), it's the story of Raphael, Gardo and Rat, boys who spend their life going through the garbage to find the worthwhile scraps to sell, and the day they found something truly amazing.

It's just a wallet, but a wallet with enough pesos in it that catches their attention. Plus there's a key. Raphael and Gardo take it, of course, but what happens after is beyond their control. It involves abusive police, a very corrupt elected official, some innocent bystanders, and solving a puzzle before the authorities get to them (or it) first.

The best word to describe the book is intense. So intense in parts that I had to put it down for a while, take several deep breaths, and cross my fingers and toes that it will all come out okay. Mulligan flips between several narrators: the premise is that they are all telling this story in retrospect, taking turns with the narrative as each has his (and her) own part to play. It shouldn't have worked as well as it did; the idea of telling things in retrospect means that the end is given away, right? But, it's not, and it works beautifully, keeping the reader (at least me) on the edge of their seat.

It helps, too, that Raphael, Gardo and Rat are not only likable but worth cheering for. They are up against incredible odds, and their soul and bravery are amazing. It's also a book that makes you think: about third world countries, about aid, about corruption.

Excellent.