Ode to a Banker - Lyndsey Davis

Any review I do of a Lyndsey Davis Falco novel is bound to be a gush (I'm actually thinking of making my regular blog feature Fangirl Friday where I give myself license to just gush). So I'll just quickly say:

I'd happily follow Falco and Helena around in a novel even if there was no crime solving involved. I love Petronius, Mai and Junilla Tacita.

The book has a great plot. Falco is hauled in by a publishing house who want him to pay to see his poems published. Soon after the proprieter of the publishing house, and the bank where most of Falco's mothers savings sit is found murdered in a gruesomely appropriate way. I'll just say that a scroll holder is inserted in a particularly nasty place. Falco finds himself investigating other aspiring authors while trying to keep his arch enemy, the spy Anacrites away from his sister and his mother!

This book is one of the first times I've seen Davis' books draw parralells so obviously between Roman society and our own. She draws attention to the con men out in the publishing industry and is merciless about certain kinds of authors, epecially those suffering from 'writers block'. This element reminded me of Terry Pratchett's later books which satirise contemporary society.

The first time I read anything by Lindsey Davis it was a short excerpt in my GCSE textbook to show how secondary sources can sometimes be more accurate than primary sources due to bias. I love a writer that does their research.

You can read the first chapter of the book for free at the Random House website.

Mini Challenge

I signed up the March mini challenge for the Reading Dewey's Books Challenge, even though I have yet to start reading for that challenge. This month you sign up to read a book outside of your comfort zone and join up with a partner to talk about it, engaging in some of that fabulous community spirit Dewey was so good at fostering. You can read more about this mini here . I've got my partner who plans to read a non-fiction book and I'm planning to read a play that ties in with her choice hopefully - lots of fun breaking down reading barriers :)

I planned to do a quick wrap up post tonight for the few books I haven't posted about yet but I find myself with a case of the sniffles so it's off to bed for me soon. Quick posts on the loveliness of 'One for the Banker' and 'The Tenderness of Wolves' soon. Haven't I been lucky this year, no really awful books as yet.

In current reading progress I'm enjoying 'The Rose of Sebastopol', which I'm reading for the Victorian challenge, but I could do without the constant, obvious signalling of repressed lesbian feeling, unfortunate love springing in the doctors heart and other things. Every chapter seems to end with some 'mysterious' allusion - tiresome.

It's a very headlong book, and because the pace seems to be racing on, matching the energy of Rosa, I'm not yet feeling a great connection to the characters. I'm also begining to suspect Rosa's motives a little, yes she cries and pleads sorrowfully but she does so very prettily and she always seems to get her way. Although she's a determined female character battling her lack of education I'm not sure I like her. Henry is a massive dud, obviously he's got very historically correct attitudes and perhaps that's what stops him from being endearing (although I suspect it is his dullness and his clear feeling that he is stoically sacrificing his own happiness for Mariella's that make me loath him). However I see a dashing romantic hero in Rosa's stepbrother Max, and despite the incessant, largely ineffectual sewing I want Mariella to be happy, because she just wants to hear Henry talk about love when he proposes.

By the way isn't the Crimean war fascinating. I've always been a little bored by the Victorians but the Crimean is making me want to read more about that time period. 'No Place for Ladies' by Helen Rappaport is shooting up my to be read list.

If you're following my blog...

...I probably can't see you anymore. Blogger has changed all followers to be anonymous - no idea why, to prevent spam or something maybe. If you want to know how you can pump my ego back up and show yourself as a follower there's an easy to understand instructional post at The Daily Blonde .

Gorguss Bookmarks

I have a substantial bookmark collection which is gradually starting to overflow the small space set aside for it. Some of the bookmarks are fancy, and some are just free bookmarks from libraries, or bookshops. I try to love all my bookish place holders equally but recently I've been playing favourites.

At Christmas I asked for a specific laminated bookmark from one of my favourite Etsy artists gorjuss .

The illustration on it is called 'The Foxes' and you can see an example of the illustration below: (I think all the contributors at Book Foxes should really get some of these.

It's uber cute and dainty, with a melancholy tone given to it by the use of a softened and faded pallette of strong colours.

Then on my birthday I found a lovely surprise inside one of my new, hardbacked books:

This one is called 'My Tree is Special' and somehow it captures a big part of my personality.

It seems that recently these bookmarks are always with me. All my other bookmarks are getting neglected!

If you'd like a gorguss bookmark, but you don't want to get the same one as me may I recommend this charming little girl print called 'I Haven't Fallen Down in a While':

Balancing all those books takes some talent.

Twilight - Stephanie Meyer

My shoulders are aching from an exercise class I probably shouldn’t have gone to, as I have a cold so I’m feeling a little under power. I knew I would have to go to work tomorrow, no matter how unenthusiastic I was, because we have an event this week, as well as a few mailout lists that need intensive cleaning. I was damned if I was going to pull myself out of bed to go to work, but miss doing something I wanted to so I went to BodyPump where I burned some calories, finally got my continual clean and press in shape, but didn’t come away with the same kind of mood lifting energy rush I usual get from exercising.

Due to tiredness this post on ‘Twilight’ will be more of a collection of thoughts than a fully structured review. I want to get something down because next week is going to be busy, with a work event and getting ready for my holiday…blah, blah – I’ll get to the book now shall I? I’m sure you all know the basic outline of Bella’s relationship with the dashing Edward Cullen so I’ll just jump right in.

I can easily appreciate what generated some of litlove’s comments about Edward being a symbolic, vampiric mother figure. He’s generally over protective because he can’t bear to think of losing Bella, and there are quite a lot of references to him picking her up ‘like a toddler’, or similar. It was all pretty squincky stuff, especially when the entire vampire clan start to treat her like a child, picking her up and carrying her close to their bodies like an infant. So despite being mildly disturbed by that kind of literary analysis, I have to say that psychological criticism once again proves to be convincingly applicable to the vampire genre.

One aspect of the book made me sharpen my analysing claws and that was what happened when Edward and Bella’s relationship started to move towards sex. I’m used to seeing vampires used as a symbol for sexuality, usually sexuality that is deemed unacceptable by the human society the vampires operate in. The vampire is often a tool for releasing this sexuality, for example in ‘Dracula’ Lucy is bitten by the vampire and transformed into a ‘lascivious’ creature, illustrating the release of female sexuality. The men around her find the undead Lucy monstrous and part of their fear of her seems to stem from her new, prominent physicality. Dracula has released the sexuality which was repressed by society. Similarly Anne Rice’s characters become more open to homosexuality and sex with different partners once changed into vampires. In ‘Twilight’ Meyer creates a main vampire who subverts this idea. Edward does not drink blood, an abstinence which translates into and actually necessitates sexual abstinence in his relationship with Bella. He can never become too intimate with her, or it is possible that his excitement will overcome his self control and he will gorge himself on her blood.

Now obviously this is depressing. There’s a thrill to the build up to sex, the anticipation, but if it’s a physical impossibility then all romantic frisson would be crushed out of the book. So Meyer has Edward continually push the boundaries, testing himself by trying out some very sexy experiments in touch and smell that keep the romantic tension alive. However, when Bella makes a move on him everything has to stop. There’s this awful scene where Bella reacts to Edward’s kisses by putting her hand in his hair, which he apparently can’t handle, and the language used to explain how wrong this reaction is actually shocked me with its blatant belief that girls who show any enjoyment with their boyfriends are wicked temptresses. Bella berates herself for her inability to stay perfectly still while Edward kisses her – lie back and think of Forks much? Edward constantly explains to her how tempting she is, not just to him but to the tracker vampire who wants to hunt and kill her. Bella, he implies, is pretty much asking to be eaten. It is only Edward’s strong self-control that keeps her from being devoured. In effect the book endorses the ‘She was asking for it’ school of justification for sexual attacks while distancing itself from any mention of sex by encouraging abstinence. There’s a warped message in the book that links sexual exploration with disastrous consequences, and promotes the repression of full female sexuality while still including enough permissible exploration, like kissing to thrill readers. It’s an interesting hypocrisy to imply that readers should be afraid of the consequences of sex, should avoid sex and yet encourage them to revel in the romance and exploration of the main characters’ relationship.

Some might say Meyer has created a realistic portrayal of how teenage girls feel about sex, both afraid and yet curious but it isn’t Bella who is afraid of what sex might lead to, it’s Edward who feels she must be protected from the possible consequences of sex. Meyer is obviously hoping readers will see this as gentlemanly conduct, or a reasonable overreaction considering that Edward sees humans as frail creatures. I wanted Bella to slap his face every time he told her she was making it hard for him to keep control.

Steven King recently said something to the effect that Meyer is so popular because she has given teenage girls an idealised form of romance where anticipation is all and the scary, physical side is taken away. I’m not sure the majority of teenage girls would be grateful for that, there are plenty of books around already where the girl doesn’t get it on. Don’t curious teenager girls getting bitch slapped by their hormones really want books that encourage them to explore what they’re feeling safely through fictional characters? If Edward is always pulling away then these readers can not work through their feelings about sex, they merely see any fears they have reflected back at them. I think we have to look a little deeper (and a little shallower as well) for reasons behind this book’s popularity.

Despite the massive rant you see above, and despite the seriously overloaded writing style I did like the book. I love the anticipation aspect at the beginning of a love affair so for me this book was full of toe curling, romantic junk food. Edward Cullen is a sexy hero of the Mr Rochester variety (you know he locked his wife in an attic and in real life you wouldn’t touch him, but for many reasons he and Jane work as a couple). Perversely I really liked that Bella didn’t make fantastic friends right away when she moves to Forks, which seemed realistic. Of course as a plot device it means she can devote her every hour to Edward, which I predict will become more annoying in the next book. I enjoyed hanging out in Bellas mind most of the time, although she isn’t the most natural sounding narrator I’ve come across in my very short experience of reading young adult books. I liked the vampire’s backstory and that they were full of energy and personality, despite being undead. As a supernatural romance it had plenty of good elements, as a message book it was problematic.

I’m reasonably sure I’ll read the next one, where I hope to see lots of the supporting characters get bigger parts, particularly Alice and Charlie. I want to see much more of the vampire couples to work out how their relationships fit into Myer’s ideas on sexuality. Oh and I want to see Edward Cullen do that cheek stroking thing again, and again, and again…

So that's the second book completed for 'What's in a Name' (2), one for the vampire challenge and I decided to count this as the third book I've read for the YA Challenge, although it's not on my original list.

Random Areas of Exploration

As much as I love Steven King’s writing his comment about how Edward’s touches are ‘a shorthand for all the feelings that [girls are] not ready to deal with yet.’ may lead to some acid examining at a later date.

The Blog Improvement Challenge - Week Four

You may not have realised it but I'm taking part in the Blog Improvement Project . I haven't been very active about it yet (I thought up some goals but didn't post about them, and I'm working on my ideas for a regular feature) but this week focuses on blogging basics, something I definately need to work on around here.

There are lots of ideas about ways to improve the basic elements of your site, and if you look around you can see that I've started adding in some simple elements to improve this blog. I've added a useable archive, and removed that random tag list. I updated my blog link list, with the blogs I love that I'd forgotten to add. I also added in an easy way to subscribe to Bookgazing's RSS feed, moved the technorati button into a more visible place and added a shiny new stumbleupon button. I checked out my contact information and updated my profile. My blog is staring to sprakle but I still think there's more to do.

I'm debating whether to change the link list to a blog roll, I use my own bloglines account to keep up with these sites but perhaps readers might like to see recent post titles? I'll think on this after reading some of the useful articles suggested at the project blog.

I'm thinking about linking my Twitter feed up to the blog. The thing is I don't tweet every other second so I'm not sure how interesting this would be.

I really need to grab and link up a Beautiful & Fabulous button as this is now my main blog.

Should I add some sort of Digg it widget? I don't use the site myself and I'm not sure how much point there is in having the button.

So the blog improvement continues. I hope you like the changes.

Bitten by the Bat

Now that you can see I’m reading ‘Twilight’ you’re probably groaning about the possibility of yet another ‘Twilight’ review being added to the blogosphere. I apologise, I’m afraid there will be ‘Twilight’ thoughts, inevitably influenced by the massive amount of criticism I’ve read recently, and coloured by the fact that I saw the film before reading the book (I laughed a lot). I can already tell there’s going to be some glorious, critical ripping apart to be done. There may also be some misguided romantic swooning. To ease you in I thought I’d explain where I stand on the whole vampire issue, what schools of criticism shape my thoughts on the undead, while also gushing about ‘Dracula’ the daddy of all vamp-lit.

I’ve mentioned before that I took a course about ‘Dracula’ and literary theory at university. It was an introductory course on the different schools of literary theory, illustrated by looking at critical responses to two early monster novels, ‘Dracula’ and ‘Frankenstein’. Personally I found the criticism of ‘Frankenstein’ illuminating, but the novel was a literal snooze, and I fell asleep twice while reading it. ‘Dracula’ however, had a fantastic story with adventurous, engaging narrators, and a critical theory element that revealed tantalising layers in the creepy, monster catching plot. Reading ‘Dracula’ has had a huge influence on the way I process novels, and is entirely responsible for my interest in everything vampiric.

When I studied ‘Dracula’ I was nearly twenty, single, female and ready to raise a loud, feminist outcry over pink razor adverts. Not much has changed, although now I’m a twenty ‘something’, and a marketer (but still against gender segmentation campaigns in marketing by the way). So it’s not surprising that when I look at novels in depth I filter them through feminist criticism first, and this is especially true when I look at vampire novels. For me ‘Dracula’ will always be a novel that primarily explores the expression and repression of female sexuality. I’ve heard lots of comments about this element in ‘Twilight’ and the later books, which is one of the reasons I’m looking forward to reading it. I’m expecting lots of brain engaging feminist issues to come up.

The exploration of repressed sexuality in general is a fascinating element of the vampire genre. Gender criticism argues that ‘Dracula’ illustrates repressed homosexuality, through the intermingling of the male character’s blood for example, and the men’s horror at the lasciviousness of women associated with the vampire. These ideas tie up nicely with the feminist theories and I love them dearly. These ideas drew me to Anne Rice’s sexually changeable vampires – slash, trash, whatever you think of them they take something from ‘Dracula’.

Finally I love the racial criticism of the book. Blood intermingling, destroying the British line, the monstrosity of imperial policy. It really livens up some of the longer travelogue pieces. I haven’t seen this element in many modern vampire novels, but I think it would be intriguing to see American and English vampire novels examining recent foreign policy. Does anyone know of any good examples?

Psychological criticism of ‘Dracula’ sounds very plausible, very thorough but doesn’t appeal to me. I suspect that’s because it creeps me out a bit, all that parental suckage gives me the heebies. However it is gripping if you can get past the odd images it puts in your head and litlove recently wrote a fascinating post on how the maternal relates to ‘Twilight’, as well as dropping in some stuff on the chaste but hungry sexuality – which I haven’t got to yet, darn.

I could talk about socialist theory but I think that gets more than enough page space generally in the monster genre – zombies are the masses, werewolves are the underclass, vampires are the overclass parasites for anyone who wants a refresher course. Instead I’ll close my computer down now, before I give in to the overwhelming urge to buy more vampire novels. Maybe I’ll squeeze in some ‘Twilight’ pages before bed, although I’d like to keep my Edward Cullen dreams to a minimum.

Bookish Chat - Aphrodite's Workshop for Reluctant Lovers

I talked about the basic outline of 'Aphrodite's Workshop for Reluctant Lovers here and then realised the book had really hooked me. I wanted to chat on a bit more about this thought provoking slice of chick-lit and what better place to chat than right here?

‘Aphrodite's Workshop For Reluctant Lovers’ is the kind of smart chick-lit I would love to see more of. The author turns the classic chick-plot line of a woman looking for love into an intelligent discussion of current ideas about romance and modern love. The ideas examined in this book aren’t new; I’ve seen almost every point that Cobbold’s main character makes examined on blogs, or written about in newspapers, but this is the first time I’ve seen a chick-lit novel so openly examine the central construct of lasting romantic love, which the chick-lit genre is based around.

Cobbold has her heroine, Rebecca bring up every reasoned objection to romance I’ve ever heard, for example that in a world without romance couples would avoid hatred and jealously at the end of a relationship, enabling them to provide a better caring structure for any children. She also raises many arguments that supposedly explain the existence of romance: it’s a psychological way of raising the status of our mating, and our species above that of other animals, it’s a defense mechanism designed to keep partners together longer so children will have a stable environment in which they flourish, and the recently re-popularised idea that romance is a delusion sustained by romance novels. Cobbold doesn’t answer these questions, creating a chick-lit novel that doesn’t dabble in romantic advice, something which characters in the novel frown on.

The historical background about the ‘invention’ of courtly romance is left out. This might have led down some interesting paths, especially for Aphrodite. How angry would the goddess of love get when her chief acolyte starts saying that humans are responsible for her biggest project? However, any more ideas might have over burdened the book’s structure, which excels at creating plausible situations for Rebecca’s ideas to be explored.

You would think that a chick-lit book with a heroine who finds it hard to believe in the possibility of real, long term love would be a depressing read. Rebecca relies on her belief in love to brighten her life, but her career is also bound up with this belief as she is a romantic novelist, so as she begins to doubt that lasting love can ever exist between humans, her whole life collapses. However the novel has some fantastic characters who bring some fun to the book even in the difficult times. Rebecca is an energetic, engaged heroine who has a strong personality which makes her fun to be around. John, the male lead, is warm and a definite catch. Coco the imaginary, sarcastic clown is an absolutely genuine stroke, he made the book for me with his sharp asides that really illuminated Rebecca’s mindset. The gods provide the comedy meddling and although they weren’t my favorite Greek god recreations, they were up against some pretty strong godlike competition (think Terry Pratchett, Tom Holt and Marie Phillips). I really enjoyed the little details in the god’s characters, like the different colours that Aphrodite’s eyes turn with each emotion.

I’m a little ambivalent about the ending. I change my views about it every other minute. I started out thinking it was a massive cop out ending, using dues ex machina (oh yeah get in the classic studies qualification) to bring about a quick happy ending. Now that’s in keeping with the book where Aphrodite and Cupid physically influence every relationship, but it felt like too easy an ending for such a thoughtful piece of chick-lit. It didn’t satisfy me. Then after thinking it over I almost came around to the idea that it was a masterful ending, demonstrating the ability of love to triumph over reason, which keeps romance alive. I was almost there, almost certain but something keeps me from embracing this idea.

Overall this overtly intelligent slice of chick-lit was enjoyable and engaging. There was plenty of fun fantasy, along with frank discussions about the reality of romantic love. Can anyone recommend some more chick-lit that examines modern life?

Other Reviews

Paperback Reader

Aphrodite's Workshop for Reluctant Lovers - Marika Cobbold

My short review of 'Aphrodite's Workshop for Reluctant Lovers' was originally up at a site called 'Beautifula and Fabulous' but sadly that site no longer exists, so I thought I'd repost it here:

Rebecca Finch, celebrated romance novelist and favoredacolyte of the goddess Aphrodite, has had an epiphany. After accidentally leaving her boyfriend behind on the Eurostar platform, she realizes their promising love affair has degenerated into a constant row. She moves out, but appears unable to move on at the end of this relationship, while her friend's apparent lack of lasting marital affection make her question the existence of romantic love.

Meanwhile Aphrodite, goddess of love, is getting edgy. Divorce is up, lasting love is down and the other goddesses are circling, eager to strip Aphrodite of her exulted status. Love needs all the good PR it can get, so when Rebecca stops writing romances, Aphrodite and her son, Cupid, decide to do what the gods do best, and meddle in her romantic affairs.

'Aphrodite's Workshop for Reluctant Lovers' is a smart look at modern romance. It asks whether it is possible to maintain the core of interest and affection and attraction which brings two people together. It delves into the argument over whether we should continue the search for a love that lasts if we realize we haven't found it with our partner. It engages its readers with the big questions about the love with a firm touch, and an intelligent perspective. (Again, I'm not understanding this & think it needs reworking) Those of us setting out to find true love should take Marika Cobbold's book to fortify us on the trail.

Some short observations:

* it's definitely worth a read because of the sound exploration of ideas on romantic love, and the many appearances of Coco, the sarcastic, imaginary clown

* it is about the most overtly smart piece of chick-lit I've read in ages, which is at many, many points in the books fantastically satisfying

* there was one big area of keeping romantic love alive that I'd love to see the author tackle in her future novels (or find examined in her previous novels)

* I still can't decide whether the ending was the biggest cop out ever or a carefully played stroke

Update: You can see a fuller review in this later post.

The Vampire Challenge

I am going to use possibly the best ‘not even really a pun’ ever, right now. Are you ready?

Pause for effect.

I am an absolute sucker for challenges, so I just couldn’t resist 'The Vampire Challenge' .

Hehe that made me so ridiculously happy (hey don’t judge me, I think Photoshop has absorbed my brain).

There are some things that put a book straight on to my book list: cowboys, stifling pioneer communities, dysotopian feminist themes… Including vampires, werewolves and other ‘transformed humans’ will get any author’s book a big boost to the top of my list. Should there ever be a well written book featuring vampires and cowboys I might explode with joy.

So yeah I’m doing this challenge and no, despite the snapping challenge books which are massing on my bedroom floor, I will not be reading just the two books required by the challenge. I’m not going to set a definite total of books to read instead I’ll just see how many vampire books I read this year. The prize for reading lots of books populated by the undead is extreme happiness, brought on by new vampire experiences.

I was going to make a big vampire list but Kathrin already has it covered . She includes some awesome extra resources. I never knew there was a Vampire Library Vampire Library .

Since I’ve read ‘Dracula’ at least 6 times I’ve decided not to revisit that classic, or any of the other vampirical books I’ve read. Some short listmania now ensues:

Twilight – Stephanie Myer: I was going to read ‘Twilight’ for ‘What’s in a Name’ this year and after seeing the hilarious film at Christmas my friend bought all four books, which I can borrow. So ‘Twilight’ will be my starting point.

‘Skarlet’ - Thomas Emson: Humans fight back, kicking vampire ass.

‘Undead and Unwed’ – Mary Janice Davidson: Sounds fun and unashamedly flufftastic, but promises to be well written.

‘The Vampire Diaries’ – L J Smith: I loved the Nightworld series. The day my whole collection accidentally went to the charity shop was very sad. Although I really want to re-read a Nightworld book I think this challenges call for new books so I’ll try this second vampire series by the same author.

I am Legend – Richard Matheson: Some more evil plague victims to balance out the tortured teens.

Something Anne Rice wrote: It’s a distinct possibility I might return to the first lady of darkness. I just need to find something I haven’t read.

Would you judge me if I read ‘The Underworld Books’ by Greg Cox? I might try these books written from the films, or I might just watch the terrible, terrible films again. Their terribleness is completely different to the white faced, breathy Twilight films but in an equally fun way.

If you’re insatiable when it comes to books about blood sucking fiends and are curious about what I’ve read and would recommend see below:

Dracula – Bram Stoker: I read this for a course at university where we used monster books to delve into all the different schools of literary theory. I’m not exaggerating, even a little bit, when I say this course changed the way I look at classic literature. Bram Stoker and the different critical approaches to his work are why I love vampire books and films, even very silly ones.

The Last Vampire (series) – Christopher Pike: Just fantastic, there’s time travel, a sassy venegance seeking heroine and all the inventive horror you expect from Pike.

Salem’s Lot – Stephen King: Possibly one of his best creations of a small town (if not as scary as his later stuff).

The Nightworld (series) – L J Smith: Vampires, werewolves, and witches oh my. Really intense teen drama.

The Historian – Elizabeth Kostova: Not your typical high action vampire book but a scholarly search for documents pertaining to the real Dracula. Fantastic settings, but a little dry at times.

The Vampire Chronicles (series) –Anne Rice: ‘Interview with a Vampire’ could not have bored me more but ‘The Vampire Lestat’ and later books held me by the throat and sucked me dry. On an unrelated note everyone who loves gothic writing should try ‘Violin’ by this lady.

Writing this post makes me want to jump straight into a vampire novel. However instead I’m going to be cultured tonight and see ‘Evita’ at a local theatre. Then I have to finish a chick-lit book for review. Perhaps this weekend I’ll dig out the good and the bad vampire flicks for a bit of a binge. What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day?

The Year of Readers - Prize Bag

So every month one participants from 'The Year of Readers' gets a fun prize bag to thank them for taking part and encourage them in their charity reading challenge. I have some books to give away from publishers, it makes me really happy to see corporate organisations helping out. There's also some handcrafted goodies sent by generous Etsians, which is so generous.

I'm also contributing a handcrafted item to each bag and I just thought I'd show you what I'm sending to this months winner:

Most of my jewellery has a name to go with it but this one doesn't. It's kind of a romantic treasure/exploration theme (pirates wheels, jungle leaves, black hearts and then a little romance chucked in with red hearts and tiny amethyst bicone crystals). It has a pretty thin, sterling silver chain and a magnetic clasp.

I love it! I'm thinking of making a much smaller version for my tiny, odd wrists.

Dooley Takes the Fall - Norah McClintock

"A boy maybe twelve years old, on a bike, stopped next to Dooley, looked at the kid sprawled on the pavement and said, Is he dead?

Yeah, I think so, Dooley said. In fact, he was sure of it because there was no air going into or coming out of the lungs of the kid on the pavement. Also, the kid's open eyes were staring at nothing, and his head was twisted, as if he had turned to look at something just before he made contact with the hard surface of the path."

The opening sentence of ‘Dooley Takes the Fall’ is special. It aims to grab the reader's attention with the image of finding a dead body, but softens the impact of the event with the casual curiosity of the boy on the bike and the matter of fact tone of Dooley, the main character. The author, Norah McClintock, introduces readers to the darker side of young adult fiction, without letting shock tactics and graphic descriptions dominate other aspects of the book, like characterization. She creates a crime novel full of action and momentum to keep readers excited, but avoids a pushy pace that obscures the importance of her character’s feelings. Readers will enjoy the main characters, as much as trying to work out the solution to the crime.

Dooley is a teenager recently out of juvenile detention. He exists under the weight of a state of permanent penance, as he lives with his uncle who is an ex-cop. Dooley goes to school, works a small town job in a video store and knows to jump whenever his uncle pages him. While taking an unsanctioned detour on his way home from a shift, Dooley becomes the only witness to what at first looks like a suicide jump. Only soon the cops and the dead boy’s sister are thinking it wasn’t suicide. Hey doesn’t Dooley have a criminal record and wasn’t he seen fighting with the deceased recently? Suddenly Dooley needs to find out who really killed the guy before the police convince themselves that he did.

Dooley is a fantastic character. He approaches situations with a calm, thoughtful approach as he tries to work through life after detention in his own way. While an ex-con may seem a hard character for many readers to relate to his need to keep his head down and stay out of trouble will resonate with many ordinary people. Of course he sometimes gives into temptation, as he struggles to carve an identity without rage or addiction but these flaws again make him a realistic character readers will identify with. He’s smart, with well thought out opinions and a genuine voice. The down to earth tone of his thoughts keeps the narrative grounded and provides a methodical line for readers to follow to help them solve the crime.

There are a few rough spots in the book. The explanation of how all the plot elements came together to cause murder was a little confusing. Some of the long term secondary characters were background shadows, or had little character development, something which the author may intend to remedy in the second book of the trilogy. The author definitely needs to cut back on the references to Dooley’s love interest’s ‘coffee coloured eyes’ if she’s still around in the next book. But with a plot full of red herrings and drama, as well as such a strong main character Norah McClintock has created an entertaining novel that will keep readers turning the page for ‘just one more chapter’ long into the night.

Snow Day

I've been snowed in today, kept away form work and I can't say I've been that upset about it. After checking that the roads were too icy to travel I went back to bed and got up 3 whole hours later than my usual 6:30. I got to have some nice me maintenance time, had time to exfoliate and have a luxurious shower instead of the typical work morning 15 minute dash.

Then I settled in with 'The Flower Hunters' for a while, which is just the sort of popular science history that makes a fantastic introduction to a subject I previously knew nothing about. I sorted out some financial stuff, read the new (and debatable) Times review section from last weekend and finally spent a while online while watching 'Gilmore Girls'. It has been just a magnificently relaxing day. I got to have hot chocolate without paying over the odds for hit and miss choco water at our works coffee counter. I got to pick what I wanted to do and when I would do it. Lovely.

Sadly the snow is almost gone now so back to work tomorrow. I was hoping to find adorable critters in the snow pictures for you from our local zoo and safari park. I was sure the penguins at our zoo would be just as befuddled by snow as the penguins in London. However the inter web is mostly lacking in cute snow pictures, but I did manage to find these four of the tapirs .

Looking for Alaska - John Green

Whenever I read a great YA book I feel an urge to gush instead of reviewing critically. So, this review may be more of a big, grappling hug of love than a cool look at the merits of ‘Looking for Alaska’ by John Green.

Miles Halter leaves his dead end life for a new start at boarding school. He’s searching for ‘The Great Perhaps’, the chances that might be out there to be explored. On arrival boarding school doesn’t seem like the change he’s looking for. His roommate is strange and he almost drowns during a malicious hazing prank. However he does meet the most beautiful girl in the world, and the chance to hang out with Alaska Young, the green eyed, manic prankster seems to be worth anything to Miles.

I loved this book. I loved the normality of the narrator’s voice. Although he’d been friendless at his last school he’s never full on desperate to fit in with the group of friends he meets. For a social anomaly he bonds so fully with the Colonel and Alaska that you quickly forget he was ever the outsider to the group. He’s never self pitying about his previous lack of a social life, instead he just plugs away at getting to know the group of people who take him in. Miles is calm and interested but not eager, or an easy subject for peer pressure. Although he takes up smoking and drinking because they’re things the others do Mile’s tries them as a way of exploring what’s available, not just because he wants to fit in.

I felt so energised after reading ‘Looking for Alaska’, despite the depressing events later on. I think that’s because Alaska and her friends are always doing something; whether they’re drinking, smoking or pulling pranks they’re always active, fully involved in life. Although readers may suspect that Alaska’s extreme emotional highs and lows are worrying signs she is so energetic that it’s impossible not to get swept along in her current mood. She cries and collapses in one section but in the next is full of wicked schemes that it is easy for her reader, as it is for her friends, to forget the warning signs in order to be fully present in her new, mischievous mood.

I’m also a big fan of the way the book shows how the big philosophical questions, dealt with by organised religion, apply to everyday life. References to the religious lessons the characters are taught in lessons are integrated quietly into their discussions outside class, so that the continuance of these ideas seems natural. I loved the smartness of the book, not just that the main group are motivated but imperfect students, but that the characters care really deeply about examining how to live life.

So it’s love between me and my second choice for the YA Challenge but I’m willing to share, if you want to take ‘Looking for Alaska’ away for some ‘alone time

Random Areas of Inspiration

‘ “Jesus I’m not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they’re gonna do. I’m just going to do it. Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia.”

“Huh?” I asked

“You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.”

I guess that made sense. I had imagined that life at the Creek would be more exciting than it was – in reality, there’d been more homework than adventure – but if I hadn’t imagined it, I would never have gotten to the Creek at all.’

PS You’ll be able to read a review of the first book I read for this challenge soon.

Other Reviews

Tanabata
Green Bean Teen Queen
Yannabe
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Sophisticated Dorkiness
The Book Smugglers

The Sugar Queen - Sarah Addison Allen

You can see my short review of the magical romance novel 'The Sugar Queen' featured at Beautiful and Fabulous . I read this for the 9 for 09 challenge as my 'Letter' choice. You pick a book which has a letter from your name in the title.