Weekly Geeks - 20, 2009

This week's Weekly Geeks idea is from the lovely Maree at 'just add books'ust add books. She wants us all to talk about our outside interests away from reading, specifically our guilty pleasures.

Honestly I have so many guilty pleasures that sometimes I feel like my life is most made up of shameful entertainment decisions. This week I'll unlock the closet door and let some of my little secrets out into the air:

Pop divas: My music taste is mostly all about rock, indie, folk, old school ska and country but recently a couple of pop divas have grabbed a tiny corner of centre stage to perform on. Britters life just breaks my heart, then her music gets me all excited, Kelly Clarkson has a massive belt on her and I still maintain that the Pussycat Dolls first album breaks away from the skankification most girl groups are working ('If it's not love it just ain't enough to leave a happy home').

80s Dance Movies: I'm not just talking about Footloose and Dirty Dancing. I've seen some of the most awful dance movies ever made (and I include Coyote Ugly in this category) many, many times. Give me a late night movie with an uplifting song, a moment of immense realisation expressed in dance and a hunky man (not including Coyote Ugly in this category) and I will abandon all hope of sleep. If you have any recommendations please leave them in the comments :)

Life-time style movies: I want to see kids having kids, women having more babies than a cat, baby swapping mix ups and anything based on a Danielle Steel book, all shot in a terrible, grainy way. If possible they should have been filmed during the era of rolled up sleeves.

Australian or American soaps: Do you see a pattern? I'm a big fan of tv, especially films. I love Home and Away and was gutted when Sunset Beach) ended. When will Channel Five bring 'Days of Our Lives' back to the UK?

Chocolate, pizza and chips: Chocolate is not to be mentioned right now, as I'm on a big health kick (although there will be M&S pizza for dinner tonight). When I was a sick, crazy student one of my favourite treats was cold pizza topped with the free peanut M&Ms Dominoes used to give away. Now my tastes are more refined (let's all drool shall we):

So what guilty pleasures have you bound, gagged and locked away from sight?

Sick Day and New Challenges

I’m taking a sick day today so proper thoughts on Cinderella will have to wait until tomorrow. Instead let’s hear some more about my ridiculous challenge load. If you remember, I mentioned joining some new challenges this month. I’m now ready to unveil my tentative, probably to be disregarded lists for ‘The Printing Press Challenge’, ‘Diversity Rocks’ and ‘The Non-fiction Five’. Please try not to laugh openly at my lofty ambitions.

The Printing Press Challenge

This challenge asks you to read literature written before the printing press. I took classics in college so I’ve already read quite a bit of the surviving literature from early Greece and Rome. This means my options are a little bit more limited and that I want to try and steer clear of just filling up my list with early Greek and Roman non-fiction writing because that feels like an easy option. ‘The Pilgrim’s Progress’ was part of a medieval course I took in university and while only a few tales were assigned I had to read it from beginning to end, because I am anal like that. I had planned to read ‘Le Morte d’Arthur’ by Thomas Mallory but it turns out this was produced after the printing press appeared so my giant illustrated copy will have to spend some more quality time with the shelf. So the proposed list is:

‘Satires’ – Juvenal: We read three of the satires in college, during one of my favourite modules. More please.

The Illiad – Virgil: The last time I tried this I got waylaid by the long listing passage of people who begat other people. This time I won’t feel guilty about skipping this part.

The Divine Comedy – Dante: Yes I know, I am mad, but the Divine Comedy seems like a book made for me. Discussions on hell and purgatory sound disturbingly yummy.

Bonus Books:

The Tales of the Genji - Murasaki Shikibu: I’d like to read this to add some diversity to my early reading and because it sounds like a fun adventure tale.

The Decameron - Giovanni Boccaccio: Feel free to laugh, I’m not sure even I believe this will happen. When I read a review of the newest version of this it sounded vital and malevolent and woodsy, so I live in hope.

Diversity Rocks Challenge

For this challenge I committed to reading all the books in our house by authors who are a different race from me. There were a few, but not that many – we tend to have more books by authors from other European countries. I wasn’t sure about some of these authors so if any of these authors are actually white could someone who knows better point it out?

Bitter Sweets – Roopa Farooki

The White Tiger – Aravind Adiga

Half of a Yellow Sun – Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

In the Country of Men – Hisham Matar

Zorro – Isabelle Allende

My Revolutions – Hari Kunzru

A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers – Xiaou Guo

Brick Lane – Monica Ali

Literature from the Axis of Evil

My Name is Red – Orhan Pamuk

Sea of Poppies – Amitav Ghosh

Blonde Roots – Bernardine Evaristo

The Garlic Ballads – Mo Yan

Last Evenings of Earth – Roberto Bolano

The Non-Fiction Five Challenge

This list includes quite a few picks from other challenges, but I don’t see the point of doing a new challenge if I don’t have some books that are not on any other challenge list:

Planet Earth -Alastair Fothergill: On both the Eco Reading Challenge and the Planet Earth Challenge. I will start this soon.

Arthur and George – Julian Barnes: Everyone raves about Barnes so I hope to read at least one book by him this year.

The Anatomy of Melancholy – Richard Burton: So many challenges depend on this book that surely I will read it.

Romans Journey – Roman Halter: This was going to be the first book I read for ‘The World Citizen Challenge’ but I’ve now started the enormous ‘Penguin History of China’ because of ‘The Painter of Shanghai’ (oh no I’m not above blaming books for my reading decisions).

Chronicles, The Writing of History in Medieval Times – Chris GivenWilson: Left over from a splurge at my history bookclub.

Have you signed up for any new challenges recently? If you have please share your challenges lists in the comments and make me feel better about my new challenge joining.

Now off for a little sick day reading. I want to read a chapter of ‘The Penguin History of China’ a day but I think a little bit more of the fun ‘Magyk’ might be better for a sick day.

Blog Awards

Earlier this month Iliana at Bookgirl’s Nightstand passed on a pretty award to be and because I’m slack when it comes to putting up award posts you’re just hearing about it now. She picked me as one of the people to receive ‘The Heartfelt Award’:

‘Do you reach for a cup of cocoa or tea when you’re relaxing, seeking comfort, sharing a plate of cookies with family & friends?
You know that feeling you get when you drink a yummy cup of cocoa, tea ~ or a hot toddy?
That is what the Heartfelt award is all about.’

I’m very happy to get this award and now it’s my turn to pass it on to nine bloggers, who will then pass it on to nine people who make them feel all happy and warm inside. My choices are:

Worducopia – The diversity roll call is much on my mind of late

Sophisticated dorkiness – I love her Sunday Salon posts

Litlove – I hope she goes back to the bookclub

Anne again – A warm, funny lady

Ablemabel – Who crafts around her massive family (without accidentally sewing them inside things)
Yannabee – She is always so enthusiastic

The Bookling – Because carrying a book idea into the real world is fab

The Secret Dreamworld of a Bookaholic – I’m looking forward to the regular feature soon

Classical Bookworm – The kind of blogger who might actually make you cocoa if you came to visit

I’d also like to say hey to my two newest followers mjmbecky and Melissa. Maree at justaddbooks awarded me the ‘Lovely Blog Award’ a while back and I’d like to pass it on to you guys (I’ve also added both your feeds to my bloglines).

Company of Liars - Karen Maitland

I’ve left it a little bit late to review 'Company of Liars – A Novel of the Plague’ by Karen Maitland. I thought about just letting it go, as I always knew I wouldn’t have time to review every book here, but after a few weeks away from this humungous hardback I can still clearly remember most of twists in the storyline, the characters and the excellent creation of the historical atmosphere. This isn’t always the case when I read modern novels; I retain an impression of many novels but often forget lots about their plots. So ‘ Company of Liars’ earns itself a late review spot by being especially memorable.

‘Company of Liars’ is a supernatural thriller, a murder mystery and a historical novel that strives to replicate authentic historical beliefs. A scarred peddler, who sells religious relics, unwillingly becomes attached to two travelling musicians. The band of men are travelling at a time when the first plague is sweeping through Europe and the first cases are just appearing in Britain, prompting people to run from the plague as if it is a physical pursuer. As the story progresses more people attach themselves to the group, much to the frustration of the peddler narrator, named Camelot. A white haired child called Narigorm, who Camelot has met previously and her companion join the group. Narigorm is decidedly creepy and Camelot feels her malevolent influence on the group as they try to find somewhere safe from the plague. The members of the company find themselves compelled to reveal the secrets that chase them as hard as the plague and one by one they begin to die mysteriously. Despite her small stature it’s hard not to see the sinister, rune reading child as the agent of their deaths.

If you’re looking for a genuinely scary historical novel this book is for you. It rains continuously for much of the book, making travelling dangerous and unpleasant. At night the group constantly hears wolf calls and is soon unable to sleep as they wait to hear if the wolf is still following them. Through these devices Karen Maitland sets up a gloomy, claustrophobic atmosphere for most of the book. Neither day nor night offers any respite for the travelers, who are already worried about avoiding the plague. The characters all spend much of the book on edge, adding to the tense feel of the novel. Both the plague and the wolf seem to herd them in particular directions, so that the characters have no control over their destiny and this fills the book with a sense of foreboding about their eventual destination.

The addition of a quietly violent child, with strange hair gives the reader something else to fear, especially as the narrator does not trust her. In my opinion, if people start getting murdered the first suspect should always be the creepy kid with odd hair (in the absence of a snooty butler) so from the moment she entered the book I was afraid of what Narigorm would do. Narigorm reads the runes which predict the company’s misfortune, but it is unclear how she is actually involved in the deaths that occur later. Runes predict the future, they do not control it so Narigorm is not blamed when her readings come true. Although she takes pleasure in killing small animals it seems unlikely that she could commit the murders as she is too small to confront a grown man. Yet she definitely controls the group by ensuring that their secrets are revealed, which leads to terrible consequences. When it’s revealed how she has been influencing the company, making some of them commit horrible acts, the solution was satisfyingly plausible in the context of the novel.

Each member of the company has a secret. Most are taboo in twelfth century society, but are really harmless. The members of the company keep these secrets so that they can hide their true natures from society and continue to survive. Anyone who has read a reasonable amount of books where secrets are discovered will know what some of the secrets are after the author’s first, gentle clue. However some of the secrets are not so easy to find out and there is a nice balance between secrets the reader can discover before the narrator and secrets that can be dramatically revealed.

The one thing I didn’t enjoy was the book’s ending, which was similar to the ending of some well known horror films. It lacked subtlety and I didn’t think that it really created the effect the author was going for. Ssssh no spoilers.

‘Company of Liars’ has been nominated for the Sue Feder Memorial Award and Karen Maitland’s new novel 'The Owl Killers’ is now out in hardback, sporting the same kind of cool cover art as ‘Company of Liars’.

Other Reviews

Medieval Bookworm

Bookgazing's Fairytale Feature - Find Free Fairytales

There are quite a few places to find free online versions of fairytales, folklore, myths and legends. The university of Pittsburgh has compiled a long list of complete texts of folk tales called 'Folklore and Mythology Electronic Texts' . This month I’ll be reading the Charles Perrault version of 'Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper' , they’ve put online and various other versions of the Cinderella story they’ve made available.

The World Digital Library has stories by Hans Cristian Anderson online. It requires a bit of zooming and fiddling about with to make it easier to read but the whole text is there.

Project Gutenberg has Grimm's fairytales available for free download.

If I read a tale of folklore, fairytale, myth or legend that isn’t available at one of these sources I’ll try my best to find a free online version you guys can read.

Now to read along with me this month just take ten minutes to peruse Charles Perrault’s 'Cinderella'. Perrault is credited with creating the first European version of the story and is widely available in English, which is why I’m using his version as the ‘original’ tale. Once you’ve read the story leave your thoughts as a comment on this post. You might write about:

Which bits of the story you were already familiar with and which bits seemed different from the fairytale you remembered

If you liked or disliked this story

How this traditional take might apply to our current society

If you want to read multiple versions of the story please do – the more versions the better. You can leave comments about those tales here as well.

Next: Tomorrow I give you my more informed impressions of Charles Perrault’s ‘Cinderella’.

Oh and look we have a button for stealing now :)

The Painter from Shaghai - Jennifer Cody Epstein

'The Painter from Shanghai' by Jennifer Cody Epstein is a fictionalized account of the life of Pan Yuliang, a famous nineteenth century Chinese painter. Sold to a ‘flower house’ by her opium addicted uncle, Yuliang (then named Xiuquing) is forced into prostitution at a young age. She finds love with the house’s top girl Jinling, but when Jinling tries to buy herself out and set up a rival house she is murdered by indeterminate forces. Yuliang becomes the top girl and is pushed into trying to corrupt the new customs minister Pan Zanhua. Zanhua seems unshakeable, but Yuliang’s intelligence and love for poetry encourages him to liberate her from the brothel. Soon Yuliang and Zanhua are living together, as she is freed from the flower house and then becomes his concubine. Zanhua teaches her how to read and encourages her drawing skills, but is always unconsciously controlling Yuliang, through his teaching. As Zanhua’s career begins to disintegrate because of his relationship with Yuliang her skill as a painter soars. She is accepted into the almost exclusively male Shanghai Art Academy, a move which leads her to become China’s most controversial female professor and painter.

I have some conflicted feelings about ‘The Artist from Shanghai’. I enjoyed my trip through the book and the way it quietly guided me around early-twentieth century China, but I came away dissatisfied, without experiencing any kind of emotional response towards the characters. The book was a competent and subtle depiction of the landscape of China. After finishing it I could picture the settings, the characters and the art with amazing clarity, which is unusual as I don’t have a very easy, pictorial imagination. Any book of fiction about art should evoke strong pictures and I feel as if I can see Yuliang’s paintings, even now. I’m curious to see some of the surviving paintings and compare them with the style Jennifer Cody Epstein evokes.

However, while I could still visualize each of the characters I struggled to feel each individual’s emotions. I felt like there was always a distance between me and the characters, even Yuliang whose thoughts are shown in great detail. I can’t quite pinpoint why but I think it’s mostly down to the quiet, calm tone that so softly recreates a landscape or a moment of tenderness. This tone makes descriptions light and ethereal to read and it seems to complement Yuliang’s disconnected state of mind during her time at the flower house, as she tries to avoid thinking of her clients as anything but skin. As this way of thinking later prevents Yuliang from giving her nude paintings a vital spark of life, so the continuation of this composed tone kept me from fully absorbing Yuliang’s emotions. I also felt that some of the dramatic events, such as the death of her lover, lacked impact because the reader experiences them at a remove of time.

Still the book is a beguiling piece of historical description and was an interesting place to start learning about a painter I wasn’t aware of. I’m especially picky about historical fiction, because I’m so attached to the genre and I examine books in this genre and my reactions to them perhaps more minutely than I should. I will be looking out for new books by this author, purely because she has managed one large part of creating successful historical fiction (the deft fabrication of a historical landscape) so well.

Other reviews

Bookarama

Peta

Bookbath

The Weekend is Over

This weekend I:

Saw Startrek (very, very awesome and I actually let a blockbuster coax a lump into my throat at the beginning – Spock, Kirk born in crisis, Scotty kept from putting too much strain on the audiences belief in his accent, no pointless let’s blow them up for the sake of it battles)

Went out for dinner and drinks at Pizza Express

Saw Fighting (which was not the regulation boy makes good film I was hoping for but instead featured a fight on a marble floor with chilling skull meets marble sound effects and a weird-as performance from Terence Howard)

Had a drive to the countryside to look for somewhere to eat but ended up back at a restaurant nearer to home

Saw our speedway team beat Belle Vue eventually (as a bike crashed into the inflatable fence and it took a while to reinflate) but also saw our second rider lose his undefeated at home title

Watched a very interesting segment on ‘Bring Back Star Trek’ about the show as an advancer of diversity, then got fed up with Justin Lee Collins

How did you use the Bank Holiday weekend and how gutted are you that the next one isn’t until August?

Bookgazing's Fairytale Feature - Cinderella Entry Post

Welcome to the first installment of Bookgazing's Fairytale Feature (yep all that time looking for a name really paid off). During the last week of every month I'll be making assumptions about classic fairytales, reading and re-reading them, then shaking my head at how wrong my first impressions of that story were. I'll also be reading as many older versions of the story as I can and stuffing in some modern versions of that fairytale. I encourage you to read along with me and post your ideas about the fairytales I select (be sure to suggest plenty of stories we could read).

It’s time for my initial, uninformed impressions of Cinderella, before I go on to read the original story by Charles Perrault. Oh what fun we’ll all have discovering how Disney has stealthily infiltrated my brain.

For me Cinderella has always been the ultimate makeover story. Girl gets fabulous outfit and meets the man of her dreams who, after a bit of confusion marries her. I think that’s why I never had much time for Cinderella when I was younger. I liked chick-lit well enough but I want a bit more substance from my fairytales. The entire Disney film seems to focus on the heroine getting a dress to wear to the ball. The amount of chick-lit that is obliquely based on the Cinderella story has served to solidify the impression that Cinderella is just another girl looking for the perfect shoes.

As I’ve gotten older makeover montage scenes have become my favourite part of teen films and chick-flicks. I love a good makeover story, as long as it comes with a discussion of the conflicting ideas surrounding makeover culture. However the glass slippers remind me of the marketing message that dominates in our society, where women are encouraged to believe that if they find and buy the right kind of magical object, like a certain pair of shoes, or a dress, love will follow. This idea can be just as harmful to women as the idea that a makeover fixes everything. I think that when novels use Cinderella’s story as a basis they must include some responsible ideas about the limitations of makeovers, as well as a celebration of change.

Lots of books that feature poor girls making their fortunes are often tagged as ‘Cinderella stories’ as Cinders goes from a downtrodden girl in rags to the bride of a prince, but I’m not sure these stories really have that much in common with the fairytale. Cinderella may be treated like a servant, but her father is the king and she doesn’t make her own fortune, she marries into one with a little magical help. Cinderella embodies the spirit of a life makeover and shows how women might have changed their lives for the better at the time Charles Perrault was writing, but the narrative needs to be drastically reshaped to apply to most modern women. It’s also important to remember that the prince may not have been so keen to marry Cinders if she’d been genuinely poor, rather than a princess forcibly ‘disguised’ as a servant.

I think this is one of those fairytales where the villains are horribly punished. I can’t remember how but I’m looking forward to seeing some straightforward justice dealt out. There will be plenty of time for mitigating circumstances and some spirited revisionist fiction later but sometimes it’s nice to see some truly bad guys get what they deserve. Does that make me sound bloodthirsty?

If you haven’t read ‘Cinderella’ what impressions do you have about the story and where do they come from?

Next: Read-along with ‘Cinderella’ – tomorrow I clue you in on where to find free sources for the story and ask you to read along with me, posting your views as we go.

Nerds Heart YA Shortlist

Nerds Heart YA is on its way. 16, underpublicized young adult books will go head to head in a bracket style tournament to the death (or possibly something less awful). Reading is due to commence on June 1st and I’m judging in the first round! The books that made the shortlist are below and the two in bold are the ones I’ll be reading:

Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before by David Yoo
The Latent Powers of Dylan Fontaine by April Lurie
My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger
Alive and Well in Prague, New York by Daphne Grab
I Know It's Over by C.K. Kelly Martin
The Last Exit to Normal by Michael Harmon
Pretty Monsters by Kelly Link
The Screwed up Life of Charlie the Second by Drew Ferguson
The Shape of Water by Anne Spollen
What They Always Tell Us by Martin Wilson
The City in the Lake by Rachel Neumeier
Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers
Feathered by Laura Kasischke
Leftovers by Laura Wiess
The Opposite of Invisible by Liz Gallagher

Becky has a post featuring all the book covers flying merrily through the air and the full list of judges.
So what do you think, did we get make the right selection?

Captivity - Debbie Lee Wesselman

Dana Armstrong is the director of the South Carolina Primate Project, where captive chimps are rescued and given a chance at a more natural life, albeit still in captivity. At the beginning of the book the chimps held in solitary, because they do not mix well with other chimps, have escaped. The police have to be called and the public’s reaction to the escape put the future of Dana’s organisation in jeopardy. Did the chimps breakout unaided or were they released by someone who wants to bring down Dana and the SCPP?

Dana has a close affinity with chimps as she was raised with a chimp sister, called Annie, who was used for ‘humane’ scientific experimentation. Annie was raised as a human child alongside Dana and her brother Zack, while their father taught Annie sign language and compared her reactions to his own children. Years later grainy videotapes of the studies he made are still shown to the scientific community. Scientists have now decided that this type of research was flawed and inhumane, a view which has profoundly influenced Dana’s work. She tries to rehabilitate the chimps that come to the SCPP, teaching them how to be chimps and creating habitats for them to socialize in. All of the chimps have been emotionally damaged by humans and are now unable to cope in the real wild, but Dana hopes to be able to give them freedom in a contained version of the wild.

This book would be wonderful for anyone scared away from novels about science by Micheal Crichton’s knowledgeable displays of science theory in ‘Jurassic Park’. ‘Captivity’ is written in a natural, easy to follow style that will enable anyone to enjoy Dana’s personal journey and grasp the theoretical ideas of anthropology that underpin her work. ‘Captivity’ actually reminded me of Jodi Piccoult’s books, where complex, moral issues are clothed in accessible action and emotion. The tone of the writing was also similar, Debbie Lee Wesselman writes in a calm, logical way that allows her characters to express their ideas but there is also warmth to her writing, expressed by her perceptive descriptions of nature. Where other writers might have amped up the tension in the book through short sentences and melodramatic words Wesselman keeps the rhythm of her writing constant, letting the dramatic action slowly build. If like me, you enjoy Piccoult but prefer to read animals rather than children ‘Captivity’ might be the book you’ve been dreaming of.

Coveting Books in Dewey's Honour

Debi of 'Nothing of Importance is hosting May's mini challenge for the Reading Dewey's Books challenge. In honour of Dewey's book coveting posts we're all to make a post about the books that are making us drool (at a safe distance from the books of course) in May. I'm on the book buying wagon as you know, but I'm still coveting quite a few, although I haven't yet reached the stage of stroking them and calling them my preciouses.

The first books I'd ask for if the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow turned into a pot of books would be:

'The Given Day' - Dennis Lehane

I read 'Mystic River' last year, loved it and want more Lehane. Apparently this is a departure from his crime novels and involves cameos from historical figures.

'The Jewel Box' - Anna Davis

More from the author of 'The Shoe Queen' and more of the cool cover art.

'The Orisis Ritual' - George Mann

The follow up to Mann's first Victorian steampunk novel, 'The Affinity Bridge'.

'The Last Queen' - C W Gortner

I was a little bit suspiscious that this might be a revision too far but turns out C W Gortner is a historian so I'm ready to have my preconceptions about Juana the Mad destroyed.

'Ash' - Malinda Lo

YA, fantasy, lesbian retelling of Cinderella, with a grogeous cover. It's probably the hipinest hopinest book you'll see all year ;)

'After' - Amy Efaw

Lots of books ended up on this list because of Steph from Reviewer X. I think this was in her 'Faze me, Daze me' post last week. It's about a straight A student who gets pregnant, abandons her baby and ends up in jail.

'Jumping Off Swings' - Jo Knowles

I can't remember much about this one, except the title's great, cover is fresh and it's also about teen pregnancy.

'Mortal Engines - Philip Reeve

Really annoyed that I ordered this from Waterstones and then they didn't have it. In my opinion they shouldn't have been advertising it in their magazine if they don't keep it in stock. This is a fantasy all about cities that are built to travel.

'The 19th Wife'
The big block busting book about polygamy. It's gigantic, that's why I haven't bought it yet.

'The Chosen One' - Carol Lynch Williams

Polygamous societies and/or claustophobic small town situations are actually one of my favourite things to read about (along with y'know prostitution, cowboys and severe dysotopia - I have a few strange areas of special interest). So a YA novel about a girl being made ot marry her uncle sounds like my kind of thing.

Boy Meets Boy - David Leviathan

I've been wanting to read this one since I saw it mentioned at Guys Lit Wire. Leviathan co-authored 'Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist', which convinced me to join the YA challenge.

'White is for Witching' - Helen Oyeyemi

The author was in the Waterstones magazine saying that this book is about a racist house and although I know it's probably about the people who live in the house it just sort of sparked something in my imagination. It sounds like a big old, creepy ghost story and the racist house description made it jump on to my list.

'Jellico Road' .

Beautiful cover art and a big seller.

'Alexandria' - Lindsey Davis

The most recent Falco novel, where Falco and Helena travel to Alexandria - hmm I wonder if anything drammatic will happen while they're there.

'Wintergirls' - Laurie Halse Anderson

This one is everywhere and everyone quotes those same haunting lines. Again stuning cover art.








'Starcrossed' - Linda Collison

Romance and seafaring. Once again will you look at that cover!

PS I've sepnt a lot of time trying to get the formatting right on this post so it may still not quite work right but I'm washing my hands of it.

Once Upon a Time in the North - Philip Pullman

Although I enjoyed ‘Once Upon a Time in the North’ by Phillip Pullman I find I don’t have a lot to say about it. It was pretty much a typical western adventure, reworked and set in Pullman’s fantasy world. Great to see Lee Scoresby and Hester again, entertaining to see how Lee and Iorek Byrnison met but ultimately it was a little bit unsatisfying.

Texan Lee and his daemon Hester have just come into possession of the balloon they use in the original ‘His Dark Materials’ series. They land somewhat rockily, in the town of Novy Odense and become entangled in a political debate, which quickly turns personal as Lee finds an old enemy working for the candidate tipped to win the local election. Lee winds up helping to liberate a captain’s cargo, which is being illegally detained by said candidate. Iorek Byrnison becomes involved with this scheme and this is how the two meet.

I feel like this new series of small books by Pullman is slightly unnecessary, like Pullman is getting paid to print the back story he loves because his publishers feel the public will buy anything related to ‘His Dark Materials’. I have genuinely affectionate feelings for the original series and it was a massive wrench to leave that world, especially as the ending to the trilogy could not be described as entirely happy. However if I want to revisit it I’ll reread the books. For this second series of books to have the same sort of emotional value for me as the original series I feel they need to do more than describe the fictional world of some of my favourite characters. I wanted to see new, revolutionary ideas being released, as well as cracking action, just like in the first three books. The idea of combining the western genre with fantasy and moving a genre usually set under blazing suns to the Arctic is inventive but it’s a superficial inventiveness.

Don’t count me out of the series just yet though as ‘The Book of Dust’ sounds like an extremely necessary addition to the ‘His Dark Materials’ work, if it does what Pullman says it will. ‘The Book of Dust’, possibly appearing in 2009, will contain some answers for people who have questioned why Pullman is so down on religion in his fantasy series. A book about Will is planned as well which I’m sure I’ll read, but I hope Pullman will be creating something entirely new in the near future.

This was my fourth book for the ‘Once Upon a Time’ challenge. How are others doing with the challenge?

The Last Four

This is it. This is the final four shiny and new books you’ll see me buy for the next five months. Sad isn’t it, but environmentally friendly and I hope I’ll discover that second hand books are just as nice as new ones.

So what were the last four to make the list? Well there’s:

Literature from The Axis of Evil (short stories): A Words Without Borders Anthology featuring stories by writers from Iran, Iraq and North Korea. It was really one of the main inspirations for me joining the ‘Diversity Rocks’ challenge (more on that later) and is something I’ve been wanting for ages (quite possibly years).

The Presidents Daughter – Ellen Emerson White: Another book bought because I love Bookslut in Training. Wouldn’t it be cool if your mum was the President of America? Meghan Powers doesn’t think so. Her mum just became the first female president, which means Meghan has to leave her house, her friends and her state. Sounds too good to miss.

Paris Immortal – S. Roit: Another novel published by SnowBooks. Lawyers and vampires collide.

The Painter from Shanghai – Jennifer Cody Epstein: A recreation of the life of Pan Yuliang, a turn of the century Chinese artist. On the list for the Art History challenge.

PS Hi to my two new followers Peta and Andrea!

Saints of Augustine - P. E. Ryan

I finished ‘Saints of Augustine’ last night and although I’ve got three other reviews that need writing I just have to tell you all about it right now. ‘Saints of Augustine’ is based around the kind of narrative device I would usually avoid. Two characters keep secrets, and while the reader knows exactly what they’re thinking none of the other characters do. That usually creates too tense a read for me. Sometimes the other characters fail to understand what’s going on and come off as insensitive jerks, sometimes the secrets are stupid and I can’t understand why the main characters will not just tell everyone. Either way my hackles get raised and I spend most of the time physically tight and wound up enough to start throwing things.

I won’t pretend P E Ryan’s book didn’t cause the same kind of reaction at times. I spent a lot of time being hacked off at Charlie and Sam’s parents, but instead of wanting to avoid the book or throw it at the wall I wanted to keep reading. I felt I might explode with anticipation if I didn’t find out what happened. I missed a dramatic reveal on Home and Away so I could finish it in one day and I really, really like Australian soaps.

A year ago Charlie and Sam were best friends who couldn’t have been much closer. As Sam and Charlie’s friendship grows Sam begins to have feelings for Charlie, although he knows Charlie is straight. Sam thinks that if Charlie finds out it will muck up their friendship, so in an attempt to stop himself from destroying their friendship by making a move, he ends their friendship. This sounds like the stupidest reasoning ever until it becomes apparent that while Sam’s afraid of ruining his friendship with Charlie he’s ten billion times more afraid that someone will find out he’s gay. That would mean he’d have to admit it to everyone else before he’s even admitted it to himself, despite acknowledging that he fancies Charlie. Sam’s thought process captures all the confusion and conflict of trying to work out how to tell people what you are when you’re not even sure yourself.

Sam and Charlie’s friendship ends at the worst possible time for Charlie. His mum gets sick and dies, his dad starts drinking heavily and Charlie smokes pot with a dealer who is amazingly accommodating about when he’d like to be paid back, until he needs money in a hurry. Charlie needs a friend more than ever and he doesn’t even know what he’s done to make Sam cut him dead.

The majority of the book takes place while the boys are still not talking. Charlie fights with furstrated feelings about his dad and tries to grieve for his mum alone. Sam fights with his mum about her new, homophobic boyfriend, tries to adjust to his dad’s absence and meets a boy who might make him brave enough to accept who he is. It’s only in the last one hundred pages or so that the boys are forced together by a night of dramatic events, and begin to rebuild the friendship that will help both of them face what they’ve been hiding from.

As I said above this book is full of dramatic tension, despite everything the reader's acces to the boy's thoughts. I think most of the tension came from the conflicts between the boys and their parents. I can’t imagine many readers sympathizing with the parents’ situations at the beginning of the book, even though they are both damaged by the relationships they have lost. I found both Charlie’s dad and Sam’s mum hugely frustrating characters until the end of the book, when they both demonstrate the capacity for change. There were points where I’d want to try and be understanding about how hard it must have been for Sam’s mum to have her husband leave her, and for Charlie’s dad to lose his wife, but then they’d show themselves to be so willfully blind to what their kids were going through that I’d want to slap them. I warmed to them right at the end though and I wanted to believe that they would both try to do better for their kids.

Charlie and Sam are warm, sympathetic characters. There was so much to like about them from Charlie’s pride in his shiny VW bug, to the fact that Sam really cared about the few occasions he lied and that he strove to be authentic, even though he sometimes failed. I liked that when they finally did meet they were eager to talk about their problems and dispelled the myth that men won’t talk about deep issues to their best friends. I enjoyed hearing from them both separately and contrasting these narratives of half-happy lives which were full of lies, with the lighter, more cheerful people they were once they’d talked to each other. I was really glad that the friendship side of the story was given as much weight as the romantic relationships in the book. There should be more books that spend time explaining the intricacies of friendships, without rating them lower than romantic relationships. I even liked the happy, ideal ending that casually tried to explain how imperfect it really was. I’m almost getting used to that in YA now, although sometimes I wonder if there are YA books where everything doesn’t work out in the best way.

‘Saints of Augustine’ is a fantastic book about male friendship and how talking can fix what seem to be the toughest of problems. I’d recommend it to anyone going through a hard time, who wants to know where to turn. I’d also recommend it to anyone who wants to read a fun first date story, as Charlie and his new love interest Justin make a very cute couple.

If you liked 'Saints of Augustine' you might also enjoy finding out about 'What They Always Tell Us' and 'David Inside Out'.

Random Areas of Exploration:

Do you feel YA books are highly moralized, although they contain more modern, liberal morals?
Do you like or dislike the fact that many YA novels end happily?

Good Book

I literally just finished 'The Saints of Augustine' and I just must say Oh my God P E Ryan don't do that to a person! I feel like an absolute mass of tensed up, tingling mess after your focused drammatic tension. I'm not really sure what to do with myself but I feel like it should be extreme - exercise routine watch out.

God that man gives good book.

Sometimes goals are for missing

This post is dedicated to the fact that I had plans on Eurovision night for the first time in three years. I got back from a delicious meal (and aperitif) at a French restaurant with my parents just in time to see the recap. Boy did it look dull this year. I would not have missed our airline entry of a few years ago but the crazy entries were few and far between this year.

I’m a bit behind on reviews and a bit hopped up on challenge madness, so please forgive the rambling. I’ve now entered that stage where I’m sure I can’t complete some of my challenges, which of course means I may as well pile on more interesting challenges, so I’ve added another three. Crazily piling on challenges has completely released me from any challenge shackles I felt myself suffering under so now I’m happily reading at a rate of knots, trying to read challenge books but not being especially bothered if I pick up some unrelated reading. People often say unreasonable goals are the downfall of the soul (alright yes they say it with a less melodramatic phrase) but sometime I like to set insanely unrealistic goals, they seem to spur me on to action better than simple, realistic goals sometimes. I’m pretty sure (and please don’t use this as a method of practice) that this is how so many people, including me, make it through university despite leaving essays until the last minute ;)

So this week I have mostly reviews for you. I also have my final shiny pile of books for you to look at, although I feel a bit guilty as I had to order two used hardbacks this week to judge for NHYA. Oh and there will be some book coveting in honour of Dewey.

Next weekend is a three day weekend because it’s the last Bank Holiday for a while. I will be seeing Star Trek and something else, as well as going out for a girls night, possibly also a meal with my parents. Not much time for reading or reviewing there so I’m going to power on with my book and hopefully will get three reviews up during the working week. Oh and I’m on to week three of the workout (new routine cycle starts tonight) which sounds hard. Wish me luck!

A Late Contender for the Challenge Crown?

I still really want to do this (if I don't type what it is, it's like I'm not really serious) because clearly I am insane. The dealine is in 2010...

I'd need some good recommendations, so far I'm thinking Juvenal and Le Morte D'Arthur would fit the bill but what else?

Off to be sensible now and bury my head in short, contemporary fiction.

Because I Am Furniture - Thalia Chaltas

‘Because I am Furniture’ is the kind of book that makes you want to seek out the author and tell them how happy they’ve made you by writing this story. I might pop over to Thalia Chaltas’ blog later to tell her. This book was good enough to inspire virtual action.

‘Because I am Furniture’ is a young adult novel written in verse, consisting of distinct sections that are separated by decorative curlicues. Each section also forms part of a growing master narrative. The majority of these sections could work successfully as separate poems, each filled with its own spirit and message.

The novel’s main character Anke, lives with an abusive father who frequently beats and molests her brother and sister, but rarely even notices Anke. The book joins Anke as she moves from middle school to high school (I think that’s right, I’m not American so sometimes I get confused by the school system) and secretly joins the volleyball team. Her father tells her that competition encourages bad character traits in women and tries to get her to quit, but Anke continues to play with the team she loves. Ultimately this small act of defiance does exactly what her father feared it would, it empowers her and helps her to forge an identity for herself, giving her the courage to stand up to him.

There is so much to love about this novel, like its physical appearance. The cover features a striking white silhouette over the top of a grey photograph of a dated, family room, which creates a striking contrast, emphasised by the skinny red font of the title and the same red colour of the hardback binding. The jacket is made from heavy, textured paper and the silhouette is pushed into the paper, leaving a raised edge around it. Somehow the cover manages to project a cosy, comforting image, through the rounded font and the wavy hair of the female silhouette, but it is also a strong, modern design. The white silhouette also evokes ideas of ghosts, beings without a strong physical presence, which resonates with the way Anke feels about herself in her own home.

The message of empowerment through sport, strength and friendship that runs throughout the book is really positive and strong. Anke joins the volleyball team and learns to shout for the ball, finding a place outside her home where her voice counts. Volleyball also gives her friends and a connection with other members of her team. She gains physical strength and her place on the volleyball team makes the guys at her school interested in her. Every poem that talks about volleyball is filled with energy and excitement:

‘…I reek with possibility.


Volleyball.


We won’t find out the results for a few days,
but right now,
bouncing through the neon blast of sunset,
I reek…’

which contrasts vividly with the atmosphere at home, where every enjoyment must be suppressed in case it angers her father:

‘Aha!
I scoop cones into my sweatshirt pouch,
a bowlful the perfect centrepiece
for mom’s fall stew.

As I step inside, cradling
-surprise-
my father’s home early.

He throws a glance at my loot,
says to mom,
“Tell her to take that crap back outside
where it belongs.”’

Anke spends lots of time outdoors and the novel is full of natural imagery. Anke’s interest in hiking and sports is what attracts Kyler, her eventual love interest. This theme of imagery adds extra energy and freshness to the novel, emphasising the positive power of exercise and the draw of natural beauty.

Thalia Chaltas explains the psychology of being the ignored child in a house controlled by an abusive father. She shows the abusive side of the man but she remembers to explain why his victims remain, because they still remember the times when he was nice and because they naturally crave the love of a parent. Through snippets of memory Anke explains why initially she still wants to love her father, because although every day brings the possibility that he will fly into a rage it is equally possible he will say or do something nice. As Anke hears her mother’s memories she enables the audience to understand the similarities between her and her mother, another mostly unharmed witness of the abuse. This allows the audience to find a small amount of compassion for a woman who allows her children to be abused, something only a skilful writer could accomplish.

Despite the serious subject matter the tone of Anke’s voice, when she is away from home, reminded me of books like ‘Snail Mail’, co-written by Ann Martin and Paula Danziger, which is about ordinary teenagers with ordinary lives that sometimes collide with disturbing events. Anke sounded like an ordinary teenager, as did her friend Rona whose dad is an alcoholic. The girls are both interested in the world outside their homes and determined to make a success of their lives. They wonder whether boys like them and chat about school like the other teenagers around them. This makes them role models for teenagers living in difficult domestic situations, as well as characters all teenagers can relate to and like.

So it’s all love, love, love for ‘Because I am Furniture’, which is a well written book, with a positive message that anyone can just fly through.

Other Reviews

Betty and Boo Chronicles

The Guys Lit Wire Book Fair for Boys

I just wanted to let you know about the project Guys Lit Wire are running over the next two weeks. The Book Fair for Boys is the blogger collective's attempt to start a library at for young boys incarcerated in the LA County Juvenile Justice System. Here's a bit about what they've been up to so far:

'In the very beginning GLW started with a mission to bring great books to the attention of teenage boys. We had read the data on boys reading less, heard stories from all over the internet of boys saying they just couldn't find good books to read and as reviewers many of us had ample evidence that more books are published aimed at teenage girls rather than boys. Our goal was to look both at new books and old and write about books we thought boys might like but could have missed. As our group of bloggers is so big (more than two dozen) and so eclectic, we aimed to write about all kinds of books for all kinds of boys and on that front, based on response to that blog, I think we are doing a pretty good job.

But in the grand scheme of things, we just don't think that's enough.'

Guys Lit Wire are now asking you to click into their Powell's wishlist and pick a couple of books to donate to a library collection, designed to help minors who offend in LA discover things they might be interested in, once they leave the detention system. They and their partner in this project, the InsideOutWriters Program , believe that discovering new interests can help to lower the risk of reoffending. Coleen at GuysLitWire says:

'In LA County there is no library for the teens held in the juvenile system. The boys can read as many books as they want - but someone has to give them those books. According to IOW they are desperate for books on all kinds of subjects and so, that is what we at GLW are going to try and give them.'

The initial post about the action Guys Lit Wire and the IOW are taking can be found here . If you decide to donate the wishlist is linked to and the instructions for having the books shipped are clearly explained. If you want to send books that are not on the wishlist I know they ahve to be paperback and you have to contact the member of the IOW who is located at the shipping address before sending anything extra. I've donated five books and if the book fair continues next month I'd love to give more when I get my next pay packet.

If this really takes off it might expand into other geographical areas and be taken up by detention centres for female minors. It might provide proof that engaged kids are less likely to commit crimes or that kids who are aware that the world holds any number of realistic possibilities make better citizens. I hope you'll consider supporting such a worthy project, created by fellow book bloggers.

Weekly Geeks (Late)

This weeks WG is about bookmarks. Here’s a quick shot of part of my gigantic collection. Not only do I like to collect bookmarks you can buy, I’m also a big fan of free bookmarks from libraries and bookshops. My collection probably needs so cleaning out (do I really need five Bookmooch bookmarks?).

For some interesting discussion on boomarks visit the 'On Marking Books' column at Bibliobuffet. This week they’re talking about the stories of people finding bacon marking a place in library books.

For anyone who is interested my read books have found a new home. The library in my village could not accept them but happily another local library said they’d love to have any good quality books. I dropped them all off today, but they were rather surprised to see them and claimed they weren’t allowed to take donations. One woman said they could take them but they might end up at different libraries in the borough, which I said was fine. I left with that horrible, downcast feeling you get when you think you’re doing something nice but it turns out you’re actually just a crazy lady again (I got some odd looks from the library assistants). I won’t be doing that again.

Where do you take used books when charity shops don’t want them and posting them out seems nice, but a bit expensive?

Mailbox Monday and Bits and Bobs

I think my fingers have thawed out enough to type now. Last night when my dad and I left for a speedway match the sun was shining and we thought it would be ok to just wear sweatshirts and lighter winter coats. When we arrived the sun was going in and the wind was becoming vicious. By heat four it was like winter had come again and we spent the rest of the meeting dashing into the bar whenever they sent the tractors round to rework the track. Our team did win but the racing was not nearly eventful enough to justify standing in that kind of cold. Brr indeed.

While yesterday’s speedway lacked a little excitement yesterdays reading was packed with high class entertainment. I finished ‘I am Furniture’, which I’ll be reviewing later. For now let me just say it’s another positive review. I hope you’re not all sick of those, or think I’m cutting back on the honesty, it’s just that I’m following bloggy recommendations and trusting my instincts a bit more, which seems to be resulting in great reading experiences.

I also received my Waterstones order yesterday. Sadly Philip Reeve’s ‘Mortal Engines’ was no longer in stock (which makes me wonder why they advertised it along with his newest novel, in their quarterly magazine) but I did get 'An Equal Stillness' by Francesca Kay. It arrived on a Monday so that gives me the opportunity to take part in 'Mailbox Monday again, although yes I am late posting about it. I bought this book because it seemed like a great pick for the Art History challenge, as the main character is a woman passionate about art who tries to reignite a dull marriage with a move to the more colorful country of Spain.

It’s also part of Waterstone’s 2009 'New Voices' series which quite honestly I think is a bit of a bust promotionally. This year there was a whole booklet with a bit of blurb on each book and a special section for the group of authors Waterstones had picked, which is better than last year. But, so far I haven’t seen any big promotional drives in our local shops and the ‘New Voices’ button has been moved from the sidebar on the Waterstones website, making it a pain to find from within the site. When I think back to last years selection of authors the only one I remember clearly because of the Waterstone’s promotion is John Niven who wrote ‘Kill all your Friends’. Looking through a selection from the 2008 list (which is hard to find by the way) I can see that two books with big visibility were actually on the list (‘The Outcast’ by Sadie Jones and ‘The White Tiger’ by Aravind Adiga). Do you think the reason Jones and Adiga ended up on prize lists was because Waterstones had promoted them?

Today my lunchtime book has been ‘Girl Meets Boy’ by Ali Smith, part of the recent Canongate Myths series, which I’m rereading because this morning I was thinking about how non-religious people might reinvent the commitment ceremony in the future. ‘Girl Meets Boy’ has this wonderful ceremony near the end of the book, which is related in two ways: one is a fantastical imagining and one shows what really happens. I’m having fun remembering what I loved about the book the first time, as well as peeling back some of the layers during this second time of reading. I reviewed this book for ‘Estella’s Revenge’ a while ago and you can see the review here . Have any of you read it, what did you think?

New books (Not breaking the fast!)

I'm battling against a little bit of tiredness bought on by a friends birthday party, which was oh so full of delicious home made cocktails, so please excuse the lack of links in this post. I've started a new workout program and need to build up the motivation to do the third intensive 30 minute workout of the week, before dinner. I knew leaving this one until Sunday was a bad idea.

In an attempt to keep from doing that, by pretending that I am very busy right now let me talk about books.

I got a couple of surprise craft books last night. Apparently I hadn't received my birthday present from the girl whose party I attended last night (who knew) so I picked it up last night. I now own 'Ornametal Knots for Beadiing Jewellery' by Suzen Millodot and 'Fuzzy Felted Friends' by Saori Yamazaki, which is a Japanese craft book. Needle felting is something I'd like to do but it requires new craft purchases, so I think it's something I'll look into in the future. The projects are absolutely adorable and I love the author's notes about each one. Knotting is something I've had a go at before, it's fun once you learn how to master the tricky techniques. I can't wait to try learning some of the decorative knots and creating a few projects.

Some more of the books I ordered during the great book binge have arrived:

'Because I am Furniture' by Thalia Chaltas is a novel written in verse, about a girl who witnesses domestic abuse and struggles to stand up againts her father. Thalia has a lovely blog where she posts in poem form.

'Longing' by JD Landis is one of the books I bought from SnowBooks. It's the story of a love triangle involving the composer Robert Shumann. I'm a little annoyed that it arrived in a bit of a battered condition (via Amazon) but I guess it doesn't alter the content of the book.

'The Fairytales of Charles Perrault' - Angela Carter, will be part of my fairytale feature, which starts this month.

My mum bought some books this weekend, which means I have access to some new books without buying them myself. She got:

'Bones of the Hill' by Conn Iggulden, the most recent part in his Genghis Cann series. I loved the Caeser series and I think I need to move the first part of this series up the reading queue.

'Guernica' by Dave Bohling is a love story set in the Basque town of Geurnica during a particularly drammatic period of the second world war. I've been thinking about this one for a while, I'm hoping for some background on the subject of Picasso's famous painting.

'A Secret Alchemy' by Emma Darwin is another book I couldn't quite make up my mind to buy. I read Emma Darwin's blog regularly, but I couldn't decide if I wanted to read about the princes in the tower. It's not an area of history I've ever looked into, but it might be nice to expand my areas of interest.

I suppouse I'd better start getting ready to work out now. I'll see you later when my shoulders have stopped aching and I can type again.

An Elegy for Easterly - Petina Gappah

I don’t read many collections of contemporary short stories. I’ve had some disappointing experiences with anthologies of short stories, especially those written by authors who have produced enjoyable novels. After reading Petina Gappah’s collection, ‘An Elegy for Easterly’ I think I understand what the problem is; the short stories I’ve read are not like hers at all.

While other short stories strain towards a concluding moral, lesson or revelation Gappah’s stories end entirely without resolution. This is achieved so elegantly, without abruptly ejecting the reader from a narrative or leaving large, unanswered questions, that it is possible to forget that the characters have not reached any point of destination. More importantly it is easy to accept this lack of a definite ending, and the lack of a definite lesson to help the reader interpret the story. This is because Gappah has written stories where the details of her characters’ journeys create their own self contained worlds which we are content to gaze into for a small amount of time. Gappah has not created static snapshots with her stories, instead she has opened small holes in the air through which readers can watch and listen as her characters go about their lives, until these gaps close and new ones open. Readers will be sad to leave these characters, but will feel that these characters continue to live despite their stories ending.

The majority of the stories are set in Zimbabwa, just before or during the rule of President Mugabe. Only one story, ‘Aunt Juliana’s Indian’, concentrates on explaining the history of Zimbabwe’s recent political changes, but most stories contain some reference to the way the political turmoil has ravaged the country. My favourite stories are those where Gappah interweaves the political into a deeply personal story so that politics feels personal and genuinely important, for example in ‘At the Sound of the Last Post’ a wife attends her husband’s funeral, only to have it hijacked by the President and his followers. Most of the stories that contain this mixture have female narrators or female main characters. In contrast some of the stories that have male narrators deal more with strange occurrences, like an unwanted sleeping partner in a hotel and a man dancing to death. These stories feel a bit sterile, with the political impacts on the characters lives stated as facts, which do not seem to have much of a connection to the incidents that happen. However ‘The Negotiated Settlement’ which looks at both spouses views on a marriage is insightful and unbiased.

Some of these stories contain universal plots and feelings. In the title story a woman miscarries and sees a woman who can not possibly take care of a child get pregnant, ‘In the Heart of the Golden Triangle’ follows a woman feeling suffocated by the false life she leads despite her privileged situation and in ‘Something Nice From London’ a feckless son drains his mother’s money. However Gappah keeps all these universal stories within the sharply focused context of Zimbabwe and shows how the country’s current culture and political situation fixes these stories into shapes that differ greatly from the form they might take in Europe. If the title story were set in Europe or America it might deal with how the couple could adopt the child, set in Zimbabwe the government’s destruction of towns makes it easy for a young couple to reinvent themselves with a child they did not conceive.

There are several reoccurring themes and images throughout this collection. The image of pink lips, as a sign of AIDs turns up everywhere and characters who are portrayed as respectable die of the disease showing how prevalent it is. Infidelity is also present in almost every single story. As irresponsible infidelity inevitably spreads AIDs it is something to be feared for a number of reasons. Gappah obviously feels passionate about the culture of polygamy and easy separation that many of the men of Zimbabwe encourage. She shows that in Zimbabwe affairs can destroy a woman emotionally, as in ‘The Negotiated Settlement’, where the wife knows her husband has had a child with a previous mistress. She also points out the more physical ways infidelity can destroy women in this country, bringing disease into their lives and leading them to be cast into poverty with no divorce settlement.

‘An Elegy for Easterly’ is an impressive collection of stories that are both politically important and great reading. The first five stories were probably my favourite, because they have some of the best mixes of rhythm, characterisation and politics. One of these, ‘The Annexe Shuffle’ contains what I think is my favourite line from the collection:

‘Every heartbreak is a little death, all the same.’

It doesn’t sound like much, but in context it’s a heavyweight punch.

Further into the collection ‘The Maid From Lalapanzi’, the story of a woman remembered by children for her stories of life with the guerrillas will tear your heart at the end.

Other Reviews

Eve's Alexandria
Paperback Reader

Diversity Reading Meme

In which once again we are reminded that our heroine reads a lot of books by white chicks :)

Name the last book by a female author that you've read.

This is one is easy. The last novel I finished was 'Out of the Wild' by Sarah Beth Durst and the novel I'm reading now is 'Company of Liars' by Karen Maitland. It's hardly surprising that I read a lot of novels by women but I do feel incredibly lucky to be living in an age where so many novels are written by female authors (even if they don't always win the prizes - but that's a topic for another day closer to the Orange prize announcement).

Name the last book by an African or African-American author that you've read.

Again easy. I read 'Jazz' by Toni Morrisson in January 2009.

Name one from a Latino/a author.

This one was impossible, the best I could do was 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Carlos Ruiz Zafon in July 2006.

How about one from an Asian country or Asian-American?

For a moment I thought it was quite recent, as I finished Lian Hearn's 'The Harsh Cry of the Heron' in November 2008 but, duh that's actually a pen name. So it looks like the last one was 'The Welsh Girl' by Peter Ho Davies.

What about a GLBT writer?

Does 'Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist' count as one of the authors is gay? If not then I read 'Oranges are not the Only Fruit' by Jeanette Winterson in November 2008.

Why not name an Israeli/Arab/Turk/Persian writer, if you're feeling lucky?

I can't (eep) but would like to add that I read 'The Master Butcher's Singing Club' by Louise Erdich in February 2008 and she is a Native American author. Oh and I read 'The Relucantant Fundamentalist' by Mohsin Hamid but I'm not sure where he was born/which country he most identifies with.

So I'm still doing a ok with gender diversity (if anything my reading list is low on straight, male authors this year) but have not really worked in any of the big guns from latino authors.

I'm not really sure what the key books are by latino authors, on life in latin countries - can anyone suggest some (please not Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I am still recovering from 'Love in the Time of Cholera', read over five years ago now)? Any suggestions for some strong books you've read that fit he last category?

Master and Commander - Patrick O'Brian

‘Master and Commander’ has spent a long time hanging around our house, along with ‘Post Captain’ the second novel in Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey and Maturin series. After the ITV series based on the Hornblower books I decided to explore the naval novels my dad seemed to like, so every time he tried to send ‘Master and Commander’ to a new home I would intercept him and remind him I was obviously, just about to read it. Three years passed. Finally, spurred on by some positive blog reviews, I decided to ditch my challenge reading and jump aboard a king’s ship for a life of adventure.

Stephen Maturin and Jack Aubrey meet at a concert and instantly dislike each other, but after Jack later meets Stephen in the street, soon after receiving news that he is to command his own ship, all is forgotten. The two form a quick, affectionate friendship and Stephen finds himself invited to join Jack’s ship as their surgeon. This first novel follows them through the battles and adventures of their time aboard the Sophie.

I’m afraid that despite Patrick O’Brian’s great patience I still know very little about ships. I know a reasonable amount about epaulettes and what rank they indicate and I seem to remember that a craft has to have three distinct masts to earn the title of ship. O’Brian tries his hardest to educate his reader, using landsman Stephen Maturin as a device to enable members of the ship to deliver lectures about the different parts of the ship, but I think I needed to take these pages away and spend time trying to draw a ship from the descriptions. Possibly, that’s a project for the future. When battle scenes began I did sometimes get a bit confused about what all the commands related to, but it didn’t really hamper my enjoyment of the book.

What I liked most about the book was the same thing that initially attracted Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings to the book. In his review he said:

‘What attracted me to Patrick O’Brian’s books in the first place was DVD commentary that indicated just how much these novels focused on the friendship of these two individuals and that the first novel really established this friendship.’

The majority of the drama in between battles is centred around the friendships of the main characters. Jack and Stephen form a strong friendship based on common interests, like music, and the equality which Jack can find with no one else aboard the ship, as they are all subordinate to him. Jack is also constantly gaining and losing the admiration of his first lieutenant James Dillon, someone Stephen knows well from his past in Ireland. These relationships are complex and quite a bit of confusion can arise easily between men who do not think alike or come from the same backgrounds. The changes in these relationships significantly alter the feeling aboard, as the sailors form a particularly tight community. I wish there were more books that explored friendships between men and men, or women and women, with such depth and understanding.

I want to include something about the slash element of the book but I can’t think quite how to put it. While it’s very clear that both Jack and Stephen are straight (the affectionate way they address each other is in keeping with the way many straight male pairings act in earlier literature and if I had time I’d try to make the case for earlier straight, male relations being possibly more openly caring than they are now) O’Brian certainly delights in adding a bit of homosexual titillation into his novel. There is a tender scene where the gay master of the ship, settles Jack into a more comfortable position when he falls asleep at his desk. There’s also much use of double entendre, some open speculation about Jack’s sexuality and a certain tolerance towards homosexuality onboard the Sophie. All of which adds up to what? Is O’Brian merely trying to add an extra bit of playful scandal to his novel, or does he want to add his own tolerant views to the book, without harming their historical accuracy? Personally I lean towards the idea that he wants to address all the questions that might be thrown up about his main characters if homosexuality in the navy was ignored, while also pointing out an area of history that is largely ignored in novels about the navy.

I’m looking forward to seeing Jack and Stephen’s friendship develop in the next book, which I’ll save until later this year. I might have to seek some Hornblower out before then though, or maybe one of the Nathaniel Drinkwater books – any other naval recommendations?