Happy First Blogiversary

Today is my first year blogiversary : ) I don’t want to go on and on, but this keeping this blog has probably been one of the most positive parts of 2009. It has really helped me to reconnect with the idea that the things I like and the way I think are important and valid. It’s shown me that I can maintain a personal project, without getting bored or lazy, as well as making the after reading experience fun because there are more people to discuss books with. So thanks if you’ve been dropping by to chat, or lurk this year, it’s meant bunches.

To mark this day I thought I’d put up the first sentences meme I saw at ‘Of Books and Bicycles’, where you find the first sentence, of your first post for each month and post them all together.

Let’s take a look back at 2009 in one liners:

January: I just couldn't resist joining a couple of more challenges.

February: Whenever I read a great YA book I feel an urge to gush instead of reviewing critically.
March: I’m going to say upfront that I was more than a little disappointed by ‘The Rose of Sebastopol’ by Katherine McMahon.

April: It’s time for all us bad challenge addicts to talk about how our challenge reading is progressing.

May: I decided that before I started my five month stint of book buying abstinence I would have one last fabulous book splurge.

June: We’re entering the sixth month of ‘The Year of Readers’, our year long sponsored read-a-thon that’s designed to raising money for literacy charities around the world.

July: I won't have internet access while I'm away so I've scheduled some posts to pop up while I sun myself and drink cocktails.

August: I'm back from Bath feeling much better.

September: My first RIP selection was Susan Hill’s slim ghost story ‘The Mist in the Mirror’.

October: Now that the review of the book I didn’t like is out of the way I can start talking about all the wonderful books I’ve been enjoying lately.

November: Clearly it is insane for me to try to do Nanowrimo when I have a pretty bad grasp of how grammar and punctuation work (I seriously have no idea how I got through university without someone taking me aside to discuss this issue).

December: I’m about 200 pages from the end of ‘Young Bloods’ by Simon Scarrow, which is the rather large first volume in his quite enjoyable Napoleon/Wellington series.

And I’m also going to commemorate this day with a giveaway. I’m offering you the chance to win one book from my read in 2009 list (see left sidebar) and I’ll also donate a book for children or teenagers to a very deserving community library project in Roanoke. Just leave me a comment telling me which book you’d like to win and what you’d like to me to donate (your choice for me to donate can be anything appropriate, it doesn’t have to be from my read in 2009 list). I’ll randomly draw a winner next week. (Edit Contest open internationally, closes midnight GMT 30/12/2009).

Happy New Year everyone and hope to see you round the blogging world for more years to come.

Post Christmas Tidings

I went back to work today because I have one day’s annual leave left until January as I ‘swaned about’ having three holidays this year and took almost a whole week off for my birthday, because I am just foolish like that (it was awesome – I regret nothing). This means I’m also working tomorrow, but have got New Years Eve off so I can get my hair cut, cook something for the New Years Eve do and get a lift with my friends who are travelling up late afternoon. There is no one to market to during these two days and we are so ridiculously over prepared for next year (because we have been waiting for something company changing to happen for about six months and prepared everything because we were originally told it would happen in about a month, oh this is boring let’s move on) so that means blog reading and post typing in my all alone office.

That is part of my Christmas haul above. First the bit you’ll all be most interested in, books:
'Sunflowers' – Sheramy Bundrick: Yes I admit ‘A Work in Progress’ influences almost 50% of my choice of reading now. Danielle made a list about fiction relating to art and nearly all the books went on my wishlist.

'Blue Earth' – Jules Hardy: This is a book I thought looked interesting ages ago, but in honesty I’m now most unsure about it, because the blurb seems to focus on how this one man is irresistible to all the women he meets. However blurbs can be wrong.

'Unseen Academicals' – Terry Pratchett: I try to resist the lure of the hardback when asking other people to buy me presents, but, but the Librarian is in this one and he will be paying football!

'The Falls' – Joyce Carol Oates: Reading Cathy Marie Buchanan’s book reminded me of the interesting the effect Niagara Falls has on people and I haven’t read a Joyce Carol Oates book since last year (I am mostly to be found worshipping her). Looking forward to this one just a little bit more than is decent.

'Death of a Dancer' – Caro Peacock: I think litlove reminded me this was on my list and it’s always nice to have a fun historical mystery turn up over Christmas. I think for me historical mysteries are a winter kind of book, with all their intrigue and figures lurking around in the shadows and fog. (Gah I now see it is the second in a series, must get the first before proceeding or insane series issues may make head explode!)

and some of the jewellery I was presented with:

I’m not sure how well you can make that bit out but it includes the cutest bracelet that my mum bought for me at the November craft fair (yes those are Fimo liquorice allsorts and I must see if I can find the website for you all) and my very surprising Tiffany key necklace. I so wanted an old fashioned key necklace and I’d mentioned it, thinking I’d maybe get one from an independent crafter who uses keys from craft markets, so imagine my amazement when I opened this little box to find a real life sterling silver key necklace from Tiffany’s. It was the best surprise, I luuuurve it! Not pictured but still wonderful is my Wizard of Oz ring. If you like charms you must check out the bracelets in this shop, there is every kind of themed altered art bracelet you could want and I bought one for a friend so I can tell you they’re really nice quality.

And this little guy is keeping me company at work:

He’s a chamois monkey, for wiping screens and he can sit quite stable on top of my screen (although he might be a commuting monkey as my laptop and tv could do with a good clean). I am thinking of naming him Clive or Clyde, which do you like better?

Christmas film/tv news, because I’m not going to make a separate post about them:

2012 was awful, defined new level of awfulness - I thought it would be a cheerfully cheesy, standard action film, but oh no it made my love for John Cussack die. Airplane was supposed to put a stop to these kind of films.

Sherlock Holmes was wonderful and fun on the big screen (we resisted shouting things about how an industry that allows 2012 to get made deserves bad things when the anti-piracy announcement came on). Plenty of comedy fighting, a look into the way straight male friendships get changed when one person marries, slash flirting and although it wasn’t steam punk film there was that kind of exhuberant, messing with history while revelling in it, fun feel about it. I take back everything I said about Jude Law and that ‘tash.

Casablanca, as always was full of classitude, so glad we rewatched it.

The Gruffalo was so cute, just the happiest addition you could ever wish for to the children’s Christmas tv short collection.

Did anyone in the UK watch the Christmas episodes of ‘Cranford’? I thought it might be a bit unnecessary, but was totally captivated by the humour and the relationships right away. It was lovely to see what happened to all the characters, even if some of them did come to a bad end.

We do watch a lot of films at Christmas (I saw ‘Happy Feet’ for the third time as well) because it’s the only time almost nothing good is on tv and we all sit down to watch films at home. We also went out to eat, or to do something every day and then I met friends a couple of nights, so I didn’t read much. I finished my fourth TBR Challenge book, ‘Lullabies for Little Criminals’ and it was a delicious slice of description and genuine feeling (review coming). I’ve just finished the second edition of the’ TBR Tallboy’ which is an independent publishing project for new young adult short fiction, run by Leila at ‘Bookshelves of Doom’ and I’m halfway through Linwood Barker’s suburban thriller ‘Too Close to Home’, which is light, interesting, but I fear may have as crazy a solution as ‘No Time for Goodbye’, which I read last year. I just realised I’m involved in three classic reading projects in January, which may have been a bit silly. Only one of the books has arrived so far, will this end well.

I hope you all had (and are still having) a lovely festive season. See you when I pop by your blogs to see what you’ve been up to!

44th Bookworm Carnival - Rebellious Women

Welcome to the 44th edition of the Bookworms carnival, which is the last carnival of 2009. Bloggers have sent in links to some fantastic reviews and there’s even an interview, with a female creator of feisty heroines for you to read.

Female rebellion doesn’t always have pretty results for the women who fight, but it’s the rebels who grind all the things we’re not supposed to do under their heels and leave ordinary women free to fully express their human complexity. I hope today you’ll find heroines you can empathise with, debate about and maybe even worship just a little bit.

Fiction

Chris at bookarama reviewed ‘The Scarlet letter’ where the main character, Hester Prynne is

‘...the wearer of the scarlet A, ornately sewn by her own hand. The letter is punishment for the crime of adultery in Massachusetts during Colonial times. Hester's husband has been missing and presumed dead but she's born a child by another man. She refuses to name the man responsible and carries the burden of their sin on herself.’

Aarti at Booklust reviewed ‘Wish her safe home’ by Stephen Benatar. This one goes on my own to be read list:

‘In the introduction to this book, John Carey states, “…there are really only two alternatives open to [Rachel]… She chooses the other alternative, which is to pretend that her ambitions have been fulfilled- that is to say, to go mad.” Carey thinks (and I agree with him) that, confronted with the decision to either continue her real, drudging existence in London, or to create a new, exciting one in Bristol, Rachel chooses completely to go with the exciting one.’

Melissa at The Betty and Boo Chronicles reviewed ‘Loving Frank’ by Nancy Hoban, who has created a heroine whose rebellion may harm, just as much as it helps.

‘In those times, it was taboo for a mother to abandon her children for a lover. (Not to say that such actions are condoned nowadays ... just that it was a different time).

But abandoning John and Martha, her very young children, is exactly what Mamah does.’

Wordlily wants everyone to know about a series she reviewed, featuring a family called the Spellmans. You can see reviews of the first three books ‘The Spellman Files’
‘The Curse of the Spellmans’ and ‘Revenge of the Spellmans’ by Lisa Lutz. Wordlilly says they:

‘Reminded me in some ways of the all-too-short television series Veronica Mars (not just because they both star a girl, PI, who grew up in the business; also because this girl is tough, and smart, and strong, among other shared traits).’

Heather at Age 30+...a Lifetime of Books reviewed ‘The Wet Nurse’s Tale’:

‘When Susan finds herself with a new baby of her own and minus a husband, she turns to the one thing she can depend on to get her by: her (rather large) breasts.’

If that killer line didn’t intrigue you maybe you’d prefer the female leader presented in ‘The Triumph of Deborah’:

‘Deborah, recently cast off by her husband, develops a surprising affinity for Barak. Yet she struggles to rebuild her existence on her own terms, while also groping her way toward the greatest triumph of her life.’

Nymeth of things mean a lot reviewed 'Lady Audley's Secret'. She was on the fence about whether it reinforced or subverted gender stereotypes, something she says critics have been arguing about for years:

'the mere fact that Lady Audley's Secret raises certain possibilities is significant. The world of the novel is more flexible and less fond of absolutes than what one would expect from Victorian ideology. Like The Woman in White, it explores the cracks and the contradictions in what everyone 'knew' to be true.'

Non-fiction

Kim at Sophisticated Dorkiness reviewed ‘Undress me in the Temple of Heaven’, a book that was so good it turned her into one of those crazy people you see shouting at no one in traffic jams:

‘There were times that I was listening to this book in my car when I just had to yell, “Are you kidding? That did not just happen!” '

I reviewed ‘England’s Mistress: The infamous life of Emma Hamilton’. Emma’s first act of rebellion is to be a terrible maid, in order to avoid a life of drudgery and then goes on from there:
‘Everyone knows Emma as the dazzling mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson, but before she began her association with him she had played many roles. She grew up in the midst of a poor family, supported by women and throughout her early life she earned her living as a maid, a dancer, an artist’s model and a prostitute.’

Plays

Rebecca at Rebecca Reads reviewed ‘Medea’ by Euripides, an ancient tale of revenge:

‘Medea had left her home to come to a foreign land, and now she was being cast aside. Her husband Jason had not only cheated on her but had cast her away and married another, younger woman.

Medea’s reaction to the situation and her subsequent actions are extreme. Like Lady Macbeth, she casts aside her instincts of kindness and, particularly, her motherly love. She murders her own children. But unlike when I read about Lady Macbeth, I felt Medea was in the right.’

Interviews

Haglerat at Unbound interviewed Caitlin Kittredge whose Nocturnes series features supernatural heroines who rebel against the werewolf cliché:

‘Luna is a werewolf, and most werewolves tend to be the cliche "outcast", outside of human society with limited interaction. I wanted to see what would happen if I plunked Luna into the center of the law enforcement profession and turned her loose.’

Hope you enjoyed the carnival, have a lovely celebratory season everyone!

Happy Festive Wishes

Talking about winter is almost mandatory in the UK this week, so it feels like I have failed by not taking pictures of our snow, but really there has not been a lot of it. It started snowing about two hours before our taxi was due to collect me and my friends from our first Christmas celebration, but thankfully wasn’t close to serious enough to snow us in. Walking along the side of an icy canal in heels is not something I’d recommend, but no one fell in so, success! We’ve been very lucky in our area this year and there have been no crazy traffic jams like a couple of years ago (even I am bored of my horrific two year old travelling in snow story so I will spare you).

Over Christmas my plans include:

a couple of pub trips - one was yesterday and I do not feel so good this morning, mostly because random, much younger than us men convinced us to join their quiz team by finding us seats in a full to bursting pub, we were all like ‘oh we would sit with you if only you could find us chairs’ (‘no it’s ok they will never mange..’) ‘oh, chairs, how nice.’ For me meeting strangers = drinking more than I planned to and engaging in conversations about time machines, apparently.
avoiding a Christmas hangover like last year after the ‘let’s have a wine kitty’ Christmas Eve fiasco

spending time with my parents at home, in a restaurant (Boxing Day meal) and possibly seeing ‘Sherlock Holmes’ at the cinema

working (boo, but it turns out I’ve got five days off with the weekend and Bank Holiday so not too bad)

New Years Eve party! I’m overly excited about this party because it is at a friend’s new house so we don’t have to queue at a bar, or wait for taxis in the cold and I did not have to organise anything for this occasion.

You’ll see the Bookworms carnival pop up on Christmas Day, but I’ll be offline over my holiday (entirely now because it seems my wireless home internet is having issues). Hope you all have a wonderful celebratory season and I’ll catch up with you all during my very quiet work days after Christmas.

Gears and Jewels

I was having a bit of a shopping spree last week, as I have a special (and hella exciting) themed reading month planned for February 2010. I picked up some young adult and adult current fiction, but then somehow my spending spilled over into related pre-Christmas Etsy jewellery buying:

‘If rabbits fly over the rainbow, why can’t I?’

I love CosmicFirefly who makes some of the coolest, most affordable steam punk and clock punk necklaces around. I was very restrained and just bought this one necklace, but I already own three others made by this seller, including one of these divers helmet necklaces, which just makes me happy (note I do put this on a silver snake chain that I own because the length works better for me).

Let me encourage you to trade your kids for/gaze at a couple of other steam punk/clock punk sellers I’d love to buy from in the future:

mysticpieces has a smaller steam punk stock but does some interesting things with gears.

StJoshua’s is busy making the insides of watches beautiful.

CatherinetteRings all look so simple, but I bet they take tons of skill to twist. In the new year I might be quite tempted by a steam punk ring, but I’m never sure about buying rings without trying them on.

LondonParticular’s is new to me but omg guys, O M G look, it’s a ring that’s a lock. Honestly I am so easily amazed by independent jewellery sellers it’s dangerous for me to be in control of my own money. In other ‘wear enough costume jewellery and it will keep you warm like that practical coat you really need’ news I really want a bee pendant and because this one is pretty colours it might just be mine in 2010 if it’s still in stock.

The books have started arriving for my February themed reading month, where I'll be consuming large amount of steam punk literature and blogging about it. I am really excited about this experiment, wonder if steam punk will still seem as fun by the end of the month (I bet it will). More news on what I'll be reading closer to the time.

Top of the Reads List - 2009

As we’re thirteen days away from Christmas, and the drunken celebration season started last weekend with the company Christmas do, it’s unlikely that I’ll read many more books before the end of the year, so I present to you my ‘Top Reads’ in 2009 list. I’ve separated the list into young adult, adult and classics sections, because while I think they could all handle themselves in a death fight for a place on an ultimate top ten list, this way I get to include more of my favourite books. 2009 has been a very good reading year, let me recap in no particular order:

Top ten young adult novels

‘Ten Cents a Dance’ – Christine Fletcher
‘Nation’ – Terry Pratchett
‘Because I am Furniture’ – Thalia Chaltas
‘Looking for Alaska’ – John Green
‘Dooley Takes the Fall’ – Nora McClintock
‘What they Always Tell Us’ – Martin Wilson
‘The Last Exit to Normal’ – Michael Harmon
‘Empress of the World’ – Sara Ryan
‘Little Brother’ – Cory Doctrow
‘Chameleon’ – Charles R Smith

This was the hardest list to decide on. Four other books came so close to making it.

Top ten adult novels

‘Captivity’ – Debbie Lee Wesselman
‘The Tenderness of Wolves’ – Stef Penney
‘Temeraire’ – Naomi Novik
‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ – Steig Larsson
‘The Lizard Cage’ – Karen Connelley
‘The Post Office Girl’ – Stefan Zweig
‘Wolf Hall’ – Hilary Mantle
‘Dance Night’ – Dawn Powell
‘The Folded Leaf’ – William Maxwell
‘The Day the Falls Stood Still’ – Cathy Marie Buchanan

Maybe you can sense some patterns in this list. I do tend to prefer books that focus on characters, rather than plot twists, I often like to see a good romance develop and it seems I like books that suggest there may be animals in them.

Non fiction

‘England’s Mistress’ – Kate Williams

The amount of non-fiction I read was poor this year (as always), blame it on television for damaging my attention span. ‘England’s Mistress’ was an interesting biography, with a good grasp of the broader social and world history Emma Hamilton was surrounded by and provided me with my favourite random fact of the year (see review).

Classics

‘A Passage to India’ – E M Forster
‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep’ – Philip K Dick

I probably could have included at least three of the adult novels in this category as modern classics, but that seemed too complicated so instead I’ll just stick with these two. Another trend you might have spotted throughout the lists is that I like authors who use their middle initial, maybe I really would like J R R Tolkien after all...

New Moon - Notes

I’m afraid your regular, hopefully more sensible blogger is going to desert you today to be replaced by someone speaking in the language of ‘New Moon’. I’ve seen the film, I’ve read the stellar lol cats parody and I’m about 300 pages into the second book in the ‘Twilight’ series, so I think it’s about time to discuss this subject in a way that won’t make a lot of sense to people who haven’t got sucked into sampling sparkly vamps. It’s also time for bullet points because, like the one sentence paragraphs of Bella’s tortured thought process, bullet points convey the extreme urgency of my ideas:


* Everyone I know says this is their least favourite book (probably because it takes 250 pages before the plot action starts to emerge) but so far I much prefer it to ‘Twilight’, mostly because Bella has real, live female friends in this book. While obviously she’s most distressed that her doomed lover is leaving her, she is also pretty sad that Alice is going away. She superficially reconnects with Angela and although I would have liked to see a more substantial development of this friendship, New Moon offers hope that Bella may have friend potential.

* Bella and Jacob are genuine friends in this book. I know their whole relationship starts out as a way for her to use Jacob, which he goes along with because he is romantically interested in her, but along the way their fun and easy friendship becomes the most engaging thing in the book. The off the wall ‘I will try to harm myself to have mad crazy hallucinations of you doomed lover’ is, y’know it’s not good, but along the way it seems to blossom into a genuine fr3ds 4 lif bonding exercise with Jacob. He is there for her at the worst and possibly most dangerous time of her young life (um hello psycho vampire lady wants to kill her and where is Edward the awesomely strong vampire – oh right staying away from her for her own good). If this was a chick-lit novel I’d be yawning at the predictability of the buffed up best friend whose kind attentions create a love that grows strong and true. But this is gothic romance so instead Meyer gives me the strong and truly accepting friendship, without the inevitable romance, which has it’s up and down side. I’ve seen tons of Bella backlash about how she is leading Jake on by remaining so selfishly close to him, but I think she has quite clearly told him several times, using words, that she does not love him like that and never will. It’s really not her duty to cut all ties with her best friend because he has selective hearing.

Edit: I read on a little bit before actually putting this up and I may have to revise my opinion about this being a genuine friendship because really ‘ “Bye Bella,”... “I really hope you don’t die.” ’ - what is that? That is neither supportive, nor friendly, it is just jealous jackassery. And while it’s ok for Bella to weaken and fool herself about maybe making a life with Jake, though we’re all aware she can never fully commit to him, if she’d actually done anything about it I would have thrown this book to the floor, because that would have been mean.

* The fact that Bella is almost becoming an actual person instead of a falling down handmaiden of vampire lust is making me ignore the extent of the bad writing. While I’ve still snorted uncontrollably about thirty times, I’ve probably only rolled my eyes at the stupidity of it all about five times. That is a tiny percentage compared with the eye rollage that took place during ‘Twilight’. I found the pages that indicated that she had been in a zombie like depression for months stupidly funny: how to reach your page count 101 – put one word on each page. I still think the film version of this should have been set to the song ‘In My Room’.

* There is minimal Edward in this one. Yes I know, I get that they are meant to be together because it is fate, and gothic romance, plus sparkly eye lurve equals eternal soul mates, but I immensely dislike book Edward. I’ve said before that Edward is a product of the Rochester effect, where a guy you would never let your friends date (I do not have any friends who wish to be involved in a bigamous marriage) is somehow unbelievable gothicly attractive in fiction. Unfortunately there is no feminist ending coming for Bella as far as I know so even ‘sometimes I pretend to be a gypsy’ Edward Rochester beats out book Edward Cullen. Film Edward I love, partly because he seems to have a real sense of humour instead of a condescending habit of laughing at Bella’s naiveté (and yes also because his hair is so dreamy). The ‘Bella you are tempting me to sleep with you, please STOP IT!’ message seemed to get very much swept under the carpet in the film (good call) but of course it is still there in the book, which makes me dislike book Edward even more, because this message is oh so wrong.

* There is still quite a bit wrong with this book ranging from the small, yet very annoying throw away statements like ‘But she’s just a girl’ to the very awful werewolf domestic abuse. Yes I stick by the idea that that is a portrayal of domestic abuse because the incident is described as a man getting angry and a woman getting in his way, which results in lasting scars. Now Bella not only has to be careful to avoid ‘exciting’ her vampire love, she also has to be careful not to anger her werewolf best friend, because they have no control over themselves apparently, especially when it comes to Bella. There’s also the extremely unimaginative racial descriptions, ‘almond shaped eyes’ does anyone really have almond shaped eyes? If you’re going to include Native American characters you really need to try harder.

* Hells, Bells! Honestly why does no one say this in the book? I can’t decide whether I prefer film Bella or book Bella. Others have mentioned that they prefer film Bella because you can’t hear all of her constant self doubt and she’s not always feeling guilty about forgetting to feed her dad (personally every time Bella makes something in the book I grow afraid that she will trip and burn herself, but her clumsiness does not seem to get in the way of her gender given cooking duties). Film Bella convinced me that I was wrong in thinking that you could have too many plaid shirts and after seeing the film I bought three more and a shirt dress, so maybe that is a good enough reason for me to pick her.

Unless something stupendous happens in the last 200 pages this is the last you’ll hear from me on ‘New Moon’. I plan on wrapping it up before the end of Seriespalooza, which has kept me on track for returning this borrowed book to my friend before Christmas. Thanks to Michelle at Galleysmith for hosting this event and for introducing me to a couple of interesting looking series.

I want to leave you with a related quote of the day from cleolinda who has written in my opinion the funnest ‘Twilight’ and ‘New Moon’ parodies around, handed them out for free and then gone on to write more funny, well thought out posts about romance and work and life:

‘I hate saying "I want a man around to take care of me," because it's not like that--it's like, sometimes I want to ride in from the battlefield and be sheltered and patched up and refreshed every once in a while, and then go riding back out to finish fighting my own battles. And I would do the same for whoever I was with.’

Is this not what we all want?

Throne of Jade - Naomi Novik

What better way to kick off my participation in Series paloozza than with an enthusiastic review of a book from one of the many series I currently have in progress? See how totally on the ball I am blogging world?

I read ‘Throne of Jade’, last week (so it doesn’t officially count as a Series palooza read), following the extremely emotional ‘The Day the Falls Stood Still’. My main criteria for selecting a book to read next was ‘no one really important, or wonderful must die’ and since I knew there were at least two more books after ‘The Throne of Jade’ in Naomi Novik’s ‘Temeraire’ series I could be pretty sure that both Temeraire and Laurence would come out of this adventure alive. Has everyone been off to check out the world that the first book sets up so that I don’t have to explain about there being dragons and Napoleon and Novik’s idea being super cool awesome? Good, let’s proceed ;)

The Chinese have realised that the English have ‘stolen’ the Celestial dragon egg they sent to Napoleon as a gift and have come to demand that Temeraire, the dragon that hatched from the egg, be returned to China. Temeraire refuses to be separated from his beloved handler Laurence and Laurence will not lie to Temeraire, so that the British government can trick him into going to China. As Temeraire possesses special gifts that are of extreme use to the British in battle Laurence expects the British government to fight to keep him, but the government are more interested in keeping the Chinese sweet, as their attempt to supply the French with a dragon seems to suggest an alliance between the two nations. Temeraire and Laurence find themselves making the long trip to China aboard a dragon transport aware that this may be their last journey together.

By forcing the main characters away from the colleagues and situations they encountered in ‘Temeraire’ Novik does her best to avoid simply repeating the entertaining formula of the first book. New conflicts are created as the sailors on the transport, the aviators and the Chinese royal envoy come into daily contact with each other. To stave off the battle boredom that can set in when reading fiction about the military lifestyle she has created some more unusual battle scenes, where Temeraire fights new and surprising enemies. However, Novik knows that readers will have become attached to the characters from the first book and will always relish a good dragon battle with the French, so she makes sure this element isn’t entirely absent from the sequel. The championing of progressive ideas (women in the military, abolitionism and freer relationships between the sexes) that make her fantasy world a joy to inhabit remain and are expanded on as the reader learns about the Chinese and their positive attitude of female warriors.

‘Throne of Jade’ is mainly concerned with the growth of Laurence and Temeraire’s relationship, specifically the things that may drive them apart. Laurence has always accused Temeraire of harbouring revolutionary ideas about the liberties dragons should be allowed, but in ‘Throne of Jade’ both Temeraire and Laurence begin to see that Britain’s ideas about dragons are not universally held. The Chinese allow dragons to walk the streets, they are taught to read and write and have their own property, as well as the freedom to govern themselves. At first Laurence sees the Chinese treatment of dragons as unnecessarily indulgent and this weakens his relationship with Temeraire. Apart from this Temeraire’s fascination with what the Chinese have to teach him, his discovery of his dragon family and his association with a female dragon all leave Laurence feeling as insecure and jealous as Temeraire has often been in the past.

Personally I think that this focus on the central friendship of the book is what makes ‘The Throne of Jade’ so special. Male friendships often turn up in military fiction, but they’re rarely as deeply examined as this one. The only other example I can think of that is as well observed is Caesar and Brutus’ relationship in Conn Igullden’s ‘Emperor at the Gates’ series and that doesn’t end well. Male interspecies friendships seem to be becoming rarer in fantasy as the main interspecies relationships shift to be straight romantic pairings (vampires, werewolves, fairies etc). It’s wonderful to be so privy to the inner workings of a male friendship that faces difficulties, but rebounds because of the friend’s willingness to put aside their own interests. By the end of the novel Laurence is forced to see the parallel between the situation of British dragons and human slavery, which he has argued against and his partnership with Temeraire shifts to a greater equality of control and thought than readers have previously seen:

‘ “Would you prefer us to stay?” Seeing that he had surprised Temeraire, he added, “Hammon and Staunton tell me we could do a great deal of good for Britain’s interests here. If you wish to remain, I will write to London and let him know we had better be stationed here.”

“Oh,” Temeraire said, and bent his head over the reading frame: he was not paying attention to the scroll, only thinking. “You would rather go home, though, would you not?”

“I would be lying if I said otherwise,” Laurence said heavily. “But I would rather see you happy; and I cannot think how I could make you so in England, now you have seen how dragons are treated here.” The disloyalty nearly choked him; he could go no further.'

To me the ending of this book feels a little rushed. A character was required to suddenly have a revelation and explain the entire back story to the villains evil plot quite quickly, there’s a fight and then everything works out for the best. I almost always more interested in character than plot so this wasn’t a big stumbling point for me, but it’s probably worth mentioning for readers who like their fantasy plots entirely reasonable. I’m interested to see if the foreshadowing meeting at the end leads to something spectacularly villainous in the next book, where I think the pair are heading to a new area of the Empire.

Crossing fingers for dragon shaped Christmas presents.

You might also be interested in reading about the first book in the series 'Temeraire' .

Other Reviews

Necromancy Never Pays
Birdbrain

Temeraire - Naomi Novik

I just realised that my review of ‘Temeraire’ by Naomi Novik was done for Estella’s Revenge, not ‘Bookgazing’. I’m going to repost it here to give anyone who hasn’t read the first book in the series a little context, before I post my review of the second book in Novik’s series ‘Throne of Jade’, otherwise I’ll have to spend the whole review explaining about the alternate history Novik has created and wouldn’t it be easier if you just read this review from March instead? (PS I’m refusing to edit this because if I start I’ll probably want to delete it all and start again so I hope it’s ok.)

Three centuries after Henry V’s campaigns the English and the French still can’t seem to put their neighbourly disputes behind them. Someone always seems to be playing loud music at night, or refusing to trim a hedge that blocks next door’s sunlight. Little seems to have changed as Captain William Laurence and his crew board a French ship in the early pages of Naomi Novik’s ‘Temeraire’, which is set during the Napoleonic conflicts. Yet Novik has created an exceptionally inventive novel of alternate history that revitalises the genre of war stories, set during Napoleon’s advance on Britain. By taking the most entertaining elements of the great naval stories and fantasy novels, then mixing in components from stories of bomber crews she pushes all three genres in new directions, and enables readers to delve deeply into the psychology of her characters.

Captain William Laurence is making a name for himself as a naval man, until he captures a French prize containing extraordinary cargo. On board the frigate is a box containing a dragon’s egg, almost ready to hatch, and Laurence must find one of his crew to imprint the dragon on birth so that it can be used in the service of the British Air Corps. The crew draw straws reluctantly; though the Air Corps may be respected for their bravery naval officers do not envy their way of life. A young crew member is chosen, but when the dragon hatches it is Laurence who instinctively imprints him, naming him Temeraire. By attaching himself to the young dragon Laurence cuts himself off from society, because of general snobbery about dragon riders, and must end his engagement. However he embarks on the most significant relationship of his life, with his dragon.

Novick writes physical, fast battle scenes, which are essential in any novel about the fighting forces. The reader’s attention is grabbed by the fierce descriptions of the sheer power of dragons fighting, but the author also pays great attention to the passionate activities of the human crew. She creates the close, intensity of the traditionally described naval battle with the added emotions of fighting to save a living ‘ship’. The reader is presented with two battles at the same time, as the human crew try to save their dragon and destroy another, while the dragons defend their crew and fight for their human’s cause. The descriptions of battles are powerful and frenzied, despite the crew’s control:

“ ‘ Get a bomb up here,’ Laurence snapped to Granby; they would have to try and hurl one into the Chevlier’s belly rigging, despite the danger of missing and striking Temeraire or Lily. Temeraire kept slashing away in a blind passion, his sides belling out for breath; he roared so tremendously that his body vibrated with the force and Laurence’s ear ached with the force of it. The Chevalier shuddered with pain; somewhere on his other side, Maximus also roared, blocked from Laurence’s sight by the French dragon’s bulk.”

Novick is also a skilled world builder. She has adapted history to include dragons, that feel like a natural addition to the world. She has also invented a strong bond between the main characters which never feels forced, or like blind adoration. Laurence has his regrets about abandoning his old life, and Temeraire sometimes feels unhappy about the pain he may cause Laurence, but they work hard at their friendship so that this, and the natural bond they feel overcomes these problems. One of the most enjoyable parts of this book is seeing the level of closeness between the dragons and their riders, especially when reading about the everyday adventures that cement Laurence and Temeraire’s friendship, like reading and swimming.

Novick obviously plans to explore issues about the ethics of war, especially the use of the concepts of loyalty and duty to keep troops fighting, throughout this series. This will be another welcome, modern addition to the story of the fight against the French. The British resistance is back in fine form, but with dragons involved patriotism may not be as simple as it once appeared.

Other Reviews

Eve's Alexandria
Gossamer Obsessions

Bookworms Carnival 44 - Call for Submissions

A quicky post to advertise that Dec 25th I’ll be hosting the ‘Rebellious Women’ Bookworms carnival. If you have reviews of fiction, or non-fiction books that showcase rebellious female characters, or you’ve conducted an interview with an author that has written a book with rebellious female characters and you’d like to see your post featured in the carnival please email me a link to your post (baker jodie at googlemail dot com), or leave one in the comments section on this here post by 23rd December. Your post can have been made at any time, as long as it's about books that feature rebellious women.

I’m classifying rebellious women as women who fight against the norms of their society in a positive, or a negative way (got to love the truly bad girls). So you might see reviews of books about Florence Nightingale, alongside reviews of books featuring teenage girls who disobey the law.

Everything will be auto posted because I get two days off for Christmas this year, so I can’t imagine I’ll be online until I get back to work and I guess most of you will have wonderful Christmassy plans, but this carnival will give you something to check out when you’re back at work fighting post-Christmas fever.

Be at ease with the classics

Last week a couple of blogs featured discussions about young adult books and whether these books challenge readers enough, or if readers should be picking up the classics alongside these books because classics are much more complicated and challenge reader’s minds. I’m not going to go into a big discussion about young adult literature and the complexities of it, versus adult classics, instead I’d like to pick up on the point about classics being challenging – as in harder to read, therefore more worthwhile. Again this post isn’t meant to address the loaded question of whether stuff that is hard is always good for you, or even if books being good for you is something we’re all looking for. Instead I’d like to make a shocking and controversial statement (giggles):

Not all classics are hard to read.

I’m not saying this because I’m uber smart and can read the most complicated classics as easy as snapping my fingers. I’m saying it because it is not technically difficult to read the work of many classic authors. Take Graham Greene for example, although his writing is beautiful, it’s also straightforward prose written with the kind of easy going rhythm that makes breezing through his novels a piece of rainbow coloured candyfloss (piece of pie just seemed such a dull comparison for Greene). There are some deep ideas in his books that may stretch a reader’s mind and worldview, but typically it’s quite easy to see what Greene’s on about and what he would like his readers to think about, even if it’s not always easy to see what he wants them to think (and frankly I’d never have finished any of his novels if he was one of those dictatorial writers who only wants you to see the world their way).

Greene isn’t the only classic author whose writing is easy and fun to read (just in case you don’t rate him, or something). Plautalus wrote ancient Roman comedies that are effortless to follow, although admittedly this may be partly because so many of the dramatic structures and plots that modern readers are familiar with have been based on them (Shakespeare’s comedies for instance follow roughly the same rules as Roman comedies). E M Forster’s writing is light and his stories usually focus around a domestic situation. Both are classic authors, deemed important and relevant by the ages, but both have produced work that goes down easily.

Yes you will encounter worthwhile classics that are more challenging to read, but just like young adult novels classics don’t form a separate genre, they’re not all part of one homogenous group with similar characteristics. So if you’re feeling a little down on classic literature, or you’re not sure you want to give classics a try, or if you’re just looking for an enjoyable read why not pick up a classic that reads like an especially lovely dream (recommendations below).

Recommendations

'Maurice' – E M Forster
'The Picture of Dorian Gray' – Oscar Wilde
'Brideshead Revisited' – Evelyn Waugh
'The End of the Affair' – Graham Greene
'Rebecca' – Daphne du Maurier
'To Kill a Mocking Bird' – Harper Lee
'I Capture the Castle' – Dodie Smith

A little question to finish off - which classic author or book is your nemesis? Have you ever powered through a classic book you found difficult to read and have you felt the benefit?

Secret Santa - The First

Phew my final secret santa gift is making it's way out to the recipient now. I've very much enjoyed taking part in four secret santa exchanges and seeing what other people have done, plus getting ideas for sort of more effortful things I might incorporate into my gifts next year. Now I'm rubbing my hands and gleefully waiting for my own gifts to arrive. Obviously that began a little while ago when organised Thomas of 'My Porch' sent me my first Persephone books and this week one of my other secret santas (feel free to make yourself know by the way) has sent me a package adressed in very neat handwriting.
They sent me 'Mapping the Edge' by Sarah Dunant who has written some of my favourite historical novels. This book is about a young woman who leaves her family and friends behind without any explanation, to embark on what sounds like a rather bizarre and possibly scary journey. Then there's also 'The Electric Michelangelo' by Sarah Hall, who if you don't know already proved herself a literary goddess with 'The Carhullan Army'. This book came before that slim piece of dysotopian feminism and follows a young man, apprenticed to a tattoo artist. Oh and there are chocolate Santas from M&S to finish off this yummy Christmas treat.

I've been meaning to show you all the final package that came from Thomas, after the Persephones arrived, but the glare that comes from taking pictures after winter 'nightfall' (dark at 16:00 is just silly) so I think I'll have to content myself with telling you about it. First I opened up a lovely letter on Thomas' very own letterhead, which I am so impressed that he has (although I'm not so surprised, knowing how much he likes typefaces) telling me that I was getting some more personal bits and bobs to give me a taste of the city he lives in, Washington DC. I've now got postcards showing lanscape paintings from the White House Art collection and of the Washington National cathedral and a bookmark from the Library of Congress. My absolute favourite part of this package is a desk diary from the Smithsonian Institute, which has the most amazing photography from all the different parts that make it up. I've already spent a good bit of time flicking through and staring at the pictures. Love, love, love it!

And he doesn't stop there. I also received a mini book called 'These Wonderful Books' with famous book related quotes and a package of bookplates. I've never had bookplates before, but I know of some special books that I'm going to keep forever that could do with decorating.

Once again thanks tons to both of the people who have sent me prezzies! It's really helping me get in the seaosnal spirit. I'd like to quickly pass on the Christmas cheer by advising everyone who can to go watch Kirstie's homemade Christmas, where Kirstie Allsop will show you how to make unique decorations (presents are next week) and to pop into Knock Knocking's etsy shop where you can see (and purchase if you're inclined) some of the most original, cheery festive door wreaths I've ever seen.

The Day the Falls Stood Still - Cathy Marie Buchanan

It is hard to explain just what elements Cathy Marie Buchanan has utilised to create such a confident and instantly likeable narrative voice in ‘The Day the Falls Stood Still’:

‘The stone walls of the Loretto Academy are so thick I can sit curled up on the windowsill, arms around the knees tucked beneath my chin. It stands on a bluff not far from the Horseshoe Falls, and because I have been a student long enough to rank a room on the river side, I have only to open a pair of shutters to take in my own private view of the Niagra. Beyond the hedge and gate marking the perimeter of the academy, and the steep descent leading to the wooded shore, I can see the upper river and the falls. Endless water plummets from the brink to the rocks below, like the careless who slip, like the stunters who fail, like the suicidal who leap. I nudge my attention downriver, to clouds of rising mist.’

Is it the narrator Bess Heaths’ knowledge of her surroundings and the ease she affects when she first leads the reader into her private space to gaze at her private view? Does the solidity and the power of the imagery presented in this first description and the decisive way in which Bess describes the scene outside her window place ideas of certainty in the reader’s mind? I suspect a little of both, combined with the carefully crafted lengths of the sentences which sit together in this block may be why after two, or three pages I was so committed to Bess’ story. Or maybe it’s because I’m just a sucker for a love story.

Bess’ father has been let go from the Niagra Falls hydroelectric power plant, which means she must leave her exclusive girl’s boarding school, the Loretto Academy. As she makes her way back to her parent’s aristocratic home Glenview, Bess meets the river coloured eye of Tom, a young, working class man who helps her carry her trunk home. This is the beginning of a romance between Bess and Tom that crosses class boundaries and distances Bess from those around her. It may require a little suspension of believe that such determined and lasting feelings can erupt from one encounter, but readers are probably practised at this from reading many other ‘love at first sight’ stories (at least I know I am). Tom it turns out is as romantic a hero as readers could hope for. He is the grandson of Niagara Falls famous river man Fergus Cole, who possessed an uncanny affinity with the river and saved many people from the Falls. Tom also possesses an intuition about the river and cares deeply that it is being exploited so by the electricity companies. His connection with such a powerful force of nature has made him strong, brave and tender, just the kind of calmly masculine beau Bess needs.

Bess returns to a crumbling house of privilege. Her father now drinks excessively at a local hotel and her sister refuses to eat after being jilted by her fiancé, when her father got sacked. Her mother has been providing for them by sewing dresses, but accustomed as she is to an easy, rich life she can’t accept that her family might find happiness in reduced circumstances and tries to cling on to Glenview and her fine life. Bess helps with the dressmaking and while her mother is proud of her work, the reader can see her scheming to use Bess to improve the family’s circumstances, when a solid, unintelligent family friend shows he is romantically interest in Bess.

The story of a young woman being asked to compromise her romantic dreams for the sake of her family, is a well known plotline of historical fiction, but in ‘The Day the Falls Stood Still’ Bess’ mother is not asking her to save her family from ruin, she’s asking Bess to preserve their privileged status as one of the elite families in Niagara. When a family tragedy makes Bess run to Tom and publicly embarrass her fiancé it is hard to feel sympathy for her father and mother, after they have decided to parcel their youngest daughter off, rather than work hard to rebuild their lives. This theme of people believing they need more to be happy reoccurs later when Tom and Bess marry and reflects Tom’s disgust as the hydroelectricity plants drive up demand for electricity by advertising new appliances people have never known to want before. In Buchanan’s novel progress equates to a fancy lie that people use to justify wanting to own more.
With this idea in mind Buchanan seeks to portray a more natural lifestyle as an ideal. Much of Tom and Bess’ courtship takes place in a glen and in later life their relationship works best when Tom is free to work with the river. Untamed nature is set alongside the progress that exploiting nature can bring and loses, as is shown through a series of news clippings about Fergus Cole’s river rescues, which clearly indicate that the Falls is angry about the damage being done to it by construction. Religious faith is aligned with Niagara Falls, which appears to be a vengeful force that must be respected, but is almost a second home to Tom who loves and understands the river. However, Buchanan wants to remind readers of the sinister lure that ferociously beautiful landscapes can inspire. Tom is unable to resist the water in a way which seems brave and healthy, until considered from Bess’ point of view. Others give into the pull of the water in their weaker moments, jumping or ‘dropping’ their children in. She makes the river represent the spiritual, but also at times the malevolently supernatural, or perhaps she is attempting to portray the two different kinds of God that most people waver between believing in, the loving God and the vengeful God. This familiar juxtaposition inspired by gothic natural spectacles like Niagara Falls is expressed with a delicate kind of grace, through the characters of Tom and Bess, which makes the ideas seem more connected to human realities, rather than abstract spiritual concepts.

‘The Day the Falls Stood Still’s central interest can be described as spirituality, or nature versus progress, or even the idea that all human beings are strangers to each other, but personally I found the weight of the expectations of others the most interesting idea explored in this novel. Bess’ father begins drinking when he fails to live up to his wife’s expectation that he will provide a stable home, while Tom goes to war and then takes a job that violates his principles partly because of other people’s expectations, partly because of the pressure he puts on himself when he thinks he has guessed their expectations. Even Bess finds herself a victim of other’s expectations, as she disappoints the town by marrying Tom and then tries to conform to his idea that she must be a thrifty, understanding wife when she thinks about owning an electric iron and keeping him from going out when people call for his help. The ending of the book and the family tragedy I mentioned above (I will try not to spoil these for you) both revolve around how characters tend to second guess what other people’s expectations are and act accordingly, which often brings tragedy.

There are some rough spots in this debut novel. Some of the secondary characters, for example Bess’ father, suffer from a lack of development and it can be hard to understand just who they are. There is no relevant counter argument for Tom’s claims that hydroelectricity is destroying the river. Characters step forward to tell Tom that progress is inevitable and electricity makes life easier, but these arguments are easily dismissed as they are spouted by foolish, or greedy characters. A character who argued for hydroelectricity as a way of avoiding scarring the land by digging out coal might have made the opposition a little more complex. While it’s clear there’s going to be some tragedy in a book set near such a prime sight for tragic mishaps as Niagara Falls, the final calamity of the book felt unnecessary, as if the author had overloaded the novel a little. Also does anyone know why Bess’ father is sacked? If it’s mentioned in the novel I missed it. Edit: The author dropped by and pointed out where it is mentioned, early on in the book, so this was all me. It’s not perfect, but it’s pretty darn great, far more intricate and emotionally interesting than a few often publicised novels of history and romance that I’ve read this year. I’m really looking forward to more novels from Cathy Marie Buchanan in the future.

Other Reviews

Peeking Btewenn the Pages
Book Chatter and Stuff
Historical Tapestry
Linus’s Blanket
Medieval Bookworm
Presenting Lenore
Back of the Book
Incurable Logophilia
The Betty and Boo Chronicles

The TBR Challenge

Right now I am signed up for 6 challenges in 2010. I clearly need some way to curb my challenge joining, before it gets out of hand like it did this year and what could be a better way for me to stop joining challenges than to join another one right now...wait, this IS going somewhere.

Over at Telecommuter Talk’ there’s a new challenge called the TBR challenge. Basically it’s designed to get you to make twenty books from your massive TBR list a priority and curb your book buying by saying that you can’t buy anything new until you finish these books, unless you’re buying books for book clubs or read-a-longs. Some challenge participants are modifying that last bit, because going cold turkey is hard and I thought that if I messed around with it a bit I could use this challenge to keep me from joining twenty thousand other challenges in 2010. So my challenge rule is that I can buy books if I need them for challenges/read-a-longs (and for this one themed month I have planned in 2010), but I can’t join any new challenges until I finish these twenty books.

Now the book list:

Books from a long time ago

These are the books I saw (probably because they were getting high levels of publicity), bought in a fit of excitement and then never looked at again. They all sound appealing, but my fickle mind has decided they are not as cool as other shiny, new acquisitions.

‘The Concise Chinese to English Dictionary for Lovers’ – Xiaolu Guo
‘The Observations’ – Jane Harris
‘The Secret River’ – Kate Grenville
‘Winter in Madrid’ – C J Samson
‘Women’s World’ – Graham Rawle

Books from my parent’s bookshelves

Just a few of the books my parents are patiently putting by for me. I especially want to get moving on ‘Dark Echo’ because I have clearly lied about how I am ‘absolutely going to read this next’ a number of times now.

‘The Lollipop Shoes’ – Joanne Harris
‘Lullabies for Little Criminals’ – Heather O’Neil
‘Dark Echo’ – F G Cottam
‘Howard’s End’ – E M Forster

Newish books I can’t wait to break into

Look at the shiny! In order to stop these suffering the same long wait as the books in the top category I need to get on them now.

‘The Day the Falls Stood Still’ – Cathy Marie Buchanan (this is the book I’m starting with and I’m already quite enamoured with it)
‘The Silver Phoenix’ – Cindy Pon
‘The Hopkins Manuscript’ – R C Sherriff
‘Leviathan’ – Philip Hoare
‘The Throne of Jade’ – Naomi Novick
‘Funny How Things Change’ – Melissa Wyatt

Misc

I haven’t had these for long, but they’re not really shiny and new. I think I may have read too many Twilight parodies to resist ‘New Moon’ for much longer. I’m reading ‘The Buccaneers’ for the next Classics Circuit tour. Emma and Sea of Poppies have been in my house since the beginning of the year and somehow keep getting pushed to the back of the queue.

‘Emma’ – Jane Austen
‘New Moon’ – Stephanie Myer
‘The Buccaneers’ – Edith Wharton
‘Sea of Poppies’ – Amitav Ghosh
‘The Hearts of Horses’ – Molly Fox

Is anyone else planning to join?

Young Bloods (Revolution Volume 1) - Simon Scarrow

‘Young Bloods’ begins Simon Scarrow’s trilogy about the lives, careers and fates of Napoleon Bonaparte and Arthur Welsey, later to be known as The Duke of Wellington. This first book follows both characters from birth until their twenties, a time when they each take part in their first significant military action. While the two main characters come from different countries and fight on different sides they have similar upbringings and family histories, a point that Scarrow rams home in the epilogue just in case readers missed all the pointers throughout the novel. They’re both born in the same year, both grow up with aristocratic connections, but little money and when they’re sent away to school, both feel the negative impact on their relationships with their fathers. By writing an alternating narrative, that follows one of the boys through a set of years, then jumps back to the beginning of this period and follows the other, Scarrow makes it absolutely clear that the fates of these two similar boys are connected with each other.

Napoleon and Arthur emerge from their similar upbringings with different ideas about class and rule. Napoleon has been born in subjugated Corsica that longs for independence and he feels sympathy for the common people of France, who are treated unjustly by the aristocrats. Arthur identifies more with the upper class and wants the systems he has grown up with to be preserved. He is frustratingly blind to the injustices committed against the people, convinced that their interests are best served by the upper classes remaining in power. Scarrow has pulled a clever revisionist trick here, by making young Napoleon much more likeable than young Arthur. Although Napoleon can be sly and proud it’s hard not to feel that he is on the side of right, as he fights to be judged on merit not birth, whereas Arthur wants to keep the poor down so that rich, worthless men can take all the top positions. It’s an especially galling attitude as Arthur is portrayed as just such a feckless, anti-intellectual toff. Scarrow is careful to show that Arthur’s ideas are created by the time he lives in, as he sees the carnage that a rampaging mob can cause when he is young, but it’s hard not to feel that Scarrow is supporting Napoleon more strongly than Arthur in this early book. Readers may know that Napoleon is going to turn into a dictator in later books, but in ‘Young Bloods’ we see the intelligent, passionate seeds that inspire his political ideals. Unfortunately these will be corrupted later.

Apart from this reversal of received opinion ‘Young Bloods’ is standard fare for its historical subgenre (military historical fiction or something like that). The writing is solid, storytelling prose and there are some gripping battle scenes towards the end of the book that make it an entertaining way to spend quite a few hours. However there are certainly parts you can skim, without paying much attention and I thought it could have done with losing a bit of bulk. It’s the characterisation of Napoleon and the emerging growth of Arthur (he’s still an ass by the end of the book, but at least he begins to work hard and make something of himself by the end of the book) that makes this book worth reading, rather than the substance of the writing or plot.

If you've reviewed this book leave me a link in the comments and I'll link to your review t the bottom of this post.

Boys and Girls

It seems that every year some very wrong man in the public eye will claim that women are invading and despoiling their male territory. It seems they believe that everyone is gagging for more of the ‘by claiming their feminist rights women are emasculating men with rusty scissors’ argument. Excuse me while I yawn in an ostentatiously rude manner.

I absolutely don’t agree that men should get dibs on any field they feel is traditionally manly, just because it has always been a male arena. If we let that go on then all women would end up back in the kitchen, or nursery – those being the two most ‘traditionally female’ areas. But these irrational arguments are miles away from the idea that some more sensible men express; that men need society to provide a space for culture and literature about issues that are specifically male, for example what it means to be a man, biological male stuff, or friendships between men. I tend to think that women need a specific cultural space which examines femaleness with all its variations and specific experiences, so, in my opinion, in an equal society men need the same kind of space.

I’m only twenty four, I’m still figuring things like this out and this issue especially brings up conflicting ideas in my head. For instance, how can these kind of spaces be created without accidentally building exclusionary, literary ghettos? Is it necessary for authors to write books that focus on one gender’s issues, or can a book successfully examine gender issues from both sides? Do genres that have been traditionally designated 'male' (eg. historical war fiction) and 'female' (eg. chick-lit) do a good job of addressing shifting definitions of what being a man, or a woman means, or are they repeating and reinforcing old cultural expectations about gender? Do these genres create the aforementioned ghettos, or are they in fact already the cultural space I'm thinking of?

I’d like to throw the discussion over to you guys and ask what you think about literature (and broader culture) that seeks to help a specific gender explore itself. Is it necesary, does it even exist and if it does how successful is it? I’d be so interested to hear what anyone has to say about this.

The One Hundred

Waterstones have launched their buy one get one free promotion on 100 of the biggest books of the year (not in size, rather in success). I'm kind of ambivalent about this idea, because although Waterstones has been instrumental in increasing sales for many of these books (I'm thinking specifically of all the promotion it did for 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo') these books are now big enough to stand on their own two feet. Do books like 'Nation' really need extra publicity, what with the legions of fans who already follow the authors? It's quite likely people will be aware of them and will buy them as Christmas presents without Waterstones shining a further spotlight on them.

Wouldn't this promotion be much more wonderful if Waterstone's concentrated on pushing books that aren't already so visible to the public? Personally nothing kills my bookstore experience quite like seeing tables full of books I've already heard about from a thousand different sources and especially at Christmas I want something exciting and new to lift the intense depression caused by battling through shopping crowds (I always visit the bookstore last, so I only have to go to the bus and so can carry heavy books, seeing more books to explore would brighten up my whole shopping experience).

I really want to create an alternative to Waterstone's list, a list of 100 books that haven't received gigantic amounts of publicity ever, but are ultimately just as awesome as the big books. Would you like to help me make such a list (sure you would, book bloggers love a good list)? I'll pick the first 10 books to go on it and then you can add the next 10 in the comments, then I'll add your choices on to the list. If 10 people show up and comment we'll quickly have 100 books spotlighted here in a small way.

The only rules are:

Books can be published in any year
They must have received low levels of whatever kind of a publicity you deem important (reviews, ad campaigns, awards etc) - this is not exactly a scientific list with well defined criteria, let's say the book just hasn't gone stratospheric
Books can be in any genre and for any age level, they can even be neglected classics that have always flown under the radar
Books must be awesome to read

So we begin in no particular order:

'Spaceman Blues' - Brian Francis Slattery
'Chameleon' - Charles R Smith
'What they always tell us' - Martin Wilson
'Mistakes were made (but not by me)' - Carol Travis & Elliot Aronson
'Empress of the World' - Sarah Ryan
'Because I am Furniture' - Thalia Chaltas
'Captivity' - Debbie Lee Wesselmann
'The Little Lady Agency' - Hester Browne
'Facts for Visitors' - Srikanth Reddy
'Seige, A novel of the Eastern Front' - Russ Schneider
'August: Osage County' - Tracy Letts
'Amulet Vol 1' - Kazu Kibuishi
'Touch Magic' - Jane Yolen
'Not Becoming my Mother' - Ruth Reichl
'Crazy Beautiful' - Lauren Baratz-Logstead
'Standing up to the Madness' - Amy Goodman and David Goodman
'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' - Langston Hughes, illustrated by E.B. LewisTuck
'Finally Tuck Everlasting' - Natalie Babbit
'The Amazing "True" Story of a Teenager Single Mom' - Katherine Arnold
'The Winner of Sorrow' - Brian Lynch
'Excellent Women' - Barbara Pym
'Slaves of Solitude' - Patrick Hamilton
'Frost in May' - Antonia White
'The Gone-Away World' – Nick Harkaway
'Summerland' – Michael Chabon
'The Last Gentleman' – Walker Percy
'The Thief Lord' – Cornelia Funke
'Old Man's War' - John Scalzi
'The Magus' - John Fowles
'After' - Francine Prose
'Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant' - Anne Tyler
'The Borrible Trilogy' - Michael de Larrabeiti
'The Thief' - Megan Whalen Turner
'The Old Wives' Tale' - Arnold Bennett
'Winter Wheat' - Mildred Walker
'Daddy Long Legs' - Jean Webster
'The Ginger Tree' - Oswald Wynn
'West with the Night' - Beryl Markham
'A Very Long Engagement' - Sebastien Japrisot
'Elizabeth and Her German Garden' Elizabeth Von Arnim
'Love in a Cold Climate' - Nancy Mitford
'Dogsbody' - Diana Wynne Jones
'The Golems of Gotham' – Thane Rosenbaum
'As for Me and my House' – Sinclair Ross
'Not Wanted on the Voyage' – Thomas Findley
' The Post-Office Girl' - Stefan Zweig
'Ghost Town' - Richard W. Jennings
'Petronella Saves Nearly Everyone' - Dene Low
'Eyes Like Stars' - Lisa Mantchev
Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood'Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood' - Benjamin Alire Saenz
'M+0 4Evr' - Tony Hegamin
'Trading Dreams at Midnight' - Diane Mckinney Whetstone
'Daughters of the Stone' - Dahlma Llanos - Figuera
'I Got Somebody in Stauton' - William Henry Lewis
'Carter Finally Gets It' - Brent Crawford
'Sweethearts of Rhythm' - Marilyn Nelson illus. by Jerry Pinkney
'In A Hotel Garden' - Gabriel Josipovici
'Of Hearts and Minds' - Rosy Thornton
'A Time of Gifts' - Patrick Leigh Fermor
'A Favourite of the Gods' - Sybille Bedford
'The Orchard' - Drusilla Modjeska
'Old Filth' - Jane Gardam
'The Beginning of Spring' - Penelope Fitzgerald
'Come Thou Tortoise' - Jessica Grant
'Smuggling Donkeys' - David Helwig
'Latitudes of Melt' - Joan Clark
'Remembering the bones' - Frances Itani
'Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie' - Alan Bradley
'The Manual of Detection' - Jedediah Berry
'The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane' Kate DiCamillo
'The Ladies of Grace Adieu' - Susanna Clarke
'The Wood Wife' - Terri Windling
'Freaks' - Annette Curtis Klause
'The Adventures of Langdon St. Ives' - James P. Blaylock
'The Wizard Knight' - Gene Wolfe
'Bad Monkeys' - Matt Ruff
'Confessions of a Memory Eater' - Pagan Kennedy
'An Ungodly Child' - Rachel Green
'Wrath of the Lemming Men' - Toby Frost

(Current total 78)
(Italics mean someone has debated the title being on the list)

Feel free to disagree with others selections, make sure to contribute your own picks and please wait a few days for me to start linking up to where you can buy these brilliant books for Christmas!