Sunday Salon: Book Hangover

Musing for this week's Sunday Salon.


After finishing Kids of Appetite (review), I've been in a book hangover, and can't settle with another book.  First, I tried the library-magazine recommended Security by Gina Wohlsdorf and found it dull.  (If I'd looked it up on Amazon or Goodreads first, I'd never have tried it.)

I picked up StormDancer by Jay Kristoff.  He's co-writer of Illuminae which I loved (review), and I wanted to try his solo works.  It was interesting, but I felt like I needed to know Japanese mythology to appreciate it.  I just floundered in the few chapters I read.

After that, I excitedly picked up Crown of Midnight by Sarah J Maas. This is the high-rated second book in the Throne of Glass series, the first of which I quite enjoyed. (review)  I know it must just be me, but. . . I could not become invested in the same characters that I cared so much about in the first book.  In addition, I had read what the third book was about and the blurb caused a huge spoiler for this book, which didn't help this book become any more interesting.

Next on my list was Gail Carringer's Etiquette & Espionage, the supposedly delightful beginning to a supposedly delightful series.  Just like Soulless, it was a silly bit of fluff and, though it made me laugh, I abandoned it after a few chapters.

Then I picked up a Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab.  This Savage Song (review) was so excellent, and I had high hopes for this series.  The premise is interesting, and Schwab's writing is great, but. . . Again, I know it's just me but I couldn't stay focused on it.

I've got about ten more library books checked out, but instead, I'm reading one of my unread Little sisters novels to get me back in the reading saddle.  These sisters wrote slapstick mysteries during the 1940's and 50's.  They plot well and the characters are always bizarre and interesting.  The comedy isn't over done and generally balances the somewhat gruesome crimes that are the center of the story.
If this doesn't cure the hangover, I'm just going to read Kids of Appetite again!

Note all the flagged passages.

Sunday Salon: Finishing July

Musing for this week's Sunday Salon.


This past week, I  bought a copy of a Court of Mist and Fury from Target (I read a library copy) because the Target copy contained a bonus short story--which was awesome!  It was well worth buying the book to get it.  Besides, I enjoyed it enough to want to reread bits, if not the whole.  I plan to buy a Court of Thorns and Roses with a gift card I got for my birthday--again because I liked it enough to want to reread it.  (Just because I didn't give these two novels 5 stars doesn't mean that I didn't think the plots were just plain great!)

I got another order of (mostly) bookish stickers from RedBubble.  I'm so happy with them! My laptop looks awesome!  (The first photo is of the new stickers; the second is of the first set I got.  I now have them all on my laptop!)  My favorite is still a tie between the Fifth Doctor playing cricket, and River and Twelfth Doctor standing so close.

This month, I read 10 books and listened to 4 audio books.  My low number of audio books is because I've been listening to Agatha Christie's extremely long (but enjoyable) autobiography.
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Here is what I read:
1. My Lady Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadows (4/5 stars)
2. The Black Dream by the Little Sisters (4/5 stars)
3. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (4/5 stars)
4. Every Exquisite Thing by Matthew Quick (5/5 stars)
5. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (4/5 stars)
6. 100 Dresses: If the Magic Fits (ARC) by Susan Maupin Schmid (5/5 stars)
7. This Savage Song by Victoria Schwab (5/5 stars)
8. A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (4/5 stars)
9. Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo (3/5 stars)
10. The Uncommoners: A Crooked Sixpence by Jennifer Bell (4/5 stars)
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Here are the audio books I finished:
1. Thou Shell of Death by Nicholas Blake (4/5 stars)
2. Cinder by Marissa Meyer (3/5 stars)
3. The Water Room by Christopher Fowler (4/5 stars)
4. Scarlet by Marissa Meyer (4/5 stars)

Sunday Salon: The Little Prince

Musing for this week's Sunday Salon.

This week I started reading the Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

I'm about to make a lot of people upset, but. . . 

I didn't really like it.  

I went into the experience with high expectations, due to the devotion this book engenders.  I kept waiting to be charmed and awed, but I never was.  I made it about a quarter of the way through, and dreaded having to go back to it, so I gave up.  

I don't know what exactly about it I didn't like, only that I didn't like it.  

One smallish thing that colored my view of the book was this:  I think he got sheep and goats mixed up.  Sheep don't eat everything, like he said.  The eat grass and clovers and the like.  Goats eat EVERYTHING and would have had no trouble eating the baobab shoots.  I found this most distracting!

Then there was the shifting of point of view.  Sometimes the pilot is talking to the reader, and sometimes to the Little Prince.  This kept the narrative from running smoothly and drove me batty.

On the positive side, I loved the artwork.  It was enchanting and appealing--like I expected the prose to be.

Have you read it?  Did you love it?  What am I missing?  Why is this a classic of children's literature?

Anyone got answers for me?

Sunday Salon: Week in Review

Musings for this week's Sunday Salon.

Gave up on another novel this past week: Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson.  I read her second novel, the Summer Before the War, and other than wondering why it had been misnamed, thoroughly enjoyed it (5 star read).

Major Pettigrew is her first novel. The writing is good, and I was quite interested in the relationship between Major Pettigrew and Mrs. Ali.  I was not, however, interested in the other conflicts in the book.  I kept getting bogged down with these episodes, skimming pages and trying to get back to Mrs. Ali.  Finally, I decided to skip to the last chapter and call it quits.

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I managed to buy nine books this week.  Nine.  I bought books at the used bookstore, the thrift store, Sam's Club and the Dollar Tree.  I'll never get all I've got read, thanks to the library book sale last month and going overboard this week.  I've got to give myself a book buying ban again.

After I wrote this, I remembered the tenth book I bought this week, using the Amazon Prime Day discount, so the grand total of books purchased is ten.  I really need to slow down!

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Speaking of the local used bookstore, here is what is looks like:

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It was a good week for reading; I read and thoroughly enjoyed three novels, and am enjoying the one I started last night (a Court of Thorns and Roses).

Plus I'm listening to Agatha Christie's Autobiography and it is fantastic.  She was born in the tail-end of the Victorian age, and has so many interesting things to tell about her childhood.  I'm not up to the Great War yet, so I don't know if her style will change as the book progresses, but so far it is engaging, delightful and informative!

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Sunday Salon: Reviewing the Week

Musing for this week's Sunday Salon.

I finished a Nicholas Blake mystery (Thou Shell of Death) this week on audio book.  It was the second in the series and the second I have read.  I have mixed feelings about these books.

Nicholas Blake is the pseudonym for Poet Laureate Cecil Day Lewis.  There are times when these books are so pompous and affected that I feel as if the author is saying, "I'm Poet Laureate and I'm just playing at writing mysteries".  Of course, maybe he was saying just that.

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The bookmarks I ordered from craftedvan arrived this week.  They are lovely and kawaii, but they are not as sturdy or as magnetic as I would wish.  If I had held them in my hand before I bought them, I probably would have passed them by.  However, they make me smile every time I see them in my books, and an extra smile is worth it.

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I have reached 100 followers on my bookish-only Instagram account.  A rather big deal, when you consider I've only been using that account for over a week.  I am really enjoying the bookstagram community.  I've met some nice ladies and discovered quite a few books that I've added to my want-to-read list.

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Also finished reading to Cinder as an audio book.  I liked the plot but the narrator wasn't very good.  Unfortunately, she reads the whole series.  I'm still going to listen to the next book, though, as I'm interested in what is going to happen.  I'm not going to give it a real review--the plot is too convoluted to explain--but it was good.  I'd give it 3.5-4 stars.  Some of the conversation seemed stilted, but I think that was due to the narrator.  I'd have to visibly read the book and see if the flow is better before I'd be willing to commit myself to a real review.

Sunday Salon: June in Review

Musing for this week's Sunday Salon.

In June, I read nine books and listened to four audio books.  That's a low number of audio books for me, but two of them were longish nonfiction, and slowed me down.

Books Read:
The Blackout (1951) by Constance and Gwyneth Little
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper (2016) by Phaedra Patrick

The Madwoman Upstairs (2016) by Catherine Lowell
Wink Poppy Midnight (2016) by April Genevieve Tucholke
Mystery in White (1937) J. Jefferson Farjeon
The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman (2016) Mamen Sanchez
The Secrets of Wishtide (2016) by Kate Saunders
Britt-Marie Was Here (2014) by Fredrik Backman
Life and Death of Harriett Frean (1922) by May Sinclair

Audio Books:
The Magnificent Century (1951) by Thomas B. Costain
Final Curtain (1947) by Ngaio Marsh
The Three Edwards (1958) by Thomas B. Costain
The Leper of St. Giles (1981) by Ellis Peters

I didn't review The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper, but it was well worth reading.  Maybe not quite 5 stars, but close.  The two I most recommend out of this month are Britt-Marie Was Here (my review) and The Altogether Unexpected Disappearance of Atticus Craftsman (my review).

I also took two trips to the library's annual used book sale--I went on the first day, and on the last day when books were $5/bag.  In addition, I got one book in my OwlCrate and three from the used book store, making a grand total of 32 books for the month. I've been so good over the past few years, trying to keep my book buying to a minimum, but I went wild in June.  Here is my haul, minus My Lady Jane.  Notice the matching set of Alcott books in the back of the top left photo.  They were from the 1950's and looked as if they'd never been opened!

Sunday Salon: The Week in Review

Musing for this week's Sunday Salon.

This week I read one ARC that just wasn't great and one that was super.  Yesterday I started another that I am having a real hard time reading.  I think I'm going to have to read it in small doses while I read one that I do enjoy.  I've got two library books, the book from my OwlCrate, a stack from the used book store (last month's trip) and today I went to the library's used book sale and brought home more--I really want to read one these and not this ARC.

Our county's library has a four day sale.  The first day is for Friends of the Library members only, which we are.  We didn't have a great deal of time to spend today, but I still found some treasures.  Look at the set of Alcott books from the 1950's (photo below).  They have never been read!  I also found old copies of the Woman in White (one of my favorites) and the Princess and the Curdie (by a favorite author).  Major Pettigrew's Last Stand and Norwegian Wood have been on my I'd-like-to-read-it list for a while.  The Nabokov is one of the few I don't own (Transparent Things). On Tuesday, they have their bag sale ($5 for a grocery bag full of books) and I'll go back then. The pickings will be slim, but I'm sure I'll have no trouble filling up a bag!

Sunday Salon: Returning to Blogging

Musing for this week's Sunday Salon.

Last week I decided, after a longer-than-intended hiatus, to return to reviewing books for Amazon Vine.   I've already reviewed two books (posted on here, too) and an iPhone accessory.  It feel nice to put my mind to a task like this again.  I'm also glad to revive this blog; I didn't realize until I started just how much I've missed blogging.

I also updated my Classics Club list.  It's funny how having a goal like that can make me so excited to read.  I'm really looking forward, after I finish my current ARC, to starting one of the classics from my list.

This was my June to-be-read pile, taken at the beginning of the month.  I've read two of the library books already.  The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper was a 4.5/5 star read.  The Madwoman Upstairs was good, and it wasn't.  I'd give it 3 stars.  I took Agatha Christie's biography back to the library unread, because I found that I could get the audio book instead.  Since then, I've added a few more to the pile and had some holds come in for me at the library.  

Thus far, I've read six books this month and listened to three audio books.   I don't know if I'll finish the month at that pace, of course.

I've started another ARC, Half a Lifelong Romance.  I'm only a little into it, but am finding it slow and stilted.  The reviews are 30% 5 star and 60% 4 star, so I'm hoping it will get better.

Sunday Salon: Epic Fantasy and Children's Books

Musing for this week's Sunday Salon.

This summer, blogging (and most other things, like dish-washing) has fallen by the way side due to taking two intense courses.  The one that was intense because it was crammed into one month is over (I finished it with a 97%; "Hermionie Granger", anyone?) and the one that is intense because of the amount of reading is still on-going.  It's a lovely course, though, about what makes good children's literature.  I am LOVING this class.  Many of the books assigned, I had read at least once before, and I've also discovered some fantastic books that were new to me. 

Each Little Bird that Sings, for example, was incredible.  Once we're done studying it, I'll post a review.  Another one that has knocked my socks off is Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind.  I'm writing my literary analysis on this one, and once I'm finished with it, will write a review.  I've been introduced to some wonderful picture books and easy readers (Mo Willems has become a favorite with my private therapy student and I) and over all the class has been a joy.  How wonderful it is to be able to discuss books with someone else that loves them as passionately as I do (aside from my husband, mother, Sarah and Deb, that is).  Of course, the class is peopled with students who don't care and even a few who strongly dislike having a Hermione Granger in their class.  I'm trying to grow a thicker skin.  You'd think, being nearly 40, I could manage to care less about the people around me than I did as I as undergrad all those years ago.  I blame it on the Asperger's, that need to be liked.  But I digress, and it is still a fantastic class regardless of the people in it.  (And I'm the only one with a 100% average after six papers and a midterm. . . Overachieve much?)

YA and juvie books are regular reads for me, but I needed a little break from them, since I'm getting so many in my class.  I picked up Dune, as I mentioned here, and boy am I glad I did!  What a gripping epic thus far!  I know it's sci fi, but it reads like an epic fantasy to me and I'm enthralled.  I'm still behind in the reading group, but I don't feel any pressure.  It's fun to know I'll have interesting questions to address when I get there.

On the way home tonight, I heard an interesting interview with George R. R. Martin.  I became totally entranced in the idea of his series.  I've got a Game of Thrones on Kindle now, and it's going  to be my  next book to read, after Dune.  Guess I'm in an epic fantasy kinda mood.

The Sunday Salon: Recommending Books

Recommending a book is serious business. There are times when I just say, "no, I can't think of anything right now" rather than recommending (or loaning) one only to have that person not like it. If I've liked it enough to recommend it, that book has moved from "just a book" to "friend" and it kinda hurts if I suggest it and the other reader doesn't love it like I did. So, I'm a hesitant recommender.

Sometimes, though, I've just gotta put that all aside. There are some books out there that are just to good to not share. Here are some that I always recommend. Always.

1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Don't look so shocked. . . this book is a feast of beautifully written language. I've never read a novel whose subject was so unappealing and yet whose prose was so drawing. Nabokov skyrocketed into my top five favorite authors after I read this.

2. City of Light by Lauren Belfer. A friend read it and raved about it, prompting me to try it. It sounded then, and still sounds now, dull and dry from the description, but it is one of the most engrossing novels I have ever read.

3. Sonny's House of Spies by George Ella Lyon. Here's another one that sounds like a yawner but was so beautifully written as to be unforgettable. For a more detailed review by me, you can pop over to it's page on Amazon, but here are a few fantastic lines from this book, many of which are like poetry, others of which capture the flavor of Southern small town life to a T!

"It was a sleepy kind of morning, the air like bathwater."

"Like some reversible cloth, Mama's laughter flipped over into sobs."

"We just stood by the shiny gray coffin with its handles like fancy toilet-paper holders and said "Yes" and "No" and "Thank you" and breathed whatever breaths came by: mint, onion, tobacco, whiskey, and bad."

"All the windows had been propped open, but it was one of those afternoons when the air lay on top of you like a big cat, and no waving of cardboard Jesus-at-the-door fans could make it get up and move."

4. Standing Alone by Asra Nomani. I read the ARC of this, when it had a slightly different title and a very different cover, and was awed by it. The message she has to tell is so timely and so important.

5. A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer. Don't be fooled by the title or even the blurb; this is not a Harry Potter type novel! It is a fantasy, but delicately and deliberately written with a complex story and characters. I have recommended it to even non-fantasy readers and thus far haven't found anyone who disliked it.

6. Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin. This one is just a gem! I read the ARC and have shared it what many people since. It's a sweet, funny, moving book with a wonderful story. Just a gem, I tell you!

7. Nation by Terry Pratchett. A lot of people are afraid to try Pratchett, afraid he'll be "too fantasy" for them. This is a stand alone book, only lightly fantasy in that it is in an alternate history, and is one of the most powerful books I've read. It breaks the walls of gender and race and age, gives a moving message about love and about prejudice. It is just SO wonderful. I can't recommend it highly enough!

One last one. . .
8. Evolution Man: Or, How I Ate My Father by Roy Lewis. I'm really not sure how to describe this book. It's witty, it's intelligent, it's a great read. Other than to say, "give it a try", I don't know what else to say about it!

So, what do YOU recommend?

The Sunday Salon: On Reading a New Translation

Years ago, the summer after I graduated from high school I believe, I read Madame Bovary. I found it depressing and was unimpressed.

In October, I heard a review of a new translation of Madame Bovary on NPR and this review, and my subsequent reading of the first chapter on my Kindle, caught me on fire for Flaubert. I realized that, though the timing of reading it may have had some to do with it, the translation of a work is so very important. I immediately requested it from our local library.

Lydia Davis explains about Flaubert's precision in her introduction--about how he would write all day and only have a few sentences to show for it. He was a perfectionist, each word had to fit exactly right. He used underlining often, to emphases certain words (italicized in this edition, left out entirely in most or all others). How important an emphasis is, how important one word can be!

As I am reading Davis' translation, I am amazing with the way Flaubert is able to turn a phrase, with his descriptive powers, and with the story he is really telling. Madame Bovary is the poster child for my stance against romance novels!

Here are a few examples, taken from early chapters, that show the subtle and yet monumental changes to the prose that can come from a translation that is seeking to emulate the author, not just translate his words.

previous translation by Eleanor Marx-Aveling:
We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a "new fellow," not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a large desk. Those who had been asleep woke up, and every one rose as if just surprised at his work.

new translation by Lydia Davis:
We were in Study Hall, when the Headmaster entered, followed by a new boy dressed in regular clothes and a school servant carrying a large desk. Those who were sleeping woke up, and everyone rose as though taken by surprise while at work.


previous translation by Eleanor Marx-Aveling:
Charles was surprised at the whiteness of her nails. They were shiny, delicate at the tips, more polished than the ivory of Dieppe, and almond-shaped. Yet her hand was not beautiful, perhaps not white enough, and a little hard at the knuckles; besides, it was too long, with no soft inflections in the outlines. Her real beauty was in her eyes. Although brown, they seemed black because of the lashes, and her look came at you frankly, with a candid boldness.

new translation by Lydia Davis:
Charles was surprised by the whiteness of her fingernails. They were glossy, delicate at the tips, more carefully cleaned than Dieppe ivories, and filed into almond shapes. Yet her hand was not beautiful, not pale enough, perhaps, and a little dry at the knuckles; it was also too long and without soft inflections in its contours. What was beautiful about her was her eyes; although they were brown, they seemed almost black because of the lashes, and her gaze fell upon you openly with, with a bold candor.


previous translation by Eleanor Marx-Aveling:
Her neck stood out from a white turned-down collar. Her hair, whose two black folds seemed each of a single piece, so smooth were they, was parted in the middle by a delicate line that curved slightly with the curve of the head; and, just showing the tip of the ear, it was joined behind in a thick chignon, with a wavy movement at the temples that the country doctor saw now for the first time in his life.

new translation by Lydia Davis:
Her neck rose out of a white, turned-down collar. Her hair, whose two black bands were so smooth they seemed each to be of a single piece, was divided in the middle of her head by a thin part that dipped slightly following the curve of her skull; and just barely revealing the lobes of her ears, it went on to merge in the back in an abundant chignon, with a wavy movement near the temples that the country doctor noticed for the first time in his life.


previous translation by Eleanor Marx-Aveling:
Before marriage she thought herself in love; but the happiness that should have followed this love not having come, she must, she thought, have been mistaken. And Emma tried to find out what one meant exactly in life by the words felicity, passion, rapture, that had seemed to her so beautiful in books.

new translation by Lydia Davis:
Before her marriage, she had believed that what she was experiencing was love; but since the happiness that should have resulted from that love had not come, she thought she must have been mistaken. And Emma tried to find out just what was meant, in life, by the words "bliss," "passion," and "intoxication," which had seemed so beautiful to her in books.

I'm reading this one very slowly, to enjoy all the nuances, so it may be a while before I review it. In the meantime, I encourage you to buy or borrow a copy yourself!

The Sunday Wednesday Salon: On the Legitimacy of Graphic Novels

(I had intended to write this post on Sunday, for the Salon, but a three day migraine has me behind.)

It has been my experience that 100% of librarians get their underwear painfully twisted when handling a graphic novel. I mean, they must, else why the odd faces when I check out one? They handle them as if the novel is (or perhaps I am) going to contaminate them and they are going to suddenly find themselves sporting purple hair, piercing and a tattoo (like me). Naturally, when they start with that pained expression, what I'd like to ask is: "have you ever read one?" and if not, check the attitude.

I'm of the school of "I've you've not tried it, don't knock it" or (as my mother, quoting her Native American ancestors, says) "don't judge a man until you've walked a moon in his moccasins". That goes for everything: people, food, books. . . Yes, even the graphic novel genre.

I was a bit a of a skeptic, graphical novel-wise, myself. I had read two and just didn't care for either one; neither book (one of which was Jane Eyre, and not really suited to this medium, and the other was a supposedly factual retelling of Gettysburg, which was full of historical errors) left me with warm regards toward the graphic novel as a whole.

Morpheus, Gaiman's "Sandman"

Then, after years of being a Neil Gaiman fan, I decided to see just what the big deal was about the Sandman graphic novels that have given him such a devoted fan base.

I started the first chapter ("issue"), reading the Absolute Sandman Vol 1 around 10p, and finished up the twentieth chapter around 2a. After all those hours of hold that heavy (seven pounds!) grimoire, my neck and back ached, but my head was filled with the world of Morpheus and Gaiman's amazing mythology and atories, plus the way that the illustrators used the images as a vehicle to further the story. Suddenly, I was no longer leaning toward the negative as far as graphic novels were concerned. I saw the graphic novel as a medium that could tell a story in a way that no other medium can: visually with pictures, textures, nuances, fonts, as well as with the magic of words.

I've been reading a lot of graphic novels lately. Some of which are just plain comic books--not reaching the art (literary and artistically) of graphic novels. If I'd started with some of these, I'd never fallen in love with the graphic novel as a medium. I'd continue to be saying, "eh, I've tried them, they're not for me". I even wondered for a bit, if the Sandman, if Gaiman and his partners were the only ones that really got the medium, used its full potential, and if all the rest really were nothing but glorified comic book writers and illustrators, making adult versions of the children's picture book.

Thank goodness I read 300 and then Britten and Brülightly which restored my relatively new faith in the true literary and artistic merit of the graphic novel.

I will be recommending Britten and Brülightly to anyone reluctant to try the genre, because it's a love letter to the graphic novel medium.

Yes, I had always questioned the legitimacy of graphic novels as literature, but after such spectacular examples as these I've mentioned, I have reversed my opinion. As for the not-as-spectacular ones, they aren't any worse than a mass market paperback, and in some cases way better. When a graphic novel is good, when the story is fine and the art helps to pull the story along, stop it for a moment's pause, relay as much information as the words, then a graphic novel is worthy of a read by any of the high brow literary crowd.

As for the librarians, meh. There's only one nice librarian at that particular library anyway (yes, YOU, Donna!) and the rest are only slightly less rude about my choice of other novels, kids books, and classic movies than they are about the graphic novels, so. . . Hey, maybe it IS just me and not the actual graphic novels anyway.  And maybe, just maybe, if I keep checking them out one of the librarians will get curious and try one herself.  Hey, I said "maybe"!

~the Sunday Salon~