Angieville

October Pretties

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Thu, 24 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

I am so excited about these upcoming releases. All three are due out in October (within a week of each other, actually), which seems so very far away at this point. I love all three covers, all three titles, and all three fascinating premises. I have never read anything by these authors, so it's anyone's guess as to how things will play out. I do have to say that I love that Eve & Adam is written by a husband-and-wife team. Other such teams have worked out just incredibly well for me in the past. I look forward to adding another set to the list.

Eve & Adam by Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate
After a bad accident, Eve (short for Evening) realizes she's healing faster than is to be expected. Recuperating in her mother's biotech lab, she and an unusual guy named Solo embark on the creation of the perfect boy.
Due out October 2nd.

Ironskin by Tina Connolly
Steampunk faery retelling of Jane Eyre. I could elaborate, but I think I'm gonna exercise a little restraint and just let that little chunk of awesomesauce sink in.
Due out October 2nd.

Jepp, Who Defied the Stars by Katherine Marsh
Historical fiction, ho! This one sounds part Shakespeare, part Three Musketeers and follows a court dwarf called Jepp who sets out to find his destiny and finds the adventure of a lifetime. That cover is just achingly gorgeous.
Due out October 9th.

The Great Gatsby Trailer

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:01:00 +0000

All right. Bring it on. Tell me what you think. Are you gonna see it as soon as it comes out? What do you think of Leo and Carey as Gatsby and Daisy? I'm a bundle of emotions. Definitely going to see it. Not sure what my response will be. But as of now? Tentatively excited.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Mon, 14 May 2012 18:19:00 +0000

I can tell you exactly what it was made me pick up this book for review (and what it was not). It was the comparisons (yes, multiple) to one Anna and the French Kiss. It was not the cover. Yeah, the colors are pretty and the font is nice. But otherwise it's just awkward. And cheesy. And this book is neither. I think I would have left it at the fence and skipped the junior high dance pose couple. Because while this book does have a romance in possession of the kind of heat you do not want to miss, that couple does not do them justice. There. I've said it. We shall move on. I wasn't planning on reading My Life Next Door at all, until I read the aforementioned comparisons and early happy reviews. Together they pushed me over the edge, and I went ahead and took the plunge. I mean, who in their right mind doesn't want to read a debut in the same vein as a Stephanie Perkins novel? I am pretty much incapable of resisting that lure. So.

Samantha Reed has a secret. One she keeps from her high-powered, ambitious, and judgmental mother. She watches the Garretts next door. Sort of like a hobby. Her mother despises their next door neighbors, with their constant noise, eight active children, and inability to keep their lawn in order. But Samantha? She is fascinated by them. They're everything her little family of three is not. Gregarious, messy . . . happy. With her mother always campaigning for office and her older sister absorbed in her boyfriend and summer job, Sam is content to watch the Garretts. Until she unexpectedly makes the acquaintance of the third-oldest Garrett--Jase. And everything changes. Samantha tries desperately to keep it on the down-low, knowing full well how badly her mother will react. Knowing that one wrong step could mean she won't be able to keep them. And that is exactly what she wants. Because it doesn't take much time spent in their actual company for Sam to fall head over heels in love with not just Jase, but the whole lot of them--this twirly spectacle of a family who, unlike the Reeds, seem to have a firm grip on what it means to love each other and know who you are.

The Garretts were my bedtime story, long before I ever thought I'd be a part of the story myself.

Love that line. It's the one that reeled me in within the first few pages. So, while I can see what reviewers were thinking when they linked My Life Next Door with Anna and the French Kiss, I don't in the end find the comparison that apt. You certainly might enjoy one if you enjoyed the other. They are both contemporary YA novels. They do both involve just incredibly swoon-worthy boys (though Jase would simply tower over St. Clair). But there the similarities end. After the fact, I am of the opinion that the Sarah Dessen comparisons are much more accurate. Which, you'll understand, unfortunately means this novel didn't work out for me quite as well as I was hoping. But it also means that it is compulsively readable. And it very likely means that a lot of you out there are going to simply love it. Let's start with the positive. The Garretts. They are mesmerizing. Like Samantha, I just could not look away from them. And I love the image of her growing up, watching them--in all their chaotic effervescence--from her solitary bedroom window across the way. There are so many of them, yet I felt Huntley Fitzpatrick did such a fine job of giving each sibling a distinct personality and role in the family and in the book. I loved each of them, and only wanted for more time in their company. These were by far my favorite moments in the book--when Sam is over at the Garrett's house babysitting, feeding the animals in Jase's room, or just basking in their company. Which leads me to Jase, who's company is most baskworthy. You are going to love Jase. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. He's kind of ideal in every way, which did occasionally lead me to wonder if Sam was really, well, up to speed if you will. I liked her a lot, but there was a bit of a disconnect between how utterly charming he was and how blatantly normal she was. I like the boy next door as much as the next girl, but this one did kind of steal the show from our girl. Which is not to say that I did not eat up every one of their scenes together with a spoon. Because let me tell you I did. It was these mundane details that made the book for me. Ms. Fitzpatrick has a gift for making the commonplace beautiful. But I did wish for a little more shine from Samantha to keep up with Jase. Here's a favorite interaction (taken from my uncorrected ARC):

When I get home from work the next day, sticky from walking back in the summer heat, my eyes immediately turn to the Garretts'. The house seems unusually quiet. I stand there looking, then see Jase in the driveway, lying on his back, doing some kind of work on a huge black-and-silver motorcycle.

I want to say right here that I am by no means the kind of girl who finds motorcycles and leather jackets appealing. In the last. Michael Kristoff, with his dark turtlenecks and moody poetry, was as close as I've gotten to liking a "bad boy," and he was enough to put me off them for life. We dated almost all spring, till I realized he was less a tortured artist than just a torture. That said, without planning, I walk right to the end of our yard, around my mother's tall "good neighbor" fence--the six-foot stockade she installed a few months after the Garretts moved in--and up the driveway.

"Hi there," I say. Brilliant opener, Samantha.

Jase props himself up on an elbow, looking at me for a minute without saying anything. His face gets an unreadable expression, and I wish I could take back walking over.

Then he observes, "I'm guessing that's a uniform."

Crap. I'd forgotten I was still wearing it. I look down at myself, in my short blue skirt, puffy white sailor blouse, and jaunty red neck scarf.

"Bingo." I'm completely embarrassed.

He nods, then smiles broadly at me. "It didn't quite say Samantha Reed to me somehow. Where on earth do you work?" He clears his throat. "And why there?"

"Breakfast Ahoy. Near the dock. I'm saving up for a car."

"The uniform?"

"My boss designed it."

Jase scrutinizes me in silence for a minute or two, then says, "He must have a rich fantasy life."

Great, isn't it? Which leads me to where things lost their fizz a bit for me. There is a conflict involved in the story (naturally) to do with the problem of Sam's mother seriously disliking the Garrett family in general. This conflict did not work for me. Instead of folding neatly into the story, it felt forced. Everything else was humming along so well (see the passage above), and this crisis felt fabricated simply for the sake of having some kind of conflict and resolution. I understand the reasoning, I just felt that in this case the story didn't need it. I would be happy to read about Sam and the Garrett family for ages of pages. When characters are that well drawn, I don't require a flimsy conflict to satisfy my need for drama. Pointless drama aside, My Life Next Door is a fun and knowing portrait of family, first love, and growing up. With it, it felt needlessly taxing and predictable. I pressed through the last section missing the quiet warmth of the first two-thirds. This will be a quibble (or even a complete non-issue) for many of you, and I still grin widely when I think of a few of the more memorable moments. So if any of this leaves you at all curious, be sure to check it out for yourself when the time comes.

My Life Next Door is due out June 14th.

Linkage
Book Loving Mommy review
The Busy Bibliophile interview
Charissa Books review
My Overstuffed Bookshelf review
Proud Book Nerd review
A Soul Unsung review
YA Librarian Tales review

Retro Friday Review: The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:01:00 +0000

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time!

Guy Gavriel Kay (and this series) has been on my mind lately. I'm not sure why. I am sure, however, that the inaugural Retro Friday review was Kay's Tigana, and it makes me happy to have started with that book. But these are the first of his books that I read, and I read them on the recommendation of my husband (then-boyfriend). Which memory also maketh me happy. He'd read them years before and guessed (rightly) that I would love them, too. When I went to the bookstore to pick up the first book, the red trade paperback had just been released. I snatched it up and stroked the cover. It has one of those buttery matte covers that catch ever so softly on your fingertips and make it impossible to stop stroking them. Ahem. It had been a little while since I'd ready any true high fantasy, and it was good to be back again. Though this series does have a bit of the urban fantasy about it to begin with. The main characters are all university students from Toronto. And I liked the fresh combination of segueing from one to the other. The Summer Tree was originally published in 1984 and was Guy Gavriel Kay's first book. It is the first in the Fionavar Tapestry (I've always loved that series title), which is a trilogy. They are very visceral, very Tolkeinesque in scope, and should most definitely be read in order.

Kim, Jennifer, Paul, Dave, and Kevin are friends. They attend the same college in Toronto. And, on one extremely fateful night, they attend the same lecture by a renowned professor. Dr. Marcus even invites them back to his home after the lecture, and that is approximately where things begin to run off the rails. It turns out Dr. Marcus is in fact a mage from another world known as Fionavar. Fionavar is the original world, Dr. Marcus (or rather Loren Silvercloak) informs them, upon which all other worlds (including Earth) are based. He would like to formally invite the five to return home with him, as it is the 50th anniversary of the current king's reign, and celebrations are in order. Confusion reigns as well, and before they know it, the two girls and three boys are far, far away. Thrown into a massively foreign and complex world, they each struggle to find a reason they were called to be there in this auspicious moment in Fionavar's history. Of course, there are a myriad reasons and they each find out (with a vengeance) the precise role they are to play in the violent and mythical conflict that is about to go down. Whether or not they will ever return to their homeland is a question that becomes increasingly irrelevant the longer they spend in this First of all Worlds.

After the war was over, they bound him under the Mountain.

While this series clearly inherits largely from Tolkein and C.S. Lewis (via The Chronicles of Narnia), I feel it's fair to say that you haven't read a writer quite like Kay. His language is poetic and sprawling, and he has a gorgeous talent for metaphor and poignancy. The Summer Tree definitely starts off with a bang, but it took me awhile to get my footing amid Canadian college students suddenly mingling with elves and archmages. It also took me a good number of pages to warm up to four of the five main characters. Paul was always where it was at for me. I liked him from the start, this haunted boy with so much music and loss in his past. It was without surprise that I found he was to have the longest road to walk of all. But warm up to the rest I did, and that is mainly due to the way they care about each other and the way that Kay wove them into their roles. The denizens of Fionavar are, well, awesome right from the start. I particularly enjoyed the politics and the expansive geography of this realm, all of it existing under the shadow of the Unraveller--Rakoth Maugrim. A fallen god himself, his specter taints every interaction in this sweeping tale. The whole thing builds to a ripping good (and excruciating) climax, in which my beloved Paul plays a pivotal role. Things get painful at the end. And violent. And I do mean painful. And violent. But know that it gets better. Also, there is a serious cliffhanger. So I would advise having book two in hand if at all possible. The incredible setup, the world itself, and the final chapters are what make this book. There are quite a few disturbing turns taken as well, and I can only say that the next two installments are thoroughly worthwhile. While I think The Wandering Fire is my favorite (I'm a sucker for middle novels), the entire trilogy is a feat of storytelling. If you're in the mood for beautiful prose and the highest of high fantasy, I suggest a trip to the K section of your library or bookstore.

Reading order
The Summer Tree
The Wandering Fire
The Darkest Road

Retro Friday Roundup
Chachic of Chachic's Book Nook reviews Life Without Friends by Ellen Emerson White
Cecilia of The Adventures of Cecilia Bedelia reviews The Forgotten Beasts of Eld by Patricia A. McKillip

Linkage
Chaotic Compendiums review
Fyrefly's Book Blog review
Keeping the Door review
The Literary Omnivore review
Speculative Horizons review

Bitterblue Giveaway Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:42:00 +0000

And the winner of the copy of Bitterblue and the Seven Kingdoms tote bag is . . . Elisa!

Congratulations! Elisa's answer to my question of which character in the series you'd want as a BFF was:

There aren't a lot of girls I can easily be around for long periods of time, but I like to think Katsa would be the exception to that, so I'll say her.

But I would never walk away from Po...

Amen to that. As a matter of fact, Katsa won as favorite BFF hands down, with Bitterblue and Po not far behind. Brigan and Giddon each got a vote apiece, which made me happy. Because I loves them both. As for me? It's such a tough call. Why did I ask such a hard question? In the end, I think I have to echo Elisa. Katsa for the best friend, and she can bring Po along any old time she wants. Thanks so much to Penguin for hosting the giveaway and to each one of you for taking the time to enter and share your love for this series and these characters.

Hearts and Bones: On Rereading, the Viscerality Thereof

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:45:00 +0000

So I finally broke down and ordered an actual physical copy of Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar a couple of weeks ago. Because I couldn't go any longer without having it in my house, in my hands. Yes, yes, I know I already do have it in ebook form on my Nook, and that's all fine and dandy. But I've been itching to reread it something fierce lately. And for some reason I haven't been able to bring myself to reread the ebook. Why? Well, honestly, I was stumped for awhile. I'm a serial rereader, for one thing. Rereading is extremely important to me. I can finish a book for the first time and know instantly if it's going to be one I'm going to want to experience again or not. And if it is, I must own a physical copy. It has to sit on my shelves, so I that I can see it when I pass through the room and reach out and touch the spine to reassure myself of its presence if need be. When it's just one of many files on my ereader, I can't do any of those things. I simply get no thrill from waking my ereader up, tapping over to the file, and gazing at the words on the screen. To say nothing of the way I miss an actual spine and binding.

Good . . .

. . . Better

I realize this is beginning to sound a bit rabid, a bit unhinged. Certainly to readers who don't connect viscerally with a physical book. And most definitely to non-rereaders. But it's the truth. And I confess I'm curious. Do any of you out there know what I mean? Because I had the most unexpected and moving experience this past week and I have to talk about it with someone. My copy of Raw Blue arrived all the way from New Zealand (thanks Fishpond--you were there when I needed you) the other day, and I got the usual tingle from holding it in my hands and running a finger over the glossy cover. For some reason, I thought it would be matte. This small, glossy surprise was part of the pleasure. I started it that night. Now, this is a book I freaking loved when I first read it almost exactly a year ago. I knew it would hold up well on rereading, but I wondered (as I always do) what the experience would be like, if new things would jump out at me, and if so, what they would be. I hoped I would love Carly and Ryan as much as I did the first time.

Guys, I was wholly unprepared for this read. Even now, I'm having a hard time finding the words for how hard this book hit me the second time around. My stomach was jumpy with every turn of the page. Every interaction hit me in the gut, every wave Carly paddled through caused my breathing to hitch, my heart to squeeze with sympathy and admiration for her. It was something else entirely from the first go-round on my Nook. Where the first read was a "good time," this one was a visceral and comprehensive experience. You know the usual trouble you have concentrating while going about daily tasks when you're in the middle of a great read? This was that and then some, because I felt not only emotionally involved, but physically as well. What's interesting is when I go back and read my review, none of that is there. It's just the bones. The characters, their history, the way things went down. It didn't make a physical impression on me. I just loved the words. Having mused over it now for a few days, I feel confident chalking this unexpected second response up to having the book itself. To the fact that I was holding the story in my hands. I could grip it and pause, turn the page back and wait, breathing deeply, until I was ready to move on. This time I had the heart of it, pumping all its rage and hope and longing into me through our connection at my fingertips. I finished it last night, and I had trouble falling asleep, I was so wired. It was an incomparable experience, one that I treasure. And I'll tell you one thing--I'd pay double the cover price + international shipping to have it again. In a heartbeat.

Retro Friday Review: Valiant by Holly Black

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time!

I have retellings on the brain right now. So you'll have to bear with me as this week you get another one--one of my favorites. Valiant is the second book in Holly Black's excellent Modern Tales of Faerie trilogy. I read Tithe back in the day, and it immediately became my favorite Tam Lin retelling. I've been somewhat his and miss with that tale, and this angsty teen version of it worked remarkably well for me. So my introduction to Ms. Black was a fine one. When Valiant came out, I didn't know exactly what to expect given that it switched characters entirely. Things always seem to go one way or the other when that happens in a series, don't they? But I wasn't so utterly devoted to Kaye and Roiben that I couldn't make room in my heart for a few more beautiful, crazy denizens of Holly Black's urban fantasy world. And though I should have guessed, I didn't put together the fact that it was actually a Beauty and the Beast retelling until things started getting interesting with Val and a certain troll. By that time I was completely enraptured, and it has remained one of my favorite retellings ever since. As far as the covers go, the one with the sword is my copy and far and away my favorite. I like the whole snipping hair with scissors vibe on the other one, but the horned model dude is kind of freaking me out. Besides, the sword has too much importance not to feature on the cover of this book.

Valerie Russell has chosen to disappear. When her not-so-great-to-begin-with home life takes a turn for the horrible, Val leaves. Striking out on her own, she falls in with a band of misfits who live in the New York City subway system. They take her in when she's at her most vulnerable. Unfortunately, companionship and the squatter lifestyle comes with some pretty unhealthy chains, and they all seem to lead back to the Unseelie Court. And it turns out Val has a long way down to go before she finds out what it really means to disappear. A favorite passage, involving Val and a troll by the name of Ravus:

"So you'll teach me?" Val asked.

Ravus nodded again. "I will make you as terrible as you desire."

"I don't want to be--" she started, but he held up his hand.

"I know you're very brave," he said.

"Or stupid."

"And stupid. Brave and stupid." Ravus smiled, but then his smile sagged. "But nothing can stop you from being terrible once you've learned how."

I love Ravus and his role in Val's story. This little snippet of dialogue pretty fairly captures the twist in the gut you experience while reading, but it also hints at the hope underscoring all the doubt and fear.

I rarely stand a chance when a woman scorned takes up a sword to fight for herself and for those she cares about. Val came through for me like gangbusters. No one could consider what happened to her to be anything other than outrageously unjust. And yes, when faced with the ultimate betrayal, she barrels off and makes a series of seriously ill-advised choices. Seriously ill-advised. I worried myself sick about her. About Val and Lolli and Luis and Dave. It wasn't easy watching them scrabble desperately for escape . . . for control. Val's journey is a rough one. But it is also such a rewarding one. In that sense it occupies the same space in my mind as Enna Burning and Ink Exchange. These are the "dark" installments in their series. The ones in which your favorite characters make mistakes. Sometimes their mistakes are so bad the consequences stretch out to encompass loved ones. They're also my favorite books in their series in each instance. Val, Enna, Leslie. These girls are so strong. They're such survivors. I love watching them pick themselves back up again, learn from their mistakes, and extricate themselves from destructive situations. Even if they are of their own making. Especially if they are. It is these incredibly human elements that make these fantastical stories of death and faeries and love in dark places soar. It is Val's story that is paramount in this version of the tale. The fact that there are lessons in sword fighting (obviously), a sweet romance, and a gritty mystery make it that much more the whole package. I enjoyed Valiant so much, I missed Val and Ravus and that crystal sword for weeks after finishing it. While not for the faint of heart, it does such a lovely job of contrasting the flaws in Val and her companions, the bleakness of their lives, with the sudden beauty of finding you're stronger than you believed. And for that it has my heart. To quote Val, "and it was perfect, was exactly right, was real."

Reading Order

Tithe
Valiant
Ironside

Retro Friday Roundup
April from Good Books and Good Wine reviews The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl
Liviana from In Bed with Books reviews Companions of the Night by Vivian Vande Velde

Linkage
thebookbind review
Fyrefly's Book Blog review
This Fleeting Dream review
Mindful Musings review

Bitterblue Giveaway!

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Tue, 01 May 2012 14:00:00 +0000

That's right! Today I'm thrilled to celebrate Bitterblue's release day with a giveaway.

One (1) winner will receive:

· A copy of Bitterblue
· A Bitterblue tote bag featuring the names of the Seven Kingdoms

All prizing provided by Penguin.

Giveaway open to US addresses only.

To enter, simply leave a comment telling me which character from this series you'd want for a BFF and why. Make sure to include your contact information. This giveaway will be open until midnight May 8th.

I have to say, I am pretty envious of the person who wins that tote bag. It is awesome.

About the book:

Bitterblue is the long-awaited companion to New York Times bestsellers Graceling and Fire.
Eight years after Graceling, Bitterblue is now queen of Monsea. But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisors, who have run things since Leck died, believe in a forward-thinking plan: Pardon all who committed terrible acts under Leck's reign, and forget anything bad ever happened. But when Bitterblue begins sneaking outside the castle--disguised and alone--to walk the streets of her own city, she starts realizing that the kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year spell of a madman, and the only way to move forward is to revisit the past.

Two thieves, who only steal what has already been stolen, change her life forever. They hold a key to the truth of Leck's reign. And one of them, with an extreme skill called a Grace that he hasn't yet identified, holds a key to her heart.

To find out more:

Graceling Realm website: http://www.gracelingrealm.com

Kristin’s website: http://kristincashore.blogspot.com/
Graceling Realm Facebook fan page: http://www.facebook.com/gracelingrealm
Excerpt: http://www.scribd.com/doc/88018992/BITTERBLUE-by-Kristin-Cashore-sequel-to-GRACELING

Women in SF&F Month

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 18:30:00 +0000

Today I'm over at Fantasy Cafe doing a guest post for Kristen's Women in SF&F Month. I'm delighted to be taking part in this awesome event, and I do hope you stop by to say hi. I've got a few female-authored, under-the-radar sci fi and fantasy recommendations to throw your way (shocking, I know).

Something Like Normal by Trish Doller

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Are you getting a certain vibe from the covers of the books I'm reading lately? Yeah, me too. Though it's purely by chance, I think it's worth noting that after I read the books themselves, I often feel their covers are somewhat of a mismatch. Not that I don't like them. In fact, I quite like the cover for Something Like Normal. It's part of what made me investigate the book further. But I do think they lead you to believe there's going to be more . . . shenanigans . . . going on inside than there really are. Make of that what you will. This is Trish Doller's debut novel, and I had to smile when I looked up her GoodReads profile and she had listed her influences as Kirsty Eagar, Cath Crowley, and Melina Marchetta. Point to you, Ms. Doller. Way to reel in us Aussie YA-obsessed fangirls with just a few well-chosen strokes on your keyboard. But the thing that really drove me to read it was that it is part of the growing New Adult genre. Protagonist Travis is just back from Afghanistan when the story begins, and he can therefore in no way, shape, or form be considered an inexperienced teen. Though he is still very much a young adult. It is exactly this time period that I'm so enjoying reading about these days. So I tracked down an ARC with a few well-chosen strokes on my keyboard and settled in.

Travis would rather be anywhere but home. Even back in Afghanistan. It's just that facing his dysfunctional family in all its glory and all his old friends from high school just after coming off a tour in the war seems ludicrous at best. It doesn't help that his best friend and fellow soldier Charlie was killed in front him. But home he is. Travis is willing to put on a good face for his mother's sake if nothing else. But being constantly faced with his mother's anxiety, his father's disapproval, his ex-girlfriend's defection to his brother's arms, and . . . oh, a nice healthy dose of PTSD, it's well nigh impossible to get through the day, let alone figure out what he's going to do with the rest of his life. Then a chance encounter with a girl he used to know introduces something approximating normal into his life again. The problem is Travis wasn't all that nice to Harper way back when. He realizes that. What he doesn't realize is just how profoundly his lack of care impacted her life. And what kind of a grudge she's been carrying around ever since. Not to worry, though. Her fist to his face quickly puts these things into perspective for our young vet. As for Harper, running into Travis after all this time is like a slap in the face. All those feelings and doubts she thought she'd done away with come rushing back to haunt her. Even though he's clearly done some growing up in the intervening years, she's just not sure it's enough to warrant putting her heart in his uncertain hands.

My absolute favorite thing about this book is that it's written from a male point of view. I thought Travis himself was impressively drawn, and his reactions felt consistently genuine, even if they occasionally bothered me. And they did. I really liked him, but he drove me batty from time to time with a few of his less-than-stellar choices in regards to his personal life, or, more accurately, his avoidance of said choices. Otherwise, I felt for him deeply. His struggles with his family and his complicated relationship with his mother were the high points of the novel. I like that the focus remained on that and on his experiences in the war, that these key issues took precedence over other secondary matters. As a result, I felt firmly centered in Travis' head by the time a few of the usual suspects rolled around. So much so that when faced with the sheer awesomeness that is Harper, I felt myself reaching out along with Travis. Like she was a drink of cool water in the desert. The relationship development is pretty restrained, which is just as it should be given the fact that Harper is one smart cookie and Travis is all sorts of damaged. When we meet him, he's pretty evenly straddling the emotional maturity line between hormonal teenager and sadder-but-wiser young man. Together they fumble their way toward a sort of middle ground. After the aforementioned avoidance tactics. I loved the arc of Travis' story, his flashbacks to Afghanistan, his tenuous overtures to his mother and to Harper, and especially his interaction with his fellow Marines. Both the ones who made it home and the one who didn't. The ending left me with mixed feelings. While I definitely would not have changed a thing about the place Ms. Doller left her characters in, I (cue refrain) felt that what had been a thoughtful and controlled narrative simply . . . ended. The impact was lessened a bit for me, and I would have welcomed another 40 or 50 more pages. It could be argued that I simply have issues letting go. I merely felt that the sheer distance Travis had traveled merited an extended close. Because I enjoyed my time with him. I harbor hopes for him. And for Harper. Something Like Normal went down smooth in a single night and is due out June 19th.

Linkage

Chachic's Book Nook review

GReads! review and interview

Makeshift Bookmark review

Reclusive Bibliophile review

When You Were Mine by Rebecca Serle

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

When You Were Mine came and went across my radar after I took a brief glance at its cover and mentally relegated it to the Jennifer Echols realm of contemporary YA romance. I enjoyed Going Too Far, but haven't loved her others or found myself in the mood for more of the same since. But that judgement was admittedly based entirely on the cover, font, tagline, etc. Then I read Carla's review over at The Crooked Shelf, and I took a second gander. Shakespeare, you say? Retelling? This is all exceedingly promising. Oh. Romeo and Juliet? Hm. Not sure I want to go there. Not that I don't enjoy R&J (I once saw it on stage, and Romeo's death scene was positively EPIC in scope. My brother-in-law and I were crying tears of mirth long before the poor boy let loose his final gasp and put us all out of our misery). And, as is so often the case, I was powerless to resist the call of a possibly excellent retelling. It was when I realized that it was told from Rosaline's point of view that the deal was sealed.

Rose Caplet is keeping her hopes on a very tight leash. Her best friend Rob has been gone all summer, but he's coming home today and Rose is trying pretty hard to keep it all together. They shared that one kiss, that one extended glance. That's all. And despite her best friends' insistence that the very first thing he'll do now he's back in town is declare his undying love for her, Rose is not so sure. They've always been friends. Rob helped her learn to ride a bike. He taught her how to swim. He knew her way back when. Even if he did have the kind of feelings for her that she seems to be developing for him, wouldn't it rock the boat of their friendship too much to be worth it? But then he is back. And he asks her out on a real date. And things are heading in a most promising direction. Until Rose's cousin Juliet comes to town. Rose hasn't had any contact with Juliet in years, though the two used to be close as kids. Now Juliet's back and trouncing all over Rose's life in her designer flip flops. But it's when she sets her sights on Rob that Rose really begins to worry. What is happening here? Why does her cousin seem to have it out for her? Surely Rob won't respond to Juliet's advances. Not after confessing his affections for Rose. Rob wouldn't do that. Would he?

I'll admit, it took me 100 pages to get into this one. I teetered on the verge of putting it down and moving on. But then I hit the following passage (taken from my uncorrected ARC):

Charlie puts her arm over my shoulder. Olivia stands on the other side, arms crossed, Ben behind her. They're flanking me, like human pieces of armor.

Rob can't see me from this angle, which is worse than if he could, because it means I can stare as hard and as long as I like. He whispers something to her, and she laughs, then brings her finger to her lips to tell him to be quiet. But it's in that cute way certain girls have that lets everyone know they don't really mean it. That she wants him to go on bothering her forever. Even while turning him down she's inviting him. Forget the lip biting. This is definitely her power move.

He's leaning so close to her that it takes everything in me not to run right over and tear them apart. And part of me wants to. Part of me wants to fight. To tell him to pick me. To beg him to stop what he's doing, erase the last three days, and just come back. But I'm already fading into the background, like a house in the rearview mirror. I can feel myself getting smaller and smaller, shrinking, so that when Mr. Johnson says, "Have a great day, everyone!" I think I might have just disappeared.

And that's all it took. From that sentence on, it was all systems go for me. Because that is exactly what happens in the play. Rosaline--the object of all of Romeo's formidable passion and desire--just . . . disappears . . . when Juliet comes on stage. And when this Rosaline experiences that precise moment, it called to the forefront of my mind every ounce of sympathy I had for her and for the singular horror of being overlooked, of being left behind in the wake of fickle infatuation. All these years I assumed Rosaline never gave Romeo a second thought. But what if she did? What if the loss of his love hurt like a brand pressed to her skin? The rest of the story following this moment has its share of ups and downs. I never completely warmed to Rose's flock of privileged, preening friends. There were hints at more depth than was shown, but I could have done with some actual exploration of those hints, especially when it came to Charlie and Olivia. I've heard that some readers felt the inevitable tragedy that comes lacked weight, but I actually thought it was incredibly thoughtfully done. I grieved with Rose. For the years wasted in enmity between the two families, for the deception between the generations, and for the senseless loss of two teenagers whose greatest sin was letting go of their senses so wildly, of losing sight of themselves in the name of each other. Because if I didn't love this Rob and Juliet as much as I did the originals, I loved Rose more. And her love and compassion for them (despite what they did to her) overshadowed any bitterness I might have harbored. All of this is helped, of course, by the fact that Rebecca Serle chose to give Rose another love interest who I admired wholeheartedly. I would have liked a bit more in the way of development in this arena as well, more than I got by the time the ending rolled around. As it was, the ending lacked the kind of weight I felt it needed in order to serve as a proper epilogue to the tragic events that preceded it. It felt a bit pat, a bit cute, when I wanted it to mean more. A contemporary retelling of this play is always going to run that particular risk, but given the excellence of Rose's point of view and the truly elegant moments Ms. Serle was able to craft, I was really pulling for a perfect end for When You Were Mine. An enjoyable, if uneven read, recommended for its interesting perspective and moments of insight.

When You Were Mine is due out May 1st.

Linkage
The Crooked Shelf review
MarjoleinBookBlog review
Midnight Book Girl review
So Many Books, So Little Time review
Turn the Page review

To Notebook or Not to Notebook . . .

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:10:00 +0000

. . . that is the question.

All right. I realize I may be asking for it here, but I'm gonna go ahead and, well, ask for it. I have never seen The Notebook. I've never read it either, for that matter. Truthfully, I'm not all that interested in losing my Nicholas Sparks virginity. And I've always sort of scoffed at the movie for being over-the-top sappy and whatnot . . . with the kiss . . . in the rain . . . and that beard. But I recently watched this little clip:

And it kind of makes me want to run out and watch the source material, yeah?

So give it to me straight. The Notebook (the movie): yay or nay?

National Library Week

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:49:00 +0000

It's National Library Week, you guys! Time to get to your library, take part in events going on around the nation, and support your local libraries and reading in general. It's also time for the ALA to release the list of Top Ten Frequently Challenged Books of 2011. And here they are:

1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
4. My Mom's Having A Baby! A Kid's Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
5. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
6. Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
7. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
8. What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones
9. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar

10. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

I've read 6 of the ten (yay me!) and have my usual pfft! to say in response to their being challenged. I also find it hilarious that The Hunger Games trilogy is challenged for being anti-family. 'Cause if there's one thing that Katniss hates more than President Snow, it's her family.

The fact that To Kill a Mockingbird is challenged for racism? There really are no words.

Retro Friday Review: Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out-of-print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time!

So this is a book I've spent a lot of time talking about. Chances are, if you've hung around these parts, you've heard me push it. But I actually read it for the first time way back in the olden days before the blog was, well, what it is now. I read it shortly after it was first published, back in 2007, when I was writing monthly posts, mere collections of mini-reviews. So Song of the Sparrow got shortchanged. I decided to address that situation today. The fun thing is lots of friends have read (and reviewed) it since, and so I was able to trip through their lovely thoughts and remember my own. When I heard about a retelling of Tennyson's "Lady of Shalott," I was so in. I mean, I'm nothing if not up for a good Camelot tale. I could bore you to tears with my obsession with the entire Arthurian legend, but who needs that on a Friday afternoon? The thing is, when I heard this retelling was, like Tennyson's version, told entirely in verse, I was no longer so sure. Truthfully, I tend to like my modern poetry short and to the point. So I did what I often do. I went to the bookstore and read the first page. Then I read the second page. And on through the tenth, at which point I accepted the delicious inevitable and bought the book.

Elaine of Ascolat is sixteen years old and alone. The lone woman among an endless encampment of men, she has grown up wild and independent and determined to keep her father and brothers and friends alive. Though she is not allowed to fight alongside them, she works tirelessly in any way she can to keep their spirits alive, to mend both their limbs and their souls between battle forays against the ever-encroaching Saxons. After her mother died, her father brought his two sons and one small daughter to live with the soldiers. And so Elaine's oldest friends are Arthur, Lancelot, Gawain, Tristan. But when Ambrosius Aurelius, dux bellorum, is killed, Elaine must watch the laughing eyes of her friends turn grim with strain and responsibility. She must watch as they rally around Arthur--their new leader. As they reform in their new roles and battle leaders and men. And she must watch as a someone new enters their lives and disrupts their old balance perhaps forever. Gwynivere. Haughty and proud, she ensnares Elaine's friends with seemingly no effort at all. But, though her boys seem entranced, Elaine can see clearly just how much craft Gwynivere puts into the web she casts. And when that web extends to Lancelot, the one she loves most, wild, independent, determined Elaine decides it is time to fight at last.

This book. This book set a flock of butterflies free in my stomach on the first page. The writing is that heady blend of urgency, vision, and nostalgia. I loved Sandell's revisionist version of Elaine of Ascolat. I knew there was more to her than her magic web and her love for Lancelot. I just knew there was. Sometimes you meet a character, sometimes over and over through the years, and you know her. In bits and pieces, through various art forms and articulations, I have always felt a kinship with the lily maid. But it took until Lisa Ann Sandell decided to paint her version of her, for me to realize why. All that history you just know is there, the spell, the mirror, knotted web of threads, the loyalty to Lancelot, it all comes together in Song of the Sparrow. Any lover of all things Arthurian will tell you, it can be a life of suffering. A rich life, but a rocky one. This retelling soothes the soul. And the beautiful thing is that, by all accounts, it seems to work for newbies (even those utterly uninterested in the myth) as well as us dedicated fans. And it's because the writing and characterization are strong and sure. I'm so glad this Elaine chose to fight instead of die. I loved beautiful Gwynivere, and the choice she makes. The women in this novel are ace. They inhabit the tale, fleshing it out with life and pain and wanting, and together they are my favorite part about this version. But right up there with the ladies is the way Sandell wove in Tristan and his horrible past. In a genius move, we get a glimpse of Tristan (of Tristan and Isolde fame), and I kind of am of the opinion it should always be this way. Forgive the long passage, but it is the moment Elaine first comes to the camp, and it is a favorite.

It was nighttime when we reached the camp.
When my mind began making sense
of what it saw and heard again.
In the torchlight I could see Lavain's face
was smeared with dirt,
streaked with ash.
His eyes were still wide with shock,
so white
so white
against his dirty ash face.
He looked like a scared, wild animal.
I must have looked the same.
Frightened animals.
Arthur, younger then,
stepped forward,
caught my father in his
arms in an embrace.
Then Tirry.
He pressed little Lavain's shoulder,
then put his hands on my hair,
petting, stroking.
And I felt safe,
a tiny bit,
for the first time again.
Poor children, he murmured.
You are welcome here,
in this camp,
into this brotherhood.
Lavain, someday, no doubt,
you will be a fierce fighter.
Aye, I can see it in your eyes.
But for now, you must take care
of your little sister.
Lavain turned away sullenly,but I alone saw him blink
back tears.
Arthur looked to me,
What a brave girl you are,
indeed, I've never met a girl
so courageous.
There are not any others
here to keep you company,
but you have a whole army
of brothers now.
He gave me a sad smile and
stepped back.
Then raven-haired Lancelot came to us,
kneeling to look in my eyes.
And I felt I was standing in
the sunlight, as though
his bright gaze alone could warm
my frozen insides.
He had blankets for Lavain and me.
And once more I felt protected.
Finally, a young boy who could not
have been more than a few years
older than Lavain
presented me with a doll
unevenly sewn of corn husks and rags.
He turned to Lavain and placed
a wooden sword in his hand.
He said his name was Tristan.
His golden cat eyes shone in the dark,
his mouth downturned, his brow
creased as though--
as though he knew.

He said his name was Tristan . . . This one joins Beauty, Daughter of the Forest, The Outlaws of Sherwood, and Valiant on my most beloved retellings shelf. I love gifting it. I love re-reading it. And I will be doing both for the foreseeable future.

Retro Friday Roundup
Book Harbinger reviews Whiskey Road by Karen Siplin
Chachic's Book Nook reviews Whiskey Road by Karen Siplin
Good Books and Good Wine reviews Magic Study by Maria V. Snyder
A Jane of All Reads reviews Small Gods by Terry Pratchett
Janicu's Book Blog reviews Whiskey Road by Karen Siplin

Linkage
Book Harbinger review
Caught Between the Pages review
Chachic's Book Nook review
Giraffe Days review
One Librarian's Book review
One More Page review
Persnickety Snark review
See Michelle Read review
Small Review

Nightshifted by Cassie Alexander

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 15:00:00 +0000

The great thing about reading is that books always surprise you no matter how long you've been reading them. You think you know an author or a genre or a style, and then they go and rip the rug right out from under your feet. Sometimes I'm going along, doing my thing, reading my books, and then I pick one up and realize it's what I've been starving for. I love a good urban fantasy. Ever since Sunshine. Ever since I made the acquaintance of Mercy Thompson. I've loved the real deal. And when I fall, I fall loyally. I look forward to the new Mercy and the new Kate religiously each year. But it's been kind of awhile since I sank into a brand, spankin' new one that really did it for me, you know? In fact, I'm pretty sure it's been a couple of years. Gah. There's so much paranormal stuff out there (some of it excellent, some of it not so much) that I often find myself longing for some true urban fantasy. So I was kind of surprised and kind of excited when I found myself gravitating toward Cassie Alexander's upcoming Nightshifted before I even knew very much about it. Something about the girl on the cover and the silhouetted dragon through the hospital doors behind her said good things lie inside. And wouldn't you know? It was the one I was starving for.

Edie Spence is the new nurse on Y4--the paranormal ward at County Hospital. The one no one knows about. Edie wouldn't have a clue either except the mysterious Powers That Be stepped in to save her druggie brother from ODing. But their continued intervention on her brother's behalf comes at a price . . . namely Edie's unquestioning (and indefinite) service on Y4. Edie's worked in some holes, but this one takes the cake. From her indeterminate gendered supervisor Meaty to the lengths they go to to disguise the true nature of their patients in nightly reports, nothing about nursing school prepared Edie for catering to a steady stream of vampires, weres, shifters, zombies, and the like. But despite the fact that she's all but washed her hands of him and that he's done everything he can to mess up her life and his own, Edie still loves her brother. Besides. She's always flown solo. It's not like her life was all that social to begin with, so what's a few more hours spent with the dead than the living anyway? But then a random vampire dies on her watch, and newbie Edie finds herself unable to forget him or the words he whispered before crumbling into dust in her hands. Before she knows it, she's tracking down the vampire he mentioned in an attempt to set things right. But what she finds is so wrong it quickly bleeds over into Edie's life and turns it upside down.

Nightshifted is exactly what I was looking for--a true urban fantasy. It's gritty and dark, its heroine jaded and tough, and both of them are studded with moments of humor and human frailty. Edie is no superwoman, and her very normal skills are not always up to the paranormal requirements placed upon her in order to survive. But she is scrappy. And fiercely independent. And very much not inclined toward self-pity. Which is to say I liked her right away. But I wasn't always sure she would survive her story, as pretty much all the creatures that go bump in the night make appearances at one point or another. And while a few really nasty versions of vampires play a large role in the book, I liked that they weren't the sole focus. In fact, my favorite character besides Edie turned out to be a zombie that I developed a bit of a crush on. I'm pretty sure that qualifies as a first for me, but I'm thinking I'm not gonna be the only one who feels that way. Because as zombies go, this one is pretty charming. Witness an interaction early on (taken from my uncorrected ARC):

The next night, I was finally assigned the gentleman in room five. I got the report and then looked at the chart myself. He was a zombie . . . firefighter? That was a bit odd. We'd only had two zombies on the floor while I'd been here--Mr. Smith was the second of them, and I'd never been assigned the first.

But I had a mission tonight, above and beyond mere nursing. I needed to get more blood. I walked into the darkened room, tubes in hand. If I got his blood now, I could toss it in my purse on break. The monitor was still in standby, casting a faint glow over him where he lay on the bed. I knew what smelled different about this room now, it was the scent of warm earth.

"Hello, Mr. Smith."

He smiled in the dim light. "Hello again, ghost nurse."

I snorted. "Well, neurologically, you're intact. Mind if I turn on the light?"

"Feel free."

My hand found the switch and I got my first look at a real live--dead?--zombie.

Mr. Smith was tall, stretching almost the entire length of the bed, with wide shoulders. The parts I could see of him outside of the sheets and his hospital gown--his arms, his neck, and his face--were all covered by almost-healed smooth rippling scars. Between the dark color of his skin as it was and the slightly lighter color of his skin as it healed, he looked like a dark pond on a windy day.

"I remember you," he said. His eyes were a light golden brown, and the skin around them crinkled when he smiled.

"I remember you, too." I smiled back. "Thanks again--and sorry for waking you up."

"I don't really sleep." He sat up straighter in his bed. As I walked into the room I formed my plan. I would do the blood draw last, so I could hurry away and hide. I hadn't heard about any IV sites, but I had a butterfly needle for the draw. I didn't really like poking someone unnecessarily, but it wasn't like he could get an infection and die from a needle stick now, was it? I reached for the blood pressure cuff, to start my set of vitals, and held it aloft. "Which arm?" I asked. A lot of patients with heavy scarring had a side they preferred, one which the cuff's squeezing hurt less.

Faint eyebrows rose. "I believe the previous nurse was having you on."

"How so?" I un-Velcroed the cuff.

"I don't have blood pressure." The corners of his lips quirked into a smile. "I have blood, but to the best of my knowledge, it doesn't really go anywhere."

"Oh." The lab tubes in my pocket felt heavy, and I felt my face flush. "Damn."

"You were . . . looking for some?" he asked, tilting his head forward.

"Actually, yes. Sorry." I frowned at myself. How was I going to get Anna to come closer tomorrow night, when I was off-shift again

"I could . . . give you a finger?" He held up his right pinkie. "I don't need all of them. One won't hurt much." I blanched, and he laughed out loud. "I'm teasing. It would grow back--but I'm teasing."

And the romantic subplot manages to be quite nice without overwhelming the story or impeding the world building. But what I ended up loving best about Nightshifted is how real it felt. My favorite urban fantasies are unvarnished. They highlight their humanity by scoring it against a background of the supernatural. They plunge me into a world already seething with life and magic and danger. They take over the city they're set in, so much so that I begin to feel as though I live there, too. Nightshifted hit all of these buttons and more, capping it off with a final line that made me want to fist bump Edie in solidarity. The promise of a sequel to look forward to is music to my ears.

Nightshifted is due out May 22nd.

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:00:00 +0000

My first reaction to hearing about Grave Mercy was that I liked the cover and its mixture of historical figure and modern font. At the same time, I dismissed it somewhat in my mind, sort of preemptively lowering expectations. I adore historical fiction. We have a long history together (pardon the pun). However, I sometimes wind up feeling as though the YA historicals I read have been watered down, so to speak. But the hype surrounding this one has been so adamant (check out all those stars rolling in), that I went ahead with the huddled masses yearning to read free and requested in on NetGalley. Author Robin LaFevers has quite a few middle grade books under her belt, including two separate series. Grave Mercy seems to be her first full-fledged YA novel, and it is the first in the His Fair Assassin trilogy. If you're not currently in the mood for a trilogy, it does look as though this one will follow different characters in each installment. Having read it, I would say you get some good closure at the end. I also still like the cover after the fact. And at the same time, I think more lurks beneath the pretty cover than meets the eye.

Narrowly escaping a fate worse than death in the form of an arranged marriage to a boor of a man (he hardly deserves the name), Ismae finds herself whisked away to the fabled halls of the convent of St. Mortain. A convent dedicated to the god of death seems a contradiction in terms, and there are many who fear its halls and the women who serve their morbid lord so fanatically. But to Ismae it is a refuge in the simplest and most meaningful terms. The sisters not only give her her life back, they give her a purpose and a way of channeling her pain and anger and transforming it into something bigger than herself. Trained in a variety of seemly and not-so-seemly art forms, the girls of St. Mortain long to complete their education and be called beyond the walls of the convent to embody the saint's will. The elite serve as assassins, sent by the Abbess on missions to find the doomed who bear the saint's mark, dispatch them, and send them on their way to meet their maker. Soon it is Ismae's turn, though her mission does not take the form she expects, as she is sent to the high court of Brittany disguised as the mistress of a certain nobleman close to the throne. Itching to be about her business, Ismae chafes at the constraints that inherently bind her in her role. Hounded by the various factions at court, she quickly learns she is not immune to human emotion as she struggles to discern who is to be trusted and who is to be killed.

Ah, I do love a good intrigue! Grave Mercy is winding and twisty and packed to the rafters with the kind of political maneuverings and machinations that make my little historical fiction-loving heart go zing. I know many went in expecting kick-butt action and were disappointed that the emphasis lay more on the patterns of power and deceit running rampant through 15th century Brittany. I was not one of them. While I always welcome a good girl-assassin-in-disguise smackdown (they're good for the soul), I was pleasantly surprised at how subtle a story this was. I like my smackdowns served hot with a side of internal conflict. And if the author wants to add a dash of romance to the mix, I say more power to her. Grave Mercy delivers all of this and more. It takes its time about it (in a good way), never lost my interest, and builds up to a fine conclusion, coming through with high levels of both excitement and anxiety. A favorite passage (taken from my uncorrected ARC):

Duval drops the chess piece back on the board, then holds up his hand. "The Spanish prince is too ill right now to think of pursuing his betrothal agreement, although his royal parents have offered fifteen hundred troops to aid us. The English prince went missing from his tower over five years ago and is unable to follow through with those betrothal plans. Two of the other contenders are already married, although they are seeking annulments from the pope even as we speak. That leaves the Holy Roman emperor. He is by all accounts a good leader and a decent man, as well as a powerful ruler over both Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. But he is mired in wars of his own and cannot send us aid. Further, if we betroth Anne to the Holy Roman emperor, France will call it an act of war, and we will need troops to defend the alliance."

"Thus the plea to England for support."

"Exactly so. And we still do not know which side the English king will favor."

I stare at the board, painfully aware just how desperate the duchess's situation is. "She is well and truly under siege then," I murmur.

"That is a most excellent assessment of the situation, I'm afraid." Duval's gaze lingers on me for a long moment before he reaches toward the board once more. He lifts up a discarded white pawn and sets it in front of the white queen.

"Who is that, my lord?"

When he looks up, his eyes are so dark they seem almost black. "You," he says, our eyes holding for a long moment.

You've likely already heard the comparison, but it bears repeating. If you liked Maria V. Snyder's Poison Study, this book is deserving of your attention. It also shares a certain spiritual kinship with The Scarlet Pimpernel. I did wonder a time or two whether I was mistaken in thinking this was YA. The themes and storytelling are quite adult. But let's face it,17-year-olds were middle aged back then. The romance is so well done, creeping up slowly (and somewhat dismayingly) on both parties, and any potentially adult content is tastefully handled. There is a particularly nice parting line as well. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and call my time with this book time well spent indeed.

Grave Mercy is due out April 3rd.

Linkage
Books with Bite review
Candace's Book Blog review
Feathered Quill review
Jen Robinson's Book Page review
Refracted Light review
The Reading Housewives of Indiana review
The Readventurer review
Wear the Old Coat review

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 16:36:00 +0000

For the past few months, I've been a member of an international book group called the YAckers. The YAckers is an invitation only YA book club that utilizes Facebook as its base of operation. Our motto?

Saving the world (and defenseless tortured bunnies) from shitty books.

Obviously this book group and I were Meant To Be. Each month, the Keeper of the Book *moment of silence for the dread Keeper* is drawn by random number generator (because we're fancy), and that person is responsible for choosing a book and leading the discussion in our Super Secret Hideout. The discussion is then compiled and posted on our of our blogs. These are very . . . frank . . . discussions of the books. They are not reviews, but rather our gut responses. As my pal Sya says, if you are easily offended, have a heart condition, or are heavily pregnant, you might want to move along. As luck would have it, February was my month to be Keeper, and the book we read was The Fault in Our Stars. Cause the ladies in our group just have good taste that way. Obviously, you should beware of spoilers, yes? Yes. So. The following is essentially how it all went down.

***

I started off the discussion with the question, "So anyone into TFiOS yet? I'm just really enjoying it so far."

Melissa: So, I picked it up last month, and read it practically in one sitting. Then again, I'm a John Green fan, so it was to be expected.

Angie (yours truly): Great! Aaron and I are reading it aloud together, and it's been so fun.

Sya: Yeah, I read it a few weeks ago and thought it was his best work yet.

Donna: I've yet to read any John Green and I haven't gotten my copy of this yet, but this is per usual. I usually wait until the last minute to read our books.

Sabrina: I read it! I agree, none of his previous books were specially great for me, but this... wow. I never cry in books. Until now, apparently. Loved it a lot more than I thought I would.

Donna: I finally started reading it. The voice is phenomenal. The thing is I just recently read CATCH & RELEASE by Blythe Woolston and the set-up is really similar: two teens with the same issue that nearly killed them bond. I'm wondering how similar the two will end up being.

Laura: I'm almost half-way through. God, I freakin' love John Green. And I'm perfectly ok with the teens in this book talking above the level of normal teenagers because in a perfect world (one created by John Green) we'd all have been a hell of a lot smarter at that age. Emily, I know you've read this book and if you don't start talking about it I'm going to round up twenty snotty faced, sticky-handed, incontinent children and BRING THEM TO YOUR STORE.

Donna: If I keep reading these contemporaries with effed up dying teens I'm going end up slitting my wrists. I need something insanely light after the bender of contemps I've been on. Not to say it wasn't good. But holy crap. Like a 48 hour Lifetime marathon. And I liked the voice but it was a bit reaching for the teens. Is this typical of Green? It's the only book of his I've read.

Emily: Ah! Sorry. Ok, first John green book for me and I loved it! I balled my eyes out and fell in love with the main characters. It's been October since I read it, so let me look at a copy and think of some smarter things to say. Laura keep the snot away from me!

Laura: If by typical of Green do you mean he makes teenagers sound smarter and a lot more interesting than they actually are? Then yes. :) However he really only writes characters that are outside the norm and usually gives a plausible reasons for their intelligence (you know, honors students, graduated early, child prodigy, read a whole hell of a lot). Like I said, perfect world. Go with it Donna...believe....believe...

Donna: Is this where I clap my hands wildly and the book will come alive?

Melissa: I can see the perfect world criticism (?) of Green's work... but I find him incredibly funny so it makes up for that. That said, I like his vlog a whole lot better than I like his books. Oh, and this one wasn't nearly as funny as his last three... which is sad. I missed the humor.

Sya: I'm so glad that everyone is enjoying it - I loved it big time. I think that Green has, in the past, had a tendency to write his protagonist as, well, himself. However, in TFIOS it's as if he's created An Imperial Affliction almost to give his more wildly existentialist philosophies free reign (as well as giving him opportunity to play beautifully with writing and structure). Due to this, Hazel and Augustus actually seem less smart than his previous characters and therefore more believable (although still WAY better than actual teenagers, sadly). I certainly think that Hazel is his most successful protagonist yet.

Emily: Maybe I'm the only one who had this experience, but I have a couple of book clubs with kids very similar to the Hazel and Augustus. I mean, I know they were smart, but like Sya said, I felt like they were believable smart. I haven't read his other books, so I have no idea how this books characters stack up against the others, but Hazel and Augustus weren't unbelievable for me. However, the author Peter Van Houten showing up in Hazel's car at the end of the book was really unbelievable for me. And weird. And unnecessary.

Melissa: I think the whole thing with Peter showing up at the end was a bit far-fetched. And kind of weird.

Donna: Agreed. I probably would have maced that guy if I were Hazel.

Sya: Yeah, it did seem a bit weird, but then he WAS a bit weird. You could totally have cut that scene and the book would have been no worse off.

Laura: I get that it was added as a means to explain why Van Houten was the way he was. It was almost as if Green couldn't stand to have a bad guy in one of his books but I was already completely comfortable with accepting that he was just an eccentric jackass just for the sake of being an eccentric jackass. I felt his behavior alone was enough of an explanation and agree that the whole van scene (which was creepy...I kept picturing Richard Dreyfuss as the creepy child molesting teacher turned mailman on Weeds) could have been left out- "it" the proverbial all-encompassing "it" wasn't about him and his background wasn't necessary. But boy did I love this book. It's impossible to not love they way John Green (and I like to believe he puts himself into his books too) sees the world through the eyes of his characters. I've fallen completely in love with his skill with language and turn of phrase. This is possibly the most depressing book I've ever read and I bawled my eyes out the entire time. But even while I had ugly snotty face, -I- was not depressed. It's almost impossible to be when Green continues to subtly maintain a sense that life, even when in a completely shit time, is just so damn interesting and marvelous and I loved his realistic approach to "the bigger picture". My copy of this book is covered in dogears and tear splotches. There might be some snot in there too.

Melissa: I'll be the heartless bastard, heret: I didn't cry. Not a bit. Not even tiny drop. I figured 1) it was a book about cancer, someone will die and 2) it would be very typical and somewhat cliche to have it be -- spoiler -- Augustus. So, I expected that. That said, I agree with you, Laura, about John's view of the "bigger picture." One of the things I've always liked about him is his philosophical view of life and the afterlife, and I thought that came through pretty strongly in this one. The best thing for me when reading TFiOS (even though it's not my favorite John Green; Paper Towns is, followed closely by Katherines), is that I thought he got philosophical and reflective without being pretentious. He attempted the former in Looking for Alaska, and it just came off as snotty and pretentious. This time, I felt like it was more genuine.

Sya : I totally agree - he's managed to pull of a novel that explores pretty deep existentialist themes without appearing to talk down to or patronise his readers. It definitely works far better here than in Looking for Alaska.

Laura: I have Paper Towns! I forgot about Paper Towns! I will read Paper Towns!

Sya: I struggled with Paper Towns the first time I read it. I really didn't like the female character. But then I realised how clever clever CLEVER Green is and wrote about it here (if you wish to see why).

Melissa: Ah, I can see how Margo would be off-putting. And I went back to my review; interestingly enough, I said that Katherines was my favorite. But I think what you discovered, Sya, is what I felt: there's genius in that book, and it's the one that has stayed with me the longest.

Donna: It has come to my realization that Green is a literary writer of YA. I liked his book but I think if I read more than one of his books a quarter, I may set it on fire. I HATE existentialism. HATE, HATE, HATE. So when they got to talking about that part, my brain went thbbpp thbbpp thbbpp and shut down. I totally skimmed anything deep and read simply for the character's stories. I don't want to wax poetic about life in a book, I don't want to ponder the bigger meaning. I just want to see what happens with the plot. He is far more awesome than adult literaries and his sense of humor is spot on but Green is a small doses writer for me.

Laura: Well all this literary what-not and heavy thinking and reading into stuff and well thought out discussions with references. Aren't we smart....I'm reading vampire porn.

Sya: I feel better now, Laura, I felt we were getting a bit highfalutin...

Laura: ‎Sya I do hope that when you said highfalutin or even thought it, you did so with a southern accent.

Sya: Of COURSE! Is there any other way to say/think it?? I think not.

Sabrina: I need to show up here more often! This discussion was very insightful. I totally agree with the crazy author in the van part--completely unnecessary. And I did not see the Augustus dying coming, I thought he was just there to make her time left meaningful, like any other cancer story. So yes, I bawled. Paper Towns was good, but it had like a huge whole in the middle...

Angie: I just keep thinking about the ending. And how Green is so good at them in general. I remember when I first discovered him, I read about his obsession with last words and all the famous last words people have uttered over the years. Somehow that has to have played into his comprehensive understanding of how to end a story. Because it's always the right way. Even after ups and downs and various characterizations and explorations of thought and meaning and the universe, his endings impress the hell out of me. They're quiet and personal, which make the stories quiet and personal. Which is what endear them to me. This one may be my favorite of his, though I quote the end of Looking for Alaska to myself often, when I'm at the part of my day or week when I need to be reminded of something real and good. But I felt closer to Hazel (and actually Augustus, too) than I have to his other protags, and so I think that's why his last words (literally) and hers (narratively) struck such a chord.

Donna: I kept expecting this one to end like the fictional title in the story which escapes me at the moment. Something with affliction in it? That it would just end abruptly because Hazel was going to die. It was a shock that Augustus died because I kept expecting it to be her and while I felt the ending was abrupt, it didn't feel unfinished. I'd still like to know whether she survived. Or not. But I guess that's the point.

Sabrina: I did too! Although as soon as I thought it I went straight to the last page and saw I was wrong, but that wouldve been cool...

Melissa: I never thought Hazel would die. Partially because, up front, Green states (or has Hazel state) that he loathes cancer books, and how all cancer sufferers need to be made out into heroes or victims. So, I figured he wouldn't kill off his main character. But, since it's a realistic cancer book, someone had to die, and Augustus was the most likely candidate. Sounds callous, but it didn't shock me. Move me, yes. But not shock me. I liked what you have to say, Angie, about Green and endings. There was this line in his story from Let It Snow, I think, where he had his character say there is no happy endings, only happy middles (or something like that). I think his books are somewhat the same way.

Angie: Oh, that's nice Melissa. Happy middles. I really am glad he decided to write Hazel. I wondered how it would go when he did try a more substantive girl (and first person, etc) and I really liked how it went.

***

So overall a lively discussion and a very positive response, I'd say. It was the first John Green for some of us, while some of us have been crushing on his books for awhile now. As for me, I would venture to say The Fault in Our Stars is my favorite of his books now. I am an unabashed fan of Hazel Grace, Augustus Waters, and that beautiful, beautiful ending.

YAckers involved in this discussion:

Melissa @ The Book Nut
Sya @ The Mountains of Instead
Donna @ Bites
Sabrina @ YA Bliss
Laura @ A Jane of All Reads
Angie @ Angieville

Unspoken Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:02:00 +0000

Too pretty (and exciting) not to share, this is the just-revealed cover of Sarah Rees Brennan's upcoming Unspoken. First in a new trilogy--the Lynburn Legacy--Unspoken features, and I quote:

Sarah Rees Brennan brings Gothic romance kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century with a funny, modern heroine who can take care of herself, an angry, beautiful boy who needs to be saved, and the mysterious forces that bring them together and tear them apart.

For the love of all this is holy, GET ME THIS BOOK NOW.

Ender's Game Movie

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 18:56:00 +0000

As Leila said in her post, I have conflicting feelings about the upcoming film adaptation of Ender's Game. My nervousness exists on several levels. I'm almost apoplectically excited, and I'm simultaneously terrified they'll botch the job. But these cast pictures sure do give a person reason to hope. Petra, Alai, Bean! Whaddya think?

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 20:40:00 +0000

I've never read any Sophie Kinsella before. It's true. I'm not sure if it was the titles of her Shopaholic series that put me off, or if they were merely big at a time when I wasn't reading much chick lit at all, but one way or another I was never tempted to pick them up. After that. I likely relegated her name to that series alone and never investigated any further. Silly me. But. I began seeing reviews of her latest, I've Got Your Number, popping up here and there. Ari's review over at Emily and Her Little Pink Notes in particular caught my eye (as her reviews are wont to do). So (and this is becoming a familiar refrain), when it popped up on NetGalley I just went right ahead and hit request. As far as covers go, I'm liking this one. I love the silhouettes, the text bubbles, and the font. More importantly, I think the cover overall accurately gives the reader a sense of what she will find inside--a phenomenon that seems to me to be becoming rarer these days.

Poppy has, well, she's taken leave of her senses. In a moment of madness, she allowed her bridesmaids to pass around her engagement ring at a posh party in a London hotel. It (along with her cell phone) go missing in the fray, and Poppy is reduced to canvassing the entire hotel and menacing the staff into finding the missing ring. Alas, nothing turns up. But the frantic Poppy does spot a discarded cell phone in the hotel garbage. Utterly at her wit's end, she snatches up the phone in order to stay in contact with the hotel in the coming days, hoping they'll call saying her fiance's treasured family heirloom has magically appeared. But a wrench is thrown in the wheel of Poppy's mad machinations, when one Sam Roxton enters the scene saying the phone she found belongs to his former PA and he needs the information on it ASAP. Poppy convinces Sam to let her keep the phone just until the ring is found, promising to forward on any and all important messages and emails. And so a hilarious and awkward relationship is born. Poppy and Sam become inextricably linked through a near constant stream of texts and emails. Being the outgoing, curious girl she is, Poppy can't resist peeking into the insane business world Sam lives in. And for his part, Sam loosens his tie long enough to offer his help and opinions (welcome or not) on Poppy's tendency to be a pleaser and focus on everyone else but herself.

I've Got Your Number is a real charmer. Though it might initially feel like you've read this story before, the connection between Poppy and Sam quickly breathes life into a potentially tired setup. On top of her two sympathetic leads, Sophie Kinsella drizzles hysterical predicaments throughout the story, ensuring that I stayed up well past my bedtime laughing. Incorporating texts, emails, messages, and footnotes into a narrative can be courting disaster, I often think. Many a story stumbles in its execution when these elements aren't handled just right. Happily, "just right" is exactly the note Kinsella strikes. The various communications feel real and appear in natural and perfect amounts, enriching but never overwhelming the story. The heart of this book is in the unexpected discovery of kindred spirits by two people who were so busy filling their lives with things they thought they wanted, so busy being the people they thought they should be, they didn't even realize what was missing. It's a slow burn sort of falling in love. You're all in before you realize it. And, as long as we're talking romance, I'll just go ahead and say that I've Got Your Number builds up to one of the most steal-your-breath moments I've had the pleasure of reading. Seriously. The fact that their relationship is conducted and developed primarily via technology (though they do interact some in person) leads to some pretty fabulous and subtle buildup, and it all happens without the reader even noticing. So, so worth the wait. All in all, I've Got Your Number has everything I want in contemporary chick lit. I'm so glad I gave Kinsella a shot, and I will definitely be coming back for more. I've already gifted a copy to my sister. I rather suspect it'll be just the thing.

Linkage
The Book Scoop review
Dear Author review
Emily and Her Little Pink Notes review
Fabbity Fab Book review
Fiction Vixen Book review
Five Alarm Book review
Smexy Books review

Gunmetal Magic Cover

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 20:19:00 +0000

I don't know about you guys, but I'm kind of bouncing on my chair right now. Ilona Andrews has revealed the cover for Gunmetal Magic--the upcoming novel in the Kate Daniels world featuring Andrea! Andrea (and Raphael) kind of rock, so the fact that she gets her own book is splendiferous in the extreme. Coverwise, I love how Andrea looks. She's got the take no prisoners/I'm the small package good things come in attitude down pat. And I always love when we get a little magic-frayed Atlanta in the background. Gunmetal Magic is due out July 31st, and I simply won't be happy until it's in my hands.

Wednesday Giggles: Dollar Shave Club Version

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:50:00 +0000

Apropos of absolutely nothing except that I can't stop giggling over this hilarious startup video, I give you your Wednesday giggles (via DH and the Dollar Shave Club).

For Darkness Shows the Stars by Diana Peterfreund

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 16:00:00 +0000

I know this is an almost unpardonably early review. But honestly, I waited on it as long as I possibly could before the effort of holding it in caused me some sort of bodily harm. I've been anxiously looking forward to For Darkness Shows the Stars for going on two years now, and the day an ARC showed up on my doorstep was just a very good day indeed. When a book you've been dying to read finally falls into your lap, do you ever just hold onto it and savor the possibilities? I do. I did with this one for a little while. Don't get me wrong, sometimes I just tear into it immediately. But sometimes I don't. Because sometimes dreaming about it while you're actually holding it in your hands is special, too. So I savored and I dreamt and I started reading and . . . I was gone. My first reaction to finishing it was a sense of complete satisfaction mingled with sadness that it was over. My second was thinking that I cannot wait to see For Darkness Shows the Stars work its magic on readers far and wide. As post-apocalyptic retellings of classics go, it pretty much killed it on all levels for this devoted Austen girl.

Elliot North knows how to work hard. As a member of the elite Luddite nobility, she has a keen sense of what is expected of her, of which actions are acceptable and which ones could get you disowned and out on the streets. It is that very sense of duty that kept her from following her childhood friend Kai four years ago, when he fled servitude on her father's estate for a life of uncertainty and, just possibly, freedom. Their friendship was forbidden from the beginning, as Kai belongs to the Post-Reductionist class, and ever since the catastrophic Reduction, matters or birth and class ruthlessly define every aspect of a person's life. But now, four long years have passed, and at eighteen years old, Elliot is the only thing keeping the family lands going. As her father and sister grow further distanced from reality, the world as they know it is changing. Determined not to be left behind, Elliot convinces her family to lease the land to a group of unusual shipwrights known as Cloud Fleet. Hoping the extra income will save her home, Elliot is, well, gobsmacked when one of the renowned shipwrights turns out to be none other than her old friend--no longer playful, open Kai, but smart, remote Captain Malakai Wentforth. Elliot knows how to work hard, but even she may not be up to the task of withstanding the flood of guilt and longing that threatens to overtake her with his return. Especially given the suspicions that being to swirl in her head regarding just what he and his fleet are up to.

Everything about this book soars, from its supernal setting to the dreams its characters hold in their hearts. Having read (and adored) Persuasion for years now, it was extremely gratifying to see the massive amounts of care and thought that went into the crafting of this story inspired by Jane Austen's final novel. In fact, I felt a healthy dose of admiration for the storytelling the entire time I was reading it. But the wonderful bit is that it won me over on its own strengths entirely. The world and its sinister history, the characters and their eerily perfect names, the writing and its effortless flow--they're all so interlocked and balanced, coming together so as to make hours go by like seconds. I may have been predisposed to like Elliot, but the way my heart launched itself into my throat when hers did, the way my temper rose on her behalf, and the way I held my breath at her restraint and cheered her adamant refusal to be downtrodden . . . I more-than-liked Elliot. I more-than-liked Kai (even when I wanted to hurt him). And most of all, I more-than-liked the brilliant ending. Here is one of my favorite non-spoilery passages, in which you get a feel for the way the writing lauds the original while extending it to support the strengths of these new characters and their spectacular world:

Elliot had had enough. "If you can't be civil to me, Miss Phoenix, I wish you'd leave me in peace. I have never done anything to you, and if you seek to punish me for past misdeeds, there is nothing you can devise that I haven't already suffered." Four years of worrying about Kai, followed by all these weeks of having him back here, but hating her. Was that not punishment enough?

"You baffle me, Miss Elliot," Andromeda replied in the same high-wrought tone. "I can't reconcile the young woman I see before me with the reports I have had."

What lies had Kai been spreading abroad? "I'm sorry to hear that, but it's none of my concern. I am the same person I've always been." She turned her face away from Andromeda, away from the crowd and from Kai. "Maybe you should ask yourself why, if I am the person you've been led to believe, someone would put their faith in me at all?"

"People are foolish when it comes to love."

Elliot hadn't been. She'd been rational, logical, reasonable, prudent. She'd been cold and cruel and disloyal and distant.

She hadn't been foolish.

She'd been the most foolish girl on the island.

Great, no? The killer thing about Elliot (have I mentioned how much I love her?) is that she has all the layers. She's the perfect blend of unmitigated strength and harbored regret. Every moment of every day she embodies dedication and resolve, all the while trying to mask the hope and the pain she lives with every moment of every single day. Here is Elliot:

No one came. Not her sister or her father, not Benedict or the Fleet Posts or even Admiral Innovation. No one appeared in the hall all afternoon but the mute, shuffling figures of the Reduced housemaids as they went about their chores. Time passed, and Elliot sat in the chair, waiting for the verdict from Felicia.

How much of her life had she spent waiting? Waiting for a plant to sprout? Waiting for her father's judgment? Waiting for another letter to appear in the knothole from Kai? Waiting for years after Kai left to feel at peace with her decision? She fed the Reduced, she did her chores, she avoided her father and her sister, and she waited. She did every duty she'd been taught as a Luddite, and she lied with every breath.

I'd say I don't know what to say, but I do. And it's this. Snatch it up the day it comes out--this beautiful book--this meticulous, breathtaking retelling of one of the greatest love stories ever penned.

Lastly, I just want to thank Diana (from the bottom of my heart) for page 117. Got it in one!

For Darkness Shows the Stars is due out June 12th.

Linkage
Nyx Book review
whatcYAreading? review

Retro Friday Review: Catch of the Day by Kristan Higgins

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 22:41:00 +0000

Retro Friday is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time!

I felt like something light today for this edition of Retro Friday. It's been awhile. Quite honestly, life is abundantly busy these days. And while my reading hasn't slowed down, I tend to hibernate with an old favorite when real life gets real. So I may have been forgoing some of the new stuff in favor of doing a little re-reading a la Megan Whalen Turner these days. I also made time to re-read one of my favorite Kristan Higgins books on account of it being repackaged and re-released this week in a glossy new edition to match her others. Catch of the Day was originally published in 2007 and was Higgins' second book. I had already read a handful of her books before finding Catch of the Day, and I sort of thought I had her style figured out, you know? The first two I read remained strong favorites. The rest were like frosting, delectable, fluffy, always-welcome treats. Then I read Catch of the Day and it shot immediately to the top of my faves (along with All I Ever Wanted and Until There Was You). Together these three make up my Kristan Higgins Holy Triumverate, if you will. I'm delighted it's been reissued, as the dog cover wasn't doing it for me. I get that each of her books has a dog in it, and this one is probably even my favorite pup. He's central to the story in a good way, organically a part of Maggie's life and not a distraction from the heart of the story. But having the dog front and center on the cover still kind of puts me off (and I'm a huge dog person). Make of that what you will.

Maggie Beaumont's life leaves something to be desired. It's to do with the fact that she's staggeringly unlucky in love. Her romantic history is long and undistinguished, veritably littered with the horrific and the inappropriate. Take her most recent foray. The poor girl actually had the monumental misfortune to fall for the local priest (albeit before she found out he was her congregation's new Father). And she hasn't been able to shake the crush. It's been long enough. She's certainly suffered enough constant, good-natured ribbing from her friends, family, and the entire town. But she can't help it. Father Tim is just something special. And it's not like anyone else has come her way in teeny, tiny Gideon's Cove, Maine. So she goes about her days: running her beloved diner, contributing in about a million ways to her local church, hanging out with her twin sister, avoiding her judgmental mother, and trying to rid her mind of a certain incredibly charming, incredibly unavailable celibate. And then one small act of kindness from a person she thought despised her. Suddenly massive levels of uncertainty and anxiety (and romance) are introduced into Maggie's regular routine, along with, just-perhaps, a new friend who needs her, too.

You guys, I love this book. It held up prodigiously well on the second read. And that's what cemented its status in the Holy Triumvirate. I will be re-reading the three of them many times over. I can tell. Catch of the Day is utterly charming, and the bulk of its charm resides in the unerringly wonderful Maggie, the swoon-worthy Malone, and the makes-me-want-to-move-to-Maine-so-bad Gideon's Cove. Maggie is one of the good ones. She loves her hand-me-down diner. She tries hard, laughs loud, and will never stop falling over her feet when it comes to social situations. Malone is a good egg as well, though the opposite of Maggie in nearly every way. Gruff, silent, married to his lobster boat, he had me at that first broody, "Ayuh." And his giving Maggie a ride home from the worst blind date of her life. I was pretty much sold from then on. This thing that starts between them is complicated and tentative, and everything I love in a simultaneously slow-developing and sweep-you-off-your-feet romance. Once again Kristan Higgins managed to make me laugh merrily even as I'm thinking carefully about the endlessly fascinating, painful, and hopeful facets of human relationships. This is my favorite setting from her books as well, and I was tickled to find out she's returning to it in her upcoming novel Somebody to Love. A few more chance encounters with Maggie, Malone, and the motley crew? Yes, please. Only good can come of it.

Linkage
The Allure of Books review
Book Binge review
A Bookworm's Life review
Dear Author review
The Happily Ever After review

Retro Friday Roundup
Good Books and Good Wine reviews Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta

Playing Along

noreply@blogger.com (Angiegirl) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 16:00:00 +0000

Christine over at The Happily Ever After recently posted the following meme, and for some reason I copied the questions over and set out to answer them. There's no accounting for what pulls me into filling out one of these, but the always-genuine Christine is likely a big part of this one. Also, it had been awhile, and I liked her questions. So.

1. What is your favorite genre to read?
Um. Except for this first one. This first one is hard. If I take a look at my beloved bookshelf, it does look as though the majority of my favorite books do fall under the (very) broad category of fantasy. Historicals and contemporaries after that.

2. What is the first romance novel you ever read and how old were you when you read it?
I come late to the game to this genre. The first romance novel I read was on a dare. It was Mr. Impossible by Loretta Chase, and I was 31. It was, sadly, not love at first sight. But we parted friends, and I have since gone on several memorable dates with romance novels. I plan on pursuing the relationship.

3. How many books--paper or ebooks--are in your existing TBR pile?
I believe there are upwards of 75 books teetering on my TBR just now. Don't judge.

4. Do you read nonfiction? If so, from which sub-genre?
The short answer to this question is: not for pleasure, no. With the occasional notable exception.

5. Do you own an e-reading device? If so, which one(s)?
I have a Nook Touch and my husband has a Kindle, and that pretty much sums up our relationship right there.

6. Which one book have you re-read most often?
It's gotta be a tie between The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and The High King. Those two books are my childhood.

7. How many library books do you have out right now?
That would be 8. And those don't even figure into my TBR. I may have a problem.

8. How do you mark your place in a book?
With literally whatever I have at hand, though ticket stubs and cards my son has made me are particular favorites.

9. About how many books do you typically read in a month?
Between 10 and 12, I'd say. Which only goes to show how far behind in my reviewing I've gotten these days. Must do better.

10. What was the last book that made you cry?
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. No surprise there.

11. What was the last book that made you laugh?
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. And that's why I love his books. He makes me feel all the real feelings, and, like a good piece of music, he does it with such beautiful transitions.

And you?