Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

Beautiful Darkness by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl is the sequel to Beautiful Creatures. I am so looking forward to reading this book!

Publication date: October 12, 2010



From Goodreads:
Ethan Wate used to think of Gatlin, the small Southern town he had always called home, as a place where nothing ever changed. Then he met mysterious newcomer Lena Duchannes, who revealed a secret world that had been hidden in plain sight all along. A Gatlin that harbored ancient secrets beneath its moss-covered oaks and cracked sidewalks. A Gatlin where a curse has marked Lena's family of powerful supernaturals for generations. A Gatlin where impossible, magical, life-altering events happen.


Sometimes life-ending.

Together they can face anything Gatlin throws at them, but after suffering a tragic loss, Lena starts to pull away, keeping secrets that test their relationship. And now that Ethan's eyes have been opened to the darker side of Gatlin, there's no going back. Haunted by strange visions only he can see, Ethan is pulled deeper into his town's tangled history and finds himself caught up in the dangerous network of underground passageways endlessly crisscrossing the South, where nothing is as it seems

Hush, hush

Hush, hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
borrowed from library
Summary from Goodreads:
For Nora Grey, romance was not part of the plan. She's never been particularly attracted to the boys at her school, no matter how much her best friend, Vee, pushes them at her...until Patch comes along.

With his easy smile and eyes that seem to see inside her, Nora is drawn to him against her better judgment, but after a series of terrifying encounters, Nora's not sure whom to trust. Patch seems to be everywhere she is, and to know more about her than her closest friends. She can't decide whether she should fall into his arms or run and hide. And when she tries to seek some answers, she finds herself near a truth that is far more unsettling than anything Patch makes her feel.

For Nora is right in the middle of an ancient battle between the immortal and those that have fallen - and when it comes to choosing sides, the wrong choice will cost her life
 
My take:
I have mixed feelings on this one.  I really really like the premise of Hush, Hush --- but I just didn't feel like the execution was all that it could have been. I liked Patch, but he was just slightly too creepy - I get that he is a fallen angel and so not such a good guy. But I felt that it was just slightly off from what he should have been to be the male lead.   Nora was a bit more problematic because I had a hard time believing her reactions sometimes. As the heroine, I felt that she should be a little more believable. I don't want to give too many specifics for those who haven't read the book yet.  I think this book had so much promise, I'm just not quite sure it met that promise. Having said that, I will most likely read the next book because I am interested in where the story is going.

To Kill A Mockingbird

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
review copy provided by Harper Perennial
Summary from Goodreads:
Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee's classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel—a, a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus's children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930s.

My take:
One of the ways that helps me decide that a book is an example of really good writing and that the book can be considered a classic is that people find so many different things to say about it.  To Kill a Mockingbird is a great example of this. Every review you read about this book picks something different that was important or meaningful to that reader. And every time I read a review I think, Yes, that's what I think is important too -- and that -- and that.  I love that about this book.  I honestly have no idea why I hadn't read the book before -- I should have --- I was the kid in high school who read all the classics.  This book still haunts me. The characters alone are enough to keep a person thinking for a lifetime. Atticus Finch is a prime example of this.  It is difficult to compare one's own character to Atticus Finch because most of us will find ourselves sorely lacking. There is much to be learned from this book on many topics. And I love the dialogue.

On snobbishness:

Well Jem, I don't know - Atticus told me one time that most of the Old Family stuff's foolishness because everybody's family's just as old as everybody else's. I said did that include the colored folks and the Englishmen and he said yes. ~ Scout

On parenting:

 When a child asks you something, answer him, for goodness' sake. But don't make a production of it. Children are children, but they can spot an evasion quicker than adults, and evasions simply muddles 'em. ~ Atticus

On understanding people:

You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it. ~Atticus

There are so many more examples of things that are thought provoking. I understand why To Kill a Mockingbird is often required reading for kids in school, but I fear that they don't get as much from it as they would if they read it as adults.

I've seen several references to To Kill a Mockingbird as being considered by some to be Southern Gothic, and while I think everyone can agree that it is indeed a Southern novel, I am not quite so sold on the Gothic part. While Boo Radley is the bogeyman to the children of the town, he is in actuality, just a human -- no real supernatural elements here. But, on the other hand, since the other elements of Southern Gothic are included: bigotry, self-righteousness, use of deeply flawed characters to make social commentary - it could be argued that it is southern Gothic. At the very least, it has heavily influenced more recent examples of the genre.

Waiting on Wednesday

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill over at Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we are eagerly anticipating.

An Artificial Night by Seanan McGuire is scheduled to be released September 7, 2010. This is the third book in the October Daye series and I can't wait to read it.


October "Toby" Daye is a changeling-half human and half fae-and the only one who has earned knighthood. Now she must take on a nightmarish new challenge. Someone is stealing the children of the fae as well as mortal children, and all signs point to Blind Michael. Toby has no choice but to track the villain down-even when there are only three magical roads by which to reach Blind Michael's realm, home of the Wild Hunt-and no road may be taken more than once. If Toby cannot escape with the children, she will fall prey to the Wild Hunt and Blind Michael's inescapable power

Catching Fire

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
borrowed from library
Summary from Goodreads:
Against all odds, Katniss Everdeen has won the annual Hunger Games with fellow district tribute Peeta Mellark. But it was a victory won by defiance of the Capitol and their harsh rules. Katniss and Peeta should be happy. After all, they have just won for themselves and their families a life of safety and plenty. But there are rumors of rebellion among the subjects, and Katniss and Peeta, to their horror, are the faces of that rebellion. The Capitol is angry. The Capitol wants revenge.

My take:
As with first book in this series, The Hunger Games, I was completely drawn into the story after only a few pages. Considering that this series is dystopian, we all knew deep inside that Katniss and Peeta weren't going to be left alone to live their lives in peace. But we could hope - for a little while at least.  We find out that the Capitol's control over the districts isn't quite a firm as they would like everyone to believe. And apparently, Katniss's little act of rebellion with the berries during the games has stirred up more defiance than she or anyone in District 12 really knew.

It turns out that this is the year of the Quarter Quell  - everyone thought it was just another hunger games, but no, this year it is just another form of torture for the previous Hunger Games Victors - they will go back into the games. Katniss is pretty sure this choice is aimed directly at her and her rebellion - and maybe it is - or maybe it is an attempt to show all the districts that the Capitol can destroy anyone - even their victors. But there are already uprisings and growing signs of rebellion. Katniss has only one goal - keep Peeta alive. Peeta is determined to keep Katniss alive. And Katniss and Peeta's mentor Haymitch has his own plans.

This book is so good! I could barely put it down. The ending cliffhanger is just cruel to the reader. I am so anxious to read the third book. I hadn't expected the book to go in the direction it did, but now I just want to see how it all plays out. The plans and agreements made with and between the various victors was a surprise, but an intriguing one - one that I am anxious to see to the end.

On another note, I am sensing that I will have to work on a blog post about dystopian books and why we seem to love to read them so much. Are they more popular at certain times? Is there a reason besides randomness that they seem to be everywhere on the shelves these days? What does this say about us? I don't know. I'm thinking.

Wildthorn

Wildthorn by Jane Eagland
digital galley provided by NetGalley
Summary from Goodreads:
Seventeen-year-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to break free from her respectable life as a Victorian doctor's daughter. But her dreams become a nightmare when Louisa is sent to Wildthorn Hall: labeled a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and even her real name. As she unravels the betrayals that led to her incarceration, she realizes there are many kinds of prison. She must be honest with herself - and others - in order to be set free. And love may be the key...

My take:
Louisa Cosgrove finds herself at Wildthorn Hall, a hospital -- an asylum for insane women.  She thought she was supposed to be going to stay with a family as a companion to their daughter. When she arrives at Wildthorn Hall, she is addressed as Miss Childs and the more she insists that she is Louisa Cosgrove and that there has been a mistake, the more the director and attendant are sure that she is indeed insane. Her papers have been falsified and she has no one to turn to, for she is unsure of who has betrayed her. Thus begins this fast-paced story about Louisa's experiences at Wildthorn Hall.  The reader is given snippets of events in  Louisa's life in flashback that help to fill in the missing pieces needed to figure out exactly what happened to cause her to be locked up in an asylum and to find out who was behind the plot.

Because this book won't be out until September, I don't want to give away too much about the story. This book gives a disturbing look into the way women's mental health was viewed and how dangerous it could be to refuse to go along with accepted ideas on how women should behave.  Louisa is an intelligent, curious girl who wants to do more with her life than just be a wife and mother. She wants to be a doctor like her father. She has the aptitude and the desire, but because she is female, it is just not accepted by her family or society. The story is told from Louisa's point of view and the picture given of the treatment of the women in the hospital is depressing and heart-wrenching at times.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for high school age and up. There is very mild lesbian content.

Rating: 4 of 5

Update for Monday, July 19th

This is just a quick recap of what I read last week and what I plan to read this week.

Books read last week:
Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill
Wildthorn by Jane Eagland (digital galley from NetGalley) review should be up this week
Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

Books I plan to read this week:
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Catching Fire  by Suzanne Collins
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (this is a re-read)

I've been doing quite a bit of what I think of as "summer reading" or "reading for fun" lately - and there is nothing wrong with that. But, as I start working on next year's school/reading lists for the kids, I am also preparing my own reading list and that will include many more classics and literary fiction titles. So, you've been warned.

Sisters Red

Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce
borrowed from library
Summary from Goodreads:
Scarlett March lives to hunt the Fenris-- the werewolves that took her eye when she was defending her sister Rosie from a brutal attack. Armed with a razor-sharp hatchet and blood-red cloak, Scarlett is an expert at luring and slaying the wolves. She's determined to protect other young girls from a grisly death, and her raging heart will not rest until every single wolf is dead.

Rosie March once felt her bond with her sister was unbreakable. Owing Scarlett her life, Rosie hunts fiercely alongside her. Now Rosie dreams of a life beyond the wolves and finds herself drawn to Silas, a young woodsman who is deadly with an ax-- but loving him means betraying her sister and has the potential to destroy all they've worked for.

Twenty-five-year-old Jackson Pearce delivers a dark, taut fairy tale with heart-pounding action, fierce sisterly love, and a romance that will leave readers breathless.

My take:
Scarlett and Rosie March are attacked by a Fenris – a werewolf- when they are young girls. Scarlett is severely scarred and lost an eye while protecting her younger sister Rosie. They grow up with the huntsman’s family and learn how to lure and hunt the Fenris. Scarlett feels that hunting down and killing every last Fenris while also protecting her sister is her duty in life. Rosie is the younger, more sheltered sister and she isn’t physically or emotionally scarred like Scarlett. Because she knows that she owes her life to her sister, she joins Scarlett in her mission to kill Fenris even though she wants to live a more normal life.


This sets up an interesting take on the Little Red Riding Hood tale. Jackson Pearce takes the old familiar tale and turns it around a bit. It appears that she has gone back to some earlier versions of the tale where Little Red isn’t quite the innocent little girl she is in the later Perrault or Grimm versions. The red cloak is an important aspect to the luring of the Fenris. It seems that the color red is irresistible to the Fenris, so the girls always wear one when hunting or baiting. In Annotated Classic Fairy Tales, Maria Tatar says:

Psychoanalytic critics have made much of the color red, equating it with sin, passion, blood, and thereby suggesting a certain complicity on the part of Red Riding Hood in her seduction.p. 17

I don't think complicity applies here, but knowledge of what will lure the Fenris and understanding why certainly does apply. So, Scarlett and Rosie bait the Fenris by wearing red, playing up their vulnerability as young girls and walking alone in isolated areas. They pretend to be helpless and then outwit and out fight the Fenris. In this way, the story is much more similar to older versions of this tale, where Red actually does a striptease for the wolf, stringing him along, and then excuses herself for a minute to relieve herself and then escapes. She outwits the wolf herself and has no need to be rescued by a male. I like it that in Sisters Red, Scarlett and Rosie are able to defend themselves and don’t need to be rescued either.

Rating: 4 of 5

The Keening

The Keening by A. LaFaye
digital galley provided by NetGalley
Summary from Goodreads:
Born into a family with artistry in their fingers, Lyza laments that her only talent is carving letters into wood. That is until her life is turned upside down when her mother succumbs to the influenza pandemic of 1918, which is devastating their small coastal town in Maine. With her mother gone, Lyza must protect her eccentric father, who runs the risk of being committed, especially now that he claims he’s waiting for the return of his dead wife. Can Lyza save her father and find her own path in the process?

My Take:
This novel is historical fiction in that it takes place in Maine during the 1918 influenza epidemic, but this is a dreamy, ethereal, ghostly story about Lyza, her artistic, eccentric father and the death of Lyza' mother. Mayra, Lyza’s mother, has always taken care of her artistic, sensitive, and some might even say insane, husband and made sure that their lives ran relatively smoothly. After her death, Lyza must contend with the real life problems that her mother handled so well. The story behind her father Evan’s eccentric behavior and artistic endeavors is fascinating and beautiful. This story haunted me while I was reading it as well as after I had finished the book. This book is listed as juvenile historical fiction and is relatively short, but I don’t think adults would find it too juvenile to enjoy. Recommend for juvenile, teens, adults.


Rating: 4 of 5

The Iron Daughter

The Iron Daughter by Julie Kagawa
digital galley provided by NetGalley
Summary from Goodreads:
Half Summer faery princess, half human, Meghan has never fit in anywhere. Deserted by the Winter prince she thought loved her, she is prisoner to the Winter faery queen. As war looms between Summer and Winter, Meghan knows that the real danger comes from the Iron Fey, iron-bound faeries that only she and her absent prince have seen. But no one believes her. Worse, Meghan's own fey powers have been cut off. She's alone in Faery with only her wits for help. Trusting anyone would be foolish. Trusting a seeming traitor could be deadly. But even as she grows a backbone of iron, Meghan can't help but hear the whispers of longing in her all-too-human heart.

My take:
Meghan leaves her home shortly after making it back in order to fulfill her promise made to Ash in the first book, The Iron King, to return with him to Tir Na Nog. She finds herself a prisoner of Queen Mab in the cold and unfriendly Unseelie court with only an annoying phouka for company. Meghan is now stuck in the land of winter with all the hostile members of the Unseelie Court. Meghan is unsure of where her relationship with prince Ash stands – if there was ever a relationship at all or if it was all just a cruel ploy to get her to return to Tir Na Nog. Meghan feels lost and betrayed but still hopeful that Ash will come through for her.

When Meghan tried to explain to Queen Mab about the Iron Fey, she was called a liar and everything she said was dismissed. The changing of the seasons means the Exchange – when the magic scepter is brought from the Seelie court to the Unseelie court to mark the end of summer and the arrival of autumn and winter. After the scepter is stolen right under Queen Mab’s nose, the theft is blamed on the Seelie court and used as justification for war between the fey. Meghan and Ash vow to find and return the scepter in an attempt to stop all-out war between the fey. Thus begins the next part of the wild, dangerous and thoroughly enjoyable adventures for Meghan, Ash and Puck.

This, the second in the Iron Fey series, was just as much fun to read as the first book, The Iron King. I really like the world Julie Kagawa has created in this series. I still like the idea of the Iron Fey and I am anxious to see where this storyline will lead. There are new characters introduced and some familiar ones return in this exciting page turner. Puck is still a favorite – he is everything that he should be. The only thing that I am not crazy about is the Ash/Meghan pairing. The second book does a better job of making this relationship believable and Ash is much more sympathetic, but I just have a soft spot for Puck. I think that this book would be enjoyed by anyone who likes urban fantasy or faerie books, particularly young adults, but adults shouldn’t find it too juvenile.

Rating: 4.5 of 5