Book Review: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus is purely magical. Opening its covers is like stepping into a dream from which you will never want to wake; every element of the story is almost painfully beautiful. If I were dropped on a desert island with only a single box of books, this book would be in that box.

The Night Circus is the story of Celia and Marco, a girl and a boy chosen and trained by two different magicians to compete in a game of illusion and strength. The game commences when they are adults, and it is played in a dream-like circus that travels the world. One illusionist travels with the circus while the other plays from afar. They fall in love, neither of them realizing that the game will only end when one of them dies. The circus impacts more and more lives the longer it goes on, and not always in a good way. Alongside the interplay of Celia and Marco is the story of Bailey, a boy fascinated by the circus who will play an integral role in the story as the two story lines merge.

Erin Morgenstern's book is wonderful. The setting is enchanting, story is interesting, and the prose is beautiful. The characters could have been developed further, since I feel like the defining characteristics of the main characters were quite similar (one of their major features is that they are all obsessed with books), but that is really the only criticism I have of this book. I can't wait to see what she writes next!

Book Review: Girl Genius by Kaja and Phil Foglio

I have to confess an addiction to Pat Rothfuss's blog. He is a spectacular writer, and his blog is well written and funny. At any rate, after reading his recent post about Girl Genius, I proceeded to the Girl Genious website and spent the next week immersed in the comic every spare minute I had. Literally. There were times when I opened up my laptop to read just half of a page. :) I am desperately sad that I've read everything there is for now, and I'm going a little crazy in a corner of my mind that the story is not yet finished.

I cannot say anything about Girl Genious that Pat didn't say, except that, when I have $22 that's not immediately due to pay some bill or another, I'll be buying that first book, and I won't be sending it to Pat to take him up on his guarantee!

Book Review: The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo

I hope that your holiday weekend was wonderful and relaxing, or at least busy with things you wanted to be doing!

I was busy, but happily. One of the things I did over the weekend was read The Magician's Elephant, by Kate DiCamillo, illustrated by Yoko Tanaka.

I loved this book. It is the story of an orphaned boy who lives with a soldier who fought beside his father. The boy is told by a fortuneteller that his sister lives, and in order to find her, he must follow the elephant. That same night, a magician conjurs an elephant, which falls right through the ceiling of the theater he is performing in.

The Magician's Elephant is a story about magic, and what is possible when you believe. Kate DiCamillo does not need flowery language; her writing is beautiful without pretension. The voice she uses throughout the book is simple, funny, and touching, and she does it all deftly. Yoko Tanaka's illustrations are perfect for the story. All of the illustrations are in black and white, and they capture the magical tone of the story. This story has had me asking, What if? Why not? Could it be? ever since I put it down.

Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman

I read Odd and the Frost Giants, by Neil Gaiman yesterday. It was another quick read, but far more enjoyable than the last one. Neil Gaiman is a master of writing, and I say that because it is rare that one person can successfully write in so many different genres.

Odd and the Frost Giants is about a Viking's son who just doesn't fit in (which is fun, because I just watched How to Train Your Dragon - if you haven't seen it yet, you should, regardless of how old you happen to be). After his father dies, his mother marries another man in the village, and during one particular winter that was just lasting far too long and after putting up with more than enough taunting, Odd decides to leave. He takes some supplies and goes back to the hut they lived in when his father was alive. From there, he learns exactly what's causing the extra-long winter and decides to go on an adventure to fix things.

I'd forgotten what a pleasure it could be to read a well-written children's book. Odd and the Frost Giants is simply written, and while it is at all elaborate, Gaiman wrote everything that needed to be in those pages. I could practically see Odd and his mother, the bear, fox, and eagle, and the frost giant. I can't imagine that there will be much criticism of this book. I hope everyone finds the time to pick it up.

The Child Thief, by Brom (and Green Angel, by Alice Hoffman)

I sat outside in the sun and finished The Child Thief on Saturday. It fits into the "fairy tale" part of the Once Upon a Time Challenge, but mostly I read it because it's Brom. As should be expected when you open a book by Brom (or look at any of his art), The Child Thief is filled with magic and darkness. It's not for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, as Brom has no qualms about describing graphic details or including horrific scenes. There are many of those, as the story is about a boy who steals children, takes them to his fort on Avalon where they become the Devils (the Lost Boys of Peter Pan) and where they train so that they can fight his war against the monsterous captain and his crew in a centuries-long attempt to save Avalon. Brom finds the sinister in Peter Pan and brings it to the forefront of the story, weaving it so skillfully with the magic of the tale that you finish the book feeling like you just read the true story of Peter Pan. The Child Thief is like the gritty truth Brom revealed by pulling back all the years of candy coating.

Green Angel was a library book sale purchase, and I expected much from it when I sat down to read it this weekend. It's a short book that can be read in one sitting, but I can only recommend it for the beauty of the prose. The way Hoffman put words together was beautiful, but it was almost as though she focused so much on the words that she forgot what the words were saying. The story was choppy, and I felt that most of the time the narrator told me what happened rather than showing me. I also found it difficult to identify with the main character, in spite of the fact that ten years ago I was an angsty, shy, withdrawn teenage girl myself. This book may be one of the few books that goes back to the library in a donation box.

Winter's Heart, by Robert Jordan

I flew through Winter's Heart; audio books make it easy to read anywhere hands-free, regardless of the weather. I know a lot of people are dissatisfied with this book, as they are with most of the books in the Wheel of Time series after the first three to five, but I liked it. Robert Jordan is a master story-teller; he may not tell a clean, tight story, but he tells a fascinating one. Things are heating up in the Wheel of Time series, and I called my partner a few times with exclamations about what happened in this book. Mat finally returns to the story with a lot of space in the book, some mysterious characters are revealed for who they really are, and things I've been waiting for for books finally happened. The slowness that bogged down the last few books doesn't touch this one, and it ends with a bang.

I'm excited to read the rest of the series, but I want to take a short break to read Brom's The Child Thief. I love Brom, and I've been excited about reading this book since it came out. Also, this Peter Pan-inspired story will fit nicely into the fairy tale requirement for the Once Upon a Time Challenge.

The Path of Daggers, by Robert Jordan

I finished listening to this book as I walked in the door to work this morning. I love a good audio book, and Robert Jordan read by Kate Reading and Michael Kremer is a great audio book. The Path of Daggers fits into the fantasy niche for the Once Upon a Time Challenge, and of course it counts as one of my hundred, so that's two birds with one very happy stone.

The Path of Daggers is the eighth book in the Wheel of Time Series, and I would say you have to read the rest of the series before reading this one. I don't want to spoil the book for those who haven't read it yet, but I do want to say a few things about it. (If, by the way, you'd like to talk about the book in more spoiling detail, you can email me, and I'd be thrilled to chat!)

The first three or four books in the series were fairly fast-paced. A lot happened, and a lot of mysteries and prophesies were brought into the mix. The characters were interesting, well-rounded characters and the plot was well-developed (although the road to Cairhien took waaaaaaay too long).

Books four through six were well-written and full of character development, but they moved more slowly; there was a lot of political maneuvering and very little action. I think this is where the series loses a lot of readers, but if you're tempted to stop, don't.

Book seven picks up a little bit more, and things start to get into motion again, but while things begin to happen quickly, they also happen with little or no reasoning at all. I love the idea of Travelling, but while Jordan's characters fly all over the map, so does a bit of the plot. Mat's headed in one direction, then suddenly, Rand changes his mind, and Mat steps through one of the Travelling windows with his Band of the Red Hand and does something completely different. (Speaking of Mat, I adore his character, but I haven't read much about him at all in The Path of Daggers.

In spite of the fact that all that Travelling scatters the plot, things get really interesting in book eight, and the last chapter, with Jordan's description of what the people and rumors are saying, leaves you fairly certain about what didn't happen but completely in the dark about exactly what did happen. I was happy to see Egwene (my favorite character) start to pick up a bit more of the oomph that I've heard she really comes into in The Gathering Storm. She's tougher, smarter, more confident, and more capable of pushing things in the direction she wants them to go. This is a woman who might seem young, but she's more in control than anyone expects.

Speaking of Egwene, Robert Jordan has some interesting takes on women in his books. But that's another topic for another time.

Once Upon a Time Challenge, and Melissa Nucera

I just joined the Once Upon a Time Challenge (just click on the picture above for the link), reading four books between now (the challenge started on the first day of Spring, March 21) and the last day of spring, June 20. The challenge includes several different levels, or quests. I am doing Quest the Second, to read at least one book from each of the four categories: fantasy, folklore, fairy tale, and mythology. It shouldn't be too difficult for me, because that's what I love the most, but I've also added the Short Story Weekends Quest, where I will read a short story each weekend. I will post about it on Mondays. This weekend will be the first.

The challenge is sponsored by a fabulous artist, Melissa Nucera. I looked at her Etsy page, ThisYearsGirl, and I found myself writing stories in my head to go along with her work. In May, when I've got a little extra money, I'm going to purchase one of her prints. I think the piece called Unwritten Tale is hauntingly beautiful. It's the kind of art that you think about for the rest of the day.

Warbreaker: How audio book readers can ruin a good story

I'm currently reading three different books at once. When you're me, this happens. I started Path of Daggers, by Robert Jordan first, but we only have the pristine first printing of the first edition copy, which, needless to say, can't exactly be stuffed in my purse to read on the bus or during lunch. So I started reading Anna Karenina, which I am surprisingly enjoying and am quite far into by now. On vacation, we started listening to Warbreaker, by Brandon Sanderson (he's finishing Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series with Jordan's notes).

I like Brandon Sanderson. His writing is a little overly explanatory and his language often strays into overly formal or absurdly casual, but he tells a good, creative, interesting story and he writes strong, well-developed characters whose good/evil factor is always somewhere in the gray zone. His Mistborn trilogy was phenomenal, and if you even think you might like fantasy, you should read those books. I was excited when Warbreaker came out, but like many bibliophiles, I was already reading four other books and haven't gotten to it until now.

And let me say, the audio book sucks. I'm so disappointed in it. The reader is supposed to be this uber-talented actor-type, so I was looking forward to it, but the reader pauses in the wrong (and distracting) places, reads some characters with a stereotypical dumb surfer voice (no, they're not surfers), puts question marks into sentences where there is only a comma, and drones when he reads Sanderson's frequent explanations of what's going on and how things work. When I picked up the actual book yesterday, I got sucked right in; it's just as good as his other writing.

Brandon, please find another reader to do your audio books!

*As an aside, the readers who did the entire Wheel of Time series, Kate Reading and Michael Kremer, are spectacular, and their interpretation of the inflections, tones, and accents only benefited the story.

Anna Karenina: Halfway-through Review

I intended to read Anna Karenina for a book club I really want to join, but I started the book far too late, and although the meeting has passed, I am finishing the book. My partner says it's a terrible book, but I'm actually finding a lot to like. I'll tell you what I think about it, but have you read it? Did you like it/hate it/spend a lot of time thinking but never come to a conclusion?

I read Tolstoy's War and Peace in college, and I really hated it. At the end of the semester, I still had 50 pages left to go, and you know what? The slip of paper I used as a bookmark is still sitting in the book, 50 pages from the end.

In Anna Karenina, Tolstoy does still meander off-course and from topic to topic, some of the dialogue is nonsensical (a character will say one thing, and the character responding will say something on a completely different topic), and there are several storylines. However, since that college course, I've discovered a fondness for plots that involve multiple storylines and characters connected by a single character or a few characters, or even connected only by a single event; stories that show the threads of commonality between people everywhere. There are fewer characters and fewer storylines in Anna Karenina than in War and Peace, so it's easier to keep track of them, and they are also more interesting. I've also developed a respect for Tolstoy's way of diverging from the plot to tell the reader what he thinks about humanity or what other people think about life. It's a truly fascinating read, and I don't regret all the time it will take to read this giant of a book.

I hope I have time after finishing Anna Karenina to read the next book that book club is reading!

Coyote, Anansi, and The Fantastic Mr. Fox

My life seems to be filled with tricksters this winter. After realizing that Bury Me Standing is overdue at the library, I decided to just return it and read something else. I chose Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman, because it's one of few stand-alone audiobooks I have on my iPod, and I can't exactly be taking good hardcovers outside in this snow.

I think, before I started listening, I wasn't really paying attention to the title. Anansi. The trickster of African stories. Winter is the season of the trickster, you know. It's the time of the year when you can tell and hear trickster stories without getting the often unwelcome attention of the trickster. And this winter, intentionally or not, I've been doing just that. It started with Coyote Road, which is a collection of original trickster stories prefaced by a long history of the trickster and the history of the trickster throughout the world. That was followed by going to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which, by the way, was absolutely fantastic. :) Charles de Lint's books feature Raven as well as Coyote (who's called Cody and is a background character). And now Anansi Boys, which I chose simply because I love Neil Gaiman, not remembering that Anansi is another trickster. I never even read the description of the story, but after listening to the first couple chapters, I'm pretty sure it's about the sons of Anansi.

Trickster's stories show up all around the world: Kitsune in Japanese tales, Raven and Coyote in Native American stories, Anansi in African and Carribean stories, Puck in Celtic tales, Hermes in Greek, etc., etc. One thing I've always been fascinated by is fairy and folk tales, and the ways in which they are adapted and used in cultures as time goes by. If I went back to school, I'm pretty sure that's what I'd study.

Widdershins, Bury Me Standing, and a dog in the snow

I finished Widdershins yesterday. It was a good book, but I find myself disenchanted with the ending. I know that the stories are kind of fairy-tale-esque, but it's such a clean ending: all the bad guys die, all the good guys live and get together; even the two who were killed end up coming back to life. I'm starting a non-fiction book called Bury Me Standing: the gypsies and their journey. I don't read much non-fiction, but I was curious about this one.

The snow we've gotten is incredible, and I've decided that I can't decide if Onyx is part snow ostrich or part dolphin. I couldn't get a picture of him diving through the snow, but here's him burying his head in it:

Charles de Lint

Why, oh why have I never read Charles de Lint before now? I'm already in my mid-twenties, which means that a decade and a half of pure literary enjoyment has been lost! I guess I'll have to make up for lost time.

A couple days ago, I finished the first book I've read by de Lint: The Onion Girl (by the way, I want the dress Jilly's wearing on the cover). He's a spectacular writer, getting into the gritty of things, bringing his readers the magic that lives in the places that are too dark to see into. I got the feeling, reading Jilly's story, that she is the center of an entire web of stories. Sometimes, she might be on the sidelines when you're looking at someone else's story, but everything connects to her and through her. I could be wrong. I suppose I'll find out as I read more of de Lint. I've started Widdershins, which is a continuation of Jilly's story, and then I'll go back and read other stuff by de Lint.

100+ Reading Challenge

I haven't been reading as much lately as I usually do. Maybe because I spend so much time thinking about creating. I found the 2010 Reading Challenge, and even though we're already well into February, I figured I might as well see if I can do this. I usually read about 60 books a year. Another 40 is a lot, especially since much of what I read is quite hefty reading, like Robert Jordan and Alexandre Dumas. But we'll see how I do. :) I also joined a book club that reads two books a month, and while I probably won't be able to make both meetings, why not read both books?

The next book is Atonement, by Ian McEwan, which means that I have to pay off my exhorbitant library fines so I can borrow it from the AADL. It's gotten to the point where I honestly wonder if it wouldn't be cheaper to buy a book than pay the old fines and borrow it from the library. Does anyone else rack up the library fines, or is it just me?

Finds at The Dawn Treader (Incarceron)

In Ann Arbor, there is a used bookstore called The Dawn Treader, and while I love used bookstores, I love Dawn Treader the most because of their absolutely ginormous collection of fantasy and sci-fi. Also, they obviously accept trade-ins, and one of my friends who's leaving the country gave me her little trade-in certificate, so she essentially handed me $7.50 to spend on books.

Over the weekend, I got an Advance Reading Copy of Incarceron, by Catherine Fisher. The book was $5.50, so I should have gotten a new trade-in certificate for $2, but the woman at the register wrote $2.50 instead. I know it's only 50 cents, but I feel like I should tell them next time I go in.

Anyway, I'm going to finish the book today. It's delicious. This is one of those books that keeps you up at night and makes you forget to feed the dog. The characters are compelling and well-developed, and the story is fast-paced and set in a world where darkness has seeped into the light of idealism. I think I've read too many books in my life, because the general story line so far has been predictable, but reviews say the ending has quite the twist, so I'm looking forward to it.