Linger

Ooooh la la! Linger is coming!

About a favourite author

Last year, I saw an ad on Unshelved for the book Lament by Maggie Stiefvater. The ad was simple, but I was intrigued, and I put a hold on it at the library, even though there was a short wait.

The book arrived, but my husband picked it up and stuck it on the shelf, and I didn't notice it until its due date. Then I had to put ANOTHER hold on it, and wait another several weeks. When it finally arrived again, I read it in one day. I was entranced by the beautiful prose. Stiefvater's world of faerie was to Disney's Tinkerbell like a really excellent piquante salsa is to marshmallows. I knew it was her first book, and was bummed that there weren't more books by her to read.

And then I didn't think much of Ms. Stiefvater again until I read this review. I already was a fan of the author, and the new book, Shiver, needed to be read and needed to be read NOW. Unfortunately, the number of holds at the library meant that I didn't think I'd get to read that book in 2009, so I bought the book on my husband's Kindle. Totally worth it!

Then I discovered that there are going to be sequels to both her books. I read (and loved)Ballad in the fall when it was released, and have been impatiently awaiting Shiver's sequel, Lament, this coming summer.

Now we get to the point of this post. Maggie Stiefvater is giving away some copies of Lament. To enter, I get to copy/paste/share the following info with you. Here's where I stop talking, and let her take over:

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other. Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack. And Isabelle, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole.

At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

Comes out in stores everywhere July 20th. Pre-order here.

Enter to win an advanced review copies of LINGER, Sisters Red, The Dead-Tossed Waves, and The Replacement on Maggie's blog.

52 books: Owl in Love

I'm linking to this book twice, because there are two covers: the upper one, which I favour, and the lower one, which I could do without. Owl in Love has long been my most favourite young adult novel. I'm not one for picking favourites, really, I'm more of a "top ten" kind of person (or top twenty or top thirty or...). However, this book has always stood out as a beloved story, and every rereading proves its status.

Author Patrice Kindl has a knack for fleshing out oddball and unique characters, as seen in her spooky little story, the Woman in the Wall. Owl, a shapeshifting teenager, narrates her own tale of frustrated love and developing friendships. Owl's unique perspective and archaic voice paints a vivid picture of this youth who has never fit in, and rarely has any interest to even try to. Owl's silent love for her science teacher pulls her out of her isolated existence and entangles her with a suburban-dwelling classmate and a shadowy boy hiding in the woods. Dark little episodes scattered through the book hint at the unexpected resolution of strange events and mysterious characters.

52 books in 52 weeks

I saw it on Priscilla's blog, and I was hooked. It's a Ravelry group: 52 books in 52 weeks. I've always been a reader, and a challenge/structure like this is right up my alley. Now that I'm out of grad school, I actually can read for pleasure, but I'm a little bit out of the habit.



I started with Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons. My friend (the diaper recipient) introduced me to Kaye Gibbons probably 15 years ago and I read everything I could get my hands on at the time (which was, I think, four novels). I even went to see Ms. Gibbons speak at A Woman's Place Bookstore twice, once when I was overdue pregnant, and a year later with a baby in arms.

Ellen Foster tells the story of an adolescent girl who's in dire need of a good strong family. Ellen is repeatedly the victim of really harsh and unfortunate circumstances. I'd forgotten just how dire her life got, since reading it so many years ago. But Ellen is the kind of strong girl we like to find in fiction, a person who refuses to let harsh circumstances tear her down, and instead takes control of making her life more to her suiting. There are undercurrents of race relations, as well, with the kind of outcome that is so satisfying that it almost reads like a morality tale. But an enjoyable morality tale. I was very happy to revisit Ellen Foster.

Years ago, my favourite of Gibbon's novels was Charms for the Easy Life. I'm planning to revisit many of this author's books in the near future to see which ones I prefer now. I already enjoyed Divining Women last month, before this challenge began.

Moroccan Squash and Cous-Cous Stew

Tonight's dinner, Moroccan Squash and Cous-Cous Stew, was brought to you by 150 Vegan Favorites, a well-loved cookbook. Other favourites include Indian Lentils with Sweet Potatoes and Javanese Noodles with Lime-Peanut Sauce. Tonight's stew was rich with butternut squash and garlic & onions, and it was the first time I made it. The picky 13 year old hated it. What better recommendation do you need?

the Attack

It's obvious from previous reviews that I read a lot of youth and young adult fiction. I enjoy it a great deal, but I also recognize that to an adult, it's a bit like eating candy for every meal. YA fiction is quick and easy to read. This doesn't mean it isn't thought provoking. Many books for youth address difficult or compelling subjects, but they still usually mean a quicker and simpler read for me. Sometimes I make myself read an adult book like we adults make ourselves eat vegetables. Don't get me wrong, I do like many vegetables, but there are times when I eat vegetables just because I know I should. Similarly, I enjoy adult books, I just sometimes am too wrapped up in my YA books to think about them.

I catalogued The Attack more than a year ago. I browse the jackets of most books that cross my desk, and this one's compelling summary haunted me until I finally sought out and read the book. Dr. Amin Jaafari, a Beduin Arab who has become a naturalized Israeli in Tel Aviv, is a respected doctor living in an affluent neighbourhood with his beautiful wife. One night, a terrorist's bomb tears apart a nearby cafe, and he labours intensely to save and repair the brutalized bodies. When he has worked beyond the point of exhaustion, he receives the news that rocks his world just as potently as the bomb rocked the cafe: his wife is among the dead, and the injuries she sustained suggest that she herself was the suicide bomber.

The Attack takes the reader vividly inside the Isreal-Palestine conflict, introducing the reader to the society on both sides of the violent disagreement. Readers participate vividly in the doctor's trauma, horror, and grief. The book poignantly questions how some can live a life of privilege and happiness while others must experience humiliation, horror, and violence.

(crossposted to itbit)

Nobody's Princess

(crossposted to itbit)


While reading Nobody's Princess, I couldn't help comparing it to Princess Academy. It's not just that they both have the word "princess" in the title, it's that they both are set in a non-industrial time, where the earthy mythology of the time looms large in the lives of the people.

Nobody's Princess tells the story of Helen, yes, that famous Helen of Troy who incited terrible wars between nations. It's one of those spunky history rewrites that tells of a girl who may not conform to the standards of her time, but meets our approval by being rebellious, atypical, and displaying very modern sensibilities. Adults love to give this kind of book to girls to read because they present such a strong role model. While the other Good Greek Girls are inside embroidering, Helen is outside with her brothers, all clandestine, learning the art of swordplay. Indeed, I would love my daughter to grow up to be this kind of girl, a girl who doesn't wait around for others to take care of her or her affairs, but acts independently and creates her own reality and future.

I particularily liked the positive portrayal of the spirituality of Helen and her people. For them, the gods are very present, and factor into much of how they conduct themselves. It describes a reality far removed from our secular society.

While I enjoyed the vivid portrayal of life in ancient Greece and the glimpse into the early years of a famous woman of history, I found the prose a little clunky. As I mentioned, I couldn't help comparing it to the Newberry Honor book, Princess Academy, and the difference was noticable. If Princess Academy is like driving down a newly resurfaced freeway, Nobody's Princess sometimes read like driving down an old dirt road. The prosecould be clunky and in the way of the story. I felt that as I got well into the book, the story began to take over and the prose became less of an obstacle, flowing better.

The fashion in books for young audiences is to write in series, and this books is no exception. We were left on a cliff hanger, watching Helen set off on another brand new adventure. I enjoyed the book enough that when I will definitely check out the sequel.

HP7

I finished HP7 today at 12:37pm. Yes, I read insanely fast. I fell asleep last night at 1:30am, and woke up today at 7:30am, so I estimate that since getting the book in my hands I spent 6 hours sleeping and 6 hours reading. There was that drive home in the dark, during which I couldn't read, ya know.

... and I don't know what to say. There's that feeling of completion. I know how it ends. There's that feeling of loss. No more Harry Potter books.

My kids think that a midnight release party for a book is a normal thing. They discuss what they'd do at "the next one." It's crazy, this midnight release party thing. We ran into friends, the mom of my son's buddy, and she said her son was staying with his aunt in California. The shocking thing was, she reported, that the aunt had no intention of doing anything at midnight but sleeping. The boy had to wait until flying home today to get his hands on a copy of HP7. Poor boy. I was probably past the climax before he even held the book. None of them could understand the aunt... what do you mean, you're sleeping tonight? What about HP??

My 12 year old is curled up, 2/3 of the way through the book. He says he fell asleep at 4:30 last night, and set his alarm to be sure he was up by 10am. My husband is reading to our 8 year old, who is capable of reading it to herself, for the first time when an HP book is released, but the habit of him reading it to her is deeply ingrained. Now that I'm done reading, I spell him off, and alternately knit while listening. After devouring it at an indecent speed, participating in a read-aloud is a way to absorb far more of the details, and also to not let the whole experience be over.

Happy reading, all. (HP or not) :)

Princess Academy

(crossposted to itbit)


I’ve read that adolescent girls read books about boys and girls with equal interest, but adolescent boys only read books about boys. Apparently my 12 year son has not yet gotten that memo, because when he saw The Princess Academy on my shelf, he asked if it were any good, and when I admitted I hadn’t read it, he handed it over as my next assignment. Now my son is as unprincessy as the next clumsy, ravenous, awkward, messy 12 year old boy, but he appreciates a good book as much as I do, and won’t let female main characters stand in his way of enjoying a story that ought to be enjoyed.

That said, he hasn’t read it yet, but I have, at his request. I started this book in the evening, when I got home from work yesterday and was all tuckered out. I had to put it down to go to a show downtown. The Fiery Furnace band sucked rocks. I sat there, knitting on big black socks, wishing I was somewhere cozy reading Princess Academy, my son wishing almost the same thing, only he’s reading The Golden Compass, my daughter complaining loudly “I’m booooored” and my husband pleading with the gods to stop the show before the end of the next interminable song. After that we heard Yo La Tengo, who were awesome, and drove thoughts of mountain top adventures straight out of my brain. Upon arriving home, I curled up in bed and finished the book.

Our copy is autographed, personalized for the true princess in the house, which just makes it a little extra special. This book is a Newberry Honor book, which explains its ubiquitosity in bookstores and libraries alike. You can totally see its Newberriness in the main character, who is a seething mess of self-doubts and misgivings. Naturally this story takes Miri, named for a little mountain flower that young girls wish upon, on a captivating journey from her self-loathing through self-discovery and towards self-actualization.

Truly my son is a card-carrying member of the Harry Potter generation, and prefers fantasy over any other book. This story has a small element of fantasy, and its pre-industrial setting has a flavour familiar to fans of fantasy. Set atop a mountain, cold and remote like I imagine the mountains of Tibet, the story takes place in a classic kingdom, where villagers work hard in the quarries, and trade their goods for everything they need to eat, wear and get them through the long, hard winters. A Cinderella-style story, where all the girls prepare to meet the Prince at a ball, it lacks a fairy godmother to set things right. Instead, the girls must rely on themselves, plus the strengths of their families, their community, and the very mountain on which they live. There is competition and cooperation, anger and reconciliation. With just a hint of magic, the true driving forces in this story is the characters, the setting, and the heart-pounding adventure of the climax. There’s a little romance, a nod to families and the ties that bind them together, and some appreciation of one’s home, seeing the good rather than the faults.

We call this attention deficit disorder...

... also known as the "oooh, shiny!" symptom. This morning, instead of cleaning, instead of doing homework, instead of working on any of a zillion knitting projects, I made a bunny!

I also note that my blog is at 1000 visitors exactly right now. Ooh la la.

Lastly I finally was able to pick up Burning Bright last night, though I only got through a few pages before reality smacked me upside the head again. I realized I'd listed the wrong author as the subject of the book in my previous post about this book. How embarrassing! It's fixed now. Equally funny is the fact that no one called me on it. I blame grad school for ruining my brain and causing me to make errors that would embarrass any librarian.

Knitting content and a book (or two)

It seems like a long time since I've had a finished object. There's very little knitting time anymore. I'm not even getting knit break times at work, as I've been very good about going to the gym every day, and I have discovered that knitting while working out causes discomfort in my shoulders and arms. SIGH. What I'm working on here is a pair of socks for Socks for Soldiers, made from donated Mountain Colors yarn, and they are getting close to being done. The toe-knitting on the completed sock was a beast, and I need a break before starting the next one. The other pair is a pair I started on a whim. I needed some quick and easy sit-and-wait knitting one morning, and nothing I had was really in a good portable state, so I just grabbed some needles and some leftover 100% wool yarn and started a pair. These are for afghans for Afghans. After all, I've been wondering what to do with that yarn.


The most recent irresistible book to cross my desk is Burning Bright, a fiction about William Blake. The sucky thing is that I've not had a speck of time to read it. This grad school stuff is totally intense. Years ago, in high school English Lit, we had a substitute teacher one day who taught the lesson on William Blake, and I totally fell in love with his work. I ran off and special-ordered Songs of Experience and Songs of Innocence at our small local bookstore. A few years later, I told that substitute how much her lesson had made an impression, and how her passion for the works had totally shown through. She looked at me all puzzled, and after a few moments, "Oh, right! I remember that day. I'd had hardly any time to prepare and I'd never even heard of him before, I just put it together at the last minute." Wow, she must have been a good substitute!

Now not to be on a gothic theme or anything, but, well, this seems to follow the gothic theme started when I read Dirty Job. Keturah and Lord Death is another book about the physical manifestation of Death, yet where Dirty Job is crude, flippant and funny, Keturah is ethereal, sweet, and beautiful. Keturah, a 16 year old, gets lost in the woods, and weakened, comes face to face with Lord Death. When she charms him, he offers her a boon, he will spare her and take anyone she chooses in her place. But she cannot think of anyone who she would wish to die, and refuses the boon. Set in a pre-industrial feudal village, it's a charming setting, with sweet characters and a memorable sweeping storyline, though it does have a bit of a convenient tidy-up of storylines as it approaches the end. I'm not quite sure who the intended audience would be. Gothic readers may find Keturah too sweet and pure, and people who like sweet and pure characters may find the friendship with Lord Death discomfiting. But the prose is sublime.

The nice thing for me is that since it's a young adult book, I can read it in a very short time, in the late evening time when I wouldn't have been studying anyway. I read this Friday night before falling asleep.

Doomed Socks

I had a last minute knitting emergency. I have misplaced a set of Comfort Zone needles, and those needles were essential to my planned travel project. I had wanted to do this project, but saved it just for my trip. And when I couldn't find those needles, it totally befuddled me. What to knit on the plane?? I went stash-diving and came up with some Knit Picks yarn, and launched on a 2-colour project. I'm sad to report that I'm entirely unhappy with it. My designs might look better on a bigger scale, but at that scale, they just look spotty. I've come up with a better use for the yarn so this is the last glimpse of this project before Senor Frog takes it away.

The day I flew out, the book Dirty Job crossed my desk. This is not unusual, hundreds of books cross my desk every week. I open many of them and breeze through, if I'm not too strapped for time. (Or even if I am.) I started reading the first chapter of a Dirty Job, and it was pretty funny. So I stuck it in the pile to be catalogued next so I could bring it along. It turns out my flight to Seattle was delayed by hours, so I sat in my home airport for most of the evening, reading and knitting on the soon-to-be-doomed socks. My mother would never enjoy this book, and it's full of the f-word, so if that bothers you, run away! run away! One of the reviews on the back referred to Christopher Moore as an "unhinged Hiaasen" which totally cracked me up. I've read Sick Puppy, it's hard to get more unhinged than Hiaasen! Dirty Job is a smart-assed, funny, and crass. It was a perfect trip-book, and I recommend it, if you're not the type who gets offended. This is the quote I read to my roomie, who has dogs.

It is generally agreed, and in fact stated in the bylaws of the American Kennel Club, that you have not been truly dog-humped until you have been double-dog-humped by a pair of four-hundred-pound hounds from hell (Section 5, paragraph 7: Standards of Humping and Ass-dragging.)

Looooooot!

Today my #1Son called me at work to report that I'd received not one but TWO packages. He probably hoped I'd say something like, "oh, son, those are surprise gifts for you!" and barring that, at least a "Hey, why don't you open those for me?". I said neither.

I've been having this issue with the library. I keep checking out the same books and they keep making me give them back. After countless holds and renewals, I finally was able to apply some credit towards buying them for my very own. The Knitted Babes book is really good to have because of all the clothing patterns. Sensational Knitted Socks is one that I like to refer to for the textures/patterns. I don't ever follow an entire pattern in it, but I just get stitch patterns from it. And Folk Solks... Well, I check that out of the library every few months and spend hours drifting through the pages. And when I'm done, I'm all grouchy because I should have spent hours knitting! But dreamy about all the socks I might knit. I've modified stitch patterns from that book several times but never followed a pattern start to finish.

And, in package number two, my new stitch markers! My picture doesn't do them justice. You can see the skull markers here and the others here. I bought them off of Etsy from Sunneshine. I hadn't heard any reviews or recommendations of her, I just wanted some skulls to hang in my knitting. She shipped the very next morning, and they arrived the following business day. She has all sorts of cute markers, like a set of Buddhas, and Hello Kitty, and others. I decided I wanted a set with a lot of markers, so that I could lose a few and not be completely out.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter

I have a copy of The Memory Keeper's Daughter on my desk. It's being added to our collection, but because I was looking at it and had dropped it on my desk, it didn't get catalogued when the rest of the books in its set did. So it's still awaiting the next batch of cataloguing and processing. I can't really check it out until it's processed, but I've been taking it with me on my breaks and reading. While reading, the breaks go by way too fast. The book is entrancing. I'm probably about 40% through it. I hate to put it down. I'll have to catalogue it soon so I can bring it home and stay up too late finishing it. I have to do it very soon so I can justify reading and not feel guilty ignoring another impending school paper.