Book Review: Wintersong by S. Jae-Jones

Wintersong: A Novel by S. Jae-Jones, St. Martin's Griffin 2017

One of my goals for 2018 is to get back into a regular reading habit, and one of the ways I hope to do that is by keeping up with recommendations from you guys and from the other members of the Creating and Co. Book Club. The December club choice was author S. Jae-Jones' debut Wintersong. From reading the synopsis, I wasn't sure it was something I'd be into - goblins? - but I got an e-mail invitation from Netgalley and decided to take it as a sign. After reading the first chapter, I got sucked into the novel's dark magical world, and would recommend it - with some reservations.

Wintersong's main character, Liesl, lives in Bulgaria with her family. There's her alcoholic father, who was a famous violinist in Salzburg. Her hardworking mother, who runs the family's inn while Liesl looks after her siblings. In fact, she's so selfless that she is happy when her beautiful sister Käthe becomes engaged to the boy she liked, and when her musically gifted brother gets an opportunity that may take him far from home. Liesl shares the family gift for music, her talent lying in composing rather than performance, but will never be able to achieve fame for it because she is a girl. There's also her superstitious grandmother, who warns the children about the Goblin King, Der Erlkönig, and though Liesl is too old for such nonsense she has fond, vague memories of a childhood spent playing with a strange little boy in the wooded area she and her siblings called the "Goblin Grove." 

Though Wintersong is a fantasy, references to real musicians like Mozart place the storyline in the 1790s or early 1800s. With this setting, it was easy to forget that Jae-Jones based the novel on the 1980's Jim Henson movie Labyrinth, but both stories share a common initiating event: a sibling stolen by the Goblin King. When Käthe goes mising, Liesl must travel into the underworld to free her from the beautiful, frightening ruler - and in doing so, finds her own power. Jae-Jones is a self-professed English literature nerd, and there are shades of Jane Eyre in Wintersong - along with moments that reminded me of Beauty and the Beast and the story of Hades and Persephone. Her prose style perfectly suits the dark fairytale flavor of the novel, though she does have a few overused words and phrases - I got tired of the King being called "austere," Liesl's "décolletage," and the underworld's many "objets d'art." I did love that Wintersong's Der Erlkönig has different-colored eyes, a subtle shoutout to David Bowie and Labyrinth's King Jareth.

Remember this guy?

School Library Journal recommends Wintersong for grades 9 and up, and it's marketed as YA, but I would not feel comfortable putting it in a ninth grade classroom library due to several romance scenes that, while not as graphic as an adult romance novel, leave little to the imagination. I also feel that narratives about relationships like Liesl's with the Goblin King - in which the lonely girl "fixes" a cruel, controlling man with her love - can be downright dangerous to some young women readers. For me, this book belongs in the New Adult section, and maybe that makes me an old prude. That said, this old prude will be seeking out the sequel, Shadowsong, to find out what happens next for Liesl and Der Erlkönig.

Books I Wish I'd Read Sooner: Revolution by Jennifer Donnely

Every now and then (maybe more often than not) I totally miss the boat on a stellar YA book, and when I finally discover it for myself I wish I'd read it sooner. In the case of Revolution by Jennifer Donnely, I'm tempted to blame the blurbs I'd read, which, combined with something about the cover art on our school library's copy, really gave me the wrong impression of this book - I was thinking that time travel would be a major piece of the plot. It's not that I don't like time travel, but I had an Outlander hangover at the time. Spoiler alert: there might not be any actual time travel involved. I'm so glad I gave Revolution a chance, because it's now one of my all-time favorites.

Not only did I overcome my wrong impression about the structure of the book, I was also almost turned off by its opening scene - our narrator, Andi, is doing drugs with a bunch of pretentious rich kids with ridiculous names who she doesn't even like. If I know I probably couldn't keep a book in an eighth-grade classroom library, I'm a lot less likely to stick with it. But I did, and thankfully Andi left that uncomfortable world fairly quickly - for a combination of reasons I won't spoil, her father forces her to accompany him on a work trip to France (poor kid, right?).  I ended up connecting with Andi for a lot of reasons - I could, after all, write my own book about an artistic high achiever who deals with depression and almost self-destructs after losing a family member in December. Andi's grief over her younger brother's death is keeping her from moving forward, and her father is hoping the trip to France will help her clear her mind and finish the work required to earn her high school diploma.

"Every heart is made of stories." 

- Jennifer Donnelly, Revolution

Andi's father, a genius genetic scientist, and his colleague, a historian, are studying the preserved heart said to belong to Marie Antoinette's son, Louis XVII, who was imprisoned in a tower following the French Revolution. Andi finds a diary written by a girl her age during the Revolution and most of the novel's historical fiction element comes through the diary entries she reads. Everything I know about the Revolution comes from Les Miserables, so I learned a lot from the rich historical detail Donnelly includes in the story.  I loved the French setting, my heart ached for Andi's Revolutionary counterpart, Alex, and I was rooting for Andi and her sweet new friend Virgil. Donnelly's teen characters speak with a Gilmore Girls level of clever and sarcasm, and when the story does break away from dialogue, her prose, in Andi's descriptions of modern-day Paris and Alex's passionate diary entries, is lyrical and lovely

Potter Month: Harry Potter Spells Book Tag

5 Fandom Friday is a weekly prompt challenge for female geek bloggers hosted by The Nerdy Girlie and Super Space Chick. You can learn more about the Female Geek Bloggers group here. This month, we're doing things a little differently and zooming in on one fandom (which just happens to be the most amazing universe to be a fan of) for Harry Potter Month! Kristin from Super Space Chick posted one of the coolest book tags every in honor of this month - the HP Spells Book Tag! 

AN UPCOMING RELEASE YOU WISH YOU 

COULD GET YOUR HANDS ON RIGHT NOW

I'm obsessed with Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass series and can't wait to read book #5 when it comes out in September - the stakes have gotten higher for the characters with every book, and Aerin is one of my all-time favorite heroines.

FAVORITE SERIES STARTER

Diana Gabaldon has had me under her spell from the very beginning. The Outlander series is such an amazing blend of historical fiction, fantasy, and romance, and the first novel sets the tone so well. 

A BOOK THAT GAVE YOU ALL THE WARM & FUZZIES

This category was really hard for me... I just do not read warm and fuzzy books! Meyer's Lunar Chronicles are fairytale retellings with a science fiction twist, and my favorite pairing are Cress and Captain Carswell Thorne - innocence and trust meets swagger and cockiness (please recommend your favorite warm and fuzzy books in the comments!). 

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU UGLY CRY

Oh, goodness. I checked this one out from the library after seeing the trailers for the film, and I'm glad I did because I don't think I would have been able to handle this story in a theater. I read it in one sitting, and it completely wrecked me emotionally.

BOOKISH HERO OR HEROINE YOU WANT 

AROUND TO PROTECT YOU IN REAL LIFE

Stephanie Plum is one lucky bond bailswoman - whenever she's in trouble, she has two hotties who are already there for her - while I love her banter with her on-and-off fiancee, Joe Morelli, I think if I needed protection I'd call on dark, mysterious Ranger and his never-ending supply of Land Rovers and weapons.

A BOOK YOU WISH YOU COULD MAKE EVERYONE

READ BECAUSE YOU LOVED IT SO MUCH

One of my all-time favorite books, from my favorite YA fantasy writer. The Scorpio Races is so unique and beautifully written, with amazing worldbuilding. I think its length is off-putting to some people (it's a doorstop!) but it's definitely worth the time it takes to read.

A BOOK SERIES YOU WISH NEVER ENDED

This was such a creative YA series - sci-fi, romance, and dystopia. I loved the characters, Petty and Aria, and their unlikely romance, and definitely could have read more books about them having adventures together!

A BOOK WITH AN UPLIFTING MESSAGE

I love reading about strong women, but I love books about women becoming strong even more - especially when they're true stories! Even though I had a little bit of trouble getting into Cheryl Strayed's memoir at first, I am so glad that I read about her journey hiking the Pacific Coast Trail solo.

A BOOK YOU WISH YOU COULD FORGET YOU EVER READ

I was such a big fan of the first two Divergent books, along with many of my students, but I thought the final book was such a let-down. I did not like the ending at all, not just because it wasn't a happy one but because it made me feel like I'd wasted my time investment as a reader.

AN AUTHOR WHOSE BOOKS ALWAYS GET YOU OUT OF A READING SLUMP

There's a reason Neil Gaiman is a living legend - is there anything he can't do? Novels for adults, collaborations, story collections, graphic novels, YA, middle-grade, and even children's picture books - there's a Neil Gaiman book for everyone, ranging from whimsical magic to the terrifying paranormal.

A SWOON-WORTHY HERO OR HEROINE

Henry DeTamble, always and forever.

A BOOK THAT CAUSED YOU TO STOP DOING ALL 

OTHER THINGS UNTIL YOU FINISHED IT

I tend to be a marathon reader anyway, but this book was insane and I had to knew how the conflict would be resolved and if my favorite characters would survive. As soon as I finished it, I was on Facebook recommending it to all my friends.

A BOOK THAT WAS PAINFUL TO READ (FOR 

WHATEVER REASON) OR BROKE YOU

This was one of the first books I received as a digital ARC through Netgalley, and I felt obligated to read it all the way through so I could give honest feedback. I'd just finished watching the Astronaut Wives Club  television show and was interested in this book because of the Cold War setting, but the plot was so slow and the narrator was, quite simply, a boring man. Even as interesting things were happening around him (his wife's mental illness, his secretly adopted daughter's biological mom returning, his daughter dating a Cuban refugee, a shortage of gas at the gas station he ran), his "I'm a good guy, I have to do the right thing" reactions weren't interesting at all.

A BOOK THAT HAD YOU LAUGHING OUT LOUD

Do I even need to explain why?

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU WANT TO SEND 

IT (OR YOUR E-READER) FLYING

When I was in eleventh grade, I threw The Scarlet Letter out the window of the school bus. Then I got out and got it because it was the school's copy and I didn't want to have to pay a fine. When I was a sophomore in college, my boyfriend told me I looked like how he imagined Hester Prynne when he read the book. That relationship did not last.

A BOOKISH WORLD YOU WISH YOU COULD VISIT

It's not a very creative answer, but Narnia for sure. In reading the Magicians books by Lev Grossman, I've realized just how much I have in common with the main character, Quentin, who feels such a sense of ennui because the real world never matches the fantasy worlds he's read about in books.

A BOOK WITH A SHOCKING TWIST OR ENDING

My mom had told me that this was her favorite book for years, and has always assured me that it's not where she got my middle name. I finally got around to reading it a few summers ago, and it actually made me look at my mom in a whole new light (I started recommending things like Girl in the Dragon Tattoo and Gone Girl to her afterward!)

A CHARACTER DEATH THAT DESTROYED YOU

This novel really made me think about how we need more strong female friendships in YA novels. I felt the loss in this book so keenly.

BEST SERIES CONCLUSION

This series by Sarah Rees Brennan was so fun to read after following her publication process on Livejournal, and I love the way she tied everything up (especially for Nick and Mae).

lately in entertainment.

lately in entertainment - april/may 2016

movies.

Captain America: Civil War - Though it often feels like yet another Avengers ensemble film (only Hulk and Thor are absent from the lineup), the storyline of Civil War is driven by Steve Rogers' priorities coming into conflict with Tony Stark's values. Already under a microscope after the disaster in Sokovia (the end of Age of Ultron), the Avengers are basically grounded by the U.N. after Scarlet Witch accidentally sends an explosion into an occupied building. Just as he had to face the consequences of being an arms dealer in the first Iron Man movie, Tony Stark is confronted with the human collateral damage caused by the Avengers, and supports international oversight for the superhero team. Captain America doesn't trust the plan - as he puts it, "the safest hands are still our own." Where I thought I was going to clearly side with Steve going in to the movie, the film actually forces viewers to consider and understand both points of view - and to see the blind spots in each hero's vision. 

Steve's blind spot, of course, is his best friend turned supersoldier, Bucky Barnes, who is on the run from authorities after being framed for a bombing attack, and who the Internet has convinced me is a precious cinnamon roll. In pursuit of the real bomber, Steve teams up with Sam Wilson, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Scott Lang (Ant-Man), who is just thrilled to meet big-name superheroes, with sneaky help from Agent 13 (Sharon Carter). Tony teams up with Rhodey, Black Widow, Vision, Black Panther, and his ringer, Spiderman, who's freaking out even more than Scott. The resulting fight is the most comic book thing I've ever seen on screen, complete with a Spider-Man who is finally an actual teenager narrating his experiences the whole time. Obviously, someone's going to get hurt with that much muscle and power facing off, and the characters end up learning a lot of things they never wanted to know. I'd be fine with Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely writing and Anthony and Joe Russo directing everything Marvel from now on - every character had clear, often conflicted, motivations that seemed completely believable.

The Huntsman: Winter's War - Since Thor isn't in Civil War, we also had to show our love for Chris Hemsworth by seeing his current film with "war" in the title. I was surprised by how much I actually loved Snow White and the Huntsman, but was a little skeptical about this prequel until I read a newspaper review that described it as the kind of movie that's so bad, it's good, and classed it with Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Far from the gruff, silent Huntsman of the original film, Chris Hemsworth chews up the scenery and seems to love every minute of it. At the beginning of the movie, we learn that even though Snow White's kingdom is at peace, the mirror is driving her mad. She orders the mirror to be taken to Sanctuary so that the kingdom will be safe from its dark magic - but it is stolen along the way. Her husband, King William (hello there, Sam Claflin), and dispatches Eric, the Huntsman, to find the mirror, along with a couple of dwarves who insist on accompanying him (Nick Frost reprises his role from the first movie). This storyline allows the filmmakers to include Snow White in the form of a disheveled Kristen Stewart stand-on shown only from the back, then move the plot away from her kingdom so it's less strange that she isn't in the film. The threat to the mirror turns out to be Freya, Queen Ravenna's younger sister who basically turned into an evil version of Elsa from Frozen when she was betrayed by her lover. She's the one who kidnapped Eric when he was young and turned him and an army of other children into her elite Huntsmen, and the one responsible for the apparent death of his wife, Sara (if you've seen the commercials, you've surely worked out that Sara is alive). Charlize Theron, Emily Blunt, and Jessica Chastain all seem to have a great time playing badass women in this movie, and there are even female dwarves this time around.


books.

Our Own Country by Jodi Daynard - The American Revolution isn't a period of history I've done much reading about, but I got sucked in to this historical fiction novel. The main character, Eliza Boylston, is the daughter of a wealthy merchant and lives a charmed life in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While it's completely normal to her to visit homes staffed with stableboys, coachmen, footmen, maids, butlers, and cooks - all slaves - Eliza's one real quirk is that she feels most comfortable in the kitchen, and her family's cook Cassie is her one real friend. For Eliza, there has never been any doubt that Cassie and other slaves are human, but she has never had to question their standing in her privileged society. As the Revolution comes close to home, Eliza's parents can no longer pretend that concessions like wearing homespun fabrics instead of imported gowns are mere inconveniences, nor can they ignore their son Jeb's participation in the rebellion when he marries Elizabeth Lee and moves to Braintree, home of John and Abigail Adams and "the despicable Quincys." Eliza takes for granted her family's beautiful home and wealth until personal tragedies devastate her and Cassie, forever turning her against her family's idea of "society." In 1775, the Boylstons have to leave Cambridge to seek refuge with an uncle in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where she falls in love with a slave named John Watkins and makes a choice that will change her family forever. Though the synopsis I read led me to believe Our Own Country would be a romance novel, I would classify it as a bildungsroman - Eliza's coming of age and transition from naïveté to independence.  Though the Boylstons are fictional, Daynard obviously conducted intense research to write this novel, and it made me want to learn more about the Adamses, the Quincys, and their pastoral home.

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran - I'm going to try to keep up with Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club picks, and luckily my local library has British journalist and feminist Caitlin Moran's book available in ebook format! As Moran's wry personal essays (with titles like "I Become Furry!" and "I Need a Bra!") make clear, becoming a woman is very confusing and happens, whether we want it to or not, without a manual. Moran's writing is reflective of her working-class British roots (the very first page had me Googling to find out what a Yob was), pop culture literacy, and intelligence. Raised in cramped public housing with five younger siblings by parents who were the only hippies in town, Moran's pubescent milestones were common knowledge. Her focus as a feminist, and the lens through which she presents the instances in her life when being a woman was most perplexing, is not "on the big stuff like pay inequality," but on "all those littler, stupider, more obvious day-to-day problems with being a woman," or, in other words, "All the Patriarchal Bullshit." Her response is to "look it in the eye, squarely, for a minute, and then start laughing at it."

The Exiled Queen by Cinda Williams Chima - Finally got around to reading the second book in this series recommended to me by several of my students and I liked it even more than the first because the two main characters' storylines finally came together for good - at a magical school! Is there a better setting for YA literature? As the book begins, former streetlord Han Alister and his best friend Fire Dancer are headed to Oden's Ford, the campus that is home to Mystwerk House. Princess Raisa is masquerading as a cadet at Wein House, the military school, to escape themarriage her mother tried to force on her. Their mutual enemy, wealthy and powerful Micah Bayar, and his twin sister are also bound for Mystwerk House, meaning that Han and Raisa both have to keep their guard up. At Oden's Ford, finally surrounded by people from all walks of life, Raisa learns that she will need to understand much more than politics to be a good queen, and Han finds out that the Bayars aren't the only ones after his secrets. Chima combines effortlessly lovely prose with witty dialogue and action-packed suspense.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a digital ARC of Our Own Country free from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Book Reviews: For the Love and Breaking Busy

I often paraphrase one of my YA literature heroes, Sharon Draper, in saying that my job as a teacher is to get "the right book into the hands of the right kid at the right time." I'm not sure if BookLook Bloggers sees their goal as getting the right book into my hands at the right time, but they have definitely done just that lately. The end of 2015 was rough for me, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. This year, I've been making my own well-being a priority - I can't teach or serve others in any capacity if I'm broken by own perfectionism and business. Since this mission is at the center of my heart these days, I was drawn to read For the Love and Breaking Busy, and as I read these two books, I felt like Jen Hatmaker and Alli Worthington were writing them for me.

For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards by Jen Hatmaker

Jen Hatmaker's For the Love is a collection of essays about how Jen, and Christian women in general relate to themselves, their families, and their communities. As Jen points out in the first chapter, a lot of us feel like we're coming up short: bombarded with images of perfect birthday parties and dinners and outfits and workout routines, "We no longer assess our lives with any accuracy. We have lost the ability to declare a job well-done. We measure our performance against an invented standard and come up wanting, and it is destroying our joy." I was reminded of Amy Poehler's "Good for her! Not for me" mantra when Jen compares finding balance in her life to her daughter's gymnastics balance beam: things that give her life, like cooking (she includes recipes in the book!), sit down dinners, and writing, are "on the beam." Things that would drain her dry, like web management, being classroom mom, or scheduling every appointment she's invited to, get to be "off the beam." While the chapters about parenting weren't 100% relevant to my current season in life, I absolutely loved the essay in which Jen addresses each of her children one by one, exhorting their strengths and outlining her dreams for them.

Early in the book, Jen addresses "the difference between the gospel and the American evangelical version of the gospel." As she puts it, "sometimes my portrayal of God's ways sounds suspiciously like the American Dream and I had better check myself." Her new benchmark is, "If it isn't also true for a poor single Christian mom in Haiti, it isn't true." By applying this standard to familiar American evangelical topics like the prosperity gospel, complementarianism, and our focus on finding a "calling" in life, Jen shows how our focus needs to shift to living a worthy life - "loving as loved folks do, sharing the ridiculous mercy God spoiled us with first." As these essays, by turns serious and laugh-out-loud hilarious (leggings-as-pants and Netflix find their way to Jen's crosshairs), show, we are often so focused on a false ideal of perfection that we forget the importance of simply showing up.

Breaking Busy: How to Find Peace & Purpose in a World of Crazy by Alli Worthington

In the first chapter of Breaking Busy, Alli Worthington describes her breaking point - convinced she'd lost her iPhone in a taxi after a 2 a.m. wakeup call, she borrowed another person's phone in a busy airport only to be answered by her ringing bra. For Alli, that moment was a clear sign that she'd met her capacity in our crazy busy world. As she explains, many of us are serving at the altar of "busy" without really knowing why, all the while sacrificing our emotional control, self-care, mental, physical, and spiritual health, and important relationships. To begin "breaking busy," Alli encourages us to identify our season of life (something Jen Hatmaker also recommended in For the Love), our stress points, and why we're so driven to exceed our capacities - pride, guilt, perfectionism, or the drive to "get ahead."

Through her own experiences, Alli explains how to edit one's time and responsibilities and overcome the pressure to be "all things to all people." When God called on her to quit the conference she'd built through years of hard work, she resisted at first, then became angry when her next opportunity wasn't immediately clear. Her worries about the future and the pressure to be perfect kept her from enjoying the opportunities her obedience opened up. The book is full of practical action steps to help readers make decisions that will free us from the "altar of busy."

This year, I've been focused on slowing down and focusing on routines that make my life healthier and more peaceful. I think that's why I was drawn to For the Love and Breaking Busy. I've highlighted and starred this quote from Alli Worthington: "Just because we live in a world of seemingly endless expectations doesn't mean we have to live up to them." I think that quote perfectly sums up the message I took away from both of these books.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received these books free from the publishers through the BookLook Bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

lately in entertainment.

lately in entertainment - february/march 2016

concerts.

Elton John at John Paul Jones Arena - I think one of the greatest privileges of being an adult is being able to do wonderful things for my mom, since she has basically devoted half of her life to me. I've been on a quest for the past couple of years to make sure that my mom gets to see every single artist and band on her concert "bucket list." When my mom was my age she worked in a bank and she and her best work friend had Elton John posters on the inside of their office, so it was a no-brainer that I had to get tickets when I heard Elton and his band were coming to Roanoke. I knew I wanted to include my cousin who's like a sister to me, too, since she and I had so much fun at the Fleetwood Mac concert we went to last year. Unfortunately I forgot that tickets went on sale until about halfway through my planning period on the day they were released, and Roanoke had sold out really, really fast. Google to the rescue - I knew the next show would probably be close, and it was - it's hard to beat JPJ as a concert venue, and this way we got to have a little family girls' trip! It turned out that Sir Elton had the flu, and he explained when he welcomed the audience that we "might hear some strange notes," but that he didn't want to cancel the show. Despite the fact that there was probably less interaction with the audience than there would have been had he felt better, Elton and the band put on an amazing show. They played all of our favorites: Leslie's = "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding," mine = "Bennie and the Jets," "Tiny Dancer," and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and Mom's = "I'm Still Standing" and "Daniel," as well as some new songs ("Looking Up" and "A Good Heart" are both great).

books.

Crown of Midnight and Heir of Fire by Sarah J. Maas - After Throne of Glass, I had to have more Calaena Sardothien in my life. Crown of Midnight builds on the dark intrigue of the first book - now that Calaena is Champion to an evil king, she has to keep up the premise that she is assassinating his enemies while actually investigating the conspiracy surrounding him. When she is asked to target a former ally, she puts everyone she loves and the happiness she has found in danger as she delays completing her assignment. Meanwhile, Chaol, the Captain of the Guard, tries to protect Celaena by not sharing information that would hurt her. Both of their choices have devastating consequences. In Heir of Fire, Celaena travels away from the glass castle and her friends to seek answers about her past. The focus in point of view shifts much more frequently, and Maas introduces a new main character, Manon, a ruthless witch. I read a lot of the third book out of sequence because I would get caught up in one thread of the story - Celaena's training with a brooding Fae warrior, Dorian falling in love with the castle apothecary, or Manon training a wyvern to be her new mount for flying. Whereas Throne of Glass was mainly historical-flavored adventure with a whisper of magic, Heir of Fire is full-blown high fantasy. I'm looking forward to reading Queen of Shadows soon.


A Girl's Guide to Moving On by Debbie Macomber - All I knew about Debbie Macomber before reading this book, which I received from NetGalley, was that several of her books have been made into Hallmark movies. A Girl's Guide to Moving On follows two "girls" as they take back their lives. Leanne and her daughter-in-law, Nichole, seemed to have picture perfect, country-club lives in Portland - except for the fact that Leanne's husband, Sean, has been unfaithful to her for years and her son Jake followed suit. When Nichole files for divorce, Leanne finds the courage to do the same, and they find apartments in the same building. Serving as each others' support system, they make a list of survival strategies that include getting involved in their community, cultivating new friendships, and letting go in order to receive. They forge such a close and true mother-daughter relationship that I couldn't help being reminded of Naomi and Ruth. Both find themselves opening their hearts again, much to the chagrin of their ex-husbands - Nichole to a down-to-earth tow-truck driver Jake views with contempt, and Leanne with a charming baker from the ESL class she teaches, which of course makes Sean's blood boil. I was rooting for each of these women to find freedom and happiness.



Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan - I originally fell in love with Sarah Rees Brennan through her Livejournal years ago (I'm showing my age here), and enjoyed reading her Demon's Lexicon series (back then there was this weird sense of hipster "I liked this author before she was cool" pride when authors you followed on LJ finally got published). Tell the Wind and Fire is a standalone, rather than a series. Tell the Wind and Fire was inspired by A Tale of Two Cities (which I'll admit I haven't read, #Englishmajorfail), and this book's two cities are divided by the light and dark sides of the magic which powers their world. The main character, Lucie, is a folk hero raised in the Dark who "made the decision long ago: better to be safe than good." After her mother's terrible death in the dark city, she and her father were able to find a home with friends in the Light, and Lucie fell in love with a boy who happens to be a son from the most powerful Light family in the city. Her boyfriend, Ethan, has a dark secret of his own, and his family is all too happy to use his connection to Lucie to boost their reputation in the public eye. When her decision to trust a stranger from the Dark puts Ethan's life in danger, Lucie has to rely on her wits to save him, and as revolution takes hold in the Light city, Lucie has to decide where she stands. This was a quick, addicting read filled with beautiful prose, but I'd recommending starting with The Demon's Lexicon if you want a real taste of what Sarah Rees Brennan is capable of writing.


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received ARCs of A Girl's Guide to Moving on and Tell The Wind and Fire free from the publisher through NetGalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

literary junkies - january 2016

Here are this month's questions:

1. What are you reading right now? Tell us about it.

I just finished The Demon King, the first book in the Seven Realms series by Cinda Williams Chima. It was recommended to me by one of my former students and two of my current students are reading the series along with me. I knew they were fantasy, but had put off starting the series for a while because I'd really assumed they were "boy books" (I was in a very female-focused reading mood for pretty much all of 2015), and this series seems to attract my guys when they've finished the Ranger's Apprentice or Percy Jackson books. I was surprised to find out that The Demon King actually has two main characters - one male and one female! Han Alister, the male lead, is a reformed street thief who was practically raised by the mountain clan who taught him their ways when he was a child and sheltered him from his enemies when he left street life behind. The book's conflict is introduced when Han and his friend confront three cocky young wizards fleeing a magical fire in the mountains and Han ends up with a frightening magical amulet. On the other side of the Queendom (yep) is our female lead, Princess Raisa, who has tasted clan life herself and is now back at court and finds herself courted by many suitors who send extravagant gifts. Raisa isn't interested in her suitors or in a hurry to marry - she longs for freedom and to reconnect with the friend who has just returned from military training.

2. Are you doing any reading challenges in 2016? Share them with us.

The only challenge I'm holding myself to is my Goodreads challenge, which I've upped to 50 books because I'm trying to read every day in 2016. There are a few challenge lists I'm going to look to for inspiration when I'm in a rut - from Modern Mrs. Darcy, Popsugar, Stxrybooks, and Worthington Ave. - and I'm also working my way through the Newbery Medal winners I missed between being a kid and teaching kids, as well as the AP novel list so I can help my students be better prepared for high school course work. I'm planning a fun post for next week with some ideas and recommendations for these challenges!

3. Have you discovered any new authors lately? 

In addition to digging Cinda Williams Chima's work in The Demon King, I've recently become obsessed with Sarah J. Maas and I'm plowing through the Throne of Glass series - I'm in fantasy euphoria land right now, basically. Both of these authors get an A+ in worldbuilding.

4. There are a ton of book to movie adaptations coming out this year. Are you excited for any in particular or disappointed in any?

I haven't read The 5th Wave yet - when I saw the movie trailer, my first thought was "is that the book from the book fair?" I remembered thinking it sounded like yet another Hunger Games knock-off when I showed the book trailer before the book fair rolled into the school media center, but now I'm thinking I should read it before all the kids want to (and they will - movies have a powerful impact on what kids want to read) so I'm not out of the loop!

I've heard nothing but good things about Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, so I'll be trying to get that one read before the movie comes out in March!

5. What is a book you were looking forward to reading and then had a complete let-down feeling when you finished?

I tend not to finish books that aren't doing it for me - life's too short! The last book I can remember truly feeling disappointed by was Midwinterblood by Marcus Sedgwick - it was a Printz award winner and Carnegie Medal nominee, and the premise intrigued me - seven interwined stories taking place on a Scandinavian island that has been home to Vikings, vampires, ghosts, artists, and lovers, exploring the magical bond linking the characters. Unfortunately, the overarching mythology of the story didn't interest me and it felt like Sedgwick was having to work too hard to make the seven stories connect. I felt like he was aiming for a YA Cloud Atlas, but I don't think real teenagers could engage with most of the stories.

Book Review - You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir by Felicia Day

Some people know her from her acting in cult favorites like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Eureka, and Supernatural, while others recognize her from her YouTube series, The Guild, or other videos from her Geek and Sundry channel. Then there are the people who recognize her insanely popular Twitter feed. Felicia Day has made what she calls a "weirdly cobbled-together career" for herself by celebrating the things she loves the most, no matter how geeky or strange those passions may be, and by finding a community of like-minded fans and friends. 

In the book's foreword, Joss Whedon, who cast Day in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, says "It's hard being weird. No -- it's hard living in a culture that makes it hard." In the first few essays (the first appropriately titled "Why I'm Weird") Felicia describes growing up very socially isolated - she and her brother were homeschooled "for hippie reasons" and their parents encouraged them to pursue their passions, enrolling them in all sorts of lessons so they could meet other children but also in case they were prodigies. Felicia was always the weird girl in her ballet class until she finally found a community to connect with - in the world of online role-playing games. She writes, "In my childhood world, the sound of a modem dialing up to connect with another computer was the sound of freedom."

Something new I learned about Felicia from the book was that she started college early and double majored in math and violin. The chapters about her college experience really get into her anxiety and perfectionism, and I appreciated how honest she was (while still being hilarious).

After college, Felicia decided to pursue acting, but got burned out when she was typecast in a role she calls the "cat secretary" over and over again - never mainstream pretty enough to be the leading lady and never in roles that were actually interesting to play. "When the system you want to be a part of so badly turns you into someone you're unhappy with and you lose sight of yourself, is it worth it?" Depressed about her acting career, Felicia became obsessed with World of Warcraft, to the point that playing the game became a full-fledged addiction. With some pushing from friends, she was able to quit playing WoW and turned funny experiences she'd had gaming into The Guild, a web series that went viral on YouTube even though it was produced in the cast and crew members' garages with props found through dumpster diving.

One of the common themes in celebrity memoirs is that notoriety doesn't fix things, and Felicia's essays are proof of that - even when she goes to conventions like Comic-Con and meets fans who love her, she suffers from impostor syndrome. When it became clear that the sixth season of The Guild would be the last due to funding issues and other restraints, she had a nervous breakdown because she'd conflated her work with her identity. Felicia also addresses #GamerGate, a recent online scandal in which well-known women in the gaming industry and culture were targeted with accusations of bribery and harassed for "ruining gaming." 

I really enjoyed the anecdote Felicia used to tie together her experiences in the world of geekery: after YouTube stopped funding her channel, Geek and Sundry, and Felicia was forced to revise her company's offerings, she got the opportunity to visit Skywalker Ranch - every nerd's dream! While she was there, she saw some props from Star Wars that turned out to be made from Dixie Cups - much like the random Craigslist junk she'd used to turn The Guild's sets into her characters' homes. The message? The only real qualification for making something happen is passion. As Felica says, "I hope all my copious oversharing encourages someone to stop, drop, and do something that's always scared them. Create something they've always dreamt of. Connect with people they never thought they'd know. Because there's no better time in history to do it."