Book Review: Ash by Malinda Lo

 

I just finished reading Malinda Lo’s debut novel, Ash.  I loved every word.  I just wanted to get that out there; I feel no need to follow my typical review format with this book (which I don’t have to point out is ironic, since I tend to have no format).  It is amazing. 

I wrote the preceding paragraph mere seconds after I finished reading Ash.  It’s been a full day since I finished the book. I still fully stand behind my initial conclusions, and will justify them in the following paragraphs. 

Ash is a beautifully written variation of the fairy tale, “Cinderella.” Lo imagines the tale in a world that is similar, but so very much different than Disney’s version of the tale.  The world she builds in Ash, is almost haunting.  It absolutely breaks your heart when Ash, the main character, tragically loses both of her parents mere months a part, and Ash is left to the designs of her cruel stepmother. 

The fairy aspect of the tale is haunting and heartbreaking as well.  Nearly everyone in the country has forgotten or lost their ties to the fairy world, and only a few people follow the old traditions.  Ash has ties to the fairy, and she becomes enchanted by the secret people everyone has forgotten.  As she falls in love with the fairies, she also finds that she is falling in love with someone else as well.  However, its not Prince Charming.  He does make his appearance, but Ash doesn’t play by the rules… even the rules of fairy tales. 

Ash is a strong main character.  She’s admirable. She has to be strong in order to overcome everything that seems to go wrong, and then to achieve the life that she dreams.  Ash is a coming-of-age story.  While it is based on a traditional fairy tale, and contains many of the aspects of the original tale, the result is something new entirely.  The way that ash and cinders are the same, only different, is the same way that Lo’s fairy tale compares to the original.

I think I mentioned that I loved Ash, I hope you’ll find it enchanting as well.

Notes to myself

Who brainwashed me to love eagles?

Today, I saw a bald eagle.  I love seeing bald eagles.  My teachers in elementary school brainwashed me completely; they taught us that bald eagles are majestic creatures.  Regal.  Important.  I imagine little me sitting in typical classroom at a typical school desk taking in every word and taking every word to heart.  Back when I was a kid, bald eagles were endangered.  You rarely saw them in the wild.  I’m not sure I ever did.

I remember when the put the eagle tree out in the lake.  It is essentially an upside-down tripod sticking out of the middle of the lake.  Supposedly, eagles needed places to build their nests, and this would be a great place for that to happen.  I watched the eagle tree.  I checked on it every time we drove into town, but nothing ever built a nest there.  Apparently, the eagles found better places for nesting; they continued to be elusive and I only ever saw them when we visited zoos. 

The eagle tree is still out in the middle of the lake.  I still check on it when I drive to town, but not as obsessively as I once did.  Happily, the bald eagle population has rebounded.  A few years ago, I saw one flying over the highway as I headed home from visiting a friend.  I could hardly believe my eyes; eagles never flew over highways.  At least, I’d never seen one doing that.  I wanted to follow it, but had to settle for watching it until I could see it no more. 

Since that first sighting, I’ve seen a few more bald eagles in the wild; however, I’m not sure it’s been enough to even count on two hands.  What surprises me now are the reactions I get when I mention seeing a bald eagle to anyone.  What to me seems like a crazy, big deal never gets much of a reaction.  My mind can’t comprehend how seeing a bald eagle is not a big deal.  Bald eagles are important.  Bald eagles are rare.  They aren’t like sparrows.  People can’t possibly be tired of seeing them. 

I want people to be excited.  I want people to be surprised.  I want to be able to share how it was so close I could see each individual feather.  I want to share how it looked down at me from the branch in which it perched and looked absolutely bored.  I want to share how after looking at me for a long moment, it gracefully launched itself into the sky and quickly flew out of sight as if to say, “I see you down there, but I have better things to do than have you stare at me all day, so I’ll be going now.” 

No one wants to know these things.  It disappoints me.  Which ever teacher it was who brainwashed me so fully about the importance of bald eagles succeeded in that endeavor.  I am afraid I will always be amazed when I see a bald eagle in the wild, and I am afraid that I will always be amazed when I am the only one who cares.   

Book Review: Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World’s Holy Dead by Peter Manseau

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing Mary Roach’s book, Stiff, while having a merry time at our then-favorite pub.  I have always been fascinated with the Catholic Church and the the Catholic obsession with saints and worshipping bodies long dead.  The incorruptibility of certain saints and the worship of their bodies as relics is fascinating.  It just is.  I wondered aloud to my friend why Ms. Roach did not include these bodies in her compendium of uses for once-live bodies.  My friend said that I should just ask her, so… I did. 

Ms. Roach quickly replied that she had intentionally left out the incorruptible saints as it is not exactly a profession that just any body could take up, unlike that of medical cadaver or a body donated to science.  Then she recommended I read Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World’s Dead written by Peter Manseau.  Well, when Mary Roach recommends a book, people, you read it. 

Rag and Bone reminds me of a memoir.  Certainly, it is about holy relics, but not only that; it’s a book about a man’s journey visiting important relics from all different religions.  It reads almost as a travel journal would, and tells a story, not just of the relics, but also of those who worship them.  My inquiry about incorruptible Catholic Saints opened a door.  I hadn’t realized that so many religions have bits and pieces left over from the days their important leaders walked the earth. 

From whiskers, to teeth, to entire bodies, Manseau’s descriptions of his journeys to the various relics are vivid, as are his descriptions of the relics themselves.  He explains the historical and political relevance of each relic, and tells a little about similar relics to those that he visits.  Manseau has a knack for observation; his descriptions of interactions with those he encountered on his journeys leave you feeling as if you had witnessed the encounters themselves. The stories are engaging and informative, and the book reads almost like a novel. 

Rag and Bone tells the stories of the world’s holy relics.  Manseau is a wonderful storyteller.  Through his stories of the relics, he tells the stories of those who worship the relics as well.  Manseau turned what could have been a boring examination of what are essentially old body parts into an examination of people. Relics are important to people, but people are important.  Life is important.  Stories are important.  Manseau is a wonderful storyteller, and a great teacher.

After reading Rag and Bone, I want to come up with some other question for Mary Roach.  She has excellent taste in books.

Audiobook Review: Behemoth written by Scott Westerfield and read by Alan Cumming

It is that time of year in which my land is plagued by thunderstorms and severe weather.  While that is awesome in and of itself (sarcasm alert), it is also awesome because it means loads and loads of internet outages for me.  There is nothing worse than satellite internet.  Believe me.  Well, except dial-up, but lets not talk about that.  Lacking internet, I suppose I might just write a short audiobook review. 

Behemoth is the second book in Scott Westerfeld’s “Leviathan” trilogy.  Having recently read, and loved, the first novel of this trilogy, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book… or rather, ears on this audiobook.  Behemoth starts exactly where the first book left off, and Westerfeld expertly weaves steampunk together with an alternate version of the First World War. 

Alan Cumming returned as the voice of Westerfeld’s steampunk, war drama, and once again brought the story to life.  I cannot fault his narration, and again think that his ability to voice the various accents of the characters in Behemoth adds something that would be lost without his narration. 

I can’t say that this review is anything more than an extension of my review of Leviathan (which can be found here), and I can’t say that I’m not simply being a cheerleader for Team Westerfeld.  I am eagerly awaiting the final installation of Westerfeld’s trilogy in order to see how he concludes his version of the Great War.  Rah!

Audiobook Review: Old Man’s War written by John Scalzi and narrated by William Dufris

In case you were wondering, we finished the #sekritvideo.  Despite the best attempts of the gods of technology, we finished and submitted it to the competition with one minute to spare.  One minute.  It was intensity at its best.  Believe it.  Now, I feel like I’ve gone back to the land of normal.  It almost seems as if the weekend never happened.  I know it happened.  It was awesome.  In celebration of the end of the #sekritvideo, I thought I’d write another book review.  Hopefully, this time It will be more of a book review than a commentary on what I happen to be doing. (It appears that I’m failing on that point as well, but you’ll forgive me, right?)

I heard of this book through a post at boingboing, I think.  The details of that memory are fishy.  How I came to listen to this book is only a passing detail.  The fact is that I did listen to it, and I shall now relate that experience. 

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi is the story of a not so far off future in which humanity has entered into the race for galactic power.  For humans on earth, this race includes farming out the elderly from and letting them fight the galactic war after they have lived a full life. Once they reach space, they never return to their life on earth and are not even guaranteed living out their full term of service.  The galaxy is a scary place full of plenty of hostile aliens and insects and creatures.  I’ll give Scalzi one thing, he tells a good story. 

If you thought the next word of that last sentence should have been “but”, you get a gold star.  I had one issue with the audiobook.  It is a pretty minor issue, but one that grates on your nerves when you are listening to the story.  This time it hasn’t a thing to do with the narrator either.  Dufris’ narration fit the story perfectly.  The problem stemmed from the continual use of “he said,” “she said,” “Tom said,” etc., in the dialog.  There was nothing for the narrator to do, but even simple conversations are jarring because the “he said”/”she said” interrupts the flow of the story.  Like I said, pretty minor issue, but an annoyance. 

Don’t let this keep you from the story.  Please don’t.  I loved the story.  I loved the story.  That’s all that matters, right?

Anyway, I must return to the land of normal now.  I’ll just have to daydream about aliens and #sekritvideos. 

Book Review: Rosemary and Rue (An October Day Novel) by Seanan McGuire

If you’ve been following a long on twitter, you know that I’ve been working on a #sekritvideo. This is the point in the process wherein everyone goes to the club to shoot the club scene. Why, one might ask, am I writing a psuedo-book review while I should be with everyone at the club? That, my friends, is a very good question. It turns out that I have a slight aversion to clubs. Any kind of clubs. And by slight aversion, I really mean, hardcore phobia. Since I wasn’t exactly needed and I wasn’t certain that I would even be useful at all in such a setting (seeing as I haven’t really done much at all to help today, since we made the #octoporn), I opted to stay home and hold down the fort until everyone comes back to make the #octorain.

Anyway, all that is beside the point… so… I’ve decided to use this time to catch up on yet another of my book reviews (which at this point aren’t so much book reviews as blog entries that happen to mention a certain book).

Rosemary and Rue is the first in the series of urban fantasy books about October Daye a.k.a. Toby. Toby lives in a San Francisco that hides the world of Faerie in plain sight of unsuspecting humans. Toby isn’t your average human. The faerie is in her blood, her mother’s blood. Previously, Toby had shunned the world of her mother, and opted to live her life as a human. She is thrust back into faerie politics when a close friend is murdered.

Toby must use her skills as a private investigator to solve the murder.

Imagine a secret world of politics, magic, and intrigue… And then imagine that your humble writer has been interrupted in her book review by her crew that has rudely arrived back from the club scene 100 percent earlier than she had expected. Then imagine that your humble writer, so rudely interrupted in her book review, has had at least 3, if not 4 more drinks than she had before she started the review. Then (Yes, one more then, because that is how I roll.) imagine that the crew, including your humble writer, has finished (yes, finished) the filming of the #sekritvideo and it is now 3 (maybe four (I lost count of hours when I lost count of beers)) hours later. So… Where were we?

Oh, that’s right. We were imagining a secret world of politics, magic, and intrigue. Cue October Daye. She is this secret, amazing heroine who rules the faerie world of San Francisco (except technically she doesn’t rule it, she only works within the parameters of the fae and knows the inner workings of fae society). Using her background in private investigation (which unbeknownst to those of you who haven’t read the book yet (which I’m about to ruin for you, so if you don’t want to know skip to the end of the parenthesis) she had a career in before she was turned into a fish for many years (which I love) (that she was a fish, that is)), along with her knowledge of the faerie society, she must uncover a secret plot, and discover who killed her friend.

Don’t underestimate Toby. Knowing that this is the beginning of a series, one can assume that Toby will save the day. That assumption makes no ass of you or me. Toby is a kick-ass heroine. Believe it. Don’t take my word for it. Read the book. I’m not kidding.

I have to get the next book in the series. I haven’t yet, but don’t worry, I will. You should get it, too.

Now, I have to finish this blog. The editor of the #sekritvideo wants my input and wants to show me the “money shot”. How can I deny him that? Anyway, in a nutshell, movies are awesome, and so is October Daye. Read it.

Note to Seanan McGuire:

I promise, the next time I do a book review of one of your books I will not a) be involved in a #sekritvideo or b) be drunk. I love your work. Please forgive me. And don’t judge. You are amazing.

Book Review: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

If you’ve been following my twitter feed, you might have noticed that I am working on a #sekritvideo project.  I know nothing at all about video, but I thought that it would be hilarious and fun to help out on the project.  Turns out that both of those preconceived notions are true.  I have also learned that working on video projects include a lot of “hurry up and wait” time. 

Seeing as I am at a point in between having helped create #octoporn and helping with more videoing later this evening, I have a bit of time in which I have essentially nothing to do except listen to a specific track on repeat from the Grey’s Anatomy Music Event Soundtrack (Unfortunately, I am also that girl. Please take the time to judge me at your leisure.) and to do a quick review of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women.

It has been about a month since I actually read Little Women, so bear with me.  Honestly, this review is more about actually getting rid of my backlog of book reviews, than actually reviewing Little Women, because I sometimes feel terrible reviewing a book that was written by a dead person. 

First things first, I read Little Women for one main reason.  In a certain Friends episode, “The One Where Monica and Richard are Just Friends,” Joey and Rachel exchange their favorite books.  Little Women just so happens to be one of those books.  Since watching that episode, I’ve always wanted to read Little Women.  I finally did. 

Second things second, I enjoyed Alcott’s tale.  It revolves around the lives and struggles of four sisters, Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy March, who are growing up in mid-nineteenth-century New England.  Eventually, the plot turns from their childish troubles to those of young women who must find their place and role in life.

I loved the characters especially Jo, with whom I assume I was meant to identify. I loved how the family interacted with each other and with their neighbors.  I loved watching the girls grow up and find their place in life.  It is truly a beautiful story, and has withstood the test of time.  I do have one issue. 

Since I did identify with Jo and felt strongly about her character, when she married the professor.  I felt sadness.  I know I should have been happy for her, because she found her place in life, but I felt cheated.  The ending is too easy.  Everyone is too happy.  Had the story ended before Jo found her professor, I would have more fully enjoyed it. I would have written the story differently.  That’s all.

Aside from my one nit-picky objection, I loved reading Little Women.  You should probably go out and read it.  I mean, it is a classic after all.  I’m kicking myself that I waited so long to read it.  I mean, even after watching the Friends episode that made me want to read it, it took me a hundred years to get it and read it.  There are too many books to read, and only so much time in which to read them.  I will probably never read all the books I want.  No one will probably read all the books they want.  That is depressing.  So… in light of that fact, I am recommending that you read Little Women, but if you don’t want to read it, I want you to read those books you do want first.

Now, I’m rambling. I apologize.  I am going to go back to the #sekritvideo, and hit publish.  Now.

Book Review: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Dear World,

I must confess.  I wanted to read this book because I saw the movie trailer.  I also must confess more than that.  I specifically wanted to read this book because I saw the movie trailer starred Robert Pattinson who at one time portrayed a vampire named Edward Cullen.  Yes, World, I am that girl. 

I apologize. 

Love,

@notthegirl

Now, I shall proceed to the heart of the issue, the book review at hand. In this case, my unorthodox method of choosing books was a success.  Water for Elephants is quite possibly the best book I’ve read all year.  I absolutely loved it.  I’m not absolutely certain that this book wasn’t written for me specifically.  (I understand that this book has been a bestseller since it’s release in 2006, but still… a girl can dream, right?)

The main characters include a veterinarian, a beautiful circus star, and an elephant.  What’s not to love?  I’m being serious.  What is not to love?  I didn’t realize until I started writing this review (which at this point has digressed into nothing more than a long rant about how much I loved the book), that I loved this book so much.  I probably should have noticed when I finished it in approximately two settings, but I did not. 

I absolutely cannot wait to see Water for Elephants in theaters.  (Did I mention Robert Pattinson? Also elephants?  Or circus stars?  I know I didn’t mention horses, but I’m crossing my fingers that they will be in there as well.)  If it is even half as good as the book (which I might mention once more that Sara Gruen wrote specifically for me), then it will be the best movie I’ve seen since… I don’t know… Since a long time. 

There you have it folks.  Water for Elephants=Awesome.  Robert Pattinson=Vampires=good gimmick for getting me to buy a book that I would have normally never read. Me=Crazy.  If anyone had been wondering about my unexpected blogging hiatus, this “book review” should answer some questions.  Or possibly raise some. 

Go.  Read the book.  I promise.  You’ll thank me.