Tag Archives: If/Then

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Thinking about heroines…

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Our sensational posts from the South and West Branches this week  got me thinking about books (ok, let’s be frank…almost everything get me thinking about books).  I thought about previous posts on women whose literary contributions are continually under-valued by the publishing world, and women like Jeannette Rankin, who had to struggle all their lives to be the heroine of their own story.  I was fortunate enough to learn about her in grade-school, and she had an indescribable impact on me.

And that got me thinking about the characters that we meet in growing up.  How many books describe people becoming the heroes of their own story, and changing their world because of their actions?  Any number of them…in fact, in a way, every book is a kind of coming of age tale…But how many of those books feature a woman, not just as a main character, but as the heroine?  I don’t know about you, but it took me a moment to come up with some that weren’t genre-specific romance novels, or stories that forced women to survive impossible odds, like The Hunger Games…a sensational book, no doubt, but there is a difference between acting and reacting, about choosing and being chosen that I think is very important.

Perhaps is isn’t a big deal.  If a book is well-written and the characters vivid enough, there is no reason that I, as a female, can’t relate to a male characters.  I was entranced by,  and cheered for Harry Potter as much as I did for Katniss Everdeen.  Characters are usually human, just as I am human, and therefore, our emotions are, on some level, equitable, and our struggles share many common elements.

But there are things to consider here; because the truth is that it’s comparatively easy to be a hero.  Privilege is a powerful thing, that often gets overlooked in many coming-of-age tales.  Harry Potter isn’t judged for his looks, or ostracized for his intelligence in the same way Hermione is.  He doesn’t have to prove himself and justify his existence day after day after day in the same way she does.  Harry has challenges, certainly, but he is also given room to discover who he is and what he can do in a way that Hermione doesn’t.  Also…what was the big controversy over Hermione’s character after the series’ finale?  It was whom she (should have) married in the end.  Ahem.  I can think of plenty of other examples, but for now, in honor of a week of celebrating women being excellent, I thought I’d add a few books featuring heroines who are excellent, starting with some of the younger ones.  So, without further ado…

IF you’d like some more heroines in your life, Then check out…

1484097Matilda: This book was my salvation as a seven-year-old who was in the process of outgrowing fairy stories and felt utterly out-of-place in reality.  And into the breach swooped Roald Dahl, and his wondrously wise, bookish, and charmingly out-of-place heroine. Stifled by parents who can’t appreciate her, and forced to attend a school with a head-mistress who is just this side of Satanic, Matilda uses all the untapped power in her brain to make the impossible happen, and to defend those around her who need her strength and courage.  And though Matilda finds a forever-friend in her beloved teacher, Miss Honey, she doesn’t need anyone else in her life to make her the powerhouse character she is.  I don’t care if this is marketed as a kid’s book…Dahl has the uncanny, and occasionally terrifying power to tell a story about a child in a way that will speak to all ages.  And if you like this book, check out the musical as well.  It’s one of the few musical adaptations I can say hit the proverbial nail on its proverbial head.

1483377Catherine Called Birdy: Karen Cushman is just generally a sensation writer, but this book, especially, is something to remember.  Catherine, called Little Bird, or Birdy, is the thirteen-year-old daughter of English country knight, whose keeps a daily diary.  Cushman does a marvelous job weaving all the unchanging aspects of being a teenager–the agonizing process of trying to grow up, the need for approval and the desire to be different, the highs and lows of falling in love–with enough historic detail to ground this book very firmly in its medieval setting.  Because this book is Birdy’s diary, her voice comes through every page, strong and clear, and despite the fact that her marriage and her fate is never, and may never be in her own hands, given her time and circumstances, there is no way this witty, sarcastic, and wholly original young woman will not be the one to tell her tale.

2095295Alanna: The First Tale: Pierce was one of the first women to write fantasy novels about young women for young women that encouraged them to be precisely who and what they wanted.  She never shies away from what it might cost these heroines in the process, but also ensures that the rewards for their courage and self-reliance can be truly great.  This is the first book in her series about Alanna, the younger of two twins, who decides to become a knight so that her brother can go study magic.  Becoming a knight means far more than sword fights, and armor, however, and Alanna herself turns out to be far more than a fighter–so much so that her story inspired a series, and a number of spin-off stories set in the same world.

I hope these stories inspire you to go out and be remarkable today!  Happy Reading!

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Keep the Lights On…A Thoroughly Creepy If/Then Post…

In 1773, a woman named Anne Letitia Aiken became one of the first people to actually discuss what it meant to be a reader, and how the act of reading can change a person.  Her essay was entitled “On the Pleasure Derived from Objects of Terror”, and in it, she pretty much explained how we can enjoy reading things that scare our pants off.  Essentially, as long as the images presented to the reader are fantastic in nature, or somehow outside their everyday existence, reading scary stuff can arouse a sense of excitement, unabated by feelings of genuine, self-preserving, life-at-risk fear.  So reading about ghosts in someone else’s house can be fun, even if finding one in your own house just…isn’t.  That is, unless you’re like my six-year-old self, and never actually recovered from reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.  And that is perfectly ok, too.

But maybe this theory explains why my somewhat-grown-up self loves reading scary stuff in the summertime.  Maybe the abundance of sunshine makes the contrast between the real world (if that is what we must call the world outside of the books) and the shadowy depths of a haunted house that much more profound, and the heat of the day makes the shivers of fear that much more enjoyable.  Who knows… maybe my inner six-year-old is trying to prove herself again.  Whatever the cause, summertime means that I start checking out ghost stories and dark, inexplicable tales by the armful.  And I am hoping that there are those among you, beloved patrons, who feel the same.  If so, then here are some selections to make your breezy summer days a little more hair-raising….

If you enjoy scary stories in the summer, Then be sure to check out….

3539368Rooms: Though she established herself in the New Adult genre, Lauren Oliver’s first foray in the horror genre manages to be hauntingly beautiful, remarkably creative, and genuinely unsettling from first to last.  The action of this story takes place in the country home of the miserly and recently-deceased Richard Walker.  But when Richard’s ex-wife and two children show up to clean out this estate, they quickly realize they aren’t alone.  Two female ghosts have inhabited the house for years, watching the family’s every move–and feeling watched, in return.  These ghosts speak through the heating vents, through the creaks in the floor boards, and through the flickering of the lights.  Think about that every time you hear an odd noise in the dark….then try this hum-dinger of a book.

2928695House of Leaves: Hey, speaking on the topic of Houses That Are Terrifying, Mark Z. Danielewski’s mind-bending novel is a sure-fire way to develop a phobia of your own home.  Superficially speaking, this is a story about a house that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.  And before you start making Dr. Who references, it’s not that kind of house.  This is the kind of house in which you get lost.  Forever.  As new rooms, hallways, and doors to nowhere open up like a nightmare.  But what makes this story particularly chilling is the format.  Danielewski tells  story-within-a-story-within-a-story in this book, meshing the narrative with copious, detailed, and occasionally mad footnotes, colored letters, and text that trips across the pages backwards and forwards and slantways, making the act of reading a physical exploration.  You can’t help but feel like an explorer while reading this book, but the more you discover, the more uneasy you will feel.

3136591Those Across the River:  We’ve discussed this book previously, I think, but it still bears mentioning again.  Christopher Buehlman frequently utilizes fairytales and folklore to drive his stories, and this whole book reads like a horrible, beautiful fable.  Ex-professor Frank Nichols and his beloved Eudora moved to his family’s southern plantation in the years after the First World War, seeking out some peace and quiet, and hoping to give Frank a place to write his book about the horrible history of their new house.  But it’s quickly evident that something is very wrong about their new town.  People are frightened, clinging to ancient rituals meant to appease “those” who live in the forests–forests that no one in town will enter.  To be honest, I was rather let down by the ending of this book, but I think that was largely a personal thing–I’d love to know what other readers have to say about this claustrophobic, dreamlike setting, and the gradually revelation about the horrible truth that lurks in the dark shadows of the forest…

2088053Shutter Island: Though this might not be a straight-up horror novel, Dennis Lehane knows how to write a story that will keep you up too late, and leave you breathless.  Even if you’ve seen the film version of this story with Leonardo DiCaprio, make sure to check out the novel, as well.  U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels has been sent to an asylum for the criminally insane, located on the titular Shuttle Island, in Boston Harbor–one of the inmates is missing, but with no where for them to run, Teddy knows that something odd has happened within the asylum’s walls.  And the longer he investigates, the stranger–and more sinister–this case grows.  I don’t care if you figure out the kicker to this story.  I figured it out within the first chapter.  But it doesn’t matter.  This story is still so visceral, atmospheric, and bewilderingly addictive that you still won’t be able to put it down…or sleep afterwards….

 

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In Which We Talk About Romances…

Believe it or not, the staff here at the Library have secret identities in the wider world.  Speaking for myself, I teach the history of gender and sexuality.  And while I adore both my identities, there are times when they clash…because there are a lot of people who think that feminists, especially feminists who talk about gender a lot, can’t like romance novels.  Since this week has been about celebrating what we love to read without shame, I thought I’d take a moment to talk about the romance genre.

What is at the heart of romance that makes it such a difficult genre? I mean, the covers, for one, can be a little…much.  That I will admit.  But above and beyond the Men Who Own No Shirts and the Women Who Cannot Stand Up Straight, why do romances get a bad rap?  Obviously, romances deal with issues of physical desire, but so do plenty of other genres.  Thrillers, spy novels, mysteries, adventure tales–all of these books deal with sex and love to varying extents (see: James Bond, for a prime example). But these books don’t get stigmatized because of it.  But when we are dealing with a heroine who falls in love, suddenly these books become “Those Books”.   The ones that we hide on the floor of the car, or in the bottom of a bag, or in the files on the e-readers.

Speaking academically (just for a second, I promise), the primary message of feminism is that women should be respected as individuals–that their individual goals, values, and dreams deserve the same respect and attention as men–whether that was the right to vote, the right to own property, or the right to work inside or outside the home.  In fiction, romances offer the clearest validation of the individual–especially women.  At the heart of all the best romances is validation; that what the heroine (and the hero) want in life, and in a relationship, is valid; that their goals and hopes and fears and dreams are legitimate, and that they have a right to become the very best version of themselves, because who they are is perfect. 

And that is a message that is not easy to accept.  We live in a world that tells us that we are not good enough, and, speaking as a woman, I can tell you that those messages are really, really loud.  Lose weight you’ll be more attractive.  Open up and live a little, and other people will like you.  Don’t be so open and lively, or you’ll drive them away.  Wear this mascara and you will look just like that person you always wanted people to think that you are.  Romance novels, in the end, subvert every one of those messages, and reminds us that the only way to get a happy ending is to be true to yourself and true to your own desires–and to find someone who loves you precisely as you are.  And that is pretty revolutionary, when you come to think about it.

So, rather than hiding your love for romance, let’s read them–and whatever else we want to read, as well–and let’s change the world.

For this week’s If/Then, here are a few of my favorite romance novels, in case you are looking for a place to get started:

3092802Follow My Lead: Regardless of the fact that the heroine of this historic romance is an historian, this is one of my favorite books of all time.  Winifred is on a trans-European expedition to prove herself the author of several historic articles along with her erstwhile companion, the terribly well-meaning, but not very savvy, Jason Cummings, Duke of Rayne.  Their road trip from hell is full of ridiculous scenarios and plenty of humor, but in the end, both Win and Jason realize that they have spent their whole lives chasing other people’s ideals of what they should be, and have to find the courage to define their futures for themselves.  There aren’t too many romances where the hero and heroine get to laugh with–and at–each other, but this book gives them both the freedom to have fun.

3456931Rule: Jay Crownover’s Marked Men series is a manifesto for respecting and loving yourself for precisely who you are, and this book is a perfect example.  Rule is a bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks who couldn’t care less about what people think about him–except for Shaw Landon, who was once his dead brother’s girlfriend.  But Shaw’s life is based around what other people expect of her…and it’s killing her by inches.  Both Rule and Shaw spend this book dealing with their own self-image, both physical and mental, but offer each other the tough love and unwavering support that they need to find a way to each other.

3244939One Good Earl Deserves A Lover:  I have a soft-spot in my heart for Sarah MacLean’s work for many reasons, but this book, especially, has a special place.  Lady Philippa Marbury is a scholar and an intellectual, but her duty is to marry.  So, terrified that she will never get to experience life, she seeks out Cross, the co-owner of London’s most famous gaming hell, to teach her about the darker side of life.  This book is gut-wrenchingly emotional and whimsical by turn, but there is never a moment when Philippa’s learning and social awkwardness is played for comedy, or when her intellect and individuality isn’t respected.  Indeed, it’s her brains that save the day for her and for Cross, who loves her precisely as she is–spectacles, books, and all.

3577495The Wedding Vow: Cara Connelly’s Save the Date series are all fun, but the characters in this book grabbed my attention from the very first page.  Prosecutor Maddie St. Clair knows that billionaire Adam Le Croix is an art thief, but, to her fury, she has never been able to prove it in court.  When Adam needs legal help, he turns to Maddie, knowing that she is the only person smart enough to help him.  But what starts as a familiar enemies-to-lovers, billionaire-gets-the-girl story quickly turns into something utterly unique; neither Maddie nor Adam are the people we expect them to be, and as they keep peeling away layers of themselves, and exposing their deepest secrets and worst fears, they become that much more real, and that much more deserving of their happy ending together.

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In other news…Pluto!

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Outside of the Book World, it turns out that some other things happened this week aside from the publication of a certain book….We got to meet Pluto for the first time!  The sight of the dwarf planet itself is second in my books only to all the happy scientists who have seen their hard work, intelligence, hopes, and dreams pay off, more than nine years of waiting (and Bill Nye was there, too!).

We’ve talked here before about the wonder and danger of exploration, and wandering off the map, and it seems like there are few greater adventures than outer space.  And learning that the New Horizons spacecraft travelled 3 billion miles to get to Pluto, and has plans to travel even father still is simply mind-boggling.  This piano-sized spacecraft has managed to make it to the edge of the solar system, the edge of our knowledge, around meteor belts, comets, space rocks, possibly Dr. Who, on its way past the farther point in the universe we know (which, up to yesterday, was Neptune, which we saw for the first time in 1989), and given us all a reason to dream of what is might show us next.

Perhaps the greatest part of the story is that onboard New Horizons are the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, the man who discovered Pluto in 1930, at the age of 24.  It’s fascinating to think of how short our relationship with Pluto has been, overall, but it looks like that relationship is about to get pretty interesting….

So for all of you who, like, me, think the pictures coming back from New Horizon are just the coolest things ever, here is a list of space exploration/adventure themed materials to check out during your next library visit….

If you like Pluto, Then be sure to check out…

3459381The Martian:  A best-seller upon its release, Andy Weir’s book as received a new wave of attention thanks to the upcoming release of the film adaptation starring Matt Damon (you can see the trailer here).  This is the story of Mark Watney, the first man to walk on Mars–and the man who has been abandoned on Mars after a dust storm separated him from his team.  But Watney isn’t content to sit and wait for the inevitable–he is going to live now for the chance to go home.  This is a great book because, despite the sheer existential terror of being the only human being on an entire planet, the tension inherent our hero’s quest, and the depth of detail that Weir built into this story, neither he not his hero Watney ever lose their sense of humor over the course of this epic human endurance story.  Nor does it lose its respect for duct tape.  What more could you want in a book?

2913524Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void: Author Mary Roach writes some of the most unexpected popular science around today.  Her topics range from the science of taste and eating to the search for ghosts and the afterlife, but each book so intensely engaging, quirky, and enlightening, making them perfectly light, educating reading.  This book tackles those questions about space travel that we’ve all wondered, but never actually asked: how do astronauts go to the bathroom in reduced gravity?  Can they take a shower?  But beyond these answers, Roach also writes about the considerable physical and psychological difficulties that astronauts face, and how looking into the unknown makes us all confront our own humanity differently.  A must read for anyone who ever dreamed of the stars.

2299772The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: Books like The Martian are considered ‘hard science fiction’, in that they deal with actual details about space travel, planetary science, etc.,  Douglas Adams’ classic is not quite the same thing, dealing as it does with the bulldozing of earth to create an intergalactic freeway, and the erstwhile human, Arthur Dent, who gets picked up seconds before the end.  This is one of my favorite books in the world, for so many reasons.  It’s funny, ridiculous (the send-up of human and alien bureaucracy alone are enough to heal your soul a little), wonderfully imaginative, and deeply insightful, featuring, as it does, the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.  For those of you who enjoy audiobooks, do not miss Stephen Fry’s recording of this book.  And remember: Don’t Panic.

3343686Pluto’s Secret: An Icy World’s Tale of Discovery: Margaret Weitekamp’s terrific book for younger readers explores the history of Pluto from its discovery by Tombaugh in 1930, up to its re-classification as a dwarf planet, and also considers how planets are named and studied.  The text is informative and fun (not an easy combination to achieve), and the artwork by Diane Kidd is simply delightful.  With all this talk about Pluto recently, this is the perfect introduction to the solar system, but older readers are sure to find plenty of fun facts in these pages, as well!

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Seriously, where is that map?…Another wanderer’s If/Then….

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It is really, truly one of the highlights of my day when a patron comes in and shares that they are enjoying our little endeavor here with this blog.  It makes my week, if not my whole month, when they share their own suggestions in response to some of our posts.  And it seems that last week’s If/Then post inspired some of our beloved patrons to share their own picks for books about exploration…generally exploration gone wrong…and adventuring.

It was also pointed out that most of our selections last week dealt primary with tropical, or at least, extraordinarily hot, climates.  Thankfully, we have some remedies for this, as well, for those of you who prefer the air conditioning to the sultry summer sun, or the alien expanses of the Arctic tundra to the otherworldly environs of the jungle.  I don’t know about most of you, but I find the descriptions of these frozen terrains far more unsettling…the emptiness of these landscapes, and what that silence can do to people is often more terrifying than the constant energy of the tropics–but it is out of such material that some of the best adventures are made!

So, without further ado, here are your picks, beloved patrons, for another round of books to settle your wanderlust….

If you liked last week’s post regarding books about exploration (and disaster), Then check out…

3458717Annihilation: The first book in a genuinely unique trilogy, Jeff Van Der Meer’s book is a very strange, but fascinating blend of sci-fi, speculative fiction, and horror that wraps the reader up and holds them captive.  Set in the mysterious land known as Area X, a land beyond civilization, full of disease and unknown peril, this is the story of the twelfth expeditionary party–comprised exclusively of women–sent to map the terrain and collect specimens.  However, as each member of the party documents the world around them, and the changes going on in the group itself, it grows harder and harder to tell whether the contamination lies in Area X, or in the people who have travelled there.  If you enjoy this book, be sure to check out Authority and Acceptance, to find out what happens in the rest of this bizarre adventure!

2323750River of Doubt: Candice Millard is a remarkably gifted story-teller, and this account of Theodore Roosevelt’s trip down an uncharted tributary of the Amazon following his defeat in the 1912 election is a harrowing, inspiring, and utterly gripping tale that has been hailed by library staff and patrons alike.  Though there are aspects of Roosevelt’s biography and his attitudes towards contemporary issues that make him something of a problematic subject, but there is no doubt that what he accomplished on this journey, both personally and publicly is admirable and remarkable.  Not only did he change the map of the Amazon forever, Roosevelt was forced to confront his own mortality during this journey–a moment that Millard is able to capture with subtlety and power, setting this story apart from many other works of popular history.  For those who enjoy audiobooks, the recording of this book also comes very high recommended!

2643713At the Mountains of Madness: This was a selection from the Main Library’s Classics Book Group several years ago that I simply adored.  H.P. Lovecraft has always been a favorite of mine, but this book was something different from his usual fare.  Lovecraft suffered from night terrors, and used the visions he saw as the basis for his stories.  As a result, the monster and other horrors he describes are usually intense and vividly described.  The terror in this book, however, lies in his manipulation of the reader’s imagination.  The story is told through the eyes of Dr. William Dyer, the head of a doomed expedition to Antarctica, describing the odd buildings, strange writings, and inexplicable horrors that he and his partner witnessed–and it is that very inexplicability that makes this story so chilling.  In forcing the reader the render their own nightmares, this book can be anything you want it to be–or anything you dread that it might me.

1592720Into Thin Air: This is another recommendation from one of our patrons…In 1996, journalist Jon Krakauer was sent to cover an expedition to the top of Mount Everest, an experience he had always dreamed of accomplishing.  The reality of the trip, however, was truly dreadful.  Krakauer was present during the ‘Mount Everest Disaster’, when eight climbers were killed and several other stranded in the overwhelming storms that raged across the slopes.   Oxygen deprivation at the time, and grief following the event colored Krakauer’s initial piece, leading to a number of tragically false errors.  This book is his attempt to set the record straight in terms of what happened on Everest during that trek, as well as an explanation of the inhuman conditions of Everest, and the super-human effort it takes to climb it.  This is a book that will leave you gasping, exhausted, and exhilarated; even for those with a knowledge or memory of the events described will find plenty here to learn, and plenty of moments over which to marvel.

3105391Into the Silence : the Great War, Mallory, and the Conquest of Everest: For those of you who can’t get enough of Everest, here is another tale of heroism and disaster to read in the safety of your own armchair.  On June 6, 1924, Colonel George Mallory, Britain’s premier mountain climber, and his comrade, Sandy Irvine, disappeared somewhere near the top of Mount Everest (it is for Mallory that the final approach to Everest’s summit is named).  This is the story not only of this expedition, but of the world that Mallory left behind to climb the mountain–a world that had recently been ravaged by the First World War, and was desperate for hope and for heroism.  Mallory’s courage and resiliency, both in the war and on Everest, captured the imagination of Great Britain, making his disappearance that much more significant.  This is a book for history buffs and adventurers alike, providing a story that is both touchingly sympathetic and intellectually fascinating.

Keep those recommendations coming, and keep exploring, beloved patrons!

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Maybe we should have brought a map? A wanderer’s If/Then….

Here be monsters!
Here be monsters!

Summer is a time for exploration…for road trips and sailing trips and airplane voyages and stay-cations.  And that last one, those stay-cations, might very well be the best kind–know why?  Because it gives you plenty of time to head to the library and check out one of these books!  <–That, right there?  That was a shameless plug.  But I am ok with with this, because it’s true.

Some of the best voyages I have ever taken have been via library books, not only because they were tales of derring-do and far-flung adventures, but also because the books I read usually ended in unmitigated disaster, questionable success, or nightmare monsters that follow you home.  They are the kind of adventures you simply can’t have in real life (and probably shouldn’t, if you have any plans of telling people about them later).  And that is why we have fiction–to take us away, and let us explore those shadowy, shiny, mysterious places that we simply couldn’t see otherwise, and let us come home safely at the end.

So for those of you ‘armchair explorers’ like me (or beach-chair explorers, or adirondack-chair explorers), then these books might be for you.  Most of them feature unreliable narrators, which is one of my favorite tropes in all of fiction; every step in the story is like paddling into uncharted waters.  You can never tell if what you see is real, or if the tide might shift without warning, dragging you into another place entirely.  But I can guarantee, you will return with quite a story to tell!

So….If you like adventure novels perfect for a summer stay-cation, Then check out:

2683970Pandora in the Congo:  I originally started reading this book simply because it was there, and the first scene was really ludicrously funny.  But the more I read, the more I was absolutely captivated by the adventure tales it contains, the consistently unsettling feeling of dread that closes around the main characters, and the unrelenting tension that builds as the narrators confession slowly unfolds.  Though this story is recorded by Tommy Thompson, a ghostwriter’s ghostwriter’s ghostwriter (you read that correctly), it is told by Marcus Garvey, a man attached to a disastrous African expedition to the Belgian Congo that resulted in the murder of the expedition’s leaders, brothers William and Richard Carver and the disappearance of the African crew.  Garvey promises to tell Thompson precisely what happened in the jungle–but whose truth is he telling?  Though this is meant to be a pastiche of the 19th-century African adventure novels that were so popular in the British empire, this is so much more than satire.  It is a heart-rending, blisteringly fast-paced, and simply unforgettable tale that you need to read to believe.

2138106Life of Pi: Yann Martel’s now-classic novel won the Man Booker Prize in 2002, and has since been turned into a popular film, but don’t let it’s public acclaim deter you from giving this book a try.  It’s gentle, subtle, sometimes ridiculous humor makes the narrator, sixteen-year-old Pi, instantly endearing.  Pi is the sole survivor when the cargo ship carrying his family and a menagerie of animals sinks on its way to Canada.  He recounts his experiences after the fact, telling about his tiny life raft, adrift in the Pacific, with only Pi, a hyena, a wounded zebra, an orangutan, and an enormous royal bengal tiger.  The story itself is extraordinary, wildly imaginative, and completely transporting.  However, like Pandora in the Congo, the real magic of this book lies in the revelations that Pi holds back until the book’s end, and the lessons he reserves for those willing to take his journey with him.

2223181Oscar and Lucinda: This is one of my favorite books ever.  Ever ever.  It is one of those books that I make people read in order to determine if we can be friends.  Peter Carey is a master storyteller, and it’s impossible not to fall under his spell in any book he has penned, but this historic narrative is his masterpiece, dealing with big themes like love and faith, as well as colonialism and capitalism.  Haunting, and hauntingly beautiful, heartbreaking and inspiring, this is the tale of Oscar, a minister’s son who is terrified of water and addicted to gambling, a Lucinda, a determined survivor who owns a glass factory.  They meet on an oceanic voyage to Australia–a moment that will change them and challenge them, and culminate in an insane, and stunning wager to transport a glass church across the Australian Outback.  Carey gives both his hero and heroine an enormous collection of quirks, foibles and shortcomings, but they only make them both more human and real, and transforms the journey across the outback into something so much bigger than them both.  There are passages in this book that are quite honestly breathtaking in their beauty, and will leave readers changed for the better.

3493764Savage Harvest: A Tale of Cannibals, Colonialism, and Michael Rockefeller’s Tragic Quest for Primitive Art: Carl Hoffman shows what a talented journalist can do with a well-worn, but little-understood story.  The disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, the twenty-three-year old son of New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller, in 1961, was the stuff of international news.  Michael vanished somewhere around New Guinea while searching for native cultures and their art to fill his museum in New York.  While the family and the Dutch government (who controlled New Guinea at the time) asserted that Michael had drowned in an attempt to swim to land after his catamaran capsized.  But questions lingered about whether Michael had made it to shore, and died at the hands of the people who lived there.  Hoffman not only weaves a tale of adventure–both Michael Rockefeller’s and his own in trying to follow his footsteps–but he also explains the cultures, faiths, and traditions of the people who live in the areas that Michael encountered, explaining the unending repercussions of colonialism and invasion that continue to affect their way of life to this very day.  This is an informative, moving, and relentlessly exciting story that will appeal to history buffs as well as adventures seekers.

Happy Adventures, Beloved Patrons!  We hope to see you soon!

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“Two magicians shall appear in England…” A Magical If/Then Post

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A number of patrons have come in recently talking about the TV adaptation of Susannah Clarke’s masterful Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell that will be airing on BBC America this Saturday.  I have to admit, I have yet to tackle this 900+ page meisterwerk (oddly, the new paperback edition seems more intimidating than the hardcover!), but this is a book that readers, critics, and other writers are all praising unequivocally.  The book picked up the TImes book of the year award in 2005, as well as the Hugo Award for best novel, and the British book awards newcomer of the year award.  Astro City writer Kurt Busiek has been singing the praises of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell for a while, and is apparently quite pleased with the results (though we both agree that attempting to cover this amount of book in 6 episodes seems pretty ambitious…). Neil Gaiman, whose opinion should be considered in all manners, literary and otherwise, said that Susannah Clarke’s work was “Unquestionably the finest English novel of the fantastic written in the last seventy years.”

And now, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell are set to make their television debut.   Bertie Carvel, who has made quite a name for himself on the London stage, and appeared in the film adaptation of Les Miserables as Bamatabois, is set to play Jonathan Strange, and Eddie Marsan, who played Inspector Lestrade in the recent Sherlock Holmes films starring Robert Downey, Jr., is lined up to play Mr. Norrell.  Critics already have lovely things to say about this adaptation…so let’s give this a try, beloved patrons, shall we?

And in the meantime, here are a few items to get you in the mood for Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell…..

If you liked Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Then check out:

1973523Perdido Street Station: I have a crazy little reader crush on China Mieville’s work….his writing is so inviting and the imaginative details be puts into creating his worlds are so alluring that by the time you realize what a completely bizarre, borderline insane book you have started, it’s just too late.  The world outside his story just seems too dull and too predictable.  And then you finish it, and just need more.  This book itself is set in New Curazon, a squalid city full of humans, ‘re-mades’, and an enormous cast of other, even stranger people, are ruled by a ruthless Parliament and controlled by a brutal army.  But when New Curazon’s most brilliant scientist is approached by the Garuda–a fantastic half-bird, half-man–with a bizarre and fascinating challenge, he has no choice but to accept, and no idea what fate has in story for him.  I realize, even in typing this, how bizarre this story sounds, but if you told me to read a book about two magicians unite forces to defeat Napoleon, I wouldn’t question you so.  So be sure to check out China Mieville’s remarkable, explosively creative, addictive novel soon.

2717096Neverwhere: Some library sites recommend Neil Gaiman’s American Gods as a co-read piece with Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell…my only recommendation to you is to read All The Things that Neil Gaiman has written.  The man is a genius, and all of his stories are transporting, inspiring, and, usually, genuinely terrifying in a way that is utterly unique and unforgettable.  Like JS&MN, Neverwhere takes a world that readers think they know and reinvents it.  In this novel, young businessman Richard Mayhew follows a young woman pursued by assassins into the London Underground…and discovers a world of saints, angels, knights, and demons; the people who have fallen through the cracks.  Neverwhere is a fast-paced, exhilarating, haunting novel that will linger long after the cover has finally closed.  And, like JS&MN, this book was also turned into a BBC mini-series that you can check out, as well!

824986The Quincunx: Like JS&MN, Charles Palliser’s epic novel is set in the 19th century, and features the kind of rich details and detailed narrative that readers will savor.  In this weighty tome, which has received a number of comparisons to Dickens, as well as to Susannah Clarke, five families form a sort of five-point key that young, pitifully poor John Mellamphy must unlock in order to save his family.  Though not a quick read, or necessarily an easy one, readers who delve into The Quincunx will have the chance to travel not only to another place, but another time, and will carry the memories of that journey for some time to come.

3579925The Paper Magician:  Though certainly not as dense as JS&MN, Charlie Holmberg’s debut features two Victorian magicians who must join forces in order to defend their world.  In this case, however, the protagonist is Cecily Twill, a young woman who graduated top of her class at a school for the magically inclined–but even she doesn’t have the power to fix her broken heart.  And despite her dreams to work with metal, Cecily is assigned to apprentice under a paper magician.  Nothing seems to make sense–until her tutor is capture, and Cecily realizes she will risk anything to get him back.  There is a light-hearted charm to Holmberg’s story that makes it easy to fall into the world of her story, and readers who enjoy this book will be delighted to know that there are two more books in Cecily’s story to enjoy!

2411850The Illusionist:  Based on the sensational, and delightfully unsettling short story, “Eisenheim, the illusionist” by Steven Millhauser (which you can read in the collection The Barnam Museum), this is a stunningly beautiful movie about Eisenheim, the inscrutable and subversive magician whose powers threaten to destabilize the whole of the Habsburg Monarchy.  Though the film plays very fast and loose with history (particularly in its treatment of Crown Prince Rudolf, who was, in reality, a pretty awesome guy), the story that sustains it is so good that it’s still worth watching, especially for the crafty final twist that makes the ending its own kind of magic trick.

Happy reading!