Suspension of disbelief

I hadn't read any of D.J. MacHale's books until his latest, Sylo. MacHale is probably best known for the Pendragon series, of which there are about ten, plus a set of prequels. He takes up a lot of library real estate. Sylo is first in a series too, and having purchased it for the library, I decided to give it a try.

Sylo, published by an imprint of Penguin Books, is a sci-fi thriller set on an island in Maine. Tucker Pierce is an average kid, having moved to the island from Connecticut with his parents. After witnessing the death of a classmate and seeing a strange explosion in the sky, Tucker and his friend Quinn are disconcerted that their safe haven of Pemberwick Island is no longer so safe. When a strange military outfit named SYLO invades the island and quarantines the place, effectively cutting off Pemberwick from the outside world, Tucker must accept that nothing is as it seems.

Running parallel to the military occupation plot line is that of a mysterious substance called the Ruby, which gives anyone who uses it superhuman speed and strength. It is unclear if this is why the island is quarantined, but a shady character named Mr. Feit gives it to residents prior to the military occupation.

Tucker, Quinn, and another classmate Tori are quickly in the crosshairs of SYLO's commander, Granger. They must try to escape the island and expose SYLO since they believe the quarantine is bogus and there is something fishy going on.

I had mixed feelings about this book. On one hand I liked it a lot-- I spent most of last night turning pages to see what would happen. It has gripping moments. On the other hand, it was farfetched and just ok. The drug pusher, Mr. Feit, is a poorly created character and is clearly a warning "Don't do drugs, kids!" The escape scenes are decent, as is the boating terminology, but it still seems contrived. Tucker's sort-of-infatuation with Tori is a convenient plot device, but there is no meat. Most of the characters are stock-- the brainy friend, the pretty tourist girl, the wealthy jock, the cold soldier. I came across two usage errors (taught instead of taut and mantle instead of mantel) which pulled me out of the story.

All that being said, I would skim the next two series installments to see what happens. Despite its flaws, I am curious as to what happens next. I classify this book as middle grade, so grades 5 and up. Not fabulous, certainly not flawless, but definitely intriguing.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Two non-paranormal books that I really enjoyed.

 I recently finished two books that I really enjoyed. Sisters of Glass by Stephanie Hemphill was historical fiction and Tokyo Heist by Diana Renn was a mystery. Nary a ghoul in sight. I was happy to read some realistic books for myself and also to recommend to others who may be worn out from paranormal books or dystopias. I like those genres as much as the next person, but it's nice to read something different for a change!

Sisters of Glass snagged me with its beautiful cover, and then really snagged me with its subject matter-- glassblowing. For a long time it was my career ambition to be a glassblower. I took workshops and even interned for a glassblower in college. To be fair, the book is not just about glassblowing. It's also a story about family, love, and duty. Maria is the younger daughter of a glassblower, who has stipulated that she marry a nobleman. She'd rather work in the furnaces of the glass shop or sketch. Her older sister Giovanna is miffed that she was passed over for the betrothal, and Maria finds herself falling for a man she can't have.

The novel is written in non-rhyming verse, and most of it is quite lyrical and pretty. The atmosphere of Murano, the Venetian island where glass is produced, feels sort of mystical. The story follows a traditional arc and it was refreshing to read one point of view instead of many. As I was reading, I was concerned that Stephanie Hemphill would lose readers with the glassmaking terminology she uses, but behold! A glossary at the end. I'd recommend this to historical fiction fans and any teen interested in glassblowing (although I might've been the only one, and that was-- gulp-- fifteen years ago). For a different, much more complicated story set in France, try Daphne du Maurier's The Glass-Blowers.


Now, for something completely different: Tokyo Heist. This one got me from the art angle too-- it's about a stolen van Gogh painting. Violet arrives in Seattle to spend time with her dad. His employers have recently commissioned him to paint a mural in their office building in Japan. Unfortunately, they have also recently been burglarized and a van Gogh has gone missing. Violet goes to Japan with her dad so he can work on the mural and Violet tries to solve the mystery surrounding the painting and the gangsters who want it. This is a fast-paced mystery with international flavor.

Violet reads a lot of manga and is a budding artist herself, so at the same time her own story is going on, she's writing a manga story called Kimono Girl. I really liked the parallel stories of Violet and Kimono Girl. I know pretty much nothing about manga other than it's Japanese, but I still found it accessible in this story. There are Japanese words sprinkled throughout that can be figured out from context, and they are used purposefully. I really enjoyed this one.

Sisters of Glass was published under Random House's Knopf imprint in March of 2012 and is available now. Tokyo Heist was published under Penguin's Viking imprint in mid-June of 2012 and is also available now.

Ex libris,

Marissa

The Girl Who Reads Scandinavian Noir.

I can't believe I haven't ever written a blog post about Scandinavian noir. So here's how it all started: I was in college and had to take my world literature requirement for my English major. I chose Global Detective Fiction a) because it fulfilled the requirement, b) I had a crush on the professor, and c) it sounded cool. Perfect, right? And it was.
In that class, in addition to books that took place in Italy (written by Donna Leon) and Africa (written by Alexander McCall-Smith), we read Henning Mankell's Sidetracked which is set in Sweden. I was hooked. It was so dark and multi-faceted that I had to read more. So I read more by Mankell, and then some Karin Fossum (Norway), Kjell Eriksson (Sweden again), and Arnaldur Indridason (Iceland). The whole genre is fascinating. First, it's COLD in the winter, which makes the hideous crimes mean more, at least to me, because it would seem that there would be less crime since people are inside trying not to freeze to death. If you are making that effort of killing someone, it better work and be worth the trouble. Second, the nights are long and dark, which is spooky. The countries are very isolated, especially Iceland which is just floating out there in the middle of the North Atlantic, so one could easily kill someone and get away on a boat, or toss a body into the sea. Finally, these are not vast countries, so there is a great sense of local color, food, and names that often end in -son or -dottir.
That brings me to Stieg Larsson. He wrote the wildly popular Millenium Trilogy consisting of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest. At first, I thought this was another author who jumped onto the bandwagon. But I was so wrong. I've only read Dragon Tattoo so far, but it was so exceedingly amazing and carefully crafted that I could not stop reading it. I then watched the Swedish movie of the book, starring Noomi Rapace, and I was clinging to my couch. I can't even describe the detail that Larsson has put in his books. Dragon Tattoo starts off slow with a lot of background, as most of the Scandinavian noir that I've read does. It is rather boring, to be honest. But then BAM! You're hooked into this complex web of awesome.
I read that Larsson intended the Millenium Trilogy to be ten books, but sadly he died suddenly in 2004 leaving us with only three. Also, there may possibly be a fourth book out there in the ether, but it is unclear if it is supposed to be fourth or fifth in the series. Larsson wasn't married, but he did have a longtime partner, but since he didn't leave a will, his estate goes to his father and brother under Swedish law. However, Larsson's partner Eva Gabrielson has the laptop with the fourth book but won't publish it unless she gets rights to Larsson's literary property. It's all very convoluted and mysterious. If you're intrigued, you can check out this website about Larsson and the whole series, characters, etc.
So, in summary, try some Scandinavian noir! I like Henning Mankell and Karin Fossum the most. Stieg Larsson is absolutely amazing and I hope the fourth book gets published someday. In the meantime, the Millenium Trilogy is intense, violent, and breathtaking and I recommend it. If you're not a book person, the books have been made into films in Sweden that are available in the US, and the US film industry is making them here into what I anticipate will be watered-down versions. Get the originals and watch them with the subtitles ON.

Enjoy the darkness.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Schooled.

I'm done with my first semester of library school! All in all, it went well. I got my grade back for Intro to Information Technology-- A minus. I'm still waiting on my grade for Foundations of Librarianship, but I was more concerned about the other class. Next semester I'm taking a course in cataloging. But in the meantime, I'm on school break! I'm reading for pleasure! I'm currently engrossed in Murder in the Marais by Cara Black. A change for me-- I usually read Scandinavian crime fiction. In fact, I did a display table at work featuring Scandinavian crime fiction. But this mystery is set in France and I'm liking it a lot. I'm going to try and cram in as much pleasure reading as possible from now until January 26, which is the first day of spring semester.

More on Cara Black and her mysteries set in Paris.

Ex libris,

Marissa

UPDATE: My grade for Foundations of Librarianship-- A plus.