My brilliant book reviewing career.

I read, on average, about 50-70 books a year. Reading has always been one of my favorite activities, in addition to binding my own books and any craft involving yarn (I just started spinning-- next step is sheep shearing school). I also enjoy the occasional bout of doing nothing, and I watch TV. So I'm quite pleased with my yearly book average. Then when I finished my Master's degree (huzzah!) I thought to myself, aha! Now I can continue working on the 1001 Books Project with my sister (she's in the C books, I'm still in the A books), and read more in general, and read galleys on Netgalley, and continue my TV-crafty-nothing-doing. I admit, I may have been overambitious in this quest. I know of several librarians who work at their day jobs, write reviews for major publications, serve on committees, present at conferences, and also seem to get their laundry done. And they usually have more familial obligations than I do (I have one dog). That being said, I am considering applying to be on the Nutmeg Book Award committee, which will kick my reading into super high gear. I think it will be quite cool to have a hand in the Nutmeg nominees. I may never be a professional book reviewer, but I can still be a good librarian.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Every Day was new.

I hope I mentioned somewhere in this blog that I love David Levithan. I finished his latest, Every Day, weeks ago but it was late and I didn't get to write about it until now. I made some notes immediately after reading it. Here they are: "Stunning and heartbreaking. Unfair. Mind existing without body. Time Traveler's Wife-ish. Cried. Cried after I already cried. Doomed to wander forever? Wanted to make it last. Read the last third of the ARC in one go."
Every Day is the story of A, who wakes up in a different body every day of his life. It's clear that (he? she?) is used to this as it has been happening since (he? she?) was born. I'll refer to A as "he" from now on because he's a he when we first meet him. A wakes up in the body of a guy named Justin and spends the day with his girlfriend Rihannon. A is connected to Rihannon but is never the same person twice, so how can he make it work? Levithan explores the idea of being connected on a cerebral level, no matter what. A wakes up in bodies of those similar in age to himself, but sometimes he's a girl or a boy, popular or a loner, pretty or ugly. He's able to "access" key information about who he is that day in order to make it through, but he has no home for his soul. After meeting Rihannon, though, A wants to get to know her. He does all he can to get back to her (he wakes up in roughly the same geographical area as long as the body he's in doesn't travel). He meets her in many of his different forms in hopes that their connection can transcend the physical. But will Rihannon feel the same?

It blew my mind. Go read it.

Ex libris,

Marissa

Woohoo for Katie Woo!

Katie Woo! Her name sounds like an exclamation! Katie Woo Rules the School, released yesterday from Capstone Young Readers, is refreshing. Maybe it's because I read a lot of YA books, but it was nice to step back into a linear storyline with a handful of characters, headed by the bespectacled first grader Katie Woo. This book is actually a collection of several shorter stories, almost episodes. I like that the stories address minor problems without a lot of fanfare and not to much adult interference. For example, Katie is picked on by the class bully in one of the stories. She handles it in her own way and resolves the problem-- no parent-teacher conference or class assembly on bullying needed. She's empowered, for a first grader.

Written by Fran Manushkin and illustrated by Tammie Lyon, this early chapter book for kindergarteners and up is a nice new entry in this field which has been dominated by another bespectacled girl, Junie B. Jones, for some time now. Simultaneously available is Katie Woo and Friends and twenty-four Katie Woo paperbacks (as opposed to collections like this one). If you've burned through Junie B. but aren't quite ready for Ivy and Bean or (my favorite) Ramona, Katie Woo may be your go-to girl.

So.much.fun.

Ex libris,

Marissa

The Diviners, OR, why Libba Bray is awesome

Libba Bray is astonishing. With the exception of her Gemma Doyle trilogy, her other books have been standalones that span all genres. Going Bovine, the only book I know of that combines mad cow disease and Don Quixote, won the Printz Award several years ago. And now, she writes her latest novel The Diviners.


It's the era of Prohibition and flappers, Ziegfeld girls and speakeasys. After a faux pas at home in Ohio, bubbly, "everything's jake" Evie O'Neill has arrived in New York to stay with her uncle Will. Will curates the Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult. When a peculiar murder with apparent occult ties occurs, the police call upon Will to help solve the crime. And that's where the easy explanation ends.

Evie helps her uncle untangle the complicated threads of a story tying together religion, the occult, and a sacred covenant made years before. At the same time, we learn about other characters on the fringes of Evie's story: Memphis, a numbers runner; Jericho, Will's assistant at the museum; Theta, a Ziegfeld girl; and Sam, a petty thief. As Evie's story continues, it is clear that all these characters have ties with something bigger than themselves. The something is a looming thing of nightmares and evil

I can't even elaborate on this story anymore without serious spoilers, and I can't fully explain the "something." The ARC that I got at BookExpo is 578 pages, and this is the first in a four-part series that I can only assume covers the stories of the other characters in Evie's story. The film rights have already been snapped up by Paramount (wise move!) via Fake Empire and this promises to be an epic, Roaring-Twenties adventure with layers of darkness and occultism.

I stayed up way too late as I got deeper and deeper into this story. The world building and historical imagery are impeccable. After watching Ken Burns' documentary Prohibition earlier this year, I was totally onboard with the time period. At first I didn't like Evie's "pos-i-tute-ly" flapper slang, but as the story built into this maelstrom of intrigue and horror, it became so secondary that I just sat up turning page after page. The story reads like a movie, and I can't wait to see how it translates into film. It's one book-to-film that I'm not dreading!

I do wonder how this book will be received by teens. There's plenty of plot and lots of characters to keep the story going (and Evie is seventeen in the story), but I wonder how the (grisly!) murders and the time period will resonate. The connection I draw is that each time period has an expected "apocalypse" and this story is what apocalypse looked like in the Twenties. The fact that it is a time before a lot of modern technology makes it all the more scary. Beyond the family, there isn't a global community with whom to share common experiences. Local papers are the time period's Facebook status, if you will, and not knowing is a fear in and of itself.

The Diviners will be published in September by Little, Brown and Company Books for Young Readers. Libba, thank you for being amazing and signing my ARC at BookExpo. Paramount and Fake Empire, thank you for seeing the amazing movie opportunity in this book.

Ex libris and everything's jake,

Marissa

Once I read a book and it was a gas...its title was Throne of Glass

I couldn't help referencing Blondie's "Heart of Glass" in the title of this post. Every time I've opened up the digital galley to read Throne of Glass, those catchy lines (the only ones I know) have skittered across my brain. "Da dada dada, and it was a gas...da dada dada, heart of glass."

Anyway, Throne of Glass was a gas-- an exciting fantasy with a beautiful and deadly heroine. Throw in a competition, a prince, and a unknown evil, and you've got a great escapist read.

Eighteen-year-old Celaena Sardothien was her country Adarlan's most notorious assassin, until she got caught. Forced into slavery in a salt mine, she refuses to be broken. She remains as cunning and deadly as ever. When the Crown Prince of Adarlan arrives at the mine, she is surprised, especially when he reveals his intention. Celaena is to compete against other villains and soldiers in a competition. If she wins, she will be named King's Champion and be freed after a period of servitude. If she loses, it is back to the mine and certain death.

Wanting her freedom, Celeana agrees-- grudgingly-- to the deal. She is transported to the Glass Castle where she will train and compete under an assumed name. Despite her unbreakable spirit and prickly demeanor, she has caught the Crown Prince's eye and the eye of her trainer, the Captain of the Royal Guard. As training begins, a series of murders alarms castle residents. It appears to be an otherworldly force, but that is impossible because magic has disappeared from the kingdom. Or has it? Can Celaena figure out the force behind the murders and win the competition?

I was skeptical about this story, to be honest. Pretty girl assassin? Handsome prince? I was concerned that Celaena was going to be too frothy and the prince was going to be a doofus. But aha! I was wrong! What I liked a lot about Celaena is that she has an edge to her. She may look awesome in a ballgown, but you best make sure she doesn't have a knife strapped to her thigh. And the prince, Dorian, is handsome but has character to back it up. Their dialogue is well-crafted and snarky. I loved it.

Celaena is not transformed overnight. I tip my hat to Sarah Maas, the author, for developing all of the characters in this book in measured steps. All the parts of this book unfold in a wonderful way, and it is clearly first in a series that shows promise.

The blurb on Netgalley calls Throne of Glass "the teen girl version of Game of Thrones." I have only read the first in that series, but I like to think that Arya Stark would grow up to be like Celaena Sardothien-- crafty and quick with a sword.

This is a debut novel by Sarah Maas, but she's been writing this epic online for years. Congratulations on getting this book in print, Sarah, and I look forward to the next in the series! Throne of Glass will be published on August 7, 2012 by Bloomsbury Children's Books, a division of Bloomsbury Publishing. The digital galley was provided through Netgalley.

Ex libris,

Marissa