Her Book Self

Casey over at The Bookish Type recently bestowed upon Her Book Self the "Great Blog Neighbor Award"!  Since I only went public with this blog on May 1st, I was extremely flattered by this small recognition from a book blogging peer.  (And now would be a perfect time to check out The Bookish Type if you have not done so already - I was first drawn to The Bookish Type for "Monsters in May" and I'm eagerly awaiting the reviews to come with this month's "Jane in June".)  In the spirit of paying it forward - as seems to be the tradition with awards like this - I want to pass the "Great Blog Neighbor Award" on to three really awesome fellow bloggers:

I was one of many readers that eagerly devoured 2009's quirk literary hit Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I was really amused by the retelling of the classic story with the inclusion of the undead, however I was hesitant to read Dawn of the Dreadfuls, feeling that without the mainframe of Jane Austen's text, it might be just an excuse for telling a tale of zombies running amok in Regency period England.

I was right in my assessment of the story, but wrong in thinking it would not be worth reading, for what is there not to enjoy about a tale of zombies running amok in Regency period England?  Dawn of the Dreadfuls acts as a prequel to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies telling the story of how the Bennet sisters rose to their positions as fearless zombie killing warriors. Though many people may lament the unfamiliar story (and the lack of Mr. Darcy) it still stands as a charming and amusing book.

Author Steve Hockensmith does a nice job of capturing the spirit of Austen's writing style but introduces plenty of humorous characters (and zombies) to keep the story out of a serious tone. In many ways, I liked Dawn of the Dreadfuls even better than Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and it definitely stands as strong entry into the new genre of Quirk Classics.

Part of me feels that the Quirk Classics idea is getting old very fast.  From Android Karenina to Little Women and Werewolves, I don't necessarily see it as a genre with long term appeal.  However, there is definitely an attraction to the parodies of tales when one is familiar with the original already.  If I were not already enamored with the characters of Elizabeth Bennet and her family, Dawn of the Dreadfuls would have been just another horror novel.  As it was, it was a second dose of what I already appreciated in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - which for me was exactly what I wanted to read.

Set in present day New Orleans, Ruined by Paula Morris tells the story of recently-moved New York teenager, Rebecca Brown who feels like a fish out of water in her new southern home.  Surrounded by students from old money families, Rebecca has a difficult time making friends until, in the cemetery across from her house, she meets a girl named Lisette.  The only problem is that Lisette is a ghost.

The premise of this book didn't seem like anything new to me when I picked it up, but Morris weaved an interesting story with some good twists and turns that I didn't predict.  I've read other historical fiction set in New Orleans so it was a nice change of pace to see something set in the present - as the city still deals with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. 

I think I've always enjoyed reading ghost stories.  Ruined wasn't exceptionally scary, but I do like reading books that send shivers down my spine.  Granted, I usually can't sleep after reading them, but they are fun.  Do you read scary books or avoid them at all costs?

Like many other 8th grade students in the USA, I read Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes when I was twelve years old. It's the story of a young boy living during colonial times and it developed my interest in early US history and historical fiction set in that time period. Sally Gunning rekindled my love of this setting - taking an in depth and mature perspective on colonial life - with her new novel The Rebellion of Jane Clarke.

Jane Clarke is a young woman from a small town whose father sends her to Boston to care for her feeble aunt. Thrust into the building conflicts between the rowdy Sons of Liberty and the hated British soldiers, Jane's eyes reveal the human aspects of both groups. Famous historical figures enter her life and she sees John Adams as a fair minded lawyer and family man; and Henry Knox, to her, is a bookshop clerk and potential suitor. The action in the novel leads to a climax in which Jane is a witness to the Boston Massacre, and the account told from a personal perspective takes on a much different flair than what history books typically describe.

I really enjoyed The Rebellion of Jane Clarke. Sally Gunning took the events of the USA's history and added a human perspective - effectively bridging a two hundred and forty year gap to make distant occurrences interesting and relevant. At times, Jane came across as a little too modern for her time period, but I appreciated that she was a headstrong and engaging protagonist. Fans of historical fiction, especially those who enjoy a colonial American setting, will definitely want to read this book.

(An advance review copy of this book was provided through LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.  The Rebellion of Jane Clarke is on sale Tuesday, June 1, 2010.)  

So now for a question, for those who enjoy historical fiction - does a love of history cause you to enjoy historical fiction or is it historical fiction that gives you a better appreciation for history?  Or conversely, if you don't like historical fiction does it stem from a dislike of history?

Tallulah (Tally) Jones from Dalliance, Texas is the proprietor of Remember the À La Mode ice cream shop but when her ex-husband's young new girlfriend dies under suspicious circumstances, all eyes point to Tally as a prime suspect. To complicate matters further, Tally's old high school flame, now a polished reporter, is back in town and spending plenty of time at the ice scream shop looking for more than the latest scoop.

I Scream, You Scream is a murder mystery with all the charm of the southern town in which it is set. The book reads at a good pace and there were enough twists to keep the mystery fresh and interesting. Wendy Lyn Watson tells a succinct story while still setting up for more books in this delightfully sweet series.

I always enjoy a mystery when I can't quite guess the ending.  Of course, I never want the solution to be so out of the blue as to be unrealistic, but even when I figure out who the villain is in advance, I always appreciate when there's an aspect to the crime that was hinted at, but that I didn't predict.   Any other armchair detectives out there want to share their thoughts?

I think rediscovering an author I loved as a young reader is akin to reuniting with an old friend.  We've both grown up, we've both changed and matured, but there's enough nostalgia and fond memories to bring us back together with warm comfort.  Last week I came across the book Tiger, Tiger by Lynne Reid Banks.  As a youngster, I loved The Indian in the Cupboard and all the books in its series as well as Banks' standalone novels The Fairy Rebel and I, Houdini (if you click the link for the latter, I had a hamster that looked and acted just like that!)  I naturally assumed that Tiger, Tiger was published around the same time as the others and that I had missed reading it as a child.  However, I was pleasantly surprised to open to the copyright page and see 2004!

The story is a historical fiction set in ancient Rome and tells of two captured tiger cubs - one sent to fight gladiators in the Colisseum and the other tamed as a pet for Caesar's daughter, Aurelia.  Aurelia is quickly enamored with her new pet and is equally charmed by Julius, the tiger's trainer.  Of course the relationship between a slave boy and a Roman princess must be kept secret, but when the gentleness of Aurelia's tiger is called into question, she must do what she can to save both Julius and her pet's life.

There wasn't anything truly amazing about this book - the story was straightforward, the characters not overly complex - but I still greatly enjoyed it.  As much as I've grown and matured as a reader, Lynne Reid Banks still has a style of storytelling that appeals to me.  It was great to find this book and discover that at 81 years old, Banks is still writing and to know that my middle school self's choices of books were pretty darn good ones!

Like many, I read a lot of classic literature in school.  To Kill a Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Great Expectations, The Great Gatsby, and many, many others.  I've found there are also several great works that I missed reading in school and though some of them are not the most enjoyable books, they all seem to have some merit and I can see why they remain required reading.  George Orwell was an author that I was never assigned in school but as a science fiction fan, I was persuaded by many that I would enjoy his writing.  I read 1984 several years ago and more recently, I checked out another of his famous works.

On picking up George Orwell's Animal Farm at my local library, I thought I knew what to expect. I had previously sought out 1984, Orwell's later and perhaps better known work, and I was predicting Farm to be a similar novel of a dark dystopia. What I found instead was a thinly veiled allegory depicting the Russian revolution.

The fable is set in the English countryside on "Manor Farm" and the reader is introduced to a host of anthropomorphic residents of the farm who are incited to rebel after the prophetic dream of an old hog. The animals, under the devious leadership of a pig named Napoleon, overthrow Farmer Jones and set up their own communist society known as "Animal Farm". This point in the narrative is where Orwell's darker writing takes over, and the reader follows the journey of the farm residents from thriving in an animal-run utopia to miserable conditions under a totalitarian dictatorship.

Orwell's satire is biting, and as in 1984, his views on the ills of an overbearing government are anything but subtle. The story reads quite quickly and the ending, though easy to predict from the downward spiral of life on the farm, still packed a powerful punch. The book is not one to read just for fun, but rather as a thought provoking work of fiction. For that reason, it earns its place as a classic.

I'm still working at adding "classics" to my repertoire of reading.  I've been told by many that I NEED to read The Odyssey but for now that's a bit too daunting.  Any classics or books you read in school that you frequently recommend to others?