Emily's meme, or Confessions of a Book Reader

So Emily over at Telecommuter Talk and I are on the same frame of mind, since we both were looking at the new Oprah magazine on the newsstands for the same 'Summer books' article. I came away thinking I'd got off rather lightly since for once, as none of the books seemed to catch my interest. Then Emily went and got inspired from the same article , and here is her meme that I'm borrowing because I think it's fun and interesting: what books have you planned to read for years, and never have gotten around to? what have you never read? In Emily's words, it's true confession time, and in the spirit of sharing the shame, here are my ten books that I've meant to read, but never got around to:

1. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy. I have bought at least two copies, no, three, over the years, and I still haven't got past the first page. I used to take it with me on holidays as my "I have lots of time to read on my vacation" book, but lately I've given up on even that. I don't know why I haven't read it, I want to!!

2. Any book by Charles Dickens. *hangs head in deep, deep shame* I am buying them now. Ever since I saw the latest version of Bleak House on tv (the version with Gillian Anderson) I have realized that maybe Charles isn't quite so wordy as I thought once. Plus, Dr Who made him cool in their first season episode where the world-weary Charles finds there is something unexplained in the universe after all. I own David Copperfield and Great Expectations. Which one should I start with? And why can't I find Bleak House anywhere?

3. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger. I was such an angry teenager, already in danger of great disaffection to hide the disappointments in my life, that when I read the first page of this book, I got so mad at the insufferable main character - what did he know about suffering? About pain so deep there wasn't words? I put the book down and have never picked it up again. Lately I've been wondering if I've finally put my teen angst away enough that I can try this. Maybe.

4. Anything by Robertson Davies. *hangs Canadian head in shame*. My friend and book-twin Bybee at Naked Without Books has a book-crush on him, making me feel like I might be missing something after all. But not enough to actually pick up a book yet. It must be his beard.

5. Books I've been meaning to read, and have started, but never finished: Little, Big by John Crowley, Possession by AS Byatt, and Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. There must be something wrong with me. Almost everyone loves these books passionately, and they left me bored, yawning, falling asleep even, and I can't remember any of the characters names, even though I've tried to read all three within the last two years. Maybe I'm not a 'everyone loves this' kind of book reader. Maybe they just aren't for me. I'm still disappointed though, because I went in with such high expectations of really enjoying each of them. See? true confessions of a book reader.......I'm sure you all feel much better about yourselves as book readers after seeing my failures!

6 and 7. Homer - The Iliad and The Odyssey. I own these now. They are referenced in so much. I do, I really want to read these. I am embarrassed that I haven't read them yet! How can I be a reader and a writer and not read two of the best and oldest written adventures in the world?

8. Ulysses - James Joyce. I have long, long wanted to read this book. I own the unabridged version, recently acquired. I think I'm afraid to pick it up and find I don't like it, after waiting so long. This one requires a big dose of courage.

9. Le Mort D'Arthur - Thomas Mallory. *shuffles feet. Stares fixedly at the ground.*

10. Earthsea Trilogy - Ursula K. LeGuin. One of the finest fantasy trilogies ever, even my 21 year old son has read it, but I have not. I think my mother has too. What am I waiting for?

So there you have it. A small fraction of the books I have not read yet, that I want to read. An embarrassing collection of mostly great books that have slipped through my reading hands. The emphasis is on want - these aren't books I feel I should read, anymore. I want to read them. Well, maybe Robertson Davies falls into the 'should' read category still.

How about you, dear reader? What books do you feel you should have ready by now, and haven't? what books have you really, really wanted to read, and have never gotten around to reading yet? Please feel free to take this meme and run with it. After all, what's a little shame between book friends?

The book I reached for when my cat died

A week ago Saturday our beloved cat Bandit was put to sleep. Her cancer had finally spread, quite suddenly, and we knew it was time. After we held her, and said our goodbyes, and buried her, I found my thoughts straying to a book for comfort. No, not the Bible. No, not a childhood book like Black Beauty or Little House on the Prairies or even Anne of Green Gables.

No, surprisingly, my thought flew towards Stephen King. Out of the blue, I wanted to read Pet Semetary. The urge was so strong, that after checking my shelves - once upon a time I owned all of his books, and am now rebuilding my collection of his titles - discovering I hadn't replaced it, I rushed out and bought it at Chapters. I read The Cipher Garden as fast as I could (very very good mystery by the way, will review it shortly; I was in the middle of this when all this with Bandit happened, and after waiting 6 weeks for the book, I was not putting it down again until it was done!!) and then opened up Pet Semetary with a happy sigh.

I can feel you all looking at me. But Susan, it's a horror novel! you are all saying. In fact a friend of mine at work asked me on Friday about this. Your cat just died, and you're reading Pet Semetary, she asked. Can I ask why?

Yes, I answered. I want to remember why it's good to not want my cat to come back.

It's funny what our minds turn to for comfort, and what books we suddenly need to hand, isn't it?

I haven't read Pet Semetary in over 15 years, and I am enjoying/deliciously scared by it all over again. And I'm really hoping I never see the earth disturbed over top of where she is lying.

Goodbye Bandit, you were such a beloved kitty.

Mysteries! Science Fiction! and The Cipher Garden arrives.....

So, you're wondering where I've been. So am I. Imagine my surprise when I was entering a book read - The Court of the Air by Stephen Hunt - in my book journal, and I looked at the date and realized it took me a month to read it. A month!!! A MONTH!!! Work hours have changed and now my morning commute is usually spent standing, I have a friend I write about Fringe with over lunch, and at home I've been so involved with Fringe that I didn't realize my reading had fallen off so drastically. I'm not mad at myself, I have loved and continue to love all moments with this show! I am puzzled that I haven't made reading time elsewhere, somehow. Last night I stayed up late to read Nemesis, and it was the first time in a long time that I stayed up late to read this year, I think. It was rather nice to be reading again. I have to somehow work these two loves into my life now!

What I really think though, is that I've been waiting for Martin Edward's book The Cipher Garden to come in the mail. It threw me off when I lost it on the bus, just as I was beginning to read it. I felt like I was in a holding place, that the universe wouldn't be righted until I had it again. All right, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I really felt like something was off, that would only be put right when I had the book again. It arrived two weeks ago, and ever since I have felt better. It's funny what books mean to me, even unread ones that I am only anticipating reading. And no, I haven't read it yet - I was finishing The Court of the Air, and then I realized I had a date with Harry Hole in Nemesis, which I started reading for my birthday treat (it was my birthday last week). I finished it early this morning. I picked up The Cipher Garden - was it time for Hannah and Daniel - and I realized that Nemesis had been so good that I didn't want to read another mystery right after, I needed something different. Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day fell into my hands, and I am laughing and delighted already - and then it will be time for Hannah and Daniel. I have the next three books in the series now. Daniel and Hannah and I have a date in a couple of days!

I don't really have a reading plan any more this year. I do want to finish quite a few mystery series - get caught up in them, and this is why I expected to read close to 100 books this year. However this last month of not reading much has derailed that plan, and I don't know what my expectations are any more. I think I am going to read as much as I can, and if I get to 75 books that will be quite an achievement now for me.

Science Fiction thoughts:

Why are the best shows on tv so often science fiction? Is it because they examine the unusual, the 'out there' stories that end up reflecting the human condition in all its various shapes and colours and emotions? Is it because science fiction lets us see ourselves as others would really see us, as a human race? Is it because we all secretly wish we could escape from the boring mundaneness that is every day, and experience the joy of discovery again? is it because if we can love the other, the alien, the different, if we can find a way to accept it, then we can find a way to accept our differences here? I think so. I think science fiction holds up hope to us. There will be a tomorrow, and it will be different from today. If our brains need puzzles (and books!) to stay alive, then as a human race I think we need to have a horizon to aim for, to keep our focus on striving to be better. Science fiction is our hope that tomorrow exists. I know that I want to believe we can overcome our differences as a human race and look outwards and upwards to exploring the stars. First, though, we have to conquor the alien that is within each of us, the fear of being different and outcast, before we can hope to take our place in the stars. For exploring all the ways we have of being human, and of encountering what might lie out there, science fiction is our gateway within to get out there.

Two tv shows in particular that seem to me the best for showing us all that is human happen to be science fiction:

Dr Who: We are enjoying the new series very much, the children especially. I wasn't sure how I could adapt to a Dr after David Tennant's marvellous heart-breaking and edgy performance, but I like Matt Smith as the younger Doctor. Just one thing, he's a mean to Amy Pond, his new pretty assistant. He is forever telling her to be quiet, to shut it, and I don't know if its' because he is young and so brash and less aware of other people's feelings, or if he genuinely thinks he's smarter and so he has the right to tell her to shush, but I find it rude. Especially as Amy has already saved him and the universe. I think the clue is that he picked up on the theme of pain, which is something the doctor seems to be struggling with in the last few seasons also with Tennant, whereas Amy picked love. Despite this flaw, when they came up with the idea of the star whale, I fell in love all over again. That, and 7 year old Amy, waiting with her suitcase for the doctor to come back, because she believed in him. that's the power of science fiction, to imagine and reveal our hearts in that imagining.

Fringe: the two-part season finale was fabulous. I keep rewatching it. It is so satisfying, and ends on such a cliff-hanger. This has been the first week without a new episode, and I have been feeling lost with no new episodes to look forward to until September. I find this show much more satisfying than Lost, for although I enjoyed Lost, it never filled up my thoughts the way Fringe does. I find myself wondering about different elements of Fringe - story, plot, characters, questions and answers - but mostly, I love it. My favourite line from this second season: There are as many cells in each of our bodies as there are stars in the sky. (Walter, and William Bell, both say this in the two-parter). There's magic and beauty in that sentence that just sings to me.

Mysteries - who do I love?

Harry Hole: I still love you. How do I know this? When you went to have dinner with your old flame in Nemesis, I was so anxious I didn't think about Fringe at all, and felt this knot of anxiety and dread. Oh Harry, that was silly. And when you thought the person you were working with was going to be shot and you fell to your knees calling out Ellen's name, I loved you all over again. You really won't let go, you won't give up until you find out what happened. You are willing to make a deal with the scariest of criminals to get the information you need, and somehow it all works out in the end. Please don't wreck things with Rakel. I don't think Oleg or I could get over it. You're a quiet, persistent, cynical investigator, and I'll follow you anywhere that you take me.

Some fast mystery book reviews so it looks like I read something this year:

All of these books are at least a 9/10. They are all highly recommended, and I'm not sure how I can have just 10 top mysteries for this year, since most of these are on this list right now, and it's not quite June.

Nemesis - Jo Nesbo - 2nd book published in the Harry Hole series. We pick up two years after The Redbreast. Rakel and Oleg are still in Harry's life, and he has quit drinking. The murder of his colleague is still unsolved. Of course, we the reader know from The Redbreast who the killer is. But Harry doesn't. The killer makes a reappearance again also. We see the net being drawn just a little tighter, though the breakthrough eludes Harry in this book. The main mystery, a bank robbery that ends in a killing, take Harry from Oslo to Brazil and back, and into his own past as he tries to solve the death of his old flame, for which he has been potentially framed as the last one to see her alive. This is a complex book on love and revenge, well-written and densely layered, so the themes reappear over and over until it becomes a philosophical musing on how love and revenge so often go hand in hand. Nemesis is a perfect title and perfectly worked into the plot. This is a must-read. 9.5/10

The only reason why I'm not reading book three is because I discovered it is not The Devil's Star, which I do have, but The Redeemer, which I don't yet. I will be buying it very shortly, because I have to know how Harry solves the death of his colleague. He will, I know he will. And because, see above, who do I love?

Dead Famous - Carol O'Connell - the 7th book in the Kathleen Mallory series. I haven't written much about Mallory here as I'd read all the other books before I began my blog. This is one of my favourite mystery series. Kathleen Mallory is a detective like no other you will encounter. She is a psychopath, but on the side (barely) of the law, luckily for the police. Her victims are usually those she is pursuing in an investigation, which she frequently breaks the law in her pursuit of. She is coldly beautiful and frighteningly intelligent, so bright that she is breathtaking in how she foils the plans of those criminals who are as equally intelligent and convinced they are going to get away with it. Dead Famous features such a brilliant mind, but to say more would be to give away who the killer is and why. Suffice it to say this is a clever mystery, and just when I think Mallory is too cold, one of the few friends she does have, discovers that she has outsmarted him in convincing him to coming back into the force, because she doesn't like change, either. Heartbreaking. She can't say she loves you, but she will do anything, anything, for those she does love. A heroine unlike any other, and if you haven't read her, then begin with Mallory's Oracle, and meet what should be touted as one of the best detective creations in literature. 9.5/10

Fearless Fourteen - Janet Evanovich. Number 14 in the Stephanie Plum mysteries, this is as funny as ever. I love Stephanie. If I were a bounty hunter, I would be as clumsy, unlucky, and ineffective as Stephanie is at being one. I could only hope for a guy like Morelli though. This one features various losers hanging out at the Morelli residence as they try to track some missing family members of the Morelli clan. Bodies keep turning up and disappearing, Lula is engaged to The Tank, an employee of the hunky and fascinating Carlos the security expert (very hunky), and there is a bomb, which frequently explodes around Stephanie in most of her books. She's like that, attracts trouble and love, and this is the funniest series in mysteries going. I read these when I need to laugh, and this one was very good. 9/10

The Last Detective - Peter Lovesey. Kerrie over at Myststeries in Paradise brought this series to my attention. The latest book in the series, Skeleton Hill, made the top 10 of her mysteries for 2009. I decided to begin at the beginning, with The Last Detective, which won the 1992 Anthony Boucher Award for Best Mystery Novel. I'm so glad I did. I like Peter Diamond. He is the last of a dying breed, relying on his investigative and interview techniques to nail his suspects over the new 'computers' that in 1991 still have the orange writing on the black screen. He is fat and out of shape and proud of it. It is told from the point of view of Diamond, and the two main suspects. I found the first suspect, Gregory Jackman, annoying as anything, though I did appreciate what Lovesey was doing - we are getting into the mind of this self-obsessed horrible shallow professor, who it turns out does have feelings after all. I really enjoyed the writing and the mystery, and the ending is sad. This is a mystery that shows how love can lead people to horrible acts. I'm going to continue with this series as soon as I can. 9.5/10

The Coffin Trail - Martin Edwards. At last, the mystery novel you've been hearing about for a little while now, the first in the series of which the infamous The Cipher Garden belongs to, which was left on a bus. DCI Hannah Black is asked to head a Cold Case task force in the Lake District as a way of showing people that the police are taking the unsolved cases seriously. Daniel Kind is a tv-famous historian, whose father was a police detective who lives in the last place - the Lake District - where Daniel has happy family memories. The last ones, as his father left his family for another woman. His father did work with Hannah, and they were quite close, but he has recently died, leaving Daniel with the sense that he wants to reassess his life and comes to find out what he can of his father. One thing leads to another and Daniel buys a property in the Lake District. He sets out to discover what really happened during that same childhood summer long ago because he has never believed that Barrie, his summertime friend from that childhood visit, was guilty of the ghastly murder of a woman on an altar stone . A tip is received when the cold case is the same one reopened by Hannah, and Daniel and Hannah eventually meet up. They do not work together in this book, but they have the potential to have a unique pairing given their respective trades. I enjoyed this book very much. There is some sorrow, as evinced by the title, the Coffin Trail, which is the trail the coffin bearers took from to get to the nearest church, in centuries past. I like the beauty of the Lake District in this book - I really need to go visit it now! - and the melancholy as Daniel tries to recovers some good memories of the man his father was, as well as clear the memories of his friend. This is a good mystery, with many possible guilty parties, and still the killer when unmasked is unexpected. I like DCI Hannah Scarlett, and I like Daniel Kind. Very solid mystery. 9/10

The Serpent's Tale and Grave Goods - Ariana Franklin. Books 2 and 3 in the A Mistress of the Art of Death series. I really love this series. Something about how Ariana writes Henry II makes him vivid and come alive for me. The historical accuracy is amazing. Above all, is Adelia Aguilar, a Mistress of the Art of Death, an early version of a forensic investigator. She has been trained in Sicily where women have much more freedom than they do in England, where she is forced to hide what she is behind her friend and servant Mansur, an Arabic eunuch, who plays the role of investigator while Adelia translates for him. How she investigates murder in 11th century England is fascinating. In The Serpent's Tale she is investigating who killed the mistress of King Henry II. I love how real these books make this time period. In The Serpent's Tale, I am trapped with them in the abbey as the winter settles in and covers them with impenetrable snow. In Grave Goods, I enjoyed the visit to Glastonbury Abbey near Wales, and how even then the legend of King Arthur was used by the locals and by the King. Adelia has to prove or disprove if some bones found hidden in a grave, revealed by an earthquake, are indeed the bones of Arthur and Guinevere. All of the characters are well drawn, and it really seems as if history has leapt of the page and we are there, with Adelia and her group. I really like Adelia, she is a courageous and honest woman, far ahead of her time, who must wrestle with her conscience over what she sees around her, as well as learning what it means to love her newborn daughter who is her illegitimate child of her liasion with the Bishop of St Albans, Rowley Picot. Their love is hilarious and heartbreaking. These are intelligent people who live in the early-developing English society, and I enjoy seeing these characters questions their loyalties, and loves, and themselves, even as they pursue justice at the request of the king. They are each 10/10.

This Night's Foul Work - Fred Vargas. The latest in the Commissaire Adamsberg mystery series from France. I really enjoyed this mystery. It is set in Normandy and in Paris, in the past and the present, and Adamsberg must unravel how the various incidents between two men killed in Paris, two stags killed and hearts cut out in Normandy, and an escaped murderer is linked. He has to discover who is betraying him within his division and why, even as he tries to solve the cases, and discovers how long revenge can simmer in the heart of someone he once offended. Again love and hatred are shown as linked, easily flipping from one side to another depending on the heart involved. The lengths one will go to achieve a sense of retribution seems to be a common theme in the mysteries I have ben reading this year. It's very interesting to see how often crime has at its roots, some form of passion or thwarted emotion. Adamsberg discovers who is loyal to him, and how easily he can be hurt. I think this is one of the best of the Adamsberg mysteries so far. 9/10.

Full Dark House - Christopher Fowler. The first book in the May and Bryant mystery series, this features May and Bryant retired from the force. An explosion at the old station kills Bryant, forcing May to remember their early days when they met during the Second World War, and how the Peculiar Crimes Division was set up then. They are an odd couple detective, Bryant the brilliant, eccentric detective, May logical and reasonable and as Bryant almost instantly recognizes, what he has needed to make the Peculiar Crimes Division work. Their first case is a killer who is stalking a risque production of Orpheus in Hell, killing several of the cast members in grisly deaths. The case is unsolved, the crimes stopping suddenly, until the bombing in the present day reveals that Bryant had discovered something and had been quietly investigating the old crime again.

Once again this is very well written, with a lively group of characters in the theatre, as well as May and Bryant, who leap off the page. I enjoyed both the current investigation as well as the story of how they met and the initial murder investigation. The Blitz is also recreated vividly. Unusual and a lot of fun to read. 9.5/10. I will be reading more as soon as I can get them.

It's a Fringe world

You all know by now that I have fallen in love with a tv show called Fringe. What you may not have figured out is exactly how deep this love affair has become for me. I bought the soundtrack to the first season last week and have listened to it every day since. That's how much this show has become part of my life! I have to laugh a little. I've been obsessed with books, I've read books that I've ended up dreaming of, I've carried books with me through all the stages of my life, and there are characters who are almost as real to me as people are. I do not recall any tv show affecting me like this, no matter how much I enjoyed it. Something about Fringe, about the story it is telling about Olivia, Peter, and Walter, has captured me completely. I think I am beginning to understand those Star Wars and Star Trek fans who used to have every single thing ever brought out. I'm not saying I would buy every single thing, but I'd like a Peter doll, and an Olivia one. Gee, a tiny Walter's Lab would be fun!

What I mean to say is, I keep meaning to write more often on here, but I'm usually thinking about previous episodes, upcoming ones, searching for reviews, talking to my new Fringe fan friends I've met. I don't know if there is an official word for us yet, but I've fallen into that rabbit hole that is an obsession with a cultural event. It's kind of fun, and kind of scary. It's not like I'm a teenager!

The good news is, I have not left behind my passion for books - there is nothing on this planet that could do that. I have been reading, though not to any level that will have me finishing 100 books this year. I have ordered The Cipher Garden again, and then I threw in The Arsenic Labyrinth so I could keep reading the series as soon as it arrives. Also, I found a copy of Nemesis finally - Harry! Harry Hole! I'm coming! I even found myself telling one of my co-workers yesterday all about Harry and falling in love with him. Now she wants to read The Redbreast too. So books are my constant, still, and always. Fringe has just moved up very high on my list of passions.

One thing I do like about Fringe is that books turn up every once in a while. Markham's books is a used bookstore Peter frequents, that the owner can usually come up with anything in books they are looking for. I'd like to work in Markham's book store. It is the way the best bookstores are, crowded with books, shelves, and Markham is funny. I'm sure he'd let me work there for a while. Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll (one of his earliest works) even gets a mention in the episode "Ability' in the first season. I've read Land of Laughs! It was over 20 years ago, so I don't remember everything, but I remember crying at the end of it. Which is pretty much what Fringe has had me doing ever since Olivia discovered that Peter is from the alternate universe. For anyone looking for a good fantasy author and book to read for Carl's OUaT3, Land of Laughs or most books by Jonathan Carroll are a good bet. So how can I not love this show? Never mind that Land of Laughs is about a reality that changes according to what the townspeople think should happen, so it's about - alternate realities. Fringe is layered with symbolism like that, so I end up looking for more clues.....speaking of layering symbolism, Peter is the one who knows the real worth of Land of Laughs. How can I not like a hero who likes books? And a show that pays attention to details like this?

I think after my very difficult year last year, Fringe has come along to awaken me to all that is still possible to dream about and wonder about, for me, in life. Along with Mary Oliver, and Dido (thanks to Susan and Lee, who introduced me, I'm playing the music of Dido every day), there are new things in my life as I view this new terrain I'm on, living with a chronic disease. I'm still coming to terms with what that means for me, and how it's changed my life. Mary Oliver is reminding me of my love of poetry and nature, and why I wrote it in the first place and what I love about the world. Dido is reminding me how much I love music and need to hear it much more regularly than I had been for some time. Fringe is reminding me of how much I love layered writing, mythic arcs and story telling over several seasons with characters that I adore. Horror, mystery, science and science fiction, family drama, life-changing events that reverbrate up and down the years, and strong characters who are completely believable - Fringe has this in spades, and I can't get enough.

I've only recently come to the realization that I am picking up the pieces after the explosions and drama of last year. I know I'm fortunate, and that I could be in a much worse place if some of the tests had come back positive. The best news (other than that I just have diabetes and nothing else is wrong) is that I had my first writing idea in over a year, earlier this week. So I know I'm heading back to where I want to be, and I'm grateful that the leaves are coming out on the trees, and the spring birds have come back and fill the world with their songs, and that there is room and time for new passions in my life.

I am keeping this blog. I do love it and am proud of what I have written about books and life over the past two and a half years. I am especially thrilled to have met of all of you who share my love of books and reading. Some of you have become special to me, becoming my friends as well. I think I've been taking a break without being aware of it, for the past few months. So if you don't mind, I think more posts about Fringe will be creeping in, because after 6 months with this show, it's become part of my life, and I have to talk about it. This isn't just a blog about books any more, though they will still make up the huge bulk of it. I hope you'll still enjoy coming here. I will still keep the same blog title, because that really is my philosophy in life. Now, if only Markham's bookstore really did exist......

Book pain for a book lover

Among the many woes that can befall a book lover, one of the worst, in my experience, is losing a book.

This happened to me recently - two weeks ago, at Easter. I had just received my Amazon.ca book order, which contained 7 books ordered with the gift certificate from my mother for Christmas. I had spent many hours combing through Amazon and my book list (from you, my dear Readers!) to narrow down the list to something affordable (the original book order I wanted more than doubled the gift certificate!!). On the Monday April 5, the books were delivered - and yes, I'll tell you what they were:

-The Cypher Garden by Martin Edwards


- The Last Detective - Peter Lovesey

- The Crossing Places -Elly Griffiths

- Finch - Jeff Vandermeer

- The Hotel Under the Sand - Kage Baker

- Rosemary and Rue - Seanan McGuire

- Soulless - Gail Carriger

I was amazed that Canada Post had even delivered books on a holiday Monday! but there it was, and I opened up my very late Christmas books and held my books lovingly, looking at each one of them, taking the evening to decide which one needed to be read first.

Martin Edwards' The Cypher Garden won that place.

I had to know what happened next to Hannah Scarlett and Daniel Kind - she the cold case DCI, he the historian retired to the lovely Lake District with his new girlfriend. So the next day, I took our youngest to the dentist for his very first visit. I'm blaming the news that this child, who is 5 years old, has 8 cavities, for what happened next. On the way home, still reeling from exactly how much this was going to cost and how on earth we were going to get him to go through 8 cavities being filled, I put the book on the seat next to me. And got up, and got off the bus, and as it drove away, I knew what I had done.

"My book! I left it on the bus!" I think I said a few unprintable words, then realized someone's five year old ears were pricked up, and had to try to calm down. "It's just a book," I mumbled all the way down the hill. "It's ok. I can buy a new one." But it wasn't, was it, my Gentle Readers? Bound up in this book was the love that my mother had sent the gift certificate with, and the hours spent singling it out as one I needed to get asap, and the love of this new mystery series that I have to read all the books of now (thanks to Geraniumcat and Book pusher who blogged about Martin Edwards recently). I had read the first chapter, and I had taken the day off work because of the dentist visit, and after I dropped Graham off at daycare, I had the rest of the day set aside for reading The Cypher Garden. It felt like a loss, and it still does.

I am of course going to buy another copy, as soon as I can. Unfortunately Chapters the Canadian book superstore here isn't carrying any Edwards - I drop in every few days just in case there is a miracle - and the local mystery store just closed, who was carrying him. That leaves a special order, except I haven't been to Collected Works since January as it's a special trip and I haven't gone out much this year. So I've taken to staring at my husband, who still has his Christmas book certificate to use, and saying : "Are you ready yet? have you done your order?' so that I can add my book along and not pay extra shipping costs.

Yes, we did call the bus company lost and found, but no one turned in the book. I console myself with thinking that maybe someone picked it up and is happily discovering the joys of mysteries, and especially Daniel and Hannah and the Cypher Garden mystery.

It still hurts a little, though.

Alice in Wonderland movie review - Go See It!!

Alice in Wonderland is more than I thought it would be. I'd heard many things about it, mixed reviews, mostly talking about it's lack of soul, and how there wasn't much that was good about the movie except what was taken directly from the books. So when my daughter asked what happened to Alice after she chases the rabbit, I thought, why not? And indeed, I was delighted by Alice in Wonderland.

Before you ask, yes, I have read the classic. And before you ask again, I hate the cartoon version of it. I have refused to watch it more than once because I hate my childhood books being turned into animation. I consider them little better than Disney, and I am not a big fan of Disney. So I really wasn't looking forward to this version. I should have remembered it was by Tim Burton, and I should have remembered that he likes the scarily dark fantasy.

I really liked this version. I liked Alice, I liked all the characters, and Johnny Dep's The Mad Hatter had me convinced he had a soul, by the end of the movie. Not only that, when the movie ended, I wanted more. I wanted to see Alice heading off on her next adventure she had chosen. I thought it was an ending that, if Lewis Carroll could have imagined back when he wrote Alice, he might have chosen something like it for his Alice also. Most of all, when the movie ended, I was smiling. I had the biggest smile on my face. I was enchanted.

So why all the naysayers? I don't really know. I think they had already envisioned how Tim was going to do the movie, how the characters were going to be transported from the book, and most of all, all the Alice book fans thought the book itself was going to be recreated. I think Tim took the best parts and left off the boring bits - and the original book did have me confused and wondering what was going on sometimes, and I was greatly annoyed by the preachiness of the characters in the books. Alice is pretty wimpy too, in the book. The best parts - all the fearsomeness of the Red Queen is there - I did miss the crying baby with the face of a pig, though - the caterpillar, the amazing Cheshire cat (I want one like it! Please!!), the rabbits, the costumes, the set design, The Mad Hatter, and most of all, Alice. By the end of the movie I really liked her character. I loved this movie. I think it's a modern retelling of Alice. Even more important, the critic we went with, my 7 year old, also had a smile on her face at the end of it. And just now, I checked again, and she says, 'I LOVED it!" Her favourite bits? when Alice **********SPOILER ALERT***********

takes the head off the jabberwocky, she loves that part. The Mad Hatter - "he loves hats!", "the rabbit was worried about time." And of course, the Cheshire cat: "he can disappear!"

************************end of spoiler alert*****************************

So, if you can bear to let the classic book be retold for our modern age, then go. Go see "Alice". If you can't, then stick with the cartoon. By the way, I did not see it in 3-D. I have progressive lenses, and 3-D doesn't work with my glasses. Plus, I hate the idea of 3-D. I think it's stupid, so I won't go see them. Thankfully, the theatres - and movie makers - are offering these movies in both 3-D and normal viewing. Thank you!!!

Me? I'm going to reread the books again, and read them to my daughter, too. So when the movie comes out on video, we'll be ready - first in line to buy a copy. For the first time, I'd kind of like to go to Wonderland, which the books had me too scared/bored/glad I never went to. Alice In Wonderland the movie makes me think I might like it there after all.

The best lines?

"Am I mad?"
"Completely. It's not so bad. All the best people are, you know."

Fantasy Book Reviews for Once Upon a Time 4

One of the joys of challenges is reading books that I'd otherwise keep putting aside for a rainy day. Well, we have Carl's Once Upon a Time IV challenge on, and here are reviews of some books I've put aside for 20 years and finally read this year! and some newer books as well:

The Face in the Frost - John Bellairs


First published in 1969, The Face in the Frost deserves to be much more widely known than it is. John Bellairs published a few other novels for children, and so he has suffered the plight that many children's authors suffer from, never mind authors of children's fantasy. The Face in the Frost tells the story of Prospero, and Roger Bacon, who are wizards of some reknown, and good friends. The names of the wizards will tell any reader that Bellairs wrote a humours fantasy, filled with gentle wit and sarcasm at the world. Roger Bacon of course spends most of his time in England, while Prospero lives in the world of North and South Kingdoms, somewhere near an imaginary border with England. This vein of mixing pure fantasy and delight with real trials and horror continues through the book. It is delightful, funny, imaginative, with an evil magician villain who is, as always, a cautionary tale on being consumed by power. Even more, there are illustrations peppered through the book, pen and ink drawings that reminded me how much a good illustration can add to the text without giving anything away, and without changing my own inner impressions of the story.

I loved The Face in the Frost. Here is a sample of how precise his writing is:
Meanwhile, the strange early winter drew thin rags and fingers of gray snow over the dirty, fast-decaying leaves that clotted the suddenly dry beds of strams; on the empty plain Prospero and Roger had just passed through, the snow moved in eerie swirls, falling into spirals and long lines too regular to be natural. People were terrified of the open spaces at night; in their homes they sat with blankets over their windows so that they would not see the mask of frost. Windows broke in the night, and the wind that blew through them had a voice.

Roger and Prospero have to find a way to defeat the evil magician who is seeking Prospero, who holds the one thing that can prevent the magician from taking over the known kingdoms, only Prospero doesn't know what it is or where it can be found. So begins their quest. This is pure delight and wonder, and I would reccommend this to everyone to read. 5/5

God Stalk and Dark of the Moon - PC Hodgell (collected in one edition, The God Stalker Chronicles, recently re-released in paperback)


These are another pair of books that were written over 20 years ago. I owned one and then the other but never at the same time, and I could never get them read in order, so eventually put it aside as a series to read later. For years and years I haunted used book stores, looking for them. So when I saw in February that it had been re-released - they both had been published by a publishing company now out of business - I grabbed the book. Both novels! together! One edition! No way was I letting go of the Chronicles, and as soon as I got home, I began reading it. After 20 years, I couldn't wait for the OUAT challenge!

How were they? Were the two books worth it? Yes! Yes! These are excellent fantasy books, complete with a new religion, a new universe, and a heroine who is so fiesty and spirited and determined, that she changes the lives and course of history around her. This is a fascinating work of fantasy, with religion, politics, history, and the right to self-determination key elements in the story. Our heroine, Jaime, is a Kencyr, one of the people chosen to stand against the Perimal Darkling, an ancient evil from the darkness that has destroyed many worlds and many universes, the Kencyr the last stand on each world against the Darkling. God Stalk opens with Jaime fleeing her foe, and landing in a city where the Kencyr have not been seen for many years, and where the gods of all the races vy for attention and belief.

In true heroic fashion, Jaime wins some friends around her, protects the down-trodden, defeats all manner of corruption and villains, and discovers who she is, for she has no memory from before she awakens in flight on the plain. God Stalk begins the story, and Dark of the Moon continues her journey as she leaves Tai-tastagon to go to find her long-lost twin brother Torisen. Who they are, and the role their namesakes played in their religion 3,000 years ago, and what Jamie has to do now to become fully herself and not live under the shadow of the ancient Jamethiel Dream-Weaver, is what the second book is about. There is also a war amassing on the planet - not against the Perimal Darkling, although we discover they are there, voices in the darkness of men's souls.

I really enjoyed these two books, and I was very happy to discover there are three more in the series, although they have been out of print also and have not yet been re-released. Seeker's Bane, and Bound in Blood. I thought Dark of the Moon ended rather abruptly - I can't say how, but I really really wanted more of the story, so I will be looking for the next two books in the series. I really enjoy Jaime, she is a marvellous heroine, stubborn, funny, intelligent, persistent, who has lived through an enormous betrayal and come into her own as her own person. I really want to know more about her twin brother Torisen. Does he survive the plots against him as leader of the Kencyr, now that he has the belongings Jaime was bringing back to him? Will he trust her, and what changes will she bring to her own people now?

I found the religious aspects fascinating, alot of thought went into creating a world where such a variety of religions could exist, and what it would mean about the civilization that could let so many exist at once. Do gods need people, in order to survive? is one of the questions Jaime strives to answer for herself. Loyalty plays a big role in these books, honour, and the ways these can be betrayed. Very, very good fantasy books, and highly reccommended. 4.7/5

Drink Down the Moon - Charles de Lint (reissued under the newer edition Jack of Kinrowan, bringing together Jack the Giant Killer and Drink Down the Moon) *read for the Canadian Challenge also


I read the first book, Jack the Giant Killer, and reviewed it at the beginning of this challenge. These were both published in the 1980's, and ones I just didn't get around to reading until now. I think I cheated myself out of two good books long ago!

Drink Down the Moon is the second Jacky Rowan fantasy faerie tale adventure, picking up a year after Jacky wins the role of gruagah for her Laird of Kinrowan and his Court, which covers much of the territory in Ottawa and surrounding area. Gruagah means she watches the ley lines of the magic running through the area, to make sure the faerie are well and strong. Jacky is new at her job, and unbeknownst to everyone, someone is coming who is destroying the fiaina sidhe, which in Charles de Lint's fantasy world here, are the faeries who do not belong to the Seelie or Unseelie Courts - organized faeries who owe allegiance and live under their lord, or Unseelie Courts, those faeries who destroy mankind at every chance. The Faina sidhe have a moon dance called a rade, they do that gathers strength and power from the new moon, along their own moon paths that their Pook can see when music is played. If a human fiddler plays, then it is the best music and magic for the fiaina sidhe of all. Only the Pook has just been killed, her half-sister has lived more in the human world than the faery one, and the only human fiddler they knew about has just passed away from old age. How Jemi learns to accept who she is, how Johnny Faw who inherits his grandfather's fiddling ability and love of music helps Jemi, and the one who surprisingly leads the eventual rade as the Unseelie Court gathers for the last battle, makes for a fabulous journey to Ottawa and faerie.

Once again Charles has woven another story blending music, fairy myths, and a city setting, to make his own brand of fairy tales distinct, moving, fun, delightful, and scary. I always forget how dark he makes the Unseelie Court - rightly so, for they are the nightmares of the faerie world, after all, the bogeymen, trolls, and fae folk who would as soon eat us as soon as we seen them, and sometimes before we see them. Beware the night shadows, because sometimes there are somethings alive out there in the darkness, in the rustlings and whispers.....and the true heroes are those who face those fears and discover their strengths in doing so, like Johnny and his friend Henk, like Jacky and Kate, like Jemi.

I have long enjoyed Charles' work and consider him underappreciated in Canada, and these two books by him have only reaffirmed my view. Canadian fantasy writers in general are ignored in Canada except when a specialty interview is run in the newspapers; they are never mentioned along with Atwood, or Munro, who appeal to a broader audience. This is the struggle for fantasy, of course, and up here even someone as prolific and well-known in the fantasy fields as Charles de Lint, still has most people wondering who he is. And that's a shame, because Charles is one of the best in his field. As a Canadian writer, we should be celebrating his work and achievements alongside our better known fiction writers. He has created a body of work that is unmatched for how it blends music, folk and fairy tales, into our contemporary world. He also creates some of the best female heroines in fiction. I really enjoyed reading about Jacky Rowan and Kate Hazel, and I want to know more about Jacky as a gruagagh. It's a scary world, and Jacky and Kate are people I want to hang out with, especially on that third floor in the grugagh's Tower that holds all those special books..... 5/5 for both books.

Bone Crossed - Patricia Briggs.


Sigh. I love this series. Every time I think Briggs can't come up with something different and as thrilling as her previous books in this series, I am surprised. Bone Crossed is the 4th in the Mercy Thompson series, and it is just as good, if not better, as the previous ones. In this one, Mercy has to face Marsilia, Queen of the local vampires seethe, for killing a member of the seethe. The vampires deface her garage door with crossed bones, marking her as no longer under the vampire's protection. She is wanted for a crime against the vampires. However, Mercy is now under the local werewolves' protection because of her relationship with it's alpha, Adam. So her friends are the apparent target. Except, as Mercy is drawn into investigating a haunted house in Spokane, she discovers she is the target for another reason altogether - her special skill as a shape shifter. How Mercy discovers who her friends really are, and what they will do for her, as she fights for her life at the end, makes for another thrilling, exciting, hard-to-put down supernatural book in the series. Caution: read this when you have 8 or so hours to yourself, it really is a book you won't want to put down for anything but to get some food ready - I read while I eat, so that's all the time I wanted to take away from this novel. It was really hard at work to have it in my bag, waiting for my work to end so I could get back to it. I would say I read past my lunchtime alloted time, except one of my bosses might accidentally find out......

I love how the werewolves are shown and how the pack works. I like how she and Adam form a bond, and what happens to her after. I like how she learns about herself finally enough to understand that it is her fear that she has to overcome. I completely understand her fear - and I'm not going to tell what it is, because it is integral to how Mercy operates in her life - I suffer from the same fear myself. I'd like to think that if I were a shapeshifter coyote I could be as cool as Mercy, but I doubt it. She is one of a kind, and I love her. I can hardly wait for the next adventure - it's out in hardcover now, called Silver Borne, and if I can't wait, my birthday is approaching.....I do wish they would do something about the awful covers, since Mercy is anything but the buxom babe featured on the covers, but thankfully we buy the books for what's inside. At least it's the same woman they are featuring, so those of us collecting these can have that satisfaction that the covers are part of a series. 5/5

Finally, the last books so far read for Carl's Challenge, I finished last night:
Tooth and Claw, by Jo Walton. *Also read for Canadian Challenge



This won the 2004 World Fantasy Award. It's a stand-alone book, not part of her current alternate England series (Farthing, Ha'Penny, and Half a Crown). Tooth and Claw is a Victorian novel of manners, featuring.......dragons. It is very, very good. The novel centers around the four children of the dragon Bon, who is dying as the novel opens. There are the two sons, Penn, who is a parson, and Avan, who is a clerk in the Planning Office for the Beautification of Illrieth, the dragon city. The two daughters are unmarried, Selendra, and Haner, and the problem of what to do with them, as they are landed dragon gentry and so unprepared to work for a living, and are dispersed to two relatives, one a married sister, makes for a fun book involving a court case, the dangers to dragons of laying eggs, what happens when a male dragon gets too close to an unmarried female, and a fearsome potential mother-in-law who is a ........dragon. Those of you who are married will get the pun! This was such an enjoyable fantasy to read. I love how the dragon houses are described, how they still sleep on their treasure, how they eat their dead, and how despite their civiliation - and how they became 'civilized' is told as a back story, in myth and religious overtones, that makes this believable. This is a dragon book of manners. It is also about religious freedom, and the rights of servants whose plight one of the sisters, Haner, takes up. Tooth and Claw has a very satisfying dragon-like conclusion in a dragon court, complete with tooth and claw. This is a well-thought out book about how dragons might have some kind of organization to their society, if they were so inclined.

For anyone who enjoys Anthony Trollope especially, and Victorian novels, this book will be a delight to read. For anyone who loves dragons, this book can't be missed. For anyone who wants to catch up on their World Fantasy Award winners, this book is deserving of the award. It is original, charming, and I really enjoyed all the dragon characters.

I would give this novel a 5/5 but I kept thinking about Smaug, who for me is the original, and best of dragons. In my imagination, he thought this was amusing, but missed something essential: a riddle or two. So 4.7/5.

I hope you are enjoying your Easter weekend, we are having fabulous summer-like temperatures, and it's making it difficult for me to do anything but read! Which wouldn't be a bad thing, except we have Easter dinner at our house tonight.......happy reading, and Happy Easter, my Gentle Readers!