Princess Sparklefists

Every once in awhile I pick a book at random from the library shelves and find an accidental treasure. Ellington Boulevard by Adam Langer was exactly that. I admit that I've become suspicious of any novel set in New York after run in's with too many supposed "clever satires" that weren't. I'm glad that didn't stop me from giving this book a chance.

Ellington Boulevard: A Novel in A-Flat is a story about the sale of a Manhattan Valley apartment (84 West 106th Street, #2B) at the end of the housing boom, told from the perspectives of everyone involved, even the pigeons living on window air conditioning unit. It begins with clarinetist Ike Morphy and his dog, Herbie Mann, who arrive home from Chicago to discover that the apartment--where Ike has lived for 25 years--is being sold out from under them.

Herbie Mann is standing impatiently in his apartment, waiting to go out. Herbie Mann is usually outside long before the sun has started to set. He has spent the past half hour watching exasperatedly as Ike Morphy stood atop a ladder in their living room with a can of black paint and a brush, writing I'VE GOT A GODDAMN LEASE! on his ceiling.

Ellington Boulevard reminded me in many ways of a modern day Dickens novel, and I do mean that in a good way, because I love Dickens. The style is modern, but the way the characters and subplots interconnect was similar. There's a very strong sense of place--the city itself is practically a character--and Langer evokes a sense of nostalgia for an era that's coming to an end. (Sort of like Brideshead Revisited, another recent read that I loved.) But don't let all my talk of similarities lead you to think that there's nothing original about Ellington Boulevard, because there is.

The book is structured like a Broadway musical--the real estate broker's actor boyfriend thinks apartment 2B is the perfect fodder for a musical--is sometimes humourous, sometimes tragic, and sometimes heartfelt, but often some combination of the above. The characters really drew me in, and I ended up spending most of Sunday afternoon hanging out at home reading in between my loads of laundry. It's a very "New York" novel that for once is enjoyable rather than alienating and is actually clever because it doesn't try too hard to be so, and I highly recommend it.

It's been a big reading week for me, so I'm combining everything into one big book post. There's lots of variety this week: contemporary fiction, sci-fi, graphic memoir, and non-fiction. I've been keeping a list of every book I've read this year, and this week brings the total up to forty-one!

The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood - Margaret Atwood is one of my favorite novelists ever, and one of the few among my favorites who is still writing. The first of her novels that I read was The Blind Assassin, which is brilliant, and I've read several others since then, as well as some of her stories and poetry. The three central characters in The Robber Bride--Tony, Roz, and Charis--are middle aged women whose friendship was formed by a shared adversary: Zenia, a woman who befriended and betrayed each of them in turn. The trio believe Zenia is dead until they see her in a Toronto restaurant, leading them to reexamine their histories with her. Most of the book is told in flashbacks to the characters childhoods and their prior encounters with Zenia. Atwood creates wonderful female characters. She offers insights into the characters' worlds that make them sympathetic even as all their flaws are on display. I highly recommend it.

Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card - This is the second book of four focused on Bean, a secondary character in Ender's Game. The first book of the quartet, Ender's Shadow actually takes place at the same time as Ender's Game, but from Bean's perspective. In Shadow of the Hegemon, the action moves back to Earth, where Battle School graduates have been kidnapped by a psychotic teen in attempt to provoke global war. The narrative follows several characters, mostly Bean, his friend Petra, and Ender's older brother Peter. I enjoyed the fast pace of the book, as well as the military and political intrigue, and I think I'll probably try to read more from this series.

In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan - Pollan's first advice in this book is: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." Easier said than done, though. The difficulty, Pollan claims, is that the typical Western diet is largely made up of imitations--things that resemble actual food, but are largely artificial. Nutritionism has led many Americans to obsess about particular substances within food, be they good or bad, reducing foods to a sum of there parts. Pollan says it's better to go back to the whole: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish, eggs, etc. The shorter than the list of ingredients, the better, and best if it comes without a package at all. In Defense of Food isn't a book about any particular diet plan, it's a book about what's wrong with the Western diet and how to fix it. I read the whole thing in a day, and really enjoyed it. I thought it was well researched and insightful, and I learned a lot from it.

Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi - This sequel begins where Persepolis leaves off. It follows Marjane's four years at school in Vienna, a time of many cultural adjustments. After that, she returns to Iran, and has trouble readjusting to a country that is now both familiar and foreign. As an adult, she's no longer sure if she belongs anywhere. Like the first volume, Persepolis 2 is at times both poignant and funny.

Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon - This one is a quick and fun sci-fi read and the first book in a series of... I'm not sure how many. d4ni recently finished the series and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give the first installment a go. The protagonist, Kylara Vatta, is expelled from the military academy on her home world. When she returns home, her father offers her a position as Captain aboard one of the family's interstellar shipping vessels. Nothing goes as planned, and a routine trip turns into an adventure for the fledgling captain. Ky is an easily likable character who builds confidence in herself as the novel progresses. One of the strong features of the book is focus on the difference between military and civilian thinking. Ky sometimes questions the military impulses, but her training turns out to be very important to her survival.

I realized I hadn’t written any book reviews for a long time, in part because I spent so long reading Bleak House then didn’t feel like writing anything up, so today I’ve got a double dose. It’s even thematic! (The theme being gods, the end of the world, and humor.)

( Good Omens )

( Gods Behaving Badly )

Happy National Library Week! Now go read a book. (Maybe this one.)

On Saturday I read this year's Caldecott Medal winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brain Selznick. To the best of my knowledge, it is the first 500 page book to win the award. About half the pages are detailed pencil illustrations, the other half are text. The result is something between a picture book, a graphic novel, and a traditional novel. Whatever it is, it's wholly enjoyable.

The story stars Hugo, an orphan with a fascination for clocks who lives in a Paris train station. Hugo lives in secret behind the train station walls until he cross path with a crotchety toy booth owner and his book-loving goddaughter. Hugo uncovers a mystery that will, you know, change his life. (That's so cliché, but it's true, and I can't exactly tell you how without ruining the fun of actually reading the book.)

Selznick is a wonderful storyteller and artist, and I would recommend this book even to those who don't normally read children's literature. It's a great story and a completely unique reading experience. If you need further convincing, check out the snazzy website.

I picked up González & Daughter Trucking Co. by María Empara Escandón last week at the Johnson County Library. I could say that I didn't pull the book down from the shelf because the cover is bright yellow, but then I would be lying. I know, don't judge a book by it's cover, blah blah blah, but I'm sorry, I just can't help it if my brain thinks aesthetics are kind of important. Warm and inviting yellow cover aside, here's why you should read the book:

"Bringing back to life all the people I killed is the one wish at the top of my list."

Libertad González is an inmate in the Mexicali Penal Institution for Women, but no one knows what exactly she's in for. When others enquire, Libertad is less than forthcoming, not because she doesn't want to tell, but because she doesn't know how. Then she starts the Library Club. The Library Club meets once a week to listen to Libertad read from the books in the small prison library. But instead of reading from The Three Musketeers or The Old Man in the Sea, Libertad begins to tell her own story. She tells of her father, Joaquín, the former literature professor on the run from the Mexican government, and her mother Virginia, lady trucker. Libertad grew up a trucker, partner in the González & Daughter Trucking Co. since her infancy. She tells of her life and education on the road, each week leaving her audience hanging, waiting for more, until she finally can confess her crime.

There are so many stories in González & Daughter Trucking Co.: the story of Libertad's life in prison, the stories of the inmates who become her closest friends, and of course the story the Libertad, Mexican-American Scheherazade, weave each week for the Library Club. In the end it is her story, not her crime, that matters most.

Looking for something new and interesting on TV? Here’s what I’ve been watching recently:



ETA: The cuts are to spare your flists, not because of spoilers, so never fear!

We're one week into the New Year, which I think means it's about time I started formulating a plan for the the portion of my life. As enjoyable as it is to spend my hiatus from school to lounge around the house reading books or watching TV, I can't realistically keep that up for the next nine months. Even if I didn't need an income, I get bored when I have no purpose. I'd love it if I could find a library job, specifically as a library assistant, or reference assistant, or whatever a particular system calls the position. (Really, I want to be employed in a Hemingway novel, but with less angst. It's not the sparse prose I want either; I really just want the "job" of living in Europe and doing, well, nothing.)

I'm not usually one for resolutions, but with the New Year and this new page of my life in mind, I decided I should set some goals for myself. There's nothing Earth-shaking about these, but here goes. This year I'd like to:
- travel somewhere new (see above, re: Europe)
- read some non-fiction (novels are great, but so is branching out)
- become more organized (I'm starting with my room, but I'd like to be more organized in general, particularly with my time)
- brush up on Spanish (languages are good)
- eat vegetables (I adore bread, but it's not brimful of vitamins and minerals)
- sleep more, and go to bed earlier (1am doesn't count as "early)

I'd also like to try what d4ni is doing and record all the books I read this year. I'm curious to see what the tally is. And of course, I want to get back into grad school so I can finish my MLIS.

When I haven't been watching Torchwood or Blackpool or Battlestar Galactica or... way too much TV this week, I've been listening to bits of CD101's Top 2008 Countdown. CD101 is my favorite Columbus radio station, and each year they begin the year by playing the top requests since the station's inception. It's a great week to hear old favorites that you haven't heard for a long time, or discover new favorites. For anyone interested, the entire list can be found at the CD101 website. Completely separate from the list, there are three songs that've been running around in my head the past few days:
"Relax, Take it Easy" by Mika - Like, "Grace Kelly," which was one of my favorites last year, it's a song that I heard once and immediately wanted to listen to again. Plus, relaxing is a pretty good idea for me right now.
"I Can't Decide" by The Scissor Sisters - The melody seems much too happy for the lyrics, which I think is part of the appeal. I'm not that familiar with the band, but this song at least reminds me a bit of Abba. I mean that in a good way, too, because I used to really enjoy listening to my mom's old Abba albums. Oh, shut up.
"Love Song" by Sara Bareilles - Yes, it's a Top 40 type pop song. An infectiously catchy one. I have a particular weakness for pop songs with piano, and Sara Bareilles has a nice voice. Apparently I'm currently going for catchy tunes and upbeat rhythms. Nothing wrong with that, though.

ETA: Wouldn't want to forget, the National Championship game is tonight! OSU-LSU in New Orleans. Go Bucks!

I turned in two more annoying projects this week and successfully negotiated a higher mark on the evil InMagic project of DOOM! It's amazing that I got the projects done at all, because I was much more interested in reading novels. I devoted the majority of Sunday and Tuesday reading, so I have another pair of recommendations.

The first is Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey. It's part of the Elemental Mages series and based on that old fairy tale standard, Cinderella. I happen to like fairy tale retellings, but for the skeptics, there's plenty that's unique about Phoenix and Ashes. Instead of the traditional fantasy kingdom, the setting is England during World War I. Eleanor, the heroine, is forced into servitude and literally imprisoned by her stepmother, an Elemental Master of Earth. The "prince" is Reggie Fenyx, the local lord and an Elemental Master of Air, who returns from the front shell-shocked and blocked off from all magic.

The main focus of the book is on Eleanor and the development of her skills as a Fire Master. As she learns to control her element, Eleanor is able to stretch the bounds of her imprisonment. In the middle of the book, I even forgot the Cinderella element, because the characters were interesting enough to hold my interest on their own.

My second recommendation is New Moon by Stephenie Meyer, the same book I've been impatiently waiting for. The sequel to Twilight didn't disappoint. Edward, Bella's vampire boyfriend, thinks that he can protect her from danger by leaving town. After a few awful months, Bella, danger magnet extraordinaire, decides to cope by being as reckless as possible and starts landing herself in the ER on a weekly basis. There's the normal high school drama, but with a vengeful vampire, a pack of young werewolves, and a frantic trip to Italy. New Moon is over 500 pages long, but I tore through it in one day. It's just a fun read.

Last night, J.K. Rowling had her book tour stop at Carnegie Hall, and she answered some pretty interesting questions about the Harry Potter series. Of course, the two biggies are ships!

First off, Neville/Hannah!! I'm really excited that it's canon. Before I discovered Neville/Hannah, I couldn't really ship Neville with anyone because none of the more popular pairing seemed quite right. If you haven't been introduced to the joys of the Neville/Hannah pairing, go read Asking for Roses by Dogstar. She really understands Neville, and picked up on all the little hints of Hannah's personality that make her a great match for Neville.

Second, Dumbledore/Grindelwald! LOL. It's canon too! That should make the slashers happy, eh? I always like Dumbledore, but I think DH just gave him so much more depth. He wasn't the perfect figure that many readers seem to have wanted him to be, but I think it's much more interesting that his wisdom was gained through experience, that he had to re-evaluate his values and goals.

There's also a new SQodcast today, so as fandom days go, today's been pretty fun!