Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Virgin Queen's Daughter; Little House on the Prairie rereads; Kings of the Earth

"The Virgin Queen's Daughter" by Ella March Chase was a very good fictionalized account of Queen Elizabeth's daughter, Elinor de Lacy. Elinor's nurse, Eppie, was called to the young Princess's bedside and delivered her of a daughter she then whisked away and gave to her mistress to raise as her own. Elinor grows up having no idea who she really is, until she defiantly goes against her mother's wishes and joins Elizabeth's court. Once she gets there she realizes how dangerous court is, and when Eppie seeks her out to tell her the truth of her birth it's more dangerous still. It was good but not amazing and it was historically accurate enough to suit me.
Over the last two weeks I've been rereading some old favorites. I usually want to reread in December and January, and while sometimes I can stop myself this year I just went with it. I reread two of Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books, "Little Town on the Prairie" and "These Happy Golden Years". Then I reread Roger Lea MacBride's Rose years: "Little House on Rocky Ridge", "Little Farm in the Ozarks", "In the Land of the Big Red Apple", "On the Other Side of the Hill", "Little Town in the Ozarks", "New Dawn on Rocky Ridge", "On the Banks of the Bayou", and "Bachelor Girl". I wish the publishers would have continued with the Martha and Charlotte years. I enjoyed Rose and Caroline so much. Oh well.
And finally, a fantastic, highly recommended novel by Jon Clinch, author of "Finn", called "Kings of the Earth". It was like a mix of my favorite episode of the "X-Files", "Home", and one of my favorite Faulkner novels, "As I Lay Dying". It told the story of the Proctor brothers, growing up poor and backward and seemingly out of touch with modern era on their dairy farm. When the oldest dies in his sleep the youngest is accused of murdering him, and a whole host of ugly secrets comes out. It was beautifully written and very good. Now I feel like watching "Home" again :)

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Secret of Chanel No. 5; Thirsty; Fat Vampire; The Help; True Meaning of Smekday; Before I Fall; American Vampire Vol. 1

I have read a lot of great nonfiction and fiction titles over the last week.
First up was "The Secret of Chanel. No. 5" by Tilar J. Mazzio. This was an interesting biography not really about Coco Chanel but the perfume she created, the number one bestselling perfume for the last 90 years. It was a bit redundant at times, but it was short and a quick read.
"Thirsty" by M.T. Anderson was a witty, dry humor filled YA book about a boy named Chris who is turning into a vampire. He is approached by an odd stranger named Chet, who says he can help change Chris back to human if Chris will help him destroy the vampire god. Chris agrees, but it turns out Chet was just using him. The story was well written and while I normally don't like open endings (I think the authors are being lazy--just tell me what happened, for crying out loud!) in this case it fit.
"Fat Vampire" by Adam Rex was a bit of a disappointment. My two coworkers who also read it had the same complaints I did. It started off great: it was funny and cute, about a teen named Doug who has recently been made a vampire and he's trying to figure out how to cope with it and not kill anybody. He and his buddy Jay are accidentally captured sneaking into the San Diego Zoo while at the Comic Con convention, and a cheesy cable TV show called "Vampire Hunters" is soon on their trail, trying to capture them. Somewhere along the way it stopped being funny and just drug to a sad, predictable ending.
"The Help" by Kahtyrn Stockett was one of those books I could not put down, and spent the whole day reading. It was worth it. Told in three different distinct voices, the story is set in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. A recent college graduate nicknamed Skeeter is determined to interview a group of maids and write their story, in their words, about what it's like to be African American (only they didn't call it that back then, it was "colored") in that part of the South and wait on white people. It was moving and beautiful without being sticky sweet and sentimental. It reminded me of Michael Cunningham's "The Hours".
"The True Meaning of Smekday" by Adam Rex was much better than "Fat Vampire". In the not so distant future, a young girl named Gratuity Tucci watches her mother get abducted by aliens. The next day the aliens, named Boov, take over Earth and start moving all humans to Florida. Gratuity starts out, driving her mom's car, with her cat Pig, and along the way meets a Boov named J. Lo who helps her out. When an evil race of aliens named Gorg land on Earth, determined to take it away from the Boov, it is up to Gratuity and J. Lo (and Pig, who plays a pivotal role) to save Earth, or Smekland, as it's been renamed. It was really cute and kind of clever.
"Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver was absolutely shiningly brilliant. It was powerful and moving and touching and makes me catch my breath just to talk about it. Samantha Kingston is an ordinary high school senior: she's popular, and has great friends, and a gorgeous boyfriend. After she dies, she wakes up the next morning and lives her last day over again. At first she doesn't understand what's going on, but gradually it becomes clear: she is being given the chance to right the wrongs, the little mistakes she made that she didn't realize would have such powerful consequences. It was amazing. Too bad it's classified as YA because I think a lot of adults should read it, too.
And finally, a fun graphic novel to round out the bunch (thanks to Allen for lending me his copy!). Scott Snyder and Stephen King teamed up for "American Vampire, Vol. 1". It tells the intertwining stories of Pearl Jones, an aspiring actress in the 1920s, and Skinner Sweet, a no good outlaw in the 1880s, along the likes of Billy the Kid. What do they have in common? They're both vampires, and they're not the kind of vampires to follow the ancient European rules. The artwork was stunning, the storyline was fantastic, the characters are great (Skinner Sweet's grin is so twisted and evil--I love it) and I can't wait for Volume 2.