Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris and R.I.P.

Living Dead in Dallas is the second book in Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series and is just as good as the first book. I'm really enjoying the world that Harris created, the believability of it all. My friend Larissa is currently watching the True Blood series based on these books and calls is 'Buffy for adults' - I guess largely due to this believability (is that a word?) factor. If you like vampire stories, these books are for you. I bought the first eight I think as a boxset from Amazon - it was on sale - so I have loads of Sookie left to savor. :-)

Challenges: 4 Month Challenge

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Unfortunately, I read this in August and am just really late with the review, otherwise it would have qualified for Carl's famous R.I.P. Challenge. It's the challenge's fifth year and it looks like the list of fans is growing steadily. As is my list of potential books...

As always, Carl offers various levels of participation - I'm feeling ambitious so will try for Peril the First, which requires me to read 4 scary books. Can I do it?

Completed: 4/4 as of 6 October 2010 (wrap-up post)

Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris
Dracula by Bram Stoker
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Lonely Werewolf Girl by Martin Millar
The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morion
The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
The Likeness by Tana French
Room by Emma Donaghue

Dead until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Ever since I got addicted to Buffy I have loved vampire stories. No, let me rephrase that, I love quality vampire stories. That needed to be clarified, since there are soooo many vampire books out there now. I certainly haven't tried them all - I enjoy the MaryJanice Davidson Queen Betsy books and I thought that Twilight was ok. I have a couple more on my shelf. And I decided to buy the Charlaine Harris box set when it was on sale at Amazon a few months ago.

I absolutely loved Dead until Dark. One of the Amazon reviews said that if a realistic vampire story is possible then this is it. I totally agree. The world Harris created is not one where monsters attack you after it gets dark. It's a world where vampires are tolerated since the Japanese invented fake blood. In fact, they're explained away by a virus that makes them seem dead.

In this world lives Sookie Stackhouse, a waitress with a disability - she can read minds. This 'condition' has  made sure that she was always on the periphery of society and she has managed to build some sort of life for herself within these constraints. Enter vampire Bill - how can Sookie not fall for him?

Great characters, great story, great book. The only reason why I'm not reading the next book right away is that I've read too much supernatural recently and needed a more 'normal' novel. But I'll certainly be back for more soon!

Challenges: 2010 Countdown Challenge

A Thousand Splendid Suns

I literally just finished reading this and had an urge to write about it before my emotions died down. The book has been sitting on my shelf for years, as I couldn't imagine it being as good as Khaled Hosseini's first one, The Kite Runner. I'm happy to report that A Thousand Splendid Suns is just as good, if not better!

The two main female characters are beautiful. I loved Mariam and Laila from the first pages of reading about them and continued to do so until the end. Their strength in the face of unimaginable hardship was amazing, especially so since I imagine that they represent a whole generation of women. We, living in countries where there is peace and equality, don't know how lucky we are. I admit that I take so very much for granted, all my freedoms included. I have nothing but admiration for the women who lived through Afghanistan's troubled years and the Taliban's rule. I cannot imagine going through it myself.

A Thousand Splendid Suns gives us a glimpse into the history of what seems to be a beautiful country (I've never been) and one which definitely has a rich culture and past. This history is shown to us through regular human beings in everyday situations. There can't be anything that we can identify with more.

If it wasn't for authors like Khaled Hosseini, we would never have the chance to experience Afghanistan and to be made aware of what the news we watch on tv means to the people there, how it affects them. I for one feel richer having read A Thousand Splendid Suns and am extremely grateful to the author for affecting my life in this way.

Challenges: 2nds Challenge, 999 Challenge, Every Month is a Holiday, Orbis Terrarum, Whitcoulls Challenge

The Goose Girl

Author Shannon Hale and in particular her book The Goose Girl is one of my first blogging finds. I don't think I would have ever heard of her if I hadn't started blogging. This is one of the aspects I really appreciate about our community!

So I've been wanting to read this for over a year, I think, and it's been sittting on my shelf for about 6 months. I picked it up now for Carl's Once Upon a Time challenge.

I'm disappointed that I didn't love it. I liked it but there were so many fantastic reviews that I so wanted to love it! I wanted it to be one of those books that engrossed me completely, I wanted to read it and forget our world and become part of the story. For whatever reason - and it may well be that I have some big stuff distracting me at the moment - this didn't happen. Well, maybe until the last third of the book - I didn't really want to put it down then.

I guess I should be happy that I really liked it, rather than upset that I didn't love it, but hey, that's what happens when you have too many expectations!

The Goose Girl is a fairy tale about Princess Ani who has led a sheltered life and is forced to grow up very quickly when certain events come to be. She has to learn to be independent, she has to deal with her friends betraying her and she has to learn who she really is, aside from her background and her title. And it's not like she fits in where she ends up - she looks different than the others, has serious secrets and can communicate with animals... it's certainly not easy but she gets through it and comes out a winner.

The tone of the book is completely magical. I'd start reading and feel all warm inside. The characters are great and the story has some nice twists that keep it interesting. Most interesting is Ani's coming-of-age journey of self-discovery. She does it so well too - she has the perfect balance of confidence and strength and self-doubt. I think her thinking process is beautifully captured.

I'll definitely try another Shannon Hale book, her writing is superb - any thoughts on which one I should get next?

Challenges: 999 Challenge, Countdown Challenge, New Authors, Once Upon A Time, What's in a Name?, Young Adult Challenge, YA Romance

The Outsiders

I can't believe that the author, S.E. Hinton, is a girl! Well, a woman by now, but you know what I mean. Wow, am I impressed with this book! My friend Elaine lent it to me because it's one of her favorites. It took me a while to get to it, because I thought I wouldn't really be into the subject - the book is about teenage boys, gang stuff, etc. But wow, The Outsiders goes straight onto my favorites of the year list.

The book is narrated by Ponyboy - that's his real name, it says so on his birth certificate. One of his brothers is called Sodapop. :-) Anyway, Ponyboy is a Greaser - part of a group of underprivileged boys known for greasing their hair back and for being rough and tough. These are the boys no one believes in and who always get accused first when something goes wrong. They are in constant conflict with the Socs - the rich kids. 'Socs' is pronouned 'Soashes', short for 'Socials' - I pronounced it 'socks' all the way through and it didn't lessen my enjoyment of the book.

The story is about so much - growing up, being poor, loving your family and friends, being loyal, class differences, tolerance and so much more. Several things struck me specifically:

Firstly, I loved the scenes where Ponyboy and his two brothers hung out together. The warmth of their feelings for one another practically jumped off the pages. Actually friends were family too, so I felt this warmth a lot. It was a lovely opposite to some of the rough behavior.

Secondly, I loved how Ponyboy realised that rich or poor, everyone has problems. And that it's humanly possible for him to relate to some of the Socs too.

Thirdly, I loved that not everything ended happily. Some characters go over the problems and some didn't. That's life. In fact, the author herself said that she wanted to write something that showed teen life as it was. Nothing realistic existed at that time (1960s).

This would be the place to mention that, probably because of the realism, The Outsiders has been banned and challenged numerous times. Too much violence, the kids smoke and some drink and (can you imagine?) most of them come from broken homes. The fact that this is primarily a book about being a good, tolerant and loving person doesn't seem to help.

I loved Ponyboy, his brothers and their friends. And I'm amazed by this author - she started writing this when she was 15! I am now very curious about her other books, although I can't imagine how she could ever match this.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, 999 Challenge, Banned Book Challenge, Decades Challenge, New Authors, YA Challenge

The Lollipop Shoes

My friend Amy recommended this Joanne Harris book to me, saying that I'll really like the magical side of the story. Since I trust her judgement, I immediately went to buy Chocolat, to which The Lollipop Shoes is a sequel. I loved Chocolat and so when I saw The Lollipop Shoes at the library I couldn't resist taking it.

I'm sure that The Lollipop Shoes can be read as a stand-alone novel, but I think you gain a lot from having read Chocolat beforehand. Here, the lives of Vianne and Anouk are continued and the place that Vianne wants to make sure they end up is very much dependant on what happened to them where they lived before. They now live in Montmartre in Paris and call themselves Yanne and Annie. Yanne is nothing like Vianne - she is trying to lead a normal, stable, non-magical life and to ensure that Annie is just a regular girl. Things are going fairly smoothly, Yanne has become an expert in masking her unhappiness, even from herself. Until Zozie de l'Alba swoops in and befriends them. She seems to be a best friend and good luck charm all rolled into one, but she's certainly not either. What ensues requires both teenage Annie and grown-up Yanne to confront who they really are and how they want to lead their lives.

I loved The Lollipop Shoes. The everyday magic was much more central and vivid and I loved every minute of it. I hated Zozie more with each page until I could barely get myself to read the parts of the book written from her perspective. Thankfully, Joanne Harris wrote some chapters from Zozie's perspective, some from Yanne's and some from Annie's. The writing was great and the three voices were disctint where they needed to be, but they spilled into each other and became one when they needed to as well. Genius.

It made me want to read up on herbs and charms again too! :-)

Challenges: Seconds 2008, Chunkster Challenge, Countdown Challenge

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

The first thing I did after I finished reading this was get into an argument with Joe about what the ending meant. That's definitely a sign of a good book! :-)

If you haven't read this yet, I suggest that you take the couple of hours it would take you to do so and get to it. Seriously. In today's world, this is one to read and think about. The book is narrated by a mysterious stranger in a Lahore cafe. I don't think I could describe the rest better than the book's back cover:

Invited to join him for tea, you learn his name and what led this speaker of immaculate English to seek you out. For he is more worldly that you might expect; better travelled and better educated. He knows the West better than you do.

The narrative tells of what can only be described as a love affair with America - a short and passionate love affair ending in pain and betrayal.

I looked up an interview with author Mohsin Hamid in which he stated that how you interpret the ending depends on what your world view is. What you'll get from the book will depend on how you look at what's happening around you today. Isn't that an amazing goal for an author to have? And isn't it incredible when it is accomplished?

Challenges: Man Booker Challenge, Bang Bang Challenge

The River King

I really, really love Alice Hoffman. Her books are so magical, yet at the same time so down-to-earth, so grounded. They draw the reader in immediately and don't let go. In fact, I've been known to save my copies of her books for when I have to fly somewhere - flights go by very quickly when I'm in her world.

My favorite of hers is still Practical Magic (way better than the film, by the way); although the others I've read, The Ice Queen and The Probable Future, were also very good. The oe I just finished this morning on my way to work, The River King, didn't disappoint either. Its haunting story and characters are still in my head.

The action takes place in a town in Massachusetts, a town probably like many others, except that this one is the home of a snooty boarding school. A lot goes on in this school - a gang of boys torture newcomers with cruel initiation ceremonies; the ghost of the dead wife of the first headmaster haunts the grounds; an elderly teacher who seems not to care for anyone or anything punishes herself for past actions; and two new unlikely students arrive. The River King is their story, one of strong ties, of love that transcends, of guilt, of sadness, of cruelty. It is touching, enchanting and haunting all at once. And, just like in real life, it's easy to misjudge people. Nothing is what it seems.

I definitely recommend this, as I do all of Alice Hoffman's books.

Challenges: A-Z Challenge, RIP III, Naming Conventions

Read-A-Thon - Hour 22

Title of book(s) read since last update: finished Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen
Number of books finished since you started: 3 (one of which I started before the read-a-thon)
Pages read since last update: 73
Running total of pages read since you started: 556
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 55 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: (keep track of this one to be eligible for a prize!) 7 hours 25 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Intro Meme, Sarah's Foreign Language Mini-challenge, Grains of rice
Other participants you’ve visited: Nymeth, Alessandra, Lezlie, Sarah, Joanne, Valentina, J.C. Montgomery, Tammy, Iliana
Prize you’ve won: 0

Speak was amazing. A YA book about issues that teenagers (and many adults too) are too afraid and embarassed to talk about. Like rape. It also highlights ways of dealing with traumatic incidents. And shows how our family and friends can influence which way we choose. My edition had a short interview with the author included, where I found out that there is another book called Catalyst that is set in the same high school and deals with pressure to get good grades and get into good colleges. I can't wait to read it.

Chocolat

I saw the film made of Joanne Harris' Chocolat ages ago, but didn't really like it so never bothered with the book. Then recently my friend Amy read another book by this author and I was intrigued to try it again. I love these sorts of stories, about magic but not the Harry Potter kind, the kind that makes life special and beautiful. This feeling didn't come through in the movie for me though - what a shame!

This book is about Vianne and her daughter Anouk - they arrive in a small French village and open a chocolaterie. They make some friends and more enemies, mostly due the fact that they view life differently and don't go to Church. I loved the pagan symbolism in the book and I loved the way the use of magic really made the atmosphere magical, rather than flashy.

And I loved the chocolate! I've totally been craving chocolate for the past couple of days. Vianne can totally set up shop in my neighborhood!

Challenges: 888 Challenge, Book to movie challenge, Lit Flicks, Naming Conventions, Unread Authors

The Secret Garden

Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1909 classic is a magical and charming children's book. There isn't really much to say apart from that... The story is primarily about Mary, a sour-faced orphan girl who hates everyone and everything, and Colin, a sickly boy who thinks he's going to die. They are saved by their childhood innocence and belief in the power of positive thinking. It was a pleasure to read, if you haven't done so already, I'd definitely recommend it.

Challenges: 888 Challenge, Book to Movie Challenge, Lit Flicks Challenge, Classics Challenge, Decades Challenge