2010 January » Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog

Continuing thoughts on Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White (part 1)

Posted by Anastasia on January 9, 2010 No Responses »

Jan 092010

I’ve just finished the first epoch, and since I want to keep up dialogue with all the other people who are doing the Woman in White readalong, and also because this is such a freakin’ long book, I thought I’d just write sort of…short discussion/review things every few days. Instead of one big review? You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t sound entirely coherent– I’m not feeling too well at the moment, for some reason. Anyway. I’m going to copy Leila and break this up into sections.

When I last left off I was just starting chapter XI in Walter’s narrative, so I’ll continue on from there.

Walter XI.

It is a little alarming how Walter keeps attributing every strange thing that happens to the Woman in White situation, but if he didn’t think that I would think he was being obtuse, so…Yay for Walter being paranoid?
Re: the letter: I think it’s so funny how people in the Victorian times could determine a person’s class just from how they wrote– is it even possible to do that today? I wouldn’t think so.
Re: Glyde’s age: Walter says “Forty-five; and she was not yet twenty-one! Men of his age married wives of her age every day: and experience had shown those marriages to be often the happiest ones. I knew that– and yet even the mention of his age, when I contrasted it with hers, added to my blind hatred of him.” Okay, so, a) I agree with him that though it’s gross it was also a common occurrence (though I’m not sure about the “happiest” thing), b) Laura is twenty?! She acts so much younger. I thought she was something like 16-18, and then how old is Marian? Why does Marian act so much more like an adult than Laura does? Has Laura just been infantilized all her life because she’s pretty and delicate/fair/prone to crying or something? Ugly people must grow up quickly, while beautiful spring flowers must languish in childhood? Ha.
That whole infantilization thing is just backed up by the fact that Marian refuses to show or tell Laura about the letter. I understand that Marian is worried about how she’ll take it, but c’mon! Stop coddling her, for Pete’s sake.

Review: Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol

Posted by Anastasia on January 8, 2010 2 Responses »

Jan 082010

3. Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol
Publication: Flash Point (September 1, 2009), Hardcover, 216pp / ISBN 1596435461
Genre: Biography
Rating:
Read: January 4, 2010
Source: Library
Summary from Amazon:

On a summer day in 1942, Anne Frank and her family went into hiding from the Nazis. Until the day they arrested her, more than two years later, she kept a diary. ANNE FRANK is the indispensible visual guide to her tragic, but inspiring story. Produced in association with The Anne Frank House and filled with never-before-published snapshots, school pictures, and photos of the diary and the Secret Annex, this elegantly designed album is both a stand-alone introduction to Anne’s life and a photographic companion to a classic of Holocaust literature.

Review

I didn’t sleep well Sunday night, and my eyes weren’t wanting to focus on the book I had brought with me to work (the type! so tiny!). So I grabbed this off the shelf and hoped for the best– and it was the best.

I first read Anne Frank’s diary in elementary school, I think, and while I haven’t read it in a while I do remember the basics. I also remember really enjoying it (I tend to like diaries-as-books, anyway, but Anne Frank’s is particularly well-written). This book, Anne Frank: Her Life in Words and Pictures, is sort of like a supplement to her diary. It has lots of pictures of Anne Frank, her family, her friends, the annex where they hid for nearly two years, plus photos of her actual diary. I had never seen these photos before, so I really appreciated being able to look through them and into Anne Frank’s life.

As well as the photos, there’s a sort of biography of Anne Frank and her family’s life from the time she was born to the time she died. It doesn’t go into a whole lot of detail, but it’s a good outline and one that’s sensitively written. I appreciated that it didn’t go into sensationalism or frivolity; it kept itself to the known facts, with few speculations and no hyperbole from what I could see.

I’m actually feeling really emotional after finishing this book. I was reading it on the bus ride home and I definitely teared up so much I nearly missed my stop. I think being able to see Anne as well as reading her words and the words about her life is so touching, and poignant, and wonderful, that can’t recommend this book enough. I think it works for everyone, both young and old, for anyone who is interested in history and human life.

And

Find your own copy @ Amazon.

Other reviews: Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers

Thursday Tea (January 7): The Woman in White

Posted by Anastasia on January 7, 2010 No Responses »

Jan 072010

Thursday Tea is a weekly meme hosted by yours truly. To play along, all you need is some tea, a book, and the answers to these questions: what tea are you drinking (and do you like it)? What book are you reading (and do you like it)? Tell us a little about your tea and your book, and whether or not the two go together.

The book: I have a slightly-less-than-mortal fear of books published before 1920, so it was with some trepidation that I signed up to do Leila‘s The Woman in White readalong. But then I figured why the heck not join? It’s a popular book, people (including some of my favorite authors) love it, and if it sucks I’ll just stop reading it. But here’s a twist: it doesn’t suck. And I’m LOVING it!

I’m about 70 pages into it (somewhere in the middle of the first epoch, I think), and I’m having a great time. It’s so NOT what I was expecting– I always think of books written in the 1800s as being dry, boring, and overly wordy (hi, Mr Dickens). But The Woman in White could totally pass for a book written in the 20th/21st century if you excused some of the Victorian vocabulary. It’s not boring at all, and it’s even a little bit funny! That scene with the effeminate art lover- Mr Fairlie– was just so OVER THE TOP I couldn’t help but giggle.

The atmosphere is really great, too. It’s not really gothic, not totally, not yet, but it’s got that whole “soon things will get creepy and suspenseful” feel to it. (Just read the back of the book and that whole thing? Makes this a “sensation novel”. First time I think I’ve come across one of those.) And I love Marian Halcome, who’s a rather atypical Victorian heroine (I don’t see her fainting any time soon, if you know what I mean). I like how she’s described as graceful and yet ugly and she doesn’t wear stays (i.e. corsets) and she’s intelligent and not at all into Victorian propriety, though she does have manners and isn’t brutish. The other protagonist, Walter Hartright, is kinda boring me, but I think that’s because a) he tends to stay in the background, even in conversations with other characters, and b) he can’t hold a candle to the vibrancy of Marian. He does have some nice things to say, though it’s kinda obvious it’s actually Wilkie Collins saying them through his character.

Anyway, I could go on and on, but I’ll save it for my review. Though I suppose you could think of this post as Review Part 1!

The tea: I had a lovely dirty chai from Satellite today. A dirty chai is, uh, chai with some shots of espresso in it. It sounds disgusting, but actually I find Satellite’s chai drinks overly sweet, and the espresso provides just enough bitterness to counteract that and make the whole thing delicious. Totally expensive, though.

Do they go together? Uh. Well, when I Googled “tea and coffee mixed together victorian” I didn’t get anything, so they probably didn’t have a dirty chai drink back in the Victorian era. (Or else my Google-fu is weaker than I thought.) On the other hand, I think a dirty chai would be something Marian would want to drink, if they did have them. But maybe I’m projecting!

What are you drinking/reading this Thursday?

Review: The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers by Angie Fox

Posted by Anastasia on January 6, 2010 No Responses »

Jan 062010

2. The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers by Angie Fox
Publication: Love Spell (April 28, 2009), Paperback, 308pp / ISBN 0505527707
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Rating:
Read: January 2-3, 2010
Source: Paperback Swap
Summary from Amazon:

Demon slaying powers should come with an instruction book …

Seriously. Why does a new hair dryer have a twelve-page how-to manual, but when it comes to ancient demon-fighting hocus-pocus, my biker witch granny gives me just half a dozen switch stars and a rah-rah speech? Oh, and a talking terrier, but that’s another story. It’s not like my job as a preschool teacher prepared me for this kind of thing.

So I’ve decided to write my own manual, The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers, because no one tells me anything. Dimitri, my “protector,” may be one stud of a shape-shifting griffin, but he always thinks he can handle everything by himself. Only he’s no match for the soul-stealing succubi taking over Las Vegas. If I can’t figure out how to save him – and Sin City – there’ll be hell to pay.

Review

I found this on the same shelf as The Missing Ink, got suckered in with the cover and title, and added it to my wishlist. Happily enough it was posted to PBS around the same time as TMI (but by a different person!). I didn’t enjoy it as much as TMI, unfortunately, though I liked certain aspects of it.

What did I like the best? I liked how it subtly made fun of the demon-killer-in-sexy-leather thing. I thought it was extremely funny how Lizzie thought it was required she wear leather miniskirts and stuff, but because she was embarrassed she’d cover it up with a big shirt or something. I also liked the anti-demonic DMV thingy, and how Lizzie has to be registered to be an official demon-slayer, and how she rolls around the country with her grandmother’s biker-witch gang, and how Pirate (Lizzie’s dog) sounds and awful lot like Wishbone. I also thought the plot, at its surface, was interesting and exciting.

Now, for what I liked least– well, it’s a lot. I didn’t realize when I started reading this that it was actually the second book in a series (mostly because that little tidbit is mentioned absolutely nowhere on the book itself), and though there’s a few explanation bits strewn throughout, I obviously missed some stuff. Stuff like how long Lizzie has a) been a slayer and b) been dating her boyfriend. I didn’t figure out that important information until about halfway through the book, and after I did find out, it pretty much ruined the book for me.

So, okay: Lizzie’s been a demon slayer for two weeks. That’s fine. I don’t mind that part. Lizzie’s also been dating her boyfriend for the same amount of time, and they’re already OMG SO IN LOVE with each other. Is that unusual with a new couple? Not really. And while I actually prefer my romances to take more time building themselves up, I can understand the instant attraction/infatuation thing. BUT. This is a paranormal romance. Which means you get that really annoying thing where every human girl who falls in love with a supernatural creature automatically becomes mated to that creature for LIFE and FOREVER and it’s just taken for granted that this is a good thing. I tend to disagree, like, a lot. While it may be nice for a couple that’s been dating for a long time (i.e. more than TWO WEEKS), most of the time it’s just creepy and weird and makes me uncomfortable.

But then add on to that how Dimitri-the-boyfriend shows up for maybe one page in the beginning of the book and then disappears for so long I was wondering if he was even important to the story, only to show up later acting crazy and possessive and, oh yeah, draining Lizzie’s energy and turning into a demon, and I was NOT feeling this couple AT ALL. By not reading the first book I probably missed the great getting-together scenes and the falling-in-love stuff and that’s probably a big part of why I hated them as a couple, hated Dimitri, and thought their whole romance was super unrealistic.

I hope I explained that enough, and that I haven’t inadvertently insulted someone– I understand why people like the together-forever sort of romance (I like it, too, under certain conditions). It’s romantic and makes you feel safe and loved and whatever. But I just think it takes on a whole new level when it involves souls and life force energy and free will and so on. A creepy level. A level I’m not comfortable reading about.

Anyway, besides that whole debacle, there were also a few plot holes, a few weird writing/editing things that kept jarring me out of the story, and my general feelings of overall dissatisfaction with the book. I suppose The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers is pretty typical paranormal romance fare: if you don’t think too hard about it (and if you don’t mind paranormal romance tropes) and start with the first book in the series, it’s enjoyable. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy it enough to keep reading the series, or to go back and read the first book.

And

Find your own copy @ Amazon or IndieBound

Other reviews: Medieval Bookworm | The Maiden’s Court

I suppose the good thing about starting the year with two supermarket books is that I have lots to say about them?

Review: The Missing Ink by Karen E. Olson

Posted by Anastasia on January 4, 2010 No Responses »

Jan 042010

1. The Missing Ink by Karen E. Olson
Publication: Signet (July 7, 2009), Paperback, 299pp / ISBN 0451227468
Genre: Mystery
Rating:
Read: January 1-2, 2010
Source: Paperback Swap
Summary from Amazon:

Brett Kavanaugh is a tattoo artist and owner of an elite tattoo parlor in Las Vegas. When a girl makes an appointment for a tattoo of the name of her fiancé embedded in a heart, Brett takes the job but the girl never shows. The next thing Brett knows, the police are looking for her client, and the name she wanted on the tattoo isn’t her fiancé’s…

Review

I’ve been wanting to read this ever since I spotted that fantastic cover in Walmart about four months ago, and while I have mixed feelings about individual points in the book, I had fun reading it. Mostly.

I’m going to go into a little rant, here, about cozy mysteries. Cozy mysteries, like vampire romance novels, are not for everyone. I can only handle one or two of them at a time, myself, and only then if I don’t try to deconstruct every aspect of the book. Because, see, cozy mysteries do not make sense. Especially, and I’m sorry about this, but especially the ones with a food or knitting theme! (And do NOT get me started on the cats.) I like amateur detectives as much as the next person, but who can seriously buy that all these random women (and some men) can suddenly turn into detectives and solve mysteries better than the police? Especially when they’re something like pastry chefs or bookstore owners or, like in this book, tattoo shop owners.

That said, cozy mysteries are suddenly more believable (and enjoyable!) to me when the protagonist gets pulled into the mystery because of a combination of things and not just because they’re nosy. Maybe they’re blackmailed into finding clues or maybe the police in charge of the case really suck or SOMETHING. And then maybe they already have a little bit of a leaning towards detecting– like ex-newspaper reporters, for instance. But when the protagonist just keeps butting into places they shouldn’t butt, ESPECIALLY when the police are already doing a good job and their own BROTHER is a policeman and is about three steps ahead of the protagonist already and wtf? I understand wanting to solve a mystery because you feel bad for the murder victim but, c’mon! The whole premise behind The Missing Ink just does not work for me.

However, it didn’t really start to bug me until around the middle of the book, when Brett blatantly declines to tell her POLICE OFFICER BROTHER (can I say that enough?) important facts pertaining to the case. That just crossed a line with me, and even though she makes up for it later– I lost a lot of respect for the character.

This really disappointed me because I enjoyed reading the first few chapters so much. Immediately after reading the first page I was all “omg this is awesome” and I couldn’t wait to read more about Brett and her life and the mystery. And I will say that the mystery was very well done, and if Brett hadn’t annoyed me so much in the second half of the book I would have really loved it. It was exciting, so much so that I stayed up until nearly 2am to finish the book!

However, as I read more of the book I couldn’t help but notice a few inconsistencies. I’m not sure if it was because of the writing or because of what I was expecting based on the cover, but Brett’s voice didn’t match what was going on in her life. Her voice– choppy, somewhat overly dramatic, short sentences– gives the impression of a hardcore, kick-butt woman, but what she was actually doing in the book didn’t match that. I guess I was kind of expecting a Kat Von D sort of character and instead I got a rock n’ roll-less Janis Joplin, including the peasant skirts and ugly sandals.

It’s possible she just sounds tough because she’s jaded from her past, which we got some hints about (and how much do I love that we weren’t given a giant infodump? I like the bits-and-pieces routine; it came off very sophisticated, more so than you’d maybe find in the typical cozy mystery), and that inside she’s really a big teddy bear, but it was just jarring.

So I guess my major disapointment with The Missing Ink was mostly with Brett and her character. The mystery was fine, the other characters were fine, and while there wasn’t as much romance in the book as you might think (Brett flirts with this one dude who may or may not be the killer, but that’s it), it wasn’t as bad a read as I may have made it out to be. After all, I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it, and I’ll for sure try out another of Karen E. Olson’s books. I like her writing (I do!), and if you don’t have a hate on for cozy mysteries like I’m developing, you’ll probably really like The Missing Ink.

And

Find your own copy @ Amazon or IndieBound

Other reviews: Book-a-rama | Michelle’s Masterful Musings | Chick Loves Lit | Ania Reads (who has some excellent things to say about the tattoo world and how this book doesn’t accurately represent it)

First book of the new year! Oh yeah!

APFOL: December 27-January 2

Posted by Anastasia on January 3, 2010 No Responses »

Jan 032010

Interesting posts and other things that have caught my eye this week. It isn’t actually everything, since I didn’t want to kill myself copy-pasting, so for the entire link collection check out my Delicious page.

Who else lost track of the days? Anyone? Just raise your hand.

Books in General

Illustrating Moby-Dick One Page at a Time – mediabistro.com: GalleyCat
“Since August, artist Matt Kish has worked his way page-by-page through Herman Melville’s Moby Dick–illustrating each page along the way.”

Authors & Publishers

Bloggers Question Amazon Sales – mediabistro.com: GalleyCat
“His post generated a stream of comments, including this anonymous post: “I work for a trade house, and while I am not going to reveal my identity or that of my employer, I can tell you that our top Kindle sales of any one title are in the range of about 1000 downloads life to date.”"
What Constitutes an eBook Bestseller? – mediabistro.com: GalleyCat
“By GalleyCat’s count yesterday afternoon, 64 of the 100 eBooks currently topping the Kindle bestseller list were priced at $0.00.” Oh my.

(Book) Blogging

Sunday Salon: How Fast Do You Read? | B O O K L U S T
“That said, I don’t know how you fast readers do it! I often feel the pressure to read faster, do more, keep current with everyone else. I read for pleasure, yes, but at the same time, I feel like more recently as I read, I wonder how soon I can finish a book and move on to the next one. If it takes me longer than I expect to read a book, I start getting worried.”

Book Wishlist (aka the new section!)

I Am Scrooge by Adam Roberts. Sort of like I Am Legend meets A Christmas Carol?
The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno. I fell in love with the cover, yes, but listen to this: “Joe Meno’s forthcoming The Great Perhaps is the story of “the Caspers, a family of cowards: Jonathan, a paleontologist, searching in vain for a prehistoric giant squid; his wife, Madeline, an animal behaviorist with a failing experiment; (and) their daughter, Amelia, a disappointed teenage revolutionary…Each fears uncertainty and the possibilities that accompany it.” Sounds like a Wes Anderson film!
The Diary of Samuel Pepys by Samuel Pepys. Says Jenny: “Samuel Pepys is the most utterly charming rogue of a diarist it has ever been my good fortune to meet. And it does feel like meeting him, personally, possibly in his nightgown: he is so vividly alive, breathing on the page, completely sincere in his opinions, emotions, and desires. He is just the kind of person you’d like to know.”

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