Book Reviews

Heroes and Villains

Posted on April 11, 2016 by caseykins

Camp Nanowrimo is going well-ish.  My word count has exploded, but the point was to write 4 whole short stories (and not 50,000 words), so I’m feeling a little behind.  The Golden Apple story went like gang-busters for a while but seems to have stalled out.  Brian and I discussed it this weekend, and I think it’s because the About is more in line with WWII than the Great War, and so it doesn’t quite fit.  Also, needs more Greek Gods (which could be said of everything, really).

I swore to myself that I would actually post a book review this week, since it’s been a while.  I am still working on the 2016 reading challenge, and plugging away at it.  This week?  A book that makes me want to be a hero, and a book that makes me want to be a villain.

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The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley:

I have long been a huge fan of McKinley’s The Hero and The Crown, about an outcast of a royal woman, Aerin, who experiments with a non-burning salve used to fight dragons, and ends up being the savior of her people (along with a busted-up war horse).  I hadn’t read The Blue Sword, though I knew it was considered the sequel.  It wasn’t available on kindle until fairly recently, and isn’t available in most stores.

I found it, though, at a little used bookstore by the train station where I pick Brian up some days.  I bought it immediately and read it so fast.  Best find ever.

It’s about an orphan, Harry Crewe, who moves to be near her brother at a military outpost in the desert.  When a mountain king comes to the village to ask for military aid, his second-sight tells him to kidnap Harry and take her with him back to his kingdom.  She comes into her own, becoming one of the kings sacred riders and besting the country at the sword trials.  She communes with Lady Aerin, falls for the king, and saves a country herself.

It’s full of hard tasks and bad choices, but of trust and valor.  It makes me want to learn to ride a horse with nothing but a small leather cushion on the back.  It makes me want to live in a tent with a king and drink waters that make me have visions.  It makes me want to wear a mended scarf around my waist, and to find a home among other people with strange ways.  Even if they do start calling me Harimad Sol.

So, Harry Crewe makes me want to be a hero.

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Silver on the Road, by Laura Anne Gilman:

Kindle has been recommending me this book for a very long time, in the way it recommends things I end up disliking.  I finally read the synopsis of it, and was sort of expecting it to be a worse version of Patricia C. Wrede’s Frontier Magic.  I figured that even if it was bad it would have interesting ideas.  I was VERY wrong.  It wasn’t anything like that at all, really, except in the traveling through the west theme.

And it was great.  My only beef with the book is that I will have to wait another 2 years (!!!) for the series to be finished.  Damn you, Simon and Schuster.  You always do this to me!

In this west, there are three parts.  There is the United States, there is the territory controlled by the devil, and then there is Spain, in that order from East to West.  The devil is undefined.  Is he evil?  Who knows.  But he does protect the territory, and he does make bargains for people’s souls.  He also runs a saloon, where main character Izzy grows up.

Izzy isn’t sure where she wants to go when she reaches her majority.  So she sells herself to the devil and agrees to become his left hand, touring his portion of the territory and doing… well, she doesn’t really know.  She has a guide to teach her the road, and they know there are monsters let loose to murder the populace.  That’s all she has to go on.

It’s a great book, super-exciting, and basically reminds me of a Deadlands game that has gone to print. Being out on the road seems great, if inconvenient sometimes.  Also bonus points for a book that discusses how women deal with periods (as in monthly bleeding) because I’ve never seen that before in fantasy.

I would like to travel the road with Gabriel and see the strange things in the west, although I’m not sure I’d agree to sell my soul to the devil to do it.

Isobel makes me want to be a villain.

So that’s it for the book reviews this week.  As always, happy reading!

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Winter Reading List, 2016

Posted on March 14, 2016 by caseykins

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I’ve felt like it’s been officially spring here for a few weeks now, but it’s now officially official as of the end of last week. The winter quarter is over, finals and all.  Which means… it is time for the Winter reading list.  It’s shorter than normal, partly because I just did this in January.  Partly because when I do a lot of my own writing, I tend to do less reading.  And partly because life has been a little crazy lately as Brian and I spend all our weekends planting out the front beds and  waging a gopher war in the back yard.  All my raised beds are lined in chicken wire now.  So there. (crossing my fingers that holds them.)

The time has come.  Here’s everything I have read since January and what I thought of it:

  • The Color of Magic, by Terry Pratchet – Oh, I don’t know. It wasn’t bad.  It felt more like it was done for funny than actually because it had a good plot arc or compelling story.  It was funny, but I quickly got impatient with Rincewind and his inane tourist.
  • Good Poems: American Places, by Garrison Keillor – Left me melancholy and nostalgic in the best way. I would recommend wholeheartedly, and I don’t like poetry usually.
  • English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs – Not what I was expecting, and not really new at all (despite author claims). Feels like the French stuff rehashed.  It was well written, but didn’t offer more than other standards in the same genre.
  • Desperate Duchesses, by Eloisa James – I enjoyed it, as I do all of James’ stuff. There’s a reason I’m on a quest to read everything she’s ever written.  The heroine in this one was a bit silly, but not as silly as some I’ve read.  And it all worked in the end to a satisfactory conclusion.
  • Aspects of the Novel, by E. M. Forster – You know, I got just as much out of the beginning of this book as ever, but got super tired of slogging through old novel excerpts in the end of it for not as much analysis as I’d like. Great for the information, but definitely work to read.
  • Pippa’s Cornish Dream, by Debbie Johnson – Meh. It was fine, but it wasn’t anything unusual.  I liked the fact that the heroine was so spunky.  I think the real reason it didn’t work for me is because I didn’t like the guy much.
  • Emily Climbs, by L. M. Montgomery – I LOVE Emily and her cats and her writing. A favorite of mine, that I’ve read more times than I can count.  It makes me feel like the writing struggle is real, and surmountable with enough work.
  • Emily’s Quest by L. M. Montgomery – Every time I read this, I am less of a mess. I mean, Emily really makes a lot of the strife she suffers for herself.  Still, it’s not an easy read, though it’s beautiful.
  • Clarkesworld Year 3 Anthology, by Neil Clarke – I mean, they’re well written with some beautiful and heartbreaking ideas. But I realized that I just am not a fan of short stories.  Oh the irony, right, as I try to write them?  I know.
  • Silver on the Road by Laura Anne Gilman – My new favorite thing (!!!). It’s like my Deadlands game came to life and featured a super awesome heroine who sold her soul to the devil and now channels his magic to protect the territory.  Best thing EVER.  I’m sad the other 2 books aren’t out yet, because I’d get them in a heartbeat.  I can’t wait until October.

As always, happy reading!

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Like This? Try That: International Women’s Day Edition

Posted on March 10, 2016 by caseykins

It was International Women’s Day last Tuesday.  Yay women!  And yay for awesome posts about all the cool things created by women.  I found a great post circulating on Tumblr where it told you some common men’s authors and suggested a book by a woman you might like instead.  The only problem?  I didn’t actually like any of those original books by men.  In fact, I sort of abhor them.  Good plan, not great execution (if your reading tastes are like mine).

So, in that spirit, I decided to put my own compilation together.  It wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.  There are a billion women books I love that don’t have an easy male equivalent, and same for men books, so I feel as if this is, at best, incomplete. Left off on the man side are Damon Runyon, John Steinbeck, and Gregory McGuire, to name a few.  I’d have really loved to work in some Shannon Hale, Robin McKinley, and Mary Stewart on the woman side, but no dice. Still, below are some of my favorite men authors, and a book by a woman that’s similar.  And just for the record, you can’t go wrong reading ANY of the books on this list, gender notwithstanding.

SedarisLawson

Like David Sedaris’ Me Talk Pretty One Day?

Try: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson

Although Sedaris’ book mostly takes place in New York or rural France, and Lawson’s book takes place in Texas, they share much.  A fondness for bad taxidermy, a willingness to create farce from their family situations, a predilection for terrorizing their significant other.  Both have a wry wit that it’s impossible not to guffaw at.  Both are banned reading for me before bed, because I can’t put them down; nor can I stop shaking the bed while Brian sleeps because I’m laughing too hard.

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Like JRR Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring?

Try: A Wizard of Earthsea, by Ursula K. LeGuin

LeGuin’s book is more languid and unurgent than Fellowship, but it is still a world in which wizards have immense power and are struggling to defeat unknown evil.  They both have epic quests, sorceresses, and ideal villages which they must leave.  Ged is haunted by his own mistakes, and Frodo is haunted by others’.  Frodo has an elven canoe, Ged has the Lookfar. There are differences, but the worlds feel familiar, ancient, and big.  They’re excellent.

KeillorLowry

Like Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon, Summer 1956?

Try: A Summer to Die, by Lois Lowry

Lowry’s book is not as funny as Keillor’s, but they both share a nostalgia and an innocence that feel right together.  Gary is dealing with adulthood, the passing away of many of his childhood ideals, becoming a writer, with the unfair things that happen to his cousin Kate.  Meg is dealing with growing up awkwardly, attempting to measure up to her perfect sister, adapting to a new rural school, and with her sister’s fatal leukemia.  In both there is a loss of innocence, and a sense of claiming a more adult self as both characters move forward in life.  They’re both full of hope.

KiplingSpeare

Like Rudyard Kipling’s Captain’s Courageous?

Try: The Witch of Blackbird Pond, by Elizabeth George Speare

I mean, I LOVE Kipling something fierce, despite his flaws.  And the book I like most of his is Puck of Pooks Hill, which is like nothing else I have ever read.  So instead I have sought to pair his Captain’s Courageous with another book about New England.  Both characters struggle to survive in a culture they don’t understand without the skills to thrive.  Both learn of loss and hard work.  Both feature ships prominently.  This might be a stretch…

DoyleChristie

Like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound of the Baskervilles?

Try: The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie

Both Christie and Doyle are known as the quintessential mystery writers of their day, and for good reason.  Both of these mysteries take place on rural estates in England, and both will keep you guessing for days as to what’s really going on.  Bonus?  Styles is the very first Poirot novel, so you can use your little gray cells to solve the mystery.

PratchetJones

Like Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men?

Try: Howl’s Moving Castle, by Diana Wynne Jones

I mean, nothing’s as funny as the Nac Mac Feegles and their drunk, Scotsman-like ways.  But Jones does a pretty good job of lending that farciful attitude to Wizard Howl, and poor Sophie who has to take care of him.  Both books are chalk full of all the stuff you always hear about in fairy tales, but they’re used in new and delightful ways.  The chaos wraps up nicely at the end for all of them, too.

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Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere

Girl Book: Tithe by Holly Black

Dark worlds where the modern scene is definitely more sinister than you imagined it?  Check, for both novels.  Instead of Richard and his London Below, Kaye has the fairy courts that placed her in her mother’s home in exchange for the changeling baby they stole.  She’s not saving a bleeding Door, she’s saving Roiben, knight of the Unseelie Court.  Both are fighting dark things they don’t understand.  Both become part of worlds they don’t understand and can’t quite navigate.

So, happy belated International Women’s Day.  And enjoy your reading.

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Book Reviews: Fairy Tale and Fantasy

Posted on February 25, 2016 by caseykins

I usually don’t write book reviews on things I feel wishy-washy about.  There’s an author behind there somewhere, and I can sympathize wholeheartedly with how hard it was to write the thing, even if it was less than perfect.  Which means that I usually admit there were flaws in a sentence or two in the reading list, and then move on to the next book.  But I have vowed to write a review of everything I read in conjunction with the reading challenge.  And I didn’t have to enjoy the book for it to count as part of the challenge.  I just have to have finished it.

Here are two books that I’m counting but didn’t love.  I’ll tell you why, and you can decide whether you want to check them out for yourself, and I’ll also suggest alternatives that I liked much better than these.  I hope the authors aren’t too upset with me (although one is deceased, so…possible haunting?).

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Daughter of Witches by Patricia C. Wrede:                                                                                 (a book filled to the rim with magic)

I love Wrede’s writing.  Her Frontier Magic series is one of the most original and fun things I’ve ever read.  I love the Cecelia works she wrote with Caroline Stevermer, and will happily swoon over Marleon the Magician.

I am, however, not fond of a fantasy book that reads like a Dungeons and Dragons campaign (of any kind).  A D&D campaign is an exercise in shared storytelling, and the disconnected, character-centered thing that results hardly ever feels right when put into novel form.  It feels like the author is trying to share a joke with you that you had to be there to understand: it’s just not that amusing in the retelling.  Usually either the plot is good or the characters are developed, but not both.  It can feel like the characters are being pigeon-holed into a God-driven plot (ala the Dungeon Master) without good reason.  Wrede is pretty forthright about the Lyra novels being based on campaigns she ran, in a universe she created.

Despite my criticism of D&D novels, Wrede does a great job of making the Lyra Collection feel like it should in the later books.  Daughter of Witches is book 2, and Wrede clearly hasn’t hit her stride yet.  It wasn’t quite the confusion of kidnapping and journey with no explanation that Shadow Magic was.  But it was character heavy without much plot, and feels too guided.  The stakes never felt high for the characters, either.  The death is so distant that it doesn’t feel real, and the death that’s in front of them seems unurgent.

The writing was good, I stayed engaged in the world, but ultimately I just didn’t care about what happened to the characters.  I wanted to care, but couldn’t get there.  If you’re looking for something similar to read, I would start with Wrede’s Caught in Crystal and move to The Raven Ring.  Both are excellent, and you don’t need to have read the others in the series to have fun with them.  That way you get Lyra goodness with Wrede’s more developed style to back it up.  Or, you know, just go read Thirteenth Child, first of the Frontier Magic series.

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English Fairy Tales, by Joseph Jacobs:                                                                                         (a book with lots of mystical creatures)

My biggest beef with this book was that it proclaimed originality and didn’t deliver.  It was written in 1890, though, you will say.   So who is to judge whether the stories were perhaps new then?

The Grimms were writing books in the 1860s, and these stories are a repeat of those, almost completely, under the guise of being English instead of German.  Even in his time period, he loses originality points…

The book was in the simple folk-writing that fairy tales are often in, with lots of telling and little showing.  They were easy to read, and I did enjoy them some.  It was also a quick read, which I appreciated.  I was expecting much more than a collection of children’s stories that I had heard before, though.  So perhaps it was my expectation that was flawed and not the book itself.

Looking for something AWESOME to read instead?  Try The Classic Fairy Tales by Maria Tatar.  There are 44 tales in there, and she groups them into common themes and discusses similarities between cultures that you can see in the narratives.  That’s good and so is Clever Maids: The Secret History of the Grimm Family Tales by Valerie Paradiz, where she discusses how the Grimms used their sister to collect the stories, and the importance of the tales in female indoctrination to society.  Both are fairy tale plus, and an excellent read.  They contain more of the originality that I was hoping for when I picked this book up

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Book Review: Good Poems, American Places

Posted on February 11, 2016 by caseykins

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I mean, it’s sort of a review.  And a contemplation on America and life:

I didn’t move that far away from where I grew up and yet it still feels like a different world out here some days.  Most times that’s a good thing.  The views of bouldered green hills, snowcapped mountains, and rows of citrus make me feel like I am living in Ultimate California.  Although with my former job in my home town, I hadn’t really been able to enjoy it.

Now that I’m here, I’ve been exploring Riverside in fits and starts.  Between it and Redlands, I think this corner of the world might have been made for me.  On Tuesdays, the local movie theater screens classics.  The bakery down town has the most divine cinnamon twists.  There is a British Emporium & Tea Shop and an indie bookstore called the Cellar Door just minutes from my office.  Couple that with the civil war reenactors in Redlands, that amazing red library, and the fact that I am walking to the symphony Saturday night and I am in bliss.  I’m ready to take a walk and buy oranges at the fruit stand down the street.

For my reading challenge, I bought Garrison Keillor’s Good Poems, American Places at the bookstore last night.  It’s billed as poems for those who don’t like poetry.  I’m one of those people who scoffs at poetry, and I can support his claim because I’ve been loving it.  “The world is our consolation,” Keillor says of Americans in the introduction.  “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, we get into our car and drive.  It’s a big country.”

I was listening to someone last Saturday night tell about adventures in Uganda.  They were strange and wonderful, but I knew that it was no more than a story to me unless I somehow, by some miracle, grow deeper pockets. I am realizing while reading this collection that what I do know is America.

I know boating on a placid, icy lake to a deserted hiking spot.  I know tubing in the summer sunshine while pontoon boats rise above my head.  I know the view of the golden dome of the capital building from the high rise hotel with city lights shining brighter than stars beneath.  I know planting tomatoes in the earth in front of my semi-generic tract home, and long road trips across concrete highways.  I have seen Old Faithful burst from the ground, and I have ridden the boat to Disneyland.

The book is making me contemplative and a little melancholy, I think.  But in a good way.  There’s so much to love in this book, so many moments that I’ve also felt along with the poet.  It feels like mine in a way no other of Keillor’s Good Poems collections have.  I’m very glad I found it.

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Valentine Reads

Posted on February 4, 2016 by caseykins

It’s that time of year again.  And if it’s anything I’ve learned from all the reading I’ve been doing, it’s what’s good in the romance department.  Looking for a good book with a happily ever after?  Try one of these.

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Romantical:

The ones in this category have swoon-worthy romance, but are PG rated:

  • Attachments, by Rainbow Rowell – Lincoln hasn’t got it all figured out. Which is why he moves in with his mom and takes a job reading company emails for suspicious or banned content.  But when witty Beth and Jennifer’s correspondence keeps getting flagged, Lincoln finds himself fascinated and then falling for one of the girls (who don’t know they’re being monitored).  Hijinks ensue, both heartbreaking and hopeful.  I ended up falling as much in love with the book as I did the characters.
  • Dear Mr. Knightly, by Katherine Reay – Sam gets a scholarship to her dream college, practically a miracle for a foster kid in and out of shelters her whole life. The only catch?  She has to write to the donor, addressing him as Mr. Knightly, and tell him about her life.  She befriends a former professor and his wife – both childless and happy to have her around.  She also gets close with charming Alex, an alum of the writing program she’s in.  And then there’s the identity of Mr. Knightley… which all become an amalgamation of a surprise ending.
  • Midnight in Austenland, by Shannon Hale – When Charlotte’s husband leaves her for a woman named Justice, the only thing she wants is to leave her kids with the step-family, her American worries behind, and have a dream vacation in a recreation of Austen’s England. But things aren’t right in Austenland.  There are money problems, and people are disappearing.  Is it part of the ambiance, a planned story line; or is it real?  And what about the cute guy who’s supposed to be her “brother?”

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Historical:

Another bunch of PG reads that are set in history, and not today.

  • Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart – 1940s? 1960s?  Linda takes a job as a governess in a French Chateau and soon learns that there is a plot to end her small charge’s life.  It is impossible to tell who is in it and who is out, and she must put aside her only chance at love amidst a very lonely life to make sure the small boy is safe.  Casinos, fast cars, moonlit balls, beautiful forests, and much Peggity all combine to make this book magical.
  • Persuasion by Jane Austen – This one gets much less attention than some of Austen’s others.  But you have to feel sorry for poor Anne Elliot as she’s attempting to save her crazy family from themselves when she can’t even save herself.  She listened to bad advice, and now she has to watch her one true love court another.  Until an accident proves that they might still be suited to each other, and still in love.  Plus, you know, bonus points for hunky Captain Wentworth.
  • A Tangled Web by L. Montgomery – 1920s. When Aunt Becky leaves her coveted jug to an unnamed person – to be revealed a year after her death – it sets off all sorts of crazy happenings amongst her Dark and Penhallow cousins on Prince Edward Island.  Love stories of the entire clan entwine, untangle, and mix in ways they never would have if that infamous jug hadn’t been at stake.  It’s a little trite, but it’s FULL of hilarious characters, and one of my favorites.

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Fantastical:

For books that are full of fantasy, but still have happy endings:

  • Carry On, by Rainbow Rowell – Yeah, but she’s my favorite! At a wizard school in England, Simon Snow is trying to find out what happened to his roommate and enemy, Basilton Grimm-Pitch, while also fighting the Insidious Humdrum (who shares Simon’s face) with the help of his friends Penelope Bunce and Agatha Wellbelove.  The dead start to appear, the magicless spots start to spread, and the only thing that’s certain is that Simon and Baz are enemies.  Whether they want to be or not.
  • Stardust, by Neil Gaiman – In the town of Wall, a star falls in the night sky. Tristan tells his true love, Victoria, that he will bring it back for her.  But when he journeys through faerie to find it, he realizes that stars there aren’t at all like stars here, and she’s not a lump of metal but a beautiful woman.  Tristan isn’t the only one who is interested in finding her, though, and together they must escape a band of murderous brothers and an evil witch (among others) to get back to the town of Wall.
  • Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot, by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia C. Wrede – It’s regency England, and cousins Cecelia and Kate are forced to spend the season alone when Kate goes to London and Cecelia must stay home. But when Kate refuses to take a drink from a chocolate pot at the royal convention of wizards, and the liquid burns through her dress, they’re both suddenly thrust into a scheme in which the life of a powerful magician is at stake.  But with their society debuts coming up, and dresses and beaux on the line, deadly magic is just one of their concerns.  Bonus: it reads like it was a blast to write.

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Hawt:

These are the historical romances with all the naughty stuff in.  Most definitely R, and possibly X?  Don’t read unless you can stand growling gentlemen and naïve ladies.

  • A Kiss at Midnight by Eloisa James – When Kate’s stepsister is too unwed and pregnant to go to the prince’s betrothal ball, her stepmother insists that Kate go and pretend to be her sister instead. 3 small rats of a dog, several technicolor wigs, a fairy godmother, some capsized boats, and a hot prince in a tower later, and Kate might just be able to find happily ever after.  If she can get that princess out of the way first.
  • Romancing Mr. Bridgerton by Julia Quinn – One of the Bridgerton books (4, I think?), but you don’t have to have read the rest for this one to be enjoyable. It’s a silly book with a scathing gossip columnist, a heroine who looks like a lemon tart, a CRAZY secret, a beau who is always hungry, and some steamy romance along the way.
  • Much Ado About You by Eloisa James – I know. But just ignore the name for a minute, okay? It’s a book about 4 sisters who, when their father dies, are left as the wards of a man who hardly knew him with nothing but a purebred horse each for a dowry.  The best thing to do, of course, is for Tess to marry well so she can take care of the lot of them.  She’s the oldest, and the Earl of Mayne is interested.  It’s practically her duty to walk down the aisle.  But when Mayne is MIA, who will Tess marry instead?  The whole series is good, and this is the first of them.  Essex sisters for the win!
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Book Reviews: Some American History

Posted on February 1, 2016 by caseykins

I always read quite a lot at the beginning of the year, what with vacation and all.  I have also been thinking quite a lot about the reading challenge, and I think I should put up an in-depth review of everything I read for that.  So, to kick that all off… how about 2 non-fiction favorites of mine?  Here you go:

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Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell (A book by an unfamiliar author)

I had seen the documentaries on The Incredibles and knew that the gal who played the voice of Violet was a strange, history-obsessed woman who was basically my patronus.  Although her delight with gore is a bit more pronounced than mine.  So when a friend on New Year’s said “I’ve been reading Assassination Vacation, and it’s so good,” I said “I have to get that NOW.”  I didn’t know she was a writer.  Vowell’s book is about her various road trips and pilgrimages to sites associated with the first 3 presidential assassinations – Lincoln, McKinley, and Garfield.  And it is glorious.

My favorite thing about Vowell is her enthusiasm for outright weird and macabre.  She’s such a cheerleader for the pieces of Lincoln’s skull, for example.  She loves a good plaque.  Her friends and family humorously tolerate her.  But she makes the weirdest connections, too.  Like Robert Todd Lincoln being the harbinger of presidential death, among other things.  It is delightful and easy to read (which is sometimes hard to achieve when writing history).  I laughed, I commiserated, I will now read everything Vowell has ever written.

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States is next on my list, I think.  Although The Partly Cloudy Patriot or Wordy Shipmates might also be contenders.

I feel so excited to have found Vowell, you have no idea.  I think this is the first time that I’ve sought out books by a certain writer of history and not by subject matter alone.  That’s a strong sign that you’ll probably like her too.  Basically, go read this right now if you have any interest in Lincoln, assassination, history, or hilarity.

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck (A book you never got to read in 2015)

Oh man.  I cannot say enough about this book and the way I just fell in love with it.  Head over heels.  I was a binge player of the Oregon Trail game all through my childhood.  Not just the 8-bit one you remember with the slightly pink oxen on the black screen.  I had the deluxe version where you had maps and things, a helpful guidebook, and could pick your destination: California, Oregon, or Salt Lake City.  I am a font of useless knowledge handy pieces of information like your wagon depth is 2 ½ feet, so don’t try and ford the river if it’s more than that.  Rush your people at first with high rations, and then even things out when they start to get sick and/or the food starts to run low (and both will happen).  Always take the Barlow Toll Road, because otherwise you’ll lose all your points (in belongings) when you inevitably capsize on the Columbia river.  If you go to Salt Lake, you get free ferry rides from the Mormons.

This book was nothing like playing the game, but it was still full of that unfettered feeling of newness.  It left me with a profound desire to buy a Schuyler Wagon, a team of mules, and set out on the trail myself.  Which is what Rinker buck and his brother Nick do, along with Nick’s adorable dog Olive Oyl.  But unlike Rinker and Nick, I have no experience driving a team (horses or mules), no carpentry or wagon repair skills, and would be afraid to drive through hell, high water, and thunderstorm to make the trip. They encounter all of the above, plus angsty ranchers, bad wagon-part suppliers, hills higher than they looked, frantic mules, freight trains barreling beside them, and an injury to Olive Oyl.

Mixed into the narrative of their modern trip are pioneer narratives and history of the trail, and also Rinker’s struggle to come to peace with his family legacy.  Not just his relationship Nick, but with his father who was both odd, sometimes distant, and yet still clearly loved them.

Head over heels, I say.  I didn’t want them to ever get to Oregon so I could keep journeying with them forever.  I’ve been in book hangover since finishing it a couple of days ago, unwilling to leave it behind and dive into something else.  It deserves all the praise it’s garnered and is better than the hype.  I’d even call it magical.  You should really go read it.

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Interterm Reading List, 2016

Posted on January 21, 2016 by caseykins

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I’m in a weird place with the seasonal reading list.  My other school was on semesters, and the students just got back.  That means it should be time for a winter interterm reading list, right?  But the new school I’m working at is on the quarter system and it’s all wonky.  The students are already back.  This means I’m all fouled up.

So… I will post the interterm list and then another when the quarter ends, I guess?  We’ll see.  I like using this system because it’s so easy to figure out when I should post things.  End of semester?  Do a book list.  Nice and simple.  We’ll just have to make it work on the quarter system.

Here are the books I’ve read so far this December/January:

  • Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish by Eloisa James – a little bit farciful for my tastes, but I felt a palpable relief at getting into James’ writing after having read such terrible Christmas books before this one. She knows what she’s doing, and she’s doing it the fun way.
  • A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh – I actually liked this one quite a bit. The premise was original and the family was hilarious.
  • Agathe von Trapp: Memories Before and After The Sound of Music by Agathe von Trapp – So fascinating. I love hearing about the lives of the von Trapps, and this one was from a very different perspective of the ones I’ve heard before.  Agathe remembers much more about their early childhood and there are amazing pictures. Way worth it if you’re a Sound of Music fan.
  • Daughter of Witches by Patricia C. Wrede – The character development was wishy-washy and it read like a D&D Campaign. Sometimes I don’t mind that with Wrede’s Lyra novels, but this time it bothered me a bit.  I think I would have appreciated it more if the story line and characters were stronger.  Still a solid book, though.  She writes well.
  • Much Ado About You by Eloisa James – Ah, and now we move onto romance novels with embarrassing names. Good book, though.  Interesting premise, I loved the relationship between all the sisters, and I couldn’t at first tell who the hero would be.  That’s a first for romance novels for me.
  • Kiss Me Anabelle by Eloisa James – Continuation of the 1st book, and still almost as good as ever although it does feature a stopover in a hovel that I think could have been skipped. Even though Anabelle is the heroine, Imogen sort of steals the show for a while.  I didn’t mind.
  • The Taming of the Duke by Eloisa James – Finally an Imogen novel, and it’s as amazing as you would think it would be. Also bonus points because you have no idea at first who she will get together with.  She’s such a spitfire.
  • Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James – I think that of the 4 Essex sisters, Josie is most like me. This book had lots of the fairy tale about it, too, so that was nice.  I think this one might have been my favorite of the 4.
  • Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay – I read Reay’s Dear Mr. Knightly last year and fell in love with her writing.  This one is just as compelling as you watch Lizzy and Jane figure out their relationship, watch Lizzy fall back in love with cooking, and get to care about all the other patients at the clinic.  It seemed more likely than Knightly, too.
  • Faking It by Elisa Lorello – Even if the writing wasn’t overly telling and the premise silly, I would have been mad at this book. It commits the carnal romance novel sin of not getting the guy and the girl together at the end.  She gets together with a different guy (who, while very nice, is NOT THE RIGHT GUY).  No, just no.
  • Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell – My new favorite author. (!!!) Vowell was the voice of The Incredibles’ Violet, and is obsessed with all things macabre American History. She’s hilarious, makes the greatest connections, and throws a ton of good history in for good measure.  I’ll be reading everything she’s ever written, please.
  • It’s Just a Jump to the Left by Libba Bray – I know it was a short story, but I’m not really sure what changed for the Leta between the first and the last except that she was left wholly alone at the end of it. Your understanding of her situation changed, but she didn’t.  Still a good read, with Bray’s amazing writing to pull you right in.
  • The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck – OH, so good.  I am an Oregon Trail junkie, have played the game a bazillion times, am a bit familiar with the history of it all, and have fallen in love with this book.  I desperately want to learn to drive a mule team and take them over the trail to Oregon.  Please say I can? Also, this has spawned much other reading.  I have Narcissa Whitman’s letters coming on Interlibrary Loan soon.
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A Reading Challenge

Posted on January 15, 2016 by caseykins

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Things have been a bit crazy here, so I’m sorry for the late post.  I’m leaving my job for a new one, and I have been insane wrapping things up, getting thank you letters written, and finishing the baby blanket for my now former boss (who is due in April).  I am excited for the new chapter of my life, though.  I’m sure I’ll write about that soon.

But in the mean time, I have some bookish goodness below.

I’ve decided to do a reading challenge this year in addition to reading 100 books.  There were a ton floating around on Tumblr, and I felt the longing to be participatory.  Besides, I read SO MUCH romance last year that it was really a travesty.  I usually branch out more than I did in 2015, and I think this challenge will get me reading in genres that I don’t automatically turn to.

After perusing all the ones available, I finally decided on this one from Stxry Books  http://www.stxrybooks.com/post/136388267660/stxrybooks-you-can-download-the.  It comes with a fancy printout version and everything, and also includes Poetry, Short Stories, and Graphic Novels – all of which I tend to avoid.

I’m also gonna do the thing where books don’t count for more than one category.  Like, I could put “The Diviners” in Book by a Female, Filled to the Rim with Magic, Scared to Read in the Dark, Involves a lot of Mystery, and Dark and Mysterious cover.  But I will only choose one for purposes of counting it under the challenge.

So here’s what I’ll be reading in 2016. There are only 31 of them, so I’ll still be able to read silly books to my heart’s content.  I’ll let you know how I do:

  • A book you bought long ago, but still haven’t read
  • A book with a character who is similar to you
  • A non-fiction book on something you’ve always wanted to know more about
  • A book by a female author (Lizzy and Jane, by Katherine Reay)
  • A book you never got to read in 2015
  • A book that will be a complete mindfuck
  • A book filled to the rim with magic (Daughter of Witches, Patricia C. Wrede)
  • A book you’re scared to read when it’s dark out
  • A book of which you liked the movie, but haven’t read the novel
  • A book that makes you want to visit the place it’s set
  • A book that’s on fire
  • A book that makes you want to be a villain
  • A classic you never made time for
  • A book that shows a different point of view
  • A book with short stories
  • A book that involves a lot of mystery
  • A book about a person who inspires you
  • A book that makes you want to be a hero
  • A graphic novel
  • A book of poetry
  • A book by an unfamiliar author (Assassination Vacation, by Sarah Vowel)
  • A book published in 2016
  • A book with a dark and mysterious cover
  • A book from a random recommendationalist
  • A book with a surprising love element
  • A book with lots of mystical creatures
  • A book that reminds you of another season
  • A book no one wants you to read
  • A book you own that is the most beautiful thing you’ve seen
  • A book that makes you a complete mess
  • A book you started but never finished
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News and Book Reviews: Christmas Romance

Posted on December 21, 2015 by caseykins

I had carefully crafted a thing on Romance Novels for Christmas that I wrote for today, but I got some AMAZING news last night that I want to share first.  Bewildering Stories has included my story in their “best of the quarter” list – the Quarterly Review.  I also received the Order of the Hot Potato.  Meaning that the honor of inclusion was hotly debated by the editors.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not, but I’m going with excitement that people are discussing my work.  🙂 Also, not bad for my first really published thing.

This was the nicest Christmas present.  Thanks, Bewildering Stories!

And now on to Christmas Romance:

Romance Ladies

I got it into my head that I wanted to read some Christmas Romance over the last few weeks.  The best part about this silly genre is that there are themed things all over the place. Christmas romance of the good kind is prolific if you’re just wanting a sweet falling in love story.  Isla and the Happily Ever After; Carry On; Landline; Dear Mr. Knightly; I could go on…

But what I wanted was a good ol’ Historical Romance Novel with all the tropes that are a part of that genre.  The hot men, the witty women, the tension, the manor houses, the Christmas decorations.  It turns out that this is a VERY hard thing to find.  There’s a lot of stuff out there, certainly, but I was having a hard time stumbling into the good stuff.  I read about a bazillion things, and I finally found some books that would keep my season steamy.  The list is below, so you don’t have to suffer through bad Christmas romance like I did.

I suppose I should also explain something.  I hate Novellas.  I know – blasphemy.  My former English professor would be aghast.  But the main reason I like romance novels is to live in another world for a while.  And “for a while” doesn’t tend to exist in novellas.  There are exceptions, of course, but they are few and far between.  So I also tried to avoid all short story collections and novella collections, although I didn’t do it completely.

Here is the list of what I read.  If you have any other suggestions, PLEASE send them along.

Buy Immediately:

Christmas Ladies: 3 Full-Length Holiday Regencies (Windham Series) by Grace Burrowes:  This is a collection of 3 Christmas novels that were all collected into one e-book.  They’re all full length (!!!) and very well done with plenty of Christmas goodness in with the romance goodness.  I LOVED the first one, and am in the middle of the second.  Best part is that they’re super-cheap right now.  You can’t beat the bargain, and the 3 novels will keep you occupied until Christmas comes at this point.

Worth it:

An Affair Before Christmas (Desperate Duchesses, Bk 2) by Eloisa James: I always love James’ stuff.  I don’t quite know why, but as soon as you delve into that first chapter you just know you’re in the hands of a master.  That was more evident to me after reading all the bad books before this one – it visibly felt like a relief to read the first paragraph.  The beginning of the book and the end are all the Christmas you could desire, but the rest of it takes place outside the season.  Still a fun romp and an excellent novel.

Mostly worth it:

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas: The story moved quickly and the ending felt too unfinished, but otherwise the book was excellent. Modern, so be warned.

A Wallflower Christmas (Wallflowers, Book 5) by Lisa Kleypas: I mean, it features the trope where the guy keeps going even after the girl has said no.  And it does it repeatedly.  But otherwise this book was excellent, with Christmas tree decorating, some Dickens, and a well done story line.

Under the Mistletoe (Signet Eclipse) by Mary Balogh: A collection of 5 novellas.  They’re all good, but I’m not really sure why they decided to put all of these together.  In a lot of cases, the stories are so similar that they sort of blended into one another for me without distinction.  I would read The Best Gift and Playing House, and then forget the other 3.

Not worth it:

A Christmas to Remember by Jenny Hale:  I found myself cringing so often at the writing, and at the main character’s attitude toward things.  Like, your life isn’t complete unless you can have children and that’s your only aim in life?  Give me a break, kid.  Interactions between her and the hero also felt awkward and forced a lot of the time.  I did finish it in short order, so that’s saying something about the story arc itself, I think.  But I would skip this one in favor of something less maddening. Also a modern tale.

All links are affiliate links.  Happy reading!!

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