Support Your Library Challenge

Join the challenge here.
Ends: December 31, 2012.
Challenge Level: Level 4 (37+).

1. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
2. The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister
3. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
4. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
5. The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Genre: General Fiction
Publisher, Year: Little Brown, 2002
Other Works: Lucky
Flags: Adult themes, tenuous references
Rating: A+, or Must Read Now!
Challenge: Countdown, Library
Premise: A young girl is murdered. She narrates the story, looking down from heaven on her family and friends as they cope with her loss.

I’ve been meaning to read this book for some time now, but I’ve been almost scared to pick it up, given the premise. I was afraid it would disturb me, in a Law and Order SVU–sort of way. Really, you can’t broach the subjects of rape and murder without disturbance, but I was impressed with Sebold’s take. She definitely pushed the envelope, but in a way that made life just that much more meaningful and precious. I still can’t stop thinking about it.

The book starts out with an introduction: “My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.” A sinking feeling of dread follows this proclamation, as we know when Mr. Harvey approaches Susie and asks her to follow him that she won’t be coming back. But, she knows it, too. As she relates the story, she tells us, in hindsight, what she should of done and how she should have acted, if only she’d known. It’s heartrending, it really is. And there’s nothing to be done to change it. Unfortunately, it won’t be the last time, as the reader, that you’ll feel the burn of regret. +/-

Susie finds herself in heaven after the tragic assault. She can’t help but look down on her family almost every moment, to see how they are coping and living their lives after her demise. They try to move on, to get past it, without forgetting Susie. But, Susie never gets any older, never says or does anything new--she’s simply a presence and lurks in the dark corners of their minds. It’s hard for Susie to watch and be able to do nothing--all while her killer runs free.

It’s a heart-pounding tale; one you will find yourself unable to put down or stop thinking about. Although this book centers around a terrible death, the story is really about life and family and loved ones. It’s about making connections with others. It’s about how sadness can break us, and then faith puts us back together. Those relationships are never quite the same, but they are significant because they were not easily formed--that’s what makes them lovely.

Pride of Baghdad by Brian Vaughan

Genre: Graphic novel
Publisher, Year: Vertigo, 2006
Illustrator: Nico Henrichon
Other Works: Ex Machina (BV), Fables (NC)
Flags: Adult themes, tenuous references
Rating: C-, or Major Problems
Challenge: Library
Premise: Lions escape from the zoo after the bombing of Baghdad.

I’m trying to read more graphic novels, and this one seemed promising. I'm sorry to report that this one did not go over as well as the first. Although the good has to be weighed with the bad. Unfortunately, it wasn’t all I was hoping for, and it left me scratching my head a little, wondering exactly what the author was really trying to do with this book.

Pride of Baghdad documents the adventures of a group of lions once they’ve been sprung from the zoo during the bombing of Baghdad. The group consists of a male, two of his ladies (one old, one young), and a little cub. Conflicts arise as they leave the smoldering heap that used to be their home and venture into the city. They have to find food and shelter, all while not quite understanding what has happened. In the end, the lions fail to find a better life. +/-

First, I have to say that Nico Henrichon's artwork in this book made it for me. I wish I could give the illustrations a different rating because, honestly, they were the best part for me. The facial expression of the lions was really wonderful, even their eyes were expressive. I still can remember those vivid red and orange colors splashing the pages. It made the events more tangible.

However, the writing for me was a little . . . strange. That’s really the only word I can think to describe it. Vaughan made his characters into such a bizarre mix of human and animal, that I wasn’t sure at all what he was trying to get at. He decided to include the idea of gang rape in the book, clearly not something found in the animal world (at least to my understanding), and yet, there’s another scene of “lion sexuality” that seems distinctly animalistic in nature. Honestly, both seemed rather extraneous to me. In another part of the book, the lions pontificate over whether they should eat an obviously dead human being, but then leave an entire bear carcass to rot, because they want that particular individual to “suffer.” Are they driven by hunger, or not?

The book is obviously a thinly-veiled metaphor of the Iraq war, but I found the characters confusing. And the moral-driven plot becomes so abundantly clear in the end, it kind of made me gag. I mean, really? Is the Iraq conflict so cut and dry? I don’t know, maybe I just didn’t get it, but this one just didn’t do it for me.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Genre: Young adult, fantasy
Publisher, Year: Scholastic, 2008
Other Works: Catching Fire
Flags: Teen angst, adult themes
Rating: A+, or Must Read Now!
Challenge: Library, Countdown
Premise: A new government controls what used to be North America and holds the Hunger Games, a gladiator-style, to the death fight between competitors, as punishments for the districts' rebellion. Each year, families are forced to send one teenage boy and girl to the games and watch them die on television.

In my opinion, this book is worth all the hype and attention its received and then some. It’s an easy and fast read, but the topics and issues it discusses are deeply relevant and probing.

Katniss Everdeen lives in District 12, a part of the new government of a war-torn North America Panem. Because of the districts’ failed rebellion, as a constant reminder of their weakness and total lack of control, the government invented the Hunger Games. A Roman gladiator–style, pseudo reality TV program, where “tributes” (two teenagers from each district selected at random) are forced into an “arena” (some destitute place, rigged with manipulatable traps and cameras) where they fight to the death until one person is left standing. When Katniss’s sister, Prim, is called to step forward and join the games, her protective nature forces Katniss to volunteer to take Prim’s place. She, along with Peeta, her companion male tribute, makes her way to the Capitol to fight for her life. +/-

Like everyone else on the planet, I instantly fell in love with this book. It’s a heart-pounding tale from beginning to end. Katniss is a strong and powerful heroine, flanked by a stellar cast of supporting characters, from her loyal co-tribute Peeta to her hunting companion Gale to her unlikely friend Rue. She is a woman who knows how to take care of herself, having grown into the leadership role of her family after her father’s sudden death, her mother completely incapacitated with grief and her little sister too young and frail to fight. She enters the arena with important skills: knowledge of edible plants, successful hunting techniques, and living on very little. These things make her strong, but the limits of that strength will be tested to a breaking point.

Throughout the story I just kept turning over in my head why the tributes couldn’t just refuse to participate. How come they couldn’t just ban together and find a way to keep alive until the audience would tire of the game? This book answers that question in lots of ways; it’s almost like an experiment of force and control. The whole point of the games is the psychologically manipulate an entire population of people by demonstrating their ability not only to kill them, but also to convince them to kill each other.

And the reality TV aspect cannot be overlooked. After putting this book down, it really made me rethink the reasons why I like the shows I do. I’ll never look at The Biggest Loser the same. In so many ways these shows are rigged for drama, because that’s what we love to see. We want to witness shouting and fighting and people losing control. Perhaps we haven’t gone so far as fighting to the death—but could we really rule that out as a possibility?

I quickly set out for the second book in the series, and it will be a trilogy when all is said and done. I also think this book has great potential for a prequel at some time. We know there’s been a war and that this civilization is the result of it, but we really are given very few details, especially about a mysterious District 13, which was completely eradicated during the rebellion by the Capitol. I would love to get more back history on this place. Hopefully, the author might consider it. =)

I think this book has been placed in the correct categorization, being young adult, but it’s a really great story for any age, and adults can learn just as much from it as teenagers. If you haven’t read it yet, amend your ways! A really great read.

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

Genre: Young adult (historical/fantasy)
Publisher, Year: Random House, 2003
Other Works: Rebel Angels, The Restless Dead
Flags: Teen angst, tenuous references
Rating: B+, or Mostly Good
Challenge: Library, Countdown
Premise: A teenage girl discovers she has magic powers. She and her friends find that although these powers are great and exciting, there is also an unfortunate side effect--a dangerous creature out to capture that power.

Another pick for the Countdown Challenge, I'd been meaning to pick up something by Libba Bray for awhile, having heard great things about her. I have to say that I enjoyed the read, but I was not blown away.

Gemma desperately wants to go to London. When her mother tragically dies, she gets her chance, and her life is suddenly and forever altered. Then, she notices an odd change taking place--as magic touches her life in the form of visions. Now she's on a hunt to get down to the bottom of these mysterious happenings, all while trying to fit in at her new rigidly Victorian private school. +/-

I enjoyed Bray's writing style. She weaves together a wonderful tapestry of color and sound. The ambiance in this book is very haunting--read with a flashlight under the covers. I also enjoyed the cast of characters for the most part: Kartik, the protective and darkly handsome foreigner; Gemma and her fiery red hair; Brigid, the quirky, loose-lipped maid. Bray also does an excellent job recreating a believable, yet mysterious, Victorian private school--complete with strict headmaster and corsets that pinch.

However, I didn't feel like I could become completely invested in the story. I found the fantastical world a bit beyond my suspension of disbelief. I could not get carried away in it the way I would have wanted. I never did quite understand what it was exactly that was after the girls, although I knew the creature's name. And I could not get a handle on whether Gemma's family were for or against her. That brings me to the interesting little gaggle of girls who Gemma calls her "friends" in the book. Major flashbacks of Rachel McAdams's "Mean Girls" attitude in this book. Although Gemma's three friends--Felicity, Pippa, and Ann--are pitiable, I could not find it my heart to sympathize. Felicity most of all, with her strange outbursts and wild accusations. But I suppose it's really not far off from what teenage girls do in school to one another--the pecking order becoming apparent. All the same, I still found it tiresome.

Minus the faults, I do think Ms. Bray is quite a talent. I did enjoy her brand of language and style. It would be remiss not to seek out another of her novels and give her a second chance.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Genre: Graphic novel (memoir)
Publisher, Year: Pantheon Books, 2003
Other Works: Persepolis 2
Flags: Adult themes (violence), moderate language
Rating: A+, or Must Read Now!
Challenge: Library
Premise: A young girl lives in a turbulent world of war-torn Iran.

Another suggestion from Book on the Nightstand, I thoroughly enjoyed Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. And I believe this is the very first graphic novel I’ve ever read or reviewed! And I’m happy to report that it was a positive experience.

Persepolis chronicles the goings-on of a young girl in a turbulent country. The book covers the overthrow of the Shah, the Iranian revolution, and then eventually the war with Iraq. The reader gets a peek inside the life of a well-off family at the time and how events changed their lives and shaped their future, all through the eyes of a child. Marjane sees the protesting and rioting, the institution of the veil, the outlaw of Western influences, and eventually, the bombing of her hometown. +/-

What I loved about this book was how each event made sense to me as what a child would remember about their life. Even though she was experiencing things no child should have to, the things she remembers, down to little details, match her age, and I think it gives the work a real credibility. Not only that, but gives us the opportunity to see something like this from a new, real angle--which always provides enlightenment. At the same time, this book is clearly for adults, not kids.

I also really enjoyed the illustrations. I think this book is a perfect example of what a graphic novel should accomplish. The pictures were straight forward and simple (matching our narrator’s point-of-view) but imparted a well-rounded story that wouldn’t have been as developed with just words. This is such an interesting way to write a biography. Even though it is short and easy to read, I’m sure it took endless hours to whittle the story down to such concise perfection.

I found it an easy read, engaging, and interesting. It made me laugh, made me uncomfortable, and made me cry. I’m eager to read the second installment.

As a side note, Persepolis was made into a motion picture (French), and I am very interested to see it if I can track it down. They actually animated the original graphics, at which I was surprised and delighted. It looks amazing. Check out the website for the movie here.

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

Genre: Mystery, historical bent
Publisher, Year: Mira, 2007
Other Works: Silent in the Sanctuary
Flags: Adult themes, tenuous references
Rating: B, or Decent
Challenges: Countdown, Library
Premise: Lady Julia Grey employs the mysterious Brisbane to find her husband's murderer.

It wasn’t love at first sight with this book, for me. I was very intrigued by the opening chapters, and I was looking forward to a delicious mystery. Although I think Raybourn is a skilled writer, I’m not totally sure mystery is the right genre for her.

The novel opens with the death, in wonderful mystery fashion, of Lady Julia Grey’s husband Edward. A man of sickly constitution, no one is surprised that he’s met an early end—except for one man, Nicholas Brisbane, who claims to have been hired by Edward to investigate chilling death threats. Lady Grey finally comes to put stock in Brisbane’s story when she finds her own piece of evidence to confirm suspicions. And then, the race is on to find the killer! +/-

First of all, I loved her descriptions! Raybourn knows how to paint a picture with words. I could literally see the dresses and hats as she described them in my mind’s eye, which I think she quite a feat--taking into account that it’s hard to do anyway, but the complicated fashion of the period only made it that much more of a challenge. Julia has a wonderfully strange family who surround her. The bickering, the snobbery, the bizarre characters--I really thought it was a nice backdrop. I liked Brisbane, or maybe I wanted to like him--there was something wonderfully Healthcliff-esque about him. But at the same time, he was so brusque that those few tender moments didn’t seem to fit his character.

There was no lack of twists in this story, but I’m sorry to say that in this case I didn’t find it to be a good thing. I felt like these “shocking” moments started to become contrived and predictable . . . to the rolling of the eyes. But, there were redeeming qualities of that as well. Raybourn calls into question our assumptions about certain characters with these revelations. There’s nothing quite so unsettling as finding out that someone you thought you knew well is actually someone else altogether. I haven’t had this experience much, but enough to understand those feelings of betrayal and disloyalty, not to mention that it makes you question a lot of things about yourself and your life as well. We, as the readers, are forced to reconcile what we know of conflicting reports, and then try to figure out true identities. It gave a nice dimension to the story.

This book was slow moving for me. It was not hard at all for me to put this book down, not even when on the verge of another of Julia’s scandalous discoveries. This book did not have the heart-pounding twists that I’m used to and that I also adore. There were things I didn’t like about the book, but it wasn’t all bad. Anyone who enjoys Victorian-period lit I think would quite enjoy this book. For me, it just wasn’t a homerun.

The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

Genre: Fiction, mixed with fantasy
Publisher, Year: Doubleday, 2008
Other Works: Debut novel
Flags: Moderate language, adult themes, explicit references
Rating: A-, or Good w/ Minor Problems
Challenge: Countdown, Library
Premise: A young, handsome man drives off a cliff in a drug-induced hysteria. While in the hospital recovering from major burn wounds, he meets an charismatic and slightly off-kilter woman who claims she was his lover in another life.

I’m really at a loss as to what to say about this book. It’s vastly different from any other book I’ve read before. I picked it up on the recommendation of Ann of Books on the Nightstand, whose opinion I like to take when I’m in the mood for something different or edgy. This books satisfied both criteria.

The Gargoyle is narrated by a man who careens off the side of a cliff and finds himself in the middle of a horrendous car fire, which destroys much of his body. As he recovers, a mysterious young woman begins visiting him and telling him stories about 14th century Germany. The only catch is, she believes he is a character from her story, that they met and fell in love in a medieval monastery, and she’s been waiting for him to come back for seven hundred years. +/-

There is a stark contrast that comes to the forefront during the book, and I’m still contemplating its significance. Before the accident, the narrator was a pornographer, so his livelihood depended upon his sexuality. Not only as a profession, we learn, but for sport as well; meaning, his entire life revolved around sex—like someone with an all-consuming hobby, such as an unhealthy obsession with Star Wars or hobbits. Sex was his hobby, his profession, what he spent all his work and free time doing. However, after the accident, he is no longer capable of those things. Not only is his physical appearance considerably altered, but he has also suffered damage to essential organs for such a profession. Thus, his entire world has been taken away from him. Part of his discovery is thus tied up in how he is changed in the aftermath of the fire--how he is reborn. He has to find new things to live for, and it’s not an easy task. He feels the burning of intense desire without the physical ability to act on that feeling. In his struggle, he also feels a little seed of love take root in his heart.

The mysterious woman, Marianne Engel, becomes his self-appointed teacher. She reveals to him, in parts, a history he can’t remember. He finds out that his latest accident is not the first time he’s been burned, that his heart is ready to remember things he’s felt in past years, a past life. She teaches him through short parable-type stories: a girl in Japan, a Viking in Iceland, an Italian couple, and a husband lost at sea. Each of these stories are wildly creative and tragic, too. Marianne also has a close relationship with religion and God. She believes she has a calling from God to carve gargoyles--to release ugly monster from stone and give them a heart from her own chest. She takes it upon herself to rehabilitate the narrator from the prison he’s created of his heart. Marianne reads to him from Dante’s Inferno, which takes on special significance. The narrator believes his burns present a punishment for his way of life, but it seems also to take on the form of a type of cleansing, a healing power to the pain he ran away from.

I found the writing style to be rather scattered, and it was a slow read for me, not because it didn’t hold my interest, but because of the density of the plot and helter-skelter timeline. For me, it was a necessity to read the book in chunks, so I could toss each episode around in my brain and digest it fully before moving on. By the end, I couldn’t go back and pick out certain parts that made more sense because of the final revelations, but rather, it was like all the events felt like memories, and they converged to create an entirely unique experience. That’s not something you find often, and what was really brilliant about it was that it wasn’t hard. The text was nice and smoothly pressed. It rolled right off the tongue (in my mind’s inner “reading voice”).

Although it’s not one I would have ever picked up on my own, I really liked this book. And it can creep up on you the way some books do--a few chapters in, I wasn’t blown away. But somehow I found myself very involved without realizing it. It’s not for the faint of heart, I will say that. Our nameless narrator had a difficult and painful childhood. He’s also an ex-porn star and is hopped up on drugs when he takes that fateful tumble--not to mention the excruciating descriptions of his accident, injuries, and recovery. And the subject matter can be sometimes disturbing and graphic. Normally some of these things would have turned me off the book, but this time was different, and I can’t exactly put my finger on why. I don’t think this book is for everyone, but I’m glad it was for me.

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Genre: Young adult (fantasy)
Publisher, Year: Bloomsbury, 2007
Other Works: The Goose Girl, Austenland
Rating: A or Great Read
Challenge: Fairy Tales, Library
Premise: Dashti, a young lady's maid, is locked away in a tower with her mistress for seven years. But when hunger and outside dangers threaten their safety, Dashti must find a way to survive.

With this book, I am officially in love with Shannon Hale--platonically of course. =) I can’t exaggerate with her books. This is the third one I’ve read, and it once again exceeded my expectations: the lyrical language, sweeping descriptions, lively characters. I just can’t get enough.

This one is yet another fairy tale re-telling, since I have a really hard time getting away from those lately. They are just too much fun. The fairy tale Hale wrote about in this book is a rather obscure one called Maid Maleen. So, it was in effect like reading a regular novel in some ways because I wasn’t at all familiar with the fairy tale, but it still had all those great qualities that fairy tales have: intrigue, mistaken identity, adventure, and, of course, getting the girl. +/-

Dashti is a lady’s maid and a mucker, she knows how to sing away pain. She works for a princess, Saren, who has been sentenced to be imprisoned in a tower for seven years because she wouldn’t marry the man her father picked for her, the evil Lord Khasar. Saren is a shrinking violet and becomes more reclusive from this cruel treatment. It is up to Dashti, who will also be imprisoned with her lady, to take care of Saren and, eventually, to find a way out. Once the two girls have broken free, however, their elation comes crashing down when they find the world they left has changed beyond recognition.

Hale’s created another cast of unforgettable characters. Dashti is a sweet and accepting girl; she tries to do the right thing though her life is full of conflict, to which her culture gives no right answer. And the adoration induced by Tegus, a khan with a cool smile and simple laugh, is matched by the opposite feeling in Lord Khasar. Hale takes the reader to the brink, showing how the devotion, integrity, and courage of one woman can become a tipping point. Overall a winner in my estimation: compelling story, memorable characters, and a dash of mystery. A great page-turner.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

Genre: General fiction (historical slant)
Publisher, Year: Riverhead, 2007
Other Works: The Kite Runner
Flags: Adult themes, tenuous references
Rating: A+ or Must Read Now!
Challenge: Countdown, Library
Premise: Two Afghan women a generation apart find their paths converge in war-torn Kabul. Together they find strength to face the cruelty of unjust government.

I loved The Kite Runner when I read it a few years ago, although I regret to say for which I have never written a review. I would have thought it difficult to follow up such a book with another of equal significanc--but it seems an easy task for Hosseini. This book usurped my attention for about a day and half. Yes, folks, that’s how long it took me to read A Thousand Splendid Suns simply because I could not, I did in fact lose my ability to, put this book down. Besides eating and sleeping, I could think of nothing else. Don’t start reading this beauty until you’ve got the time to devote your full attention, well, unless you are a masochist, because I promise you, once you start, it will take an enormous amount of self restraint to stop. (Indeed, I found it impossible.)

Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man. Because of the shame of her birth, she is hidden away with her mother, who had been a maid in his house, in a small shack in the hills. She dreams of living with a big family and of going to school with her brothers and sisters who she will never get to know. +/-

One day, she gets the nerve to visit her father at his rich estate. Mariam could not imagine how one simple act would change the course of her life forever. Laila is an unique girl, marked for beauty by her unusually light hair and her quick and clever intelligence. She has a bright future and people who love her, although her life is not without its sorrows. But, when war comes and the turbulence of a country in chaos takes its toll, Laila will find herself in an impossible situation, with only one choice ahea--one that will take everything she has to give, and more.

This story is one about courage. The courage of women at a desperate and hopeless time. This book has enlightened me with an entirely new understanding of the word oppression. Ruled over by tyrannical husbands and then by an even more strict Taliban, the courage and endurance of the women of Afghanistan are portrayed through Mariam and Laila, two of the strongest characters I believe I have ever read.

War--it seems there are so many books written based on that topic. It is infuriating to read how the power of a few can wreak the utter destruction of so many. It seems so petty, so juvenile--like a few kindergarteners fighting over the blue crayon or who gets to be first in line at the drinking fountain. But, I have to say, whatever gross crimes were inflicted--and they were just that, not to be marginalized--they paled in comparison with what the Taliban can do. The Taliban took that Little Rascals saying, “Boys rule and girls drool,” to whole new heights. Heights I didn’t even deem possible--that such things could happen, it’s just beyond me.

Incredible, incredible book and not one to be missed. What a beautiful tribute Hosseini has paid with this work. Every paragraph testifies of the author’s respect and devotion toward his chosen subject. In such a time, in the face of all that they were made to bear, these women survived. They found a way to weather the endless night, until the sunrise--until a thousand splendid suns could warm them and bring light to their lives again.

The Hollow Kingdom by Clare Dunkle

Genre: Young adult fantasy
Publisher, Year: Henry Holt, 2003
Other Works: Hollow Kingdom Trilogy, The Sky Inside
Flags: Teen angst
Rating: B or Decent
Challenge: Reliquiae, Countdown, Library
Premise: A beautiful young girl finds herself the object of desire of a grotesque underworld goblin.


I think this is the first book that I’ve read that I could call a true fantasy. (Well, besides the Star Wars book I read.) And I have to say that I quite liked it--although I’ve come to realize that this sort of fantasy may just not be my thing. In other words, I’m not moving on with the rest of the trilogy; however, I think it’s completely conceivable for those whose boats were floated with this tale would be itching for the next installment.

Kate and her little sister Emily, both their parents having passed away, move to the estate that was left in their mother’s name. Their cousin lives there and two of their great aunts nearby. Unfortunately, the cousin is not all too taken with the girls, so they live happily in a small house with their elderly, but feisty, aunts. Kate loves the fresh air, the rolling hills, and the open sky of her new home, and she and her sister spend many hours outdoors, even until nightfall. +/-

One evening, they get lost walking home, and end up running into an unlikely band of people, a gypsy woman and some hooded figures, to ask for help. One of the hooded men, Marak, kindly offers to take the girls home, and although Emily is taken with him right away even without seeing his face, Kate is mistrusting. As they arrive, Kate is finally allowed to see the stranger’s hidden visage, which will set in motion a series of events that she cannot escape.

I really enjoyed the setting Dunkle created of underworld creatures, magical powers, and the mixing of reality and superstition. Although I found a few of the themes unsettling for young women, complete with kidnappings. I guess I would hope for a stronger female heroine, although I think Dunkle did try to alleviate these problems with something different in Kate. She is definitely a live wire, but I suppose I was hoping for a little bit more. I enjoyed the first two sections (Starlight and Lamplight, particularly the latter) much more than the last (Darkness). That last section I felt deviated from the main focus and rhythm of the story, to sort of make it more adventurous and introduce more problems to be solved. I think I would have been satisfied with the first two sections on their own.

Overall, I have to say, even though I’m not terribly interested to move on to the next book in the series, that it definitely had a "can't put down" quality, and it seemed that I couldn't read the book fast enough. I'd say if your tastes run toward fantasy, this one will be a slam dunk for you.

A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce

Genre: Young adult/fantasy (fairy tale)
Publisher, Year: Arthur A. Levine, 2008
Other Works: Debut novel
Rating: A+ or Must Read Now!
Challenge: Reliquiae, Count, Tales, Library
Premise: The miller's daugther finds herself in a pickle, based on the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin.

I am finding that I’m a real sucker for fairy tale retellings. There is just something about them! I haven’t met a bad one yet. I hope I never do. Elizabeth Bunce’s debut novel was no exception, based off of the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin. Beautifully written, excellent story, creatively crafted. Loved it.

Charlotte is the miller’s daughter. Stirwaters mill has been in Charlotte’s family for generations—although never passed from father to son. There’s a dark cloud that hangs over the business, which only thickens as Charlotte’s father dies and she and her sister, Rosie, are left to try to run the mill alone. Problems keep cropping up: between bad weather and family obligation to machinery repairs and debt collection, Charlotte finds herself hard pressed for solutions. In the superstitious 18th century country town, the sisters happen upon a mysterious and unlikely answer to their problems, and they have to decide what they are willing to pay to save their livelihood. +/-

I was drawn into this story from the first page. Stirwaters is a spooky, yet comfortable place, and I came to love it as much as the Millers. The whole town of Shearing, where Charlotte and Rosie live, comes alive with skillfully written, colorful characters. Uncle Wheeler, Mr. Woodstone, Biddy Tom, and the most unforgettable character of Jack Spinner, round out the cast. You’d think in a novel like this one where you know the main storyline from beginning to end, that it would be hard for an author to bring such a fresh and interesting look to it! But, the book was still somehow full of moments of mystery, intrigue, and surprise.

The author very deftly described the “mill” life, acquiring wool, spinning it into thread, weaving it into cloth, and dying it to make valuable fabric. The whole process really captivated my interest. She breathed new life into this topic, making me wish I could take another trip to Lowell, Massachusetts, where they have textile museums as the trade spread to the United States. There’s nothing that can make a time period come alive like a well-written and -researched historical novel--this one happens to be both.

This book is part historical fiction, part fairy tale retelling, part fantasy. It’ll capture your attention and imagination. I’m definitely looking forward to what else Ms. Bunce may have up her sleeve.

Support Your Library Challenge

Join the challenge here.
Ends: December 31, 2010
Challenge level: Just My Size
Challenge: To check out (and read) 50 books from my local library.

I am lucky enough to have an awesome library extremely close to my place of residence. We'll be moving soon, and I've already begun scoping out my next book-borrowing options. And they seem promising. I hope I won't cry when we move. I love that dang library . . . like a dog loves to run.

So, here's my way of committing to learn to love that new library as much as the old one. =)

1. The Hollow Kingdom by Clare Dunkle - 1.15.10
2. A Curse Dark as Gold by Elizabeth Bunce - 1.12.10
3. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
4. The Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale - 2.4.10
5. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls - 3.15.10
6. The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson - 3.19.10
7. Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn - 3.18.10
8. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi - 3.22.10
9. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - 4.3.10
10. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
11. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray - 4.1.10
12. Looking for Alaska by John Green
13. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold - 4.13.10
14. This Rough Magic by Mary Stewart
15. Dead Until Dark
16. Pride of Baghdad by Brian Vaughan - 4.3.10

To come:
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens