Friday 30 November 2012

Book Beginnings on Fridays and The Friday 56



Rose City Reader hosts this meme every week for those of us too tired by Friday night to write a lengthy review!
Simply share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.


Freda's Voice hosts The Friday 56 meme.

Friday 56 goes with Book Beginnings like cheese and crackers, ice-cream and milo or tequila and lime!

Simply go to page 56 of the book you are reading and give us a taster.














This week's book is 'The Peculiar' by Stefan Bachmann.

Book Beginning:

Feathers fell from the sky.
Like black snow, they drifted onto an old city called Bath. They whirled down the roofs, gathered in the corners of the alleys, and turned everything dark and silent, like a winter's day.

Page 56:

It wouldn't do any good to cry. Bartholomew ran his hand over his nose. A crying thief would still be hanged. He looked down at the markings all around him and tried to think.

There has been a lot of hype about the age of this author (18), his unique voice, the beautiful poetic language, the curious creatures and the clever combining of steampunk and fantasy.

The cover is very striking, with eye-catching quotes/recommendations from Rick Riordan and Christopher Paolini.

I'm intrigued to find out for myself what all the fuss is about.

Monday 26 November 2012

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

During my early 20's I read several Dickens and loved them in a melancholy kind of way.

They were such big, epic reads about the trials and trubulations of nineteenth century England & France that I've found it hard since then to justify the time to read something that would ultimately make me feel blue!

On joining the Classics Club though, I couldn't help but notice the amount of love, love, love floating around for Bleak House. I wanted to have a Dickens on my list that wouldn't be a wrist-slitter and Bleak House seemed like the logical choice.

I'm so glad I did.

Bleak House is the complete opposite of it's name. With it's huge cast of memorable, likeable characters, Bleak House is a glorious read from start to finish.

There were times that I felt an editor might have been a good thing to have around. But Dickens wrote most of his work, one chapter at a time, as a serial for the newspapers. Each chapter was designed to stand alone, be a certain length and to leave the reader wanting more. (Bleak House was serialised from March 1852 to September 1853.)

Initially I thought that Bleak House was going to be a Jane Eyre type story with orphan Esther's sad, bleak upbringing and removal to boarding school. But there were soon so many characters, seemingly unconnected that I lost all ideas of where I thought the story might be heading!

Was it a courtroom, legal drama?

Was it a family dynasty saga?

Was it a murder mystery full of betrayal and lies?

Was it a social commentary on the life and times of Dickens?

Was it an epic tale about love, kindness and tolerance across ages, genders and classes?

In the end, it was all of these things and more.

One of the wonderful things about Dickens is his ability to wrap up the story and tie off all the loose ends.

Not everyone gets to live happily ever after in Bleak House, but Dickens gives us a final chapter or two where we discover the fate of all the people we've come to know so well.
It's very satisfying to have such a complete picture of their lives.

For anyone a little shy of reading Dickens for fear of it being too heavy, or too bleak or too Dickensian, then Bleak House is the one to try.

My edition of Bleak House had copies of the original etchings by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne).

Phiz worked closely with Dickens for over 20 years. The illustrations usually focused on the humorous elements of each chapter. If you payed close attention to the background detail it was possible to find extra elements that enhanced the story.

I saved that little snippet of information for last, because if you're like me, you have now disappeared from view, to hunt out your edition of Bleak House to scan all the illustrations once more!!

Happy Reading




Monday 19 November 2012

The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

I'm not sure what I can say about this classic story of love and selfishness, generosity and greed, neediness and co-dependency that hasn't already been said a thousand times.

I guess all I can do is share my own responses to this book.

The Giving Tree was first published in 1964.

Right from the start it created controversy and a love/hate relationship amongst it's readers.

The first time I read this book I almost sobbed out loud. I was an adult; a preschool teacher wondering if this was a book I could read aloud with my classes.

The page that still gets me, even now after multiple rereadings, is when the boy takes away the tree's trunk
"And the tree was happy...but not really."

The end always surprises me after that.

I always expect some growth or change in the characters.

Instead the book ends as it starts...with a tree that loves a little boy (and who would do anything for him).......

and a boy who loves the tree very much (with the expectation that the tree will always be there for him no matter what).

I was curious to see the many reviews referring to the environmental message of the book. In 18 years of teaching, not one child ever talked about the environment. It was always about the relationships.

Curiously many of the five year olds I taught felt sympathy for the tree. (I say curiously because so many of the reviews talk about the fear they have that children see themselves as the boy).

My classes were usually horrified that the boy had taken everything from her. 
One insightful comment mentioned that the old man was still the boy - he looked like an old man but he was still just a boy. 
Many of my classes told me that the boy was mean. 

But invariably, the children who asked to be read the book over and over again were the children with mother issues.

Mothers who were distant, difficult, dead, deserted or drugged. It was like they were seeking comfort in the all-giving, all-nurturing, unconditional love of the tree even as they knew that that kind of relationship was impossible, unrealistic and unhealthy.

For me this book is a classic.

It's timeless; it speaks to people across all ages, gender and backgrounds; it creates strong feelings; it deals with big issues - personal issues that cause people to stop and reflect on their own lives, opinions and beliefs and it is beautifully written.

I've linked this post to ...off on my tangent's...Alphabe-Thursday meme.



Sunday 18 November 2012

All Fall Down by Sally Nicholls

All Fall Down is a heart-breakingly sad story, beautifully written and crafted.

It tells the story of a small village in the north of England in the 1300's through 14 year old Isabel's eyes.

The Black Death is coming closer and closer to their little village.

Rumours are spreading like wildfire. Anxiety and tension increase as people become suspicious of strangers.

And slowly, inevitably, people begin to sicken and die.

The second half of the story lacked some of the tension of the first half (or perhaps I was just starting to feel numb, like Isabel, from all the death and sadness).

The plot device used to get to the chldren to York also felt rather flimsy.

The story is full of historical facts about medieval life, superstitions and beliefs, woven in seamlessly so that you don't even realise that you're getting a history lesson!
 
Nicholls avoids using the medieval dialogue of the time but talks about the different accents of her characters and uses many words common to that period.

All Fall Down is a strong story for teen readers who are tired of vampires and other paranormal beings!

The Black Death is the original apocalyptic story. Half of Europe dead within a short period of time. Who will survive and how will they survive this disaster?


Friday 16 November 2012

Book Beginnings on Fridays and the Friday 56


Rose City Reader hosts Book Beginnings on Fridays every week for those of us too tired by Friday night to write a lengthy review!

Simply share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.


Freda's Voice hosts The Friday 56 meme.

Friday 56 goes with Book Beginnings like cheese and crackers, ice-cream and milo or tequila and lime!

Simply go to page 56 of the book you are reading and give us a taster.


This week's book is designed to tick many of my boxes. Historical fiction (tick), strong female protagonist (tick), disaster (tick), family drama (tick).

Fingers crossed xxxxxxxxxxx

All Fall down by Sally Nicholls

The beginning:

'I buried with my own hands five of my children in a single grave...No bells. No tears. This is the end of the world. Angola di Turu 1348.'

The year I turned thirteen, it rained every day from Midsummer to Christmastide.

Page 56:

"I don't know how I'd live!" says Robin. "Maybe I wouldn't. But it would be better than staying here, wouldn't it?"
I'm silent. Alice wanted to leave, I know. But every part of me screams that if we leave our land, if we leave our fields, it wouldn't matter if we survived the pestilence. We'd have stopped being ourselves already.



Friday 9 November 2012

Book Beginnings on Friday & The Friday 56


Rose City Reader hosts this meme every week for those of us too tired by Friday night to write a lengthy review!

Simply share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.


Freda's Voice hosts The Friday 56 meme.

Friday 56 goes with Book Beginnings like cheese and crackers, ice-cream and milo or tequila and lime!

Simply go to page 56 of the book you are reading and give us a taster.


This week I'm reading 'Montebello: A Memoir' by Australian author Robert Drewe.

The beginning:
"It was that fabled occasion, a dark and stormy night, the sea just a blacker inked line in the distance, and I was lying in bed in the deep gloom of 3 am, singing Blueberry Hill in my Fats Domino voice."

Page 56:
"Not so long ago, from 1954 to 1962, whale watchers were those who came to see the humpback whales being winched ashore and sliced up. Whaling was Byron Bay's first tourism experience."

I loved 'Shark Net', Drewe's previous memoir based on his childhood in Western Australia.

His descriptions of time, place and culture were so spot on that I felt like I had lived his childhood. And of course, in one way I did. Although a decade younger than Drewe, the things he remembered, the way life was in Australia back then was the same for many of us.

I have high hopes for Montebello, the sequel to Shark Net. It would seem that some of this story will be set in NSW - judging by the two quotes above. And it looks like I can expect and enjoy more of his observations on the geography, the history and the culture of growing up in Australia.

Happy face!

Monday 5 November 2012

The Ship Kings #2 The Voyage of the Unquiet Ice by Andrew McGahan

I loved Book #1 'The Coming of the Whirlpool'.

And I love, love, love Book #2 'The Voyage of the Unquiet.'

It's as simple as that!

It's beautifully written and constructed.
It deals with the big themes of identity, belonging and coming of age stuff.
Dow Amber is a believable, likeable hero.
The world of the Ship Kings is so well-drawn that even someone as visually unimaginative as myself can see what Dow sees.

I can't wait for McGahan to write the next two books in this series - The War of the Four Isles and The Ocean of the Dead (check out his blog here).

This is a sea-faring, adventure series designed for teens, but accessible to any age and gender. The nautical language is technical but understandable and kept to a minimum.

McGahan is an award winning Australian author whose foray into teen fiction is a stand out success. I cannot recommend this series to you highly enough.

Stop what you're doing and find yourself a copy of these two books - now!