The Night Country

Finished November 11

The Night Country by Melissa Albert

This is the second book in the Hazel Wood series, and continues the story of Alice Prosperpine as she navigates her life in the human world, yet finds herself getting drawn back into the world of the Hinterland creatures who have, like her, escaped their stories. It also continues the story of Ellery Finch, the human boy, now man, who noticed Alice and helped her in her escape from her fairy tale. Elsa, Alice's mother also appears more prominently here and we get a better sense of her as a person. She was the one who took Alice from Hinterland to begin with and set the path to giving Alice a life that she chooses rather than just plays a part in. In Hinterland, Alice was Alice Three Times and we see glimpses of her story again here. 

The Hinterland has been in the process of dying due to the actions of Alice, Elsa, and Ellery, and the Spinner of stories there has some understandable resentment against them. Alice's fellow creatures have more prominence here as well, and we get to know some them like Sophia Snow more closely. 

As Ellery journey's through other worlds with a strange companion, he also yearns for Alice, finding a unique way to stay connected to her in the meantime. 

I enjoyed this sequel and how it continued the development of the two main characters. I also like the fantasy elements that Melissa Albert brings in, both the expected and the unexpected. 

This is supposed to complete the series, but I can't help but be interested in where Ellery and Alice will go next. 

Smoke and Mirrors

Finished April 12

Smoke and Mirrors by Elly Griffiths

This is the second book in the series featuring magician Max Mephisto and police detective Edgar Stephens. This book is set in 1951 in Brighton. It is in November that the book begins, and Max is in a pantomime at the local theatre. Two tween-age children go missing from a local neighbourhood, and Edgar is involved in the search. But soon a winter storm moves in and the snow makes the search more difficult. When the bodies of the children are discovered a few days later, they are found under the snow with pieces of candy leading to them like a trail. 

It makes Edgar and his team Emma and Bob think of Hansel and Gretel, and when it turns out that the two were putting on a play using younger children as actors that is reminiscent of the fairy tale, they start looking at the adults who were mentors to them.

There are also echoes from a decades earlier child murder at a pantomime, and some of the people in the Brighton area may be connected to that earlier event. 

Max's newly discovered daughter Ruby is in a production nearby, and she appears here in a peripheral way, and we see the beginning of her relationship with Edgar.

Edgar takes his job very seriously and works on the case tirelessly, foregoing sleep and sustenance, so you get a real sense of his empathy and commitment. 

I had just read book number three in this series, so it was nice seeing more of the background of the characters here. Emma is interesting as she has taken an unusual job for a woman of her background, and she doesn't advertise her class when at work. Her parents don't necessarily approve of her career choice, but they do support her choices. 

The whole aspect of fairy tales and their history is interesting as well, and I really enjoyed this aspect of the work, seeing how surprised some of the adults were at what they learned, and what creativity the children had. 

Cinderella Is Dead

Finished November 20

Cinderella Is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

This is a completely different take on Cinderella and I loved it. Here, the story of Cinderella is one based on real people in the kingdom of Lille. She's been dead for a couple of hundred years, after dying fairly young. She and Prince Charming had no children, and the princes that followed didn't either. They choose their successor from a distant place where they are trained for this purpose. 

Every year, there is a ball and all the eligible young girls are required to attend. There, they get chosen by the men that attend. If they aren't chosen by the third year of attendance, their lives are forfeit and they either are sent to servitude or death. 

This is Sophia's first year at the ball, and her parents are eager that she make a good impression. Sophia knows that what is happening isn't right, and she desperately wants to escape and live a life that she chooses for herself, but this is not looking like a real possibility. Especially as Erin, the object of her affections doesn't want to take such a risk, but would rather comply with her family's expectations and those of the prince and his men. 

The kingdom has also developed to a situation where many men treat their wives and daughters as possessions and without respect, and many women live sad lives. 

When Sophia, on the run from a desperate situation, meets an independent young woman Constance, who knows more of Cinderella's true story, she finds strength in that knowledge and becomes determined to change the kingdom for the better.

This is a story that turns the traditional fairy tale on its head in every way. And I loved the feisty characters of Sophia and Constance as they fought the established regime. 

The Hazel Wood

Finished November 1
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, read by Rebecca Soler

This book is rooted in fairy tales, but not the ones that end happily ever after. Alice Prosperpine and her mother Ella have spent most of Alice's life wandering the country, never staying anywhere for very long. Bad luck seems to follow them, and when they get a sense, an intimation, or outright proof that it has neared, they move on. Alice's reclusive grandmother Althea wrote a book of fairy tales called Tales from the Hinterland years ago, that has a small but determined fan base. Alice herself has only seen the book once, and her mother removed it from her hands before she could do more than see the table of contents, and turn to the story containing her own name "Alice Three Times".
Recently, her mother received a message that her grandmother had died, and seemed to believe that the bad luck would stop. Ella married a wealthy man and they now live with him and his daughter in a luxury condo in New York City. Alice and her stepsister go to a high class private school, but Alice never feels that she fits in.
She's had issues all her life with sudden rages, and Ella has worked with her to control these using calming breathing and mindfulness techniques, but she still doesn't have it under control all the time. When another student at her school, Ellery Finch, turns out to be a mega-fan of Althea's, Alice rebuffs him, yet he remains friendly towards her. Alice has a part-time job in a local diner, and is unnerved by a strange experience that she has there one day. When her stepsister is missing from afternoon classes the following day, and the town car that regularly picks them up doesn't appear, Alice finds her own way home, despite a man from her past that appears to be trying to abduct her. But Alice arrives home to an even more disturbing scene: the condo smells horrible, like rotting things, and no one is there. She finds a note that indicates that Ella has been taken by someone from the Hinterland, which both scares and confuses her. She no longer is sure what is real and what isn't. The only person she can think of to go to is Ellery, because he knows the stories and might be able to help her.
As she and Ellery search for her mother, and make their way closer to her grandmother's estate in upstate New York, things get weirder and weirder. From Ellery, Alice learns some of the tales from the book, and encounters characters that seem to be from those tales.
I liked the main characters of Ellery and Alice, and how they developed as the story progressed. Alice's story is one she did not expect, and does not want to believe, and yet she must face it to be able to have a chance at a future she determines herself.
I loved the fairy tale elements here, dark and creepy, and yet fantastical too. There is so much going on, that I wanted to know more about. I loved it.

Roses and Rot

Finished September 25
Roses and Rot by Kat Howard

This tale of two sisters drew me in and didn't let go. Imogen is older than Marin by two years. They lived under the influence of a very controlling mother, one who used not only physical punishments, but verbal and emotional ones in an attempt to keep them under her influence and drive a wedge between them. Imogen has always used her writing to escape her reality, and has had some success with it. Marin is a dancer, with natural skill, but also dedication and constant pressure by her mother to succeed.
Imogen managed to get away more that a decade before this story begins, first to boarding school and then to college, but her mother never stopped trying to draw her back into her sphere of control. Marin has heard about an artists' retreat, Melete, in New Hampshire, where artists apply and are chosen for a nine month stay to focus on their work with the assistance of a personal mentor. She urges Imogen to apply at the same time, partly so the sisters can come back together for the first time in years.
The women discover that Melete is both more than and less than they expected. Strange things happen, they see things that don't seem believable, and they begin to understand that this is a place where the human world and the world of Faerie come together and the Faerie world exacts a price for this opportunity.
Howard brings this world to life, the stardust and the darkness, the giving of power and the drawing of energy. The artists that come here will never be the same, and no one who hasn't been will ever truly understand. And, of course, some of them may never return to the lives they imagined for themselves.
I read this book voraciously, not wanting to put it down until I reached the ending. I cared about the characters and their dreams and wanted to see what happened to them as their stay at Melete progressed and came to an end. A great read.

Lona

Finished December 23
Lona: a fairy tale by Dare Wright

This book is a fairy tale told in photographs. The author is a model and photographer and she poses herself as the Princess Lona of the book's title.
In the story there are 3 kingdoms living in peace: Muirlan "of the green fields and quiet villages", Lasair "with its deep forests and clear streams", and Yarmailt "where the sun was never too hot and all the rains were gentle". On the edge of these kingdoms is a tower where the evil wizard Druth lives. Druth is always casting spells on the people of the kingdoms turning them into other creatures and such. But something happened when he was casting a spell in his youth and he cannot turn princesses into other creatures. This is something that he is enraged and obsessed about.
As the story begins, he has tried again to change two princesses and failed and irritated cast the three kingdoms under terrible spells, and taken one young princess to try on when she gets older, Lona. One young prince of the kingdoms, Rogan, has been exploring the world beyond and he tries to stop the wizard only to be changed into a creature himself. Despite this, Rogan goes to the princess and offers help, making treks to powers beyond to learn what he can about the wizard and how to defeat him.
The princess Lona is a determined young woman and puts the welfare of the kingdoms before her own life, doing whatever is necessary to achieve their release from the spells they are under.
I really enjoyed this story, and loved the photography illustrating the story.

Big Bad Sheep

Finished March 15
Big Bad Sheep by Bettina Wegenast, illustrated by Katharina Busshoff
This is a cute children's book I picked up at a library conference this week. When the Three Little Pigs wander by the sheep, chanting "The Wolf is dead", one of the sheep wonders what he was like. Karl, who is a bit of a sheep troublemaker decides to apply for the job, and goes off with his friend Locke to the Job Office. He convinces the recruiter to let him do the job on probation and tries to really get into it.
This is an interesting read around taking on a persona. Putting on the wolf accoutrements gets Karl into the mindset of being a wolf, and he forgets his real identity. Locke is shocked and appalled at Karl and himself ventures outside his comfort zone to try to fix things.
I enjoyed the story and the idea of putting on an identity with putting on the skin of that identity and how the sheep come to terms with the results of this.
Aimed at ages 8-12, this is an imaginative story that takes a child beyond fairy tales to thinking about the characters.

StorySave: Alice Kane

Finished February 10
StorySave: Voices of Canada's Storytellers: Alice Kane: Tales of Wonder
This audiobook is part of a series by the Storytellers of Canada. It gives the listener access to storytellers from across the country. The 13 stories told by Alice Kane are from Irish folklore and I recognized many themes from folktales and fairy tales I know. Some here are short tales, while others (like Flann) are long and involved, almost a combination of a bunch of tales into an integrated story.
Listening to these I was captivated and engaged and I thoroughly enjoyed them. I will be checking our collection for others from this series.

The Forgotten Garden

Finished January 2
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Told over the course of a century from the early 1900s to the 21st century, this novel follows a small girl, "Nell", and later her granddaughter from England to Australia and back again.
A small girl is left alone on a ship to Australia in 1913. She has only a small suitcase containing a few clothes and a book of fairy tales. She is taken in by the dockmaster at the Australian port and raised as his daughter. It is only on her 21st birthday that she finds out the truth of how she was found, and not until much later that she is given the clues to begin her search for her past. Following the clues she is given she makes her way to a manor on the Cornish coast.
Back in Australia her plans change again, and it is her granddaughter Cassandra who continues the quest for the truth of the past and Nell's origins in England.
This book has mystery, romance, and great stories.
At 549 pages, it also puts me another book towards the Chunkster Challenge.

In-depth Fiction

Finished May 31
The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt
This is a long book (over 600 pages) and it took me quite a while to get "into" it. The book follows a large number of characters, beginning with Olive Wellwood, an author of fairytales, and her family, and continuing on with relations, friends (both English and German), and the children resulting from all of these people. The book begins in 1895 and ends with the end of World War One. While there is a strong focus on the children of the different families and their development and interaction, we also see how this development affects the adults.
There is a lot of information around fairy tales, both German and English and their history and their popularity during this time period that I found very interesting. Another theme that came out related to the fairy tales was puppetry, particularly that of German puppet traditions.
Pottery was another strong theme that arose here with two characters being gifted in this area. There were also other writers and producers of plays that had lesser roles in the book.
With all these creative characters, a strong them for me was the genius of the artist, both physical and mental. The temperment of the artist to engross themselves in their work at the expense of those around them and the public success they valued less than their own feelings of accomplishment.
Another strong theme here was one of politics. There was a lot going on politically during this time period, including the Fabians, women's suffrage, labour union actions, anarchists, and socialism. We get glimpses into all of these within this novel and see how politics can fill the needs of some individuals.
While the events of World War One are only a small section of this novel, I felt that they were done very well, and I liked how the ending brought some interesting outcomes for the characters.
As I said, it took a while to enjoy this novel and get drawn in, but by the end I was thoroughly enjoying it and I learned so much besides.
After reading I noted a great interview with the author by one of the Dewey Divas: http://deweydivas.blogspot.com/2009/05/interview-with-s-byatt-on-her-new-novel.html
I really found this interesting after reading the novel.

Teen Version of Fairy Tale

Finished Feburary 19
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
This story is based on one of the lesser known tales by the Grimm brothers, Maid Maleen. Hale has set this story in the area of Mongolia and used that landscape and culture as part of the story's background as well as fleshing it out.
Dashti is born a mucker, living in a felt tent called a gher. After tragedies that decimate her family, Dashti takes their last animal and goes to the nearby city to find a job. Due to her healing skills, she is trained to read and write in order to be a lady's maid to the local lord's daughter.
Immediately upon taking her new position, Lady Saren is placed in a tower with Dashti because of refusing to marry the man her father has picked for her. As Dashti struggles to keep the lady and herself alive in the tower, she does as she is bid by Saren, even to impersonating her to her preferred lover, Tagus. Dashti's strength of mind and sense of loyalty keep the two girls alive until they run out of food and eventually find a way out of the tower.
Dashti leads them to the land of Tagus to bring Saren back to her gentry life and overcomes many obstacles along the way.
The is a beautiful telling of the story, with the characters coming alive before you.
There is some violence, but this book could also be read by younger readers.

Four books read recently

Finished September 22
Reading Life: Books for the Ages by Sven Birkerts
This book by professor, critic and essayist Birkerts is a collection of musings about the books that have been significant in his life, often reappearing at different points in this life and how revisiting them reveals information about age, growth, memory and other changes over time. He talks about how and when he read these books and what he took away from them each time. It was interesting to see how not only one sees different aspects of the book when viewing it from different times in ones life, but also how one may not be ready for a book at one time, but find it moving at another. It made me think about some of the books that have had a significance in my own life and also made me think about how I read the books I do.

Rattling the Bones by Ann Granger
This latest in the series featuring Francesca Varady reflects back on her previous homeless existence as she meets up with an older lady that had also been homeless then. Edna has been taking into a charity home, but still spends most of her time roaming the streets and interacting with the cats she meets. When Edna shows fear when noticing a young man watching her, Fran is determined to find out why Edna is scared and what someone would want from her. The search for this information leads Fran to a detective agency, to the current caregivers of Edna, and to Edna's past. She realizes that there is a need to protect Edna from someone who doesn't seem to want her found and brings her police friend Janice Morgan into the loop. Fran's friend Ganesh is still trying to keep her out of trouble, while her detective friend Susie helps with advice. Enjoyable as usual.

Finished September 20
Stardust by Neil Gaiman, read by Neil Gaiman
This book was one I listened to, and I think having the author reading added something to the experience. This is a fantasy novel, that has recently been made into a movie (which I would like to see). I've liked everything I've read to date by Gaiman, and enjoyed the interview tacked onto the end of this recording. The book is very much a fairy tale, taking place either in the world of Fairy or just outside its boundary in the village of Wall. The main character is an earnest young man, son of a farmer and ignorant of his real mother's identity as a being from the world of fairy. He sets out to prove his love for the village beauty by bringing her back a star that they see fall. But the star turns out to be a something other than what he expects, and others seek her for reasons of their own. I very much enjoyed this book.

Black Seconds by Karin Fossum
This novel of psychological suspense is centered around the disappearance of an extremely cute seven-year-old girl. She has set off on her bicycle to go to the nearby shop but never arrives. The police are called in and organize searches, but Ida seems to have vanished without a trace. Many characters have their own secrets and stories, and this adds to the suspense. In Ida's own family her two cousin's react very differently, one not wanting to speak of her at all. A friend of the cousin is involved in the local drug trade and is trying to avoid police suspicion, an elderly woman tries to protect her son, who appears to be autistic. Inspector Sejer is a thoughtful, caring police officer who takes his job seriously and tries to consider all options. I have found this series very enjoyable and this latest book is no exception.