Books, books, lovely books
It’s been a while since I talked about what I’ve been reading, and it’s about time I corrected that, isn’t it?
I don’t know if I ever mentioned it, but I finished reading Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman some time ago. I thought it was mysterious, fascinating and utterly delightful. I confess that after reading some of his books, and faithfully reading his blog, I have a bit of a crush on Mr. Gaiman’s brain. He has such a fascinating mind, and I think it would be incredibly interesting to sit and talk with him over coffee or tea or some other fortifying beverage. Of course, there would have to be other people there to keep up the conversation, because I would probably be reduced to a giggling pile of nervous star-struck uselessness incapable of asking him anything more interesting than “So *giggle* what are you working on right now? *giggle*” I have Good Omens, the book he wrote with Terry Pratchett, in my TBR pile right now. I find, though, that I have to be in the mood for a bit of absurdity to be able to read Pratchett, so it’s still just in the TBR pile for now.
I’ve been a bit surprised by the number of YA books I’ve read in the past year. But on further analysis, the concepts have been compelling enough to snag my attention, and the writing has been of such quality and complexity that, in my mind, the only difference between the YA books and those found on the regular shelves has been length and level of sensuality. Oh, and the YA books usually have better cover art.
I’m not going to “review” them here, but I’d recommend Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr, and the first book in P.C. and Kristin Cast’s House of Night series, Marked (the second, Betrayed, is probably going to be the next book I read. I also have Uglies by Scott Westerfield in my TBR pile and may be buying some of his Midnighters series soon.
J In my personal opinion, YA editors seem to have taken bigger chances in the books they’ve purchased, rather than exclusively sticking with the tried and true. The results have been very entertaining books, no matter their reading level.
I am going talk about It’s Not About the Accent by Caridad Ferrer. This is a perfect example of a book shelved in the YA section that transcends age. I’ll admit, the back cover blurb didn’t grab me by the throat and yell “Read this!” in my face, but since I’d enjoyed Adiós to My Old Life so much, I knew I wanted to give this one a try. Oh, and just because I keep wanting to call her Barb, I should explain that I “know” the author through Jenny Crusie’s Cherry forums. I believe Caridad is Barb’s middle name. I also believe that, going forward, Barb’s pen name will be Barbara Caridad Ferrer. Here in LJ land, she’s also known as fashionista_35.
So, anyway, back to the book! Accent is about Caroline, a Midwestern almost college freshman, who is tired of her girl next door image and craves some adventure in her life like her beloved grandmother, who left Cuba when she fell in love with Caroline’s grandfather. Caroline decides to take matters into her own hands and assumes a Cuban-American alter-ego when she heads to summer school. I can understand why the back-cover copy was difficult to write, because this book is so layered, that it’s hard to talk about the story without giving too much of the plot away. Let’s just say that playing someone else is fun and exhilarating for a while, but it also attracts some unwanted attention. The second half of the book was the real heart of the story for me. Caroline begins a project that helps remind her of what really matters in her life and who she really wants to be. (Re-capping stories is not my forte, I either say too much or too little, but since I spent 20 minutes attempting to write what’s here, I’m going to keep it.)
The most compelling part about Barb’s writing is her ability to write people that are entirely believable. I don’t know how she does it (other than her mad skillz *g*), but the character’s emotions are real. Their reactions never seemed contrived, or written to make sure I liked them. These folks had layers, but I never felt like I was swimming through a pond of info-dump. I also really enjoyed Barb’s talent in capturing family interaction, whether those interactions were angry, hurt, loving, or teasing.
I fell into this book during the trip back to Chicago from Jamaica, and it helped distract me from noisy kids and the bane of my flying existence, turbulence. Accent also passed what is, for me, the ultimate test of a great book; when I finished it, I was sad to leave the characters behind.
Next up is Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh. This is the third book in Nalini’s Psy-Changeling series and I’m still enjoying them a great deal. Nalini’s prologue for the first book in the series was so interesting that I had to read more (I’m generally not a big fan of prologues, but there was something about this one absolutely worked for me) and I’ve been reading since. The hero of this book was fascinatingly cerebral, but still very alpha. I think the intellectual nature of the hero also made for an intellectual book. I don’t know if it was just the beach distracting me, but this was a meaty story, and it took me a while to finish. This is not a bad thing, just unusual. The story kept me on my best reading behavior - no skimming allowed.
I admit, the Psy characters and society are the most fascinating aspect of this series for me, and I’m a bit ambivalent about shape-shifters. I just find the idea of an emotionless society, and the challenges of breaking free from an emotionless existence much more interesting than pack dynamics. Since the next book features two changeling protagonists, I’ll be interested to see if my attention wanes. I’m pretty sure that it will be fine.
Last, but certainly not least, is Crazy in Love by Lani Diane Rich. Lani’s books consistently please me, and this one was no exception. As a nice contrast to all of the drama and angst in the other books I’ve read recently, Crazy in Love is humorous, romantic, light-hearted and just plain fun. I’d recommend this one for a nice escape from your every day troubles; it’s a great bubble-bath book. It’s entertaining and guaranteed to make you laugh. Lani’s sarcastic wit shines in the banter between Jake and Flynn and the secondary characters are a hoot, especially Jake’s sister and the smarmy Gordon. I also appreciated what I believe is a shout-out to Firefly fans everywhere; the story is set in Schientown, but the local residents just call it Shiny.
So there you have it, that’s what I’ve been reading. I hope everyone had a nice Monday, and I’ll plan to talk about my nice weekend tomorrow. Hugs!