Judging a book by its cover II

I'm not generally a fan of merchandise tie-ins to movies or television series, but I am going to make an exception for a book published by Hyperion in 2009, Heat Wave by Richard Castle. Richard Castle is a fictional bestselling mystery writer in the eponymous ABC show Castle. The show is fantastic. Richard Castle is played by Joss Whedon alumnus Nathan Fillion of Firefly and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog fame. This would likely be enough to endear me to Castle, but the writing is funny and clever, and it's a real pleasure being entertained by Fillion
for an hour each week.

Back to the book. I'm sure it is not the first of its kind, but it really tickled me to be able to hold the book published in the television series in my hands. The details are perfect, from the back cover picture of Fillion and the mini-biography on the back flap, to the dedication. It all just makes me happy.

I haven't gotten around to reading it yet and honestly am not expecting great things. For me, the actual substance of the book doesn't matter much since the execution of the idea is just so much fun.

The aftermath

In the end, the journey to Buffalo was easier than I had thought. Too easy. There was no rush hour traffic going to the airport, we had no trouble finding parking, and we sailed through security. It was eerie, to say the least. See? This is what happens when you obsess about how painful something will be: it isn't painful. Gotta love it.

My trip to Buffalo also served as a last-ditch effort to get through Watership Down, by Richard Adams. My friend, T, lent me this book about three years ago as it was one of her favorites growing up, but I couldn't get past the first ten pages. Well, folks, after two days and three nights, I'm only on page 175. For a person who routinely reads several books per weekend, this is an extremely slow pace.

So why the trouble? I think maybe because the plot (or what there is of one) hasn't grabbed me. Sure, there are a group of rabbits who leave a warren they deem unsafe to start a new one elsewhere. And there's danger. And they have adventures. But what's the story? I was discussing this with a high school friend of mine over brunch today, and he said, "This sounds like one of those books that's really an allegory. I bet the book is really about evil WWII-era companies. I'm not saying that for any reason, it's just what I think." Well, according to Wikipedia, he's scarily close: Watership Down is apparently about "fascism and appeasement." I'm fairly certain I hadn't reached the F&A storyline yet, but it isn't quite enough to make me read on. It isn't often that I can't bulldoze my way through a book, even if I'm not enjoying it. But I think three years is long enough to try, especially considering the teetering stack of books I have here next to me, waiting to be loved. And anyway, my book-as-allegory muscle has atrophied.

I'm still in my reading funk. I'm averaging one book a week. Maybe. I think it's that, while I've liked most of what I've read recently, none of it has really sparked a Reading Frenzy. Even Shannon Hale's Book of a Thousand Days, which I loved (and just knew I would love), didn't do this because I had cheated and picked it up before I had finished Three Bags Full, and I knew what I would be going back to. And I'm not particularly looking forward to anything else on my To Read pile (except for our book, B, of course!) either.

Three Bags Full is a murder mystery told from the perspective of the sheep whose shepherd has been killed. A "Sheep Detective Story," if you will. Interesting, right? How could you go wrong? While the book *is* good and entertaining, it just hasn't managed to capture my attention -- or my imagination -- in the way I had hoped. Yes, the sheep's perspective of the world is just what you would hope it to be: new and different and a little off-kilter, but not necessarily in the ways you would hope. This is especially sad given then adorable flip-book pictures next to every page number!

Book of a Thousand Days, on the other hand...I've said it before and I'll say it again: Shannon Hale is a great re-teller of fairy tales. My only complaint is that I have to wait until early 2008 to read her next book, Rapunzel's Revenge, a graphic novel she's written with her husband.

Now, if my other favorite authors could just go ahead and publish their new books as well....

"I am the poodle," she said.

Some writers are gifted in their ability to create the most delightful fluff. It's light, it's easy, it slips down past your brain without requiring any thought. It's funny. Tonight, Maureen Johnson has proven to me that she does brain candy like no one else. If a meteor crashed through my roof and destroyed all my worldly possessions, I might find myself walking to the library to re-read her book Devilish *just* for a laugh from lines like:

• "A cat had jumped on his back once and ridden him like a camel, digging its claws in for support."
  
• "I don't normally like to collect other people's vomit, but this seemed like a good time to make an exception to that rule."

Is it Great Literature? No. Did it take less than three hours to read through? Yes. But it was oh-so entertaining, and exactly what I needed to read tonight.

Deathly Hallows

Time line of my yesterday afternoon
1:30 PM: Deathly Hallows arrives on my doorstep
2:15 PM: I begin Deathly Hallows
11:24 PM: I finish Deathly Hallows

While I'm not actually going to be discussing the plot of the book at all, as I'm sure there are at least a few of you that haven't begun or finished the book yet, I am listing things I really enjoyed about the book, so if you are worried that this list may ruin your Reading Experience, STOP READING THIS ENTRY.

No one is perfect. I know this seems a strange thing to like about a book, but I like my heroes flawed, dammit, and we see this not only with Harry but with Dumbledore. And it's their awareness of their own limitations, and their willingness to act accordingly, that really make them heroes.

The worst of humanity brings out the best of humanity, or, people are willing to sacrifice themselves for a truly worthy cause. There's nothing I need to add to that!

Neville comes into his own. In the seventh HP book we see Neville truly becoming a hero and a leader in his own right, and this is oh-so-gratifying.

And one thing that I didn't really like about the last book (the following paragraph is SPOILER HEAVY): the epilogue. In my opinion, this could have been left out to make a much stronger ending to the story. Do we really need to learn what happens 19 years in the future to know that everything Turns Out Alright? No. For the purposes of the narrative, we already knew that to be the case when everyone continued to fight despite thinking Harry had been killed, when Voldemort was finally killed, and when Harry was able to let two of the Hallows go.

In any case, Deathly Hallows has definitely been my favorite HP book. I'm so glad, too, because the last few, while enjoyable, have definitely been lacking something. And what better way to end a series than on a high note? I'm very curious to see what J. K. Rowling will do next.

As if we needed more ideas

The Bibliophile has this adorable little reader's journal where she keeps a list of everything she wants to read. It's amazing how long her list is, and she is constantly crossing things off.

As if everyone's "to read" list wasn't long enough, people have sent me these two links in the past week, so I thought I'd post them here:

The Amelia Bloomer Project: children's and YA lit with strong female characters

NPR Summer Books: all kinds of lists of recommended books

While the cat's away....

the mice will.....post a lot on her blog? Apparently E and I are really into this!

Since I'm a librarian, people are constantly assuming I read a lot. I do. At and for work.

But when it comes to reading actual books, I fail people's expectations. I have a disorder I like to call Book Narcolepsy. The second I break out a book, I get cozy and want to sleep. I rarely read more than 3 pages before passing out.

This is why it meant a lot to The Bibliophile when for her bday, I offered to buy two copies of any book she wanted and we'd read them together. She chose The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, which looked to me like the longest book ever. At 528 pages, I knew this would take FOREVER for me to read and I was right. I wouldnt let The Bibliophile even pick it up until I had 100 pages left, which was approximately 6 months after I started it. We both loved this book and highly recommend it.

Now she returned the favor for my birthday and, ever a glutton for punishment, I chose The Crimson Petal and the White. True to form, I have read 14 pages since I received it 3 weeks ago. At a whopping 894 pages, I'm not sure I'll finish it by the time it's The Bibliophile's bday again and we have to switch to her book!

Weekend book reviews

I've finished three books since Friday night: The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde, Austenland by Shannon Hale and Dancing in Red Shoes Will Kill You by Dorian Cirrone.

TWoLP was by far the most disappointing of the Thursday Next series thus far, and certainly realized my prediction that my patience for Fforde's books was nearing its end. The premise: Thursday next goes to the Well of Lost Plots to hide from her enemies while she's pregnant. The execution: whereas the earlier books in the series were funny and clever, this one seemed trapped by its new setting, as huge chunks of the narrative served only to explain the Well and its inhabitants. The story line itself seemed secondary to the necessary background information at best, and almost an after-thought at worst. From looking at the publication dates of all Fforde's books, it may be fair to say the role of this book was simply to set up his Nursery Crime series. In any case, it was a huge waste of time.

Ditto for Austenland. You may recall I was skeptical about this one from the offset. The premise: a thirty-something Pride and Prejudice fanatic is bequeathed an all-expense-paid vacation to Pemberly Park, a full-immersion Regency Era England experience, by her dead Great Aunt. Her hope is to once and for all rid herself of the Mr. Darcy Fantasy by living in his world for three weeks. The execution: awkward, contrite and formulaic. Shannon Hale's other books are written so beautifully that I'm not quite sure what happened here. Reading Austenland was difficult at times, the language awkward and stumbling. And the reader knows exactly what will happen in the book from the offset. There are no surprises, no twists.

I was pleasantly surprised by the book I read this morning, DiRSWKY. Though this book can only be rightfully described as Brain Candy (it took me less than two hours to read it), shockingly, it had a great message for young adult women. The premise: sixteen year old Kayla is at an art school studying ballet and is denied a plumb roll in the upcoming production of Cinderella because her body doesn't fit the ideal ballerina mold -- she has DD-sized breasts. The execution: Cirrone weaves analysis of the classic versions of fairy tales into the story to make the point that women are expected to change themselves to meet societal and cultural expectations. This is certainly not a new or revolutionary thesis, but definitely one that I think is important to expose adolescent girls to.

Next on the docket for me:

And don't forget, I'm always looking for book recommendations, so don't be shy! Send them along!