Saving Francesca

I was recently recommended a book by Lisa called "Saving Francesca". I checked it out yesterday and finished it EARLY this morning. It's written by an Australian author and it's about a girl called Francis (frankie) whose just transfered from an all girls school, to a recently converted co-ed high school. Francesca at first may appear dull and act the way I'd be ashamed to act (no opinion or personality), but later the reader realizes that she does have an opinion but she keeps it to herself.
Throughout the book, she developes new opinions, renews old friendships, and as I reader, by the end of the book, I sympathized with her.
I'll return this soon to the library, so try it out if you get around to it.

Summer Reading

Now that i actually have time to post stuff here...

weee, summer is here and passing before my eyes faster than i would like, with less time for reading than one would think...

Anyways i just read this very intersting book called Warriors of Alavna by N.M. Browne about two kids, Dan and Ursula, (who live somewhere in england) getting pulled into the past (or analternate reality of the past), to the time of the Celts and the Romans. The book (surprisingly) does not dwel overly much on their desire to get back to their own time (but obviously this is something the two kids worry about), instead it covers their adventures there in the time they have found themselves in. It is a fun book to read (though it does have some very STRANGE concepts in it, one in particular...).

I have also been reading a lot of Fruits Basket and other manga. (more on the manga) Ultra Maniac was a short series, but it was cute and fun. I still love to read Full Moon o Sagashite over again. the second book in Vampire Knight ( a rather bloody and dark series) has recently come out and the second book in The Gentlemen's Alliance is also out now, Gentlemen's Alliance is a series by the same woman that did Full Moon, not having to do with magic, but focuses on the life of a girl in a school for very wealthy kids (her family is rich also) and her search for and obtaining of the boy she fell in love with some years ago.

Another book i read recently is called The Light-Bearer's Daughter by O.R. Melling. It is the third book in a series of loosly connected books called the Chronicles of Faerie. The books in this series can each usually be read by themselves and not in any particular order, though it may be less confusing if you read them in the order written which is:
The Hunter's Moon
The Summer King
The Light-Bearer's Daughter

The Light-Bearer's Daughter is about a young girl named Dana, she lives in Ireland and her mother dissapeared with no warning when she was small. Her father has now been offered a job in Canada (where he was born, though his family is from Ireland) and Dana really doesn't want to move because if they do, how will her mother find them again. This is where the Faeries come in, a faerie woman comes to Dana asker for her help with something (i wont say what) and in return offers Dana a wish, any wish. And so Dana runs away from home and embarks on her adventures to help the faerie and in return, find her mother. Basically.

Thats all for now.

-Myri Hale

summer reading

I've been reading, reading, reading -- waiting for back surgery which will take me out of this misery I've been in for far too long. Some re-reading (my favorite when I need comforting): Pamela Aidan's Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy. I especially love books 1 and 3 -- An Assembly Such as This, and These Three Remain. As you might guess, this is Pride and Prejudice from Mr Darcy's point of view. They are charming, and vastly better than the usual fan-fiction.

And some new (to me) books. Among the best, so far, is The Spellman Files, by Lisa Lutz. My daughter recommended it to me, and what a treat! Izzy Spellman is a 28-year-old private investigator working for her parents' San Francisco PI firm, and her travails with boyfriends, snoopy parents and a 14-year-old sister who would put Veronica Mars out of business are hilarious. Best thing? It is apparently the start of a series!!!

Right now I'm in the middle of In the Time of the Butterflies, by Julia Alvarez, which breaks my current, pain-induced rule of no-sad-endings (goes for movies too), but it is gloriously written and very compelling. I'll finish it and then go back to light and frothy. A friend loaned me Diana Gabaldan's Outlander series -- heaving bosoms and time travel? I am so there!

Reading on the Plane

School is out, ending, as it always does, abruptly and with many loose ends. At least this year we didn't have to pack up the entire collection for a move.

This morning I finished the last of the Earthsea series, The Other Wind. Oh how I love these books. I will probably read them again before too long, a common practice for Lindi, but not for me.

Right now I am faced with what reading material to bring with me on my very long flight to Ethiopia. Lindi has insisted that I bring a Jane Austen, and I have chosen Emma. I also have Cynthia Voigt's Jackaroo. I think I'll bring The Chalice and the Blade, something I've been wanting to read but am too fidgety to commit to. Sitting in the confines of a coach airplane seat for 15 or so hours will probably do the trick. However, I'll also have plenty of knitting to distract me, and reading or knitting is always a hard choice for me.

Kampung Boy - A Graphic Novel at its BEST!

I picked up a copy of Scheherazade: Comics About Love, Treachery, Mothers and Monsters the other day. As I thumbed through this collection of short stories, all graphically illustrated by women about women, I was caught off guard by one page, quite simply one frame that lead me to question the appropriateness of the book for a school library. Currently I am reviewing the book in its entirety to make a truly informed decision. I was left feeling disappointed, however, that one frame in an incredibly powerful collection might actually be a deciding factor in our collection development decision.

The very next day I picked up a copy of Kampung Boy by LAT. This book is a graphic novel, comic/visual narrative at its best. The artistry of the drawings is evident, as is the author's background of growing up a boy in Southeast Asia. The picture above shows Mat, the main character when he first sees the cane his new teacher has been given permission to use if he gets out of line. He is young, feeling very small and obviously terrified by the prospects of a whipping.

This story is a delight - watching Mat grow up, learn responsibility, play, listen to his parents discuss difficult issues, make choices about his friends and commit himself to success is a journey that every child should have the opportunity to experience.

This graphic novel is a highly recommended read and available at your school library!

Guilty secrets time

This is so embarrassing, but I am currently reading book 5 of Earth's Children. Yes, that's right -- Ayla and Jondalar and The Clan of the Cave Bear continue ad nauseum. But this post is not about that. Mostly because there's not a lot to talk about there. Yes, Ayla invents a new tool on every page (I'm expecting the thermos bottle any chapter now) and yes, she still enjoys Pleasures often and gloriously, but still -- it's all pretty superficial.

No, what I'm interested in is why we do this -- why are these lousy books so compelling? Why do we read bodice rippers or gratuitous gorefests or books so scary we can't sleep at night? There are so many great books, some of which fulfill all those criteria but which also give the reader lots to think about.

Why do I re-read my favorite teen novels (Izzy, Willy-Nilly, I'm talking about you) so many times that I have great chunks memorized? What is so appeallng about reading something that you don't have to think about? Maybe that's it? But I do still think about them, like all the time -- but the thoughts are all so silly!

Somebody called them "popcorn books" and that's it -- filling with no nutritional value. I'd be interested in your thoughts (or the titles you can't respect yourself for finishing).

Listen Up! A Certain Slant of Light

I realize that this is the Bush "readers" Blog but I am struggling to find time to read! So, I picked up an audio book at the Bush Library and listened to it while I was driving to and from work.

A Certain Slant of Light by Laura Whitcomb was mesmerizing. As one ghost (light) meets another who has taken over a human's body (quick) fall in love I found myself sitting in my driveway at home simply clamouring for what would come next.

Helen and James fall in love as passionately and purely as possible while they inhabit the bodies of two lost souls that attend the same high school. After their first romantic encounter I continued to wonder - could she possibly be pregnant? As the book reaches its peak, Helen, alone in the bathtub, contemplates the value of life -- I was shocked to find the answer to my question.

The books is incredibly well written and I found myself quoting the intricate and descriptive writting. The reader of the audio book delivers a haunting performance as well.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Just read this amazing graphic novel by Brian Selznick...

Welcome Myri Hale!

Another contributor! Welcome! Now let's get some discussion going about what we are reading. I'm still on my Robin McKinley binge, and really enjoying it. I also have gotten my husband to re-read Ursula LeGuin's Earthsea Trilogy so that he can read the newer three titles -- Tehanu, Tales from Earthsea, and The Other Wind. Those are the BEST!

Welcome to Mrs. Brown as well!

This is great -- 2 new contributors in 2 days! It's a long weekend -- whatcha readin'?

Welcome Brandi

Let's hear it for Brandi (such a fine girl), our newest contributor! What are you going to read this weekend, now that finals are finished? I would love to be reading An Abundance of Katherines, but unfortunately, it is checked out. So I guess I'll have to knit instead. Or borrow a book from Lindi.

Robin McKinley

I've just re-read The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley, and am now in the middle of The Hero and the Crown. I LOVE these books! Her heroines are smart and funny. Her writing is good and the adventures are really exciting. This is fantasy for people who like to think. They are old -- like 20 years, so some of you may have missed them, but McKinley is still one of my favorite fantasy/fairy tale authors.

My only quibble is that she doesn't write enough! And I was really hoping that these two books would be a trilogy. In The Blue Sword, she describes Damar, a desert culture resisting colonization by a large empire. The Hero and the Crown is a prequel; i.e., she travels back 500 years to the "Golden Age" of Damar to tell the story of some of the legends introduced in the first book. I'd love a story about Luthe, the oracle from both books, or a story about Damar now, or . . . gosh anything! I just want to go back to Damar, hear about Lady Aerin, find out if Harry has had songs written about her.

Alas, I am forced to re-read the only Damarian literature out there, these two books and a short story, "The Stone Fey." McKinley has other books, also wonderful, but Damar calls to me. Sigh.

Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood

I'm jumping in with this title because I know some of our students have read it. As far as I'm concerned, it was the perfect conclusion to this series. I remember the first one knocking my socks off when it was published. I'm a little vague on the second and third volumes, but number four reminded me how much I love Ann Brashares' writing.

Who's going to weigh in on this one?

The Higher Power of Lucky

I recently read the 2006 Newbery Medal winner. Winner is exactly right! It is an absolutely charming book.

Ten-year-old Lucky's mom is dead, and her dad has nothing to do with her. In fact, when Lucky's mom dies, he invites his first wife to come to California from France to take care of the child -- just until a suitable guardian can be found, or so he says. Brigitte has been wanting to come to America for a long time and this seems like the perfect opportunity. Unfortunately for Brigitte, Lucky lives in the Mojave Desert, so it's not really the America/California shown on French television.

Hence Lucky's concern that Brigitte will give up and go back to France. Lucky knows from listening in on a variety of 12-step meetings that a Higher Power can help, even when you've hit bottom, so surely He? She? It? can help her keep Brigitte from abandoning her.

This is a beautiful story about love and family and the importance of punctuation. I'm eager to hear what the rest of you think!