Series: Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire
Author: Charlaine Harris
Published: 2002-2004, Ace
Category: Fantasy
Rating: 6

I've been on a Sookie Stackhouse binge. I read the first one in this series a few weeks ago and liked it so much that I ordered the whole set. I've inhaled three of them in the last week. They're really fun books. A telepathic barmaid who befriends all kinds of supernatural beings--what's not to love?

Drive-by synopses: (If you haven't read the series, beware of some spoilers.)

Living Dead in Dallas (#2)- Sookie is sent to Dallas to use her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire. She encounters a rabid anti-vampire cult. We meet more shapeshifters.

Club Dead (#3)- Bill is kidnapped by Lorena, the evil vampire who sired him. Sookie goes to Jackson to try to find him. There she meets Alcide, a Werewolf. Together they investigate Club Dead, an all-supernatural bar run by the King of Vampires. (hee hee)

Dead to the World (#4)- Eric loses his memory and a group of evil vampire blood-drinking Were-witches try to take over Shreveport. Jason is kidnapped and Sookie has to rescue him. Fairies are introduced briefly.

Random thoughts on the series so far:

• It seems like each book is getting just a little more violent.
  
• Eric is a much more interesting character than Bill. Much more vampire-like. Bill's kind of blah. Plus we couldn't really forgive him for what he does to Sookie in Club Dead.
• Why doesn't Sookie notice Sam more?? He's great. I think she should stop wasting time on these loser vampires and go for Sam. He would never betray her.
• I think the thing that makes this series work and stay fresh after so many installments is the fact that the original premise is so good. A telepathic woman who can't really connect on any intimate level with regular humans and therefore has to look for love and companionship among supernatural beings. It's different and original.
  

I've got two more to read, though I might take a little break. I am anxious to see what happens next.

Numbers! Too. Many. Numbers!

I just have to complain about the new 13-digit ISBNs. I guess that many people won't even be aware of this, but starting in 2007 all ISBNs are switching from 10-digit to 13-digits. Apparently we're running out of the 10-digit ones. Who knew there were so many books out there? Our database at work just converted to the 13-digit system over the weekend and for reasons that I won't go into here (because they're confusing and very boring) this creates a pain in my ass.

And while we're talking numbers, I think you Canadians out there are getting a better deal on American books. Publishers have conversion charts that tell what Canadian price to use for each American price. So last year, a $15 book got a $21 Canadian price. They've just revised our conversion chart so that starting in September, a $15 book is now only $18.50 in Canada. Obviously there are some principles of economics at work here that my little brain can not handle, but it seems like you guys are getting more book for less dollars. Or can someone who doesn't have a math-challenged brain explain this to me?

Austen fans, look at this

Publisher's Lunch reported this deal last week:

Actress Emma Campbell Webster's LOST IN AUSTEN: A Make Your Own Jane Austen Adventure, to Sarah McGrath at Riverhead, by Zoe Pagnamenta at PFD New York, in a pre-empt, for publication in early 2008.

PW says, "Webster's adventure novel is a literary game that will give readers the opportunity to play at being Elizabeth Bennet, navigating their way through important and difficult decisions about love and marriage upon which the plot hinges; the book will incorporate characters and landscapes from all Austen's novels."

Will this be like one of those old choose your own adventure books?? Seems odd. I would be really excited about this, except that Riverhead books are usually super snooty and literary. It'll definitely be worth a look, though.

And I have no idea who this actress/author is.

Title: Sammy's Hill
Author: Kristin Gore
Published: 2004, Hyperion
Category: General Fiction
Rating: 7

Hello jennie's bookloggers. This is Julie (AKA Twin). Jennie is trapped under one of her bookcases, with only her little feet sticking out, like the Wicked Witch of the East (or was it the West?). I could list other ways in which she bears a resemblance to a witch, but that is not the subject at hand. The subject that is at hand, of course, is a book. I do read occasionally, though I am definitely an amateur compared to Jennie. So I'm going to leave Jennie under the bookcase (she's rarely so quiet), and share some thoughts about one of the books I read on vacation.

Sammy's Hill was one of the books we got from our BPL book loot. When I picked it up, I wasn't sure whether the author, Kristin Gore, was in fact Al Gore's daughter. There was no mention of her famous parentage on the book jacket, and my memories of the 2000 election debacle have fortunately faded sufficiently to render Al's family a bit hazy. I had to look it up on the internet. And yup, she's his daughter. Hard to believe because she's funny. Really funny. And down-to-earth. And suddenly Al Gore seems a little less fact-spewing robot and a little more human to have produced such a daughter.

Sammy Joyce is the 27-year-old domestic policy advisor to a junior senator from Ohio. She is idealistic and maybe a little naive, and has complete faith in her boss, a hard-working, honest, and morally pure politician (and now you know this is a work of fiction). Sammy falls for a smooth-talking hottie speechwriter who works for an ambitious and morally corrupt presidential candidate. But there is also a mild-mannered Clark Kent of a reporter who is either Sammy's arch-enemy or soulmate.

This is a pretty light read. And quite funny. Sammy is a very likable character, with hysterical idiosyncrasies. Kristin Gore also obviously shares her character's belief in the political system and its ability to produce honest, idealistic leaders. That she still believes this after growing up in a political family is fairly incredible. But also reassuring. Here's hoping her Dad is one of those honest, idealistic leaders—and he can make it into the White House.

Title: Miss Wonderful
Author: Loretta Chase
Published: 2004, Berkley
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 5/10

I was really prepared to love this book. I'd already read Lord Perfect and Mr. Impossible and thought they were great. But I have to say, I was a little bored by this one. Maybe this is partly due to the fact that I was on vacation while reading it, so I was just too distracted to get into it?

The hero is Alistair Carsington, who was injured while doing heroic deeds in the Battle of Waterloo. He's a younger son, so his father says he must go out and find some way of supporting himself. So he latches onto a friend's scheme of building a canal in Derbyshire. He travels to the site of the future canal, and there he meets Mirabel Oldridge, who is the daughter of the biggest landowner through whose property the canal will run. Mirabel is very against having the canal built, as it will spoil her pretty landscaping. Alistair and Mirabel fall in love, but their opinions on the canal are in direct opposition. Mirabel hates it, but Alistair needs it to make his fortune and show the world that he can do something profitable.

The canal thing really got on my nerves after a bit. I was like, come on people, it's just a little canal. Build it or not, it's not the end of the world. You can have true love if you just get over this one little thing.

I did really like the two characters' opinions on clothes, because it was the opposite of the norm. Although Mirabel is beautiful, she dresses really frumpy and this drives Alistair, who is a dandy, nuts. It was very funny. I can relate to Mirabel, because I am a bit fashion-challenged myself. It's not that bad, but I do stick to the basics on clothes. If I could wear jeans and a T-shirt every day, I would. I'm always amazed by women who have all these complicated outfits, with all the coordinating jewelry and bag and whatever else. If my top and bottom and shoes match, then I think job well done. Maybe I need an Alistair to do my shopping and then pick out my clothes every morning.

Title: The Comeback Kiss
Author: Lani Diane Rich
Published: 2006, Warner
Category: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 5.5

This was a much better beach read. A few months ago, I read Rich's Ex and the Single Girl and liked it a lot, so I picked this one up for my trip.

Tessa has been raising her younger sister, Izzy, since the night ten years ago when their mother was killed in a fire. That same night Tessa's high school boyfriend, Finn, stole both her virginity and her VW Thing, before taking off for parts unknown. Now Finn's back in town giving Tessa stellar comeback kisses and trying to help the two sisters figure out the mystery of their mother's death.

The plot was more than a little ridiculous--the lies Tessa thinks she has to tell to keep custody of Izzy, and the evil, corrupt social worker. And the resolution of the mother's death was kind of a letdown. She built it up like it was going to be really interesting, and then it just wasn't.

But, I really liked Izzy and Finn. Very funny and cute. And even if the mystery didn't really work, what did work was the relationships between the characters--they seemed very genuine and real.

Title: Lady of Quality
Author: Georgette Heyer
Published: 1972, Dutton
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 3

If you've never read Georgette Heyer, don't start with this one. Harlequin has been re-releasing a lot of Heyers with new forewords by romance authors. They haven't done this one, for good reason. It was bo-ring.

Miss Annis Wychwood is beautiful and rich. However, she's never met a man she wanted to give up her independence for, so at 30, she is an old maid. She meets a young girl who is running away from home, feels sorry for her and takes her in. The girl's guardian, Oliver Carleton, arrives in Bath. He is rude and straight-forward, and he and Annis argue with one another constantly. But arguing in a flirting kind of way.

I've really loved some other Heyers, but this one was just too slow-moving. Annis was a good character--older and wiser than a lot of Heyer's girl-heroines--but she didn't make up for the boring plot.

Home again, home again

Home from vacation. We had the best time. The Little Shack was surprisingly un-shitty. Basic, but comfortable and pretty charming. Look at the awesome sand castle we made!

Soundtracks of the trip:
Pajama Game (with Harry Connick, Jr. Hmmm yummy.) I love musicals. I don't care if that makes me a dork.
Surprise, the new Paul Simon, which I hadn't heard before but is very good.

We saw three movies:
X-Men 3 (Liked it a lot--pretty ballsy with that ending, I think)
The Break-up (Ugh. Usually I love Vince Vaughn because he is a funny, funny man, but this was just 2+ hours of annoying fighting which got old really, really fast)
Prairie Home Companion (very good, if you're a fan of the radio show. Garrison Keillor is the cutest old man alive. I just want to give him a hug. And that voice, that voice!)

I finished three books--Comeback Kiss by Lani Diane Rich, Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer, and Miss Wonderful by Loretta Chase. All of them were okay, but a little disappointing. Which is upsetting, because I thought they'd be for sure keepers. I'll post mini-reviews soon.

Vacation!!! Finally.

Twin and I are leaving tonight for a week on the Outer Banks, NC. Thank God. I have been looking forward to this for months. Work has been killing me lately.

We may have rented the smallest cottage on the Outer Banks. When we were choosing, we kept looking at all these beautiful houses. Look, this one's got a jacuzzi! A pool! Hot tub! Home theater! Sadly though, Julie and I both have jobs that we like, but don't make us a whole lot of money. (Damn my hippie parents! Why couldn't I have been raised all materialist and consumerist?!!) So listed as the amenities for our house: cable tv, private well. WTF? Private well? We have therefore been calling it alternately the Shit Hole or the Little Shack. It will definitely be an adventure.

But it's really close to the beach and in a beautiful area, so I'm not complaining. Since the Little Shack is so amenity-free, I will be without internet. I'll definitely be having some withdrawal symptoms.

I, of course, plan to do plenty of reading.

Caring for Your Introverted Characters

Anyone who has not read the essay, "Caring for Your Introvert", from a 2003 issue of The Atlantic, should go read it right now. Introverts and extroverts alike. It's apparently one of the most popular essays they ever published, and I love it. I am very introverted and I think this essay is the best, most spot-on description of it I've ever read.

I was reminded of this article at work one day this week. A co-worker (very much an extrovert) asked me if I wouldn't like to eat lunch with the girls. When I said that I was a little tired and would rather sit at my desk with a book, she looked at me like I had two heads. I wanted to shout, "I've been dealing with people since I got here, and my phone has been ringing off the hook, and now I just want to sit here quietly and not deal with anyone! It doesn't mean I don't like you, I just don't feel like talking to you right now!" But of course, I can't actually say that, because she's really a very nice person and besides, she just wouldn't get it. I wanted to print up a copy of this article and shove it in her face.

Okay, that little rant is over. But reading this essay again got me thinking about introverted book characters. I took a wander through my bookshelves and realized that I couldn't think of too many truly introverted characters. This surprises me. I think most serious booklovers are introverts. Not to say all are, but reading is a quiet, solitary thing best suited to us introverts. And I'm guessing that many writers are introverts for the same reasons. So why don't they write more introverted characters?

Well, anyway. Here's a list of the introverted protagonists I could come up with:

1. Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen. He has to be top of the list because he's probably the best-known introverted character ever.

   "I certainly have not the talent which some people possess," said Darcy, "of conversing easily with those I have never seen before. I cannot catch their tone of conversation, or appear interested in their concerns, as I often see done."
   

2. Beth in Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. Beth is an example of an introvert who is also shy. I think a lot of people think shyness and introversion is the same thing, and it's really not.

   Her father called her "Little Tranquility," and the name suited her excellently; for she seemed to live in a happy world of her own, only venturing out to meet the few whom she trusted and loved.

3. Captain Horatio Hornblower in Beat to Quarters (and all the rest of the Hornblower books) by C. S. Forester. Horatio is described on the jacket flap of my copy as "endearingly self doubting" which sums him up pretty well. And he likes his quiet time:
   

   Bush, the first lieutenant, was officer of the watch, and touched his hat but did not speak to him; in a voyage which had by now lasted seven months without touching land he had learned something of his captain's likes and dislikes. During this first hour of the day the captain was not to be spoken to, nor his train of thought interrupted.

4. Princess Ani in The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale. I love this book because it proves that an introvert can be a better ruler/leader than an extrovert. It also gave me the term "people-talker," which is great:
   

   "Some people are born with the first word of a language resting on the tongue, though it may take some time before they can taste it. . . . The gift of people-speaking. Many rulers do [have this gift]. And people listen to them, and believe them, and love them. . . . It can be powerful and good, and it can also be dangerous."

5. Lena in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares.

   It was her last breakfast with Bapi, her last morning in Greece. In her frenetic bliss that kept her up till dawn, she'd scripted a whole conversation in Greek for her and Bapi to have as their grand finale of the summer. Now she looked at him contentedly munching on his Rice Krispies, waiting for the right juncture for launch time.

   He looked up at her briefly and smiled, and she realized something important. This was how it was supposed to be. This was how they both liked it. Though most people felt bonded and comforted by conversation, Lena and Bapi were two of the kind who didn't. They bonded by the routine of just eating cereal together.

6. Valancy in The Blue Castle, by L. M. Montgomery. Like Montgomery's more well-known Anne, Valancy is dreamy and imaginative, a home body.

   She also amused herself by picturing Barney and herself going to the dances and dinners in the houses on the islands, but she did not want to go in reality. Once they did go to a masquerade dance in the pavilion at one of the hotels up the lake, and had a glorious evening, but slipped away in their canoe, before unmasking time, back to the Blue Castle.

These are some of my favorite book characters. I guess because I like to see an introvert save the day, or succeed in life, or just figure out how to be happy.

Title: Strong Poison
Author: Dorothy Sayers
Published: 1995 (originally 1930), Harper
Category: Mystery
Rating: 6.5

Lookie, I used my brain icon. It's the first time. Dorothy Sayers was actually the reason I came up with the brain. When I was creating my icons, I'd just finished reading Gaudy Night (also by Sayers). I really loved the book, but it was definitely more of a mental workout than is usual for me. I mean, the hero (Lord Peter Wimsey) asks the heroine (Harriet Vane) to marry him in Latin! And she answers in Latin. I had to look it up to see whether or not she said yes.

Dorothy Sayers wrote a whole series of detective novels featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Strong Poison is the book in which Harriet Vane is introduced. Harriet is on trial for murdering her former lover, who she was *oh horror* living with outside the bonds of marriage. I guess in the '30s this was scandalous. And surely it must be a small step from this sort of immorality to murder.

Lord Peter is a rich gentleman whose hobby is solving crimes. He attends Harriet's trial and decides on the spot that he wants to marry her. So, first he must find out who really poisoned the victim with arsenic. Was it the nurse? The lawyer? The rich aunt? Or the smarmy cousin? Maybe it was suicide.

It's a really clever detective story. And I loved to see Lord Peter, who is usually cool as a cucumber, flustered around Harriet and then frantic when he thinks he may not figure out who did it before she is convicted. And he's just funny. "What a perfect Victorian you are, Charles. I should like to keep you in a glass case."

And don't let the brain put you off. If you like a good whodunit, these are great books. Busman's Honeymoon is my favorite so far.

Ummm, chocolatey goodness.

For anyone interested in the best chocolate cake recipe ever, click here to go to Twin's blog. I guest posted about the yummy cupcakes I made today. (I baked! And they turned out! I'm very proud of myself.)

Title: Angels Fall
Author: Nora Roberts
Published: 2006, Putnam
Category: Contemporary Romance/Suspense
Rating: 7/10

Every so often, maybe every couple months, I get this overpowering yen to read Nora Roberts. I don't think I've made it through her whole backlist, but I'm well on my way. I don't really know why I like them so much. All her characters are basically the same. It's like in every book that same character is plunked down into a different life and set of circumstances. But they're all generally really cool lives. And I have to respect a woman who has been able churn out, what, three bestsellers a year for the last 25 years or so. She must have one hell of an imagination.

Angels Fall is about Reece Gilmore. She was an up-and-coming chef in Boston when one night armed robbers go on a shooting spree in her restaurant. Reece is the only survivor among all her friends and coworkers. Obviously she's pretty messed up. The experience leaves her paranoid and a bit emotionally unstable. Two years later she arrives in Angels Fall, Wyoming. She starts to settle in, taking a job in the local restaurant and dating a writer named Brody. Then, one day when hiking, she sees through binoculars a man strangle and kill a woman. She reports it to the police, but because of her background, everyone just assumes it was a delusion and nobody believes her. Except for Brody. So she and Brody must find out who did it themselves.

Usually in murder mysteries, I never guess who the bad guy is. And in this one Nora does a pretty good job of casting suspision on all the townspeople. But it actually turned out to be who I thought it was. YAY me. I feel smart.

Anyway, this is classic Nora. I liked it as usual. And maybe that's one of the reasons I enjoy her books so much--you always know what you're going to get.

BTW, I've been thinking of starting to read her J.D. Robb books. Can someone tell me whether I need to start at the beginning of that series? Or can I just pick up any old one?

HP7

According to Mugglenet, the publisher of Bloomsbury says that the 7th Harry Potter book will probably be published in 2007! YAAAAAAAYYYYY! YAAAAAAYYYY!

I was worried that Rowling would make us wait forever. Can't wait, can't wait! We can finally see if Snape is actually evil or not. I think he is.

Title: Kiss Me, Annabel
Author: Eloisa James
Published: 2005, Avon
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 6

This is my first Eloisa James. I'd heard good things about her, so I picked up this, which I think is her most recent book.

Annabel Essex is a girl on the prowl for a rich husband. She's been poor all her life and has decided that all she really wants from marriage is security and wealth. She's disappointed in this dream when she is compromised (yes, the age-old plot staple of romances) and is forced to marry Ewan Poley, a Scottish Earl who appears to be poor. Most of the book covers their journey to Scotland when the two, who are basically strangers to each other, get to know each other. And kiss a lot.

I liked this book very much. The characters were lovely and interesting, and the writing quite nice. Very smooth with witty dialogue. My only problem, and it was a pretty big one, was that there really wasn't much conflict in the book. Annabel wants to marry money. Ewan, turns out, is rich. Annabel thinks Ewan doesn't love her. Of course he does. I kept waiting for the problem that these two people were going to have to overcome, and it just didn't come. It made for a very meandering kind of book.

And the scene in the middle of the book where they stay at the farmer's cottage didn't seem to have a point or add anything to the story. It was almost like she needed to add an extra 20 pages, so she just stuck it in.

That said, I did like James's writing style, so I think I'll go ahead and order Much Ado About You from the library. It's the previous book in this series about Annabel's sister, Tess.

Book Loot

Sunday was Brooklyn Public Library's annual book sale. Look at all the books we got for $15. Yippee.

Best finds:

• The Borrowers by Mary Norton -- A great childhood favorite.
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon -- I've read my copy so much that the spine is starting to go. Plus I think I stole it from my mom. So maybe I should send this one to her. Or not. I love this book, though I couldn't get into any of the sequels.
• The Eight by Katherine Neville -- Happy to find this one because I had just placed an order for it on Amazon and was able to cancel it still. That's $7 I can spend on some other book.
• Pompeii by Robert Harris -- I actually already have a copy of this, but Twin loved it too and she had that look in her eye like she might steal it someday.

A library sale is one of the few times when I can buy used books completely guilt-free. I never gave used book buying a second thought until I started working in publishing. But now I know how hard it is for most authors to make a living, and for publishers (even the big conglomerates) to make a profit. On the other hand, the environmentalist in me still shouts, "Reuse, reuse!! You're killing trees!" And they're so much cheaper. Cheaper = more books = happier Jennie.

So I've made a compromise. I let myself go at library sales (I'm supporting my library!) and on dead and/or bestselling authors (Nora Roberts really does not need my money, ditto for Jane Austen). For everything else, I try to either buy new or check out from the library.

What I read

Twin has made the valid point that people who wander onto this site might want to know right off the bat exactly what sort of books I read and review here. So I'm going to explain and then link to this on my sidebar.

I read fiction, very occasionally I may post about non-fiction, but don't hold your breath. The genres I generally stick to are historical fiction, romance, women's fiction, mystery, fantasy, and young adult.

I like books that make me happy. The currently prevailing notion that "good" literature must be bleak and realistic and depressing drives me completely nuts. I read the newspaper. That's all the depressing I can take. Reading is my favorite hobby and I want to enjoy it. I don't want to finish a book and say, "yes, well, life's a bitch and this captures that so well." So screw the critics, I'll read what I like.

Requirements:

1. Happy ending. Doesn't necessarily have to be girl+boy=living happily ever after, but it must a least have a satisfying conclusion.
2. Generally I require a least some romance. Just a little will do. Doesn't have to be the whole point of the book.
   
3. Likable characters. Smart characters.
   
4. Originality. I hate cliched writing. I hate carbon-copy characters. Give me something fresh.
5. Easy on the sap. Yes, I read romance. I love romance. That doesn't mean I want beds of roses and soul mates and cheesey lines. Blech.
   
6. Easy on the gore. I don't like blood and guts.
   
7. Easy on the scary. I'm a complete wuss about horror. Really just don't want to go there.

I'm sure I could think up more, but those are the deal-breakers. You may disagree with me, and that's okay. You should read whatever you like. But then you probably won't be too interested in my reviews. :)

Title: Sex, Lies, and Online Dating
Author: Rachel Gibson
Published: 2006, Avon
Category: Contemporary Romance
Rating: 3/10

This is the first Rachel Gibson I've ever read. And I have to say, bleurgh. I read a really funny excerpt from one of Gibson's books on someone's blog somewhere, can't remember now where. And I thought, ooh, she might be funny. Not so much.

Lucy Rothschild is a mystery writer. She starts online dating as a form of research for her next book. On one of her dates she meets Quinn, who she thinks is a plumber but is actually a cop investigating a serial killer who seems to be choosing her victims through online dating. And Lucy fits the profile. So even though he actually thinks she might be a psycho murderer, he falls in love with her anyway, because, ummm, she's so hot! Ehhhh.

The plot really doesn't hold up and the characters try to be interesting but don't quite make it. Lucy's the jaded beauty who thinks men are all rats and Quinn is the tough cop who's all about the job. They're characters, no wait, they're cardboard cutouts!

I feel mean now. So maybe I should give up on Rachel Gibson. Or maybe I just picked a bad one?

Title: Haunted Ground
Author: Erin Hart
Published: 2003, Scribner
Category: Mystery
Rating: 7/10

This is one of the first books in a long time that I read simply from having picked it up in B&N and thinking it looked good. Pretty much everything on my TBR list has been recommended to me, or is by a favorite author, or is something I've at least read positive reviews for (by someone or some source I trust). I had never heard of this book, or this author. I think I picked it up because it said it was a Booksense pick, which generally means it's a midlist book that got a lot of bookseller attention. I actually didn't buy it in B&N, because I'm poor and have made myself the promise not to buy books that I'm not sure I'm going to want to keep. I put it on hold at the library. Have I mentioned how much I love the Brooklyn Public Library? I LOVE THE BROOKLYN PUBLIC LIBRARY. 60 branches! Huge collection! Great online system! Yes, horrible public bathrooms, but hey, you can't have everything.

Haunted Ground is set in Ireland, present-day. A farmer is cutting turf in a bog when he uncovers the head of a young, red-headed woman. The police confirm that it is several centuries old (organic matter can be amazingly well preserved in bogs), and call in archaeologist Cormac Maguire and pathologist Nora Gavin. Through the book they uncover clues as to who this woman was and what happened to her. Threaded into this plot is the story of a local man whose wife and child have been missing for over two years. The local detective is still investigating whether they were murdered, and if so who the culprit is.

The two stories are entwined cleverly. The conclusion is very satisfying; both stories are tied up neatly, if a bit tragically, at the end. I really liked the tone of this book--very atmospheric with great descriptions of Irish settings and customs.

A good mystery, especially if you're interested in archaeology, forensics or Irish history. There is a sequel out, Lake of Sorrows. I'll put it on my TBR.

Title: Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies
Author: June Casagrande
Published: 2006, Penguin
Category: Grammar Reference
Rating: 6/10

I recently had a debate with my brother about the word "whom." I say, people don't actually use this word in speech, so it doesn't need to appear in anything but the most formal writing. He says he uses the word "whom." I'm going to laugh at him if he does. (Justin, I love you anyway.) Well, this book backs me up in the chapter "For Whom the Snob Trolls: 'Who'/'Whom' and Why You're Right Not to Care." Ha!

Usually I pick up grammar guides thinking that I'll read them through, but then put them down because they're boring. Yes, grammar is usually boring. But this book is so delightfully funny that I actually did read it from cover to cover. The author has a very pragmatic approach to language that I totally agree with: It is an ever-changing thing, and we really don't need to be killing ourselves following a ton of arcane and confusing rules.

This book goes over the most common grammar problems and sorts out exactly which rules you absolutely should be following, which are stylistic choices that you can feel free to ignore if you so wish, and rules that should just be tossed out the window. It's a very pain-free lesson. Her examples are hilarious and she is constantly making fun of copy editors (they are a seriously weird group of people).

Some highlights: In her chapter "Hyphens: Life-Sucking, Mom-and-Apple-Pie-Hating, Mime-Loving, Nerd-Fight-Inciting Daggers of the Damned," she says "Copy editors need hyphens like prison inmates need cigarettes and Karl Rove needs pentagrams and babies' blood." Yea, I hate hyphens sometimes. The chapter "Snobbery Up with Which You Should Not Put" defends ending sentences with prepositions. The last chapter is a glossary of "Satan's Vocabulary," word pairings that give people trouble, including affect/effect, compose/comprise, lay/lie, and rack/wrack.

Amongst all the jokes are some really good pointers. I'll be forever thankful for clearing up that whole lay/lie problem, because that's just confusing.

Title: Hoot
Author: Carl Hiaasen
Published: 2002, Knopf
Category: Young Adult
Rating: 7/10

Carl Hiaasen is a funny, funny man. And he can write. I've read several of his adult novels and they've all been good. My favorites so far are Skinny Dip and Basket Case. Some of his antagonists are sometimes a little too gritty and disgusting, and just plain evil (have you noticed I like to see the world a bit rose-tinted?) but, though they can make me uncomfortable, they are fantastic characters, drawn in razor sharp detail. And they are at least balanced by generally very admirable protags.

Hoot is Hiaasen's first young adult book. Like all his novels, it is set in Florida. Roy is a 10-year-old who has just moved from Montana. He is dealing with adjusting to a new home, and battling the thuggish school bully. Soon he joins forces with two local children who are trying to stop the construction of a new chain restaurant on a vacant lot, which is home to a few families of burrowing owls. The cute little owls are a protected species.

Good lessons for the kiddies, and adults too. Ecological preservation, of course, and also the importance of newspapers. A lesson I myself didn't need, as I have long had my own Clark Kent-ish role model. A brave man who battles injustice with questions and a pen, or, nowadays a laptop. :)

Hoot has been made into a movie that is coming out very soon. I hope it's good.

Big presses make many books

For those of you who don't know, I work in the Production department at Penguin. We are in charge of coordinating the manufacture of books (their physical selves). So most of my job is dealing with the printers, and balancing manufacturing costs and production schedules, in an effort to bring books into our warehouse on time and on budget.

I've just gotten back from my first trip to a printing plant. We went to an RR Donnelley plant in PA, where a large percentage of our hardcover and trade paperback jobs are done. RRD is a huge conglomeration, and does most of the domestic printing for all the major US publishers. They do the text printing and binding only; covers, jackets, and inserts are usually done by a different company which specializes in 4-color printing.

The presses are really impressive. So huge. If anyone's interested, Wikipedia has a pretty good explanation of offset lithography, which is the method of printing these days. Rolls of paper (they look like giant rolls of toilet paper) run through the presses at incredible speeds. It's amazing to me how fast the presses run, and still manage to turn out clearly printed pages. Everything is automated--robotic arms shifting things around, conveyor belts with components whizzing through the place. The plant we visited produces about 240,000 books per day. And they're actually one of the smaller RRD facilities.

So, very cool trip. They put us up in this really nice inn and wined and dined us a bit. And for added entertainment, we had some drama with a coworker taking a little too much advantage of the free booze. There's always one. :)

Title: Broken
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Published: 2006, Bantam
Category: Fantasy
Rating: 7/10

I seem to be going a little nuts with the supernatural novels. It's a genre that's really taken off lately and I do like them. They're great escape books--the best ones create a believable, yet imaginative, complete world (that are way cooler than our own). They have to be full of detail, but not boring. And they have to impose the supernatural elements onto reality in a way that makes the characters bigger and badder but still allows us to relate to them.

Kelley Armstrong does a fabulous job of this world-building. This is the 6th in her Otherworld series. The first one, Bitten, my favorite, introduces Elena Michaels, the world's only living female werewolf. The second in the series, Stolen, is also narrated by Elena and introduces a whole cast of other supernatural beings--witches and sorcerors, vampires, half-demons, even necromancers. The middle books are told by other characters, but Armstrong brings Elena back as the narrator of this installment.

Elena is pregnant with her first child and very nervous about it. Being the only female werewolf in the world, she doesn't really know what to expect. She is sick of being coddled by her husband and the rest of the Pack, so she's glad for the distraction when they start investigating the theif of a letter allegedly written by Jack the Ripper. The letter has somehow opened a dimensional portal, spewing zombies and 19th century serial killers.

This is a good story, but not my favorite. In my opinion, the best books in the series are those where she's introducing new narrators. Bitten introduces Elena, and Dime Store Magic introduces Paige (a witch). They're just more interesting than the sequels.

Armstrong has a website, with additional short stories and novellas that are very good.

Title: Dead Until Dark
Author: Charlaine Harris
Published: 2001, Ace
Category: Fantasy/Mystery/Romance
Rating: 7/10

I recently tried reading Laurell K. Hamilton's vampire series, but stopped because the first one was just too dark. So violent and icky. And you might say, "well, Jennie, duh, it's about vampires. They're dead people who drink blood, what did you expect?" But I like Buffy the Vampire Slayer-style stories. You know, nice vampires.

So a friend recommended Charlaine Harris's Southern Vampire series as an alternative. Dead Until Dark is the first. The premise is pretty cute. Sookie Stackhouse is telepathic, in that she can read people's thoughts. The problem is that she has trouble controlling it, so she is constantly assaulted by all the mental drivel that is floating around in the heads of all the people she comes into contact with. Can you imagine having to listen to all that? Obviously poor Sookie's social life is really difficult--especially dating.

Until she meets Bill Compton. He's a vampire who's trying to mainstream (live among humans). Bill's the first vampire Sookie has ever met, and she realizes that she can't read his mind. This is such a relief to her that she decides to befriend him. Meanwhile, a murderer is on the loose in her hometown and he seems to be targeting Sookie as his next victim. Sookie puts her telepathy to good use to see if she can figure out who the murderer is.

I enjoyed this book a lot--it's a pretty interesting mix of fantasy, romance, and mystery. Which by the way, I imagine makes it pretty hard to market. I found it in B&N in the fantasy section, which doesn't really seem right, but it doesn't really fit in romance or mystery either. I think there are five in this series; I'm going to go ahead and order the rest of them.

Title: The Amulet of Samarkand
Author: Jonathan Stroud
Published: 2004, Hyperion
Category: Young Adult/Fantasy
Rating: 7/10

This is the first in Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy. I'd heard of these books a while ago, but had dismissed them as Harry Potter knockoffs. But I finally read this one because Bookseller Chick said it was really good.

In the world of these books, magicians are an elite class who have no magical abilities themselves, but who have the knowledge of how to summon magical creatures to do their bidding. Nathaniel is a talented 12-year-old apprentice who summons a djinn, Bartimaeus, for the purpose of stealing the Amulet of Samarkand from his enemy Simon Lovelace. The amulet turns out to be an incredibly powerful magical object, and soon Lovelace and the government are chasing Nathaniel and Bartimaeus to retrieve it.

Nathaniel and Bartimaeus are both fantastic characters. Nathaniel is pretty complex--endearing as a lonely, unloved boy who is very smart, but he is also a little ruthless in his ambition. He wants to do great things, but it's easy to see that he is misguided. Bartimaeus is very funny. He is a millennia-old magical creature of great power, but he is constantly having to submit to being the servant of human magicians. He is consequently jaded and contemptuous of Nathaniel. But I loved that, though he complains about it, he does go to great lengths to help Nathaniel.

So I'm not going to gush yet, but this is definitely a good start to the trilogy. It is really original and imaginative and I can already see that the plot is going to go in some very interesting directions in the next two books.

And often with series, I don't really, really love them until further in. (For instance, I didn't really get into Harry Potter until I hit the third book, and now I am a Harry Potter FREAK. I love them to absurdity.)

Schadenfreude

Is it wrong that it amuses me that Harvard sophmore Kaavya Viswanathan, who sold her book How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild and Got a Life for $500K and got a movie deal, was outed as a plagiarizer this week? Apparently about 40 chunks of text were lifted pretty much verbatim from Megan McCafferty's Sloppy Firsts. Viswanathan's publisher has ordered booksellers to stop selling the book, saying that the author will revise the novel for republication at some future date. (See this AP article.) But who's going to want to read it then? I'm betting her career as an author is over.

Maybe I'm just spiteful.

This and that

Twin sis Julie has joined the world of bloggers. Check her out at Julieree. She is a graphic designer/photographer/arts and crafts guru/all-around very cool girl and always has interesting things to say.

Discovered this week that there is a new quilting store in town. Purl Patchwork in Soho. It's a tiny little shop that carries mostly just fabric, with some basic sewing/quilting notions. Very nice selection of fabrics--lots of really cool reproduction/vintage-looking prints. I couldn't help buying some for my stash.

And I got a belated b-day gift from my Mom. This lovely T-shirt with a slightly snarky, but excellent Jane Austen quote. Anyone know which character says it? (I had to look it up.)

I finished my class last night. YAY! Now I no longer have to face the madness that is 42nd Street at rush hour. The plan is to take the summer off, then finish up my Certificate in Editing with two classes in the fall. I have not been overly impressed with the program, mostly, I think, because editing, being a solitary kind of effort, is very hard to teach well. A skill that is easier to learn by doing, rather than by listening to a lecture. But I have learned some, and yes, it looks good on a resume.

Homage to Mary Stewart

The novels of Mary Stewart were among the first full-length adult books I ever read. Lovingly handed down to my sister and me by our mother, they immediately became some of our favorite reads. We've been Mary Stewart devotees ever since. I think this is partly due to nostalgia, but mostly because they are wonderful books. We recently splurged at Alibris, so that we now have our own hardcover copies of every Mary Stewart. I love the old-fashioned jacket illustrations.



Mary Stewart is probably best known for her Merlin trilogy, which starts with The Crystal Cave. I've never really gotten into those, but rather love her stand alone romantic suspense novels.

Here they are listed from my most favorite to least:

1. This Rough Magic
2. Nine Coaches Waiting
3. The Ivy Tree
4. The Moonspinners
5. My Brother Michael
6. Touch Not the Cat
7. Madame, Will You Talk?
8. Airs Above the Ground
9. The Gabriel Hounds
10. Thunder on the Right
11. Wildfire at Midnight
12. Thornyhold
13. Stormy Petrel
14. Rose Cottage

Mary Stewart is one of those natural born storytellers. I think most writers learn the craft of writing over their careers, and you can see progress over the body of their work. Mary Stewart's novels are brilliant from her very first, Madame, Will You Talk?, which was published in 1954. She is one of the most consistent writers I've ever read. Her most recent novels (published in the '90s) are rather tame; I think her age took some of the edginess off her characters. But if they lack the exciting thrills of her earlier books, they are at least cozy and sweet.

Her novels always have a delicious setting, most in England, but also France, Greece, and Syria. It is always summer and the heroine is usually on vacation or at least traveling to a new place. Each enchanting setting is vividly described, and it's almost as good as traveling there for real.

I was recently at the Strand and found a beautifully preserved hardcover copy of my favorite, This Rough Magic. When I opened it up a little pamphlet fell out--the Literary Guild Review pamphlet that came with the book when the original owner received it in 1964. I did a little happy dance right there in the store. It contains an interview with Stewart and a summary illustrated with these fantastic drawings. I had some fun with Photoshop and added in little excerpts of the text.



Lucy meets Sir Julian Gale.



Oh, Max. *Swoon*



Such great adventures.

If you like to buy new, Harper has also recently reissued many of these books in mass market editions with very pretty covers. Every booklover should go out immediately and buy them. All. You'll love them.

Title: Lord Perfect
Author: Loretta Chase
Published: 2006, Berkley
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 6.5/10

This was a much, much more satisfying read than my last. I've just recently discovered Loretta Chase, with Mr. Impossible. And I found a free copy at work, which is always a good thing. The cover is truly God-awful, what was the art department thinking?? And I think they should have come up with a better title. I know it's part of a series (with Mr. Impossible and Miss Wonderful) but still.

Lord Perfect is the eldest Carsington brother, Benedict. He is "perfect"--dutiful and good, never getting into trouble or creating scandals. He is thrown together with our heroine, Bathsheba Wingate, when his nephew runs away with her daughter to find a hidden treasure. Bathsheba is one of the Dreadful DeLuceys, a family originally of good birth, who have been cast out of "good" society for being unscrupulous and mercenary. When Benedict and Bathsheba fall for each other, even though Bathsheba herself is perfectly moral and un-Dreadful, she and Benedict both know that she would never be accepted as his wife. An impossible situation...maybe in real life. But this is romance!

Chase writes very witty, clever heroines. And there is none of the overdramatic histrionics that are so common in romances. Just good action, funny dialogue, steamy love, and a satisfying conclusion. Basically all the things I look for in a good romance.

There is one more unwed Carsington brother, so I'm sure he has a book in the making.

Title: Prairie Wife
Author: Cheryl St. John
Published: 2005, Harlequin
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 4/10

I've been working on a really long freelance proofreading project, and after staring at every word of a manuscript saying are you the right word? are you spelled correctly? are you followed by the appropriate punctuation? I needed something easy to read for fun. Prairie Wife is another recommendation from Super Librarian.

I think this might be the first romance I've ever read that's numbered. Yes, it's Harlequin #739. I don't really know how this works, are all Harlequins numbered? And why? Anyhow, I am not a book snob. I like to think of myself as the anti--book snob. I think people who look down their noses at any genre are narrow-minded. But if this is an example of a good Harlequin, I don't think I'll be reading too many. It was just too formulaic and predictable. The characters were generally likable, but not really very interesting. I did like the western setting, though.

Title: Circle of Quilters
Author: Jennifer Chiaverini
Published: 2006, Simon & Schuster
Category: General Fiction
Rating: 6/10


This is the ninth in Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilts series about a group of women who run a quilting retreat in Pennsylvania. I've enjoyed all of these books, but they are a little hit-and-miss. My favorites of them are historical novels, dealing with ancestors of the current quilters--Sugar Camp Quilt and The Runaway Quilt. (But then I generally have a preference for historicals.) The contemporary novels are good too, though The Christmas Quilt was, I thought, pretty boring. They're all sweet and nice, cozy novels where everyone is good and the villains are simply misunderstood or disagreeable. The books can approach the overly saccharine, but they never cross the line.

Two of the original gang of quilters are leaving Elm Creek, so applications are being taken for replacements. This novel is basically five short stories, each about a different applicant. Maggie, whose discovery of an antique quilt at a yard sale puts her onto quilting and changes her life. Karen, a young mother, who wants to re-enter the workforce and get away from constant mommyhood. Anna, a chef who is looking for extra money to allow her to open her own restaurant. Russell (a man!), who took up quilting as a way of coping with the grief at the death of his wife from cancer. And Gretchen, a veteran quilter, who is looking to get away from an overbearing and ego-crushing boss.

The Elm Creek quilters didn't pick my favorite two, but I think that the choices will work well for future novels.

One of the reasons I like these books so much is because I am a quilter myself, and they inspire me to get back to it. And Chiaverini is a good storyteller who can craft characters who, though they are themselves very ordinary, the reader comes to care about a great deal.

So, not my favorite Elm Creek book. (I think Sugar Camp Quilt is the best.) But still good.

Title: Ex and the Single Girl
Author: Lani Diane Rich
Published: 2005, 5 Spot
Category: ChickLit
Rating: 6/10

I generally don't have much patience with ChickLit. I really don't have the energy to go into the whole is ChickLit a valid or worthy genre?/is it undermining feminism?/ or is it a narcissistic and materialistic waste of time? debate. Personally, I read whatever I want and no apologies! I'm just usually annoyed by ChickLit characters, so I tend to avoid them. (For example, the Shopaholic books made me nauseous. I'm not joking--physically ill.)

But Wendy the Superlibrarian said this was one of her favorite reads of 2005, so I thought I'd give it a try. And I really liked it. Portia Fallon gets dumped and, feeling at a loose end, travels back to her hometown of Truly, Georgia. (It's set in the south, yippeee!) Her crazy family consists of the "Mizz Fallons"-- her mother, aunt, and grandmother, all of whom she calls by first names. There are shades of Ya-Ya in mothers who love their children, but are slightly resentful at the same time, preferring to be more friends than actual mothers. We learn that Portia's "Penis Teflon" (the way men won't stick to her) is a family trait. Portia decides to find out why the women in her family are constantly being abandoned.

This book is very sweet and funny. And it's not just about the all-important finding and keeping of a man. It's about self-actualization. Portia really does learn something about her family and about herself.

I think I'll look for other books by this author.

Title: North by Northanger
Author: Carrie Bebris
Published: 2006, Forge
Category: Historical Mystery
Rating: 4/10

This is the third in Carrie Bebris's Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mystery series. They are cozy mysteries--not really very good, but pretty sweet. The series picks up right after Darcy and Elizabeth's marriage. In each book they encounter characters from Austen's other novels who need their help in solving a mystery. I'm sure Jane Austen would be appalled, but oh well.

The plot is very silly so I won't go into it here. The second book in the series, Suspense and Sensibility, had a lot of supernatural elements in it (I can't remember exactly, but I remember something about a magical mirror), which I really didn't like. That's mostly gone for this book, thank goodness. The writing is often trite (like the title), but pretty harmless.

I think the only reason I read these books is to see Elizabeth and Darcy as a married couple. Mr. Darcy's obviously a really great husband. And they live at Pemberley. And they have a little Darcy in this one. Awwww.

This made me want to read Northanger Abbey (the real one) again. I don't think I've read it since college and can't really remember much about what happens in it.

Title: Don't Look Down
Author: Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
Published: 2006, St. Martin's
Category: General Fiction/ Romantic Adventure
Rating: 7/10

I have been looking forward to this book for almost a year. Jennifer Crusie is, in my opinion, the queen of contemporary romance. Her books are some of my favorites--Bet Me, Faking It, Welcome to Temptation. She writes the best characters--quirky, hilarious, lovable.

I was excited when I heard that she was teaming up with another author for a collaboration. (For one thing, Crusie writes really slowly, compared to a lot of romance writers who can churn out a couple books a year. Maybe if she only had to write half a book, they'd come out faster.) And it is an interesting combination--Mayer writes military adventure novels, which are about as different from Crusie's as you can get. Crusie wrote the heroine's point of view, and Mayer the hero's.

The heroine is Lucy Armstrong, a movie director, who goes to Savannah to finish up the last four days of a movie shoot. The set is in chaos--the original director has just died, the prima donna actors are sleeping with/cheating on each other, the financer is very shady, and Lucy's ex-husband is the stunt coordinator and aiming for a reconciliation. J.T. Wilder is a Green Beret (a kind of military hot shot) on military leave, making some extra money by serving as a stunt double. J.T. and Lucy seem to be the only two sane people in the book. They get into all kinds of adventures and end up saving the day.

I was hoping that Don't Look Down would take all the things I love about a Crusie and just add a great, suspenseful plot. And it didn't quite do it for me. I mean, it was good and I think if I hadn't had these overly high expectations, I would've thought it was a great book. But it wasn't all that I'd been hoping for. So sad. The plot seemed a little overly complicated and the characterization and romance definitely suffered for it.

The collaboration part worked, though. I thought the writing was really good--the two author's voices and styles flowed together well. Crusie and Mayer are already working on their next book. I'll definitely still read it. But my reaction will be more a "oh, good, another Crusie/Mayer," rather than a "omigod, squeeeee!"

Title: The Curse of Chalion
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Published: 2001, Eos
Category: Fantasy
Rating: 7/10

I recently read one of Bujold's sci-fi books and liked it a lot, so I thought I'd try this fantasy. I had also heard that it had a pretty strong romantic element, which you know I like. As with most fantasies, the setting is a medieval alternate reality, a world much like our own but with a little magic thrown in.

The story begins with the hero Cazaril returning home from a war, battered in body and broken in spirit. A nobleman who has lost his lands, he seeks employment at the home of the grandmother of the royse (like a prince). He is offered the job of secretary to the royesse, or princess, Iselle. While protecting Iselle, he discovers that a curse has been placed on the royal family and must figure out how to rid them of it before they are all ruined.

I really love Bujold's writing. They're pretty massive books, but in a good way--the pages just melt away because you're so involved in the story. And Cazaril is a wonderful hero--self-sacrificing, noble, and wise.

My only complaint is a slight overemphasis on their rather bizarre religion. And the thing with the tumor was a little off-putting to say the least. But all in all, it was excellent. A good tale of court intrigue and daring adventure--plus a very sweet, if subtle, love story.

Title: Secrets of a Summer Night
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Published: 2004, Avon
Category: Historical Romance
Rating: 5/10

I'm way behind on my posting. I've been busy with visitors and celebrations. But I will definitely catch up this weekend.

I've never read Kleypas before. I picked this one up because it seems like every time I read a review of one of her books, it's either a rave or a complete trashing. Few romances elicit such response. But I have to say I'm puzzled, because I thought this was a really ordinary romance. Not great, but not horrible either.

This is the first in Kleypas's Wallflower series. Four books each about a woman who's having trouble catching a husband in 1840s England. The heroine of this book is Annabelle Peyton, who has no dowry, and therefore no offers of marriage. And time is running short for her. She meets Simon Hunt and is attracted to him, but she doesn't consider him husband material because he is from a lower social class. A commoner who has made a fortune investing in railroads.

The only thing that sets this book apart is the fact that the hero is not some duke or earl. The novel shows that in this time period the landed gentry was losing some of its hold over higher economic and social spheres. The Industrial Revolution was well on its way. Savy businessmen from humble backgrounds were still looked down upon maybe, but they couldn't be ignored. Once Annabelle realizes this, she goes for Simon and his big bucks. (Of course, it's a romance novel, so she loves him too, but riches never hurt.)

Two more in this series are out: It Happened One Autumn and Devil in Winter. Scandal in Spring is due out this summer. I have no great desire to read them.