Library Loot #4

Woohoo!  Well, of course I still haven't picked up Epitaph Road, Birthmarked OR Toads and Diamonds from my last post, but did that stop me from putting more on hold?  Of course not.  Because I am officially addicted to the Hennepin County Library system.  Yup.  It's official.  So, what did I actually pick, you ask?

Of All the Stupid Things by Alexandra Diaz

• Why I want to read it:  I read a review over at The Story Siren and it just sounds good.  Also, after Ash especially, the GLBT aspect intrigues me.

It really was a stupid thing that Brent Staple did – doing it (so the rumour goes) with Chris Sanchez, one of the guy cheerleaders. Who’d have thought that Brent, the school’s hottest jock, could be gay? But the doubt about Brent doesn’t just hurt Tara – it’s the beginning of the end for an inseparable trio of friends. Tara’s training for the marathon, but also running from her father and her fear of ever being abandoned again. Beautiful Whitney Blaire’s got everything and nothing, because her parents have never had time for her. And Pinkie has a compulsive need to mother everyone to make up for the mom she never stops missing. The girls couldn’t be more different, but doesn’t that just prove the strength of their friendship?
Then new-girl Riley arrives in school, wafting her long black hair and a scent of lilacs. Suddenly, Tara starts to feel things she’s never felt before for a girl - and to reassess her feelings about Brent and what he may/may not have done. Is Tara gay – or does she just love Riley? And can the map of her deepest friendships ever be redrawn in a post-Riley world? 

The Secret Keeper by Mitali Perkins

• Why I want to read it:  Hype, India (!!!), Mitali Perkins's fabulous Twitter presence, the cover (gorgeous!)

When her father loses his job and leaves India to look for work in America, Asha Gupta, her older sister, Reet, and their mother must wait with Baba’s brother and his family, as well as their grandmother, in Calcutta. Uncle is welcoming, but in a country steeped in tradition, the three women must abide by his decisions. Asha knows this is temporary—just until Baba sends for them. But with scant savings and time passing, the tension builds: Ma, prone to spells of sadness, finds it hard to submit to her mother- and sister-in-law; Reet’s beauty attracts unwanted marriage proposals; and Asha's promise to take care of Ma and Reet leads to impulsive behavior. What follows is a firestorm of rebuke—and secrets revealed! Asha’s only solace is her rooftop hideaway, where she pours her heart out in her diary, and where she begins a clandestine friendship with Jay Sen, the boy next door. Asha can hardly believe that she, and not Reet, is the object of Jay’s attention. Then news arrives about Baba . . . and Asha must make a choice that will change their lives forever.

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher

• Why I want to read it:  Good reviews/recommendations, intriguing concept

In 1940s Chicago, fifteen-year-old Ruby hopes to escape poverty by becoming a taxi dancer in a nightclub, but the work has unforeseen dangers and hiding the truth from her family and friends becomes increasingly difficult.

By the way, I decided to pick these not-quite-mainstream novels because, frankly, nobody ever puts holds on them.  All have some kind of GLBT/PoC aspect to them (that's Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender and People of Color, for those who don't know).  I am the only person to have holds on any in my entire library system that serves 3 million people.  Make of that what you will, but I think I'll definitely read more of these kinds of books versus the dystopia I've been reserving, because dystopia takes FOREVER.  Not giving it up, it just takes too long to come in, and I can't wait!

Do you have any library loot of your own?  Leave the links and/or titles in the comments!

Waiting on Wednesdays #7

The Waiting on Wednesday meme is hosted  by Jill over at Breaking the Spine, so I suggest you go over there and check it out!  Good stuff.  This Wednesday I'll pick...

Linger by Maggie Stiefvater.

In Maggie Stiefvater's Shiver, Grace and Sam found each other.  Now, in Linger, they must fight to be together. For Grace, this means defying her parents and keeping a very dangerous secret about her own well-being. For Sam, this means grappling with his werewolf past . . . and figuring out a way to survive into the future. Add into the mix a new wolf named Cole, whose own past has the potential to destroy the whole pack.  And Isabel, who already lost her brother to the wolves . . . and is nonetheless drawn to Cole. At turns harrowing and euphoric, Linger is a spellbinding love story that explores both sides of love -- the light and the dark, the warm and the cold -- in a way you will never forget.

I'm not a big fan of the paranormal romance, but Shiver had to be one of my favorites. (Along with Wake by Lisa McMann.)  You know, I'm not really sure why, because it isn't startlingly original or incredibly well-written, it doesn't really stand out, and yet Maggie Stiefvater's voice just rocks.  I might also like it because I adore Maggie Stiefvater.  If you are on Twitter, follow her right now @mstiefvater - she's hilarious!  Check out her blog, too (it's in my sidebar).

Anyway, I've gone so far as to pre-order a signed copy of this one.  It will unfortunately arrive while I'm at summer camp, but I plan to devour it as soon as I get home!  I really care about the characters, and while I haven't been on the edge of my seat like I have been for Mockingjay, I've certainly been anxious!

So, what are you waiting on this Wednesday?  Leave your links in the comments!  =)

Ash

Ash by Malinda Lo
Associate Links: Amazon/IndieBound

• Why I picked it up: Fairytale retelling, rave reviews, author presence on Twitter, PoC lit
• Disclosure: Library book. No reimbursement from author or publisher

In the wake of her father's death, Ash is left at the mercy of her cruel stepmother. Consumed with grief, her only joy comes by the light of the dying hearth fire, rereading the fairy tales her mother once told her. In her dreams, someday the fairies will steal her away, as they are said to do. When she meets the dark and dangerous fairy Sidhean, she believes that her wish may be granted.
The day that Ash meets Kaisa, the King's Huntress, her heart begins to change. Instead of chasing fairies, Ash learns to hunt with Kaisa. Though their friendship is as delicate as a new bloom, it reawakens Ash's capacity for love-and her desire to live. But Sidhean has already claimed Ash for his own, and she must make a choice between fairy tale dreams and true love.
Entrancing, empowering, and romantic, Ash is about the connection between life and love, and solitude and death, where transformation can come from even the deepest grief.

Occasionally there's a book I've heard I should read, really want to read, and finally end up reading that lives up to all of the hype.  This is that book.  It was slow-moving yet impossible to put down, hitting all of the right notes plot-wise, with beautiful prose and imagery; making it easily one of the best books I've read all year, and probably one of the best books I've read, ever.

Something I'll admit I was almost nervous about was the *lesbian* aspect.  I must say this was the first book I'd ever read with any same-sex relationships involving the MC, and I wasn't sure what to expect.  Um...no need to be concerned, people.  This book would have been exactly the same with or without *that*, and actually was the better for it - it took the emphasis off of the swoon factor aspect of the romance and placed it on what was real - the fact that Kaisa was truly someone who brought Ash out of herself and into her own like a lover should.  Wow.  I now wish that GLBT fiction would come out of the realm of gritty dramas and into this kind of thing more, because done well, it definitely deserves a place and doesn't feel any different than a heterosexual romance.

And now, on to the fairies!  Another one of my favorite aspects!  Forget all of that frolicking flower fairy crap (though I love Cicely Mary Barker as much as the next person) - these fairies were intoxicating, alien, and dangerous, just as fairies should be.  Malinda Lo handled her fairies much as Holly Black does, though to be honest I preferred Malinda Lo's interpretation.  In making them a race much like humanity and similarly flawed, Malinda Lo catapulted Ash into the upper tiers of good fantasy for me, excellent writing aside.

And yes, the writing was excellent.  I still don't know how these authors can make a book so slow and yet so compulsively readable.  I kept telling myself to put the book down and get some family time in on the weekend, but honestly, by the second half I'd stopped caring.  I got in the bath and sat there till it was cold and I'd finished the book.  I can't say that about too many novels that had prose this beautiful, either.

All in all, it's one of those books that it's hard to find anything you disliked about it.  I suppose you could complain about a few things, but honestly, none come to mind at the minute.  This is fantasy of the highest caliber.  We're talking pretty much in the same league as Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin, here.  Maybe not quite, but almost, and for a debut author, that's saying something.

One last thing I'd like to point out, not pertaining to the book but how I picked it up in the first place, is Malinda Lo's excellent Twitter presence.  She shares a lot of intriguing info about issues she cares about, as well as stuff about Ash, without oversharing.  She's also fabulous about reaching out to her readers.  It might have taken me a lot longer to find this incredible book if I hadn't started following her and loving her online writing so much.  So authors, us book bloggers do care what you're like on Twitter!  =)

The Final Verdict: Jaw-droppingly excellent, there aren't many words left to describe this book except breathtakingly beautiful.  Read it!  Five out of five stars.

Middle Grade Monday - Inkheart

I have a 10-year-old sister who is passionately in love with middle grade lit, not to mention a 5-year-old little brother who's into more of the same, so I thought I'd share some of their favorites (and my old favorites) with you guys!  This week I thought I'd talk about...

Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

Meggie's father Mo has an interesting talent: when he reads aloud, things, and sometimes people, come out of their stories and into the real world! But now the evil Capricorn wants to use Mo's talents to bring himself great wealth and power. Then Meggie discovers that maybe Mo isn't the only one who can read things to life.

This is not strictly middle grade (most of the fans I know are teens), but seeing as my sister hasn't shut up about this trilogy since I lent her my old books a month ago, I figured I'd share.

This is one of the books that made me want to be a writer.  Despite their length, which can be off-putting for a casual re-read, or for some reluctant readers, even a casual first read, I still go back from time to time and am blown away by how fantastic they are.  (I even wrote a poem about it, which named my first blog that's no longer online - read the poem here on Inkpop.)  My mom put them into my hands during my Harry Potter mania (I believe this was back in 2004, before the sixth book's release), afraid I'd never read anything else not written by J.K. Rowling, and then ended up with another mania on her hands!  I devoured the first book and waited anxiously for the next two, reading everything else by Cornelia Funke I could get my hands on in the years between.

Besides a love of writing, this book also inspired a love of reading aloud that's still with me - just ask my younger siblings.  We're currently reading The Sign of the Beaver by Elizabeth George Speare, and I've also read them favorites such as The Lord of the Rings, The Golden Compass, Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, and many more.  I can't help but wonder if someday my voice will be as good as Mo's and I'll find Frodo Baggins in my living room.

In my opinion book two was weaker than book one, and book three was weaker than both, but all three are fantastic and readable, even though they're so long.  Another weakness is the translation - I felt that a lot of the prose was lost from the German.  I kept getting the feeling that Cornelia Funke had more to say than was in the English text.  But younger readers probably won't care about the prose as much as they will the story, which is undoubtedly excellent.  Another enjoyable aspect was the quotes from other books that Funke places at the beginning of each chapter - I always love when authors do this, and with this book's subject matter, it worked especially well.

One last thing - if you've seen the movie and were put off, please do yourself a favor and read the novels.  They are much, much better.  =)