Get ready to cast your votes Monday, November 4th!
Get ready to cast your votes Monday, November 4th!
Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Best Books To Read For Halloween.
Best topic, because this is essentially tapping into my graduate thesis!
1. The Hallowed Ones by Laura Bickle — A vampire contagion spreads across the country, but somehow avoids all religious grounds. Katie, an Amish girl, is exposed to the terror and has to convince her community to fight for survival. If you’re looking for chills and apocalyptic horrors, read this. Check out my review!
2. Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough — This folktale and eerie song is absolute truth for a little English hamlet post-WWII. A family is cursed to have at least one of the youngest children captured by Long Lankin, a haunting poltergeist that has consumed children since the Middle Ages. I couldn’t sleep for days! Check out my review.
3. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson — What would happen if Jack the Ripper murders happened in modern time, and even the cameras all over London couldn’t catch him? That’s what Rory is about to discover. This book is for anyone with a deep fascination with the 1888 murders. Check out my review!
4. The Madman’s Daughter by Megan Shepherd — H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr Moreau has another secret: Dr Moreau has a daughter, and she’s in for a big surprise. If her father is considered a monster, then what does that make her? If you’re in for a sci-fi twist, read this book and my review.
5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson — We all have two sides to our personality…but which one is your true self?
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte — This is more than a love story. This is a story about two tormented families across generations, ruined and corrupted by one man whose only wish was to be accepted.
7. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield — An author is on her last legs and has one more tale to tell. She hires a biographer to record this story, and the biographer makes some haunting discovers about a mansion, some deranged twins, and a horrifying house fire. One of my absolute favorite books (and a new one out in a few weeks); check out my review!
8. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness — Albeit not frightening or a ghost story, this book is packed with magic, lore, history, and alchemical science. If that doesn’t scream a book to dive into during a magical time of the year, I don’t know what does. Read my review!
9. The Woman in Black by Susan Hill — Best. Ghost. Story. Ever.
10. The Kneebone Boy by Ellen Potter — The Hardscrabble children are sent to live with their aunt in London, but they wander through many adventures and come across a boy who is half human, half animal. A creepy and wonderful middle grade novel worth checking out.
What are some of your favorite Halloween recommendations?
Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Characters Names I Love or Top Ten Unusual Character Names.
Unusual Character Names
1. Hermione — I had no idea how to pronounce it till the Harry Potter movies came out (or was it the fourth book? One was before the other). Once I knew how it was pronounced, I fell in love. It’s still very unusual though.
2. Mercutio — It’s fun to say. And the first Romeo & Juliet I ever saw, Mercutio was hilarious. I have an affection for Mercutio.
3. Jem — From Infernal Devices. It just seems like such a feminine name, so when it’s used as a nickname for James, I’m thrown off. As unusual as it is, I like it.
4. River — From Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. Really, any name that’s odd, like animal names or super modern or nature names…they don’t make sense to me. Sometimes there’s a disconnect as I’m reading. If the person has an odd name, especially if the person is the protagonist, I have a difficult time relating. “River” was the nickname for this character, at least.
5. Frodo/Bilbo — It must be a trend in fantasy to have odd names. These two are odd and I love them, too. Adds a bit more to their personality, to them as hobbits.
Character Names I Love
6. Charlotte — Literary for the author Charlotte Bronte, and for Charlotte Lucas in Pride & Prejudice. Charlotte is a beautiful name, and it’s what I’ll name my first daughter.
7. Wendy — I just love that JM Barrie came up with this name. It’s ethereal and wistful.
8. Neryn — Shadowfell‘s protagonist has this Celtic-esque name that, even though I’m not sure how it’s pronounced (NARE-in? Nern? NEAR-an?), I still think it’s strong and ancient.
9. Grayson — From an upcoming book The Promise of Amazing. I’m sure this name is used in other books, because it’s not necessarily unusual but it’s also not a classic name.
10. Henry — Henry Tilney to be exact.
Because this blog is half-hiatus at the moment (all books read are for a children’s literature class, and I’m not reviewing them; any other books read for fun are ARCs that will be posted at the appropriate time), I decided to have a post slightly off from my usual to fill in the quiet.
Many of my bookish friends either buy books because they love them, constantly use their library cards because they can’t get enough of them, download ebooks because they don’t have space, or just simply love reading. I have yet to meet another book hoarder in person.
My idea of a book hoarder is someone who collects a specific book or specific kind of book, and can’t seem to stop themselves. For me, that’s just about every appealing edition of Pride & Prejudice, Northanger Abbey, Jane Eyre, and Wuthering Heights. I’m also slowly but surely collecting as many of the Harry Potter books as I can, and I’ve recently jumped into collecting Laini Taylor’s Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy.
This week I received Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, and Days of Blood and Starlight. I’m really looking forward to collecting the final Laini Taylor novel, Dreams of Gods and Monsters, in the UK and US covers (but mostly the UK cover). There’s just something about the UK design teams that appeal to me.
What books do you like to collect and why? Have you noticed a trend in your collections — publisher, height, cover design, color?
Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Book Books I was Forced to Read.
The Positives!
1. Jane Eyre — And I’m so glad I read this! Freshman year of high school in my Honors English class, we were covering nineteenth-century literature (I didn’t realize it at the time, but looking back it’s very obvious what the theme was). I was new to the school and felt a bit like an outcast, similar to Jane. Soon enough I was participating in discussions and acing the quizzes, and went far beyond our report project requirements. I re-read the book every winter, and it’s a dear favorite of mine. Thank you, Ms Clark, for inspiring me and guiding me towards my favorite genre.
2. Great Expectations — Again, this was in my Honors English class freshman year. I was curious as to why everyone — adults, students, pets — complained about reading Dickens. “He’s wordy, he has too many characters, the settings are dark.” One complaint after another, and I just plain didn’t understand why. His descriptions are marvelous, his characters are…caricatures, and the settings are reflective of the time! I loved it.
3. Dante’s Inferno — The AP Language and Composition project required that we create 15-minute video of the circles of hell. My group read Inferno deeply and literally, and placed Harry Potter characters in the levels. It was fascinating, entertaining, and what’s more: my teacher pointed out all the fart jokes. He made epic poetry fun.
4. The Awakening — My AP Literature and Composition class theme focused on transcendentalism. You know, Walden and the like. I was bored to tears and worried that maybe literature wasn’t my forte when we began reading Kate Chopin’s book. And then everything changed back again. I love it. I haven’t re-read it recently, though I should.
5. Brave New World — Soma holidays? Commentary on the nature of technology and genetic enhancement? Not my cup of tea…till my Honors English teacher my sophomore year created a fantastic unit that mirrored the book. For a week we were divided into the different castes, assigned different tasks, and somehow, someway, we ended up experiencing the book in real life. It was a wonderful week (even though I was Epsilon), and I’ve never understood a book or genre so fully till this.
The Negatives!
6. Grapes of Wrath — Honestly, the turtle chapters were my favorite. And even then I hardly skimmed.
7. Oroonoko — Or any 18th-century British literature. Shoot me now.
8. Ethan Frome — This unit in freshman Honors English was torturous. Edith Wharton and I are not friends.
Surprisingly Never Read for My Education!
I’m tossing this in here because most students are forced to read these books, but I never had to.
9. Frankenstein — I’ve only just recently read it for my graduate thesis. I wanted to see how long I could go in my education before I read the book, because somehow I missed it throughout high school and in all of my British literature / Victorian literature / Gothic literature classes. The professors always said, “I know you’ve read this book so I didn’t add it to the syllabus.” Little did they know…
10. Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird — Never read them. Don’t even have a desire to read them.
Which books were you forced to read by teachers, friends, or family members?
The Secret Daughter of the Tsar by Jennifer Laam 
Publisher: St. Martin’s Griffin
Publishing Date: October 22, 2013
Genre: historical fiction
ISBN: 9781250040916
Goodreads: —
Rating: ★★★
Veronica is an aspiring historian living in present-day Los Angeles when she meets a mysterious man who may be heir to the Russian throne. As she sets about investigating the legitimacy of his claim through a winding path of romance and deception, the ghosts of her own past begin to haunt her. Lena, a servant in the imperial Russian court of 1902, is approached by the desperate Empress Alexandra. After conceiving four daughters, the Empress is determined to sire a son and believes Lena can help her. Once elevated to the Romanov’s treacherous inner circle, Lena finds herself under the watchful eye of the meddling Dowager Empress Marie. Charlotte, a former ballerina living in World War II occupied Paris, receives a surprise visit from a German officer. Determined to protect her son from the Nazis, Charlotte escapes the city, but not before learning that the officer’s interest in her stems from his longstanding obsession with the fate of the Russian monarchy.
Lena, a servant in the royal household and favorite of Empress Alexandra, is asked to help Alexandra conceive a boy after giving birth to four daughters. But in 1920, when Alexandra is delirious from the medication given during labor, Dowager Empress Marie threatens Lena and strikes a bargain to help save the Russian monarchy. Fast forward to WWII occupied Paris as Charlotte flees with her ex-husband and son Laurent to Spain to escape the Germans. Fast forward to the present day, where Veronica is working on her book for tenure and failing miserably. But suddenly a Russian man named Michael seems to be the key to her future with the Romanov family.
I was a little skeptical about reading a book with three POVs, as they can sometimes be confusing, sloppy, and muddle. Laam, however, was very consistent with her chapters, clearly marked the years and locations, and each piece of the puzzle started to fit together perfectly. This book was in no way confusing with the multiple perspectives.
The story was enjoyable and kept my attention. It was like a journey across Europe and time, an adventure across the generations. About halfway through the novel, though, when Veronica is visiting New York and meets another claimant to the Russian throne, the circumstances seemed elevated to ludicrous proportions. The other portions of the book, with Lena and Charlotte, maintained reality at least. But after Veronica’s visit to New York, the link between the three women was obvious. I raced to the end just to see how exactly they each reacted to their situations.
Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book for review.
Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Book Turn-Offs, but I didn’t want to write a negative post. So today I chose from a previous Top Ten: Characters You’d Want as Family Members, in no particular order.
1. Hermione Granger. If I had a sister like Hermione, I’d both love her and hate her. It could get competitive between the two of us — Hermione is extremely competitive in just about everything sensible. But since we are so similar, I’d hope we’d love each other and bounce ideas and facts off one another.
2. Fred and George Weasley. (Assuming, of course, that Fred stayed alive.) I would love to have jokers for older brothers.
3. Jane Eyre. I’d want her to be my cousin. Or an aunt. Or an adopted sister. Someone extremely close to my family, in general.
4. Mr Bennet. Yes, he’s almost always hiding away in his library, but I think the way he’s such a caring father towards Jane and Elizabeth is simply adorable. He’d make a good dad — my father is rather quiet just like him.
5. Finnick. In Catching Fire he’s this dashing and remarkably intelligent and emotional kind of guy. He’d make a cool cousin or uncle!
6. Henry Tilney. Honestly, he’d be a part of my family because I married him. But if he’s not married into my family, he’d be another great older brother.
7. John Thornton. If a marriage with Tilney doesn’t work out, give me Thornton.
8. Cassie Maddox. The Likeness is one of my favorite books, and Cassie is such a badass. An aunt, a cousin, a sister, my mother, it doesn’t matter. She’s part of my family!
9. Marco Alisdair. The Night Circus is another favorite of mine, and I love how calm and collected he is. He’d also be a great mentor.
10. Sirius Black. I mourned heavily for his character. I don’t think he’d be a good father, but he’d definitely make a great uncle.
This was surprisingly difficult! Most of my favorite characters I’d love to either be best friends with or married to!
What characters would you choose for your ideal fictional family?
The Last Enchantments by Charles Finch 
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publishing Date: January 2014
Genre: fiction
ISBN: 9781250018717
Goodreads: —
Rating: ★★★★★
After graduating from Yale, William Baker, scion of an old line patrician family, goes to work in presidential politics. But when the campaign into which he’s poured his heart ends in disappointment, he decides to leave New York behind, along with the devoted, ambitious, and well-connected woman he’s been in love with for the last four years.
Will expects nothing more than a year off before resuming the comfortable life he’s always known, but he’s soon caught up in a whirlwind of unexpected friendships and romantic entanglements that threaten his safe plans. As he explores the heady social world of Oxford, he becomes fast friends with Tom, his snobbish but affable flat mate; Anil, an Indian economist with a deep love for gangster rap; Anneliese, a German historian obsessed with photography; and Timmo, whose chief ambition is to become a reality television star. What he’s least prepared for is Sophie, a witty, beautiful and enigmatic woman who makes him question everything he knows about himself.
William Baker decides to pack his bags and head to Oxford to study literature for a year. His career in political campaigns has slowed and he feels like he’s stuck in a rut. Leaving behind NYC, job opportunities, a long-time girlfriend, Will looks forward to his adventure in England and putting off “real life” for the time being. As the weeks progress in school, he befriends posh Tom, adorable Anil, talented Anneliese, studious Ella, driven Peter, and the ever elusive Sophie. His journey into self-discovery, and navigating the many forms of love, is deeply moving and incredibly touching.
I was originally drawn to this book because of the Oxford setting. I didn’t expect to like Will — the stereotype I have in my head of “poor little rich boy” is not a positive one — but little by little I began to see myself in him, my friends in him and his friends, our experiences quite similar. Will feels lost in the “adult world” and finds comfort in academia. Unsure of his future, he makes wild decisions to put off the inevitable. There are so many twenty-somethings out there who feel just the same: the desire to grow up and become someone, while at the same time terrified, unsure, and fearing failure.
Will is conflicted throughout the book when it comes to romance. Every type of love is presented: the enduring love with a long-time flame, passion and obsession with someone new and out-of-reach, and lust after a friend. There is no clear-cut relationship, which is actually quite refreshing in a book because it’s true to life. Emotions, love especially, never have logical explanations.
Everything you would expect from a graduate student is in this book: from studying in libraries, pubs, and cafes to parties in clubs, from sleeping with a friend to lazy walks in the park. There’s no sugar-coating or brushing over facts. It’s plain truth about one young man’s journey, all the mistakes and accomplishments, all the experiences, to the path of his future. It’s beautiful.
Thank you, Edelweiss, for providing this book from St. Martin’s Press for review!
Top Ten Tuesday, a concept started by The Broke and the Bookish, is a themed post that connects bloggers to bloggers, bloggers to readers, and readers to readers. Every Tuesday has a special topic, and this Tuesday is Top Ten Books On My Fall TBR List, in no particular order.
1. The Last Enchantments by Charles Finch — An ARC I received that is very good so far! William Baker takes a year off from his life in NYC and moves to Oxford, England. While there, he’s caught up in sudden friendships and a whirlwind romance, experiences he never thought would fall into his plans away.
2. Allegiant by Veronica Roth — Because I have to know how it ends.
3. The Secret Daughter of the Tsar by Jennifer Laam — Another ARC I received. After falling in love with Paullina Simons’s trilogy, and then reading Natalie Standiford’s Cold War account, it seems Russian-themed fiction is destined to fall into my hands and sink deep into my heart. I have hopes for this one.
4. Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield — As a long-time fan of The Thirteenth Tale, I’m beyond excited to read this next chilling book by Setterfield! She has the power to unsettle and fascinate, and I cannot wait to read her words again.
5. The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott — From the author that brought you The Dressmaker is another ARC due out in February 2014. This book follows a young woman who becomes a Mill Girl, and the series of events from working conditions to a murder of a fellow factory worker leads to a shocking court case based on true facts.
6. . The Bookman’s Tale by Charlie Lovett — Hay-on-Wye, Victorian painters, Shakespeare manuscripts, lost love, books, obsession, history…This is the book for me!
7. Her Dark Curiosity by Megan Shepherd — An ARC that will be published in January 2014, and the sequel to The Madman’s Daughter, a retelling of H.G. Wells’s The Island of Dr Moreau, this book is bound to be great for Victorian London enthusiasts and fans of Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
8. Stolen by Lucy Christopher — I’m always talking about this book and recommending it to people, and yet I’ve never read it! It’s about time that I do.
9. And We Stay by Jenny Hubbard — An ARC due out in January 2014 about a girl traumatized by a school shooting, interwoven with healing inspiration from Emily Dickinson’s works.
10. Just One Day by Gayle Forman — Another one of those books I’m always recommending yet I’ve never read. Need to get on that.
What are some books on your to-read list this fall?
The Outside by Laura Bickle 
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Published: September 2013
Genre: young adult, horror, paranormal
ISBN: 9780544000131
Goodreads: 4.05
Rating: ★★★★★
After a plague of vampires is unleashed in the world, Katie is kicked out of her Amish community for her refusal to adhere to the new rules of survival. Now in exile, she enters an outside world of unspeakable violence with only her two “English” friends and a horse by her side. Together they seek answers and other survivors—but each sunset brings the threat of vampire attack, and each sunrise the threat of starvation.
And yet through this darkness come the shining ones: luminescent men and women with the power to deflect vampires and survive the night. But can these new people be trusted, and are they even people at all?
Katie, the Englisher Alex, and Englisher Ginger, are thrown out of Katie’s Amish community and placed under the Bann. The only way they can survive in the wastelands thronging with vampires is to find untainted holy ground, kill, or use holy relics and symbols to deflect attacks. As they journey north with a horse and a wolf, Katie struggles with her faith, the concept of humanity, and the power of God’s forgiveness as she commits every sin to survive. When she’s confronted with a scientific “cure,” she must choose her battles: to take the cure and become less human in the eyes of God, or live a life abandoned and on the run.
Just as horrifying and gripping as The Hallowed Ones, this book promises everything and more for this struggle for humanity. The landscape is hauntingly bare, the night is filled with anxiety, and the day is filled with worries over food, sleep, and survival. Every abandoned home and store is examined thoroughly before entering, in hopes the food hasn’t spoiled, the home is warm, and the vampires have not created a nest. Every human is looked upon with caution, and even holy ground is considered unsafe.
Katie’s internal struggles were absolutely fascinating to read. She’s confronted with all sorts of issues while she fights to survive Outside. First, there’s violence. Although it is in the name of self-defense, she struggles justifying it when her Amish faith says she must turn the other cheek. Second, there’s theft and vanity. She and Alex constantly steal from abandoned stores and homes, and she has to shed her Amish clothes for English ones. There are other issues, such as pride and greed, that she struggles with in her faith. Katie moves further and further away from her upbringing, and it distresses her immensely. Each move she makes, she gave careful thought, and frequently asks God for forgiveness for her transgressions.
Alex and Katie’s love was beautiful. It’s not the all-consuming passion so often read about in young adult novels. Alex respects her, seeks her opinion on matters and treats her like an equal. Katie loves his commitment, his steady presence. All they need is a look, a hand to hold, a piece of food to share. Their bond was peppered with tenderness I have not read in ages. And I think that’s what makes this book great overall: it is the end of the world, a fight for survival, and the time on the run is spent treasuring every moment, the good and bad.
Scribbles & Wanderlust 