God of the Hive

Anyone who knows me knows I love the Mary Russell books.  I got to meet Laurie, Miss Russell's editor at this past year's Bouchercon in Cleveland.  Quite spectacular.  So I have a Goodreads review from book ten, God of the Hive, that is fairly complete and sharable.  Enjoy!

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After I won the ARC of this from Goodreads, I was ever so excited.  Since The Language of Bees ended in a cliffhanger, I was especially grateful to get to read the book as soon as possible.  However, it was necessary to reread #9 before reading The God of the Hive.  Believe me, if you don't reread it and the last time you read #9 was last year, you might be a little lost (unless you have a photographic memory).  So on the recommendation of Miss Russell herself (on Twitter), I listened to the previous book.
 
The God of the Hive begins directly where the last left off, with Mary Russell carrying Estelle on her back in Scotland.  With the realization that Brothers is not dead, Russell must get the child to safety as soon as possible.  Since they are in the Orkneys, however, it is a bit of a problem.  Russell must once again get on that rickety plane and fly south to England, but that is easier said than done.  Meanwhile, Holmes is fleeing with a shot Damian, making it difficult for them to escape the Orkneys as well.  Both groups are able to succeed with help from old and new friends, including Russell's help from the mysterious Robert Goodman.

However, things are rotten in London.  Scotland Yard is after the Holmes family, and they are not the only ones.  The middle of the book brings some great worry, and I made the unfortunate mistake of pausing there amid my grad schoolwork.  Warning: Do not do this!  It will greatly affect your psyche and possibly make you miserable.  I won't give away anything else, just that more enemies exist for the Holmes' than Brothers and his gang.

I really enjoyed reading the ARC, but I frankly cannot wait to read the actual book.  If only to get the fully edited story without the interruption of school work.  Thanks, Miss Russell, for your exciting memoir.  And thanks, LRK, for the wonderful job of editing it.

Who Could That Be at This Hour?

Huge Lemony Snicket fan here.  How about you?  Some find it an acquired taste, but it is just perfect for me and my sense of humor.  His use of language is spectacular, and this book, a prequel series of sorts, is unusual like his other works.

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I read this faster then I wanted to, but it was due today with holds.  I love going into Snicket's childhood, and the whole thing is sufficiently mysterious and nonsensical like his other work.  Lemony has just graduated from the secret organization he trained with, and is now apprenticing with the worst of the 52 chaperones.  He has a reason for this, but I don't want to give anything away.  Basically, he ends up in a dying town for his first assignment, and meets some intelligent young people and ridiculous adults.  If you like A Series of Unfortunate Events and other Snicket works, you will enjoy.  If you don't like it, I don't know if you will care for this.  The writing style is similar to his grownup voice, but this sounds younger and less experienced.  Which in my mind, makes it all the more awesome, as an evolution of the author/character.  I might change this to a 5 star after I get another chance to read it, but for now it is 4.5.  Can't wait for the next one.

The Name of the Game Was Murder

Any Joan Lowry Nixon fans out there?  She wrote some great teen mysteries with tame romances attached.  Here is one that does not bear a romance, but had a really cool puzzle involved with the mystery.  And as I am posting directly from Goodreads, it may bear some references to that in the reviews.  I hope you don't mind.  Also, they are shorter than what I will be posting (probably) for my regular reviews here.  Still, they give a flavor for the books.

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I'm trying to make an attempt to add everything? (eek!) I have ever read onto Goodreads. This will be an interesting exercise, to say the least. I picked this book since I have read it so many times and I can see it from my bed.

Nixon always does an excellent job of drawing in the reader, making her feel for the protagonist. I can't really remember if I solved the mystery when I first read the book, but it is an interesting little puzzle. And the murderer is unexpected as well. Some of the story is a bit dated now, since some of the characters claim to not be familiar with computers, and today that would be near impossible. However, there is something about this little mystery that makes me smile when I read it.

My Side of the Mountain

So I am going to move some of my Goodreads reviews here in order to fatten her up.  I will also try to stay on top of adding new material too, but since I have but one lone review, I think it is time to add some more.

My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George was a Newbery Honor book for that year and is a pretty interesting tale.  The following review is a response to some silly people who take books for children as literal suggestions of what children should do.  Which is ridiculous, since that isn't the point.  Imagination.  Traveling and not moving an inch, seeing the world without spending a penny.  Those are the points.  Sometimes I worry about reviewers who don't seem to have an ounce of imagination or creativity in them.  How do they survive in the world?  So, the conversational tone is addressing their criticism of the book's survival story.

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People, this book was written in the late 50s, and things were a bit different back then. Trying to place it in the now does not work. Yes, there are many unbelievable parts, but it is a children's fiction book, not a survival guide.  This charming story brings me back to my youth and reading other George books.  Escaping the hustle and bustle of everyday life is something many of us imagine for a time. I know I did, judging from journals from when I was young. Thinking it is bad or stupid because of its implausibilities means you have lost your imagination and probably have no idea what some kids think about. perhaps it should not be forced on kids to read in school, but classics that won awards are always fair game. If you don't like them, write a new story that will get awards. And if you can't, then don't complain. The  Newbery (et al.) selection committee is awesome and well qualified and does an awesome job finding the top books out of hundreds or thousands published a year.

Sorry for the rant. This book is lovely and accessible to many.  Keep when it was written in context, and you should enjoy the day to day life of surviving on a mountain.

Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos

When I was little, I used to think that chaos was pronounced tcha-Os, which makes sense when you don't understand the rules of English, especially when it isn't even an English word.  So the title Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos will helpfully assist in some pronunciation lessons for some precocious children.  Of course, that isn't all that Theodosia will do.

Theodosia Throckmorton, or Theo, is peculiar and knows it.  As an 11-year-old in Edwardian London, she should really be in boarding school or under a governess's tutelage, but she instead creates her own studies based on the scholarly materials available at the museum where her father is curator: The Museum of Legends and Antiquities.  Even more fantastic is her ability to see the dark curses surrounding the artifacts, including those that her archaeologist mother is bringing from Egypt.

So if you are like me, you can already see why I am super into this series.  Theo spends some nights in the museum sleeping in a sarcophagus (which keeps her safe from curses) and creates her own curriculum, learning all about Egyptian history, relics, and hieroglyphs.  Aside from the scary curses bit, what book-loving kid would not want to practically live in a museum?  Of course, it is not glamorous (very dirty), and Theo does not get along with the second assistant curator.  Theo also has a wonderful cat called Isis, who seems at home with her human in the museum.

Now I am going to say SPOILERS AHEAD, though they are vague.

Sensing the curator's interest in dark curse-ridden artifact, Theo uses the methods of curse removal she has learned from her studies to make it safe.  I love how R. L. LaFevers  actually describes the methods that Theo uses and her substitutions for living in England. Some might find these parts slow, but I like how they add realism to the story.  There are unfortunate side effects to this removal, which make Theo's life more difficult.

Also, Theo's mother brings back The Heart of Egypt, which is very powerful and soon brings out evil forces interested in obtaining it.  But it reveals another group of powerful men who are dedicated to stopping this evil force, The Serpents of Chaos, from trying to descend Great Britain and the entire world into chaos.  Theo also makes friends with a pickpocket, Sticky Will, who becomes her help and eventually messenger with the wise group, the Brotherhood of the Chosen Keepers.

End Vague Spoilers

What captured me with the Theodosia books is the mythology, archaeology, supernatural, and historical in one place.  As an anthropology student as an undergrad, I loved archaeology.  And even as a child, I loved Egyptology.  In theory, this might be great to fit in with mythology curricula.  There aren't enough Rick Riordan books to go around, and this would provide an alternate series, especially for girls who don't like as much action*.

I cannot say that everyone will enjoy this book.  Fans of Percy Jackson or the Kane Chronicles may find little action.  The detail combined with only a little action may not appeal to certain readers, but it is a perfect series for me.  However, as the series progresses, there is more and more action and travel and danger.  *If a reader finishes the book but is not convinced based on lack of action, let them know there is more to come.

I recently referred to Robin LaFevers on her blog as a sort of Judith Merkle Riley for teens and children.  The more I have thought about the sentiment, the more I agree.  I have read all LaFevers' books since Theodosia began (there are few written before that), and I have read all Judith Merkle Riley's works.  The detail, history, and supernatural elements are in both authors' works.

I give Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos 9 out of 10 sonic screwdrivers.

It happens...

So I have decided to start a public book blog.  I suppose it was inevitable, though I certainly took my time getting to this point.  I hope to keep this fully updated, but I won't give you a hard promise.  My name is Jessica and I am a MLIS graduate, which means I wanted to be a librarian but I haven't found the right job for me yet.  (That is the optimistic view that I desperately want to hold instead of the reality.)

I love all kinds of literature, though I tend to go for more happy ending stuff when I am down.  Or happy.  Probably because I become super empathetic with people, even characters in books, and thus cannot stand when terrible things happen to good people.  So upfront warning-- I read quite a bit of romance.  Some of it rather silly, but I will try to be honest while reviewing it.  But remember, don't let anyone tell you romances are bad or stupid.  Some are, but some are wonderful.  I spent my formative years reading lots of historical and regency romance, which builds the vocabulary and (if you read the right authors) gives you a mini history lesson.

I also love children's literature, so many of my reviews will be in that genre.  In fact, my next post(s) will review the first four books of the Theodosia Throckmorton series by R.L. LaFevers.  I hope it will serve to encourage Ms. LaFevers to get back to the little heroine immediately after she finishes her YA series, which I am going to recommend briefly in this post, in hopes to get an ARC of the second in the His Fair Assassin trilogy.  So if you would, visit the trailer at this EW site.  The trilogy begins with Grave Mercy which was listed in YALSA's 2013 Best Fiction for Young Adults.  The second book, if you don't follow the link, is called Dark Triumph.  IF you like a combination of assassin nuns, mythology and dark fantasy, medieval Brittany, and a bit of romance, then you will probably enjoy these books. 

In addition to romance and children's/teen, I also enjoy a wide range of genres, including historical, mystery, funny memoirs, some fantasy (more in urban), some science fiction, and some narrative nonfiction.  And any combination of those you can come up with (looking at you, Jasper Fforde).  I hope you join me on my new journey, but if you don't, I understand that there are so many freaking blogs out there it would be difficult.  Of course, if you are that person, you probably aren't reading this, so I suppose my words are superfluous. Still, I like to be thorough.