Shaken & Stirred: One Shot World Tour Post: Jeff VanderMeer's Shriek: The Movie!

August 15, 2007

One Shot World Tour Post: Jeff VanderMeer's Shriek: The Movie!

Well, this is actually an unscheduled post on the Best Read With Vegemite tour, because it serendipitously came up last night. You guys may recall how much I adored Jeff VanderMeer's Shriek: An Afterword last year? I still adore it and now it's out in paperback. Now, Jeff is not Australian (that I'm aware of!) and the book's set in ficitional Ambergris.

HOWEVER, there was a movie made of the book, featuring a soundtrack by The Church ("Wish I knew what you were looking for," you know), and it's just hit the Web. Go over to Jeff's site for all the details and to watch it.

Scheduled stops to follow. I'm posting the full schedule of the other participants and topics behind the cut. Meander their way...

Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast interviews Margo Lanagan
Kelly Fineman is all about Melina Marchetta
Big A, little A writes about Anna Feinberg and her "Tashi" series
Jenn at Not Your Mother's Bookclub interviews Simmone Howell
Chicken Spaghetti reviews Kathy Hoopmann's award winning All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome
Jen Robinson discusses John Marsden's "Tomorrow" series
Finding Wonderland has a look at Undine by Penni Russon and a look at some of Jaclyn Moriarty's titles
Little Willow discusses Finding Grace by Alyssa Brugman
At A Chair, a Fireplace & a Tea Cozy it is all about Catherine Jinks and her four "Pagan" books
Jackie at Interactive Reader posts about Randa Abdel-Fattah's Does My Head Look Big in This? and John Flanagan's The Icebound Land
Trisha at The Ya Ya Yas interviews Queenie Chan
Fuse Number 8 talks more about John Marsden and also highlights a new Hot Man of Literature: Andy Griffiths
Colleen Mondor writes about Nick Earls at Chasing Ray
Jenny Davidson interviews mystery author Peter Temple
Mother Reader posts on Am I Right or Am I Right? by Barry Jonsberg

Posted at 08:47 AM in Books, kidlitfabulosity | Permalink

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Read Read

E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The
You might think the world doesn't need any more boarding school novels, but if you haven't read this one then you're wrong, wrong, wrong. E. Lockhart has surpassed herself with this fable of a girl coming into her own and challenging the boy's club at her prep school -- while falling in love with its members at the same time. Lockhart never simplifies or skirts gender issues and power dynamics, and lets Frankie be realistic instead of a treatise disguised as a character. The sly omniscient narrator tells the story perfectly, and leaves hope that maybe one girl can change the world. More novels as funny and true and perfect as this one, please.
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath
Appelt's first novel is a beautiful, magical fantasy for younger readers that will instantly become a classic. Seriously. I can imagine this book being in classrooms right alongside Charlotte's Web in a hundred years. The writing is poetic in the good way, and there's a lamia. Children are going to absolutely fall in love with Appelt's equally kind and brutal universe, where love conquers most, and it can take millenia to come to your senses.
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class
With her second novel, Willett matches the perfect pitch and execution of her brilliant short stories. Every writer will want to read this novel--very little wincing is involved, but expect a great deal of laughter. C and I found ourselves reading pieces aloud, after howling provoked the "what's so funny?" question. As with any good writing workshop or class, the characters become more appealing as you get to know them, and ultimately what she has pulled off is a satisfying mystery, and a satisfying exploration of humanity. Amy Gallup is a character to remember.
Karen Joy Fowler: Wit's End
A new novel by Karen Fowler really is something to be excited about, unlike many of the writers for whom such praise gets bandied about. (If you're smirking because you think you know something about her work from the title--not the book--The Jane Austen Book Club, please go sit in the corner and read any of her novels. You're welcome.) This is an unmystery-like mystery, concerned not so much with dead bodies--though there are plenty--as with the mysteries of healing and the heart, politics and people. How is it that a writer gets a lens on the present that's as revealing as the one she employs in historical fiction? Now that's a mystery. Highly recommended.
Steve Erickson: Zeroville
Steve Erickson novels are often like dreams, or revelations, or discovered artifacts, or written just for you. Zeroville's no different, although it is perhaps the most readily graspable example of his work to date. The Rosetta Stone is there; the secret decoder ring is a film projector. The dizzying Hollywood confidential stylings will make your inner film geek happy, but the uncovering of a truly mythic cinematic story--since cinema has existed forever--of sacrifice and redemption is even more memorable. See also: this review.
Ursula Dubosarsky: The Red Shoe (Neal Porter Books)
Set in Sydney during WWII, this wonderful novel travels between the view from inside each of three sisters. Dubosarsky perfectly captures the differences that come from being the younger, older, or middle child. Perfectly conjuring the period, and yet creating a completely accessible story, the narrative contrasts chapters focusing on the family with interstitials from the Sydney newspapers of the time, stories of polio, the H-bomb, and a defecting Russian spy (who happens to be in hiding next door). Nothing here is heavy-handed. Everything is perfectly balanced. It's a beautiful, beautiful novel. See my full take here.

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