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I have no idea why the title background is gray at the beginning, but at least I figured out how to upload so the quality isn't total blur city.
(Also, since Christopher updated his blog again after a Million Years, I redesigned his page too. Go see and tell him to keep it up.)
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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.
Hobson Brown: Miss Educated: An Upper Class Novel (Upper Class) (****)
Hobson Brown: The Upper Class (*****)
Brian K. Vaughan: No Future For You (Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 2) (*****)
Jo Walton: Farthing (*****)
Michael Chabon: Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure (*****)
Kathe Koja: Kissing the Bee (****)
Jennifer O'Connell: Everything I Needed to Know About Being a Girl I Learned from Judy Blume (****)
Kathi Appelt: The Underneath (*****)
E. Lockhart: Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, The (*****)
Don Brown: Dolley Madison Saves George Washington hardcover (****)
Nancy Willard: A Visit to William Blake's Inn: Poems for Innocent and Experienced Travelers (*****)
Roxane Orgill: Footwork: The Story of Fred and Adele Astaire (***)
Heroes, Vol. 1 (***)
Jincy Willett: The Writing Class (*****)
Gary D. Schmidt: Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy (****)
Cecily Von Ziegesar: Gossip Girl #1: A Novel (Gossip Girl Series) (***)
Ann Brashares: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Book 1) (***)
Judith Clarke: Kalpana's Dream (Boston Globe-Horn Book Honors (Awards)) (****)
Laurie J. Marks: Water Logic: An Elemental Logic Novel (*****)
Kathleen Duey: Skin Hunger (A Resurrection of Magic) (*****)
Laura Ruby: The Chaos King (****)
A. M. Jenkins: Repossessed (****)
Philip Pullman: The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials, Book 3) (****)
G. Bond
P.O. Box 1304
Lexington, KY 40588-1304
: Club Kama Aina (*****)
Feist: The Reminder (*****)
Lily Allen: Alright, Still (****)
Fionn Regan: The End of History (*****)
Amy Winehouse: Back to Black (*****)
It All Helps!
I like the new design for these pages! Really striking.
Posted by:Steph Burgis | November 12, 2007 at 04:34 AM
Also - I just watched the video, and Puck is *adorable*!!!!! Maya sends him warmest regards. :)
Posted by:Steph Burgis | November 12, 2007 at 04:35 AM