Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin
When I realised I couldn’t, in good faith, review this book—the reasons for which are outlined below—I asked my friend Gutsy if she’d be interested in reading it. Gutsy and I share a love of beautifully written fantasy novels. She’s the only person to whom I’ve ever lent my Patricia A. McKillip hardbacks. Gutsy is currently doing her PhD in Children’s Literature.
Anyone who’s read The Aeneid would have learned that Vergil had considered it an unfinished work. Ursula K. Le Guin spun that concept into her version of the events that led to the founding of Rome and moved beyond Vergil’s ending, beginning from an ending she herself imagined of what had become of the heroes of The Aeneid after the war had been won.
Lavinia, princess of Latium, tells us the story of how she came to be promised to a foreign hero causing a war to be fought in her name. We walk with her through the forests of an Italy far removed from even the ancient Rome we are familiar with, from the innocence of her girlhood to the burdens and joys of an awakened womanhood and to her days as the mother of Rome.
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How to Break Your Own Heart by Maggie Alderson
Recently, in romance blogland, someone asked where the older romance heroine has gone. I can tell you this much: she’s not in this book.
My biggest problem with How to Break Your Own Heart is that it’s not a romance. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have picked it up—it’s not the sort of premise I’d invest time in unless I know there will be a happy ending.
Yes, I read the back of the book. Oh, it deceived me. And so did the book’s nomination for a R*BY Award for Romantic Elements. Seriously, I’m not sure which Australian romance readers judged this book, but the readers I know would throw it against the wall.
Amelia Bradlow is content with her life. Her husband, Ed, isn’t the most demonstrative man on earth, but he loves her and provides for her. She has a job, and although it’s not the most wonderful career ever, she’s fine with it. But she’s 37 and approaching the point of no return for having a baby. To her dismay, it seems Ed isn’t so keen on children.
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Put your books down!
The 2009 Books Alive Reading Challenge finished yesterday (or today if you’re behind the date line). Stop reading and start writing your lists! Include a link to your challenge results in the comments below, so we can check out what you read. I’ll post a round-up post next week, so you have until Sunday to get those reviews done!
If you don’t have a blog, feel free to list your books in the comments below, or let me know if you’d like to do a guest post here on Book Thingo.
Books Alive Quickie Challenge
Here’s a list of the top 10 books I’ve read this year so far.
1. My Lord and Spymaster by Joanna Bourne – If you think romance writers can’t write beautiful prose, you need to read this book.
2. Addition by Toni Jordan – For maths nerds, people who count their steps, and lovers of base 10. You know who you are.
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10 Short Stories You Must Read This Year (Anthology)
The most startling thing about this anthology is that most of the works feature love stories. I rode the weekend on a wave of literary pleasure.
It’s worth buying a book listed in this year’s Book Alive Guide just for this anthology, 10 Short Stories You Must Read, which isn’t available for individual sale.
The collection starts off with Robert Drewe’s brooding story of unrequited love, in which the object of the protagonist’s desire happens to be his best friend’s wife. I very much doubt I’d read this as a novel, but the beauty of the short story is that it usually ends before properly resolving the central dilemma. A View of Mount Warning is no exception, which means I can cheerfully imagine the unfaithful husband dying from a Viagra-induced stoke, thereby freeing his wife and best friend to have their happily ever after.
I found the stories by male authors to be darker, moodier, more … well, self-indulgent. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I found many of the protagonists a challenge to relate to. (Also, none of the authors have websites!)
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Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands by Christina Lamb
Award-winning journalist Christina Lamb’s collection of stories brings to life parts of the world, but also the personal impact of her work.
All right, so I haven’t been reading a lot of romance lately. (That’s why this site says reading “mostly” and not “just” romance down under!) As per usual I found myself wandering through a bookshop, randomly picking up a book and not putting it down. This is the real test for me. If I want to—no, have to—keep going after the first few pages, it needs to be bought. Such was the case with this book.
Small Wars Permitting: Dispatches from Foreign Lands was written by Christina Lamb, who won the British Press Award for Foreign Correspondent of the Year in 2007. She’s written pieces for the Financial Times, Time and the Sunday Telegraph, just to name a few.
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Addition by Toni Jordan
Toni Jordan’s debut novel was a delight to read. It’s not often I come across unconventional protagonists, and this one has become a favourite.
“It all counts.”
So begins Toni Jordan’s debut novel about a woman with a peculiar problem: She counts—everything.
Grace Lisa Vandenburg lives by numbers—from the number of letters in her name, to the number of bites it takes to eat a flourless orange cake sprinkled with poppy seeds from her local cafe, she shapes her world using whatever unit of measurement presents itself.
So when she finds herself 1 banana short at the grocery checkout, what’s she supposed to do?
My shopping trolley has 2 trays of chicken thighs, fat and glossy,
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Cold Front by Ann Somerville (Pindone Files, Book 4)
Because who could resist that cover? Seriously.
When I was offered the chance to read an M/m romance by Australian author Ann Somerville, I scrolled through her website and the book with the shirtless man in tight black pants with his hands cuffed behind his back brought out my inner cover tart.
Then, when I read that it was along the lines of an M/m BDSM paranormal CSI, I was even more interested in the story because just one of those would have been enough to attract my attention. The book contains two prequel novellas, One Brief Encounter and A House is not a Home, followed by the novel Cold Front, which is the focus of this review.
One Brief Encounter
One Brief Encounter is told mostly from Dekan hon Cerimwe den Tsikeni’s point of view. Dek met Rensire hon Parmin den Vizinken in a bar while visiting Ren’s home region for police training and they had an immediate connection.
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Marked by P. C. and Kristin Cast (House of Night, Book 1)
Marked has an interesting premise, but it’s let down by preachy writing, stilted dialogue and heavy-handed foreshadowing. (But it’s still not as bad as Twilight.)
When 16-year old Zoey Redbird is Marked as a vampyre, she leaves her family and friends to live in the House of Night—referred to by human kids as the Vampyre Finishing School—to spend 4 years learning about her new life and undergoing profound physical changes. Although she’s Marked, there’s no guarantee that she’ll survive the Change from human to vampyre.
On the way to the House of Night, Zoey has a vision of the vampire Goddess, Nyx, who tells Zoey that she’ll be the first of Nyx’s true disciples. But first Zoey has to figure out her new high school. The school’s most powerful student, Aphrodite, has it in for her. And what’s more, Zoey kind of likes Erik, who happens to be Aphrodite’s not-by-choice-ex-boyfriend.
It soon becomes apparent that Zoey has powers beyond that of a newly Marked
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Blue Noise by Debra Oswald
Despite its straightforward storytelling style—or maybe because of it—there’s something rather charming about Debra Oswald’s latest young adult novel about a group of high school students who form a blues band.
Blue Noise is the fledgling blues band formed by a group of reluctant year 10 students who find themselves a little bewildered by the whirlwind who is Charlie, a new boy in the neighbourhood.
When Ash meets Charlie, he’s talked into an impromptu jam session, right there in the middle of the music shop. For 16-year old Ash, whose family provides him no sense of optimism for the future, Charlie’s enthusiasm is infectious, even though he doesn’t think the band will last—they never do.
Shy classical pianist Erin tends to overthink things, and by the time her words are ready to say no to Charlie’s request that she join the band, it’s too late—she’s in. And then she can’t quite figure out how to back out.
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The Last Stormlord by Glenda Larke (Watergivers, Book 1)
It’s been a long time since I read a fantasy novel in which everything about the world felt original and so utterly fascinating that even 640 pages didn’t seem enough. I suppose wishing for a stronger love story would be asking for too much.
When water is scarce and rationed to the last drop, the ability to sense and manipulate water is to wield power. Granthon, the Cloudmaster, is dying, and there’s no stormlord to take over the responsibility of summoning water out of the sea, forming them into clouds, and directing the rain to fall where it’s needed. In an effort to avert an ecological and political disaster, he sends his most powerful rainlords to scour the land for any children with water sensitivity.
Their search brings together forces that will change the land forever. Shale, a dirty, uneducated Gibber boy who displays remarkable water talent may be their best hope for survival. Terelle, a runaway girl, discovers a talent that not even the rainlords understand, but which can alter their destiny. The changing political climate
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