Through the Woods

Through the Woods by Emily Carroll (2014)

In this collection of five graphic short stories, Emily Carroll lures the reader into dark places where things are just not right and anything is possible. In one story, three children are left alone when their father goes hunting, with explicit instructions of what to do if he doesn't return; in another, a young woman is married to an older man and moves into his house, which is full of secrets; in a third, a man sits in a pub watching his brother socialize, knowing that he has already murdered his brother so this can't be him. Each premise brings with it a bit of unease that only increases as the story progresses.

As is typical in horror, the endings aren't crystal clear and they're definitely not neatly tied up with a happy resolution. I didn't always exactly get the ending of these stories, but man, they were creepy. And sometimes it's the not-quite-getting-it that makes it even a little bit creepier because it remains mysterious.

I'm pretty sure I saw a review of this somewhere, but I will fully admit that the primary reason I read it is because of the cover art, which is representative of the vibrant, dramatic illustrations throughout.  My favorites were the stunning pictures of the house in "A Lady's Hands Are Cold" (which, isn't that a great title?) I am always impressed by how much can be conveyed by just one picture, and this collection includes many examples of just that.

The graphic novel is a great medium for scary tales and I'd love to find more. I tried Joe Hill's Locke and Key and it was all right, but I didn't love it even though I really enjoy his other work. Do you have any suggestions for scary graphic novels?

The Sum of All Kisses

The Sum of All Kisses (Smythe-Smith Quartet #3) by Julia Quinn (2013)

Before we even get started, we need to get this out of the way: The Sum of All Kisses is a terrible title. It may be the worst title of any book I've read. It's not even the type you can enjoy making fun of; it's just saccharine and cutesy and awful. Let's just accept it and move on.

In this third installment of the Smythe-Smith Quartet, we begin by learning about the duel that drove Daniel out of the country and left Hugh Prentice partially disabled. Hugh has patched things up with Daniel and will, in fact, be attending his wedding in a couple of weeks. But first is the wedding of Honoria and Marcus (who got together in Just Like Heaven.) Lady Sarah Pleinsworth is also attending these weddings and, unfortunately, she and Hugh keep getting stuck together even though they cannot stand each other.

Sarah hates Hugh because of what he did to her cousin Daniel. That whole escapade kept her at home during what should have been her first season out, a season in which no less than fourteen eligible bachelors found wives. She could have been one of them. Now, her chances of making a good marriage have decreased.

Hugh also feels terrible about what happened with Daniel, but there is much more to that story than Sarah knows. The worst of it is because of Hugh's awful father, who is an incredibly vindictive and abusive man. Now, Hugh is trying to keep his father away from Daniel while trying to deal with his changed life situation, now that his injuries have left him unable to do things he enjoys such as hunting and dancing.

As much as I liked Sarah, Hugh was the really interesting character for me in this novel. The duel with Daniel was ridiculous and came from Hugh having too much to drink and losing at cards. He's a mathematical whiz, and not used to losing. But the duel almost killed him, which would mean no heir, and his father was livid. Hugh tried to remind him that his older brother could still marry and father some kids, but they both knew that he was not the marrying kind, if you catch my drift. Hugh's feelings for his father, brother, and Daniel are all explored during this novel, as, of course, are his feelings for Lady Sarah Pleinsworth. But there's more to the situation with his father than she knows, and as their feelings for each other turn surprisingly romantic, it is clear they may have hurdles to overcome that are far more difficult than their initial dislike of one another.

This was a fun read! I think I still liked the first two books in the series better, but it still had the humor that I so enjoy in Quinn's writing and the storyline was pretty good. I can't say what made it weaker than the others to me, but somehow it just didn't grab me quite as much. But after that existential young adult novel I had just finished, I think it was exactly what I needed.

Nothing

Nothing by Janne Teller (2010)

One day, Pierre Anthon realizes that life has no meaning and he leaves his classroom to go sit in a plum tree. His classmates, upset by his new philosophy, decide they must do something that show him that life does in fact have meaning. What they do begins innocently enough, but soon escalates into competitive sacrifice and violence.

It escalates kind of ridiculously, in fact. But I'm not sure this is a story that should be taken literally. It's less realistic fiction, and more existential fairy tale. You know how fairy tales are full of casual violence and don't always make a lot of sense? It was kind of like that. Surreal. It kept reminding me of Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone.

My main question while reading, was why do they care so much what Pierre Anthon thought? I found him kind of annoying. It was rather hard to believe that every kid would buy into this need to prove that life has meaning by doing such crazy stuff, and not one of them would be like "Hey, maybe we're going a little too far here." But again, see fairy tales/not-making-sense above.

I read this for my Not-So-Young Adult Book Group because they wanted some YA in translation. This is the second in translation book (the first was 172 Hours on the Moon). Nothing was definitely better but I am sort of conflicted about it. The writing was definitely superior to our last work in translation, but I didn't find the story especially compelling. It won a Printz Award and John Green apparently loved it, so there's that. It was a very quick read - I read almost the entire thing in one sitting - so I may just need time to process it. I like it a little more as I think about it, though I don't think it's a book I'll rush out to recommend.

Top Ten Characters I'd Like to Check in With

Top Ten Tuesdays are hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

1. Leonard Peacock from Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock.

2. Charlie from The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

3. Hazel from The Fault in Our Stars. I mean, we know it's not going to end well for her, but I kind of feel like we all lost interest and abandoned her after the events of the story. But her story isn't over

4. Libby from Dark Places. Actually, I worry about all of Gillian Flynn's characters.

5. Sage from Almost Perfect. 

6. Auggie from Wonder. I can't imagine things would have gotten easier in high school, and I really hope he maintained his sense of humor and positive outlook.

7. Austin (and everyone) from Grasshopper Jungle. 

8. Tana from The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I don't actually even remember how it ended, but I think it was sort of open and I'd really like to revisit this story.

9. Eleanor and Park from Eleanor and Park.

10. Petronella from The Miniaturist. She was so young and had to deal with a lot. I don't recall everything about how it ended (do I ever?) but she came into her own during the course of the story and I'd really like to see how things went for her later.

Most of these tend to be younger people, I guess because these books took place during their formative years and things could go so many ways after those times. What about you? Are there any characters you find yourself wondering about later?

The Attachments

The Attachments by Rainbow Rowell (2011)

It is 1999 and Lincoln is hired at a newspaper to monitor everyone's email. It's a pretty boring job, even with the upcoming millennium bug to deal with (remember that letdown?). But when his software flags a conversation between two women named Jennifer and Beth, not only does he refrain from sending them a warning about person email use, but he starts reading their conversation in earnest. Even worse, he totally starts falling for Beth.

Lincoln is totally charming in a way that I wish existed in actual men, but I'm pretty sure doesn't. (Thank you, Rainbow Rowell, for setting up unrealistic expectations.) He's still getting over his one major relationship and is living with his mother. He plays Dungeons & Dragons on the weekends and that is pretty much it for his social life. But he's such a kind and honest sort of guy, a guy with very simple needs and a good heart. Sigh.

Beth and Jennifer are super entertaining and I really enjoyed reading their email conversations. When the book begins, Jennifer and her husband are in disagreement about having a baby, and Beth is having relationship troubles with her musician boyfriend. I really enjoyed getting to know them both through their conversations, which were sometimes serious, sometimes silly, and frequently funny. The real fun begins, of course, when Beth catches a glimpse of Lincoln in the break room and begins crushing on him and referring to him as My Cute Guy. Of course Lincoln wants to approach her, but how can he do this after spying on her without it being incredibly awkward?

From the beginning we know it is inevitable that they will get together, and when they finally did I actually found it a little bit too quick and perfect and neat. But that hardly matters, because the getting there was just so much fun. I devoured this book in a couple of days and now I want more! But I've unfortunately exhausted Rainbow Rowell's catalog and now I'm just going to have to wait for Carry On, which will be published in the fall.

The Bees

The Bees by Laline Paull (2014), narrated by Orlagh Cassidy

Flora 717 is born a sanitation worker, but as soon as she emerges into the hive it is clear she is not like other bees. She displays an aptitude for other jobs and spends times working in the nursery and foraging outside with bees in other kin groups. But there are other things she does outside her preordained role as well, things she must keep secret or she could be punished for treason.

Paull's novel describes a society that is unrecognizable to us, and this creative world-building is the great strength of the novel. Somehow she managed to put herself inside the mind of a bee and extrapolate from that what their world must be like. They rely on different senses, receiving much of their information from scent, and they can hear the "hive mind" in addition to individual voices, and transfer information without speaking. Their feelings aren't like ours either, with few emotions that could compare to ours, and different moral codes. Bees killed other bees without repercussion, but it was forbidden for anyone but the queen to breed.

The details of day to day life were also new and unfamiliar, yet recognizable if you know anything about bees. Their food includes "pollen bread" and the honeycombs are referred to as "the treasury." Flora spoke about her body as though it was a piece of machinery. When taking off she "started her thoracic engine" and the way she referred to her wings and legs was also kind of mechanical. The bees also had their own mythology, the stories collected in panels in a special area of the hive. One of the stories told of "the visitation" which, to us, is when a person comes and collects honey. It was just so fascinating, I could go on and on about all the details of Flora's life and home.

I chose to listen to the audiobook because it was narrated by Orlagh Cassidy, who is one of my favorites. She also read The Piano Teacher and Before I Go To Sleep. Her rendering of this novel was quite lovely and enjoyable to hear.

Reading this was like being immersed in a very different, much smaller, world. It's the sort of book that doesn't need much of a plot, but it still has one. The Bees has been long-listed for the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction and I wouldn't be surprised if it made some other lists as well. It's one of the most unusual books I've read and, by the way, I am terrified of bees. We're getting a hive at the library where I work, which is not something I'm especially excited about, and I couldn't stop thinking about it while listening to this book. I don't think anyone who reads this can ever look at bees quite the same way again. Highly recommended for anyone who likes literary fiction.

March

March by Geraldine Brooks (2005)

In Louisa May Alcott's Little Women, the girls' father is absent for most of the story, and Geraldine Brooks has written a novel imagining his experiences in the Civil War. Based heavily on Alcott's own father, Brooks has brought to life a man passionate yet conflicted, holding himself and others to the highest moral standards. The Marches have had a long involvement with the Underground Railroad, and when Mr. March eventually goes off to war it's as a chaplain, not a soldier. He abhors violence and is a strict vegetarian. But of course he's not perfect, and when his actions fall short of his own expectations he is the last to forgive himself.

As usual, Brooks inserts the reader firmly in the novel's setting with her evocative descriptions. Details of war and of daily life are equally vivid and make the story feel genuine. Honestly, I kept forgetting that the people this story was based on weren't real, and would catch myself wondering if the real Mr. March was being accurately portrayed. There were some real historic figures in the story though, which is probably why I was so confused. Abolitionist John Brown made an appearance, as did Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The novel opens while March is off at war, but he looks back and recounts his early years and his marriage. His relationship with his wife was especially nuanced and realistic. They frequently miscommunicated, and some of their misunderstandings were significant. March recalls one particularly important moment when he looked to his wife and saw her approval, yet later when she recounts the same event she clearly did not approve and found his decision a betrayal to her.

Plotwise, the story was primarily about slavery and the abolitionist movement. March got to know some former slaves and their stories were, of course, heartbreaking. When March tried to help, it didn't always work out and he became consumed with guilt. Getting to know these former slaves was an education for March, and as much as he was devoted to his cause it became clear that their situations were more complicated than he realized and it wasn't as easy as he thought to determine how best to help.

There is always something comforting about reading another book by an author I like, especially when I've already heard that it's just as good as her other novels. That's what I was looking for when I picked this up, and I was not disappointed.