In my defense, this entry was delayed by the unfortunate collision of my laptop and a cup of ice tea (and yes, the 4 year old was involved). As my reading list is only on the one computer (a situation that has since been changed) I didn't know what I read in May until just last week. So here are books #69-82:
Failure of Mission by Sir Neville Henderson - This took a few weeks to read, only because the language was dated a bit. Henderson was the British ambassador to Berlin and wrote this book in the late 1930s. It's about as close as you can get to being on the ground as Hitler-mania grasped the country and utterly fascinating to read. In particular Henderson was a friend of Goerring's and it's quite interesting to see his interpretation of the other man's actions. (Goerring had fought in WWI and was quite opposed to war in general but loyal to a fault to Hitler.) I fell into this book by pure luck but I'm so glad to have it.
Twice Told - Part of my Summer Anthology Survey over at Eclectica. This one was quite ingenious - nine pictures were drawn and then each sent to two YA authors who crafted very different stories around the same drawing. Very highly recommended.
You Can't Read This! by Val Ross - In my current nonfiction column at Bookslut. I wish more adult readers knew about this book - it's the perfect read for fans of reading and writing (bibliophiles take note). Ross is a respected journalist who takes a look at censorship over the centuries. She travels around the world and across time to create a very unique essay collection. I loved this - and the cover art is awesome.
Out of the Shadows by Neil Waldman - In the same nonfic column this is an autobiography of the well respected illustrator. It is targetted for YA audiences but would be valuable reading for any fan of art and artists.
Firebirds Rising ed by Sharyn November - Second in the popular YA fantasy anthology series, this is also up at Ecelctica this month. It's a big book and has something for fans of all kinds of fantasy (and also sci fi). I had my favorites but all in all enjoyed it a great deal.
The Rose & The Briar - I got this collection for my birthday last year along with the accompanying cd. It's an excellent work of music and pop culture history and I read it in great big gulps - constantly fascinating by the truth behind "Frankie & Johnny" or "El Paso" or "John Brown's Body". It's the sort of book I'd love to find more of and the CD is excellent.
The Fat Man's Daughter by Caroline Petit - in my feature article for Bookslut this month. This book is just one of the many reasons why I Love Soho Press. It's a mystery surrounding the fall of China in 1939. The lead character is caught up in all kinds of intrigue and barely escapes with her life. There's romance and violence and a ton of delish history. Caroline answered quite a few of my questions for the feature - if you like historical thrillers then really you must read this.
Angelmonster - This is one of those hard to categorize titles that I fear will be lost in the shelves. It's historical fiction based on the life of Mary Shelly and how she crafted Frankenstein. I thought it was fascinating, utterly fascinating but I worry about where I should write about it. Historical fiction fans will like it, but it seems that fans of Shelly's work would also be curious to know more about the author. (You won't believe her life.) It is written for YA readers but should be read by all Shelly fans. Still trying to figure out where to review it though.
A True & Faithful Narrative - This will be in my August column as a great historical fiction about a truly wonderful bookish girl. The best part of this title (other than the centuries old setting) is that no one is perfect and no feels out of date. The author also keeps you guessing until the end just as to how it will all work out for everyone (I truly did not know where the happy ending lay). More next month, but it's a winner.
Slipstreams - Also in my Summer Anthology Survery a great sci fi collection. This type of book is candy for me, so much to enjoy and easy to read.
Ending In Ice - I wrote about this a bit yesterday and highly recommend it to science historians or fans of arctic history. It's very well written and tells a story that I was woefully ignorant of (even with my degree in Northern Studies). I plan to write more about it in the future.
Looking Glass Wars - Frank Beddor - I fall strongly in the "loved it!" category and hope to have a column about this book, the wonderful comic Dorothy and several other modern takes on classic lit. Buy this book for all fans of YA adventure though - whether or not they know beans about Alice in Wonderland, they will love this (and boys in particular will not be able to put it down.)
Gods in Winter - I bounce back and forth between whether this is adventure or light horror or more likely the story of a very quirky British family that got a bit quirkier one year when they caught the notice of a few Greek gods. I liked it a lot and will review it this fall....just not sure when!
Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers. Finally pulled this off the TBR pile and I'm so glad I did. Loved it, simply loved it.
As usual, a ton of YA fiction which is why my annual reading number is a bit higher than others. I am disappointed to only have three books off the TBR pile - I really want that pile to be down to something manageable by the end of the year (still dealing with all those books that got put in storage). My idea situation would find most of my books coming for review and only a couple dozen a year from the TBR pile. Still working on catch-up though, but the end is in sight....finally!
(Bookslut seems to be down while I'm writing this, so no links to reviews at that site. More on the column though later this week!)
