Lots of reading going on around here in recent weeks (that is not Alaska flying related - promise! ha!) Here is the rundown:

Lady of the Snakes by Rachel Pastan: This is a novel for adults about Jane, an academic in the field of 19th century Russian literature, who is struggling to balance the immense appeal of her research versus her private life as a wife and mother. Her research subject is quite compelling - she has been writing about the wife of a rather well known (although not famous) Russian novelist. There is not much known about the wife other than the standard info on number of children and that kind of thing and Jane is drawn to her. She kept a lot of diaries and letters and Jane's hoping that she bring her strong intelligence into modern times through an article or book. And then one day she makes what she thinks could be a startling discovery and sets out to prove it.

But while this happening her babysitter quits, her husband gets tired of hearing nothing but stories of 19th century Russian literature out of his wife's mouth and a fellow academic who specialized on the Russian novelist himself dismisses Jane's theories as crap. So she's not feeling too good about anything at all and it only gets worse from there.

This is a really well written novel about academia and historical research, the sort that completely pulls me in with ease. I identified a lot with Rachel and I know it seems to be a cliche to suggest this but I think most women will. It's not that her husband ignores their child - he's actually a great father - but Jane needs to do some travel to research and she needs to have time to pour over her papers at home and she needs time to write and none of that is easy with a 2 year old in your face. Does she feel too much for a long dead Russian woman? Does she care too much? What should she do - what matters most? Great questions, compelling narrative, excellent ending. I'll be writing a formal review of this one for March.

Truck: A Love Story by Michael Perry. The author is known as a rural type humorist (he also wrote Population: 485 about his town) and he is quite funny when writing about life in small town Wisconsin. What surprised me though is his tenderness - the way he cuts immediately to the bone when writing about relationships (both romantic and otherwise). He is a very good observer of life around him and also writes what he sees remarkably well. This book focuses mainly on the rebuild of his International Harvester truck (with a lot of IH history thrown in) and his budding own romance. I hate to say it is a pleasant way to spend an afternoon - that seems like such a little compliment - but it's true. This is just a really nice book and I enjoyed reading it.

The Mozart Question by Michael Morpurgo. Along with I Believe in Unicorns (my January "Cool Read") I have decided that Morpurgo and Candlewick are producing some really lovely MG books that include beautiful illustrations (this time by Michael Foreman) and stories that are both heartfelt and intense. In Unicorns he writes about a distant war coming to a small village and in Mozart there is a flashback to concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Morpurgo doesn't cover anything up or soften history, but he does write about it in a way that will not alienate younger readers. There will be a review of this one in the next couple of months - I thought it was a very elegantly told story.

Riding With Rilke by Ted Bishop. This is really cool book about British Columbia lit professor Bishop who took a cross country ride on his Ducati down to Texas to do some research on a book he's writing on Virginia Woolf. First this is just a wonderful travel book - lots of thoughts about the road, the motorcycle, folks he met, that kind of thing. But once Bishop gets to TX there are thoughts on Woolf and then also an earlier visit where he ended up researching a book on the first subscribers to Ulysses. Which means lots of writing about Joyce and even TE Lawrence (and thus more on motorcycles). This has to be one of the better books on reading and writing I've read in ages and all the bits on Ducatis and the road are wonderful - nice diversion from the research. I really liked this one.

Amulet by Kazo Kibuishi. A new graphic novel from Kazu is something to be celebrated and MG readers (the younger end) are going to love this. You've got a creepy house, a scary door in the basement and of course - A WHOLE OTHER WORLD! Emily and Navin are spunky and smart as the kids and this steampunk world that Kazu has created is very cool - and man the art blows you away. This book is gorgeous. My only complaint? In the book's opening pages the father dies in a car wreck. I'm still trying to figure out why this was necessary. Couldn't Mom have just been divorced or something? Why gives us buckets of grief in the first few pages? It seemed awfully Disney to me - the protagonist must always ALWAYS suffer the loss of a beloved a parent. I don't think that plot point serves this story at all, but otherwise the younger set are going to eat it up. There's a cliffhanger ending so expect more.

After Tupac and D Foster by Jacqueline Woodson. You've got two best friends in a Queens neighborhood who meet another girl with a mysterious past. "D" tells very little about herself but Neeka and the unnamed narrator make friends and the three become thick as thieves. Bit by bit you learn about D's life in a foster home, Neeka's older brother who is in jail for a bad decision in love and the impact of Tupac Shakur's music on the kids in the neighborhood. It's tightly written, very compelling and a wonderful look at families who are all struggling to make it. This is most certainly a book that takes on issues of race and class head on - particularly as it reflects on the justice system. Tupac is not portrayed as perfect - in fact his anti-gay lyrics are pointed out by Neeka as her own brother is proudly gay. But still, Tupac spoke to these kids, their friends and siblings. You understand why after reading the book and you have a new appreciation for what he was saying. It's no surprise that this book is good (it's Woodson after all) but I found it particularly touching. Should be review in my Feb column.

Glister Issue 2 by Andi Watson. Everyone looking for gns for MG readers needs to seek out the Glister series now. You've got a very spunky little girl, a quirky British setting (trust me - it's totally quirky) and a house that gets up and goes for a walk in the second issue. (The issues are standalone and published as short gns for $5.95.) The house is awesome - rooms that appear and disappear, a lovely ghost and a dungeon that draws people on mysterious quests. It's funny and very endearing and best of all Watson speaks up to his audience. Kids will wonder what's a dovecote? What's a Masonic Temple? What's Art Nouveau? It's all so out there and crazy fun and Glister's nutty father (a Professor Potts in a bathrobe) seals this one as irresistible. It's a winner, start to finish.

Have You Seen the Horizon Lately? by Jamie s. Rich. Okay, this is a novel about a young wunderkid author who suffers the devastating suicide of his wife and goes in deep hiding - he just vanishes. A few years later a grad student tracks him down for reasons of her own and slowly draws him back out into the world of the living. Along the way the story jumps back to show just what happened to Percy's wife and just why Julia needed to find him. It's a mediation on literature and writing, most certainly a story about fame and what it does to a person and also a look at finding your own way and staying with it - even when the people you love don't understand/respect that choice.

There's a lot going on here!

I loved all the lit that Jamie throws in and also that Percy's wife Iris is not just explained away as dead - the flashbacks flesh out her character in a major way and she becomes someone that readers will care about a lot. My only complaint is that Percy's assistant Val, who is hyper controlling, is a bit flat. I never understood why he was so committed to keeping Percy controlled - why he didn't try to draw him out a bit. There should have been some more backstory on their relationship so I could get a better grip on him and not see him just a cardboard villain. But overall, this is a cool (Jamie only writes cool stuff) lit novel that is perfect for the older teen/college crowd. Should be reviewed next month by me.

(Oh and it's listed as a graphic novel but it's not - that must be due to its publisher, Oni Press. This is a prose novel through and through.)

Man this is a long list!!

The Quantum July by Ron King. Okay, Danny's family is falling apart and he can't seem to make it stay together. His mom, who gave up her career for the kids is going back to academia, and his dad, who lost his ambition at some point, is sinking into supermarket obscurity. Danny's wiz kid little sister notices that her brother seems to have a strange ability and the kids decide to test it with a bit of chaos code. The result is full on live experiment in the Schroedinger's Cat vein that sees the family split more and more into what Danny has and what he seems to want. But it gets ugly - really ugly - and Danny has to choose, he has to make a ton of choices. The thing is, Danny is the kind of kid who usually lets things happen rather than makes them happen and it's hard to change that habit overnight, especially when it means you might lose the dad you really think you want.

Lots of questioning about fate here and what you should do and must do to change your life. It's a wicked cool hook of a story and I thought was very well done. I'm sure the physics is problematic but any book that makes even trying to understand Schroedinger's Cat interesting wins points from me. And Danny is a great protagonist. This one will be in my Feb column as well. (Books about teens facing some serious issues in their lives.)

Finally (!) I'm working on a column on hidden worlds and picked up Tom Becker's Darkside just to read a few pages and was totally and completely hooked. This story about the "dark side" of London is excellent - fast paced, scary, edge of your seat and full of offbeat historical references. Great creepy fun and should be a no brainer for teen readers who like their scary smartly written and romance free. (Vamps bad here - very very bad.) More on this around March but I recommend it quite highly.