Archive | July, 2010

Monthly Round-up: July 2010

30 Jul

pink domo!Monthly Round-up for July 2010

Read
Paris 1934 by Paul A. Myers (REVIEW)
Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters (REVIEW)
Mistress Pat L.M. Montgomery (REVIEW)
Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton (Read the first few chapters via NetGalley and can’t wait to get the published copy when it’s released. Made me shiver in a wonderfully creeped out way.)
Soulless by Gail Carriger (REVIEW)

Currently Reading
Changeless by Gail Carriger
Lark Rise to Candleford by Flora Thompson (slowly but surely…)
Daily Life in Victorian England by Sally Mitchell

Books I couldn’t finish
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Dickens and I don’t get along. I will give Bleak House a try one day, but till then…

The Monthly Round-up is a regular feature wherein I list the books I read each month.

‘Celebrating Georgette Heyer’ at Austenprose

30 Jul

Join Laurel Ann, of Austenprose, and guests for a month of Georgette Heyer, starting on Sunday, August 1st.

‘Celebrating Georgette Heyer’ at Austenprose – August 1st – 31st, 2010 « Austenprose.

Soulless

25 Jul

Soulless by Gail Carriger

Alexia Tarabotti, half-Italian, on-the-shelf, and soulless, finds she is under no obligation to observe all the niceties of Victorian society, so why should she hesitate to order tea in another’s home when a proper tea is not forthcoming? Never did she imagine that something as simple as a request for tea and treacle tart could lead to her becoming involved in unraveling a mysterious plot that threatens the order of Britain’s supernatural citizens. Or that she would suddenly find herself  in the company of alluring, Scottish, and infinitely infuriating Lord Maccon, Alpha werewolf and BUR agent. Vampires! Werewolves! and Deadly Creatures! abound, but Alexia is ready for them with her trusty, silver-tipped parasol.

After the surge in trendy vampire fiction, I experienced what I have termed vampire fatigue–a curious condition sparked by exposure to too many black, red, and white jacketed, Twilight-esque books, leading to much scoffing and arguing on the merits (or lack thereof) of damsel in distress heroines and their pretty-boy vampire counterparts. Oh yes, it brings out the worst of my snobby book reviewer personalities.

Soulless is not one of those books. I love Victorian-inspired fiction. The Victorians have always been my favorites, and those who know me put up with plenty of Victorianisms on my part. When I first saw a post on Soulless, I knew I wanted to read it–spinsters, vampires, and werewolves in a Steampunky, alternate Victorian London? Yep, my kind of story.

In many ways, Soulless reminded me of what I loved best about Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer’s Sorcery and Cecilia books–witty banter and a no-nonsense heroine who defies convention. It was a fun romp, and I instantly wanted to grab a copy of Changeless, the second in the series. I’ve avoided series for a while, but I’m looking forward to following this one :) .

Mistress Pat

16 Jul

Mistress Pat by L.M. Montgomery

Mistress Pat picks up a shortly after the end of Pat of Silver Bush. At ease in her role as mistress of Silver Bush while her mother recovers from the surgery that left her terribly weakened, Pat spends her days in the company of her younger sister Rae, who refuses to go by the old nickname “Cuddles” now that she’s all grown up, and the ever indomitable Judy Plum, whose stories continue to retain their fantastical charm for all Pat has grown too old to continue to believe in witches and fairies. Now 20, Pat has learned to accept the inevitability of change, though she still dreads its arrival. For Pat, there is still no better place than Silver Bush and no beau whose charms can compare with the charms of her beloved home. Beaus may come and go, their company making for a nice time, but Pat knows that it will take more than a good time with a cordial companion to make her want to get married and leave the familiarity of SIlver Bush.

Like the Green Gables series, the two Silver Bush novels cover a lengthy span of time. Mistress Pat alone spans an 11 year time period, and Pat is only around 7 when she is first introduced in Pat of Silver Bush. My calculations are terrible, but I believe Pat is 27 or 28 when the novel ends…perhaps even 30, there is much speculation on the great-aunts’ part that Pat is permanently “on the shelf”. However, I never felt like the story dragged; Pat is such a lively, spirited character with incredibly modern (dare I say feminist?) sensibilities that I felt like I was getting to know a dear friend’s life story. Pat and Judy’s friendship is as lovely as ever, and her relationship with the grown up Rae adds a new dimension to Pat’s character as we get to see her interacting with an equally independent and modern sister. The Gardiners continue to be a funny and fussy bunch, but Pat can now manage her relatives without feeling the least bit downtrodden. There is a good dose of melodrama in the story, but it wouldn’t be an LMM novel without it. Thwarted loves and misalliances abound, but they are in the background and serve to counter Pat’s own level-headed attitude towards marriage. A few scenes are also quite saddening, particularly in the final chapters when Pat must face the inevitable loss of several dear friends. Nevertheless, Pat’s is a hopeful and optimistic story, though bittersweet at times, and I feel very glad to have found copies of these two wonderful books.

Tipping the Velvet

11 Jul

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters

Nancy never imagined her life would amount to much; as an oyster girl in her family’s shop, she spends her days covered in brine, shucking oysters and serving up oyster teas. The highlight of Nancy’s week is going to the local theater to watch the acts, but there is one act that strikes her like no other. When Nancy first sees Kitty Butler’s masher act, she finds herself yearning for something she can’t quite name. What does it mean that she feels a pull every time she sees Kitty? Nancy doesn’t know, but she begins to visit the theater regularly to watch Kitty perform. When Tony, her sister’s beau and the friend who gets Nancy into the shows for free, tells her that Kitty wants to meet the girl in the box, Nancy is arrested with nerves. It is a meeting that changes the course of her life forever and places Nancy on a path that will take her far from the oyster barrels of Whistable shore.

I first learned about Tipping the Velvet when I was working on an essay on female bildungsroman… it was a proposal for an imaginary thesis that I never did write, but the idea always stuck and I’ve been especially intrigued by such stories ever since. Tipping the Velvet is just such as story, the coming-of-age of Nancy Astley, oyster girl from Whistable, into a proud “tom” who finds that she be exactly who she wants to be.

From the very beginning, I can just imagine an elderly Nancy telling her tale to an enthralled audience, her stage skills evoking a sense of drama in her listeners and making them wonder at the highs and lows of her journey from obedient oyster girl to inadvertent Socialist. I watched the film adaptation of the novel last year, and though I sometimes feel that watching the film first detracts from my reading experience (being spoiled in advance and all), Nancy’s unique narrative voice kept me engaged in the story despite my knowing where the plot was going.

I still find that Fingersmith is my favorite Waters novel, but Tipping is now a close second.

On a side note… I started reading A Tale of Two Cities but it hasn’t really grabbed me yet. Can someone sell me on this read? I haven’t had many good experiences with Dickens, but I remember liking a film version of this when I was in high school and wanted to give it a shot. Should Dickens and I part ways, or should I keep reading?

Paris 1934

1 Jul

Paris 1934: Victory in Retreat by Paul A. Myers

Sandrine Durand is a vibrant young student and journalist covering the political and fashion scenes of Paris in 1934. Working for both a French and an American paper, Sandrine sees two sides to every story, reporting the straight facts for the Americans and the details for the French. Saucy and flirtatious, Sandrine is coming into her own and establishing her independence amidst the free-thinking citizens of Paris, but she is no ingenue. When opportunity strikes, Sandrine takes it.

The novel’s rich detail evokes lively, early 20th century photographs of Parisian cafe scenes and cityscapes, bringing the era to life. The novel opens with mounting political turmoil, but Sandrine’s presence adds a fun and lively quality to the story, balancing the dryer facts of the historical events that serve as the novel’s background. Sandrine’s French and American friends prove to be just as lively and intriguing as the hopeful journalist; the energetic bistro scenes between Sandrine and the American journalists at the Oasis were some of my favorite moments in the novel.

The first half of the novel takes some time to develop; much of the action revolves around a series of civil uprisings that occurred in Paris early in 1934. The story picks up when Sandrine and her friends are introduced. I found that I enjoyed the social aspects of the novel more than the political history, but I appreciated the insight that the historical details provided as I was unfamiliar with the history of Paris’s pre-WWII politics.

I received a review copy of Paris 1934 from the Historical Novel Society Online. HNS Online publishes a quarterly column on self-published and author subsidized publications. Paris 1934 can be purchased from Amazon.com.

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On a side note… to avoid any self-plagiarism issues that might arise, I’m going to hold off on posting the reviews I’ve written for my class readings until grades are in.

Also, I’m playing around with my review format… I think adding the title at the beginning of the post rather than in the review will make the reviews more search and reader friendly.

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