February Reading Log

Beauty, by Robin McKinley (reread)
Smells Like Dog, by Suzanne Selfors (ARC, review forthcoming)
I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith (reread)
Heist Society, by Ally Carter (reviewed)
A Chance to Die, by Elisabeth Elliot
The Chestnut King, by N.D. Wilson (reviewed)
Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan

Lightning Thief movie

Went to see The Lightning Thief last night with siblings 19, 16 and 13. Sibling 11 going later this week.

Wasn't overly impressed with the novel, but assumed the film would be way different. It was. Not really better, not really worse. But there are new plot lines and motivations, absent villains, etc. Faithful to the book's spirit? Pretty much. But skewered for an older age category.

Fan siblings (13 & 16) were disappointed with a lot, but really liked the film anyway.

??

(Could this have something to do with Logan Lerman?)

I couldn't believe the number of 8/9 year olds in the audience. They made up the majority. It was not a 8/9 year old film. I mean, when the heroes entered a Las Vegas casino to strains of Lady Gaga, no one laughed besides me and my brother. Jokes about the recession and several instances of Grover's wandering eye...

From trailers before the film began, it was clear that even the marketing crew wasn't sure who they were targeting, exactly. Cats & Dogs II: Revenge of Kitty Galore led into a preview of M. Night Shyamalan's latest film, which led into a preview of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. When that faded out, the entire theater was buzzing with whispers: "I want to see that!" I whispered to my mom, "These kids are at the wrong movie."

In trying to cast such a wide net demographically, filmmakers only hurt their end product. Large chunks flowed well, but were jarred by "little kid" bumps. But I guess, if the fans are happy, who am I to complain?

Loverly Love Books

Inspired by Sarah's Valentine's Day post, a list of my Top 10 Favorite* romantic reads/couples:

Valancy & Barney -- The Blue Castle, by L.M. Montgomery
Peter & Harriet -- Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers
Deb & Mark -- Celia's House, by D.E. Stevenson
Vicky & Adam -- A Ring of Endless Light, by Madeleine L'Engle
Cassie & Seb -- The Year of Secret Assignments, by Jaclyn Moriarty
Taylor & Jonah -- Jellicoe Road, by Melina Marchetta
Viola & Orseno -- Twelfth Night, William Shakespeare
Jane & Rochester -- Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte
Bella & John -- Our Mutual Friend, by Charles Dickens (edited 11/15/10)
Elizabeth & Darcy -- Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

(Subject to change, of course... and really, when you come to think of it, most of these books are more about life that includes romance, than romantic novels. Well done, Noel.)

Upcoming Wilson

From Fireside Musings:

N.D. Wilson: There’s a little series I’m working on called “The Ashtown Burials”. In the first book (The Dragon’s Tooth), readers will get to know a fella by the name of Cyrus Smith, and his sister Antigone. The story kicks off in a roadside motel outside of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. Expect great things. I’ll say no more.

Scoop of the e-e-evening: Heist Society

Heist Society sells itself--hops off the shelf and into the patron's hands. Girls take one look at the words "Ally Carter" and "heist" and beeline for the front desk. Or, depending on their taste, it's the sunglasses and "society" that do it. Either way, librarians, don't bother getting up. They'll come to you.

When Katarina Bishop was three, her parents took her on a trip to the Louvre...to case it. For her seventh birthday, Katarina and her Uncle Eddie traveled to Austria...to steal the crown jewels. When Kat turned fifteen, she planned a con of her own--scamming her way into the best boarding school in the country, determined to leave the family business behind. Unfortunately, leaving "the life" for a normal life proves harder than she'd expected. Soon, Kat's friend and former co-conspirator, Hale, appears out of nowhere to bring her back into the world she tried so hard to escape. But he has good reason: a powerful mobster has been robbed of his priceless art collection and wants to retrieve it. Only a master thief could have pulled this job, and Kat's father isn't just on the suspect list, he is the list. Caught between Interpol and a far more deadly enemy, Kat's dad needs her help. For Kat there is only one solution: track down the paintings and steal them back. So what if it's a spectacularly impossible job? She's got two weeks, a teenage crew, and hopefully just enough talent to pull off the biggest heist in history--or at least her family's (very crooked) history.

I haven't met a lot of readers who are as apathetic toward the Gallagher Girls as I am. I like the books okay, but Carter raises more questions than she answers about her heroine, leaving some of the plots to resemble filler episodes. Society, however, is just the sort of novel I was hoping to enjoy in Carter's previous work.

The characters have a history outside the novel's time frame, and you know they have a future beyond the final pages, too. There are inside jokes and stories and an extremely attractive family atmosphere. The heist is legit and the book stands on its own two feet, but I hear there is a sequel being written as we speak. Hurray.

Dialogue is witty, rarely becoming too witty. The 3rd person prose gets inside the head of a life-long thief: "She'd absolutely adored the library--an entire building where anyone could take things they didn't own and feel no remorse about it."

A couple of weeks ago, I overheard (can you overhear things on the internet?) some people gasping at the fact that Society's film rights hadn't been optioned yet. Last night, I gasped along with them. If even Alice Cullen were to say, "There isn't going to be a movie," I'd reply, "Check your batteries, Magic 8. This novel was written to be filmed."

Luckily, things have changed since January--Warner Bros. picked up the adaption last week.

I had the whole thing planned: Kat is Emma Roberts, of course. Hale... Alex Pettyfer is the obvious choice. But there's the accent. Jeffrey Sumpter? He'd make a great Nick, if they could just trade accents... (though on second thought, they look like brothers.)


Then I noticed this little note: While in the book the protagonist is her teens attending a boarding school, the studio is going to age the adaptation a notch so that the characters are in their early 20s.

Wait, what? Speaking purely from a consumer POV, a) we already have Ocean's 11 and The Italian Job and How to Steal a Million and b) the average age of an Ally Carter fan is closer to 12 than 21. Seriously. The boarding school scene was their ticket. A teen movie would have set this apart. Now, who knows what will happen. Twill be interesting, for sure.

Scoop of the e-e-evening: The Chestnut King

Being a new series is hard work. Readers finish the first installment, eager to jump into the next, but it doesn't release for another twelve months and memory dims. Interest fades. When book two is finally delivered, the process begins all over again.

Well, N.D. Wilson's 100 Cupboards trilogy is officially sealed and seasoned: you no longer have any excuse.

From the publisher: When Henry York found 99 cupboards hidden behind his bedroom wall, he never dreamed they were doors to entirely new worlds! Unfortunately, Henry’s discovery freed an ancient, undying witch, whose hunger for power would destroy every world connected to the cupboards—and every person whom Henry loves. Henry must seek out the legendary Chestnut King for help. Everything has a price, however, and the Chestnut King’s desire may be as dangerous as the witch herself. N. D. Wilson concludes a remarkable, worlds-spanning journey that began with one boy and one hundred avenues to adventure.

Once more I find myself protesting in a review: complex worlds with mazy customs and tongue-twisting names are not my cup of tea. But Wilson writes more than that. He combines, to quote Tamora Pierce, "the secret and the ordinary." Kansas and Hylfing. Black blades and baseball. Dream-walking and fathers and cousins and dandelions. And then slowly, you realize that the lines between "the secret and the ordinary" are blurred. Not just in other worlds. In ours.

People gush all the time about writers who weave words. Whose prose sings. Friend, countryman, show me the writers. I will show you N.D. Wilson.

When the faeren speak... Wilson has created his own delicious, lilting language of colloquialisms which, despite its beauty, you can actually hear someone speaking. Your eyes follow the words and you cannot help the desire to laugh out loud and repeat them out loud. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I can only compare it to the words that flow from Lord Peter Whimsey's mouth. And you know Harriet married him just to hear him talk piddle. So this faeren-speak is good.

However, The Chestnut King is not all about pretty prattle. There is plot, and there is character, pressed down and shaken together and running over.

If you've never tried N.D. Wilson, I suggest acclimating yourself with Leepike Ridge, a fantastic stand-alone. Then, after your toes are wet and warm, scoop all three novels in the 100 Cupboards trilogy. You'll want to chain-read them. You'll get to chain-read them. Lucky you.

wha-la

For some reason my webcam took extra blurry photos today, but ignore that and allow me to draw your attention to the fruits of my recent quest into the land of pins and needles. Etsy was tempting me with an adorable book bag, for which I refused to pay $39, and the upshot is: I made it myself! For free! (and no, #2 is not a Wonder Woman pose. Although it does savour strongly of Warrior Librarians Unchained, I was going for more of a look-at-my-bag theme.)

required reading

Kathi Appelt (of underneath fame, and the upcoming keeper), writes of writing and living and oh best beloveds. Self-conscience prose and kids' books for adults. She says to hell with A.R. and remembers stories of her husband's grandmother that sing. Go and read.