Tag: Books

New Feature: Favorites Friday – Opening Lines

On By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday8 Comments

I’ve been thinking about Fridays.  As regular readers know, on Fridays I normally post my own writing.  Which is fun, but I think I want to mix it up with a new feature.  Book reviews are normally a drill-down focus on one book (or series or author).  But sometimes I want to do a round-up of several favorites of something…favorite characters, favorite opening lines, favorite paintings that plainly have a story in them (most of my favorite paintings are like that!)  Because I have a thing for alliteration, I’m going to start doing Favorites Friday.  I’ll still do Fiction Friday too, but I want to do a mix of both.  And by all means, let me know your preferences too!

To start us off, why not begin at the beginning?  Favorite opening lines.

“All children, except one, grow up.”
—Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie

Six words, yet it’s all there.  The tragic thread throughout, especially at the end, of children growing up and changing and leaving (“tragic” seems to be Barrie’s feeling on it).  The magic of one child who defies this most basic convention.  And the poetry and charm of Barrie’s writing.

“I have been in love with Titus Oates for quite a while now–which is ridiculous, since he’s been dead for ninety years.  But look at it this way.  In ninety years I’ll be dead, too, and the age difference won’t matter.”
—The White Darkness by Geraldine McCaughrean

Brilliant, funny, and I love the way she talks about him simultaneously as both a distant historical figure, and as someone immediately present in her life–which is how Titus is throughout the book.

“If it had not rained on a certain May morning Valancy Stirling’s whole life would have been entirely different.”
–-The Blue Castle by L. M. Montgomery

And now you have to keep reading to find out why, right?

“Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.”
—Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I can’t analyze for you why I like this so much–but somehow it’s got into my head and when I read it I want to sigh and say, oh yes, Manderley…

And speaking of sighing:

“Sam Vimes sighed when he heard the scream, but he finished shaving before he did anything about it.”
—Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

Which is Discworld in a nutshell.  And Sam too, for that matter.  Rather world-weary but still going about his business as head of the Night Watch.  In this case, tending to a would-be assassin who has fallen into his booby trap.  I don’t think anyone handles “oh bother, another assassin” quite like Pratchett–and makes it funny!

What are some other great opening lines?  I’d love to hear your favorites!

An American Girl for an American Holiday

On By cherylmahoneyIn Historical Fiction, Juvenile, Reviews4 Comments

Happy Fourth of July!  I’ve been hunting my shelves for a good book to review that’s appropriate to the day.  I usually celebrate with movies–either 1776 or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.  But I do have one favorite book series set around the Revolutionary War.

I loved American Girl when I was a kid.  I subscribed to the magazine for many years, and read several of the book series.  My favorite was always Felicity.  One of the best Christmas gifts I ever got was a Felicity doll, with her wardrobe of clothes and her four-poster bed, from rather indulgent grandparents.  🙂

Felicity lives in Williamsburg, Pennsylvania, at a time when tensions are beginning to rise between the British and the colonists.  Felicity loves adventure and has trouble being a proper young lady–which is probably what makes her beloved of young girl readers.  The main focus of her story is usually on school or family or friends, but the political situation furnishes a backdrop, and sometimes becomes part of the story.  At one point, Felicity is separated from her best friend, Elisabeth, because Felicity’s family is pro-revolution, while Elisabeth’s father is a Loyalist.  At another point, Felicity’s father’s apprentice considers running away to join the revolutionary army.

The books strike a balance, bringing in history without making it feel dragged in, and without distracting too much from Felicity’s adventures as a girl living her ordinary life in the 1770s.  Not every book achieves such a good balance!

The most appealing part of the Felicity stories, for me, was Penny.  Penny is a horse who Felicity tames and learns to ride, rescuing her from a cruel master.  This was directly responsible for my going through the horse phase that probably every little girl has at some point!

These are sweet books, and a lot of fun–and quite short!  Rereading them many years later, I find it takes about twenty minutes to read one book.  But Felicity and her world are nice to visit–however briefly!

2011 Reading Challenges – Halfway Point

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations8 Comments

I’m suspending Fiction Friday today because it’s July 1st, halfway through the year, and I want to update on my reading challenges.  So far, I’m having success–I’ve found some fun new series, enjoyed a variety of fairy tale retellings, and have knocked off some classics that I’ve been meaning to read for years.  Things slowed down for almost every challenge this quarter, but I’m still on track for halfway through the year.

The one I’m just barely keeping up with is the library challenge.  I’m still at the library weekly, but I’ve also been borrowing stacks of books from friends…which is great fun, but not helpful for the challenge!

Linked titles go to my review of the book.  If you see something you’re curious about that doesn’t have a review, let me know!  If I don’t feel like I have enough to say for a full post, I’ll at least let you know what I thought in a reply-comment.

Here’s what I’ve read so far Continue reading “2011 Reading Challenges – Halfway Point” →

Making Music for Dragons

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, Reviews4 Comments

I’ve been thinking about favorite books I haven’t yet reviewed to see if I’m missing anyone important–and I thought of Pern.  The Pern books are Anne McCaffrey’s epic dragon series, and if you’re a fan of science fiction or fantasy, you probably know them.

Pern is a distant planet where survival is complicated by Threads, strange burning filaments that fall from the skies at intervals, consuming anything they touch.  Pern is protected by dragons and their riders, who burn Threads from the skies before they can touch the ground.

There are a large number of books within the Pern series, some more or less connected to each other, spanning a couple thousand years of Pern history.  My particular favorites are the Harper Hall Trilogy–and don’t worry, you don’t have to know the entire complex history of Pern to read them!  The Harper Hall Trilogy focuses mainly on Menolly, a girl living in a small fishing village.  She dreams of making music, but in her conservative village, girls aren’t supposed to become harpers.

Harpers are the musicians, teachers and historians of Pern.  The society relies mainly on oral history, and harpers write and teach the music that records Pern’s history and stories.  Every village (or hold) has a harper to teach the children and provide musical entertainment.  The harpers train at the Harper Hall, a sort of musical boarding school and university.

Menolly, forbidden to write music but unable to resist, runs away–and discovers fire lizards.  Fire lizards are like miniature dragons, and wouldn’t it be incredible to have a miniature dragon for a pet?  Menolly’s adventures with music, dragons and surviving are exciting for the first volume.  The second volume takes Menolly to the Harper Hall, to meet a new cast of excellent characters and to see more of Pern.  The third book focuses on Menolly’s friend Piemur, who has his own adventures.  I have to admit I found them less engaging than the first two books, but still good.

One of my favorite parts of the Pern books is the complex society McCaffrey has created.  Dragons and Harpers are just one part of it.  Everyone has their own place, as Lord Holders or craftsman or runners.  Pern has fairly minimal technology, perhaps on a level with the Middle Ages, but they have skilled craftsmen and their own methods of keeping society functioning–and it all seems to work!

The other books in the series are mostly targeting an older audience, so while the Harper Hall Trilogy could be in the kids’ section, the others are at least YA.  I like a lot of the chronologically-early Pern books.  In the later books in the series, Pern rediscovers its history as a very far-flung Earth colony, and begins to rediscover their lost technology.  Frankly, I think it was a mistake, because complex, fascinating Pern begins to increasingly resemble Earth–which is just not as interesting to read about.

But the Harper Hall Trilogy is wonderful.  And if you don’t want a pet dragon now, you will by the end!

Update on the Once Upon a Time Challenge

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations2 Comments

It’s the beginning of summer, which means…a lot of things, actually, but among them is that the Once Upon a Time Challenge concluded yesterday.

I had a lot of fun finding some books to fit the categories.  Here’s how the reading went (links go to my reviews):

Quest the First: Read five books that are fantasy, fable, fairy tale or mythology.
Quest the Second: Read four books, one from each category.

It seems easiest to combine the lists for these two:

Fantasy

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

Among Others by Jo Walton

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

The Seven Towers by Patricia C. Wrede

Johannes Cabal the Necromancer by Jonathan L. Howard

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

Mythology

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan (Greek)

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (Egyptian)

Abandon by Meg Cabot (Greek)

Fairy Tale-Inspired

Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones (Tam Lin)

The Stepsister Scheme by Jim C. Hines (mostly Cinderella)

Sleeping Helena by Erzebot Yellowboy (Sleeping Beauty)

Fables

Aesop’s Fables

Fables: Volume 15: Rose Red

Quest the Third: Quest one or two, plus reading or watching A Midsummer’s Night’s Dream in June.

I watched a BBC version from 1968 last week.  I’ve seen a number of versions, but this was a new one.  It was truly bizarre on several levels.  For one thing, the fairies were all painted green.  For another, it was full of actors who I know really well in much later roles, so it was a trip to see them forty years younger.  Most notably, a very young Helen Mirren plays Hermia, and a nearly nude (and green) Judi Dench plays Titania.  It was an…interesting version.  Worth watching, but probably not going to be my new favorite telling of the story.

Quest on Film: Watch any movies or TV that also tell stories fitting the categories.

Fairy Tale: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Mythology: Hercules and the Underworld, Hercules and the Amazon Women

Fantasy: Dragonheart, The Page Master, Disney’s Peter Pan, Pete’s Dragon

By the end of this challenge, I can only conclude that if someone was going to design a challenge which required reading everything I normally read…it would look a lot like this one!

We’re coming up on the end of June, so stay tuned for an update on other challenges next week!