My Week in Books: October 24-30

Welcome to my new Saturday feature here at Erin Reads that I’m calling:

My Week in Books

My plan is to highlight what new books have entered my life, what I’ve been reading, and what’s happened on Erin Reads over the past week.

New Acquisitions

The following books found their way into my home this week:

The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard

This one won’t be published until February of next year. It looks a little different from what I usually read, which I’m excited about. From the jacket flap:

“Sixteen-year-old Nora Lindell is missing. And the neighborhood boys she’s left behind are caught forever in the heady current of her absence.

“As the days and years pile up, the mystery of her disappearance grows kaleidoscopically. A collection of rumors, divergent suspicions, and tantalizing what-ifs, Nora Lindell’s story is a shadowy projection of teenage lust, friendship, reverence, and regret, captured magically in the disembodied plural voice of the boys who still long for her.

“Told in haunting, percussive prose, Hannah Pittard’s beautifully crafted novel tracks the emotional progress of the sister Nora left behind, the other families in their leafy suburban enclave, and the individual fates of the boys in her thrall. Far more eager to imagine Nora’s fate than to scrutinize their own, the boys sleepwalk into an adulthood of jobs, marriages, families, homes, and daughters of their own, all the while pining for a girl–and a life–that no longer exists, except in the imagination.”

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

I read this gentle novel when it first came out, but my book group chose it for their November selection. My copy just came in from the library, and I’m looking forward to the reread! From the jacket flap:

“He is a brilliant math Professor with a peculiar problem–ever since a traumatic head injury, he has lived with only eighty minutes of short-term memory.

“She is an astute young Housekeeper, with a ten-year-old son, who is hired to care for him.

“And every morning, as the Professor and the Housekeeper are introduced to each other anew, a strange and beautiful relationship blossoms between them. Though he cannot hold memories for long (his brain is like a tape that begins to erase itself every eighty minutes), the Professor’s mind is still alive with elegant equations from the past. And the numbers, in all of their articulate order, reveal a sheltering and poetic world to both the Housekeeper and her young son. The Professor is capable of discovering connections between the simplest of quantities–like the Housekeeper’s shoe size–and the universe at large, drawing their lives ever closer and more profoundly together, even as his memory slips away.”

Read This Week

In print:

  • I finished A Thousand Splendid Suns this week for the World Party Reading Challenge. I had mixed feelings, which should be posted early next week.
  • I dipped briefly into A Suitable Boy, the mammoth chunkster I’m reading with my sister. The writing is lovely, and I’m enjoying it so far. Thankfully, family trees are provided. Otherwise, I’d have no idea who anyone is!
  • I began rereading The Housekeeper and the Professor for my book group.

On audio:

  • I finished listening to The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for Dueling Monsters: Round II.
  • I got about half way through Good Omens, which is both Halloween-appropriate and thoroughly enjoyable!

Erin Reads Recap

Here’s what happened around Erin Reads this week:

  • I started the week with a Sunday Salon post in which I introduced the 2.75″ thick book I’ll be reading with my sister.
  • On Monday I announced that Erin Reads had moved (hooray!) and kicked of a giveaway which is open until tomorrow. Be sure to enter!
  • For the rest of the week, I shared my recommendations for non-scary Halloween reads in a feature I called Halloween for the Faint of Heart. If you’re looking for something less creepy to read for Halloween (or any time!), be sure to check out the comments. There are some great recommendations in there!

Your Turn!

How was your reading week? Do tell!

Halloween for the Faint of Heart: Spooky Audiobooks

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I don’t do scary, creepy, or horrifying. This week, I’m sharing some of my favorite non-horror Halloween-appropriate reads. Welcome to the fourth and final installment of…

Halloween for the Faint of Heart Badge

Last Friday I introduced a miniseries featuring some of my favorite audiobooks. Since Halloween is right around the corner, I thought I’d highlight a few of my spookier picks!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (read by the author)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (audiobook cover)Nobody Owens–or Bod, for short–has spent the whole of his young life in a graveyard. Taken in by ghosts as an infant, he has grown up with these same ghosts as his family and caretakers. A strange and shadowy past prevents Bod from venturing beyond his graveyard sanctuary, for in the world outside lurks the man Jack.

As Bod grows up, he naturally takes an interest in the world beyond the cemetery fence. Having never experienced the outside world before, though, Bod gets himself in far over his head. What follows is a series of bizarre encounters and journeys, peopled with all manner of fantastical creatures. Bod’s adventures are very Gaiman-esque; if you’ve read anything else by Neil Gaiman, you may know just what I mean! The spooky atmosphere of the graveyard coupled with Bod’s surreal experiences make The Graveyard Book a good choice for Halloween.

Bod and his adventures held me enthralled, but it is Neil Gaiman’s own reading of his wild tale that is the cherry on top of this sundae. His gentle British accent, his unhurried narration, his impeccably timed pauses, and his spot-on inflection all come together to make this audiobook a joy to hear.

The Graveyard Book was awarded the Newbery medal in 2009.

Intrigued? You can listen to a sample of The Graveyard Book on Audible.com right now!

The Gates by John Connolly (read by Jonathan Cake)

The Gates by John Connolly (audiobook cover)The Gates by John Connolly is a delightfully funny book based on a crazy premise. You may be able to guess at that premise from the novel’s full title: The Gates of Hell Are About to Open. Want to Peek?

Young Samuel Johnson and his dachshund (Boswell) are out trick-or-treating in their hometown of Biddlecombe, England, when they accidentally come across their neighbors opening the gates to Hell. The Abernathys, former inhabitants of 666 Crowley Road, are now inhabited by demons…and Samuel is the only person who knows. The demon leader, known to Samuel as Mrs. Abernathy (whose body she stole), is busy trying to carry out a plan that involves using the Hadron particle collider to open Hell’s gates so that its inhabitants may overrun the earth.

Much hilarity ensues. As Samuel tries to figure out how to halt the attack, a wacky cast of supporting characters are having their own adventures. My favorite was poor Nurd, the scourge of five deities, who has his own agenda entirely but keeps popping unexpectedly from one world to another. I know all of this sounds bizarre, but trust me–it’s quite funny! As the novel charges toward its conclusion, Connelly weaves all the subplots and silly bits together into one magnificent tableau.

On top of the madcap plot–or perhaps I should say, beneath it–are the footnotes. Normally, footnotes drive me crazy, but here? They totally work. Even in the audio version of The Gates, the footnotes only heighten the comedy.

Reader Jonathan Cake does a wonderful job narrating The Gates. He relates the story in such a way that you cannot help but chuckle, perhaps even out loud. He does an excellent job keeping all of the characters straight as well as differentiating the footnotes from the main text.

After listening to about half of Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, I think I can safely say that readers who enjoyed Good Omens will most likely enjoy The Gates as well. They definitely have the same sort of feel to them!

If you’re interested, head over to Audible.com to hear a sample from The Gates.

A Few Others

I’m only halfway through Good Omens, the novel co-written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett (what a pair!) and read by Martin Jarvis. I’m having so much fun with it, though, that I couldn’t resist slipping it in here! It’s full of delightfully odd characters, including a demon and an angel who have become quite fond of life on earth and are collaborating to a certain extent as the apocalypse draws near. I often find myself giggling. Jarvis does an excellent job narrating and manages to keep the zillion characters clearly differentiated. (Audible sample)

Another of Gaiman’s audiobooks I’d highly recommend is Neverwhere, in which Richard Mayhew slips through the cracks of London Above an ends up in London Below. This alternate city is full of odd people and creatures. Wanting only to return to his home in London Above, Richard gets into all sorts of scrapes trying to find his way back. Gaiman narrates Neverwhere in his perfect way. Books for Ears has posted a more thorough summary and review, if you’re interested! (Audible sample)

Finally, the version of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde I listened to for Dueling Monsters: Round II is narrated by Martin Jarvis, the same reader who did Good Omens. At just under three hours long, it’s a good, quick, spooky listen for Halloween! (Audible sample)

If you missed the previous Halloween for the Faint of Heart posts, you can find them here:

Your Turn!

Do you have a favorite audiobook you would recommend for Halloween? What about a novel involving the lighter side of battling the forces of evil?

Halloween for the Faint of Heart: Dueling Monsters

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I don’t do scary, creepy, or horrifying. This week, I’m sharing some of my favorite non-horror Halloween-appropriate reads. Welcome to the third installment of…

Today I’ll be looking at the two classic novels I read for the second Dueling Monsters readalong: The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (which I read) and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (which I listened to). I originally signed up to read The Picture of Dorian Gray but added the other so that I could more fairly proclaim a winner. Neither, thankfully, was the sort of scary I try to avoid, and I would recommend either for some good Halloween reading.

Halloween for the Faint of Heart Badge

Contenders will be judged on four categories: plot, structure, characters, and writing. And now, without further ado, let the battle begin!

Dueling Monsters 2

Category 1: Plot

I won’t summarize these two novels here. Instead, clicking on the titles in the paragraph above will take you to a Goodreads synopsis for the corresponding book.

Both stories are rather imaginative, though I already knew the story of Jekyll and Hyde before reading it. Personally, I enjoyed the slower pace of the longer novel (Dorian) to the quick progression of the shorter (Jekyll). In Jekyll, you are never allowed to forget that you are busy uncovering the mystery of Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. It’s like all the extra story fat has been trimmed away. By contrast, Dorian feels more like a novel. There is the peculiar situation of the main character which runs throughout, but there is plenty of superfluous banter and opera viewing as well. Personally, I rather enjoy having the story fat in there to cushion the narrative a bit. It makes the novel feel more real and less isolated.

Winner in the Plot category: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Category 2: Structure

The Picture of Dorian Gray progresses chronologically, beginning when Dorian Gray is rather young and following him through the beginning of his adult years. We observe what happens to him as it occurs, not knowing at the story’s beginning where it will lead us in the end.

In contrast, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is told through conversations, letters, and journals. When we meet Mr. Utterson, the lawyer through whose eyes we witness the tale, he has already noticed strange things happening. As he fills in the gaps, we begin to piece together the events that have already occurred.

As a means to build suspense, I thought the structure of Jekyll was more effective. Utterson is something of a detective, gathering information and piecing it together to uncover what has happened to his dear friend, Henry Jekyll. The reader knows from the start that something horribly odd is going on. With Dorian, it isn’t until part way into the novel that the reader realizes something is amiss.

Winner in the Structure category: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Category 3: Characters

Because of its short timeline and compact style, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde had little room for character development. Besides Utterson and a couple of others, the characters are met only through letters, stories, or the briefest of encounters. There wasn’t much in any character to latch onto, and so I felt myself listening along with interest but without much sympathy or attachment.

The Picture of Dorian Gray, on the other hand, had splendid characters. There is, of course, Dorian Gray, whose development is the main interest of the story. I loved the contrast between public Dorian, dressed to the nines and the favorite of society ladies, and private Dorian, plagued by personal demons. There is also Basil Halliward, Dorian’s painter friend, who pops in and out of the story. And then there is Lord Henry, my very favorite. At the start of the story, I was ready to strangle the man for his steady stream of one- and two-liners. But as the novel progressed–and especially after Dorian began to change–I came to adore Lord Henry. With Dorian as a foil, Henry appears nothing but a harmless gentleman who enjoys hearing himself talk. I found him endearing.

Winner in the Characters category: The Picture of Dorian Gray

Category 4: Writing

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is mostly narration; there isn’t much dialogue. Instead, there are letters and journal entries that express the various characters’ voices and experiences. The writing is stark, the tone matter-of-fact with overtones of the kind of horror that causes one to shudder, not shriek.

I can’t resist sharing this little nugget of…um…wit? which Utterson thinks to himself while staking out Hyde:

“If he be Mr. Hyde, I shall be Mr. Seek.”

Ohhhhhh. That makes me cringe. Seriously, Robert? Did you name your character “Hyde” just so you could work in that line?

The Picture of Dorian Gray was definitely heavier on dialogue. I attribute that to the fact that Wilde was primarily a playwright. I especially loved the silly, snappy banter that inevitably materialized whenever wealthy minor characters gathered. Where there was description, I thought it was lovely. For example:

“The sullen murmur of the bees shouldering their way through the long unmown grass, or circling with monotonous insistence round the dusty gilt horns of the straggling woodbine, seemed to make the stillness more oppressive. The dim roar of London was like the bourdon note of a distant organ.” (p. 1)

“The moon hung low in the sky like a yellow skull. From time to time a huge misshapen cloud stretched a long arm across and hid it. The gas-lamps grew fewer, and the streets more narrow and gloomy….The side-windows of the hansom were clogged with a grey-flannel mist.” (p. 209-210)

I love how clearly both passages evoke their respective settings. Jekyll just didn’t have anything that could compete.

The only strike against Dorian was chapter 12, the dreaded collections chapter. I had to skim. It was way too long. I do have to say, though, that it did produce the feeling that time was passing in the story.

Winner in the Writing category: The Picture of Dorian Gray

And the winner is…

Dueling Monsters: Dorian Gray

With a score of three to one, I hereby declare

The Picture of Dorian Gray

the winner of Dueling Monsters: Round Two!

If you missed the previous Halloween for the Faint of Heart posts, you can find them here:

Your Turn!

Who is your favorite classic monster? Why do you love him/her so much?

Halloween for the Faint of Heart: “The Metamorphosis”

As I mentioned yesterday, I don’t do scary, creepy, or horrifying. This week, I’m sharing some of my favorite non-horror Halloween-appropriate reads. Welcome to the second installment of…

Halloween for the Faint of Heart Badge

Halloween isn’t just about the scare factor, at least in my opinion. It’s also about the bizarre. I recently read The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka, and I think would make for some nice, short Halloween reading.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Depending on who you ask, The Metamorphosis is either a short story or a novella. Published first in 1915, it is probably one of Kafka’s best known works. It’s the one that begins with that famous first sentence (translations vary a little, but the gist is the same):

“When Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from troubled dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous insect.”

That, right there, is why I put off reading this story for so long. A guy wakes up to discover he’s turned into a big bug while he slept? I wasn’t really interested. I ended up quite enjoying the story, though, mostly thanks to Kafka’s writing.

The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka (cover)When Gregor Samsa, traveling salesman and sole supporter of his family, awakens in his new state, his first thoughts are not filled with panic over his altered form. Instead, he is worried about having missed the train, which means he will be late for work. His family, concerned by this lapse in his usual punctuality, begins knocking on Gregor’s door, asking if he’s alright. As Gregor’s voice morphs from human into insect, he tries to work out how to get off his back and unlock the door without hands.

Unable to communicate with one another, Gregor and his family are faced with the challenge of figuring out how to coexist. His parents and sister can’t turn their backs on poor Gregor, yet he is nothing like the son and brother they know. Who will support them all financially? And how can they explain the presence of a gigantic insect in their home?

I enjoyed this story far more than I thought I would. Despite its bizarre subject matter, the writing in The Metamorphosis is rather delightful. For example, when the chief clerk from Gregor’s office arrives at his house and demands that Gregor open his door:

Gregor tried to imagine whether something like what had happened to him today might one day happen to the chief clerk himself; one really had to admit that it was possible.

The story, odd and bleak as it is, is full of such little passages. They made the story for me; without them, it would have been just a very bizarre tale about a man who inexplicably became a large beetle. Overall, The Metamorphosis an interesting and well written story. The intersection of ordinary life with one fantastical element is what makes this tale especially well suited to the atmosphere of Halloween.

If you missed the previous Halloween for the Faint of Heart posts, you can find them here:

Your Turn!

What strange short stories or novellas would you recommend for Halloween to a reader who’s a bit faint of heart?

Halloween for the Faint of Heart: “Mistress of the Art of Death”

I don’t do scary, creepy, or horrifying. Not in movies, not in books. If it will keep me up at night, I am not interested! So each year, when October comes around, I feel a little left out. What’s an easily scared reader to do amidst the Halloween frenzy?

This year, I’ve put together some of my favorite non-horror Halloween-appropriate reads. I’ll be sharing them over the next few days. If you, like me, are a bit faint of heart, stop back for some books that just might get you into the Halloween spirit. Welcome to the first installment of…

Halloween for the Faint of Heart Badge

First up, how about a little Medieval mystery? I don’t like contemporary mysteries; they feel entirely too…possible. But with historical mysteries, the time gap creates enough separation that I can enjoy the story without worrying.

The Mistress of the Art of Death Series by Ariana Franklin

Mistress of the Art of Death series by Ariana Franklin

One of my very favorite historical mystery series is Ariana Franklin’s Mistress of the Art of Death series. At present, there are four books: Mistress of the Art of Death, The Serpent’s Tale, Grave Goods, and A Murderous Procession. You could pick up any of these books and enjoy it, but in my opinion it’s best to start at the beginning. The plot lines and characters do build on one another from story to story.

A coworker at my former bookstore job liked to tell customers it’s twelfth-century CSI with a feisty female lead, and I’d say that about sums it up. Adelia, our heroine, was raised in Italy by adoptive parents and trained as a physician at the University of Salerno. She is, indeed, a feisty female lead and provides a challenge for anyone interested in telling her what to do, as many characters eventually discover.

The first installment, Mistress of the Art of Death, brings Adelia to England from Italy. Cambridge has seen a series of murders, and Catholics are blaming Jews in a dangerously escalating situation. King Henry II writes to his cousin, the King of Sicily, and requests a “master of the art of death” to be sent right away to aid in the investigation. Who arrives is Adelia–more a “mistress” than a “master.”

Outside the academic haven of Salerno, Adelia cannot openly practice medicine without being labeled a witch. And so Adelia has an arrangement with her companion and protector, Mansur: though his English is quite good, Mansur plays the role of an Arabic-speaking doctor for whom Adelia pretends to translate. Together they work to solve the mystery for King Henry, provide an identity for the murderer and, thus, restore peace to Cambridge.

In The Serpent’s Tale, Adelia is summoned by King Henry II to investigate the death of his mistress, Rosamund Clifford, who has apparently been poisoned. The number one suspect in Rosamund’s death? Eleanor of Aquitaine, Henry’s estranged queen. Grave Goods takes Adelia to Glastonbury Abbey, where human remains rumored to belong to King Arthur and Queen Guinevere have been discovered. Finally, in A Murderous Procession, Adelia is assigned to accompany the king’s young daughter, Joanna, on the journey from England to Italy for her wedding. But as the procession winds slowly toward its destination, it becomes clear that a murderer is in its midst. Who is he hunting…and why?

The characters who populate the series are wonderful. They are strong and well developed and lovable. King Henry and Sir Rowley are each an even match for Adelia, in their own ways. Mansur is clever and loyal. And Adelia is a wonderful heroine: strong and capable, yet frustrated by the restrictions forced upon her by her gender. Add to the main quartet a variety of interesting secondary characters and you have a series you can’t help but want to revisit.

The website for the Mistress of the Art of Death series features full summaries as well as excerpts for each of the books. If a historical mystery sounds good to you right about now, head over and peruse the excerpts!

Your Turn!

Do you have any good historical mysteries–series or single titles–to recommend? Do you find them to be any less scary than their contemporary counterparts?