Well, the ninth Bout of Books read-a-thon has officially come to an end. My goals were to read 1500 pages, do some reading every day, and participate in at least 3 mini-challenges. I definitely achieved the last two goals (and ended up doing 8 mini-challenges!). But I fell short of my first goal, reading a grand total of 1061 pages. I’m pleased with my progress, though; I definitely read a lot more than I would have without Bout of Books! Overall, I read three books from beginning to end: Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay, Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay, and Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout. (I also began Lexicon by Max Barry but haven’t finished it yet.) For me, Dear Mr. Knightley was the weak link, but I more or less enjoyed everything I read for this read-a-thon. Looking forward to Bout of Books 10.0, which will take place in May!
Month: January 2014
Tune in Tuesday with Katelyn: They say you stand by your man
It’s the first Tune in Tuesday of 2014, so I wanted to make it special by sharing one of my very favorite songs in all the world. I believe I’ve mentioned before that I have a thing for jaunty songs about heartbreak, and this one is a classic! I think I heard Annie Lennox’s cover first, oddly enough, but the original song is much better! So without further ado, here’s “Train in Vain” by the Clash:
And if that video was too boring for you, here’s a pretty good live recording with a faster tempo:
Review: Retribution Falls
Chris Wooding, Retribution Falls
Darian Frey is a freebooter and small-time criminal whose most treasured possession is his airship, the Ketty Jay. His so-called “crew” is disorganized and questionably competent, and they all have something to hide. Crake, a daemonist whose magical skills have made him an outcast, is crumbling under the weight of a guilty consience. Jez, the new navigator, can’t let anyone know about her mysterious secret abilities. The ship’s doctor, Malvery, is a drunk, and outflier pilot Harkins has been completely traumatized by the Aerium Wars. Frey and his motley collection of renegades travel around taking odd jobs, but they barely make enough money to live on. That is, until Frey is presented with the opportunity of a lifetime: steal the cargo of a particular airship and receive fifty thousand ducats as payment. The offer seems too good to be true, and it is — the target airship turns out to be carrying the heir to the Archduchy, who is killed when the Ketty Jay attacks. Now Frey and his crew are on the run, but Frey is determined to discover who set him up and why — even if it means losing the freedom and detachment that are so precious to him.
This book, quite simply, was a ton of fun! I picked it up at a Borders going-out-of-business sale because the premise reminded me of “Firefly,” and if you enjoy that type of space Western with a healthy dose of grim humor, I think you’ll really enjoy this book! The plot is predictable but packed with action, and the pacing is great, but my favorite part of the book was definitely the characters. I really liked the way Frey was portrayed; he’s definitely no hero — selfish, misogynistic, irresponsible, and entitled — but he does grow and change throughout the course of the novel. I loved the other characters too, particularly Crake and Jez, both of whom I’d like to learn a lot more about! I think one weakness of sci fi/fantasy/adventure novels is that they tend to make the characters too heroic or powerful right from the start. But in this book, nobody is a hero until (arguably) the very end; the characters actually develop throughout the book. For this reason, the book really exceeded my expectations, and I’m thrilled to discover that it’s actually the first book in a series! It can be read as a stand-alone, but I will definitely be continuing to read about the Ketty Jay and its swashbuckling crew!
Bout of Books 9.0 Goals and Progress
My Goals
The Bout of Books 9.0 read-a-thon starts this Monday, January 6, so it’s time to post my goals and progress! My main goal for the week will be to read at least 1500 pages, which will probably be about 4 books. I also hope to read at least a little bit every day and to participate in at least 3 mini-challenges. I will update this post every day with my progress and any mini-challenges I attempt.
Possible Books
It’s not an all-inclusive list, but here are some books I might read during this read-a-thon:
Updates
Monday, January 6
Pages read: 58
Books read from: Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
Mini-challenges:
1. Bookish Comforts asked us to fill a basket at Book Depository with the books we’d buy if we could spend $100. Here’s my basket:
2. Cheap Thrills repeated her Mad Libs Challenge from the last read-a-thon! Go do it for yourself before reading my paragraph, below:
I just read the greatest book!
This guy Emma ends up in the middle of a polysyllabic conspiracy. Turns out her ancestors were pirates, and she might be the key to finding the scarlet crucible. It’s a mythic artifact that disappeared centuries ago, and now a shadowy group of detectives are looking for it. No one knows what uncovering it might do, but these guys are willing to bewitch for it.
I won’t say anything else. But believe me, if you like impossible stories with vagrants and peas, you have to read this one.
Books I used: (1) Emma by Jane Austen. (2) The Polysyllabic Spree by Nick Hornby. (3) The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy. (4) Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik. (5) Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams. (6) Bewitching Season by Marissa Doyle. (7) Impossible Things by Connie Willis. (8) Hark! A Vagrant by Kate Beaton. (9) Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn.
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Tuesday, January 7
Pages read: 89
Books read from: Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
Mini-challenges:
3. Sarah Says Read asked about our reading tactics: “How do you fit in as much reading as possible during Bout of Books? How do you squeeze in those extra pages?” I snatch free moments to read whenever I can — usually on my commute to work (yay public transportation!) and during my lunch hour. I also try to make some time every night before bed.
4. The Geeky Blogger’s Book Blog challenged us to cast an audiobook version of our favorite book. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I chose Pride and Prejudice! I would cast Parminder Nagra as Elizabeth Bennet because I adored her spunky personality in “Bend It Like Beckham” and think she would make a strong, sassy Elizabeth. As for Mr. Darcy, I have to go with Benedict Cumberbatch — I mean, that VOICE! (Also, I’ve been binge-watching “Sherlock” recently in preparation for the Season 3 premiere, so I’m a little bit obsessed with him right now!)
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Wednesday, January 8
Pages read: 66
Books read from: Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
Mini-challenges:
5. Doing Dewey asked us to introduce our favorite genre to the other BoB participants. Though I read in a variety of genres, lately I’ve been very interested in books about World War II (which isn’t technically a genre, but bear with me!). Some of my favorite books in this category are:
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows — A charming epistolary novel that manages to be a “feel-good” story despite being set on the German-occupied island of Guernsey. This is honestly one of my all-time favorite books!
- Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein — An emotionally wrenching story of friendship and courage, with two amazing female protagonists and a lot of historical background about women pilots during WWII. I sobbed through the last 60 or so pages, but it’s definitely worth reading!
- Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis — A meticulously researched WWII novel focusing on London during the Blitz. There’s also a time-travel element, for you science fiction fans! The story is very long and the pacing is quite slow, but that just gives the setting plenty of time to shine. 🙂
- Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory by Ben Macintyre — A nonfiction book that reads like a novel. It’s about a real spy mission in which the Allies spread misinformation by planting false documents on a corpse dressed in a British uniform.
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Thursday, January 9
Pages read: 148
Books read from: Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay (completed!)
Mini-challenges:
6. Writing My Own Fairy Tale asked us to set up a bookish “double date,” or two books you think should be read together. I think Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey and The Ivy Tree by Mary Stewart make a great pairing. In both books, the main character is an impostor who is pretending to be someone else. But each book takes this premise in a totally different direction! I highly recommend both books, especially if you’re the kind of person who likes con movies or mysteries with lots of plot twists.
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Friday, January 10
Pages read: 116
Books read from: Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay
Mini-challenges:
7. Never Too Fond of Books challenged us to create a story using the last word of every line of the last page we read. My words (from Dear Mr. Knightley, page 5) are: back, so, help, and, be, again, stand, hard, help, hope, for, honest, write, right, anonymity, and, paper, well, paper-based, Medill, letter, honest, Bennet’s, sincerely, Moore.
Bennet’s letter — paper-based hope —
Help stand, help be well
For honest Moore;
Paper anonymity, so honest and hard and right…
Write back again.Sincerely,
Medill.
What is it about? I think I’ll leave that open to the reader’s interpretation… 🙂
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Saturday, January 11
Pages read: 285
Books read from: Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay (completed!); Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout
Mini-challenges:
8. Midnight Book Girl asked us to “stage” a book by taking a picture of it in a setting or with items that represent the book. Here’s my picture:
The book, as you can see, is Dear Mr. Knightley. I’ve placed it with a DVD of the Gwyneth Paltrow version of “Emma” because the movie is mentioned in the book (and also because of the book’s title, obviously). There’s also a Jane Austen action figure because the main character, Samantha, loves Austen and frequently quotes from her novels. Finally, the purple thing you may not be able to identify is a graduation tassel, because Samantha is struggling to complete a grad school program in journalism.
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Sunday, January 12
Pages read: 299
Books read from: Fer-de-Lance by Rex Stout (completed!); Lexicon by Max Barry
Mini-challenges: none
Review: Just Like Heaven
Julia Quinn, Just Like Heaven
Lady Honoria Smythe-Smith is desperate to be married. Though she is part of a large, affectionate family, things have been very quiet in her parents’ house ever since her brother Daniel fled England after seriously wounding a man in a duel. Honoria longs to start her own family and once again feel surrounded by love; and as an added bonus, once she is married, she’ll no longer have to perform at the Smythe-Smiths’ infamous musicales. Meanwhile, Marcus Holroyd, the Earl of Chatteris, is Daniel’s best friend and has always felt more at home with the Smythe-Smiths than with his own distant family. Marcus and Honoria have always been friendly, but when a sprained ankle and a dangerous illness throw them together, they both begin to suspect that their relationship is deepening into something more.
I basically picked up this book for two reasons: 1) It shares a title with a really great Cure song, and 2) I’m a sucker for ridiculous British surnames. Fortunately, I ended up enjoying it quite a bit! Marcus is a delightful hero; he comes across as proud and brooding, but only because he feels shy and socially awkward (shades of Mr. Darcy!). And Honoria is a sweet girl with just enough humor to keep her from being insipid. Somewhat unusually for a Regency romance, most of this book doesn’t take place during the London Season; rather, Honoria spends a good portion of it nursing Marcus back to health from a life-threatening fever. Some might find the sickroom scenes tedious, but to me they underscored why Marcus and Honoria make such a great pair. All in all, I’d definitely recommend this light, quick read to fans of Regency romances, and I’ll probably pick up something else by Julia Quinn in the future.
Review: The Impersonator
Mary Miley, The Impersonator
Leah Randall is a talented but impoverished actress who has worked on the vaudeville circuit her whole life. During the course of one performance, she notices a strange man watching her intently. Eventually this man, Oliver Beckett, approaches her with an astonishing proposal. He tells Leah the story of his niece, Jessie Carr, heiress to a substantial fortune, who vanished from her home several years ago without a trace. Leah bears a striking resemblance to Jessie, so Oliver proposes a scheme: Leah will pose as Jessie and return “home” to claim her inheritance, which she will then split with Oliver. At first Leah wants nothing to do with it, but when she is fired from her vaudeville act and can’t get other work, she eventually reconsiders. With Oliver’s help, she assumes Jessie Carr’s identity and travels to the Carrs’ home in Oregon. But the more time she spends with the Carrs, the more she becomes determined to discover what really happened to Jessie all those years ago.
If you read that plot summary and thought, “That sounds an awful lot like Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey,” well, you’d be right. The premise is exactly the same — Miley even acknowledges that Tey’s novel was the main inspiration for her own — but I enjoyed Miley’s novel in its own right. I especially liked the period details about vaudeville, speakeasies, and other highlights of life in the 1920s. There were even references to some Supreme Court cases of the era, which I appreciated as a law school survivor. I also liked Leah’s narrative voice: she’s plain-spoken, independent, and very aware of both her talents and her flaws. The thing is, though, Brat Farrar is still by far the superior book. Miley’s novel is a bit disorganized at times, including several subplots that are more distracting than intriguing. I also hated the romantic aspect of this book; it was unbelievable and underdeveloped. I did enjoy the book overall and found it very readable, but if the premise sounds interesting to you, you should really just read the original instead!
Historical Fiction 2014 Challenge Sign-up
A new year means a new historical fiction challenge hosted by Historical Tapestry!
The goal is very simple: read a certain number of historical fiction books in 2014. Any subgenre is welcome, including YA, fantasy, and mystery. There are several levels for this challenge, and I’m once again going to attempt Ancient History (at least 25 books). As always, I have tons of historical fiction on my TBR list, so my goal shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish! Click here for more information and to sign up.
You Book Me All Night Long 