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Teens posts by Jane J
My first Joe Abercrombie reads were his Shattered Sea trilogy, so A Little Hatred, introducing his Age of Madness series, is my introduction to the world of Angland (a world created with a cast of characters who are a generation earlier in his First Law series).
As a kid I loved the Three Musketeers (book and movies) but as an adult when I revisited the story I found my interest had waned. I think that fading interest comes from the fact that the parts for women just aren't that enthralling and in fact if you think spend any time thinking about it, their treatment by the heroes is pretty bad. That said, there was one female character who always intrigued me. She is the Musketeer's frequent antagonist, Milady de Winter. In Ms. Sullivan's re-imagining we get to experience Milady's story from her point of view.
Every few months I write a book report on the books my mystery book group at Lakeview has discussed. But in thinking about it recently I realized I've neglected to mention (at least recently) all of the other book discussion happenings at the library. Every one of our locations has groups you can join to talk books if you'd like.
It's been a while since I've read such a delightful novel. And not only is this one great and good, I'm thrilled that there are several more books in this young adult series that I can read next. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger is set in the same world as her adult Parasol Protectorate series (a combination steam punk/romance/paranormal series that is also super-fun). This YA entry takes place a number of years earlier and introduces Sophronia Angelina Temminnick.
A week or so ago I saw a trailer for a new tv show and as it flashed across the screen in quick shots (as trailers do) it seemed so familiar and I thought, is it? Could it be? Yes it was. Starz has a new show starting at the end of June about one of my favorite fantasy novels, The Rook. I read the book a while ago but I'm re-upping my review to tie it in in with the show to come.
There was a time when I discovered Sarah Dessen and did a deep dive into her young adult novels. And once I'd caught up on her backlist I'd read each new one when it came out. But then I stopped doing an auto-read of her books. Can't really tell you why, though I'm guessing there were just too many other things on my TBR radar (a constant challenge in my life), but there it is. What's funny is I can't tell you why I decided to try her newest and why, when I decided to do so, I was kind of nervous. Would it be as enjoyable as the earlier ones were? Had I grown out of my love for her books?
I'd been in a bit of a slump, reading-wise, lately, so I decided I needed something that offered adventure, magic and romance. To achieve that combo I decided to dip back into a couple of paranormal romance series I'd fallen away from to see if I could capture some of the old magic. And capture it I did (whew! big sigh of relief! - I always have a fear that I'll never get my reading mojo back when I've been stuck).
Khoury's new YA novel is a science fiction imagining that plays on the mythos created around the last Romanov, Anastasia, rumored to have escaped when the rest of her family was murdered.
Purple and Black is brilliantly done - a gem of a book (if I may be so cliche). Tightly woven. Thought-provoking. And all of that in a slender 113 pages. This is a fantasy novel, but don't let that prevent you reading it. It's only a fantasy in that it has a made up country. Everything else about it reads like historical fiction.
In the second of her new series set in 1920s New York former con artist Elizabeth Miles helps a friend whose husband has died (killed by a streetcar). As though grieving her suddenly dead husband weren't bad enough, Priscilla Knight learns after his death that all of her money is gone. She'd come into this second marriage a wealthy woman and somehow in less then a year her husband Endicott made all that money disappear. Now Priscilla isn't sure how she'll support herself and her two young daughters.
