An Irish Country Doctor

Happy New Year Megan!

So when it came to choose the next grown-up book, I was torn between two finds at Barnes and Nobles.  First was the book A Beautiful Disaster, a book I found in the ADULT fiction section which promised to have a heavy romantic plot.  A few hours later, having finished the book in a shameful frenzy, I dubbed it "College Lit, " for it had the angst of YA lit with sensual details inappropriate for tender young ears.  Upon coming to this evaluation, I concluded that there's no way it qualifies as my adult pick.  So instead, I give you Patrick Taylor's An Irish Country Doctor, which is about as far from my other option as you can get (so you may hate me, hah).

It's a simple enough tale.  A young doctor, Barry Laverty, fresh out of medical school, heads out to the Irish countryside to apply for a job as the assistant to the physician who serves the humble people of Ballybucklebo: Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly.  Reality is far from the sterile proficiency he learned at school, as, aghast  he watches the older doctor not only practice unorthodox medicine, but go so far as to manhandle his patients and throw them out the door. Ah, and there is a wee bit of romance thrown in, but really this is about the humorous situations he finds himself in as this city boy attempts to learn the ins and outs of country life. 

Now, whenever I see Irish literature, I am immediately prone to think of Professor Dobbins, our good old thesis advisor.  This novel, however, does not feature a lazy idle schemer as the main character. Rather, it's a minor character who most obviously inhabits this role in the literal reading of the phrase.  In truth, I think it would be argued that O’Reilly is the lazy idle schemer as Dobbins envisions it--a man who tries his best to get through the day as quickly (and efficiently) as possible so he may go back to his liquor and literature.  This is not to say he is incompetent, quite the opposite really as he proves time and time again that his methods tend to be more effective than the textbook procedures Dr. Laverty is acquainted with.  

Another interesting note is that the author, Patrick Taylor, IS a doctor, which lends a bit of authenticity to the narrative. Most of the time, authors are just, well, authors, and any factual data in a text was presumably the product of research rather than professional knowledge.  Knowing this, it made reading the book all the more interesting, since it has more than a few hours at the library backing its claims. 

This book is just fun. It's a lighthearted romp, with a bit of romance (and amorous fumbles) thrown in.  I'm certainly interested on reading the subsequent books, to see what sort of troubles come to Ballybucklebo next. I promise, PINKY  promise, that my next pick will have romance! But, I hope you enjoy this one nonetheless :)

Keep Calm and Read On,
Becca

"Either you're his true love...or you killed him"

Dear Becca,

I was actually really surprised by your review of The Raven Boys. This time around, I feel like our overall consensus on the book was the same (not our favorite book by Miss Maggie Stiefvater) and yet our feelings while reading the book seem to have differed entirely.

 Not to be outdone, here is a photo of me with Maggie!

To begin with, I was not surprised by the incorporation of the occult world but that’s because you gave me fair warning before reading. That said, the magical elements didn’t bother me like they did you. As you probably know by now, I'm extremely influenced by whatever I read (or even talk about) before bed. As I get older, I’m starting to see more of a connection – it’s the real-life tragedies and struggles that affect me more. I can only gather that it’s because they hit on some of my deepest fears. I guess I’m not very scared of the type of magic that exists in this world because the book’s dark themes had no memorable affect on my dreams or how I felt while reading. I was not uncomfortable in the least.

Actually, The Raven Boys reminded me of the Indiana Jones movies – one of my all-time favorite trilogies. (I choose not to acknowledge the fourth or impending fifth as part of the series.) Gansey and Indiana Jones share the same excitement about history and quests. The book also reminded me of one of my all-time favorite TV Shows, Charmed. The psychics were funny and added levity to the magical subject matter for me. (Despite the dark magic that one of them is up to.) They reminded me of the Halliwell sisters. All in all, the magic wasn’t too dark for my taste. Maybe this is the kind of magic I like… The kind that exists as a sort of parallel world to ours. Where you have to really seek it out to find it and everyone else remains oblivious. (If that’s true, I don’t know what that says about me...)

Love me some Indiana Jones!

What I had the most trouble with in this story was the characters and their relationships in this first book. Mainly – the romance. Surprise, surprise, right? I think it’s fairly obvious by this point that I am obsessed with romance. This, above anything else, keeps my attention in a book. Not sex scenes or anything like that, but the blossoming relationship between two people and that first stage of love where everything is all butterflies and tingly feelings. One thing that drove me crazy about this book was the love triangle. Blue is supposedly with Adam, but I never really felt like there was a connection between them and meanwhile you know she’s somehow going to wind up with Gansey. The relationship with Adam was tiresome for me and I just wanted to see what would happen with Gansey. I know that we’ll get more in the next two books and you’re supposed to be kept waiting and wanting more, but I was just plain dissatisfied.

I’m running out of room now, but I was also upset with the ending. The last line just didn’t feel right to me. That said, I did enjoy the book so I will definitely be reading the rest of the series!

Til we read again!
Megan

"It was the kind of snow that brought children running out their doors..."

Hey Megan,

First things first: I love the author's name. Eowyn Ivey. Not only does she have an awesome last name, but she shares a name with the slayer of the Lord of the Nazgul (LOTR nut up in herrrr).

Cool fan art of the snow child

Now that my nerdy observation has been made, I'll get serious. I liked this book. It's not my favorite, but I did enjoy it and recommend it to a friend. Were I at a different point in life--namely, that baby-craving stage--I think this book would resonate with me more. Since I am years (and may milestones like, hey, finding a man and getting married) away from even considering having children of my own, I could not relate to that yearning and emptiness felt by Jack and Mabel.

What I thought was brilliant, though, is how she sets you up for the ending throughout the entire book. Ivey sets a somber tone from the start, as our first introduction to the lives of Jack and Mabel is desolate, hopeless, and dark.  The two set off for Alaska in hopes of evading their sorrows and starting anew, and instead find that new trials pile atop the old.

Even when the impossible happens and a child materializes from the snow, and their immediate lives improve, the author leaves no room for optimism.  Even as they begin to fall in love with this snow child, Faina, who is as fickle and fleeting as a winter wind, Mabel is haunted by the fable from her youth.  For a snow child is precious, and no matter how long she stays or how much you love her, she will leave, without warning, when you least expect it.  Her end is sudden and final.  So both Mabel and reader are constantly guarding against this moment, heeding the signs of the stories.  Past children have melted when their fox is taken from them, when they allow themselves to grow too warm, when love creeps up unexpectedly.  All these milestones come and pass, yet Faina remains.

When the moment finally comes, it is just as the stories say.  One moment she is there, and the next all that remains is her blue coat and red snow-drop patterned scarf.  The tale is done. As someone who doubts they could ever see a story of their own through to the end, I appreciate and admire the foreshadowing and consistency Ivey has in crafting this tale.  We, the reader, know what will happen from the start, and though the author keeps her promise it is no less shocking. I do, however, think it would have had a greater impact without the epilogue--yet as someone who likes things to be neatly wrapped up in the end, I did appreciate it.

Now, however, I need to research that Russian fairy tale for myself, especially since it sounds like a perfect winter-time story for my kids--students and babysitting charges.

Keep Calm and Read On,
Becca

The Raven Boys

Hi Megan!

It's here! It's finally here!  After months of waiting, one of our mutually adored authors has finally published her latest books. And, like I warned you, Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Boys is definitely my pick.

Image from the Ironwood Carnegie Library Website

First things first, I'd like to point out a bit of irony with the timing. I've been reading her book all week (September 30-October 5), which just so happens to be Banned Books Week.  And believe me when I say this book is definitely going to cause quite a stir and, depending on how popular it becomes, it may even end up on the 2012 top banned books list.  Because it's got some "questionable" material in it to be sure--lots of violence and witchcraft/occult subject matter.

For some reason, her incorporation of the occult world--from seemingly innocuous psychics to ritual sacrifice and what appear to be demonic summons--really threw me for a loop and, if I'm being completely honest, often made me feel uncomfortable. I've read books with bits and pieces of this subject mater before--Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy involves demonic summons, Cassandra Clare's multiple trilogies for young adults revolves around battles with demons and Nephilim--and those didn't throw me the way this book did.  I think the difference is this: all those other series, while they definitely exist in the realm of magic realism, the authors treat their "magic" as if it could only exist in the world of the book; never did I feel as if what happened within the pages of the book could someday happen in reality.

The beautiful cover art

Stiefvater, on the other hand, uses witchcraft and the occult not as if it's some "other" whose existence is wholly dependent on a fictional realm, but as if it's real.  Much of that credit, I'm sure, goes to the amount of research she had to have done for this book.  The rituals are very specific, and don't appear to be a simple figment of her imagination. While I wouldn't say the other authors I mentioned didn't do their research, Stiefvater used it in what I'll call a literal application. There is no "other."  The world of Henrietta exists on the same temporal plane as the reader, and everything that happens in this small town can and does happen in our world (or so it seems).  This takes quite a bit of powerful writing on Stiefvater's part, especially since I continued reading despite my discomfort, so props should be given to her for that. However, I certainly did not devour this book as I'm often apt to do, and I think it is because my unease made it impossible for me to become completely immersed in the story.

What I LOVED about this book, however, is her incorporation of historical figures and legends from the British Isles--in this case, Owain Glyndwr. I love it when authors play with stories that have been around for centuries, such as D.J. MacHale who took the title of Pendragon--the title used in recent literature to refer to the mysterious King Arthur of Britain--and re-imagined it into a young adult scifi/fantasy series.  However, the series I was most reminded of was The Dark is Rising Sequence, by Susan Cooper.  This is a classic YA fantasy series, which again re-imagines myths and legends born out of Wales. There's just something about those old stories that entrance me...but again, they don't leave me on edge the way The Raven Boys does. Hmm. Well, reading is supposed to make you uncomfortable, right?

Anyways, this post is far longer than it should be, so I'll stop here. Hopefully I can get my book up to you in time so you can get it signed! But, in the meantime, here's a picture of Maggie and me at the LA Times Festival of Books with my favorite work by this author, The Scorpio Races (which also uses cool myths!).

I look horrible! Ah!

Keep Calm and Read On,
Becca

PS~ My favorite quote from this book is also about the stars:

She recognized the strange happiness that came from loving something without knowing why you did, that strange happiness that was sometimes so big that it felt like sadness.  It was the way she felt when she looked at the stars.

The Snow Child: A Novel

Dear Becca,

Shame on me. Though I rushed to read The Snow Child, I’ve been dragging my feet when it comes to this blog post.I have to begin by saying how much I love the cover of this novel. This is such a beautiful illustration and captures Faina, the snow child, exactly as Eowyn Ivey wrote her. Not to mention, if I were judging this book by its cover, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

Image from B&N

 The Snow Child came highly recommended to me by a colleague who described it as a whimsical read. Whimsical is a good word for it, though I would add that there is something extremely dark about this tale which makes it so much more complicated than I expected.

I’m not extremely fond of the first chapter and if this book had not had such positive reviews, I think the first chapter would have scared me away. It’s only the first chapter so I’ll go ahead and give some of the plot away – the main characters, Jack and Mabel, are an older couple who tried to have kids but were never able. They live on a homestead in Alaska now and Mabel feels alone and unsatisfied by her life with Jack. In the first chapter, she goes out to a lake that is barely frozen over with ice intending to walk out so far that the ice breaks and she falls through and drowns. A very dark suicide plan. This scene is important to the rest of the novel because you better understand how much Faina, the little snow child, means to them when she shows up. Also, you see how much Jack and Mabel’s relationship changes because of her. I just wish that it hadn’t been quite so dark.

I expected this novel to focus on Faina but I was rather okay with it focusing on Jack and Mabel because, to be honest, I liked them a whole lot better than I liked Faina! I haven’t touched on the mysteriousness surrounding her very much because I don’t want to give anything away, but she is a skittish young child who is not quick to show emotion. She brings a lot of warmth and goodness to the people whose lives she touches, but she is never able to commit to them as fully as they commit to her. I think that’s where my resentment stems from.

Faina is based upon a character in Russian fairy tales named Snegurochka. I very much appreciated the fact that author Ivey incorporated the original tale, “The Snow Maiden”, into the storyline. Just as the reader questions whether Faina is human or supernatural, so does Mabel. And in the end, the truth doesn’t really matter to either. (Well, maybe it will matter to some readers, but it didn’t matter to me.) I found a version of the fairy tale on-line which you might like to check out.

When all was said and done, I was left with tons of unanswered questions about Faina and this story. Sometimes that drives me nuts, but this time I was okay with it, which is a major compliment in and of itself for this book. I’m really curious to hear your thoughts on it, Becca! I feel like this is a category that we’ve never really read/discussed together before. Perhaps it’s also good timing considering the magical elements in The Raven Boys. 

Til we read again,

Megan

A Mini-Reunion!

Though this time we were unable to reunite over books, we did the next best thing: shopping!

Haha, really though, we kept our shopping addictions in check when we visited SLO last weekend, and spent most of the time talking and catching up. 

Highlight of the trip? Avila Valley Barn--the CUTEST little farm and produce stand.

Anyways, new posts should be up soon, but in the meantime, here's a shot of the two of us riding a cowboy's little green tractor ;)

"I just stared up at them until it felt like I could breathe, maybe for the first time that day."

Photo credits go to this Photobucket account

Hi Megan,

So I thought I would change things up this time by putting the book art first. And this is really a terrible cover for this book.  This whimsical, light-hearted cover will leave UK readers COMPLETELY unprepared for the massive amount of emotional suck-itude within its pages.

This is not a happy book. Sure, it's got that romance plot thing going on, but really, it's not that lovey-dovey. For anyone who has lost a loved one, this is a horribly depressing book. So I'll get real for a bit, and talk about me and my life-something I really hate doing, but since my personal experience had a huge influence over how I received this book, I think it's appropriate.

The summer before my freshman year of college, we found out that my grandma had an advanced case of lung cancer.  She had been having respiratory problems for a long while, but the doctors continually misdiagnosed her, and in fact reassured us that cancer was the least likely cause of her illness. This hit me hard.  Grandma was like a second mom to me--she was my babysitter, piano teacher, and imparter of age-old womanly wisdom,  like baking, sewing, and the facts of life. She had always been healthy and active, so to see her frail and hooked up to oxygen machines was difficult to say the least.

Despite some misgivings, I went off to college, and got caught up in that life. I made new friends, and met my first serious boyfriend--the first guy who I thought might be "the one," and who I was very excited to introduce to my family. Then, just before Spring Quarter Finals, I get a call from my parents, letting me know that Grandma was in her last days.  A few days later, during finals week, she passed away before I was able to go home and say goodbye. Needless to say, it was crushing. I'm not one who cries, but losing one of the most important people in my life left me gasping for air.

When I started Second Chance Summer, honestly, I wasn't impressed. The writing was so-so, and I really wasn't that engaged.  And she quoted song lyrics for the dedication. I hate it when authors do that (did you ever read Halo? She quoted Beyonce, and the book was horrible).  But as I read on, I became increasingly engrossed, and ended up reliving my own losses. This book had me bawling, not for the character's loss, but for my own. Because I've been there. I've felt that. I still find it hard to cope with the fact that my grandma will never meet my husband, and never sew a quilt for my babies. And, like Taylor, I was very fortunate to have a shoulder to cry one, one that didn't belong to a friend or family member, but my boy, my love. Honestly, I don't know how I could have handled that finals week without him.  While we are now separated, and it ended with him being an ass, reading this book reminded me that he's not a bad person, just a terrible boyfriend.

So while Morgan Matson may not be the best writer, in the conventional sense, she gets it. She understands that devastating loss. So props to her for that.

As for my quote, that was another thing she "got." I loved growing up outside the city limits, because in my darkest moments, seeing the stars changed everything.

To a happier posting next time,
Becca