The Gone Series - Michael Grant

The fifth book in the Gone series, Fear, just came out a few weeks ago and after reading it, I have decided that everyone in the world should read it, as well. Which is why this post can also be titled

WHY YOU SHOULD BE READING THE GONE SERIES

Do you like YA dystopian novels? Than have I got a series for you. Trust me when I say that it is definitely more disturbing than The Hunger Games (and I love The Hunger Games.)

The first book begins as, one morning out of nowhere, everyone over the age of 15 disappears in a small town in California called Perdido Beach. You find out later that a dome (known as The Barrier) has formed around a huge chunk of California, about a twenty mile radius from the middle, a power plant. Perdido Beach just happens to be inside. The kids will call the area The FAYZ.

Of course, the first reaction of the kids is what you would expect: no parents, party, eat all the junk food, etc. However, one thing that I think really sets the Gone series about is that it continues past that. For when all the food is gone because no one is planting or harvesting. To when all the water is gone because there is no rain inside the dome. To when the littlest children have to start being looked after because they can't care for themselves. To when they need to install a currency system because bartering has become too dangerous. 

That, in itself, I think is one of the most interesting aspects of the Gone series. Beyond that, however, we have the creepy, dystopia stuff. Because why did The FAYZ come into being in the first place? And why have some of the kids begun forming strange powers? And why are there sudden mutations in the animals inside the dome? There is nothing creepier, let me tell you, than talking coyotes. 

Whenever I try and pitch this to my friends, they always look at me a little strangely when I start mentioning the supernatural elements but let me assure you that they do nothing but add to the book. If there were nothing of that sort, to be honest, it would just be Lord of the Flies. By adding a supernatural element (and an enemy in terms of the Gaiaphage (you'll see)), there is added danger and strategy. 

The books are very dark, as well. It's not easy to survive in this new world and, honestly, a lot of kids just don't. Some go crazy. Some get killed by wildlife. Some just die by weird accidents. And Grant has no qualms about killing off main characters. In each book, new important characters get added but characters you've cared about for maybe all the previous books are just as likely to be killed as a random red shirt. I rather like that aspect of it; you never get too comfortable while reading.

Another important detail that adds a lot to the books is the format it's written in. Each chapter begins with a countdown, usually less than 36 hours, to when the major event in the book is going to occur. Because of such a short time period, the pace is frantic and tense, really pulling you in to each novel. Between books, however, whole months pass so that now, by book five, I think the kids have been in the FAYZ at least a year. Watching them have to sustain themselves for that long, while not knowing if they'll ever get out, is powerful.

All in all, I love the Gone series and am quite upset that the last book, Light, doesn't come out until next year, especially since there was such a dramatic revelation at the end of Fear. If you would like to catch up and discuss the end of Fear with me, well, that would be much appreciated.

The Magicians - Lev Grossman

I'm just going to say it right off the bat: I have absolutely no idea how I feel about The Magicians. At first, I loved it. Halfway through, though, it started making me uncomfortable. By the end, I was just completely unsure about life. Was that the point?

The basic plot of The Magicians is this: a senior in high school, Quentin Coldwater, is completely disillusioned with life until by chance he ends up going to a magic school in upstate New York for college. Unfortunately, while magic is cool and everything, it's not the end all and be all of life and Quentin soon battles becoming disillusioned by magic, as well.

Now, the first bit of The Magicians is brilliant. Quentin going to school, learning about magic, making friends (and enemies) and just generally being Quentin is quite good. There is one chapter in particular, The Beast, that I loved and think is a brilliant example of encapsulated fear in a single chapter of a book. All the characters, as well, are well drawn and interesting characterized. I especially love Quentin's girl friend/girlfriend, Alice. 

I understand that the whole bit of The Magicians is that it is not just "Harry Potter grown up." It wants to say more and be deeper than that. I'm fine with that. It's just that, all of the sudden, Quentin has somehow become Holden Caulfield of the magical 00s. It just seemed out of place and odd. Not only that, but he began making weird choices that didn't seem to fit with the character we had been getting to know. 

The last bit of the book, while different from the mid-section, was still not enough to drag me back into caring about Quentin. I feel very ambivalent towards him, now and while I have the sequel, The Magician King, I still haven't brought myself around to reading it. Maybe one day.

The pacing in particular is very strange. The book is split into three parts and while each part makes sense on its own, it feels like they could have been fleshed out and turned into a trilogy. Having all three in one book feels a bit much and definitely confuses a reader at first. Quentin goes through five years of magic school in about two hundred pages. There was so much richness there that was missed. His life outside of school was perhaps the right length but the journey he goes on with his friends, as well, could have easily afforded more pages than it got. 

I really wanted to like this book and in some ways, I did. Would I recommend it to a friend, though? I'm not sure. It wasn't what I expected it to be and although I liked parts, others were uncomfortable. You definitely have to be in a certain kind of mood. Especially the bits about the arctic foxes. That was just … yeah. 

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

I've always wanted to read The Woman in White because somehow I got it into my head that it was a ghost story. Spoiler Alert: It's not. A friend and I both decided to read it over Christmas Break (although I somehow didn't actually read until a few weeks ago) and this gave me a perfect excuse to finally pick up a book I had always been curious about. 

To tell the truth, I wasn't entirely sure what I was picking up when I started reading The Woman in White. I find it nice, though, to not really be sure what you're reading. It gives it an even bigger air of surprise. The beginning of The Woman in White does not disappoint, either. A young art teacher gets a job through a connection of a friend and as he walks to the train station early one morning, he meets a mysterious woman dressed all in white. She begs him the way to London but makes him promise to ask her nothing. And without another word, the woman vanishes.

How is this not a ghost story, you ask? I know! Still, though, there are definitely enough twists and turns to delight any reader. I know I have given you absolutely no idea of the plot but I think you appreciate it more that way. There are three parts to the novel, the first mostly through the eyes of Mr. Hartright (don't you love old names?), the drawing teacher mentioned previously. The second part is much different from the first and the third altogether different still but I realize that mentioning the narrators will spoil a bit who dies and who doesn't so perhaps I'll leave that out.

It's an old book so there is a bit of wordiness and ethnic stereotyping to be aware of. Nothing is particularly bad, however, and the evil Italian count is evil more because of himself than because of the fact that he is Italian. In fact, I think he may be my favorite character. There is just something delicious about a character that is as sneakily evil as Count Fosco.

This is definitely not a book you get hooked on and can't put down. It's very wordy and it takes itself very importantly. However, there is definitely enough of a mystery for you to constantly want to know what is going to happen. It's a long book at over five hundred pages and around page two fifty or so, I really started to get into it. I don't know if my friend Lizzy ever did. It may not be a page turner but it's not the kind of book you would put down out of boredom, either. It's interesting enough to keep going.

There's intrigue, evil husbands, evil wives, mysterious disappearances, secret spies, expeditions to the new world, a creepy wing of the mansion and everything you expect from the best gothic novels. If that sounds good to you, pick it up.

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

My first thought when I hear The Bell Jar is of teenagers wanting to seem deep and claiming it as their favorite book. For years, I only knew Sylvia Plath's most famous work as that depressing novel that was written by the woman that killed herself. Looking back, that is a horrible thing to think and I'm a little embarrassed by the thought but honestly, that's what was in my head.

I bought my own copy during the strange grave-robbing-esque experience that was going to Borders during its last two weeks. I got my hands on a lot of nice copies of classic books and The Bell Jar was no exception. I'd always kind of wanted to read it and here was my chance.

I didn't actually sit down to read it until this Christmas Break, when I decided to read a bunch of "classic novels" I had on my bookshelf but had never actually taken the time to get through. After tackling 1984 (which I'm sure I'll write on at some point), I picked up The Bell Jar.

The Bell Jar was nothing that I expected. Instead of sad poetry about some girl cutting herself (I really had no idea what I was getting into), here was a well-written and surprisingly funny tale of a girl in the big city for the first time, trying to find her way through an internship and some pretty bizarre friends. Despite the obvious sixties setting, she was very relatable and the kind of girl that I thought I might have been friends with.

The novel tells the tale of Esther Greenwood, a young girl who earns a summer internship in New York. We meet her in the middle of it, going to parties, hanging out with girls she both likes and doesn't like and trying to come to terms with her own future. After she makes it back home and discovers some unhappy news, she finds herself spiraling out of control into a depression she can't see a way out of. 

Perhaps one of the reasons this book is so good is that it's semi-autobiographical. Almost all of the events happened to Plath in much the same way, with perhaps only small details changed. Although it's sad to think of all of this happening in truth, it also creates a relationship between reader and author/character that is stronger than most. 

Plath's writing style is amazing, as well. I'm not one to go on and on about that kind of thing but I just couldn't get over it while reading.  There is one section where most of the young girls get food poisoning from a lunch outing. Not to sound impolite but the way Plath describes the feeling of having food poisoning made me read the section out loud to my mother in the car, the whole time exclaiming "Isn't this just brilliant?" As someone who has had severe food poisoning, I was so impressed by how exactly she got everything down to the last detail. It was wonderful (and a bit gross). 

The Bell Jar is a great book and, while not the most light-hearted thing in existence, not a manual for emo children, either. There is great wit, great style and just an overall sense of what being a young girl with a passion for writing was like in the fifties and sixties. I enjoyed it and recommend it wholeheartedly. 

Dark Matter: A Ghost Story - Michelle Paver

I picked up Dark Matter pretty much because I had seen ads for it all about town and was intrigued by its subtitle: A Ghost Story. As has been well documented in this blog, I am always up for a good ghost story and treated myself to the book for my birthday a few months past. 

It took me a bit to get to it, mainly because essays interrupted my life for a while there but I ended up reading it on the plane home for the holidays. I had a vested interest in liking this book, as well; one of my good friends works at Hatchards and had recommended this book to a customer on the basis that '[her] friend just read it and really enjoyed it!' I, of course, was said friend who had yet to pick the book up off the shelf. Thus, I really hoped I liked it so that she hadn't just made me out as a liar to that little old lady.

To my delight, Dark Matter was nothing that I had expected, not that I had much of an idea of what to expect. Set in the 1930s, it follows an expedition to the Arctic, full of optimistic and rich young men set on adventure. Our hero, however, is a lonely boy recruited for his skill in physics and technology, an intellectual that has a rather large chip on his shoulder due to his low social and economic status. He can't stand most of the other men, with the exception of golden boy Gary, who he feels a great admiration for. 

There are many things up in the Arctic that are new to the men and it doesn't help that the captain of the ship taking them up seems unwilling to share some dark tales that he has been hinting at the whole voyage. There's an overwhelming sense that something is going on up there but most everyone is too level-minded to think much of it.

It's not until things start going wrong and one by one, members of the team have to be taken back to civilization that things start to show their true colors. Because our hero, Jack, is now left alone in a small hut in the middle of nowhere. But then again, he just might not be as alone as he thinks.

I fell in love with this book while I was reading it and could not put it down. The publishers made a strange choice on format: huge print and pictures randomly placed throughout the book. It took some getting used to but the pictures really helped set the scene and even the big typeface was easily acquiesced to. 

What I really enjoyed was the writing style. It was easy to pick up and kept a consistant eerie tone throughout the novel. It's told in diary-form, something I'm always a big fan of, and that helps the novel create mood and form character, watching Jack struggle with the things he sees and hears, while trying to convince himself that he's not going mad. 

The ending, which I will not spoil but must comment on, was honestly my favorite part. Although the actual events were not a complete surprise, the way they handled the character development of Jack in those last few pages was very engaging and Paver made a few choices with him I was not expecting but loved. She took an issue that normal writers from the thirties tend to pussyfoot around and decided to state it in a no-nonsense manner that was very fitting. It was very well done.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and, immediately upon return home, lent it to my father to read. I'm not sure if he has or not (things tend to sit around the family home for months before attention is paid to them) but the fact that I lent something out so soon after reading it is testament to how much I loved it. If you have any interest in the Arctic and polar expeditions, camaraderie and class division in England in the thirties, or just ghosts (like me!), I would recommend it. It's a quick read and very much worth an afternoon.

Death Comes to Pemberley - P.D. James

I am a girl who studies English Literature. Obviously, I love me some Pride and Prejudice. The passion of Mr. Darcy, the wit of Elizabeth Bennet, hell, just the use of the word 'ardently' is enough to have me happily sighing all day. I have seen every movie adaptation and enjoy passionate debates about the relative merits of Darcy versus Bingley. 

I am a girl who grew up with Sherlock Holmes and has watched more detective television than I know what to do with. I have seen so many Japanese crime dramas that I know words like 'suspect', 'prosecuting attorney', 'suicide' and 'blood-splatter' in Japanese. There is absolutely nothing I love more than a puzzle coming together in an interesting and unexpected way. 

You would think with these two very different facets of my personality that I would love Death Comes to Pemberley. A detective story in the style of Jane Austen, Death Comes to Pemberley takes place six years after the end of Pride and Prejudice. Darcy and Elizabeth live at Pemberely with Georgiana and their two sons. Jane and Bingley live close by and come over often for visits. It's all quite idyllic and typical.

The beginning of the novel finds the Darcys on the eve of their annual ball, preparing everything and receiving guests. Late in the night, while a few of the family are remaining in the dining room, there is a frantic knock on the door. Lydia Wickham is hysterical, claiming that Wickham has been killed. And then she faints.

It's definitely a great start to a story, to be sure. The problem is that this tale reads less like a detective novel and more like a court procedural. Darcy and Elizabeth, of course being very proper in their manners due to the customs of the time, don't actually do any of the detective work themselves. Well, Darcy does a bit but only as far as his jurisdiction as the man of the house goes. Otherwise, there are new characters running around and doing police procedurals, Austen-style.

This might be actually interesting if there were any actual detecting going on. This is more of an open and shut case. Of course, there are some twists at the end but most of the novel is Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam and a new character trying to figure out what they're going to say on the witness stand. In a study of Austen-era courtroom drama, I suppose it's interesting. For a book marketed as Jane Austen meets Sherlock Holmes, however, it's a disappointment.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it. There are definitely some fun moments and it's nice coming back to familiar characters that are written very much in Austen's style.The insight to what has happened in the six years between the novels is entertaining and if only for that, it's an interesting read. 

If you were coming to watch LIzzy Bennet solve a murder, though, you unfortunately have another thing coming.

My Name is Molly and I Like Comics

As tomorrow is the third meeting of my beloved Comics Gosh!p, I think I should drop the bomb on all of you: I love comics. 

I always loved comics ever since I was a little girl. Admittedly, I wasn't huge into the superhero genre but I'm pretty sure I had a good ten years worth of Scooby Doo and Star Trek: TOS that are still up in my closet. Yes, I was an extremely dorky child. 

I grew out of the comics buying mentality around high school but little did I know that I'd be drawn right back in. I mean, yes, I went through that four year phase where manga is your life but that is not what I'm talking about. You see, my life was about to be overrun by comic book artists.

One of my best friends in high school was a girl named Tally Nourigat who has since gone on to become an up and coming graphic novelist. When I moved back to Portland after the earthquake this spring, Tally was one of my few friends who still lived in town. Clinging to her for company, I found myself in the midst of a large, close knit group of local comic artists and basically some of the nicest people I've ever met. 

Tally took it upon herself (at my okay) to begin educating me in comics. I would say I have a fairly good schooling in classic literature and pop lit but when it comes to comics, I was very far out of the loop. Since getting closer to my new friends and moving to London and seeking out (and finding!) more of them, I'm continuing my education on my own. And I think you guys should join me as well. This week, I'm going to share with you a few of my favorite books. Feel free to suggest more.

Mysterius the Unfathomable by Jeff Parker and Tom Fowler

This may be my favorite comic book of all time and high up there in my books in general list, as well. As a fan of Sherlock Holmes since my childhood, I easily fell in love with this story of a psychic/magician and his new assistant. The wonder of this story is that there is so much and it seems to be unrelated but it all comes back in a cohesive story. Our stand in of Delfi is relatable and fun but the most compelling character is obviously Mysterius himself. I fell in love with this miserable louse the moment he first appeared. The plot is remarkable but it is the characters that drive this piece and there's not a thing I would change (except for perhaps adding more).

Batgirl Year One by Scott Beatty, Chuck Dixon, Alvaro Lopez and Marcos Martin

I love the Year One books because I can get into a mythos of a character without actually knowing a whole lot about them. Although I knew few things about Barbara Gordon before picking this up, I don't think it made a huge difference to my enjoyment. Once again, this is full of well developed characters and impassioned storytelling. It's easy to watch Barbara make her decisions and become the person she ends up. Not to mention the art is gorgeous. I keep trying to find a copy of this at my bookstore but I can't. :(

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

You can tell I like these for the characters, can't you? This is another amazingly crafted tale of a young girl trying to find herself. Anya just wants to be a normal girl at her school and all seems great when she meets a ghost that decides to help her become popular. When the ghost becomes a bit too determined, however, things start to go downhill. WIth amazing art and interesting pacing, this story is definitely a page-turner. 

Emitown by Emi Lenox

Okay, this is a bit of pandering because Emi is a friend of mine but still! This book is marvelous! It's a comic diary Emi's been keeping for ... forever, it seems. She uses her art in a very interesting way to capture her day to day life, including super heroes and cat armies. Emi is an amazing person and she makes her diary fun to read. Also, there's a second volume coming out in February. Although you can read Emitown for free on her website, she's a bit behind and the new volume will have something like 170 pages of new material. Awesome? Awesome.

Hemlock by Josceline Fenton

Also, I am all about the small press, if you didn't realize. I had the pleasure of meeting Josceline Fenton when she came to a Gosh!p meeting where we were talking about, what else?, Hemlock. I had only read through Hemlock due to that meeting but I'm so happy it was introduced to me. A Scandinavian fairytale, Hemlock follows a witch Lumi and her man-turned-frog familiar. The characters are engaging, the art is quite perfect for the storytelling and this fantastical world is slowly revealed with each new page. Even better, you can read Hemlock online here (it updates on Fridays) and the first three volumes are out in print. Josceline has the whole story planned out in six volumes, as well, and it's nice to know there's in end in sight. I can't wait to find out what happens!

Between Gears by Natalie Nourigat

Okay, you're going to have to wait a few months for this one because it doesn't come out until February but it's already my favorite graphic novel of all time, mainly because it's written by my beloved Tally. Her senior year of college, Tally kept a sketch diary on Between Gears and in February it will be collected in graphic novel format, with tons of bonuses (including a foreword by yours truly!). Tally realistically portrays her life's ups and downs throughout the year, not holding anything back and really creating a unique piece. I think you'll love it but that may just be the friendship talking. You can, of course, still read the original at Between Gears.

Well, that's all for today, I think. I'll definitely post some more graphic novels and comics up here. I've been meaning to do it for awhile but there's nothing like finishing your essays and just generally hanging in Humanities 1 of the British Library to get you motivated. Enjoy!