November 2010 Reading Wrap-Up

Dec 032010

This was a really stupendous reading month. For one thing, I read 22 books, including 4 audiobooks, totaling nearly 4800 pages of print and over 2 days of audio. For another, the books I read were of such high quality that I had an incredibly difficult time picking a single pick of the month and eventually had to give up on that idea.

After my list of what I read this month, you’ll find a list of the other reviews I posted this month.

What I Read:

Audiobooks
The Fall by Guillermo del Toro, narrated by Daniel Oreskes
The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, narrated by Orlagh Cassidy and Bahni Turpin – review pending
The Dead Beat by Marilyn Johnson, narrated by the author
Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle – review pending

Fiction
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson – review pending
A Friend of the Family by Lauren Grodstein
The Red Thread by Ann Hood
Life After Yes by Aidan Donnelly-Rowley
The Sherlockian by Graham Moore – review pending

Historical Fiction
Wolves of Andover by Kathleen Kent
The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove by Susan Gregg Gilmore
Voltaire’s Calligrapher by Pablo de Santis

TV/Film
Chief Wiggum’s Book of Crime and Punishment by Matt Groening
Harry Potter Film Wizardry by Brian Sibley

Nonfiction/Memoir
Coop by Michael Perry
The Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elizabeth Tova Bailey – review pending

INSPY (no reviews)
She Walks in Beauty by Siri Mitchell
Her Mother’s Hope by Francine Rivers
The Fiddler’s Gun by A.S. Peterson
The Silent Governess by Julie Klassen

Picks of the Month:

Banner month, huh?

What I Posted:

Announcements, Guest Posts, and Features
“What’s Old is New – Jane Eyre”
“Oh, D.E.A.R. – The Books I Never Got to Read in 2010”
“Why Harvest Week?”
Don’t Sing at the Table by Adriana Trigliani – Guest Review
“Books Guaranteed to Put Me to Sleep” by Lauren Grodstein, author of A Friend of the Family”
“Oh, D.E.A.R. – Deep Valley Edition”

Saturday Story Spotlight
Oh My Oh My Oh Dinosaurs by Sandra Boynton
My First Thanksgiving by Tomie dePaola
Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino
Baby Nose to Baby Toes by Vicki Ceelen

Audiobook
C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy by Jeff Sharlet, narrated by Jeremy Guskin

Fiction
Frankenstein’s Monster by Susan Heyboer O’Keefe

Historical Fiction
The Passionate Brood by Margaret Campbell Barnes

Nonfiction
The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore
All I Can Handle, I’m No Mother Theresa by Kim Stagliano

Note: Some of these books were provided to me for review.

Voltaire’s Calligrapher by Pablo De Santis – Book Review

Dec 022010

Voltaire’s Calligrapher by Pablo De Santis
Published by Harper Perennial, an imprint of Harper Collins

After his parents die, Dalessius is raised by his distant and somewhat unfeeling uncle, a man whose business it is to transport corpses across France to reunite dead soldiers with their families and people who can pay with their birthplaces. He has quite a good racket going, having collaborated with the Church to make people believe that being buried near zone’s place of birth increases one’s chance of heaven. His uncle’s influence helps Dalessius secure a place as a calligrapher to Voltaire, the famous Enlightenment thinker now living in exile on the Swiss border. Dalessius is not in Voltaire’s employ very long, however, before he is sent from the house on an important secret mission involving a court case against a Protestant man accused of killing his son who has converted to Catholicism. The son is being widely regarded in France as a martyr, and it seems that Voltaire worries about this case unduly increasing the power of the Church. While on his mission, Dalessius meets a number of odd characters, including a beautiful young girl he hopes to save from her father’s imprisonment.

Although quite short, “Voltaire’s Calligrapher” is a complicated little book. There is quite a lot packed into these pages: love, murder, religious corruption and conspiracy, and automaton. It was this last category of things that I really did not expect, I must say. Although not quite the main thrust of the book, “Voltaire’s Calligrapher” definitely must be considered to be.steampunk, as the automaton had a surprisingly large and integral role in the story.

In “Voltaire’s Calligrapher” Pablo de Santis has created an historical fiction steampunk thriller. The translation seems to be quite good, but that doesn’t mean it is an easy read. De Santis plots his story in a way that necessitates paying close attention to every word. I confess, by the time I realized just how closely I needed to attend what he was telling me to fully understand what was happening I was well into the book, so I’m sure I missed some things. Even so, I never felt frustrated, or really anything less than captivated.

I would definitely recommend “Voltaire’s Calligrapher” to those willing to work for a fascinating piece of speculative historical fiction set in Enlightenment France. I think those who like to reread would find it to be especially interesting, as I suspect it is one of those books that requires multiple readings to be fully understood.

Buy this book from:
Powells.*
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.*
Amazon.*

Source: Publisher.
* These links are all affiliate links. If you buy your book here I’ll make a very small amount of money that goes towards hosting, giveaways, etc.

What’s Old is New – Jane Eyre

Dec 012010

5136398775 acf7ccb29b m picture For those of you who missed the earlier announcement, I have been working on a new podcast project with Nicole called What’s Old is New where we look at enduring works of classic literature. One way we measure that a classic has endured, and one thing we talk about on the blog, is if it informs modern works of literature, whether they are reinterpretations, or whether they simply take inspiration from the original. Our first episode covered Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein” and we’re currently finishing up a show on “Sherlock Holmes,” which will be live on December 13th.

Next up, “Jane Eyre!”

I’ve got some great historical fiction about Charlotte Bronte lined up, plus a reread of “The Thirteenth Tale,” (and “Jane Eyre” itself, of course) but if you have any must reads on “Jane Eyre,” let me know! I’m interested in historical fiction, reimaginings, or really interesting lit crit.

Get in touch with me here or on the What’s Old is New tumblr. Email, comments, anything goes!

Oh, D.E.A.R. – The Books I Never Got to Read in 2010

Dec 012010

Do you remember D.E.A.R? At my elementary school that meant “Drop Everything And Read,” something we typically did for 10 or 15 minutes every day. Best part of my day, really. As my TBR and Library piles are battling for supremacy and trying to sneak in around the review copies who have staked out places on my calendar, I’m thinking back to the simpler days of D.E.A.R., when I believed I had time to get to any book I wanted. And that, of course, got me fantasizing about a world where I really could just Drop Everything And Read for more than just 15 minutes a day.

The rapidly approaching end of the year has me a bit melancholy about all the fabulous books I intended to read this year and never got around to picking up. This list is comprised mostly of things that came into the house for review consideration, whether directly from an author or publicist, or from one of the trade shows I attended. Some were also wins from online giveaways.

If only I could Drop Everything And Read for the last month of the year, here is what I would pick up (links go either to the book’s website or LibraryThing):

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