Magic Under Glass, Jaclyn Dolamore

Nimira is a music-hall girl used to dancing for pennies. So when wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to sing acompaniment to a mysterious piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it will be the start of a better life. In Parry's world, long-buried secrets are about to stir. Unsettling rumors begin to swirl about ghosts, a madwoman roaming the halls, and Parry's involvement with a league of sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. When Nimira discovers that the spirit of a dashing fairy gentleman is trapped within the automaton, she is determined to break the curse. But even as the two fall into a love that seems hopeless, breaking the curse becomes a perilous race against time. Because it's not just the future of these star-crossed lovers that's at stake, but the fate of the entire magical world.

I bought this book after hearing about it during the whole cover dustup. And I am so glad I did. It is a great story with so many clever elements woven throughout. I need to stop saying this about every single book but yet again the UK cover wins for me. Especially after reading the story. I like that Erris is included in the art as well. And in the end I'm not a huge fan of covers featuring photos anyway.

I loved the gothic novel feel this book has especially the homage to Jane Eyre with the whole crazy wife in the attic. I liked the references to Rebecca as well with the Mrs. Danvers like housekeeper stalking the forbidden wing of the estate and being menacing. So much fun stuff.

I also really enjoyed reading about the automaton. I hadn't really read the whole synopsis of the book so I was honestly surprised and intrigued by the whole plot line with Erris. It also reminded me a lot of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which I also thought was really well done.

I really liked this line, "late at night I dreamed of things I scoffed at by the light of day" (p.2) and this one made me laugh, "... fairies are born of the dirt beneath our feet."
"What does that mean? Do fairy babies grow like carrots?" (p.49) That seems like an Anne Geddes portrait waiting to happen.

So in summary, this is an awesome book! My only complaint is that it ended before I was ready to move on. Please let there be a sequel!

Here is a fun interview with Jaclyn Dolamore on The Hiding Spot. She sounds like such an interesting person. I love all these sketches that she did for the characters. And the book trailer is cool too. She is clearly an artsy kind of person.



And the trailer had me thinking about the Musee Mechanique which I have not visited in years. Maybe they have a piano playing fairy prince on display.

Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones

I'm continuing to read all the books on Sarah Rees Brennan's "Best Couples in Books Ever!" post.
I love her hilarious conversation style summaries. I had some prejudices against Howl's Moving Castle based on an impression that the movie was super weird but after reading this:

Sophie and Howl, Diana Wynne Jones's Howl's Moving Castle - A vain, cowardly Welsh wizard and a grumpy, practical hat-maker enchanted to look like an eighty-year-old lady. What could be more romantic? Again, they learn about each other through interacting: Sophie's impressions of Howl start off from Step 1) Cold-blooded murderer, eats hearts, to 2) Total idiot, in love with his own hair.

and this:

SOPHIE: Hello, I am your eighty year old cleaning lady.
HOWL: I could have wished for a sexier introduction.
SOPHIE: You should quit eating hearts.
HOWL: I don't eat hearts! Think of my trim figure. Now think of it some more. Excuse me, gotta get to a mirror, contemplate my own beauty.
SOPHIE: What do you do in the bathroom for five hours a day?
HOWL: MY HAIR. It's a work of art, baby. Art can't be rushed.
SOPHIE: Gotta clean up the bathroom and sort out the hair dyes.
HOWL: MY HAIR IS PINK OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD.
SOPHIE: The kingdom is in turmoil. You should save it.
HOWL: DID YOU NOT HEAR ME? PINK. PINK! OH GOD, MY ONE TRUE LOVE.
SOPHIE: I will help save the kingdom.
HOWL: Do you want to pretend to be my mom?
SOPHIE: I could have wished for a sexier undercover role.
HOWL: We have saved the day, due to our combined magics, your kind heart and me lying to myself about my own plans. God, I'm good!
SOPHIE: Yay, I am no longer eighty years old!
HOWL: Sophie, I want to ask you a very important question.
SOPHIE: *waits*
HOWL: My hair - is it a total mess?

I knew I had to read it. And I am so very glad that I did! It is definitely a new favorite and fully deserving of 5 stars. I loved it so much that I'm at a loss for what to say about it. I definitely want to see the movie now. Even though I'm not a big fan of anime style stuff. I love Sophie & Howl so much I got all excited watching the trailer:



And this is just crazy to me:

Howl's Moving Castle from Ben Millett on Vimeo.

http://www.ragandbone.com/blog/?p=642
http://ben-kt.momillett.org/2007/07/hmc-papercraft/

Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels Series

“Treat yourself to a splendid new urban fantasy… I am looking forward to the next book in the series, or anything else Ilona Andrews writes.”

Patricia Briggs, USA Today bestselling author of Blood Bound.

That quote and this review at Angieville are what made me want to read this series. And I'm glad I did. The Kate Daniels stories are entertaining, suspenseful, romantic, funny, & fluffy all rolled into one. My feelings on this series comes nowhere near how much I adore the Mercy Thompson series but these books are solid entertainment.

And they were about all I could handle in the last few weeks. I've been in a bit of a funk which has infected my reading life as well as my real life. I haven't felt like doing much of anything which has left me dreadfully behind on my reading list. I had wanted to be at 45 books by today instead of 33 but I have been slacking. I am hoping to tough love myself out of this in terms of reading and life. Maybe I'll have more to say about Kate when the 4th book comes out in a bit.

Hunting Ground, Patricia Briggs

Mated to werewolf Charles Cornick, the son -and enforcer -of the leader of the North American werewolves, Anna Latham now knows how dangerous being a werewolf is, especially when a werewolf opposes Charles and his father is struck down. Charles's reputation makes him the prime suspect, and the penalty for the crime is execution. Now Anna and Charles must combine their talents to hunt down the real killer -or Charles will take the fall.

So I have gone back and forth in my feelings about this series and now I have swung back around to liking it. Last night I kept waking up feeling like crap (which might just be symptomatic of not wanting to go back to school after the 3 day weekend) and I eventually picked this book up. And I ended up liking it more than everything else in this series thus far.

This book had a huge focus on the relationship between Anna & Charles which is all I really care about in the first place so I enjoyed reading it. It was perfect middle of the night distraction reading. Now I just need to come to peace with being the kind of girl who is into these kind of books- or these books need to get better cover art and I won't have to feel silly about them.

The only bummer is that the next book comes out in Fall 2011! That is way too far away and it sets me down a depressing train of thought: what if I am in exactly the same life situation in 2011 needing to self-sooth in the middle of the night with werewolf stories. If I am going to be in a bad mood reading werewolf stories in 2011 I at least need to be a lot blonder, thinner, and/or richer. How's that for shallow? Or maybe I just won't be in a bad mood anymore.

Close Kin, Clare Dunkle

“Goblins are just a tale to frighten children.”

Emily might have believed this once, but she knows better now. For years she has been living happily in the underground goblin kingdom. Now Emily is old enough to marry, but when her childhood friend Seylin proposes, she doesn’t take him seriously.

Devastated, Seylin leaves the kingdom, intent on finding his own people: the elves. Too late, Emily realizes what Seylin means to her and sets out in search of him. But her quest, like Seylin’s own journey, is really a plot devised by the cunning goblin King, who has his own reason to hunt for elves. As Emily and Seylin come closer to their goals, they bring two worlds onto a collision course, awakening hatreds and prejudices that have slumbered for hundreds of years.

In this sequel to The Hollow Kingdom, Clare Dunkle draws readers deeper into the magical world that Lloyd Alexander, winner of the Newbery Medal, calls “as persuasive as it is remarkable.”

I was really excited to read this book after loving The Hollow Kingdom so much. Then I realized that the story shifts to focus on characters other than Marak and Kate. I almost always hate when series do this. Clearly, I like the characters in the first book and that's why I want to read more about them. So this made me pretty apprehensive about reading this one.

Happily this book did not let me down. I found that I was just as happy to read about Emily and Seylin as I was to read about Kate and Marak. It does help that Kate and Marak both have parts to play in this story but I think mostly it is due to the fascinating world Clare Dunkle has created. That is consistent between both books so that even though I was reading about different characters I still felt like I was in the same familiar place. It is really rare for me to find that I like both books in a series equally but in this case I do. Close Kin was really great! Hopefully, I will love the last book just as much.

My only minor quibble and it's not really even a quibble is that the focus on the fear of pregnancy and childbirth with its related plot thread about Sable and her sad, abused life was pretty icky. Not inappropriate for kids icky just the kind of icky that probably would have upset me when I was 12, which thankfully I am not!

The Hollow Kingdom, Clare Dunkle

"Hallow Hill has a strange and tragic history. For thousands of years, young women have been vanishing from the estate, never to be seen again. Now Kate and Emily have come to live at Hallow Hill. Brought up in a civilized age, they have no idea of the land’s dreadful heritage. Until, that is, Marak decides to tell them himself.

Intelligent, pleasant, and completely pitiless, Marak is a powerful magician who claims to be a King—and he has very specific plans for the two new girls who have trespassed into his kingdom."

I was instantly sucked into this book in a really good way. Clare Dunkle is amazing. The plot is suspenseful and clever with the right tough of romance. I love all of the references to mythology that are involved in the world of Hallow Hill. I also appreciate that this book is really entertaining but also completely appropriate for younger readers. There is a compelling story but no inappropriate squickiness. I read this in one sitting over the weekend and immediately read the second volume.

This series is nothing like the Queen's Thief series in terms of the characters and storyline but I am reminded of that series in a really good way because of the high quality writing in both series. I love finding new books that live up to my expectations/unrealistic hype.

Cry Wolf, Patricia Briggs

"Anna never knew werewolves existed until the night she survived a violent attack…and became one herself. After three years at the bottom of the pack, she’d learned to keep her head down and never, ever trust dominant males. But Anna is that rarest kind of werewolf: an Omega. And one of the most powerful werewolves in the country will recognize her value as a pack member—and as his mate."

This book was kind of a let down for me. I have never read any of this genre of supernatural/fantasy/romance with glowing cover art before but I read some reviews that made me think I would be into this kind of thing. I also was excited because I love finding new series to read and this author is quite prolific.

This book cover did make me feel a little bit like the kids Sue Sylvester was thinking of when she described: "invisibles and the kids playing live-action-druids-and-troll-out-in-the-forest — bottom floor.” That is who I have always judgmentally imagined read books with covers like this one.

I enjoyed reading the first half of the book but then I just got a little bogged down and disinterested in the wolf pack politics. I also was really only interested in the romance plot line between Anna and Charles so I definitely tuned out for the rest of the drama. I'm kind of bummed because I had already checked out the next book and now I don't even want to read it. It's not that it was so bad I just feel very neutral towards the story.