Challenged Book Spotlight: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Reasons for banning or challenging book generally fall into the same repetitive categories: obscene, offensive, unsuitable for children, vulgar and racist. But here's a twist for you:

In 1931, in the Hunan province of China, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll was banned outright because "animals should not use human language" and it was fundamentally wrong to portray "animals and humans on the same level."




And if you really want a good laugh (in a I-can't-believe-governments-are-so-incredibly-stupid kind of way), Anna Sewell's classic novel, Black Beauty, was banned in South Africa in 1955 because the word "black" is in the title.

Source for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Source for Black Beauty

Hmmmm...

Apparently, American authors don't have what it takes anymore. At least not according to the head of the Nobel Literature award jury, Horace Engdahl:

"Of course there is powerful literature in all big cultures, but you can't get away from the fact that Europe still is the center of the literary world ... not the United States," he told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Tuesday.

To be fair though, he also voiced an opinion with which I somewhat agree:

Speaking generally about American literature, however, he said U.S. writers are "too sensitive to trends in their own mass culture," dragging down the quality of their work.

Poor ol' Horace. He sure is taking some heat today: Read the full article.

Maybe he's just bitter because his parents named him Horace? Hey, anything's possible.

Challenged Book Spotlight: The Bible

Bet you're surprised to see this on the list, aren't you? But the Bible is a pretty controversial piece of work and not just amongst argumentative religious factions. Of course it was banned outright in the Soviet Union and other communist bloc countries prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain, but did you know that as recently as 1992 it was challenged in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota for being "lewd, indecent, offensive, violent, and dangerous to women and children"? Or did you know it was challenged in 1993 in Fairbanks, Alaska for being "obscene and pornographic"?

But not to worry, the Bible is still the best selling book of all-time. I'm wondering who receives those royalties?

Citation: Women, Men & Gender by Mary Roth Walsh

Review: The Queen's Secret

The Queen's Secret by Jean Plaidy


4 out of 5 stars


Book Source: Amazon.com


For many fans of historical fiction, Jean Plaidy's books are a treasure. For me, they are like a favorite blanket: perhaps a little dated and not on the cutting edge of a fad, but something familiar and comfortable.

The Queen's Secret, originally published in 1990 by G.P. Putnam's Sons and then reissued by Three Rivers Press in 2007, was one of Plaidy's later works and tells the story of Katherine of Valois, wife of Henry V, mother to Henry VII and by virtue of her second marriage to Owen Tudor, the founder of the Tudor kings of England.

The story is told in Katherine's voice and begins with her childhood in France as the daughter of King Charles VI, known to history as King Charles the Mad. Unable to maintain his lucidity or authority, France deteriorated into civil war in the early 15th century and the English, led by King Henry V, were able to divide, invade and conquer.

In the aftermath of the infamous Battle of Agincourt (remember? Shakespeare, anyone?), a tenative peace treaty was negotiated which acknowledged Henry to be the successor to the French crown once mad King Charles kicked the proverbial bucket and also threw in poor Katherine to sweeten the pot for Henry. They were married soon after and she bore him one child who would later become King Henry VI, although her new husband croaked soon after.

Being a widow turned out to be a good thing for Katherine. She fell in love with a Welsh commoner named Owen Tudor. They married in secret and went on to have four children, through which the Tudor line of kings would emerge. For those unfamiliar with this part of English history, I won't give away the ending, but it is a compelling tale.
Plaidy is, as usual, very true to her characters and historical facts. The voice of Katherine is almost child-like, which helps Plaidy disseminate the convoluted politics of the day in a manner readers can easily keep up with, but also likely reflects Katherine's actual knowledge of events. Despite being Queen of England, there seems to be little historical evidence that Katherine had anything to do with political intrigue. The dialog is beautifully simple, as well. Think Anna Sewell and Black Beauty.

The only complaint I had was a slight mix-up in the author's own timeline: in the story, Katherine and Owen, we are told, become lovers on the night that Katherine's young son, Henry VI, is taken from her at the age of two to be raised in another household. Later, we skip ahead in time and young Henry is now five years old when Katherine discovers she is pregnant by Owen. Plaidy writes

"Why I should have been so surprised, I cannot imagine. Owen and I had been passionate lovers for some months."
Katherine in The Queen's Secret

Well, I suppose three years can be considered "some months," but the inconsistency leaped out at me. This, coupled with the constant foreshadowing of doom and gloom, were my only bugaboos about the story.

But these small flaws should be overlooked in the face of such a wonderful tale. This is a time period not often covered by historical fiction authors. Katherine and her contemporaries, such as Joan of Arc, were to change the fate both England and France. I highly recommend this read to any historical fiction fan as it makes accessible a time period too often overlooked.

I mentioned at the beginning of this review that Three Rivers Press reissued this novel in 2007. They have done so with a handful of Jean Plaidy books. If you enjoy her work and would like to see more (since many of her older books are quite difficult to find these days), please contact Three Rivers Press (a division of Random House) and express your interest in order to keep them coming!

Title: The Queen's Secret
Author: Jean Plaidy
403 pages
ISBN: 978-1-4000-8252-0
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Date: 2007

2008 Read-A-Thon!

Don't forget that this year's 24-hour Read-A-Thon is taking place on October 18! You can read all about it and enter here. Who's in? Not sure if I'll have the work schedule available for it this year, but I'll certainly be donating BookMooch points for charity. Have fun with this!

Challenged Book Spotlight: Snow Falling on Cedars

Each morning for ten years, teacher David Guterson would rise in the early morning to work on his novel before heading off to school. Such dogged determination would have an immense reward: Snow Falling on Cedars. Published in 1995, Guterson's first novel won the PEN/Faulkner Award that same year. Once it became more widely available in paperback, sales went through the roof as it's popularity grew and it was adapted into a film in 1999.

San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, is a place so isolated that no one who lives there can afford to make enemies. But in 1954 a local fisherman is found suspiciously drowned, and a Japanese American named Kabuo Miyamoto is charged with his murder. In the course of the ensuing trial, it becomes clear that what is at stake is more than a man's guilt. For on San Pedro, memory grows as thickly as cedar trees and the fields of ripe strawberries--memories of a charmed love affair between a white boy and the Japanese girl who grew up to become Kabuo's wife; memories of land desired, paid for, and lost. Above all, San Piedro is haunted by the memory of what happened to its Japanese residents during World War II, when an entire community was sent into exile while its neighbors watched. Gripping, tragic, and densely atmospheric, Snow Falling on Cedars is a masterpiece of suspense-- one that leaves us shaken and changed.
from Vintage (Publisher)

In 2007, Snow Falling on Cedars was challenged by a parent as required reading for 11th grade students in the Coeur d'Alene, Idaho school district. Vulgar language, vulgar subject and adult material harmful to minors were the stated reason for the challenge (because 11th graders can't handle the "F-word"). The challenge was referred to a school district Review Committee, whose job it was to review the challenge and then make a recommendation to the school district's trustees.

Their recommendation? Thankfully it was to leave the book on the reading list, and the trustees then voted 3-2 to accept this recommendation. So now we know that at least three of the trustees up there are sane.

(On a sad note, however, in a town not 20 miles from where I live in Washington State, the South Kitsap County School District school board voted 3-2 to go ahead and remove Snow Falling on Cedars from their reading list.)

Article of interest: Coeur d'Alene Press Newspaper
And yet another one: Spokesman Review

The 1st Book Review Blog Carnival is here!

It's a busy week out there in the book review blogging world. Today is the kick-off of the first ever book review blog carnival and it's being hosted over at I'll Never Forget the Day I Read a Book. This is a good opportunity to read some great reviews of books from all different genres and to find some new-to-you blogs -- I know that's what I'll be doing all afternoon!

The next carnival is slated for October 12th and will be hosted by Novel Bloggers. If you have a review blog, you are welcome to submit one of your favorite reviews and join in the fun!

More information: Book Review Blog Carnival

Challenged Book Spotlight: Like Water for Chocolate

Like Water for Chocolate was first published in Spanish in 1989 and was the first novel from Laura Esquival, a Mexican screenwriter. The English translation was published, to great acclaim, by Doubleday in 1992. The novel also inspired the Spanish-language film, directed by Esquival's husband, of the same name and enjoyed immense success in the U.S. with English subtitles.

Set in turn-of-the-century Mexico, this romantic, earthy, and poignant story, touched with bittersweet moments of magic and sensuality, celebrates food and passion. As the youngest daughter in a traditional Mexican family led by a tyrannical rancher, Tita de la Garza is bound by tradition to remain unmarried so that she can care for her mother in old age. What follows after Tita falls in love is a lively, funny tale filled with irony, wit, magic, realism, and folklore, as Tita struggles to be true both to family tradition and her own heart.
Random House, Inc.

In 2004, the parents of an Arrowhead High School student in Merton, Wisconsin challenged the books presence on an elective reading list -- for which students had to obtain a parent's signature in order to participate -- on the grounds that the book contained "sexually explicit and inappropriate material." The complaint was filed in March of 2004 and, interestingly, originally centered around a different book entirely. But after an internal staff review dismissed the complaint, the parents filed an appeal that requested several other books, including Like Water for Chocolate, be removed as well. The appeal went to the Arrowhead School Board who voted to form a committee to review the books in question. The parent in question was quoted as saying

“When you’re a parent, there’s a level of trust when you send your kids to school,” Krueger said. “I don’t expect things to be given to them at school that I wouldn’t give them at home. I think it’s abusing the basis of trust that parents have.”
Newsletter on Intellectual Freedom

Although I could not find the decision of the School Board recorded anywhere, I think we can safely assume the challenge was ultimately defeated, since Like Water for Chocolate remains on the Arrowhead College Bound Reading List.

Relevant article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
A follow up article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

A Giveaway in Honor of Banned Books Week

One of my favorite books is Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Coincidentally, this book also makes the Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books list for 2000-2007. I love this book so much that I wanted to name my daughter Scout, after the young girl in the story (and I would have if a certain celeb-utard couple hadn't beat me to the punch!). I simply cannot imagine not having had access to this book when I was a teenager...the lessons it taught became a part of who I am today.

And so in honor of Banned Books Week, this week I am giving away not only a beautiful hardcover copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, but also an autographed copy of Mockingbird, A Portrait of Harper Lee, the wonderfully written biography by Charles J. Shields.

All you have to do to enter is to take a look at the list of banned and challenged books (see link above) and tell me which one had the greatest impact on your life and why. It's that simple!

The contest will run until 11:59 pm Pacific Time (-8 GMT) on October 4th when we'll have a random drawing for the winner!

Edited to Add: Yes, this contest is open to international entrants! (Thanks, Leah, for the reminder!)

Banned Books Week is Here!

Banned Books Week has finally arrived and it's time to celebrate our freedom to read or write whatever we choose without government interference. We tend to think of book banning as a black spot in our history, but the "challenging" and removal of books continues every year.

One of the strongest advocates for our freedom to read is the Kid's Right to Read Project, which responds to book banning in our children's libraries around the country. You absolutely must take a moment to read their report regarding specific instances of book banning and their advocacy. Here's a sample:

The Amazing Bone by William Steig (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) was challenged at Sunshine Elementary School in February 2008 by a parentwho objected to a scene in the book in which robbers try to steal from the main character (a pig) and brandish pistols and a dagger. The parent wanted the book removed from the library. NCAC and ABFFE worked with the school principal and provided informational resources on the First Amendment in schools to the school’s book review committee. In an interview with a local TV station, we emphasized the importance of protecting all parents’ First Amendment rights to decide what their children may read. The review committee voted on February 8, 2008 to keep The Amazing Bone in the school, and school officials worked with the parent to accommodate the family individually.
Tampa, FL
from The Kids' Right to Read Project

So what can you do to participate? Easy....pick a challenged book from the ALA List and start reading! If you're feeling really industrious, head on over to The Book Lady's Blog, Maw Books, or Just a Reading Fool and join in their personal challenge of reading seven banned books in seven days (wow!).

Or, if you prefer, just pick ONE banned book from the list and read it. Leave me a comment and tell me which one you chose!

Throughout the week I'll be spotlighting random books that have been challenged or banned and giving you a review as well as a history of it's challenges. Also look for a giveaway!

Note to self.....

....fiddling around with your blog's template is not like rearranging your living room furniture. If you hit the wrong button (do NOT touch "the button"!!!), you will indeed lose all of your hard work and spend the entire night trying to recreate everything that is now lost forever in the depths of cyberspace.


Duly noted.

Giveaway

Okay so it's not Red Vines...it's even better for historical fiction fans. If you'd like a chance to win both a copy of My Lady of Cleves and Brief Gaudy Hour, by M.C. Barnes, head on over to BookRoom Reviews and enter to win them both! Pretty cool, eh?

We Interrupt This Blog

....for the Presidential Debates Circus. We'll resume normal blogging after I've had a good laugh.

Awwww, I'm blushing!

Proving, yet again, that book bloggers are without a doubt the friendliest community in cyberspace, Avis over at She Reads and Reads has sent me a bloggy award! (Thank you!) Now in return I have to nominate 7 other blogs that I read and love (no problem there!) and make sure you all have links to them so you can go check them out. So here are 7 blogs that I read religiously everyday and would like to nominate for the I Love Your Blog Award -- you can link over to them from this post or use the links listed under "Places Where I Hang Out" on the right hand side of the page.

1. Passages to the Past
2. Historical Tapestry
3. Tanzanite's Shelf and Stuff
4. The Luscious Literary Muse
5. Reading, Raving and Ranting by a Historical Fiction Writer
6. Reading Adventures
7. Reading the Past

All of these blogs are wonderful resources for readers, especially my fellow historical fiction fanatics.

PS....I think this bloggy award comes with very good karma. The award arrived in my e-mail and just like magic, both kids fell asleep for naps at the same time (!), the stars aligned, and peace descends upon the household. *sigh* Thank you, Avis!

We Have a Winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the giveaway this week! Not only did my RSS feed reader grow with all of your blogs now added to my feed, but my wishlist for books grew exponentially with all of your great reads!

So with no further ado, the random winner of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is (drumroll, please)....Tara!

I'll be contacting you for a snail mail address so you can start enjoying the book (hopefully as much as I did!).

Remember, starting on Sunday, I'll be giving away a couple of very special books in celebration of Banned Books Week, so feel free to check back and enter. Happy reading!

LibraryThing

Confession time: I've been sorely remiss with my LibraryThing account. When I originally signed up, I neglected to read the fine print and didn't realize that there was a 200 book limit. After spending an entire day manually entering my home library, I ran into that book limitation and pretty much through up my hands at that point. To be honest, I didn't even look into how much a membership was, and since I already have paid memberships to Book Browse and Audible, I was reluctant to shell out more money towards my book obsession.

I finally broke down today and got the lifetime membership (it was only $25, so not sure what my problem was with that). Now I'm faced with the responsibility of sprucing up my account....organizing the books, entering reviews, etc, etc.

So what do you do with your LT account? Do you keep up with it? What do you think it's greatest benefit is to YOU?



ps....my LT account name is lookingforpenguins, so if you frequent LT, add me as a friend!

More This-n-That

Wow, is it Thursday already? Our contest for The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie ends tonight at 11:59 pm Pacific Time (that's -8 GMT). I'll go over to Random.org and have them pull a winner! My wish list has grown exponentially thanks to your entries...what great books you all listed! Some brought back wonderful memories and others I had to investigate, so thank you to everyone who participated and be sure to check back to see who won!


Next week is Banned Books Week and it's time to celebrate the freedom to read. We'll have another contest to win another book. If you think you might be interested in participating, I'll be posting details on Sunday. What banned book do you plan on reading next week? You'll find a comprehensive list and why they were banned here.


Oh, and speaking of banned books, remember all of the hullabaloo (is that a real word?) regarding The Jewel of Medina? The intrepid reviewers over at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books got their hands on a copy and you might find their review interesting....check it out here. Many thanks to Bookroom Reviews for the heads-up!

This-n-That

Interestingly, the third volume of Christopher Paolini's Inheritance Cycle, Brisingr, was released this last Friday night and sold 550,000 copies in it's first day, a record for Random House Children's Books. Wow. The previous two books were Eragonand Eldest...has anyone read them? Thoughts?






I am so looking forward to reading Michelle Moran's The Heretic Queen, which was generously sent to me courtesy of the great folks over at Historical Tapestry (and even signed by Michelle herself - wow!), that I just knew I had to read Michelle's first novel, Nefertiti first and foremost. Am I the only one out there that needs to read books in order? Even if the books aren't technically a series, I'm a little OCD about reading them in chronological order. So I trotted on down to my local bookstore and purchased Nefertiti this morning, which admittedly eased my OCD on that front. I'll be posting reviews to both Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen together, so look for those in the near future.


And now for something new! As a parent, I am constantly on the look out for kid's books. We go through a lot of books in this house! Not only am I always buying books that are for my kid's current age group, but I also find myself buying books that will be more appropriate when they are older. Seems like I am always adding to their "library." So rather than mix kid's books in with the reviews I do here, I've created a sister-site called Respite for Kids where I'll post reviews of everything from board-books for toddlers all the way up to young adult books. (You have no idea how much restraint it took to not call the site Respite From Kids, but I refrained.)

So if you have children/grandchildren yourself or if you just want to occassionally pick up a book for a child in your life to cultivate their love of reading, take a peek over there and hopefully you'll find something to your liking.

Tuesday Thingers

Over at The Boston Bibliophile, today's question is:

Favorite Authors. Who do you have named in your LT account as favorite authors? Why did you choose them? How many people share your choices? Can you share a picture of one of them?

Okay, this is where I admit I've been slacking a bit over at LibraryThing and need to add some more of my favorite authors. As it stands now, here's my list:

Sharon Kay Penman (shared by 4,462 other readers). In my mind, she is the definitive writer of historical fiction. The first Penman novel I ever picked up was Here Be Dragons, the first in her Welsh Trilogy. I had picked it up with great skepticism because the convoluted and confusing Welsh names and history made it impossible for me to keep up with a story. But Penman made it enjoyable, intelligent and thoroughly addicting. All of her books are a true delight!



Jean Plaidy (shared by 8,070 other readers). This woman was so prolific it still amazes me. Her real name was Eleanor Alice Hibbert and she had quite a few pen names, including Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, Elbur Ford (!), Ellalice Tate (I love that name), and Kathleen Kellen. In all, the woman wrote around 200 novels. Can you believe that!? My personal favorites are the historical fiction novels she wrote under the penname Jean Plaidy, though. Even after all these years, she still is a leader in the genre.

Shel Silverstein (shared by 13,069 other readers). I've always loved his books because they inspire a love of reading in young people. Books full of silliness like Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up have made generations of kids -- and adults -- laugh out loud. And poignant books like The Giving Tree teach valuable lessons without being preachy. Love him!

So who are some of your favorites?

Good Stuff...

One of the reasons historical fiction is so important, at least in my opinion, is that it inspires a learning of history. How many times have you read a good historical fiction novel and then gone on to either research that time period yourself or go find a non-fiction book on the same subject? I find myself doing that a lot. If you enjoy reading what I call the "back stories," be sure to head on over to Reading, Raving and Ranting by a Historical Fiction Writer. Author Susan Higginbotham (whose books I can't wait to read!) has posted a wonderfully informative post about Jacquetta Woodville, mother of Elizabeth Woodville, who was to become the controversial wife of England's King Edward IV. Susan has an engaging writing style that is a true pleasure to read and I'm so glad she posts bits like this.

Who has recommendations for historical fiction about Jacquetta and her husband, the Earl Rivers? I'd love to hear some suggestions.

Review: The Pirate Queen

The Pirate Queen: A Novel by Alan Gold.




rating: 1/2 of 5 stars

Book Origination: Purchased at local used-book store


Oh dear. No, really...I mean it. Have you ever run across a novel where you genuinely wondered how it made it to the printing press? Was the editor on vacation that week? Did the publisher call in sick that day? More important, was the author actually paid money for this? How, how, how did this happen?

Last Friday was International Talk Like a Pirate Day (we Americans are so cute this way) and in honor of that, I decided to pull out the novel The Pirate Queen: A Novel, by Alan Gold from the Leaning-Tower-of-Pisa that is my reading pile (no matter that it was at the bottom of the stack and the resultant crash of books could be heard a block away). Never being one to let horrid cover design stop me from reading, I had picked up the book a few weeks ago on a recommendation from the Amazon Historical Fiction Forum....I'll deal with that person later.

The Pirate Queen is ostensibly a novel about Grace O'Malley, an Irish pirate who bedeviled Queen Elizabeth I during her day. The story follows Grace from her childhood on the coast of Ireland, where she was raised sailing upon her father's ships, through adulthood when she became one of the more successful pirates - she commanded a large fleet of ships - of her time. She led fighting men on both land and sea, married twice, and harassed the English merchant trade to the immense chagrin of Queen Elizabeth. Ultimately, Grace ended up meeting with Elizabeth in person and the two strong women reached their own understanding. Truly, her life is a veritable treasure trove for the historical fiction writer. Unfortunately, it did not come together well in this novel.

Character development in the novel is non-existent. For example, Grace's first husband, Donal O'Flaherty, is so one-dimensional it's slightly comical. After an entire year of beating and raping Grace at will, he suddenly becomes loving and docile in the span of two short pages and for no apparent reason. Twenty pages later, however, Donal abruptly appears again and the character has reverted to his evil self again, as if the author forgot his earlier passage.

The reader is offered either simplistic motivations or none at all for Grace's intimate relationships aside from her desire for sex. Her daughter, Margaret, one of the three children history tells us she produced with her first husband Donal, is portrayed as the result of Grace's rather explicit liaison with a Turkish sea captain she captured and held as a "sex-slave" of sorts. The novel describes Grace giving birth to Margaret at sea, while according to legend, it was her son Theobald, a product of Grace's second marriage, who was born at sea. Historical inconsistencies with no author explanation abound throughout the book and listing them all here might take days. Literally.

The dialogue throughout the story is stilted, almost juvenile in manner. All the female characters, including Queen Elizabeth, are crude and crass to the point of embarrassment.
For some unknown reason, characters seem to verbalize everything by screaming and hardly a page goes by without some character emoting their dialogue in this manner. Rarely do they "shout," "cry out," "rage," "yell," or even "fume." Instead, we read passages such as
"'WHAT!' she screamed." Followed two sentences later by "'The f****** Mac Mahons dare to visit my lands!' she screamed at him." No character seems to have escaped from the screaming thing and I feel quite deaf from reading it all.

But perhaps what I found most unforgivable was what I'll call historical plagiarism: attributing the recorded and known words of one personage in history to another.

"Yes, I may only have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and mind of a sea captain..."
Grace O'Malley addressing her crew
The Pirate Queen

Those of you who are familiar with Tudor history will immediately recognize this quote as Elizabeth I's Tilbury speech, when she is recorded as saying

"I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king, and a king of England, too."
Elizabeth I, Tilbury, 1588

Evidently, the author couldn't come up with any original words to give his poor heroine and it is at this point that the novel loses all integrity.

Reading historical fiction is always a bit tricky. The liberties an author takes (after all, it is fiction) may, with exceptional writing, be forgiven. In the case of The Pirate Queen, however, the reader is assaulted with both poor writing and grave historical inaccuracies. I could not in good conscious recommend this book to anyone whose friendship I value.

For those interested in Grace's fantastical life, I would steer them towards either the definitive non-fiction biography, Granuaile, Ireland's Pirate Queen by Anne Chambers or the superior work of Pirate Queen, by Morgan Llywelyn.

By the way, look for a feature film about Grace to appear in 2009...I expect we'll be hearing a lot more about this forgotten Irish pirate in the near future.

Title: The Pirate Queen
Author: Alan Gold
358 pages
ISBN: 0-451-21744-6 (trade pbk.)
Publisher: Penguin Group
Date: 2006

Just because Book Blogger Appreciation Week is over...

...doesn't mean the end to giveaways and fun, 'cause I've got two of them for you.

If you zip over to B&B ex libris, there is till time to enter their drawing for a copy of The 19th Wife, by David Ebershoff, a highly endorsed new novel about Ann Eliza Young who was one of Brigham Young's wives. Should be a great read and you have until September 22nd to get your entry in so hurry over!






Now remember in my review of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society when I mentioned that you'll want to buy at least two copies so you can give one away to someone who loves reading as much as you? Well, I did just that and I'd like to give it away to another book lover out there.

Here's what you do...leave me a comment telling us about the most memorable book you've ever read. You know what I'm talking about: the book that even all these years later, you still think about it occassionally and it seems like you read it just yesterday.

1. I'd like to know the name of the book and why it rocked your world, so to speak.
   
2. Now if you have a blog and want to mention this contest, link to your post and I'll enter you a second time.
   
3. Of course, there are some readers who don't have blogs and that's okay! Just email a friend who loves books like you do, cc it to me (see my email in the upper right corner of this page), and I'll give you a second entry as well.
4. Oh, and this one is open to international entries, too!
   

I'll leave the contest open until Thursday at 11:59 pm Pacific Time (-8 GMT) and then we'll draw a random winner. Good luck!

Fall is upon us...

The arrival of fall (for much of the Northern Hemisphere, anyway) equates to the arrival of serious reading weather. After all, what's better than curling up with a good book and a roaring fire when it's cold and blustery outside? Well I'll tell you what: curling up with a good book, a roaring fire and a tasty mug of hippocras.

Since I've received no reports of anyone sickening or, heaven forbid, dying as a direct result (notice I said 'direct') of trying my recent recipe for Lamb's Wool, I'll go out on a limb and offer you some vague directions on making hippocras.

Historical Fiction fanatics, such as myself, are used to reading references to hippocras in just about every medieval dining scene. But for those who have never heard of such a thing, let me assure you that no actual hippos are harmed in the making of this beverage. (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Hippocras was a cordial made from wine and spices and could be served either hot or cold. The word itself means "wine of Hippocrates," who is considered the father of medicine. So we know the drink was floating around Ancient Greece. The spices used in the drink were very expensive and hard to come by in Medieval Europe, so the drink was pretty much limited to the royal and wealthy.

The following recipe is the most commonly reprinted these days and comes from The English Housewife, a book written by Gervase Markham and first published in 1615 (!). Here the recipe - notes in margins are mine, of course:

1 Gallon of Wine 4 oz Ginger
1 1/2 oz Cracked, Whole Nutmeg (nutmeg is often substituted for mace...the spice mace, not the spray. Ha.)
1/4 oz Cracked, Whole Cloves 4 lbs of Sugar (I'm laughing as I'm typing this...4 lbs...seriously?)

"Take a gallon of claret or white wine , and put therein four ounces of ginger, an ounce and a half of nutmegs, of cloves one quarter, of sugar four pound; let all this stand together in a pot at least twelve hours, and put it into a clean bag made for this purpose, so that the wine may come with good leisure from the spices."

The bag they are referring to, by the way, is just clean cloth for filtering out the chunks of spices.

So if anyone is willing brave sugar poisoning and try this one out, report back and let us know how it tastes. I thought it sounded a bit like grog, which I made the mistake of trying while I was in Prague and just about lost my lunch with the vile, vile taste of it. But I don't recall grog having any sweetness, so perhaps this is quite different.

To your health!

The Big 'O'

It's official. The woman who's endorsement sells a zillion books has announced her newest selection for Oprah's Book Club. Does the choice surprise you?

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel
by David Wroblewski

Review: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows


rating: 5 of 5 stars


Book Origination: Purchased at Book Store

"That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment."

Letter from Juliet Ashton to Dawsey Adams
from The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society

Every so often, a novel emerges that reminds us why we are obsessed with reading books. Stumbling upon one of these novels is akin to winning the lottery, it is so rare. This is one of those novels. You absolutely, positively must read this book.

Authors Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece Annie Burrows created something magical in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Written entirely in epistolary form, the reader is introduced to Miss Juliet Ashton, a columnist and newly-published author living in post-World War II London. Desperately in search of a topic for her next novel, inspiration arrives in the form of a letter - of course - from a resident of Guernsey, an island in the English Channel occupied by the Germans during the war, who has happened upon an old book that once belonged to Juliet.

Through the ensuing correspondence between Juliet, her publisher, childhood friends, and her tentative new acquaintances on Guernsey, we learn how Guernsey founded the Literary and Potato Peel Society during the war (and how it's strange name came into being), as well as the hardships and horrors experienced during the German occupation. Interspersed between the inevitable sadness of war are delightfully lighthearted moments of unexpected laughter.

"The boy in the mail-room (I don't bother learning their names anymore) got drunk and threw away all letters addressed to anyone whose name started with an S. Don't ask why."

Letter from Susan Scott to Sidney
The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society

Skillfully woven in between tales of Guernsey's wartime experiences is the discovery of literature by it's residents, thanks to the Literary and Potato Peel Society. Each resident of Guernsey has a different reaction to their chosen book, just as each has a different experience during the war. Shakespeare, Bronte, Lamb, and Owen are but a few of the great authors who have a profound effect on the Guernsey inhabitants and each letter describing their reactions and feelings about these great works is truly delicious. Underneath is the understanding that what we, as readers, take from a book reveals much about us, as well.

"I don't believe that after reading such a fine writer as Emily Bronte, I will be happy to read again Miss Amanda Gillyflower's Ill-Used by Candlelight. Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad books."

Letter from Isola Pribby to Juliet Ashton
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

The plot of the novel is unremarkable; it must be understood that it is the writing that makes this book so wonderful. Mary Ann Shaffer (who, sadly, passed away prior to the publication) and her niece Annie Barrow have re-created a lost time, before e-mail, blogs, newsletters and cellphones, when letters were handwritten, sent by post, and were the primary means to keeping in touch with family and friends. The intimacy of old correspondence serves as a reminder of what "progress" has cost us.

If I were forced at gunpoint to find a weakness (and it would have to be at gunpoint, or at least a very sharp knife), the plot takes an ever so slight melodramatic turn involving a secondary character and Oscar Wilde towards the end of the novel. Think hero-tied-to-train-tracks-as-train-approaches. Thankfully, the episode passes quickly and it is easily forgiven.

Simply put, I fell in love with this book and it's contents will remain with me for a lifetime. Not only do I recommend you immediately procure a copy for yourself, but be sure to pick up an extra copy or two because you will want to give them to every true, dyed-in-the-wool book lover you know.

Happy reading....enjoy.


Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Authors: Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows
274 pages
ISBN: 978-0-385-34099-1 (hardcover)
Publisher: The Dial Press
Date: August 2008

Yet another great book contest!

This Book Blogger Appreciation Week is a goldmine of opportunities for everyone to enter to win a novel they've been dying to read! Now there's a chance to win Philippa Gregory's newest novel, The Other Queen. Just head on over to Book Club Girl to enter. Even if you don't win, you'll want to put her blog on your list of favorites...seems like there's always something interesting posted over there!

This-n-That

Hopping on the Bandwagon

So I'm loving the idea of "Teaser Tuesdays," an idea inspired over at Should Be Reading. The idea is that you open your current book to a random page and choose two sentences (no spoilers!) between lines 7 - 12. Post those two sentences - and be sure to name the book, of course - for everyone to read. I've found quite a few good books this way. Teasers are a great way to see if you like an author's writing style. So look for mine next Tuesday morning.

Fun Website

Untitled books, a cool U.K. online bookstore, has a great little section called Literary Seen which features photos of random people around town reading their books. In addition to their photos, the readers give a short comment about what they're reading. Cute and sometimes very funny!

Reading Update

I finally finished Sharon Kay Penman's Time and Chance last night around midnight. Because I read both When Christ and His Saints Slept and Time and Chance in preparation for the release (October 7, 2008) of her new novel, The Devil's Brood, I won't post my written reviews until the release date gets a bit closer, just to keep it all relevant.

Audiobooks

A recent story over at Publisher's Weekly reports that the sales of audiobooks were up 12% last year, with over 40% of consumers saying they listen in. Audiobooks have recently evolved from the standard book-on-tape. Today you will find them in CD format, MP3 format, online and downloadable and in every book store.

So what do you think? Do you listen to audiobooks? If so, what do you like about them? Does the staggering price put you off? And the most important question of all....(drumroll please)....abridged or unabridged?

I've got to admit, I've recently jumped on this bandwagon upon the discovery that the State Patrol actually frowns upon reading and driving at the same time (go figure). I become a member over at Audible, one of the more popular online audiobook sites when I discovererd the ease of downloading a book to my I-Pod. Those times when I can't - or shouldn't - be reading, I've come to enjoy an audiobook. (Happy now, Mr. Don't-Read-While-Driving-Down-Interstate 5-Police-Officer?)

Now if I could just get the kids to shut up during the good parts......

It's Michelle Moran Week

Over at Historical Tapestry, they are kicking off Michelle Moran week in celebration of the September 16th release of her highly anticipated new novel, The Heretic Queen. This is a great opportunity to win a copy (autographed!) of The Heretic Queen, for anyone who missed out on the Books 'N Border Collies competition. There will be lots of great discussion going on about Michelle's work and for those who missed out on her previous best-selling novel, Nefertiti, there is a veritable goldmine of information, reviews and discussions on that topic, as well, to get you caught up.

For those of you who -- like me -- tend to lurk in the background, this is a good time to start joining in the discussions and participate in all the fun!