If you read my June Read Harder update, you'll know that while May was a rather lack-luster reading month for me, I finally came out of my reading slump in June. (Too be fair, I did move halfway across the country in May!)
I ended up reading 14 books last month, 5 of which were graphic novels/comic collections, which is a new avenue for me. I'm really enjoying Ms. Marvel, Thor: Goddess of Thunder and Saga. I also read one of the most disturbing graphic novels (or stories, period) I've read in a while in Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann. Think Pixar's Inside Out with a Stephen King flavor. Yep, that twisted.
A few other highlights from this month: (obviously I read more, these just rose to the top)
Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older: This is a fun urban fantasy novel. If you like mysteries mixed with the paranormal and a whole lot of sass, definitely pick this up. The main character is a partially resurrected human being who is basically a gun-for-hire for the ghost world, keeping the dead from interfering too much with the living. Older does a great job with world building, and his characters are smart and funny, with the requisite melancholy. This is the book that pulled me out of my reading slump; I highly recommend it.
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: This novel follows two young children throughout World War II. One is a young blind French girl who becomes part of the Resistance; the other is a young German boy with a gift for electronics, radios in particular, who is trained by the Nazis to search out and destroy the underground networks. This shows a very human side to the war, and how even the young were pulled in to the conflict.
Citizen by Claudia Rankine: Read this. This is probably the most important book about our society and race relations that I have read in a long time. Rankine uses prose poetry, essays, and scripts from videos she and her husband produced to create a very real picture of how far we still need to come in this country. It's not an easy read by any means given the subject matter, but it is a necessary one.
The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige: This is the second in Paige's YA reworking of the Wizard of Oz. In this novel, Amy has to regroup after failing to kill Dorothy. She has lost the other members of the Wicked, and finds herself being drawn into the dark side of magic. Paige adds to the Oz legend without compromising the original mythos, creating a fun, quick read.
If you want to know more about these or any of the other books I read, let me know--I'm more than happy to chat about them!
Showing posts with label Danielle Page. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Danielle Page. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Rabbit Hole #13: (re)Read Me a Story
There's nothing like an old story with a new twist.
I think I first noticed my obsession with “retold” stories when Wicked by Gregory Maguire came out. The Wizard of Oz is a much-loved story from my childhood (much to my husband’s chagrin), and the idea that the Wicked Witch might not be quite what we were told was intriguing. Maguire's take on Elphaba and Galinda, and the entire ensemble of Ozian characters breathed new life into the story, adding another, and might I say much needed, dimension. (I also love the musical, except for Fiyero’s casting…) I’m also diving into Danielle Paige’s new Oz books, beginning with Dorothy Must Die, and loving the idea that Dorothy isn’t as sweet as she seems.
Fairy tales seem to be easy source material for these retellings. Jane Yolen's Briar Rose sets Sleeping Beauty in the tragedy of the Holocaust. Marissa Meyer’s YA Lunar Chronicles retell the princess tales in a futuristic society (Cinder/ella is a cyborg), while Helen Oyeyemi’s beautiful Boy, Snow, Bird transports Snow White to 1950s segregated America. Maguire also has Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (Cinderella) and one of the most intriguing reworkings--Mirror, Mirror, which links Snow White with the story of Lucrezia Borgia and her family.
There are also side characters in literary fiction who are so interesting that their stories are practically screaming to be told. I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem by Maryse Conde turns The Crucible and the Salem Witch Trials around by giving Tituba her voice (and also has a really odd crossover with The Scarlet Letter--which also has a great retelling in the dystopian When She Woke by Hillary Jordan). Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys takes Jane Eyre’s mad wife in the attic and makes her an extremely sympathetic and tragic character. Another one of my favorites is My Jim by Nancy Rawles, a retelling of Huck Finn from the perspective of the wife Jim has left behind. It’s a poignant and heartbreaking tale, much different from its source.
For those who want a comedic twist on their old plots, Christopher Moore's books Fool and The Serpent of Venice (King Lear and The Merchant of Venice, respectively) are wonderful romps through the Shakespearean landscape. He also has his slightly irreverent novel Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, which is one of my all-time favorites.
As much as I love new, innovative plots, there’s nothing that sends me for my wallet quite like a retelling of a classic story. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I just noticed that Sarah Pinborough has a new trilogy of “wicked” princess stories.
**Disclaimer: I linked each of these books to Barnesandnoble.com so interested individuals could read the plot synopses. I do not receive any compensation from them.
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Rabbit Hole #3: Escaping the Real World
It's been a while since I've posted on what I've been reading, but it doesn't mean I haven't been reading (check out my list to the right if you're interested).
If you're looking for an escape from the "real" world (and who doesn't right now?), I highly recommend the following:
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
I love retellings of old stories. Wicked (both novel and musical) is one of my favorites, but I also love Wide Sargasso Sea (Jane Eyre), When She Woke (The Scarlet Letter), and My Jim (Huckleberry Finn). It's interesting to look at the familiar from another character's perspective, or from another time period.
The first in a new trilogy, Page's revisionist take on the Oz stories takes us back to Kansas and introduces us to angsty teenage loner Amy Gumm. Living in a trailer with her alcoholic mom after her dad leaves to start a new family, Amy longs for something different, which of course, shows up in the form of a tornado, sweeping Amy, trailer, and her mom's pet rat, to Oz.
This is not the technicolor Oz Amy has grown up with, however. This Oz is drab, colorless, and everyone is running scared. Because Dorothy has also found a way back, and she and her cohorts are evil. Very, very evil. The Scarecrow is a mad scientist, performing horrific experiments on any who challenges Dorothy's leadership. The Lion has not only found his courage, but is sadistically preying on everyone around him as one of Dorothy's henchmen. And the Tin Man, desperately in love with the new ruler of Oz, will do anything to win her favor. It isn't long before Amy is recruited by the Wicked Witches and the underground resistance group. Her mission--kill Dorothy.
Part Oz-revisionist story, part Harry Potter in the magical aspects, and part Hunger Games (especially in Amy's training scenes), this is a fun, fast-paced read. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Sixteen-year-old Jacob has grown up listening to his grandfather's tales of the peculiar children, who lived at Miss Peregrine's--a home for orphaned children off the coast of Wales where his grandfather grew up after escaping from the Nazis during WWII. These children all had amazing, some may say other-worldly, talents, as evidenced by the box of pictures of his grandfather saved from his time there. After witnessing his grandfather's murder by a strange being, Jacob begins therapy, but eventually decides he needs to go to Wales to see if Miss Peregrine's still exists in order to truly find closure. When he arrives, he finds the house, but it's an abandoned bombed out shell and has been that way since the war. However, the children his grandfather knew are still there--and still very much alive. Jacob and the children must battle the forces that threaten to take over not only their world, but ours as well.
Again, the first of a trilogy, Riggs uses actual old photographs of the "children" to help tell his tale and has created a wonderfully dark, enchanting world.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I'm ashamed to say this is the first Gaiman novel that I have read, but it is not going to be the last.
The narrator returns to his home in Sussex to attend a funeral. Although his childhood home no longer stands, the Hempstock Farm at the end of the lane does. Inexplicably drawn to the Farm, the narrator finds himself reliving long forgotten memories from his childhood. When he is seven, a visiting South African opal miner commits suicide on the Hempstock Farm. An ancient entity hears his dying sounds and comes to investigate. People begin to act strangely, and the narrator crosses to the Farm to discover the cause. There he encounters eleven year old Lettie, her mother, and grandmother. The women talk of other worlds, times beyond, and the Big Bang. Lettie sets out to banish the ancient force, taking the narrator with her. Unfortunately, he makes a mistake, unleashing the force out of the Farm and into his world. She takes the form of Ursula, who manipulates his parents and sister, drawing out everyone's darkest desires. In order to save him, the women must call upon ancient female wisdom, and risk everything in the process.
Gaiman is a master storyteller. This work is dark, creepy, magical, and soul-wrenching. I can't recommend it enough. Now I just have to figure which of his titles to read next.
If you're looking for an escape from the "real" world (and who doesn't right now?), I highly recommend the following:
Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Page
I love retellings of old stories. Wicked (both novel and musical) is one of my favorites, but I also love Wide Sargasso Sea (Jane Eyre), When She Woke (The Scarlet Letter), and My Jim (Huckleberry Finn). It's interesting to look at the familiar from another character's perspective, or from another time period.
The first in a new trilogy, Page's revisionist take on the Oz stories takes us back to Kansas and introduces us to angsty teenage loner Amy Gumm. Living in a trailer with her alcoholic mom after her dad leaves to start a new family, Amy longs for something different, which of course, shows up in the form of a tornado, sweeping Amy, trailer, and her mom's pet rat, to Oz.
This is not the technicolor Oz Amy has grown up with, however. This Oz is drab, colorless, and everyone is running scared. Because Dorothy has also found a way back, and she and her cohorts are evil. Very, very evil. The Scarecrow is a mad scientist, performing horrific experiments on any who challenges Dorothy's leadership. The Lion has not only found his courage, but is sadistically preying on everyone around him as one of Dorothy's henchmen. And the Tin Man, desperately in love with the new ruler of Oz, will do anything to win her favor. It isn't long before Amy is recruited by the Wicked Witches and the underground resistance group. Her mission--kill Dorothy.
Part Oz-revisionist story, part Harry Potter in the magical aspects, and part Hunger Games (especially in Amy's training scenes), this is a fun, fast-paced read. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Sixteen-year-old Jacob has grown up listening to his grandfather's tales of the peculiar children, who lived at Miss Peregrine's--a home for orphaned children off the coast of Wales where his grandfather grew up after escaping from the Nazis during WWII. These children all had amazing, some may say other-worldly, talents, as evidenced by the box of pictures of his grandfather saved from his time there. After witnessing his grandfather's murder by a strange being, Jacob begins therapy, but eventually decides he needs to go to Wales to see if Miss Peregrine's still exists in order to truly find closure. When he arrives, he finds the house, but it's an abandoned bombed out shell and has been that way since the war. However, the children his grandfather knew are still there--and still very much alive. Jacob and the children must battle the forces that threaten to take over not only their world, but ours as well.
Again, the first of a trilogy, Riggs uses actual old photographs of the "children" to help tell his tale and has created a wonderfully dark, enchanting world.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
I'm ashamed to say this is the first Gaiman novel that I have read, but it is not going to be the last.
The narrator returns to his home in Sussex to attend a funeral. Although his childhood home no longer stands, the Hempstock Farm at the end of the lane does. Inexplicably drawn to the Farm, the narrator finds himself reliving long forgotten memories from his childhood. When he is seven, a visiting South African opal miner commits suicide on the Hempstock Farm. An ancient entity hears his dying sounds and comes to investigate. People begin to act strangely, and the narrator crosses to the Farm to discover the cause. There he encounters eleven year old Lettie, her mother, and grandmother. The women talk of other worlds, times beyond, and the Big Bang. Lettie sets out to banish the ancient force, taking the narrator with her. Unfortunately, he makes a mistake, unleashing the force out of the Farm and into his world. She takes the form of Ursula, who manipulates his parents and sister, drawing out everyone's darkest desires. In order to save him, the women must call upon ancient female wisdom, and risk everything in the process.
Gaiman is a master storyteller. This work is dark, creepy, magical, and soul-wrenching. I can't recommend it enough. Now I just have to figure which of his titles to read next.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)