Showcase Sunday #15

Showcase Sunday is hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea.

This weekend I walked IN THE SNOW to the library. Granted, the snow didn't settle, and it didn't stay around for too long, but SNOW, people. I love snow. In Doppler, Doppler himself says:

"Snow is the only weather I really like. Nothing makes me less grumpy than snow." (He goes on to say that "Furthermore, I like the fact that there are people who don't like snow. Who become irritable when the snow arrives. Who, after a whole lifetime in Norway, haven't managed to accept snow and still allow themselves to be riled by it.") I, too, am a fan of snow, although I much prefer the thick, crunchy snow to it's-raining-white-rain stuff.

Anyway. Spending so long in the library didn't do much for the four pints of milk I was carrying in my rucksack (because I had just come from doing my food shopping, not because I'm a milk fiend), but I did find some books that I'm excited to start reading.

Andrea Camilleri - The Voice of the Violin (An Inspector Montalbano Mystery)

Not a series I've read before, but this one caught my eye. As a bonus, it will also count towards my 2013 Translation Challenge, as this has been translated from the original Italian by Stephen Sartarelli.

Kiersten White - Paranormalcy

The first book in the Paranormalcy series, and a complete deviation from my usual genre of YA, but I have been following Kiersten on Twitter and reading her blog for a while now, and I thought I'd give it a go!

Meg Cabot - Ten Out of Ten (Princess Diaries #10)

I've read a few of the PD series, mostly the earlier books, and though I enjoyed them I was never inclined to seek out the later books in the series (mostly because the library seemed to have lots of #6 and none of #8, or at least you get the idea!). But it'll be fun to see how the series ended, and I do like Mia. (I think this is titled Forever Princess elsewhere.)

Gah, shiny book covers.

Yes, that is Philip Roth's Nemesis at the bottom of that pile, as featured in a Showcase Sunday from a while back. I only read a couple of chapters before having to take it back to the library before Christmas, but it was available again so I picked it up.

Reviews posted this week:
Jane Austen - Pride & Prejudice (7.5/10)
Terry Pratchett - The Wee Free Men (6.5/10)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Review: Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen

Pride & Prejudice

Jane Austen

Kindle edition (public domain), 1998 (1813)

Goodreads

When Elizabeth Bennet first meets eligible bachelor Fitzwilliam Darcy, she thinks him arrogant and conceited, while he struggles to remain indifferent to her good looks and lively mind. When she later discovers that Darcy has involved himself in the troubled relationship between his friend Bingley and her beloved sister Jane, she is determined to dislike him more than ever. In the sparkling comedy of manners that follows, Jane Austen shows the folly of judging by first impressions and superbly evokes the friendships, gossip and snobberies of provincial middle-class life.

So, I finally did it. My knowledge of the great love affair between Elizabeth and Darcy is now no longer reliant on what I remember from the ITV series Lost in Austen. Rejoice.

It is odd to be writing a review of a book so seemingly ubiquitous, a book that I always felt like I should have read, to the point where reading it now was almost more odd than never reading it at all. Surely I should have written an exam on this as a sixteen year old, not read it for fun ten years later. I have to say I wasn't convinced straight away, and about halfway through I abandoned ship for a while. While the story was interesting, I found the writing a little bit stodgy and all the Mr. ____ and Miss ____ characters kept getting jumbled in my mind. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, of Longbourn in Hertfordshire, have five daughters, all unwed; on Mr. Bennet's death, their estate will pass to a cousin, Mr. Collins, leaving Mrs. Bennet and her daughters in a bit of a fix. As a result, Mrs. Bennet - a vulgar, not particularly likable woman - is intent on marrying off her daughters and snagging any likely bachelor that passes by their house. Enter Mr. Bingley, eligible and rich, and so the events of the book begin. Mrs. Bennet conspires to have her eldest daughter Jane stranded at Mr. Bingley's home, where she might impress him and obtain a marriage proposal, and as the novel unfolds the pursuit of a stable, prosperous future for her daughters becomes Mrs. Bennet's chief aim, even as their social standing, their mother's vulgarity, and their own hopes are sent to destabilise matters.

Though Elizabeth and Darcy are at the centre of Pride & Prejudice, this was less about the two of them than I imagined, and Austen brings in a lot of interesting elements regarding the position of women in society, the reliance on marrying (and marrying well), the destruction and shame of lost 'virtue' for a young woman, and the power of class and money. Elizabeth, as expected, is a compelling and vibrant heroine, headstrong and lively without being insufferable, and she finds a nice counterpoint in her more forgiving sister Jane. The younger Bennet sisters are less fleshed out - Mary is studious, while Kitty and Lydia (she of the nearly-lost virtue) are vacuous and silly, much like their mother. I was pleasantly surprised by the wit in Austen's writing - the style took a while to get used to, and it felt a little laborious at first, but once I got into the flow of things it was easier to pick out the humour.

I enjoyed the way that the novel was propelled forwards by chance encounters, idle speculations and snippets of conversation, as well as a nice dollop of temporary misunderstanding and missed letters. The plot meanders a little at times, perhaps because ultimately this is a novel of words rather than action. Yet overall this was a long overdue read for me, with much of the book's appeal not in the famous love story but in the issues that Austen raises regarding women and freedom that give Pride & Prejudice its edge.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Book source: Free Kindle download.

Review: The Wee Free Men, Terry Pratchett

The Wee Free Men (Discworld #30) (Tiffany Aching #1)

Terry Pratchett

Corgi Children's, 2004 (2003)

Goodreads

Up on the chalk downs known as The Wold, witches are banned -- ever since the Baron’s son vanished in the woods. Anyway, as all witches know, chalk is no good for magic.

Nine-year-old Tiffany Aching thinks her Granny Aching -- a wise shepherd -- might have been a witch, but now Granny Aching is dead and it’s up to Tiffany to work it all out when strange things begin happening. There’s a fairy-tale monster in the stream, a headless horseman and, strangest of all, the tiny blue men in kilts, the Wee Free Men, who have come looking for the new “hag”. These are the Nac Mac Feegles, the pictsies, who like nothing better than thievin’ , fightin’ and drinkin’. When Tiffany’s young brother goes missing, Tiffany and the Wee Free Men must join forces to save him from the Queen of the Fairies.

Miss Tick can sense there's a witch around - but surely not on The Chalk. No witch ever came from chalk. Except here's young Tiffany Aching, sporting a distinctly un-witch-like name and yet fighting off monsters with only a frying pan (and her little brother as bait). So maybe a witch can come from chalk after all. And if anyone was going to be a witch, then maybe the granddaughter of Granny Aching - shepherd, grandmother, and all around formidable woman with a penchant for Jolly Sailor tobacco - is the one to do it.

The Wee Free Men is a young adult Discworld novel. It reminded me of the previous (and first) Discworld book I read, Equal Rites, which features another unlikely girl with unlikely powers (in that case Esk, who against all gender expectations becomes a wizard). Here, Tiffany is resigned to a life of making cheese and being annoyed by her little brother, until she starts to display some equally unexpected powers, drawing the attention of both Miss Tick and the Wee Free Men, or Nag Mac Feegle, a band of pictsies who love nothing better than a good brawl and a lot of whiskey. When Tiff's little brother is taken by the evil Queen, she enlists the help of the Wee Free Men, disappearing into an alternate world of dreams, nightmares and wonky fairytale creatures in order to rescue him.

This book is clever and funny, and manages to be gloriously silly whilst making absolute sense all at the same time. The no-nonsense witches, although they don't appear throughout, were my favourite characters. Witches on the Discworld don't draw attention to themselves, but rather go about their business in a sensible fashion, making sure their pointy hats are invisible if necessary. Tiffany is a great heroine - daring and resolute and not about to ignore her brother's plight just because he's fantastically irritating and only thinks about sweets. Faced with the prospect of having to marry one of the Wee Free Men in order to become kelda of their clan, a bit of quick thinking gets her out of that particular jam, and it was nice to read about a girl being messy and resourceful and heroic in that way that Pratchett, from my limited exposure to him, seems to do very well. The subplot, involving Tiffany and her grandmother, was also a nice touch.

This is a great introduction to the Discworld, and a quick, funny read (with plenty of jokes and puns that would probably pass younger readers by).  I would have liked more of the witches, and against the pace of the book I was sometimes eager for more explanation of some things. However, I was lent the book as an introduction to Pratchett, and it didn't disappoint.

Overall rating: 6.5/10

Book source: Borrowed from my friend's dad.

Showcase Sunday: Post-Christmas edition!

Showcase Sunday is hosted by Vicky at Books, Biscuits and Tea.

I hope everyone had a good holiday, and a good Christmas if you celebrated! (Here is my Christmas-in-pictures!)

One of my gifts this year was a Kindle, which I have been having lots of fun with. :) I was always a little bit sceptical about ereaders, mostly because I am a fan of actual books, but I also do a lot of train travelling, and carrying all those books is never much fun! Aside from that, I was looking for another way to read PDF articles, and this seemed like a good way of getting around the problem of having to read them all on my laptop.

I have been really impressed with it so far - the screen is really easy to read, and it's pretty awesome being able to fit so many books into my bag! I've downloaded a few things for it so far:

- Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen (to continue where I left off reading it on my computer; review this week!)

- Grimm's Fairy Tales - Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

- Persuasion - Jane Austen

- The Complete Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I also finished reading Thirteen, a short story by Jennifer Gladden, a friend of mine and partner in crime from my year abroad. :)

Aside from my forays into futuristic reading, I also received a copy of Doppler by Erlend Loe, a book I have been excited about for a while now ever since I found out it was (finally) being translated into English from the original Norwegian, and which will also count towards my goal as part of the 2013 Translation Challenge!

Finally, I received Pearl Jam Twenty, a history of the band over the last twenty years, including their roots in Green River and Mother Love Bone. I saw the film in the cinema last year on its one-night-only release, and I'm excited to read this and go through some of the old pictures!

Happy New Year everyone!

Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013

So yesterday, I posted about signing up for the 2013 Translation Challenge, hosted by Ellie at Curiosity Killed the Bookworm, and how until that point I hadn't really seen any challenges around that interested me enough to compel me to sign up.

And then...

I have decided to sign up for a second challenge, as brought to my attention by Mandee: the Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013!

Sign up here!

The aim is to read a number of books written by (surprise!) Australian women, regardless of when they were published. In 2012 I read Losing It by Julia Lawrinson, which served as a wonderful introduction to contemporary Australian YA, and there are a number of other books by Australian women lurking on my TBR list - Holier Than Thou by Laura Buzo, Raw Blue by Kirsty Eagar, Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (as well as On The Jellicoe Road), and plenty more titles that have caught my eye at some time or another.

I find one of the appeals of Australian YA is seeing the similarities (and differences) between Australian and British culture, and my city's library service is pretty good at bringing in non-US teen fiction for a bit of variety and balance. I'm also interested to do a bit of digging and find some adult fiction, too!

I've gone for the "Stella" challenge level, which is to read at least 4 books written by Australian women, and review at least 3 of them. I'll create a blog tag here so all the reviews are kept together.

Let me know if you're taking part!

2013 Translation Challenge

I have been toying with the idea of participating in a reading challenge this year, but nothing really grabbed me until I saw that Ellie over at Curiosity Killed the Bookworm was hosting the 2013 Translation Challenge, where the intention is to read 12 (or your chosen number) books that have been translated into English from any other language.

(click on the image for more details!)

I enjoy reading Scandinavian crime fiction, and in the past couple of years I've read some really great books translated from German, Romanian and Norwegian, so I thought I would give this challenge a go! As a bonus, I received a copy of Doppler by Erlend Loe for Christmas (a Norwegian - English translation from THAT AUTHOR I CAN'T STOP GOING ON ABOUT!), so I've got a ready-made place from which to start.

I have a feeling my workload this year is going to be heavy, so rather than 12 books, I'm setting myself the challenge of reading 6 translations over the year. I'm not setting any additional restrictions, although I am going to make an effort to try at least one non-European translation.

Let me know if you're taking part too, or what other challenges you're getting involved in this year!

I choose you! Top ten books to read in 2013

Happy New Year!

It's been a while since I've participated in a Top Ten Tuesday, as hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, but this week's topic was Top Ten Books You Have Resolved to Read in 2013, and I thought it would be a nice way to kick the blog into the new year. (Gently, of course.)

1. The Treasure Map of Boys / Real Live Boyfriends (Ruby Oliver #3 and #4) by E. Lockhart

I voted this my favourite series read in 2012 after reading books #1 (review) and #2 (review), and I really want to find out what happens next!

2. Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Because I loved Anna like most other people loved Anna, and I've been waiting for the paperback to be released, which is finally happening in April!

3. Nemesis by Philip Roth

As regular readers will probably have picked up on by now, Roth is one of my favourite authors. This is his last book, published in 2010. He has since announced his retirement from writing.

4. Transparent by Natalie Whipple

I started following Natalie's blog while I was taking part in Nanowrimo a few years ago, and during that time she got her first book deal. Transparent is her debut novel and I'm excited to read it!

5. Sloppy Firsts (Jessica Darling #1) by Megan McCafferty

I am a big fan of contemporary YA, and Tara at The Librarian Who Doesn't Say Shhh has mentioned these books a few times (along with lots of other bloggers!) - they sound exactly like my kind of thing.

6. Doppler by Erlend Loe

For a tiny slip of a book, Naive. Super by Erlend Loe is one of the books I go on about the most. Until recently, I hadn't been able to find any of his other books translated into English, but Doppler was released recently and I can't wait to read it!

7. Three Cups of Deceit by Jon Krakauer

Krakauer is perhaps my favourite non-fiction writer, and this is his most recent book (although I think it's a couple of years old now), which I have yet to read.

8. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women by Jessica Valenti

I first became aware of Valenti as the editor of Feministing, a position she has since moved on from. A part of my doctoral research has coalesced around sexuality in American culture, and this looks like an interesting book I've been meaning to read for a while.

9. Grimm Tales for Young and Old by Philip Pullman

I've always been intrigued by Grimms' Fairy Tales in their original, slightly creepy forms, and I'm interested to see what Pullman has done with them.

10. Persuasion by Jane Austen

A friend of mine, hearing that I was reading Pride and Prejudice, suggested that I might enjoy Persuasion more, so I'm going to give it a go!