Monday, April 28, 2014

This week seems a bit calmer than last week for anyone in the Philadelphia area seeking a bit of bookish excitement. I can't help but wonder if I've overlooked something! As always, if you have an event I've missed, or one you would like me to be sure and mention coming up, please just let me know!

Even a calm week means there's a lot going on, often at the same time. I for one would be striking out for several different places at once on Thursday, if I could.

Looking ahead, next week sees the launch of Elise Juska's new book, The Blessings, a novel in stories about a close knit Irish family from Northeast Philadelphia.  Ms. Juska, the director of the undergraduate BFA writing program at the University of the Arts will appear at the Free Library and at Main Point. Look for a review here later this week.


Monday, April 28

Kenneth Oppel | The Boundless
Children's Book World, Children's Book World, 17 Haverford Station Rd., Haverford, PA
Free
4:30 pm

This looks like a fun middle-grade fantasy adventure with a historical feel. I also want to check out his Printz Honor book Airborn, so I think I know where I'll be heading in a couple of hours.


Tuesday, April 29

Jen Calonita | Summer State of Mind with Elizabeth Eulberg | Better off Friends
Children's Book World, Children's Book World, 17 Haverford Station Rd., Haverford, PA
Free
7:00 pm

Why Not Poetry? With Ginny Beards, Daisy Fried, Sebastian Agudelo, Eli Goldblatt
Chester County Book Company, Chester County Book Company, 967 Paoli Pike, West Goshen Center, West Chester, PA
Free
7:00 pm

Ralph Nader | Unstoppable: The Emerging Left-Right Alliance to Dismantle the Corporate State 
Free Library, Central Library
Free
7:30 pm


Wednesday, April 30

Beth Kephart | Going Over
Radnor Memorial Library, 114 W. Wayne Ave. Wayne, PA 19087
Free
7:30 pm

Come celebrate local author, Beth Kephart's latest YA novel about teenagers living and loving in Berlin on opposite sides of the wall. I hear there will be cake. I would be there, but am leading a book group discussion at Main Point Books.


Thursday, May 1

Leading Voices: Biz Stone | Things a Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind
Free Library, Central Library
$40 -- General Admission (includes a copy of the book)
8:00 am

Stanley Warren | The Works of Stanley Warren
Wellington Square Bookshop, 549 Wellington Square, Exton, PA
Free
6:30 - 8:00 pm

Bee Ridgeway | The River of No Return
Main Point Books, 1041 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr
Free
7:00 pm

I really enjoyed The River of No Return when I read it last year. Historical fantasy that defies genre this is a book that's hard to describe, but is a joyride. It's now out in paperback with a really fabulous new cover! Bee (aka Bryn Mawr College professor Bethany Schneider) is charming and I hope she'll spill on the progress and plans for a sequel.

Francine Prose | Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932 with Mona Simpson | Casebook
Free Library, Central Library
$15 General Admission, $7 Students
7:30 pm


Friday, May 2

Eric Wight | The Vanishing Coin
Towne Book Center, 220 Plaza Drive, Suite B-3, Collegeville, PA 19426
Free
4:30 - 6:00 pm


Saturday, May 3

Santo Marabella | The Practical Prof: Simple Lessons for Anyone Who Works
Towne Book Center, 220 Plaza Drive, Suite B-3, Collegeville, PA 19426
Free
11:00 am


Sunday, May 4

Amanda Kingloff | Project Kid: 100 Ingenious Crafts for Family Fun
Chester County Book Company, 967 Paoli Pike, West Goshen Center, West Chester, PA
Free
1:00 pm

James Waggoner | The Wages of Sin
Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia
Free
4:00 pm


P.S. If you know of events or venues with regularly scheduled events that I've missed, please let me know in the comments or via email at abudner (at) comcast (dot) net.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Top Ten on Tuesday: Ten Characters I Love on the Page


Many thanks to The Broke and the Bookish for these prompts and coordinating this meme! Go check out what other bloggers have posted -- it's a great way to find new reads and new writers to follow.

This week's prompt is to complete the sentence, Top Ten Characters Who ____. This made me think about characters I love on the page, but don't really want to meet, or get to know in real life. Some of the most vivid and interesting characters to read about are not the sort of folks you want to rub shoulders with in the day-to-day world. In person I tend to gravitate to nice people, thoughtful and empathetic people (with suitably scathing senses of humor), but when reading it's the scoundrels and neer-do-wells that I love. Here are ten of them. Mostly men, but a couple of women too. It could easily have gone the other way -- a limit of ten means I'm only scratching the surface.

1)  Jake Marlowe from The Last Werewolf by Glen Duncan

Sexy, learned, sensitive and literary. Jake is everything you could ever want in a 200 year-old heartthrob. Except he's a werewolf with some pretty kinky sexual proclivities and a monthly need to kill. And, make no mistake, if you're there and he's transformed, things won't look so good for you. Fascinating to read, far too deadly for a friend.

Still reminds me I need to read By Blood We Live, the third book in The Bloodlines Trilogy.



Pill popping, vodka swilling, thief and gangster -- Boris jumps off the page and demands your attention. In real life? I'd be crossing to the other side of the street. Yes, I am that risk averse.



Psychologically wounded and struggling to exist as a kid in an all too adult world, Jonny elicits my sympathy and my motherly urges. As much as I feel for and with him, I think in real life I'd find him impossible, spoiled and deeply wounded. He needs someone to take care of him, but I am old enough to know I wouldn't be a good choice.


4) Thomas Cromwell from Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

A modern man in his conception of self, a master of realpolitik and a brutal striver. I like his approach to the world, but he's determined and cutthroat. I don't want to know Barak Obama, Vladimir Putin, Angela Merkel or any of the nerd kings running big corporate behemoths either.



Charming and ruthless, Fosco is always entertaining, but if you threaten him, it's over. He'd be a great dinner guest at someone else's party. Bring him into my own house? Only if I knew I could get what I needed from him without making myself vulnerable and that's never as easy as it seems.



Brooding and so in need of love. I would fall for Jackson in a heartbeat, but only if he showed up looking exactly like Jason Isaacs. Since I am under the impression that Jason is a real person, entirely separate from Jackson, the impossibility of merging the soul and the physical means I would rather keep him tucked away in Kate's novels where I can visit him anytime I like.

FWIW, my husband embodies all that I love about Jackson crossed with the best parts of Mantel's Cromwell. Meaning, I live with someone who's better than any fictional character.


7) Edward Rochester from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Brooding, romantic, totally in love with Jane yet scheming to be a bigamist. I loved him at thirteen, but now I think he's a villain who deserved to lose his house, his hand and his sight. 


8) Bernie Gunther from Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr

A German with a conscience in Hitler's Germany Bernie is a good guy in an awful world. But ever notice what happens to women who cross his path? The meet terrible ends. Nope, he's someone to avoid even, if he is interesting. I'm still planning on reading every novel Kerr writes with Bernie in a starring role, but I'll be glad to leave our relationship fictional.



I love Arya. I want to be Arya, sort of. She's fierce and she's a strong, non-gender constrained girl who may yet become a strong woman, if G.R.R. Martin fulfills his stated promise to his wife. She's a survivor of terrible horror. Still, she's a killer who's been warped and damaged by all she's seen and done. I'm not sure we would be BFFs if we ever met. I wouldn't tolerate the violence that's become a part of her soul.


10) Amy Dunne from Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Fascinating, socio-pathic, deliciously evil, Amy is a woman who will keep you turning pages, but don't ever want to think could exist in reality. The sad truth is I'm sure there are women very much like her wandering around; I just hope I don't meet and fall under the spell of one. 
Who do you love to hate in books?


World Book Night & Other Philly Area Bookish Events: April 22 - April 27

Tomorrow is World Book Night when thousands of volunteers across the country, including many here in the Delware Valley, go out and distribute books. Free books that are intended to get folks who might not otherwise pick up a book to give reading a try. The books selected for this year's event includes a lot of great reads, but my favorite is Elizabeth Wein's Code Name Verity, which if you haven't read it, is astonishing, heartbreaking and life affirming.

If you see a volunteer in action tomorrow, say thanks, or take the book he or she is offering.

I didn't get around to volunteering this year (analysis paralysis is a character flaw I have struggled with my entire life) so I'm making a contribution and vowing to get off my duff next year. I've added a widget on the bar at the right side of the blog so you can help out as well. Go on, you know you want to - it's a great way to celebrate Shakespeare's 450th birthday!

There's a lot of other great events around the region this week, including a chance to catch up with the author of one of last year's most discussed debuts, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. , and a couple of chances to visit with the creator of some adorable penguins, Melissa Guion.


Tuesday, April 22

David Lubar | Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies: And Other Warped and Creepy Tales
Towne Book Center, 220 Plaza Drive, Suite B-3, Collegeville, PA 19426
6:00 pm
Enjoy a hot dog dinner to celebrate publication day for the newest title in this series of stories for middle grade readers. Thirty-three stories about clothes-eating bacteria, a zombie apocalypse, a monstrous butcher shop, and other frightening things. Includes notes on how the author got his ideas for these stories.

There is a $5 fee for signing of books not purchased at the event that is waived if you purchase the event title.

Marlo Thomas | It Ain't Over…Till It's Over: Reinventing Your Life—and Realizing Your Dreams—Any Time, at Any Age 
Free Library, Central Library
Free
7:30 pm


Wednesday, April 23

A.J. Mass | It's Hot in Here: Adventures in the Weird, Woolly World of Sports Mascots 
Chester County Book Company, 967 Paoli Pike, West Goshen Center, West Chester, PA
Free
7:00 pm


Thursday, April 24

Robin Kevles Necowitz | Go Take a Bath!: A Powerful Self-Care Approach to Extraordinary Parenting
Newtown Bookshop, 2835 S. Eagle Road, Newtown, PA
Free, but must call store to reserve a spot 215-968-2400
11:15 am

Melissa Guion | Baby Penguins Love Their Mama
Harleysville Books, 680 Main Street, Salford Sq. Shopping Ctr., Harleysville
Free

4:30 pm

James Howe | Also Known as Elvis! 
Children's Book World, 17 Haverford Station Rd., Haverford, PA
Free
7:00 pm

Adelle Waldman | The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P.
Villanova University, Falvey Library Speakers Corner, Villanova, PA
Free
7:00 pm

The final event of the Villanova Literary Festival features an up and coming rockstar of literary fiction!

Kathryn Kopple | Little Velasquez with Evan Roskos | Dr. Bird's Advice for Sad Poets and Kit Grindstaff | The Flame in the Mist
Main Point Books, 1041 Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA
Free
7:00 pm

Amartya Sen | An Uncertain Glory: India and its Contradictions
Free Library of Philadelphia, Central Library
$15 General Admission, $7 Students
7:30 pm


Friday, April 25

Melissa Guion | Baby Penguins Love Their Mama
Children's Book World, 17 Haverford Station Rd., Haverford, PA
Free
4:30 pm



Lori Clipner Hynson | SuperGal vs. God
Doylestown Bookshop, 16 S Main Street Doylestown, PA 18901
Free
6:30 pm

Poetry Aloud and Alive. Featured reader: Warren Longmire
Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia
Free
7:15 pm


Saturday, April 26

Aaron Meshon | Tools Rule
Chester County Book Company, 967 Paoli Pike, West Goshen Center, West Chester, PA
Cost: Free
Time: 11:00 am

Dr. Marci Tilghman-Bryant | No Need to Run
Wellington Square Bookshop, 549 Wellington Square, Exton, PA
Free
12:00 - 2:00 pm

Julia 'Jules' Ordway | Goodbye, Jessie
Doylestown Bookshop, 16 S Main Street Doylestown, PA 18901
Free
1:00 pm
The author, Julia "Jules" Ordway, is 12 years old and the daughter of Jules Thin Crust creators and owners John & Jan Ordway. Julia wrote the book entirely by herself and published it through Lulu's Self Publishing website. Proceeds from this event will benefit Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Goodbye Jesse is about a 12 year old girl who loses her best friend to cancer.  The book is based on the loss of Julia's dog, Jessie to cancer. 
David Lubar | Wipeout of the Wireless Weenies: And Other Warped and Creepy Tales
Let's Play Books, 379 Main Street, Emmaus, PA
2:00 pm
The book, purchased at Let's Play Books!, is your ticket to the signing (minimum of 1 book per immediate family). The book will be released on April 22. Email info@letsplaybooks.com to register/pre-order. 

Susan Abulhawa | My Voice Sought the Wind
Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia
Free
7:00 pm

Jim Donovan | Happy @ Work -- Book Launch!
Doylestown Bookshop, 16 S Main Street Doylestown, PA 18901
Free
6:00 pm

Sunday, April 27

Joe Lamport | The Life and Times of Richard Musto
Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia
Free
3:00 pm

Chernoh Alpha M. Bah | Neocolonialism in West Africa
Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane, Philadelphia
Free
4:00 pm


P.S. If you know of events or venues with regularly scheduled events that I've missed, please let me know in the comments or via email at abudner (at) comcast (dot) net.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

New and Improved: What it Takes to Win Back an Empire

Note: I know this is a cardinal sin of blogging, republishing a revised version of a post, but I had to do it. The last version of this review was so riddled with typos and awkward sentences that it was torture to leave it as it was. 

Most of the adult readers I know in daily life don't read fantasy or science fiction much, if at all. I get it. It can be an acquired taste. Still, some books don’t deserve to be written off as too weird or unrealistic because of a little magic. Besides, these days it seems like fantastic elements are part and parcel of novels that avoid being banished to the genre ghetto.

Kate Atkinson, Helene Wecker, Rachel Cantor, are just a few of the writers of literary fiction who integrate fantasy-like elements into their stories. Why shouldn’t genre boundaries be just as porous in the other direction? There are many fantasy novels that would easily appeal to a much broader group of readers if the jacket copy and cover design were hidden by brown paper wrappers.

What distinguishes books with breakout potential from others that may never transcend their niche, as much as fantasy aficionados love them? In many cases it comes down to a set of characters that readers can identify with, empathize with; individuals they can root for or against. What would Lord of the Rings be without Frodo, or Sam, or Gollum? Would Game of Thrones be a success without Tyrion, Arya, Bran, Jon Snow, or even Joffrey? Wizards, dragons, and magic aside, it is the actions and fates of characters that fuel the kind of devotion and passion that are behind communities and fandoms that persist for decades.

With his debut, The Emperor's Blades, the first volume in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, Brian Staveley shows he's vying for, and capable of, writing fantasy that has the ability to attract readers who say, "I don't usually like fantasy novels, but you have to read..." It's not without flaws, but this page-turner introduces a cast of characters we care about and a world, that while different from ours, is familiar and detailed enough to feel plausible.

The opening gambit is familiar -- a murdered king leaves behind a daughter and two sons. Can the heir to the throne and his siblings live long enough to insure their family's dynasty continues? Familiarity isn't, in this case, a harbinger of cliché. For one thing, this is a not a fantasy world built on the framework of Western European history and legend. Instead the world of Annur is infused with strong Asian religious and mythic influences making the book a refreshing change after a steady diet of fantasy novels built around Norse and Celtic influences.* Staveley's Annurian empire is also home to diverse characters from a variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds that, and at least in this first book, seem to be accepting of differences in skin color. Prejudice does exist, but is reserved for individuals, called ‘leaches’, who develop the ability to channel magic in the presence of a specific and individual amplifier. We meet a few leaches in the course of the story and some deserve the fear and hatred their magic engenders, while others are feared and mistrusted without reason.

A poet by background, Staveley writes crisp prose that rarely turns florid – I did note a couple of ‘gibbous moons’ giving off ‘argent light’ which made me raise an eyebrow since these turns of phrase that stood out as odd given the rest of the book’s phrasing.
The story is compelling and despite its length, the pages fly past and the book doesn’t feel too long. Well-placed details and effective world specific slang add the final touches that make this well-trodden fictional ground feel newly paved.

While the question of who is behind the plot to overthrow the ruling dynasty hovers, shadow like over The Emperor's Blades, the book is less concerned with political machinations than with dramatizing the process by which the protagonists of this epic fantasy are forged and tempered -- they are the Blades of the title after all -- into young adults with the capabilities that will allow them to unmask and face their enemies in later novels in the sequence.

Kaden, heir to the Annurian throne, has spent the last eight years in a remote monastery training in the ways of the Shin monks. His days are filled with repetitive tasks: pottery, physical labor and painting scenes from memory as a tool in attaining perfect recall. The monks live a simple life and are no easier on their royal charge than on the novices rescued from lives of poverty and crime. Displays of ego are harshly punished for it is critical that Kaden master the vaniate, the core of the Shin devotion to the Blank God. And, just at the point at which most readers are wondering why all this blankness is so important, Staveley reveals a bit of brilliant backstory that gives the ability transcend ego an urgency and life-or-death realism that trumps typical religious self-abnegation.

While Kaden is apprenticed to the Shin, his younger brother, Valyn, has spent the time as a trainee in an elite fighting core that uses giant hawk-like birds, Kettral, to gain mobility and rapid strike capabilities in a world where travel, by sail or on horseback, is slow. Unlike Kaden, Valyn learns early on of his father's murder and knows that he and his siblings are in danger. Veiled attempts are made on his own life even as he enters the final phase of his training, one that culminates in a secret trial by fire named after a god of death and darkness, Hull. Trust me, you do not want to attempt to rob a Kettral fighter in a dark alley.

By the end of the novel, both brothers experience significant losses and undergo transformations that expand their physical and mental readiness to face the greater battles they are sure to encounter in the next two books. By the end of the novel the brothers are far wiser, and far more dangerous, than the open and appealing youngsters we met in at the beginning.

Then there's the problem of Adare.

Adare, the oldest child, a young woman, has been stuck back in Annur while her brothers are off having all the fun. As a woman, she cannot inherit the throne and knows she is destined to be married to benefit the empire. Her power is physical power is limited, but before his death, Sanlitun elevated Adare to the post of Minister of Finance. Adare needs to figure out what is going on in the viper's nest of power.

Adare gets five puny chapters.

Her five chapters, while they might be necessary groundwork for the next installment, do her a disservice. The lack of pages means that her character is described and defined, but that we never get a chance to know her, to see her grow. Given her lack of presence, it's disturbing that we see her make some naive mistakes and engage in an ill-considered affair. The imbalance is a flaw in an otherwise smartly plotted book.

Adare's missteps and thin plot line are especially problematic given a plot arc that includes some very disturbing*, though never titillating or gratuitous, sexual violence. The book's poor treatment of so many women left me upset, and more than a little confused, because in other respects Staveley's female characters book are fierce and capable. For example, some of the deadliest and respected Kettral are women, and a female assassin plays a significant role in the latter portion of Kaden's storyline. Would I have been less disturbed if Adare's point of view was expanded? Probably.

The good news is that Adare gets a more central role in the next book, The Providence of Fire, as does another female narrator.

The bad news is that the next volume is going to be released until next January, which is just too damn far away.

FYI: I bought this book in print and audio format (brilliantly narrated by Simon Vance). Go with whichever option suits you better, there are no bad choices here.

*I know there are a number of writers that have broken free of the mythology of the west: N.K. Jemisin, Saladin Ahmed immediately come to mind, but there books are sitting in my to be read pile, waiting patiently for me to wise up and get around to reading them.
**These crimes were horrific to characters in the book, as well as to me.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Philadelphia Book Festival & More: April 14 - April 20

The Philadelphia Book Festival sponsored by the Free Library begins today and runs through this coming Saturday. There is a great mix of local authors and national figures with visits at various branches throughout the city. So many that listing them all here would be both time consuming on my part and not as easy to follow as the Free Library's own compendium. So, here is the link to the festival program on the Free Library site:

Philadelphia Book Festival
April 14-19, 2014


Elsewhere in the region:


Wednesday, April 16

Location: Towne Book Center, 220 Plaza Drive, Suite B-3, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
Cost: Free
Time: 6:00 pm

There is a $5 fee for signing of books not purchased at the event that is waived if you purchase the event title


Thursday, April 17

Location: McPherson Auditorium, Goodhart Hall
Cost: Free
Time: 7:30 pm


Location: The Doylestown Bookshop, 16 Main Street, Doylestown PA
Cost: Free
Time: 6:30 pm


Friday, April 18

Location: Let's Play Books, 379 Main Street, Emmaus PA
Cost: Free
Time: 4:00 pm

Note: The event is free, but registration is required. The link about will take you to the registration page.

Location: Children's Book World, 17 Haverford Station Rd.
Cost: Free
Time: 7:00 pm



Saturday, April 19


Location: Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane 
Philadelphia, PA
Cost: Free
Time: 2:00 pm

Happy Passover and Happy Easter to all who celebrate these holidays!

P.S. If you know of events or venues with regularly scheduled events that I've missed, please let me know in the comments or via email at abudner (at) comcast (dot) net.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

The Trouble with Trilogies

Trilogies waiting to be read!
Sometime during 2012 my reading life underwent a radical shift. The combined forces of my YA fantasy-loving daughter and Jo Walton’s Among Others turned me into a dedicated* fantasy, or more accurately, speculative fiction, reader -- just check out Walton's built in reading list. I’m still learning about the genre, or rather multiverse of genres clumped together under this rubric, and I’ve enjoyed wandering around looking at shelves of books I’ve never heard of though they’ve been around for years. My tentative forays have resulted in piles and piles of books in my office waiting to be read (see photo at right) and a steady thrum of energy from a new element in my reading life. New books are the least of it; there’s a big world out there with multiple tentacles reaching far beyond the pages of books that I only vaguely knew existed. Reddit AMAs, comic cons and world cons, more Tumblrs than you can ever hope to track, urban fantasy, grimdark, LARPing, the further I explore the fandoms the more I need to resort to Google to understand it all.

It’s fun, overwhelming, but fun

One of the most challenging parts of this shift in my reading habits is that I am, for the first time, reading book series before the remaining volumes have been released, or even written for that matter. Can a single volume of a saga that will only be finished some three years and a thousand pages hence really be judged on its own?

Yes. And, no.

On the ‘yes’ side of the equation, I find it no different to examine the first book of a trilogy than critiquing a stand-alone literary novel. Are the characters complex and interesting? Is the setting well-rendered, serve the story and the characters? Is the plot credible and organic? Is the book appropriately paced? Does the author’s writing serve the story, or get in its way?

Okay, so far so good. Then the process gets messy. Unlike a self-contained novel, there are considerations of anticipation and completeness, which will vary depending on authorial (and to some degree, editorial) intent. If an installment ends in a cliffhanger or an indication that the action will be continued in a succeeding volume, is that signaling accomplished effectively? Is the reader’s appetite whetted while not giving away too much of what is to come? Is the current novel simply cut-off mid-stream and thereby irritate more than it entices? Is the novel’s narrative structure unbalanced or otherwise marred by the needs of the succeeding volumes? All of these are considerations in reviewing series fiction that don't apply to self-contained novels in a single volume.

In addition to the extra components to be touched on in a review, can I render a critical thumbs-up or down with only partial evidence at hand? If a book doesn’t succeed on its own merits, will my opinion change if once I read the entire sequence? I’ve been struggling with these questions recently because I read Brian Staveley’s debut novel, The Emperor’s Blades which is the first volume in the Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne. In many respects I think it is great. It has a compelling well-structured story, interesting characters, amazing world building and strong writing that left me with a massive book hangover. I can’t wait until the next book comes out – ten long months from now.

BUT

I found myself conflicted on how to deal with the book’s representation of women. And, given how glaring the issues are, could I give the book a good review and recommendation?

I’ll enumerate exactly what my issues are in that long overdue review later this week, but what’s relevant here is, that after talking to Brian Staveley at a local book store appearance, the issue isn’t that he’s a sexist asshole who is completely unaware of the issues I and a number of other folks have brought up. He worked to find ways around the problems, but in the end the role of women in this first volume was skewed by the combined effects of paring the first book down to a saleable length, needing to set the stage for the second installment, and the requirements of story and character development that will unfold over three volumes.

I admit to feeling relieved to discover that he thought about the issues, is open to discussing them and has tried to offset the impressions of the first book in the writing of the next two. The proof will be in the pages. Fingers crossed it’s there, but I have high hopes that things for women in Annur will improve on volumes two and three.

Meanwhile, Brian's assurance that women get a much stronger voice in the second volume isn’t going to prevent me from talking about the flaws and transgressions of the first book, but it gives me reason to hope the missteps are not going to sink the overall work -- and my review will reflect that hope. Still, while this limited insider information gives me greater perspective in this one instance, it doesn’t solve the larger problem.

The only credible solution I can propose for myself is to approach each work in a sequence on its own merits, but with an eye to how a series evolves and the promise of returning to review the completed set before rendering a final opinion. Assuming, of course, the first book is good enough for me to keep reading.

Reading is what I need to get back to doing. I could probably have read an entire Brandon Sanderson epic in the amount of time it’s taken to write these 850 words.

*I’ve dabbled in reading fantasy and science fiction throughout my life, but it was never a core element of my internal construct of myself as a reader. Books and TC are two different animals and I was an avid Trekkie from an early age, but if you were too, you already
got that from the title of this post.






Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Top Ten on Tuesday: All Books Are Unique


This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme from The Broke and The Bookish is to identify the most unique books you've read. This was a tough list for me to get a grip on. All books are unique, aren't they? Of course a given book may share similarities with other books, but in the end, no two books are alike. I know this isn't the interpretation the prompt is intends to elicit, but I thought it was an interesting thought to consider.

So, here are books that I think qualify as more idiosyncratic than most, that are different by virtue of representing reality, or constructing reality, from an oblique angle.



1) The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Books can be infiltrated by people? Jane Eyre without its iconic ending? A slapstick literary mystery set in an alternate world with a very different science. This oddball book rates as my best airport find ever. I tired of the series after the first few, but this this first outing for Thursday Next is still a funny, smart, and distinctly strange book.









2) Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith

A horny, history obsessed sixteen-year old boy deals with life in a decaying small town while trying to work through his conflicted feelings about being attracted to his girlfriend and his best friend at the same time.  Okay, a pretty classic set up for standard realistic YA novel. Then the book veers onto another course channeling The Twilight Zone and B-grade 1950s Science Fiction movies as Austin and Robbie become warriors in an apocalyptic battle with bio-engineered six foot tall invincible grasshopper soldiers. Not for everyone, but if you are willing to hold on for the ride, it's a hoot and very moving.




3) The Teleportation Accident by Ned Beauman

A book that defies summary--the link above will take you to the Goodreads description, but trust me, it doesn't do Beauman's second novel justice. A wild, genre defying, inventive ride filled with oddball characters. You need to read it more than once to begin to make sense of it all, but if you only read it once, you'll still have a great time.








4) Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell

Genius, pure and simple. The nesting doll structure may owe a debt to others, particularly Italo Calvino's If on a Winter's Night A Traveller, but Mitchell's astonishing skill in mimicking multiple genres stunned me. However, what makes this a great book, not just smart literary posturing, is Mitchell's characters who manage to find kernels of beauty, generosity, and determination to do the right thing a world that often works against them.







5) Room by Emma Donoghue

What can I say that hasn't already been said about this beautiful book narrated by a boy raised by his mother in a room where they are prisoners of a sexual predator? A harrowing reminder that such things should never happen, but that to live is to have hope of something better. Also, it's a bravura piece of narrative conjuring on Donoghue's part.








6) Human Croquet by Kate Atkinson

As with so much of Atkinson's early fiction this novel is jam-packed with post-modern narrative hijinks (in this case sixteen year old Isobel Fairfax gains an omniscient view into her family's history and future that takes on the cast of a fable) that enable Atkinson to explore themes that reappear often in her fiction: mother - daughter relationships, English family life in the 20th century, and the nature of storytelling. I read this a long time ago and my memories of the book are a bit fuzzy. I just pulled it off the shelf to give it a re-read.





7) Time and Again by Jack Finney

Time travel, a mystery, a tour of old New York that begins in the Dakota plus it's an illustrated novel from an era that wasn't big on that concept. The casual sexism that imbues Finney's perspective is annoying, but I still love this book because it opened up the New York City that lay beneath the version I saw everyday growing up.








8) A Wild Sheep Chase by Harukai Murakami

Surreal and funny, this was my introduction to Murakami's genius in bending western genres to fit with his off-center views of Japanese society. It was so different from everything I thought I knew about Japan that I was enthralled. I still can't quite figure out why his brand of weird is so appealing and thought-provoking, but it is.








9) The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster

I was a very literal child and I didn't get this book when it was read to my fourth grade class.  When I read it to my daughter (who got it immediately at the age of five proving she's smarter than I am) I was overjoyed with cornucopia of puns and verbal games. All I can say is my nine year-old self was just too damn serious.








10) Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

No explanation needed here, but I will say that this is another book that I love a great deal more as an adult than as a child when I thought it was a bit creepy.  Good to know I am capable of learning something.



What are your 'unique' reads?





Monday, April 7, 2014

It's Monday. Time to Plan My Escapes from Reality: April 7 -- April 13

Susannah Cahalan will be visiting two independent bookstores this Sunday. I'm looking forward to meeting her at Main Point Books where her book is of especial interest as Emily Gavigan, who was diagnosed and treated as a result of Susannah's experience is on staff. Oops I got the time wrong for when she will be at Main Point Books. Susannah will be reading and signing starting at 3:00 pm!

Poetry and more poetry in celebration of National Poetry month. Things really pick up next week around the region with a lot of activities scheduled for Monday. To make sure anyone who is interested has time to plan more effectively, I plan on putting out the listings on Saturday.

For this week:

Monday, April 7

Location: Free Library, Central Library
Cost: Free
7:30 pm


Tuesday, April 8

Location: Main Point Books, 1041 West Lancaster Avenue, Bryn Mawr
Cost: Free
7:00 pm

Location: Free Library, Central Library
Cost: $15 General Admission, $7 Students
7:30 pm


Wednesday, April 9

Location: Brazzo Italian Restaurant
Salford Square
Harleysville, Pennsylvania
Cost: $49, includes dinner and a copy of the book
7:00 pm



Thursday, April 10

Location: Connolly Cinema, Villanova University, Villanova PA
Cost: Free
Time: 7:00 pm
A Villanova Literary Festival Event

Jaimy Gordon is the author of six books, most recently the National Book Award-winning Lord of Misrule, set in the world of small-time West Virginia horse racing. The novel was also a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist, won the Dr. Tony Ryan Award for the year's best book about horse racing, and was longlisted for the coveted Orange Prize for fiction. Her short fiction, poems, essays, and translations have appeared in the Colorado Review, Missouri Review, Ploughshares, and other journals. Gordon lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan and teaches in the MFA program at Western Michigan University.

Location: Free Library, Central Library
Cost: $15 General Admission, $7 Students
7:30 pm


Saturday, April 12

Location: Wellington Square Bookshop, 549 Wellington Square, Exton, PA
Cost: Free
Time: 12:00 - 1:30 pm

Location: The Doylestown Bookshop, 16 Main Street, Doylestown PA
Cost: Free
1:00 pm

Location: Newtown Bookshop, 2835 South Eagle Road, Newtown, PA
Cost: Free
Time:1:00 pm

Location: Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane 
Philadelphia, PA
Cost: Free
Time: 1:00 pm
Local author Hilary Beard (Health First!: The Black Woman's Wellness Guide, 2012) examines concrete ways black parents can enhance their sons' potential for success in a world prejudiced against Black males. A practical and impassioned parenting guide.

Location: The Doylestown Bookshop, 16 Main Street, Doylestown PA
Cost: Free
3:00 pm

Location: Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane 
Philadelphia, PA
Cost: $5-$10, sliding scale
Refreshments afterward
Time: 3:30 pm

Poetry Reading
Location: Musehouse, 7924 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
Cost: Free
7:00 pm

Location: Big Blue Marble Bookstore, 551 Carpenter Lane 
Philadelphia, PA
Cost: Free
Time: 7:00pm


Sunday, April 13

Location: Towne Book Center, 220 Plaza Drive, Suite B-3, Collegeville, Pennsylvania
Cost: Free
Time: 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Location: Main Point Books, 1041 West Lancaster Ave, Bryn Mawr, PA
Cost: Free
Time: 3:00 pm


P.S. If you know of events or venues with regularly scheduled events that I've missed, please let me know in the comments or via email at abudner (at) comcast (dot) net.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Top Ten on Tuesday: Gateway Books


This week's prompt from the good women of The Broke and The Bookish is one I think every reader can relate to: Top Ten "Gateway" Books/Authors In My Reading Journey. I'm in my 50s, and the decades are littered with books and narrowing it down to ten is tough. So, here is one version of the top ten, a nostalgia filled list of books, in roughly the order I read them, and why they stay with me. I think I posted a very similar list to Facebook late last year, but I know I'm including some different choices this go around.


I don't know if this is the first book I read on my own, or if I memorized it because I made my parents read it to me so often. Either way, I loved this so much that it was one of the first books I read to my daughter when she was little. My husband bought me and the girls a print from the book for Valentine's Day a few years back and it hangs in our kitchen and I hope it always will.


Pressed into my hands by an elementary school librarian in the late 1960s, I read this in a single sitting and many times since. I loved it because Claudia was as averse to discomfort as I was, and still am. I loved it because it made a big imposing museum into a magical treasure box of possibilities. I loved it because it gave art a mystery that Claudia was stubborn enough and smart enough to solve. Thinking about it now, I wonder if my love for this book was behind my decision to major in the History of Art in college?


I read all of Zenna Henderson after seeing a truly terrible adaptation of some of The People stories in a made for TV movie starring Kim Darby. I loved them then because I yearned to be an alien with unearthly powers, a longing any social inept alienated girl would share, I'm sure. Now I want to reread them because they are incredible portraits of the American Southwest and rich with insight about what brings communities together and how they can tear themselves apart. And, as I probably sensed at some level when I was ten, these stories are always looking at what does it mean to belong or not? Can you be different and still be accepted? The original books are out of print, but the two original volumes plus other uncollected stories are available in Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson. 


I Read this the summer I turned thirteen while traveling with my family through the southwest. Who knew a 'classic' could be funny?

A tragic tale I devoured one saturday evening my junior year of college. Full of all the female suffering and misery so dear to my teenage heart, I was also genuinely surprised by the ending. I remember trying to convey to my father over the phone why I was so moved. The final plot twist had stunned me but was even more staggered when neared the climax of my synopsis, my father, accurately, beat me to the punch and without having read the book, told me how it ended. Lessons learned? There are only so many plots that are really new (there are some, but fewer than I thought at the time). And, if you want to convince someone that a book is good, there may be more to it than summarizing the story. 


For all the reasons that Rebecca Mead brilliantly synthesizes in "My Life in Middlemarch." If you have read "Middlemarch" read Rebecca's wonderful book. If you haven't read "Middlemarch" read Rebecca's wonderful book and you will want to read "Middlemarch." Trust me on this.


Another book I first thought I loved because it's plot was unexpected, but in truth loved for it's rich inventive voice, its exploration of female and family relationships, its dark humor and inventive literary and pop culture references particularly "The Wizard of Oz." The opening sentence is a fabulous riff on "Tristram Shandy" which I only learned by reading an essay about the book a number of years ago. As a mother of a toddler with a demanding full-time job, I stayed up into the wee hours on a work night to finish this. I read it just after publication in the US and have been a Kate Atkinson groupie ever since. This is the book I'm most likely to shove into someone's hands if given any reason at all.


I was in business school learning the intricacies of finance and such when I ran into this as a remainder at a local Border's and picked it up because I loved the Burne-Jones cover and the synopsis the jacket copy that reminded me of "The French Lieutenant's Woman." The marketing was spot on. I loved this grand melange (I would call it a genre mash-up, but that would most definitely not be Byatt approved language!) of literary mystery, tragic love story, and academic satire. I am proof that you can read it and skip all the show-offy use of French, Latin and poetry. Underneath all of the frills and window dressing, this book has great characters, feminist themes and a juicy story.


Truly the most exciting piece of science writing I've ever read ordered on a whim from the Quality Paperback Book Club (remember that in the days before the internet?). I learned far more from this book than I ever did in the classroom. The book is passionate and thrilling, but it also challenges everyone to question what was done in the name of science and if it could have been avoided. Rhodes brings Niels Bohr, Enrico Fermi and so many others to life and makes you share their intellectual excitement in finding new ways to understand the universe.  I need to go read it again.


The vibrant character study of a man filled with contradictions that at the same time is a history of Texas and US Politics in the 20th Century. I read this first volume ages ago (the early '90s) and zoomed through the second one as well. Ihave yet to read the third and fourth books because I don't want it to be over, also they are long, but I swear I'll get to at least volume three this year. I'm also holding my breath that Caro finishes this epic biography before time stops him. Fans of G.R.R. Martin don't even know what waiting and hoping an author finishes a great saga before he grows too old to continue. "The Song of Fire and Ice" is in its infancy when compared to "The Years of Lyndon Johnson."