Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children

Do you know those things that you encounter during your life that are very interesting or challenging in some way and you make a mental note "I'll have to do that sometime" and yet you never do?    There are many things in my life that I have a mental list for; quilts I have to make, places I have to travel to, foods I have to try, experiences I have yet to have, books, music, movies... the list has grown to immense proportions over the years to a point where I despair of ever doing any of it (especially when there are obstacles in the way like not enough time or money).  But to counterract this despair today I am pleased to announce that I am going to do one thing.  I am going to read the top ten list of "Whats Hot" on Library Thing.  Small potatoes, I know, compared to other things I want to do, but you have to start somewhere right?  And I have been bugging myself to do this for over a year (every time I go on to LibraryThing and see the list).  I have already read two:  Inheritance by Christopher Paolini and now Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs.

You have to look closely at the picture to see what is peculiar about it.  I didn't notice at first, but I was drawn to this story anyway just by the charm of the little girl in the picture and the title (plus this is a Title from Quirk Books which has become one of my favourite new publishers). This unusual title appealed to me and this book has been on my 'to read' list ever since I first spotted it last year.  It doesn't hurt that one of the categories for my reading challenge this year is Intriguingly Titled Books (the wierder the better!).

I liked this story, and was only mildly annoyed that it will be a series (or that there will be a sequel at least).  These days it has been a practice of mine not to even bother with series until they are finished.  It is too much work after a while... since I read so many books, I cannot retain every story line, so like I just did with The Inheritance Cycle, I have to re-read previous stories so that I can keep up (which explains my annoyance at Christopher Paolini when he switched from a trilogy to the four book set because I had to re-read everything first). 

This is a neat idea for this book.  The photos throughout were the inspiration for the story...

...and it adds to the strangeness.  There's nothing like some real life to add to the authenticity and creepiness of the tale.  There is this strange feeling that I experience when I look at photos like this, and not just the ones that are doctored to be unusual.  There is a mystery to the past, which is slightly unsettling because I cannot relate to the person in the photograph with the old fashioned clothes and hair.  What were they like, how did they live, how could they have lived without the conveniences that I take for granted today?  These are foreigners... people who did not live like I do.  While I know that they had the same feelings, goals, and dreams of people today, it is still a mystery and one that I will never know the answer to.  The label 'creepy nostalgia' seems to fit this novel. 

 I hope I don't have to wait too long to find out what happens next.

Inheritance

I have waited a long time to get to this point, and I was excited to see how the story would end.  This is the completion of all Christopher Paolini's hard work, and he is coming into his own with this final story, just like his main character, Eragon.
Eragon's story is concluded in this last book and, in my opinion, in a very satisfactory way.   I was disappointed when it ended, I wasn't prepared to let everyone go after reading about them for nearly two weeks straight.   I liked how Paolini wrapped this up into a very neat and tight package, and I also like how there is room made for him to revisit the world that he has created sometime in the future.  Nice.   Thanks for the ride Christopher, well done!

Brisingr: The Inheritance Cycle again!

This is the second time that I have read this book.    I kind of raced through it the first time because I had re-read the other two in preparation, and I had grown a little irritated with how much had been borrowed from other works of fantasy fiction.  I admit I was being a little judgmental and that this third book irritated me because of how indulgent it was.  The story was not so tight as the other two before and seemed to meander more than I could tolerate, and I was under the impression that this third book was the last of what was then known as the Inheritance Trilogy.  So by the end, when I discovered that this story was not over, I was cross.   I fully expected it to be wrapped up and was confused throughout the whole book because it didn't seem like it was going anywhere, and I had this fear that after all I had already read that the author was going to flub the ending and that I would be disappointed.

Not so with the second read through.  This time, with a difference in expectation, it all made better sense, and the story did not seem to meander as much as previously.  I maintain that it was still indulgent, but that is the authors pleasure and right.  I couldn't help but giggle a bit when Eragon was looking for another sword because the scene was so incredibly Potterlike, I expected an 'Ollivanderism' to pop out at any second.    He did however, get another sword, and it was a pretty good story.  Now, onto the fourth (and last!) installment of this saga, Inheritance.  I really don't know what to expect and I am looking forward to the conclusion.

Eldest: The Inheritance Cycle

Part two of The Inheritance Cycle.  Still a very tight story, packed with more adventures, and experiences and interesting twists.  I liked the format chosen to cover three stories, each one with it's own intensity, which switched off on each other in an easy way.  I liked that there was even more back story, and had to chuckle a bit at some of the newer characters like the baby that was blessed in Eragon which has now grown up a little to be freakishly spooky in a very 'Dune' kind of way.    Which isn't a bad thing.   Consider what kind of story this would be for someone who has never read a fantasy in their lives?   It would be a very clever story to them, I think.    Just consider, for instance, how much Agatha Christie's Poirot has been loved irregardless of the fact that it was very obvious that Christie 'borrowed' quite heavily from Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.  It's still a good story, no matter the origins.  I also liked how vegetariansim was covered, and I thought it was neat how the elves' exercise regimen seemed to be borrowed from yoga's sun salutations.   The conclusion was satisfying, there is curiosity for what happens next, especially after such an interesting twist.  It is all wrapped up in a handsome red package of over six hundred pages which was a pleasure to read.

Eragon: The Inheritance Cycle is Over...at last

I know... it doesn't sound like I liked these books, but I did.  I love a good fantasy epic, especially with dragons, and this series has everything in spades.  We've got bad guys, magic, fighting, long journeys, elves, more bad guys,  and dwarves.  I haven't read any reviews on this book, and probably never will.  I suspect though, that there have been some harsh ones and some really judgmental ones.  I 'll tell you why, but first I want to share my history with this book. 
I first sighted it at the local library.  The lovely blue jacket with the dragon in front appealed to me very much.  So much that when I had finished this story (which I really enjoyed) I ordered my own copy (in hardcover!), and I kept an eye out for all the ones that came after (which I also bought in hardcover).  It has been a long wait, and there has been some frustration in there as well, but I 'll write about that later.

I will never give a bad opinion/review of a book.  That has to get out there first, and this is why.  I have read other reviews before that have hated books and were pretty brutal in their criticism, and underneath, in the comments I have read, some had said that they would not read this book after reading that review.   In my opinion, that is ignorant.  Why would I trust someone else's opinion on a book I have never read? Are they so exactly like me in every way, that they know what I wouldn't like to read?  That's just silly, and it's sad.  What if you missed something special?  Wouldn't that be a shame?  And last but not least, I know that a bad review would hurt the author, and it is not in my nature to hurt anyone for any reason.  After all, they have done something that I have never done... they wrote a book!  That in itself is an amazing achievement.    What is extra amazing about this book, is that Christopher Paolini wrote it in his teens.

Back to Eragon.  What you will notice about this book is that it has borrowed a lot from  great pieces of fantasy literature.  For the most part this book is what I would call 'flavored' with Tolkien.  I'm sure that there were other books as well, but it was the Lord of the Rings ones that inspired this first volume, the influence that stood out the most.  I have read a great deal of fantasy fiction (of which only my science fiction collection is larger) and I recognize pieces from them.  When I said this series has everything in spades, I meant it.  It seems that Paolini quite judiciously included everything he ever loved about every book he has ever read.   Another impressive thing about him.  He is well read for his age.

I liked the story, I want to know what happens next.  Over five hundred pages packed with adventure, and magic and characters that I care about.  The story was tight, and wrapped up in a very satisfying way.  A great beginning.

50 Ways to Feel Thin, Gorgeous, and Happy (When You Feel Anything But)

I am going to lump this book into a new category on my blog called "Books Every Woman Should Read".    If you (and I'm talking to all the women I know) have an issue with food or not, this is a 'must read'.
I first read this book over a decade ago, and almost cried after I read the first chapter.  I know of other women who upon reading it threw the book across the room and, after reading the first chapter the rest was read with incredulity.    It is hard to digest at first (har har...food pun intended).  So after my first reading of this book I started to change the way I viewed my life,  and after every consecutive read I have used the book as a yardstick to let me know how I have been doing in the interim.   It makes sense, it has that ring of truth about it, and it really is possible.  I highly recommend this book, and have lent it to women, and sent it to my best friend in Australia (because it is what I consider to be a powerful gift of love).  I have earnt a few merit badges since the beginning (it seems like every chapter is a challenge after which you earn your reward on completion).  But it is not only that, this book shows me how I have changed since the beginning and that it really is possible to do the things that Geneen suggests we do, and it isn't as hard as you think it is. 
My plan is to discuss different chapters (badges if you like) that I have come to believe and have achieved/earnt and would like to share with you, because when you don't have anyone to share these things with, your life gets very small.  And I am ready to share.

Merit Badge #1  Whatever you do, don't diet.

The fourth law of the universe is that for every diet there is an equal and opposite binge.  This is very true.  Even when you don't mean to diet, somewhere deep inside you always knows and responds in kind.  That I have earnt this badge or not isn't absolutely certain as I always feel like I am on a tightrope which is very hard to balance on (but it's not always like this... there are months when I don't think about it at all).  Even when I don't mean to it just happens, like for instance, a few weeks ago I was testing recipes for a raw food cookbook.  I really wanted to give this a wholehearted genuine try and it seemed like lots of fun and a challenge to try this way of life (especialy during winter when all I want is to be warm).  But after a few days some deeper urges expressed themselves and for a day or so I ate lots of food, hot, cooked food, and I couldn't seem to regulate my hunger.  I got bloated, heartburn and a bad nights sleep, as my body was still busy digesting all of the food I had consumed.

Which is when I took out this book (to do a little self diagnostic).  I knew what had happened (even though I didn't mean it to happen) and, after reading a few chapters felt better.   I had been on a diet.  I had only ate raw food, and I had skipped my morning coffee.  And while I felt good, light, had extra energy and decent rest, I was feeling deprived and I had ignored this feeling in the interest of seeing how my body would respond to this new regimen. This feeling of deprivation is an important feeling, and should never be ignored, ever!

So since that incident I have been re-thinking the way I eat, and trying to add new ways of eating (in the raw) without having that feel of a diet, and absolutely NO sense of deprivation.  Like I said, it feels like a tightrope which I have trouble balancing on sometimes.   What I took from this experience is that, for me, there is a delicate balance which I shouldn't take such drastic steps on, as I will fall off the tightrope.  So baby steps is the way to go...and my large cup of coffee every morning, no matter what!

Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell

Sometimes I can't help but feel that certain things out there in the whole wide world were written  just for me.    This is one such book.  Lovely and long (intimidating at first), it didn't take long to be drawn in to this story, with its intriguing twists and freshly original story that is just so interesting that you don't want to stop until you know what will happen next (and since it is such a long book you are in this state of anxious suspense- mild as it is - throughout most of the book).

   I say it was written just for me as it is a Regency era tale (and I am particularly fond of this time period because of its literature, music and art).  Throughout the book I read phrases that were happily familiar...  having read Jane Austen's books many times I love the language and feel comfortable in it. This is a good thing as it lends  an authenticity to the story that Clarke is telling (and feeds my love of all things literary from that era).  Even Lord Byron makes a cameo appearance in this tale.   And magic!   An alternate history where magic is commonplace.   I just love the illustrations, they provide a depth to the sinister undertones of this story.
   There are so many novels out there about this period they kind of run together after a while (more of the same), but this one was so fresh and invigorating I read it with pure joy.  Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell stands alone.

Don't try to figure out what will happen in the story, or try to forecast how the book will end... let it slowly creep up on you.  It's really worth it, I promise, to just trust the author to just take you where she wants you to go. I wont tell any more as I really want you to go out and buy this book for yourselves and discover the many special features and pleasures inside.