Dear Mr. Knightley

                            
Saw this last week on Book Riot and on a whim downloaded it from Amazon within minutes (I still get a huge thrill whenever I do that!).  I then put it off for a few days because Emma has to be one of my least favourite books by Jane Austen.  After a vlog binge on Sunday watching Emma Approved I felt up to the task of reading what I thought might be a modern version of Emma...boy was I pleasantly surpised!
I started reading it yesterday and finished it this morning... I actually stayed up past my bedtime last night and probably would have stayed up until I finished but I am still recuperating from an illness that I had last week, so I had to go to bed.
I had no thought but to finish up this wonderful book this morning, and I was suprised again at the end!
I get the protagonist Sam Moore.  I had an immediate connection with her, that just deepened the further I read in to the book.  I rooted for her, cared for her, was sad for her and in the end extremely proud and pleased. 
I feel that if you love the same books as another person does, it opens doors that might other wise be closed, and with this story I was drawn in because both Sam and I share a love of the same kind of literature.  It is always very exciting to meet someone (even a fictional one) who understands your literary references, and though I don't have a friend like that, after reading this I really wish that I had one.
I have already ordered the paperback version because this story is something that I would love to revisit, and nothing is better than holding it in your hand while you do so.

I finished the book with a particular song in mind which seems quite appropriate.  The song has been a favourite of mine for a long time, and was the very first one I ever heard sung by Luke Steele.  The refrain has always touched me "When you think with your mind, you've got a place to go now..."
I hope you will listen and love it like I do:   Good Dancers  
Plus you should just go and read this book too, and to get the full experience, there is a list of the books referenced in the story in the back of the book. 
I will be keeping an eye out for whatever Katherine Reay writes next!

The Soothing Balm of Elegance

It was with infinite pleasure that I read this.  It was the soothing balm of elegance.  The nasty taste left in my brain was purged (after reading Lolita) and filled my heart to bursting with the joys of Russian and French literature.  Every chapter was a joy to read and contemplate.
I haven't read a lot of French authors, they have mostly been limited to Dumas, Voltaire and Hugo... I haven't built up the courage yet to give Proust a try but after reading this I really wanted to (even the Moliere and the Rabelais that has been living at the bottom of my book basket for a few years).
There are two protagonists in this story one of which loves her literature, in particular Tolstoy (a love which we share), so I feel like I really 'got' her (you don't know how lonely it can be when no-one you  know likes the books that you like).  I have been a huge fan of Tolstoy since I read War and Peace when I was fifteen, and Anna Karenin when I was twenty.  The book quotes from Karenin  quite a bit, and I was just tickled pink with each reference.  It made me just want to stop what I was doing and grab my own copy and read it again... right now!
Enter protagonist number two who was surprisingly astute and relevant.    Add in another new character , with a different culture, and the magic that happens with this third person, the pleasure in seeing everything evolve the way it did was precious (but I can't say anything more without giving away spoilers and we don't want that!)  It was more than just a fusion of culture, but of like-minded people, making an important connection that transcends, race, age and sex.  This combination of French, Russian and Japanese culture was exciting and refreshing, and I feel truly lucky to have this book.  I look forward to re-reading it again at some point, perhaps after I have read some of the literature mentioned to see how it would alter my experience.

The Eyre Affair

 

I really got a kick out of reading this book!  Like in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen,  The Eyre Affair is laced with literary references ... with a twist!  I enjoyed it just as much and know it would have been even better if I had've read the books that were used in this story (yes... I am ashamed to admit I have not read Jane Eyre, or Martin Chuzzlewit!).

This is an alternative history of which Thursday Next is the protagonist.  You'll notice right away with her name that this is no regular kind of book.  It is richly flavored in a  Dickensian way by the names that a lot of these characters have (one of which is Jack Schitt, and I still cannot read that without giggling a little bit because it was used with great skill throughout the novel).  I recommend to anyone to read the book just for that fun value alone.  More also is a science fiction/ futuristic element of technology, in a world that has to protect its literature ( Next is a cop that hunts down literary felons...and I don't mean that literally).  This is where it's a good idea that you know your literature, though I think you can get by pretty well without it (though I'd like to see you not go back and read all the books mentioned afterwards).  I won't tell you any more because I don't want to spoil it... just go out and get it!

There are a few more to read in this series, but I want to be prepared beforehand, so I will read the books featured first (so I don't feel like a stupid boobie for not knowing my stuff).  This year seems to be, so far, a year of finding books that seem to be almost tailored to my own tastes, and I am having a great time discovering them.