The Throne of Fire

Young Adult fiction

by Rick Riordan

"Before publishing such an alarming manuscript, I felt compelled to do some fact-checking on Sadie and Carter's story."

This is how Rick Riordan begins his author's notes at the end of this book, the second in the Kane Chronicle Series.

The rest of the book is much like the first: Harry Potter-esque adventures of a brother-sister duo who are descended from the pharoahs of Egypt and battle both for and against the various gods of Egyptian mythology for nothing less than saving the world.

What intrigues me is the style the author chose to use. He says he found this story whole in the form of audio recordings made by Sadie and Carter (they alternate telling the story each chapter, with funny asides to each other to stop hogging the mic). That's what the quote above is about. I wonder what it is that makes us readers want to believe that a fictional story just MIGHT be true. It's not just young adult fiction--the book I read last year about Leningrad during World War Ii (City of Thieves) had a similar message at the beginning of the book. I mean, look at the cover of this book. It's clearly fantasy. But it's fun to think, since so much of the history in the book is true, that the rest may be possible.

Also interesting is how Riordan makes the two kids' voices different from each other.  Due to some custody issues, Sadie was raised in England by her grandparents and so uses a lot of British slang (I love words like manky and git!) Carter was raised traveling all over the world by his dad but is mostly American and talks like every teenager I know (um, yeah). It's great characterization through dialogue.

Can you tell I'm thinking more like a writer these days than a reader? I almost didn't even post about this book because I'm into writing my own book so much, but it's good to take a break and write something different for a while. And even though I'm trying to improve my own writing through what I read, it's good to read for just plain fun. These Percy Jackson and Kane Chronicle series are totally fun, even for adults. I heard the Percy Jackson movie stunk, though. I wish someone would make a good one about these books. I'd love to see them.

Fall of Giants

Historical Fiction by Ken Follett

I know it's been forever since I've written. I could give you as many excuses as my seventh grade students give me (I had to babysit, I'm really into this TV series right now), but here's my best one...this book is a behemoth. Nine hundred and eighty five pages!

I first read Ken Follett because my father-in-law insisted I would love his books about the building of a cathedral in the Middle Ages of England. And I did. They were fascinating. I loved learning about the changes in culture, architecture, government, and church that occurred over the generations in the two books. It really is a sweeping history, as book reviewers sometimes say.

Which leads me to this book, the first of three in a series. It's about World War I instead of the Middle Ages, and it has major characters in five different countries. Clearly also sweeping. But unfortunately, I don't have a lot of love for that era and I really didn't like all the war tactics and battle scenes.

I did like some of the characters, especially the suffragettes in England, and the ways that the characters end up meeting is interesting. I do like it when an author can weave it all together like that. I also learned a ton about how the war developed and if I read the sequels it will be to find out more about the next phases in history. Ok, now I sound like a nerd. I like sequels, though, because they offer new stories but with some comforting familiarity. I just know I definitely need a break before cracking open another thousand pager.

The Red Pyramid

Young Adult fiction by Rick Riordan

This guy is on fire.  He writes a book a year and is in his third successful series of young adult fiction about ancient gods. This is the second series, focusing on Egyptian mythology (you probably got that from the title). It's a quick, fun, action-packed read, and I love that it's giving kids background knowledge about ancient cultures. The retention level of the details, though? Mine is pretty low so I imagine it will be hard for the kids to remember the different gods and myths.

Here's what I think it so great about these books: not only do they open up a new world for the kids (history is cool? no way) but they really validate kids as kids. You might not think that from the very adult adventures the characters have. I mean, as 12 and 14 year olds they battle monsters and race across the continents and oceans. But the kids (Sadie and Carter in this series, Percy in the others) are like many kids I know. They don't love school-type activities but are interested in learning about...well, what interests them.  They talk about how easily distracted or openly rebellious they are and see it as a gift of the gods, heightened senses and ability to question what they see and all that. I mean, these attributes aren't cause for celebration in the classroom necessarily, but they are true of kids this age and something parents and teachers need to work with, not around. Makes me a little more compassionate on my ADHD students this year (if only one would stop saying "GAW!" every time I redirect him.)

Interestingly, I haven't heard ANY uproar about these books like the Harry Potter series. Is it out there, do you know? Because Harry Potter was just magic, and pretend magic at that, but these books are about magic and other gods. Are any parents or churches complaining that these books guide kids to other religions? I hope not. It's history, and it's fun.

The House at Riverton

Historical Fiction by Kate Morton

So you know I'm obsessed with "Downton Abbey" and I loved the book "American Heiress" because it let me re-enter that world through a brand new story. Well, this one is even more similar to Downton. At first. And then it all gets...sad. And before I go on, I just have to say that if "Downton Abbey" doesn't have a happy ending (whenever, gasp, the series must end), I will be sending some not-so-delicately worded emails to some BBC people.

But back to Kate Morton. She also wrote The Distant Hours, which I mostly enjoyed, though it was creepy and a bit confusing at times. This one has a lot of similarities and is actually, I think, better written, despite being Morton's first book. The House at Riverton occurs around World War I rather than World War II, but is also about a great house in the English countryside, codependent sisters, forlorn love, and a narrator who reminisces about the past. I know Morton has a third book out, something about a garden, which is probably pretty similar as well. She's clearly developed her own genre.

What I loved about this book is what I love about Downton Abbey: the interactions of the staff and family, the angst of WWI and the 1920's and women's lib, crotchety old matriarchs, glamorous dresses, catchy tunes (right down to "If you were the only boy in the world, and I were the only girl")...it's all so charming. If life didn't suck for women, gentility and working class alike, I may say it was the golden age. And I suppose that's why it has a mostly sad ending--the women had so few choices in their lives. One character rises above the rest to make herself happy, but it takes 68 years and is the exception rather than the norm.

One thing I'm thinking about is the intense amount of foreshadowing. As a, ahem, writer, I wonder how much is too much before it's no longer serving its purpose of intriguing the reader and preparing the way for future plot events. All the "But we didn't know yet how horrible that night would be" and "This was before the west wing burned" and so on--it IS suspenseful but maybe a little irritating too. Like the TV show "How I Met Your Mother." Just tell us about the yellow umbrella already.

I've already started reading my next book, The Red Pyramid, first in another mythology series by the same author as the Percy Jackson books. I was in the children's section of the library with my kids and had to have something to read while my son stacked endless series of blocks. Plus, my students are starting to know more about Egyptian mythology than I do, so I'd better catch up.

Bloom

Memoir by Kelle Hampton

Ok, Un-Book Club friends, pour yourselves a big glass of wine (or cup of coffee if you are reading this at work and they frown on that sort of thing). Because this book and my response to it is INTENSE. I mean, for one thing, she's writing about giving birth (kind of a big deal) to her second daughter Nella who unexpectedly has Down Syndrome (whoah) but also striving to live big her "wild and precious life" (a quote from her favorite poet). Come on. Intense.

This woman's story is amazing, partly because of who she is, and partly because of the way she tells it. In the opening pages, she talks about preparing to give birth by doing normal things like packing and calling friends, oh and by preparing individually wrapped home made FAVORS for the people who would visit them in the hospital. FAVORS. She is totally go big or go home and remains that way through her whole story, including her journey from being devastated and afraid of the Down Syndrome to facing and accepting and loving and embracing and celebrating. She also lets you in on EVERY SINGLE DETAIL of that journey, holding back no emotions or vacillating inner debates or breakdowns or joys. She is just so honest about how hard it is at first, how much she loves her sweet Nella, and how even after she accepts and loves Nella for who she is, she feels guilty for her initial response. Needless to say, I cried a lot.

You know my story: I have two kids, and in between the two I had a rare condition called a molar pregnancy. Kelle's story definitely appeals to me as a survivor of parenting heartache, and I think that like her I have arrived at a certain peace. In fact,  her story helped me to realize that I am less fearful and have fewer anxieties than recently. But still, I don't believe I could read this book while pregnant because I just don't have that much peace yet. I also appreciate her fierce loyalty to the Net, as she calls her group of women that pull each other through heartaches and trials like this. The fact that my mom and sister were away in Europe when I lost my pregnancy served to draw me closer to my sister-in-law Lisa and sister-of-the-heart Kelsey, expanding my Net.

My only two complaints about this book are:

1) She makes me look like a lazy, unoriginal, uninspired mom, with her favors and birthday parties and matching t-shirts for the Buddy Walk. Honestly.
2) She uses too much metaphor.

But those things don't really matter. Let me leave you with a quote that has stuck with me.

"Once you become a parent...you automatically carry around, for the rest of your life, an increased likelihood of having your heart broken. And it's a constant fear that we struggle to put to rest. We can choose to be afraid or we can choose to live. And I choose to live. Because an increased likelihood of having your heart broken also carries with it an increased likelihood of finding yourself the happiest you've ever been in life. And I was learning that when the 'what if' voices came, I could tell them to shut the hell up." (p. 249).

The Master Butcher's Singing Club

Novel by Louise Erdrich

I started this book just after a new school year began, which is always a time of hope and renewal for me. I finished it this weekend in the midst of a very frustrating and energy-sapping time, the smoke-filled atmosphere that my hometown is experiencing due to uncontrollable brush fires. I think that change aptly describes the path of this story, going from a time of hope and new beginnings for a German man immigrating to America after World War I to the Great Depression and disillusionment of World War II.

Fidelis Waldvogel, the title master butcher, brings his young family to a midwestern American town and works quite hard to assimilate them and make a life there. Eva, his wife, is a loving and lovable German woman who befriends the town drunk's adult daughter, Delphine, who has returned to try to take care of her father and create a respectable life for herself and her pretend husband, Cyprian. The book jacket describes these relationships as a collision, but it's really more of a sinking as they all come together. In fact, despite the mischievous title and occasional pithy description, the whole story sort of oozes along. There are some mysteries and intriguing characters and shocking moments, but it's not enough somehow.  I needed to love the characters more or for the plot to flow along faster, I think. Or maybe just less description of slaughtering animals.

It's sort of ironic: my sister in law says this blog has made her a lazy reader because I just tell her what books to read. For me, on the other hand, I've become much more aware of myself as a reader and what I need from a book. I hope it makes me a better writer. I'm taking mental notes. Note to self: write something that I would enjoy reading myself.

The American Heiress

Novel by Daisy Goodwin

I've been eating an unfortunate amount of ice cream this week, since my sister came over for dinner and left a gallon in the freezer. Bad, very bad. But eating ice cream while reading has made me start to think of books like the three sizes at Cold Stone Creamery: Like It, Love It, and Gotta Have It. That's really how I feel about most books--I have some kind of affection for almost all of them (maybe the few I truly don't like would be called Lactose Intolerant). On this scale my latest read is definitely in the Love It category. I gobbled it up, loved it, but wouldn't put it on my list of All Time Faves.

The American Heiress is set in the 1890's, mostly in England, as a young American woman fulfills her society mother's fondest desire and marries a British aristocrat. Cora Cash (a very F. Scott Fitzgerald kind of name) is the richest young woman in America and her duke, Ivo Maltravers (another fitting name, mysterious and dark) needs her money to revive his estate. In addition to the convenient exchange of money for title, the two also seem to be in love, but struggle in their marriage due to cultural differences and the baggage of previous relationships.

On the cover of the book, it's touted as a good read for those who can't wait for Downton Abbey to start again in January. If you watch the show, I think you can see why. The mother in DA is also an American named Cora whom a British lord marries for money. The simmering social scene, with duchesses sniping behind each other's backs and servants gossiping downstairs, is just as entertaining in Heiress as in DA. The culture of the time and extravagance of the aristocrats is equally fascinating; at one dinner party they eat swallow tongues in aspic. (Thankfully I was not eating when I read that). The mysterious nature of the plot, though, reminded me of another book: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. The main character is not an heiress, but a poor American who marries a rich Englishman, then finds herself mocked by the servants, confused by her moody husband, and in the middle of a mystery about his previous wife. It's very Gothic, and it in turn reminded me of Jane Eyre (which WOULD be a Gotta Have It book). I think the lesson for me in all this is that I am a total Anglophile and need to go watch an episode of Downton Abbey. Right now.

By the way, I don't know if I'll use the ice cream ratings all the time. They seem to express my feelings well, but might not fit in the cooler months. Maybe then it should be Tall, Grande or Venti (pumpkin spice or eggnog lattes, that is).