Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, Susanna Clarke

Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians. They met upon the third Wednesday of every month and read each other long, dull papers upon the history of English magic. They were gentleman-magicians, which is to say they had never harmed any one by magic- nor ever done any one the slightest good. In fact, to own the truth, not one of these magicians had ever cast the smallest spell, nor by magic caused one leaf to tremble upon a tree, made one mote of dust to alter its course or changed a single hair upon any one's head. But, with this one minor reservation, they enjoyed a reputation as some of the wisest and most magical gentlemen in Yorkshire.


Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell is an epic tale of nineteenth-century England and two magicians, first teacher and student, then rivals, who change its history. In 1806, most people believe magic no longer exists in England- until Mr Norrell (note the British Mr) of Hurtfew Abbey reveals his powers and becomes a celebrity. Another magician emerges: young, handsome, and daring Jonathan Strange. Strange becomes Norrell's student, and the two join forces in the war against France. But as Strange is increasingly drawn to the wildest, most perilous forms of magic, he risks sacrificing everything that he values, including his partnership with Norrell.

I just loved this book, which was written in a typical British style with humor and wit. Though the book is over 800 pages long, I don't think I was ever bored by it. There's a whole host of great characters, funny and strange. It's really just hard to describe this book, but if you decide to read it, you will be rewarded. There are long "historical" footnotes at the bottom of pages, there are fairies, shady characters, and bumbling politicians. In short, everything you could ask for in a story of any kind, especially a fantasy story. Bear in mind, though, that if you're looking for a story about magicians throwing magic at one another, this is not the book for you. It's more subtle than that. There were a lot of side-plots in the book that all eventually came together.

Read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell:

• if you like fantasy
• if you like books written in a British style
• if you like books set in England
• if you're looking for a great, witty, humorous, all-around wonderful book

846 pages.

 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!

Life as We Knew It, Susan Beth Pfeffer

Lisa is pregnant. Dad called around 11 o'clock to let us know. Only Mom had already taken Jonny to his baseball practice and of course Matt isn't home from college yet, so I was alone to get the big news. 


Sixteen year old Miranda lives a normal life, with normal worries and fears. But then a meteor smashes into the moon with more force than scientists expected. Life will never be the same again. Gas prices skyrocket, the electricity goes on an off, coastal are flooded, volcanoes erupt, there are earthquakes, and people start getting sick. And Miranda is one of the lucky ones. She records all this in her diary.

This book was really sad at times, and it reminded me that though we have relatively stable and safe lives, anything could happen at any moment. Life as We Knew It was super suspenseful, as you journey through these months (May-March) with Miranda and her family as everyone struggles to survive. There is also a sequel, This World We Live In.

Read Life as We Knew It:

• if you like survival stories
• if you like stories about natural disasters
• if you like science fiction set right here on Earth

337 pages.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte

I have just returned from a visit to my landlord- the solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly a beautiful country! In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely removed from the stir of society. 


I loved Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and I can say without a doubt that I loved Wuthering Heights just as much. The Bronte sisters are so talented! I hope to read something by Anne Bronte, the less well known sister, too. Wuthering Heights is about a destructive and consuming love between Heathcliff, an orphan who comes to the mansion of Wuthering Heights, and Cathy, the daughter of the wealthy family that takes him in. They are drawn together as soon as they meet. The novel is narrated partly by Mr. Lockwood, a tenant who meets Heathcliff many years later. His housekeeper, Mrs. Dean, tells him about the events that happened years earlier, making for a gripping, suspenseful, and sad story.

Wuthering Heights is very complex, especially the character of Heathcliff. He's not "good" or "bad"; he's conflicted, a multi-layered character. At times, I sympathized with Heathcliff; at other times, I really hated him. Wuthering Heights is difficult to put into any category. It is realistic, but it also has supernatural beings, with ghosts and graves and a love that transcends time. But it also is a mystery, asking complicated questions. The writing is very old-fashioned, but it's not too overwritten, though I did have a little trouble with some of the Yorkshire dialect. But that occurs very rarely; there's just one minor character who speaks that way.

Read Wuthering Heights:

• if you like Jane Eyre and are looking for a (slightly) more complicated story
• if you like dark, tragic, romance
• if you like supernatural elements in a fairly realistic book
• if you like mysteries
• if you are looking for an interesting classic

406 pages.

 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!

Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury

It was a quiet morning, the town covered over with darkness and at ease in bed. Summer gathered in the weather, the wind had the proper touch, the breathing of the world was long and warm and slow. 


A description of the book from Amazon: Ray Bradbury's moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels. Dandelion Wine stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author's most deeply personal work, a semi-autobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928.

Twelve-year-old Douglas Spaulding knows Green Town, Illinois, is as vast and deep as the whole wide world that lies beyond the city limits. It is a pair of brand-new tennis shoes, the first harvest of dandelions for Grandfather's renowned intoxicant, the distant clang of the trolley's bell on a hazy afternoon. It is yesteryear and tomorrow blended into an unforgettable always. But as young Douglas is about to discover, summer can be more than the repetition of established rituals whose mystical power holds time at bay. It can be a best friend moving away, a human time machine who can transport you back to the Civil War, or a sideshow automaton able to glimpse the bittersweet future.

Come and savor Ray Bradbury's priceless distillation of all that is eternal about boyhood and summer.

Yet Dandelion Wine has a scary side to it as well. In my mind, it's not just a story about one boy's summer, there's always a sense of something just being kept at bay, or maybe it's just Douglas's own uncertainties about his life. I loved the cover of the edition I read and the wonderful title (doesn't dandelion wine just sound great when you say it?) The book had great descriptions of summer in a in idyllic countryside setting. I love books set during the summer; it's such a great time and so much can happen. As Dandelion Wine progresses, Douglas learns more and more about himself and the world around him. Dandelion Wine also chronicles the lives of other people in the town during that summer. 

Read Dandelion Wine:

• if you like Ray Bradbury
• if you like books set in the summer
• if you like books set in the countryside

239 pages.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Flowers for Algernon, Daniel Keyes

Dr. Strauss says I shoud rite down what I think and remembir and evrey thing that happins to me from now on. I dont no why but he says its importint to they will see if they can use me. I hope they use me becaus Miss Kinnian says mabye they can make me smart. 

Charlie Gordon is a mentally disabled man who undergoes an experimental operation to try and make him smarter. In diary entries, he records how his IQ increases and he gets smarter and smarter, until he eventually surpasses even the doctors who did the operation in intelligence. It seems to be a huge medical breakthrough-until Algernon, the super-smart mouse who has had the same operation, begins a sudden deterioration. Will the same thing happen to Charlie?

This a gripping, thrilling ride of a science fiction novel. The best part of it was the way that Charlie's entries progress. At the beginning, he can barely write and has not much understanding of anything. Then, he becomes like a regular person, if slightly below average. Then, he begins to write like the average person, before finally becoming a genius, knowing about ten languages. And then- well, I won't say what happens in the end. But it was a very suspenseful book. One thing, however, that didn't make sense was that the scientists went straight from testing the experiment on a mouse to a human. In real life, I don't think they would do that.

Read Flowers for Algernon:

• if you like science fiction
• if you like stories about enhanced intelligence
• if are interested in science experiments
• if you like suspenseful books

216 pages.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot

They didn't say anything about this in the books, I thought, as the the snow blew in through the gaping doorway and settled on my naked back. 


This is the story of James Herriot, a country veterinarian. Actually, Herriot wrote many books about his experiences, but I think this is the first one. It had a lot of humor in it, from the hilarious (though I'm sure they weren't at the time) procedures that he goes through with different animals, to Siegfried Farnon, the quirky and odd vet who Herriot is assistant too. There were always great descriptions of the English countryside as well as the amusing people who live there. The repartee between Siegfried and his younger brother Tristan as well as between Siegfried and their secretary Miss Harbottle is really side-splitting. Herriot narrates throughout with a typical British humor, though he is fairly cheerful. He describes his various cases and what life is like in the countryside.

Read All Creatures Great and Small:

• if you like animals (particularly farm animals)
• if you like humorous but heartwarming books
• if you are interested in veterinarians

499 pages.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

The Looking Glass Wars, Frank Beddor

The queendom had been enjoying a tentative peace ever since the time, twelve years earlier, when unbridled bloodshed spattered the doorstep of every Wonderlander. The civil war hadn't been the longest in all of recorded history, but no doubt it was one of the bloodiest. 


Alyss Heart, princess of Wonderland and heir to the throne, must flee through the Pool of Tears to escape her murderous aunt Redd who has seized the kingdom. She finds herself in Victorian London. When she is befriended by an author, she tells him her story and hopes that he'll tell the truth so that someone will find her and bring her home. But he gets the story all wrong, even spelling her name incorrectly. but Royal Bodyguard Hatter Madigan has been searching for Alyss, and when she is twenty, he brings her back to take back her kingdom.

I liked this book a lot. It's obviously a play off of Alice in Wonderland and it had a great plot. I liked the way that Beddor made Alyss into a princess from Wonderland who gets lost in England and then returns to her home. There was great magic in this book, as well as wonderful characters. Especially Aunt Redd, the evil queen of hearts. She has this mad air about her that Beddor captured very well. Though the plot device was very familiar (banished princess must take back her queendom), I still really loved it. The Looking Glass Wars kept me reading, and I finished it in a few short hours. There is a sequel too, called Seeing Redd.

Read The Looking Glass Wars:

• if you like Alice in Wonderland
• if you like fantasy stories

358 pages.

 

Outstanding Book That Will Stay On My Bookshelf For Rereading (jf I own it)!