There's Never Enough Money For Books

Sometimes I feel as though I have two distinct blogging selves: the nerdy, YA-bookish half and the laid-back, adrenaline-junkie skydiving half.

I’ve given my skydiving self some good blog time, so I figure I’ll let the YA-bookish self come out to play. I have read a lot of new books in the past few weeks and I ought to review them for you.

Last week I spent the last of my birthday gift card and within two days, had already finished the entire stash of new books (in addition to re-reading all 7 million pages of the GEMMA DOYLE trilogy by Libba Bray). Reviews of the last two to follow.

Review of HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE by Diana Wynne Jones

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Sarah Rees Brennan is a huge fan of Diana Wynne Jones, and as we all know, anything Rees Brennan says is law. I am rather ashamed to say I never read any of her work and Rees Brennan is rather fond of HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE. Fortunately for me, HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE was on the shelf at the bookstore. Unfortunately, it was the only one of Wynne Jones’s work in stock. (Travesty! Now that I know the brilliance of Diana Wynne Jones, that is.)

Although I have never seen Miyazaki’s anime film, as I was reading, I could completely see why he would choose to adapt it. There is a lot of whimsy in HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE, but there’s also an unconventional romance, enchanted characters, people bespelled to look like other people, inanimate objects coming to life, a floating, multi-dimensional castle, etc. However, I feel in Miyazaki’s hands, the story would become something otherworldly and ethereal, whereas it’s just pure awesome in Wynne Jones.

Sophie Hatter is the eldest of three lovely girls whose father has passed away, leaving them in a tight financial situation. In fairy tales, the youngest daughter is the one to make her fortune and so it also goes in the land of Ingary. Each of the Hatter daughters are placed in situations as befitting her birth status. Martha, the youngest, is sent to become a witch’s apprentice to make her fortune while Lettie, the middle daughter (and the prettiest) works at a popular bakery so that she may attract a suitable husband. As the eldest, Sophie is resigned to the most tedious fate, and indeed, she is picked to become her father’s successor at his millinery shoppe.

All goes well until she accidentally gets on the bad side of the Witch of the Waste, who curses her with old age. Now in the body of a 90 year old, Sophie decides to set out to find her fortune, as well as a way to lift the spell. She crosses paths with the fearsome Wizard Howl, who is reputed to eat the hearts of maidens and other horrible terrors. As she is no longer a young maiden, Sophie is not afraid and marches right up to the wizard’s floating castle, becoming friends with Howl’s fire demon Calcifer and becoming Howl’s housekeeper in the bargain. But there are secrets about Howl and the castle that are slowly being revealed and Sophie must discover what binds Calcifer and Howl together before Howl succumbs to a curse set on him by the Witch of the Waste.

That is possibly one of the worst synopses I’ve ever written and it does no justice to the book. It is absolutely delightful in every sense of the word. It’s funny, sweet, and earnest and it takes nearly every fantasy cliché and neatly turns them on their heads. I particularly loved Sophie, who is a pragmatic young woman and an even more pragmatic old lady. Sophie as an old woman is rather hysterical, and it’s a testament to Wynne Jones that I slowly cease to remember her age as the book progresses. Howl too, is wonderful: he is vain, self-centered, somewhat absentminded about important things, and a “slither-outer”, as Sophie puts it. He is a slippery character to describe, but I loved him anyway.

I would absolutely recommend this one. Go! Run! Buy! Borrow from the library! I must hunt down more Diana Wynne Jones now.

Review of SHIVER by Maggie Stiefvater

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater

So I’ve mentioned my fatigue with the paranormal, placing a moratorium on vampires in particular. Werewolves and fairies were also veering dangerously near saturation point, especially if they involved love stories.

Well, leave it to Maggie Stiefvater to make me eat my words. Well, on the werewolf love story, anyway.

Every winter Grace keeps looks out for the wolves behind her house, especially her wolf, a yellow-eyed male who saved her from a vicious wolf attack when she was young. Ever since the attack, she’s felt a kinship with him and nothing pleases her more than to watch him watching her.

Sam is the yellow-eyed wolf that rescued Grace when she was young. He is also a yellow-eyed boy. Sam is a werewolf, who changes from boy to wolf with the advent of winter. He has loved Grace ever since he saved her and longs to be with her, to tell her what he is, to have her see Sam.

Against all odds, Grace and Sam find each other, but it is a race against the coming cold. Werewolf changes are triggered by the seasons, but more chilling than the bite of winter is the possibility that this change is the last for Sam. As werewolves age, they change back to humans later and later until one year, they remain a wolf forever. Grace and Sam must discover a cure, or else remain apart for the rest of their lives.

Guh. That is about the only word I can use to describe this book. I’m not big on romance novels, although I am huge fan of romance in general, but SHIVER absolutely made my heart ache. In a good way. The longing between Grace and Sam is practically palpable as you read the book and the entire novel is just drenched with tension and poignant moments. It doesn’t hurt that Stiefvater’s prose is gorgeous, and her characters are real and believable, both as teenagers and as people. I want to press this novel into the hands of every girl who loves TWILIGHT and say, “NO, READ THIS. THIS IS SO MUCH BETTER. YOU ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT THESE PEOPLE.”

It’s impossible to emphasize how lovely this book is. I think SHIVER would dovetail nicely into the TWILIGHT demographic; the love story is epic. Well, not epic in the sense that Grace and Sam’s love moves mountains or saves the world, but each page practically quivers with desire. Gaah.

I can’t praise this one enough. Recommended, recommended, recommended.

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