Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Another one bites the dust. But this time, it isn't completely my fault as I'm usually not this fast of a reader. Coraline is only about 160-some pages long and it is intended for a younger audience. But it was written by Neil Gaiman so for that reason alone I say that it should be on everyone's reading list.

Coraline is about a little girl named ... well, you know. She is at that point of summer break where you have read all the books, watched all the TV you can stand and even outside adventure doesn't hold the same fascination. Her new neighbors are odd and she suspects, a little crazy. One afternoon, she discovers a door that opens up to a brick wall. Later, when she opens it again, it leads to another apartment just like her own with an Other Mother and an Other Father. They want her to stay and be their little girl. They will love her, play with her and give her everything she ever wanted. When Coraline says no, the Other Mother parent-naps her real parents and she now has to fight to free them and herself from the evil woman's clutches.

This book was so cool. It had moments that were so super creepy that I couldn't imagine reading it to any kid under the age of 12. There were also moments so beautiful and engaging that make you want to read it over and over again. Coraline as a character rang very true to me. She was a smart kid but with a few bratty tendencies and I don't mean that in a bad way. It is just the natural way they deal with the whole growing up situation we were all forced to go through. Any kid that is written all saccharine, charming and self-sacrificing has not spent enough time around children. Plus it had a cool cat. I've been around so many dog people for so long that I'd forgotten how cool cats can be. (I really should revisit my Tanya Huff books.)

Anyway, as you can tell, I liked it. Loved it. Highly recommend to everyone. Some younger kids might find it scary but if they can read Harry Potter, they will have no problems with this one.

The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

I really didn't think I'd be setting down to write another review so soon. Yesterday, my apartment was unblessedly hot and it was the perfect excuse to be lazy. Nothing is nicer than spending an afternoon with a book and only pausing to make passion fruit snow cones to help keep cool. I also paused here and there to do a few chores but only enough to keep myself from feeling too guilty over my idleness.

Anyway, yesterday's book was The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler. Now this isn't exactly something I'd pick out for myself to read normally. But it was the next selection for my work book club and we needed something lighter after The Kite Runner (extremely excellent book that should be required reading for anyone who can read.) The Jane Austen Book Club is about a group of women and one guy who get together to discuss…. wait for it… wait for it… can you guess?... the books by Jane Austen. (Yeah, the heat is getting to my so-called sense of humour.) Anywho, the book is broken up in six chapters and each chapter focuses on the character who is the one hosting that month's meeting. We get to learn about that person's past, their present and what problems are currently vexing them at the moment with a general sense of Austen sprinkled in the air.

I like Jane Austen even though I can only claim to have read one of her books (Pride and Prejudice) but I've seen the movies which is a help when reading this book. Otherwise, I would have hated it. We don't get to feel like we really get to know the members of the book club. We don't get to understand why they make the decisions they do. But it does raise some interesting questions about marriage and some of the reasons why people marry or not. For me, the greatest literary mystery is why Charlotte marries Mr. Collins in P&P. Here, a theory is given that perhaps Charlotte was gay and therefore didn't want to hold out for something better. As theories go, it isn't too bad and so far the best explanation as to why she would enter a marriage with the man that never ceases to grate on my nerves.

I didn't hate it. I found it a little too predictable and to be honest, I enjoyed Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants more as an entertaining summer read. But if you love Jane Austen, you should give it a try and let me know how you felt about it. I just ended up feeling a little blah. (So blah that I can't even muster much snark for this review.) Enjoyed it while I was reading it but once it gets placed on the bookshelf, I doubt I'll think about it much after that. Which is annoying, I'll have to reread before my book club meets to come up with some insightful remarks.

Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris

Just finished Dead to the World by Charlaine Harris. Another Sookie Stackhouse book from her Dead series. Sookie, poor girl, is telepathic and lives in a small characteristic Southern town. This one focuses a lot on Eric, the vampire... now that Sookie has broken up with Bill, the vampire, she is a single woman who finds that she's missing the sex. Eric, found along side the road without any memory of who he is, hides out at Sookie's for protection from the witches who did this to him. Then Sookie's brother goes missing which is another major mystery... is it connected to Eric's brain mishap? I can't tell you! You will have to read it to find out.

That is a horribly written summary of a book I actually enjoyed. For me, it is like brain candy... except the good kind of candy that doesn't add pounds to your butt. But this was a nice read, not too angsty, not too heavy. Sookie isn't like another heroine of vamp books who spends half of the plot justifying her decisions that make her come off as a borderline sociopath while the other half is spent surrounded by the most beautiful men in the universe. (It is the men part that make me feel less sympathetic to that character.) Sookie seems alone most of the time... she is the one who has to go beyond the call of duty but always without crossing the line to superhuman. She doesn't have ever-escalating special powers that make you wonder if putting her out of her misery wouldn't be a gift to humanity. (Maybe I'm too mean.) Sookie seems to have a soul that is bothered by the same things we are all troubled by... except she gets to play with vamps, weres, shifters... etc.

Anyway... I enjoyed and recommend.