Top Ten Most Unique Books

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created at The Broke and the Bookish.

List by Danielle

1. The Giver - It seems pretty cliche now, but back in 1993 when dystopian novels meant Nineteen Eighty-Four or Brave New World? The Giver blew my adolescent mind. Nowadays, every other book uses a totalitarian government as a metaphor for the importance of the individual, but this was the first time that lesson had been aimed at me. Very impactful and unique.

2. Cinnamon and Gunpowder - I love a book I can’t pin down. Part travelogue/foodlogue, part epistolary romance, part historical action adventure, I’ve never read a book told in quite the same way.

3.The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - No one does it like Adams.

4. Mistborn - This book has one of the most fleshed out, interesting magic systems in fantasy. The only things that come close are the shard-systems in other Sanderson books. 

5. A Game of Thrones - While the worldbuilding and writing aren’t unique, I can’t deny the effect (19 year old spoilers!) Ned’s death had on the genre. It was certainly the first time I’d had to experience the death of the main character and it painted fantasy in shades of grey forever.

6. Beyond Heaving Bosoms - This book is an absolutely hilarious dissection of the romance novel genre. It’s insanely smart and insightful and it features MadLibs and a board game.

7. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - I didn’t love this one, but what it tried to do was so interesting. The book combines vintage photos with a supernatural plot to build something atmospheric and downright creepy.

8. Cruel Beauty - For a book that’s got a LOT of inspirations, (Beauty and the Beast, Bluebeard, and multiple Greek myths,) Cruel Beauty is undeniably distinct in the YA retellings genre and fantasy in general. 

9. Husbands - How often do we get a novel, or in this case a gorgeous graphic novel, about gay characters who aren’t struggling with being gay? This is a completely domestic look at a gay couple dealing with ordinary relationship issues. And that’s unique.

10. The Monster at the End of this Book - There’s a monster at the end of my list! But if we stop reading, the end never comes and there will be no monster. 

Oops, that actually was the end of the list. But that’s OK, because Grover.

Book Tour Review: Nights in Shanghai by Nicole Mones

Title: Night in Shanghai
Author: Nicole Mones
Genre: historical fiction
Series: N/A
Pages: 288
Published: March 4 2014
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for review
Rating: 3/5

In 1936, classical pianist Thomas Greene is recruited to Shanghai to lead a jazz orchestra of fellow African-American expats. From being flat broke in segregated Baltimore to living in a mansion with servants of his own, he becomes the toast of a city obsessed with music, money, pleasure and power, even as it ignores the rising winds of war.

Song Yuhua is refined, educated, and bonded since age eighteen to Shanghai’s most powerful crime boss in payment for her father’s gambling debts. Outwardly submissive, she burns with rage and risks her life spying on her master for the Communist Party.

Only when Shanghai is shattered by the Japanese invasion do Song and Thomas find their way to each other. Though their union is forbidden, neither can back down from it in the turbulent years of occupation and resistance that follow. Torn between music and survival, freedom and commitment, love and world war, they are borne on an irresistible riff of melody and improvisation to Night in Shanghai’s final, impossible choice.

In this impressively researched novel, Nicole Mones not only tells the forgotten story of black musicians in the Chinese Jazz age, but also weaves in a stunning true tale of Holocaust heroism little-known in the West.

Showcasing an interesting and vibrant setting of 1930's Shanghai, Nicole Mones's Night in Shanghai is a detailed and well-written piece of historical fiction. Thomas Greene makes for an unlikely protagonist, but as Mones shows throughout the novel, Shanghai in the 1930s was an unusual place, full of tensions and Concessions, Nationalists, Communists, Triad members, jazz players, and foreigners. A lot of the story in Night in Shanghai is concerned with shedding light on little known historical events (like the Chinese jazz era, or the resettling of European Jews in Western China), and Mones does so with aplomb.

Thomas Greene and Song Yuhua were well-constructed and three-dimensional characters, but I never really grew to care about either of them. Thomas had potential at the early stages of the novel, but his attitude grew increasingly thin on my nerves before long. It wasn't that either of the two were boring or undeveloped as protagonists -- I just personally never invested in either's story or evolution throughout Night in Shanghai. The ill-fated romance angle also fell flat for me, though Du Yueshang was the most compelling person in the story. I wish the novel had allowed more time with her as an important character. It just happens that I was far more interested in the setting than I ever was in the characters operating in it.

This novel made me curious about the era of jazz popularity in China, which the book uses to explore and showcase how different Shanghai was from expectations. Like the refugees, African American Thomas can find unprecedented freedom in the Chinese city, but it is an imperfect place, with the external threats of the Japanese to compete with the internal civil war between Nationalists and Communists. It's a fascinating time and place in history, and the author shows that clearly. Daniel Kalla's The Far Side of the Sky also explored Jewish European refugees in China, but Mones does so with more authority and care here. The two elements (jazz and refugees) might not sound like they balance each other, but they do so rather well. 

Night in Shanghai was a bit of a struggle for me since I lacked a personal interest in the characters, but I cannot deny that the setting and atmosphere were vibrant from the beginning. This is an author that can veer a bit dry, but the details are magnificent and create an encompassing scenario for the characters to interact within.

Bookish Arrivals!

I had a lot of fun books -- one anticipated for years! -- come in, so this was a fun few weeks checking the mail.

I pre-ordered this a year ago, and it was finally published. There's nothing like a new Sanderson epic fantasy and Words of Radiance is just as good as Way of Kings was four years ago.

From TLC Book Tours for Review:

The Collector of Dying Breaths by M.J. Rose - Reincarnationist #6

The  most recent effort in Rose's story about reincarnation and perfume continues with a new murder and mystery. All in a day's work for Jac L'Etoile.

From Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours:

The Queen's Exiles by Barbara Kyle - Thornleigh #6

This is the latest in Kyle's long-running Thornleigh series. I have yet to read this one, but I liked the one before it. 

From the wonderful people at Macmillan:

One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva -- looks beyond adorable, right?

On The Road to Find Out by Rachel Toor -- sounds like a good coming-of-age story.

 And then there was this box of wonderful from Henry Holt/Macmillan:

and insiiiiiiide.....

 

That's a Ruin and Rising sampler and three Shadow and Bone-scented candles. It's lovely and pretty and smells wonderful.

And some books I was sent/bought when out in Phoenix:

Gifted:  

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green -- given by a friend when she realized I had never read it. My record with him is spotty (one four star, two three stars, one two star) so who knows how I will like this.

Bought:

India Black and the Gentleman Thief by Carol K. Carr (India Black #4) --- the latest in one of my very favorite series, so I had to rush out and buy it. It's my next me-read and I am beyond keen to get to it.

Honor's Knight by Rachel Bach (Paradox #2) -- I had just read/reviewed and loved this, so owning my own physical copy was a must.

Sent:

Night in Shanghai by Nicole Mones -- this is for another HFVBT tour and the cover for it is just lovely. I have this up soon, so expect a review in the next few days.

Bought:

Malice by John Gwynne (The Faithful and the Fallen #1) -- rec'd to me by an in-store employee when he caught me eyeing.... (and then buying)....

The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne #1). Danielle read this and her review convinced me I needed to try it.

Lionheart by Sharon Kay Penman (Plantagenets #4) -- an absolute impulse buy because I found it for $5 and have heard great things about her historical fiction.

I have to admit the Grisha box is possbily the coolest bookish thing I have received -- even beating out The Winner's Curse and its awesome packaging. Both of which were from Macmillan, who is OBVIOUSLY killing it with the publicity.

What are your new books? Anything fun? Anyone else finished with Words of Radiance so I can discuss and obsess with them over it?!

Review: Sunrise by Mike Mullin

Title: Sunrise
Author: Mike Mullins
Genre: post apocalyptic, ya
Series: Ashfall #3
Pages: 466
Published: Expected April 15, 2014
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

The Yellowstone supervolcano nearly wiped out the human race. Now, almost a year after the eruption, the survivors seem determined to finish the job. Communities wage war on each other, gangs of cannibals roam the countryside, and what little government survived the eruption has collapsed completely. The ham radio has gone silent. Sickness, cold, and starvation are the survivors' constant companions.

When it becomes apparent that their home is no longer safe and adults are not facing the stark realities, Alex and Darla must create a community that can survive the ongoing disaster, an almost impossible task requiring even more guts and more smarts than ever — and unthinkable sacrifice. If they fail . . . they, their loved ones, and the few remaining survivors will perish.

This epic finale has the heart of Ashfall, the action of Ashen Winter, and a depth all its own, examining questions of responsibility and bravery, civilization and society, illuminated by the story of an unshakable love that transcends a post-apocalyptic world and even life itself.

Reviewed by Danielle. 

For a book that started off so slow and disconnected, I ended up loving the finale to the Ashfall series. That’s good, because getting there was something of a slog.

Where Ashfall and Ashen Winter were very linear, quest driven stories, Sunrise is more...open world. It’s much harder to sum up the plot, because a lot of things happen on a very surface level. That leads to the weird disconnected feeling I mentioned. I didn’t feel like events were properly delved into. Part of that is because Sunrise covers a much longer stretch of time than the first two books combined. Where their journeys took a few months, this book covers two and a half years of societal breakdown.

We pick up right after AW, with the townspeople marching to take back Warren. It goes poorly. I hope you weren’t attached to anyone. But while we witness the atrocities committed by Red and the Stocktonites, we don’t get to linger or mourn them. Characters die and that’s sad and kind of affects the rest of the group, but despite hearing that Mom’s got PTSD and someone’s kids are now orphans, I never felt the horror. Bad stuff piles and piles, forcing characters to take on different roles and move and starve, but again, it’s glossed over. Spoilers:

For example, Darla and Alex both lose a hand for thievery. This is horrible and traumatic and extremely hard to read. They’re stripped naked and left to wander back to the homestead, wounded and freezing. They almost die in an emotional way. When they do make it back, they both lose toes to frostbite. Darla especially suffers from depression and possible PTSD as she can no longer work on her machines one handed.

Alex suggests she make them hooks. She does. They become amazing with the hooks and never struggle again. Their missing toes are never mentioned. This takes about two chapters.


However, after the event of the spoiler, I felt like the plot really steadied. There were still some weird things that didn’t particularly work or were even explained, (issues with Alex’s mom, a lot of people from the last books popping up,) but the establishment of the town gave the characters something to strive towards. I loved seeing Alex grow up and become a leader. The second election is a really great scene that shows how far he’s come.

The relationship between Alex and Darla continues to be stand out. I love her so much and it’s beautiful to see two people come together under such terrible circumstances. The final scene with the sunrise is perfect and elevates the whole book. Some people may find parts of their relationship hokey, but I liked the wedding as a symbol that life is going on. (The sex plot remains pretty silly. I refuse to believe that two late teen/early twenty-somethings don’t at least try coitus interruptus on their wedding night. Come on now.)

There’s good in Sunrise. I love the rebuilding of society. I love the longhouse and the windmills and the snipers nests. I love the expeditions to find supplies. I love the exchange program. I love seeing the politics come full circle. Unfortunately, that’s all in the second half of the book. The first half is bad decisions, pushing luck, and misery porn. The Ashfall series was never fun, but when it gets to the point of the Reds and eating dog food and boiled belts? I don’t want to read that. If you can stick with it through the bad, it’s a good ending, but I also don’t blame you if you can’t.

Book Tour Review: The Enchanted by Rene Denfeld

Title: The Enchanted
Author: Rene Denfeld
Genre: general fiction, magical realism
Series: N/A
Pages: 256
Published: March 4 2014
Source: TLC Book Tours for review
Rating: 2.5/5

A wondrous and redemptive debut novel, set in a stark world where evil and magic coincide, The Enchanted combines the empathy and lyricism of Alice Sebold with the dark, imaginative power of Stephen King.

"This is an enchanted place. Others don't see it, but I do."

The enchanted place is an ancient stone prison, viewed through the eyes of a death row inmate who finds escape in his books and in re-imagining life around him, weaving a fantastical story of the people he observes and the world he inhabits. Fearful and reclusive, he senses what others cannot. Though bars confine him every minute of every day, he marries magical visions of golden horses running beneath the prison, heat flowing like molten metal from their backs, with the devastating violence of prison life.

Two outsiders venture here: a fallen priest, and the Lady, an investigator who searches for buried information from prisoners' pasts that can save those soon-to-be-executed. Digging into the background of a killer named York, she uncovers wrenching truths that challenge familiar notions of victim and criminal, innocence and guilt, honor and corruption-ultimately revealing shocking secrets of her own.

Beautiful and transcendent, The Enchanted reminds us of how our humanity connects us all, and how beauty and love exist even amidst the most nightmarish reality.

The Enchanted is a story of examining some of life's small horrors. It's the horror of lives wasted or taken, of inhuman acts and lifetimes of punishment. The close look into the lives of society's outcasts and modern, every-day villains. It is a different novel, giving voice to the voiceless, often through unnamed narrators. The fiction debut for this author, The Enchanted is evocative and memorable, but stumbles when it comes to other elements of the execution.

I needed to digest and think once I finished this short but mentally exhausting novel. Denfeld can undoubtedly write, and write well, but truth be told, this is a dark and somewhat scattered narrative. It's not easy reading, and it won't be a book for everyone. The content is too unsettling for mass appeal, but Denfeld's talent is undeniable. She is an author that can turn a phrase, but the content of The Enchanted is so unfocused and almost plotless, that lovely prose means little when judged against the meandering bigger picture. 

I'm never a fan of books that choose to change from first person to third person for various characters. It always interrupts the flow of the novel and highlights the artificiality of the story being told. It's disruptive, and I found it so here. You never really get to know the characters on a personal basis, so the remoteness of the 3rd person narration feels unnecessary. The only way readers know whose story (in the 3rd person) they are reading is from the labels "the lady" "the warden" "the boy with white hair" that pepper the narrative.

Books that tackle difficult characters and themes are nothing new, but The Enchanted does little with its characters but try to shock readers with a "real" picture of life inside. It's not that the book needs to be sanitized or censored from harsh realities of life incarcerated, but it is nearly unrelentingly dark and painful. It's not a book you can actively enjoy, exactly. No one has a good lot in their lifestory, random innocents are murdered, kids are murdered and abused... it's so dark you can miss the few flashes of light that do pop up in the narrative.

The Enchanted is an unsettling, though beautifully written, book. Author Rene Denfeld is not afraid to explore the darkest corners of modern human society and the resulting work of fiction is a stark and unflinching story. It won't be a bestseller, but it might make readers think a bit.

DNF Round Up for March

I feel like I didn't get a lot accomplished in March, numbers wise (read OR reviewed). I did, however read my biggest book of the year so far -- Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance. That said, here are the few DNFs that littered my reading for the third month of the year.


The Queen's Handmaid by Tracy L. Higley - ARC provided by publishers for review

From the servant halls of Cleopatra’s Egyptian palace to the courts of Herod the Great, Lydia will serve two queens to see prophecy fulfilled.

Alexandria, Egypt 39 BC

Orphaned at birth, Lydia was raised as a servant in Cleopatra's palace, working hard to please while keeping everyone at arm's length. She's been rejected and left with a broken heart too many times in her short life.

But then her dying mentor entrusts her with secret writings of the prophet Daniel and charges her to deliver this vital information to those watching for the promised King of Israel. Lydia must leave the nearest thing she’s had to family and flee to Jerusalem. Once in the Holy City, she attaches herself to the newly appointed king, Herod the Great, as handmaid to Queen Mariamme.

Trapped among the scheming women of Herod’s political family—his sister, his wife, and their mothers—and forced to serve in the palace to protect her treasure, Lydia must deliver the scrolls before dark forces warring against the truth destroy all hope of the coming Messiah.

DNF'd at: 55/400 or 13% 

Why?

Somehow (possibly in my excitement for an ancient Egyptian historical fiction) I TOTALLY missed that this was a Christian fiction novel. That's a big no no for me, and the repeated religious references showed me my veeeery error early on. I had no real issue with the prose or style other than the overt religiousness, so I don't see why fans of that sort of book wouldn't enjoy this. Just not a book for me.


Salvage by Alexandra Duncan - ARC provided by publishers for review

Ava, a teenage girl living aboard the male-dominated deep space merchant ship Parastrata, faces betrayal, banishment, and death. Taking her fate into her own hands, she flees to the Gyre, a floating continent of garbage and scrap in the Pacific Ocean, in this thrilling, surprising, and thought-provoking debut novel that will appeal to fans of Across the Universe, by Beth Revis, and The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood.

Ava is the captain's daughter. This allows her limited freedoms and a certain status in the Parastrata's rigid society-but it doesn't mean she can read or write or even withstand the forces of gravity. When Ava learns she is to be traded in marriage to another merchant ship, she hopes for the best. After all, she is the captain's daughter. Betrayal, banishment, and a brush with love and death are her destiny instead, and Ava stows away on a mail sloop bound for Earth in order to escape both her past and her future. The gravity almost kills her. Gradually recuperating in a stranger's floating cabin on the Gyre, a huge mass of scrap and garbage in the Pacific Ocean, Ava begins to learn the true meaning of family and home and trust-and she begins to nourish her own strength and soul. This sweeping and harrowing novel explores themes of choice, agency, rebellion, and family and, after a tidal wave destroys the Gyre and all those who live there, ultimately sends its main character on a thrilling journey to Mumbai, the beating heart of Alexandra Duncan's post-climate change Earth.

DNF'd at: 135/520* or 25%

Why?

*My egalley expired. Granted, I had taken more than a week to read that lowly 135 pages, but I was trying to continue. Salvage can boast some pretty prose, but it's almost interminably slow-going. It's a book that needs the right mood, which is why, for me, this is a DNF For Now. I can see myself trying this again on a day when a slow feminist YA sounds perfect. But that day is not this day.

Sea of Shadows by Kelly Armstrong - ARC provided by publisher

In the Forest of the Dead, where the empire’s worst criminals are exiled, twin sisters Moria and Ashyn are charged with a dangerous task. For they are the Keeper and the Seeker, and each year they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned.

Only this year, the souls will not be quieted.

Ambushed and separated by an ancient evil, the sisters’ journey to find each other sends them far from the only home they’ve ever known. Accompanied by a stubborn imperial guard and a dashing condemned thief, the girls cross a once-empty wasteland, now filled with reawakened monsters of legend, as they travel to warn the emperor. But a terrible secret awaits them at court—one that will alter the balance of their world forever.

DNF'd at: 210/400 or 52%

Why?

I was bored. The book is plodding, bland, lifeless. The pacing is so slow as to be nonexistent, the character are devoid of any kind of charisma or personality. The plot seems to be totally comprised of cliches and wholly unmemorable. 

Strange Sweet Song by Adi Rule - ARC provided by publishers

A young soprano enrolls in a remote music academy where nothing, not even her mysterious young vocal coach, is as it seems.

Outside Dunhammond Conservatory, there lies a dark forest. And in the forest, they say, lives a great beast called the Felix. But Sing da Navelli never put much faith in the rumors and myths surrounding the school; music flows in her blood, and she is there to sing for real. This prestigious academy will finally give her the chance to prove her worth—not as the daughter of world-renowned musicians—but as an artist and leading lady in her own right.

Yet despite her best efforts, there seems to be something missing from her voice. Her doubts about her own talent are underscored by the fact that she is cast as the understudy in the school's production of her favorite opera, Angelique. Angelique was written at Dunhammond, and the legend says that the composer was inspired by forest surrounding the school, a place steeped in history, magic, and danger. But was it all a figment of his imagination, or are the fantastic figures in the opera more than imaginary?

Sing must work with the mysterious Apprentice Nathan Daysmoor as her vocal coach, who is both her harshest critic and staunchest advocate. But Nathan has secrets of his own, secrets that are entwined with the myths and legends surrounding Dunhammond, and the great creature they say lives there.

Lyrical, gothic, and magical, Strange Sweet Song by Adi Rule will captivate and enchant readers.

DNF'd at: 100/336 or 29%

Why:

Just not my type of book. There's an evocative atmosphere, but the writing style is too scattered and meandering for me. It feels and reads like a debut novel, and I just wasn't invested enough to see where it all ended up in 240 pages.

Review: The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski

Title: The Winner's Curse
Author: Marie Rutkoski
Genre: fantasy, young adult
Series: Winner's Curse Trilogy #1
Pages: 355
Published: March 4 2014
Source: I received an ARC from MacMillan Publishers for review
Rating: 3.75/5

Winning what you want may cost you everything you love.

As a general’s daughter in a vast empire that revels in war and enslaves those it conquers, seventeen-year-old Kestrel has two choices: she can join the military or get married. But Kestrel has other intentions. One day, she is startled to find a kindred spirit in a young slave up for auction.

Arin’s eyes seem to defy everything and everyone. Following her instinct, Kestrel buys him—with unexpected consequences. It’s not long before she has to hide her growing love for Arin. But he, too, has a secret, and Kestrel quickly learns that the price she paid for a fellow human is much higher than she ever could have imagined.

Set in a richly imagined new world, The Winner’s Curse by Marie Rutkoski is a story of deadly games where everything is at stake, and the gamble is whether you will keep your head or lose your heart.

When I wanted to be so many other things for The Winner's Curse, for the most part I am just ...whelmed.. by it. I mean, don't get me wrong -- it's not a bad book by any means. It has several strengths to recommend it (intriguing world building, creative and original plot/plot complications, strong main characters) but for me, it was another case of the potential exceeding the execution as well as being an (admittedly well-written) romance masquerading as a fantasy. And that, I think, is the heart of why I didn't love this and can't rate it higher than a 3.75/5.

While I enjoyed this story, I never felt any strong emotions about what was happening over the course of the narrative. I liked Kestrel and the fact that she was shown to be many things (including militarily competent and feminine), but it was a distant sort of character investment. She's a complex mix of many characteristics, but I never truly cared for her, feared for her, felt for her. The same is true of Arin, the love interest, but to a lesser degree. Though given less to work with (due to the nature of his role in the story) than his counterpart, Arin's quiet stoicism and anger were much more personally compelling, due to his personal history.

The Winner's Curse is an obviously clever novel. The ill-fated romance angle so beloved in YA novels has an entirely new angle to play with in Kestrel and Arin's volatile situation. The connection between the two, be it harmonious or acrimonious, drives much of the plot for the novel, as it evolves into far more than a master-slave relationship. If you like complicated love stories (see: Akiva and Karou, Jon Snow and Ygritte) where the line between enemy and friend grow confused, the parallels here will likely involve you. Her people may have brutally conquered his when they were kids, but his betrayal is on a smaller, personal level.

For all that this is being labelled as a epic fantasy, it seems to be a rather on the "low fantasy" end of the spectrum as opposed to epic or high fantasy. The worldbuilding is minimal, there is little to no magic/power system, the total human dominance of the population, and it lacks the narrative definition about whether the planet depicted is a fictional world, or a different stage of Earth itself. Everyone identifies genres differently, but for me, that lands The Winner's Curse solidly in the low fantasy camp. This isn't a slight, but genre fans like me who go in looking for that type of fantasy are not going to find it here.

Clearly, after successes like Maas' Throne of Glass/Crown of Midnight and the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo, various types of young adult fantasy on the rise. It's a more than welcome new trend if it keeps turning out gems like Rutkoski's first in a series. It's especially nice to see three-dimensional female characters being represented so heavily as well -- Kestrel is welcome addition to the Celaenas, Aileanas, Seraphinas, Quintanas and Alinas she shares genre space with. And while it maaay have been a tad overhyped for me, there is still a lot to enjoy about The Winner's Curse.

I am very interested in continuing to see what Rutkoski is shaping up after that ending. Book two promises to be very..... riveting.