Top Ten Tuesday #4

Alright, so it has been a long while. Summer is not my best time; neither is during the school year. I am thinking about this blog, though. And I will continue to post sporadically until I can put myself on my feet and get to work.

So, without further notice...

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic: "Top Ten Books of 2015 (thus far)". I am actually only going to post 5, because it's after 9pm right now.




1. The Black Butler manga series by Yana Toboso.

Yes, manga totally counts. I've only read through Book 7, due to slight difficulty finding them, but they are amazing. Sort of supernatural Artemis Fowl set in Victorian London. But it stands quite unique, with its own charms!

2. The Wish List by Eoin Colfer.

I absolutely LOVE this standalone novel. Yes, it is by the Artemis Fowl author. The style is so Colfer, and the characters so outstanding, that this book is definitely one of my greater favorites.

3. Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon.

I found this book in the library, and it looked kind of cute, so I picked it up. And I am so glad I did. The characters are fabulous, the play on stereotypes witty and amusing, and the plot is just perfectly paced and executed.

4. The Full Metal Alchemist manga series by Hiromu Arakawa.

Yes, another manga series. The library near my college has the full set, but here in my hometown I only managed to grab books 1-6. Definitely a good read, though, and perfectly balanced between fun and serious. (I am not as fond of the anime TV show, the first season of which you can find on Netflix. But that is mainly because I don't like the voice actor for the main character. He doesn't sound... like how I imagined the main character should sound.)

5. The Big Over Easy and The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde.

This one's cheating just a bit, since I read the Big Over Easy back in high school. I did read the sequel, the Fourth Bear, for the first time. Both are bizarrely excellent, with its witty humor, plays on literary works, and unnecessarily (and amusingly) complicated plots.





Alright, that's my list. What's yours like? Feel free to comment!

Have a blessed day!

All About Character: On Theodosia

Let me tell you a little something about characters: the story is all about them. People force me to read literary fiction in classrooms, but that is the reason no one my age reads any more (besides people like me). Literary fiction about how it is written, not the main subjects of the story.

And so, this is why I feel the need to talk about my favorite stories characters. Because sometimes, main character or not, "likeable" or not, I need to express the warmth and love that fills my mind when I read good characters.

R.L. Lafevers -- yes, the author of Grave Mercy -- wrote Theodosia and the Serpents of Chaos, which kickstarts the series of a young, curious girl prodigy whose main job is to take curses off of ancient Egyptian artifacts.

Theodosia... she's the girl I wish I was. At eleven years old, she juggles secret societies and vile magic and parents who simply don't understand. She doesn't whine or complain, even though this is the early 1900s and she is expected to behave in a more "polite" manner than sleeping in a sarcophagus and pattering about her father's museum. She rolls up her sleeves and gets to work, researching (in dusty old tomes) or collecting wax (it soaks up curses pretty well) or avoiding trouble (which, of course, always seeks her out).

What I love about Theodosia is her voice. Not old beyond her years, weighed down by her important duties; but not frivolous and empty-headed, like the girls in that boarding school her parents neglected to send her back to. She gets exasperated by the adults around her. She is wise enough not to elaborate on her role in keeping her parents safe from the magic her mother brings back from archaeological expeditions. She has her own scientific methods for getting rid of the curses.

Of course, I am neck-deep in Book 4. But I will focus on Book 1, the Serpents of Chaos. Theo, as she's sometimes called, has no qualms about looking peculiar. She's entirely unafraid of meeting new people, but loves her time researching in the museum's library. In fact, she creates a network of allies to help keep her (relatively) safe and informed.

I am not entirely sure I would be as level-headed if I were in Theodosia's position. This is what I love about her. She meets a secret society and holds a powerful Heart of Egypt amulet, and she doesn't bat an eye. The Serpents of Chaos, as they're called, steal the amulet, but Theo has A Plan. And it doesn't involve returning it to her mother, where it might get stolen again.

Of course, the other secret society she meets (for one secret society is just never enough) is on the side of "good." The Chosen Brotherhood takes curses off of objects as well, but none of them have the same ability to sense it as Theo does. And they help her out, a little, but Theo stands on her own. She creates her own plans, and implements them.

I guess, if I'm being honest, I love Theo's abilities as well. I mean, how amazing and dangerous and exciting is the ability to detect Egyptian curses? And she doesn't just guess; she's not new to this ability. She rolls up her sleeves and applies her First Level Test (wax) and Second Level Test (moonlight) to determine what the curses, she researches how to get rid of it, and performs spells with leftover bits and pieces (of gold wire, chips of red stone, colorful thread, and more). Fantasy stimulates my imagination more than almost any other type of fiction, and Ancient Egypt captures my attention more than almost any other time and place.

Theo has flaws, of course, but I find myself not caring. She can be a bit bumbling and naive. She can (and does) trust the wrong people, hate the right people, and sometimes botch up her relationship to her parents or her younger brother. But she's eleven. She is allowed to be human, in all of that complicated mess of dealing with other people.

Most of all, I think, Theo is unafraid to be all of the things mentioned above. She is unafraid of being the only one to see curses, of trusting the wrong people, of coming face to face with orders of men dedicated to chaos. She never apologizes for it. And I love her fearlessness, because fear never holds her back from the sort of adventure people love reading about.

If you have never had the pleasure of picking up this book, I recommend it. Theodosia is a complex, confident character, and whether you like Ancient Egypt or not, whether you read fantasy or not, this series is worth reading for her.

Have a blessed day.

Warriors* by Erin Hunter, and a Note of Re-Readng Old Favorites

Warriors: Into the Wild
Fire Alone Can Save Our Clan...
For generations, four clans of wild cats have shared the forest according to the laws laid down by their warrior ancestors.But the Thunderclan cats are in grave danger, and the sinister Shadowclan grows stronger every day. Noble warriors are dying -- and some deaths are more mysterious than others. 
In the midst of this turmoil appears an ordinary house cat named Rusty... who may turn out to be the bravest warrior of them all.

~Print copy, 272 pages (Book 1 of the Warriors Saga)
Published: 2003 by HarperTrophy (An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers)

[I apologize for my couple-weeks hiatus. I had a nasty abscess in a *coughcough* nasty place. Couldn't walk without whimpering in pain. But it's mostly cleared up now! Yay and Thank Goodness!]

For those of you who read this blog, you may well know already that I LOVE the Warriors Saga. I've read this series several times -- both the original series, and the New Prophecy series that takes place after the original. I still remember the Christmas morning of fourth grade, nine years old, looking into my stocking and seeing the first two (rather decently small) paperbacks snuggled inside, Warriors boldly printed along the top.

Of course, it's been years since I read the series. High school, and the bright lure of many, many YA novels and series, got in the way of re-reading my old favorites. But this summer I promised myself that I would re-read all six of the original and all six of the New Prophecy series with fresh eyes.

To be honest, I was nervous -- I first read this series in elementary school. I was so much more forgiving and open-minded back then! Now I'm a faintly-cynical teenager with more experience in the realm of bad books!

But, as I've discovered, I have experience with good books, too, and can tell that line where "poor" writing becomes excusable for a good story.

Now I realize that your mind will automatically skip over some types of prose and just visualize it directly. So the old writing adage "show don't tell" doesn't always -- often it DOES, but not ALWAYS -- need to work. The Warriors saga, being the MG it is, does tell emotion a lot, instead of showing it through body language.* And yea, sometimes I wonder why the MC is getting so much respect and special treatment from the Thunderclan leader, but my mind will skip over and visualize the first, and the second has to do with that prophecy in bold up there in the summary.

Warriors: Into the Wild chronicles Rusty the House Cat's journey from human pet through his apprenticeship in ThunderClan, one of the four Great Clans of Cats in the forest outside his human's home. As a kid, I loved the characters most: Rusty, newly named Firepaw, who is dangerously curious and smart; his friend Graypaw, who's a joker but the most loyal of friends; the dignified, ancient leader, Bluestar; and the ambitious warrior Tigerclaw, that classic villain in cat form.

And I still love the characters. Very, very much, in that same way I obsess over Doctor Who, Sherlock, and Artemis Fowl. (Check the Random Fandom board on my Pinterest, up there in the right upper corner of this blog -- that is, if you have hours to spare looking through over 400 pins.)

But now, in high school, after 4 AP (college-level) classes and too much time watching history documentaries, the world itself strikes me. Have you ever noticed that most of the good books seem to have a choice in them -- Divergent, Harry Potter, etc.? In Warriors, there are four clans: Thunderclan, the brave; Riverclan, the cats who swim; Shadowclan the "sinister", whose hearts are hardened by the north winds; and Windclan, the fastest.**

And within the clans... It's all clean and efficient, from kit to apprentice to warrior, sometimes to queen if you're female, and then to elder, all following the warrior code -- a set of ethics laid down by Starclan, their warrior ancestors. I mean, ethics and a religion and a loyalty that binds the entire community of the Clan together! That's really impressive, especially since I tie this sort of worldbuilding to the fantasy genre, not a MG series about cats.    

It doesn't really strike me until now just how deep this world is. As Firepaw learns everything -- and we do -- it all enfolds: just how deviant Tigerclaw's ambition is, and how far this code of ethics extends; how Shadowclan's needs create a gray area in the warrior code, driving them to break it; and how much one small kitten can do in this society of cats, in order to do what's right and save his new home.

I never caught this the first few times I read it. I never noticed. And it makes me to smile to think that, and a phrase from an old country song pops into my mind*** (though, of course, I'm no drinker):

"There might be
a little dust on the bottle
but it's one of those things
that get sweeter with time..."

Sometimes, re-reading only strengthens the bond between you and a favorite book. It frees your mind to examine things in depth, things you paid little attention to the first, second, or fifth time you read it.

This book, obviously, gets five stars. I recommend it to everyone -- no matter if you're a starry-eyed fourth grader, a cynical teenager about to enter her senior year of high school, or an adult seemingly above MG.

 
 *How much body language could you show through cats, anyways? It's different, from the tail-twitching to the way they scent danger to the claws they unsheathe. And -- take it from a girl who's grown up around half a dozen cats -- a lot of them react the same when angry or territorial.

**Is it just me, or am I really picking up a Harry Potter theme to the Clans? I mean, four of them: one for the brave, one for the "sinister", one for the "smart" (who know how to swim), and one considered the "weakest", though they're still the fastest. (Windclan has been driven from their home in this first book.)

***Dust on the Bottle by David Lee Murphy, though if he's the original artist I don't know.
  

Montmorency: Thief, Liar, Gentleman? by Eleanor Updale

When a petty thief falls through a glass roof in his attempt to escape the police, what should have been the death of him marks the beginning of a whole new life, After his broken body is reconstructed by an ambitious young doctor, he is released from prison, and -- with the help of Victorian London's extensive sewer system -- he becomes the most elusive burglar in the city. He adopts a dual existence as a respectable, wealthy gentleman named Montmorency and his degenerate servant Scarper. But Montmorency must always be on his guard. The smallest mistake could reveal his secret and ruin both his lives.
Eleanor Updale's writing is witty and wholly original. With a unique perspective and a voice reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe, Montmorency is a cleverly told, gripping adventure story.

~Print copy (from the library)
Published: 2003 by Orchard Books

I've read this book before. So, immediately, you know that this is a book that caught my spark.

Where to begin?

First off, I like that name. Montmorency. It rolls off the tongue. It sounds really dramatic and exotic and a cool name to have if you're a character from an adventure novel.

I love the premise. Montmorency, or Prisoner 493, is broken; a young doctor by the name Farcett stitches him up again... and shows off his nearly-naked body as a science exhibit for the Scholarly Circle (not the actual name of the group). You know, the rich, snooty scientists, who examine his body as if 493 is not a human being but some sort of practice mannequin. A doll, with scars to show off, so the doctor can tell the crowd how he fixed this problem on his thigh and ask how he might get into that wound on his back.

So, when Montmorency gets out of prison, he writes a note. He dresses like a servant and delivers that note to a fancy hotel, which tells the manager to rent out a suite with a good view to a Montmorency -- meanwhile, he, as the servant Scarper, would prepare the room for his master.

Quite an ingenious plan, really. He learned of the sewer system in one of those scholarly meeting, and he decides to use those sewers to get around the city, stealing valuables and then just dropping down into the filth, out of sight, while the police search vainly aboveground.

As I said, genius premise. I think it kind of speaks for itself.

I really like Montmorency the character, as well. For a prisoner, servant, and snooty elite, he was a good choice for POV. (In 3rd person, of course.) He had freedoms the rich didn't have, and he had the money most servants didn't have, and as a prisoner he'd attended those lectures to show him off, and he learned a great deal from them -- a luxury most prisoners didn't have.

More than that, he was devious and quick-minded, and a darn good actor. He is, of course, morally ambigious and a criminal, but Updale wrote this cleverly enough that he's a really likeable criminal.

My third point: the adventure. The action. His getting around society and fooling everybody makes for a good story, and I didn't mention the surprise at the end. I kind of thought it almost abrupt, that last quarter or so of the book; but in retrospect, you can look back and see how it built up to it. I'm not telling you that ending.

I didn't really have anything against this book. Or if I did, I didn't really notice. I give this a definite 5 stars.

 

Follow Friday #33

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Alison Can Read and Parajunkee.

Q: Write a letter to your favorite character. Rant, rave, or gush... just pretend like they are real and you just want to let them know a "few things".

Dear Emily Strange,

You. Are. Awesome. 'Nuff said.

You are a genius; you are a weird genius, who knows how to build a golem and an amnesia machine and a duplicator; you are an antisocial genius, who is destined to become a Dark Aunt with magical black rock...

In my book, you are one of those few lady characters who was written right. I love how you can invent the best things ever -- like, as I mentioned, a duplicator -- and how you have the wierdest, randomest talents.

I don't know why more people wouldn't want to be friends with a cat-loving, skateboard master, sewer-mural-painting prankster such as yourself. Their loss.

Sincerely,
JDanielleM.

(*Emily the Strange: the Lost Days by Rob Reger. Published: 2009 by HarperTeen. It's worth reading, guys.*)

Follow Friday #30

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. (I'm doing this in the morning because I'm off school! Snow Day! Yay!!)

Q: Who is your favorite villain from a book?

Ohmygosh. Um... let's see... Opal Koboi from Artemis Fowl? Lord Voldemort from Harry Potter? Capricorn from Inkheart? Tigerclaw/TigerStar from the Warriors series (Erin Hunter)?

As you can see, I still have a mighty soft spot for my MG favorites. And that I have a hard time picking my favorite villain.

What makes a good villain?
-A cool name
-brilliant intellect
-doesn't go into monologues
-Actively opposes the protagonist (through minions or by himself)
-That evil, charismatic attitude
-Knows morality; knows what he wants; ignores morals in favor of what he wants.

At least, this is my definition. All of the villains I mentioned above do this. (Except maybe Opal Koboi. But she's crazy. And looks completely innocent, so nobody knows how evil she is for awhile, and she has the freedom to gloat monologue. But I think she has the other attributes.)

Yes, they have to have a cool name. You can't be evil without a cool name, or everyone will laugh at you. Capricorn even renamed himself that -- named after a horoscope, but at least it's a cool horoscope name. (I don't know what I would've thought if it'd been a not-cool name, like Taurus; who would take your genius seriously when your name means bull [or something similar to a bull]?)

And stupid villains... are stupid. Case in point. They have to be a genius. How far would Voldemort have gotten if he was an idiot? Certainly not far enough to know what a horcrux is.

And charisma is necessary if you want followers. Otherwise, the villain sits in his lair, shunned by all, and has no minions to send after you. He's too busy cooking his own meals and cleaning his own house to plan his daring plots against the hero. Or under his bush, if you're Tigerstar. (He's a cat. Living in the woods with his clan[s], who he's not the leader of until after the third book.)

So... yea. This is my list. And my explanations. Trust me, there are plenty of other villains I loved, but I didn't want to blog post to stretch on for infinity, so I cut it short.

How about you? Who did you choose? What makes a villain cool for you?

Have a blessed Friday!

Follow Friday #29

Follow Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read! (Gah! It's been a hectic week. This is a short port.)

Q: What book do you think everyone should read? If you could gift the entire population with one book?

Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer. I'd say Harry Potter, but that's probably a broken record by now.

Artemis Fowl is technically a children's/MG book, but I think it would appeal to adults -- kidnapping, fairy police forces, magic, and trolls. And Artemis Fowl himself is a genius, so he doesn't really sound too childlike. But it's fun and easy enough for kids to read, and action-y and genius-y enough for adults.

It's like my favorite book. And if this gift encourages a ton of people to buy the other 7 books in the series as well... then that's a plus.

How about you? What did you choose? I wanted to post some pictures from my vacation today, but I don't have time! Have to finish reading my book today, so I can start the last book of that series tomorrow. Anyways, have a blessed weekend! :) I'll see if I can scrounge some pictures on monday, when I get back home.