Fly Trap and The Mysterious Benedict Society

Fly Trap by Frances Hardinge          (Children's)

I absolutely loved the first book, Fly By Night. It had an incredibly original plot and a main character who was considered unlovable by those around her, but who the reader knew was a wonderful person. Mosca Mye's name has dark connotations since she was born during the hours of the fly god, so everyone sees her as a skulking thief. It's even worse now that she and Eponymous Clent have fled the rebellion they may have caused and they find themselves in Toll. By day, only those born at the hours of  the bright and beloved Blessed can walk the streets. If you are unfortunate enough to have a name like Mosca, you have to live in Toll-By-Night and never see the sun again.

Of course Mosca has a problem with this, and she is going to  turn Toll on its head, try to steal its Luck and do whatever she has to to survive. Also known by the title Twilight Robbery, this book is both funny and intriguing.


The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (Children's)

Yes, I'm a million years late to this book series, but this, the first book, was so charming that I had to write about it. It had everything I love: smart kids, shadowy figures bent on ruling the world, people who want to give themselves their own nicknames, narcolepsy, and one of the most obstinate female characters ever. If you love children who shave their heads to disguise themselves, if you love girls who have already run away to the circus, and now want to try something new, if you love infiltrating shadowy organizations, then you will probably love this book.

CB # 51- 52 Miscellany

Snuff by Terry Pratchett

I was super excited to get a new Pratchett novel out of the library. In this Discworld novel, Sam Vines goes on vacation with his family to their grand estate.  There are some great fish out of water moments, as well as the equality and human rights themes that are often appearing in the Vimes novels. It honestly wasn’t my favourite Discworld novel, but I still enjoyed.

Darwin’s Bastards edited by Zsuzsi Gartner

This is a great collection of Canadian speculative short stories about what the future will be like. The stories are a great mix of funny and sad. One is about a future where being a celebrity is illegal, and a musicaologist goes to secretly interview an eighty year old Feist. Chaos ensues. Another story is a mystery involving the  wealthy who now live on golf courses. There is a love story about a long distance relationship between people who cannot travel legally. The stories are all really inventive.

CB # 41-43 Uglies, Pretties, and Specials

Uglies
Pretties

Specials   All by Scott Westerfield (YA)

This trilogy (plus the extra book which is set in the same world, Extras, which I never got around to reading) is set in the far future. Human civilization as we know it has been destroyed by a virus that caused all the petrol to explode. Now humanity has rebuilt itself into a beautiful species.  In the first book, Uglies, Tally Youngblood is excited about her upcoming 16th birthday. Finally she’ll become “pretty,” a surgical process that will physically transform her so that she is a perfect example of the human beauty ideal - giant eyes, perfectly smooth skin, amazing hair etc. Everyone has the surgery at age 16. However, a week before her birthday, Tally’s friend, Shay tells her that she doesn’t want to get the surgery. Instead she is going to run away to the Smoke, to meet her friend David. When Tally doesn’t want to leave with her, Shay gives her instructions on how to find the Smoke. Unfortunately, Uglies aren’t supposed to leave. Instead, Special Circumstances, who police the city, force Tally to go and find out where the Smoke is, and set off a receiver so Special Circumstances can find and destroy the Smoke.

Obviously, Tally's world can't be utopian (why can't we have a utopia?), so there need to be dark secrets which Tally will discover as things go along. Also, it's a trilogy, so more and more secrets will be revealed as you go through the books.  I found the first book to be the strongest and the most interesting, but as a series it couldn't keep my interest. I took forever to read Specials and I found the plot fairly repetitive. However, I will say that I couldn't completely abandon the books. The end of each one hooks you into reading the next, even if it takes you forever to get through them. 

On the plus side, I thought that the friendship between Shay and Tally changed and was complicated in a very real way, and I appreciated it. I also think that as soft science fiction, it can be a great introduction to a reluctant reader to a really fun genre. The writing style is easy to read and Tally has really normal teenage concerns throughout.

CB # 38 - 40 Magicians and their problems

The Magicians by Lev Grossman
The Magician King by Lev Grossman
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Together these three novels were my top reads of the year. They were filled with magic and wonder, but there was a depth to them that I really needed. I have always loved children's and young adult fantasy, but I was often uninterested in reading adult fantasy. I think it's because I assumed that if I was going to read an "adult" novel, then it had better be an important one. I think I'm over that assumption now.

The Night Circus is actually the most light-hearted of these books.  As children, Celia and Marco were  pledged without their consent into a competition to prove what method of teaching magic works best. The competition will take place in the Cirque des Reves, with Marco working on the circus from a distance, while Celia performs her magic openly by pretending to be a regular magician. Unfortunately, neither of the magicians are prepared for the fact that they might fall for their competitor, nor are they ready for the fact that they are not the only people that they must worry about; they need to think of everyone involved in the circus. Morgenstern does not attempt to explain the magic they perform, which adds another element of mystery to the story, and the circus (a black and white marvel) seems so amazing that I wish I could go. I did think that a editor might have tightened a few sections, but otherwise I adored it.

The Magicians is really interesting because it draws on the children's fantasy tradition.  In his senior year of high school, Quentin is still obsessed with children's books about Fillory. Fillory resembles Narnia with its talking animals, need for humans to save it from trouble, and the god figure(s) who exist in this magical world in animal form (also the fact that the children who visit get unceremoniously kicked out, often for good). Quentin's obsession with Fillory, and with the need to experience real magic is making him rather antisocial, until one day he suddenly finds himself walking through a door, and arriving on the lawn of Brakehills, a real school for magicians. Magic is apparently real, and although Brakehills relies a lot on Harry Potter and Hogwarts for its essence, there is something unusual about this school, and this book. Magic apparently involves a huge amount of hard work and sacrifice, and that amount of effort makes life in a magical world almost banal. If you have to really, really study, and there isn't a quest every year, like in Harry Potter, then maybe magic isn't anymore wonderful than everything else in life. There's a dark undertow in this book, as Quentin finds out that even a magician has to strive to make his life have meaning. There are nihilist moments as Quentin and his friends leave the school and find out how little they need to do. Of course, there are adventures, and there's even a trip to Fillory, but the world is never as simple as you can hope it is.

I loved The Magicians so much, that I actually bought the sequel in hard cover. I'm still a student, so this means something. I've since lent these books around to anyone who'll borrow them. The Magican King begins a bit after where The Magicians ended off, so I'll talk about it after the jump, for anyone who doesn't want any SPOILERS at all.

CB # 33-37 Percy Jackson and the Olympians

The Lightning Thief

The Sea of Monsters

The Titan’s Curse

The Battle of the Labyrinth

The Last Olympian                     All by Rick Riordan

                To be short and sweet, this is a really fun children’s fantasy series, focusing on what would happen if the Ancient Greek gods were around in present day America. Percy Jackson has always been getting into trouble, and he can never stay in the same school for more than a year, but he learns when he’s 11 that there’s a reason for this. He’s actually a demigod, a son of Poseidon. Monsters are drawn to demigods and wish to destroy them, and Percy finds a relative safe haven at Camp Half-Blood, where all the campers are demi-gods. In the first book, Percy has to clear his name and prevent war between the gods, when Zeus’ Lightning bolt goes missing. There is also an overall series plot, coming from a prophecy that one of the children of Hades, Zeus or Poseidon will making a choice when he or she turns 16 that could lead to the destruction of Mount Olympus, and therefore the Western world.

                I liked that Percy, although the star of the series, is not the best at everything. He always needs to rely on his friends, including the brilliant Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and Grover, a nature loving satyr. I loved that there are lots of smart and strong girls and women in the series, and Percy regularly had to rely on their support to survive. I loved that even though I knew most of the myths that the plots are based on, Riordan would surprise me by changing the details to better fit a modern retelling. I loved that all of the demigods were dealing with disabilities (dyslexia and ADHD), but that the ADHD improved their fighting skills, and the dyslexia is caused by their inborn gift to read Ancient Greek. I thought it was a nice touch, for kids to see heroes with those issues.

                I did feel like the stories did have a slight formula (Percy being kicked out of school after fighting a monster, Camp Half-Blood is in danger, there’s a prophecy from the Oracle, etc.) but I still enjoyed it. My other complaint is that SPOILER AFTER THE JUMP

CB # 30-32: Books that were made into movies

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

Kiss of the Spider Woman by Manuel Puig (Translated  by Thomas Colchie)

Unfortunately, I have seen none of the movie versions of these books, so I can’t tell you how they compare, but I can tell you if I enjoyed the book!

The Help

                There was a lot of controversy about this book, and I do understand. I was frustrated that the two black narrators had dialect signals in their narration, including them regularly putting in the word “a” all over the place, while the white narrator never seemed to narrate in a specifically Southern way. I also thought that the author could have explored the relationships between white women and black maids in more depth. Both Albileen and Minny have complicated feelings about their employers, but neither woman out and out hated the people they were currently working for. Nor did they feel that they absolutely had to continue to work for a person they hated.  That would have been a more complicated story.  Instead they worked for people that they didn't seem to have any feelings for at all. Albileen thought that Elizabeth was a horrible mother, but she didn’t seem to hate her, and although Minny did “ a horrible thing” to Hilly, I never felt her visceral hatred for Hilly other than in that act. Maybe that’s just me.

                On the other side of the controversy, I have to say that writing is not politically correct. Writing fiction always involves imagining another way of thinking, which means that imagination can fail. I’ve heard a few people wish that this book had been written by someone else, who could deal with it more honestly and sensitively. Well, there is still time for someone else to write that book, and that’s the great thing about books. You can always write back to contest something you didn’t agree with. Honestly, my main concern with this book is that it is often being read in a self-congratulatory way. We aren’t like that anymore! There is no us and them anymore! But I don't think we can escape that part of ourselves that easily. It’s just that we don’t recognize who the “them” is now, or how we are being cruel to “them”. That takes time and self-reflection and a willingness to understand someone different from you. If The Help made you reflect on your life in that way, then it has value; if it didn’t make you think, well maybe it doesn’t.

               One thing I'd like to note is that at first I really couldn't read it. I skimmed it and found that it focused to much on Skeeter for my liking. Later on I returned to it and finished it properly, which is why I can't really say that I really enjoyed it.

Water for Elephants

                  Jacob Jankowski’s parents die in a horrible car crash, just before he finishes his training to become a vet in the 1930’s. To pay for his training at Princeton University, his parents had gone into debt and mortgaged their home. Now he has nothing, so he runs away with the circus. Even though he hasn’t finished his veterinary training, he’s the closest thing to a vet that the circus can get.  In the circus, he meets the beautiful  Marlena, who performs with the horses, and her bipolar husband August who manages the animals.  There is also the cruel and terrifying Uncle Al, owns the circus, and will get rid of any one who isn’t useful anymore.  The story is all told from Jacob’s perspective as a 90 year old man looking back at his life. Of course, Jacob falls in love with Marlena and all the animals in the circus, especially an elephant named Rosie, but neither August nor Uncle Al will let him be truly happy.

I actually really enjoyed this book, even though I was spoiled about the ending before I read it. This book had lots of interesting historical information about circuses in the past, but once again, there wasn’t a lot of depth to it. The romance was light and the cruelty of Uncle Al and August was incredibly intense. One friend mentioned that the main thing she got from it is that growing old really sucks. I still really enjoyed it though.

Kiss of the Spider Woman

                This book is a translation from Spanish and was written in the 1970s. The novel mainly consists of the dialogue between two prisoners in Argentina in the 1970s. One, Valentin, is a political prisoner, while the other, Molina, is a gay man who has been imprisoned for corrupting a minor. The reader never finds out more about the exact circumstances of either characters’ imprisonment, but before long it becomes clear that Molina has been asked to find out more about Valentin’s friends and their future plans, in return for his freedom. Most of the novel consists of Molina telling Valentin about the plots of films that he’s seen, as a comfort from the pain that Valentin is regularly in. The two become friends, as Valentin begins to see the importance of beauty in one’s life, while Molina begins to recognize the importance of being politically involved.

                It’s an odd novel. It’s mainly dialogue between the two characters, but there is no “he said”. You just have to figure out which character is talking.  Most of the dialogue consists of Molina retelling the plot of different films. As well, there are a bunch of odd footnotes that appear though out the novel which all deal with how psychologists (at the time or earlier) understood homosexuality.  I usually ended up skipping the footnotes, because their positions on homosexuality were aggravatingly out of date. I did find it interesting that Molina is sort of the hero of this story. His motivations are complicated, and what he’s been imprisoned for makes him suspect. What are his real motivations? There’s not a huge amount going on in the novel, but somehow that seems to make the story all the more complicated.

CB # 24-27 Mysteries!

Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy L. Sayers

Evil Under the Sun by Agatha Christie

Something Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse

The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz

                I once read somewhere that librarians love to read mysteries. I think it has something to do with the fact that librarians love solving puzzles, since what is a reference question if it’s not a small mystery? Some of these are older, one is newer, and one is barely a mystery but I’m throwing it in just because.

Murder Must Advertise

                I have a deep and abiding love for Sayers.  I read her translations of Dante’s Divine Comedy for class, and our professor informed us that she also wrote mysteries about the lovely Lord Peter Whimsy. Whimsy seems to be a dilettante but he’s really one of the greatest detectives of all time. One of the appeals of the Whimsy novels is that  Sayers  goes really in depth when writing her mysteries. Not only is it exciting and well written, but a huge amount of research must have been done, because you always learn something (not surprising coming from a translator of Dante). This one is set at an advertising house and was published in the 1930’s. There’s been an “accident”, and Whimsy is on the case, disguising himself by getting work at the agency. I learned a ton of about how ads were created and distributed, which makes sense since Sayers used to work in advertising. I also learned that cocaine has always been a hell of a drug, although I did find 1930”s drug slang confusing.

                Apparently this wasn’t Sayers favourite work, but I really enjoyed it. The mystery was interesting, Whimsy was divine and all the supporting characters were a delight. I also actually figured out part of the mystery myself, which made me feel super accomplished (sad but true).

Evil Under the Sun

                I reach for Agatha Christie novels when I want a quick read. I always fly right through them in an hour or so. It’s part of the appeal though, especially after you finish a slog of a book. Hercule Poirot is the detective in this one, and even though he’s not my favourite (Miss Marple is) he is still pretty wonderful. Vanity is always appealing in a character, but never in a real person. Also, he has a great mustache, which is always admirable.

                The mystery in this book revolves around a dead woman found on a private beach. Only people staying at the hotel could have access to it, so they’re all suspects. I find it hard to solve Christie’s novels, so I usually just read them for the thrill. She’s always using red herrings and I find it hard to ignore them. However, it was harder to ignore the 1940’s version of femininity that I was presented with. Christie regularly writes that way, but I found it really rubbed me the wrong way this time. Even so, it’s a good quick read.

Something Fresh

                To be honest, this is barely a mystery, but it was so funny that I have to recommend it. Especially since the last time I read a Wodehouse novel it was just offensive, and I need to believe that some good things did come out of Britain.

                Lord Elmworth is incredibly absentminded, and accidentally stole a priceless scarab from his hapless son’s future father-in-law. The millionaire father-in-law, J. Preston Peters, is incensed and decides that he’s going to  offer a reward if someone steals it back. Ashe is barely escaping poverty by writing trashy detective stories, and takes Peters up on the offer. Unfortunately for Ashe, his neighbor Joan Valentine has also heard about the reward from  Peters’ daughter Aline, and really needs to get her hands on some money. Then there’s the fact that Freddie, Elmworth’s son, has gambled too much and probably should be a confirmed bachelor since I don’t think he could make anyone happy. I’ve only mentioned the major characters, there are more and they are all ridiculous and therefore charming. This is a major comedy of errors with people running around Blandings Castle all night, falling in love, making huge mistakes, stealing scarabs and generally making a nuisance of themselves.

                Once again this is a quick read, but it’s funny and there is a bit of a mystery and a lot of  (hilarious) romance.

The Spellmans Strike Again

                One of these things is not like the others. The Spellman mysteries are set in present day USA, and not in first half of the 20^th century Britian. However, these books are funny and charming and they are mysteries, which is the connection I made to the others. This one is the fourth in the series.

                Izzy Spellman works as a private detective, which might sound interesting until you realize that it’s really a lot of watching people. If you’re wondering how she got into that work, it’s because it’s a family business. Everyone in the family, except for her brother David, works at the Spellman firm. It’s probably not best for family relations because they’ve become very used to surveillance and they spy on each other all the time. Izzy’s mother blackmails her with information from prom night so that Izzy will go on dates with lawyers. However, Izzy actually has a boyfriend, a bartender who doesn’t appreciate the fact that she absolutely has to go on dates with these men.

                Her younger sister Rae, wants nothing more than to be a detective, but her parents know that she’s practically a genius, and they want her to go to a renowned university. Oh, and there’s a mystery as well. A millionaire is losing his valet for a short period of time, and wants Izzy to figure out if the rest of his servants are stealing from him.

                The mystery is rarely the point in the Spellman books. It’s more about the kooky family arrangements, and the secrets that they’re keeping from each other. Once again, it’s a quick, fun read that’s really delightful.  I would suggest that you start with The Spellman Files, so that you get maximum enjoyment from the series.

CB # 21 - 23 Post-Modern Love Stories

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

                Just to start, I'm sorry I've abandoned this blog for most of the summer. I've been reading all summer, but I've had a lot of problems figuring out what to write about the books I've read. Since it's been a while and I have a huge amount to move through, I'm just going to review my summer books by theme. This grouping is going to make the least sense and I know that, so I figured I'd get it out of the way  first. It's full of post-modern love stories, and I consider these ones post-modern because of the way that they play around with narrative.

Super Sad True Love Story

                Lenny Abramov is a 39 year old schlub in love with 24 year old Eunice Park. He’s the child of  a Russian father who slaves as a janitor, while she’s the daughter of an abusive Korean potierit. The question is: does Eunice Park see anything in Lenny?
                Super Sad True Love Story is set in the near future. America is on the brink of financial collapse. People don’t write any more, they “verbal” or send images. Everyone is constantly being rated on their appearance and what they’ve revealed about themselves online, and sexuality has been reduced to a cheap, crappy version of pornography. There is no such thing as privacy, everyone transmits everything about themselves. Girls wear transparent jeans and the English language seems reduced to obscenities. Through all of this Lenny keeps on writing in his diary and keeps on reading books, even though they are seen as smelly artifacts of a bygone era.

                The novel is told from both character's perspectives, Lenny through his journal, and Eunice through her emails to her family and friends. Lenny is a bit of a sad-sack, and doesn't have enough perspective on life to really see understand the destruction of liberty that is happening all around him. Although Eunice is obsessed with looking good, she doesn't have the same need to be remembered for posterity, and her communications seem to have more value since she is trying to reach out to people.

                I’m not one hundred percent certain how I’m supposed to see Lenny. I’m much closer to Eunice in age, and I understand her initial disgust with him. They meet in Rome, where Lenny is trying to find rich clients who want to live forever using Post-Human Services.  Lenny falls for Eunice immediately, without any real reason other than her beauty, oh and the fact that she’s been abused by her father. Apparently that’s appealing to Lenny.

               But there's still something about this book that got to me. It's about how love is always possible, it's about the importance of liberty and although it is a super sad love story, there's something really appealing about everyone, even as they disgust you.
(ETA: As mentioned in the comments, this book is really, really funny, however, I also found it really sad too)

A Visit From the Goon Squad

                My friend called this a collection of short stories, and I sort of have to agree. Each chapter is told by a different narrator, and he or she tells about a key moment in his or her life. The stories connect, the same characters reappear throughout the stories, but there isn't a cohesive narrative to this novel. It doesn't matter too much, since it's all about the moments in between. It's sweet, lovely and confusing. The stories switch directions and flip back and forth in time. When I first heard about this book (everyone and their dog has reviewed it and loved it), I was told that it focused on the music industry, and it does, but that's not what it's really about. It's about using music as a theme to allow the tidbits of people's lives to show through. Characters work in music industry, or tried to be musicians, or just love the silences in a song, but it doesn't add up to more than that.

                The problem for me was that each chapter helps you understand the current character, but you, the reader, still want more information.You want the before and the after, but all this book gives is a few fleeting moments. It's all middles, but not even complete middles. It's a beautiful book, but it doesn't leave you satisfied. It leaves you craving more, which is probably a good thing.

The Rehearsal

                A young girl has a relationship with her high school music teacher. He argues that it was completely consensual. It's probably a familiar sounding story, something that you read once in the newspaper, or in your favourite news blog, but it has nothing to do with your life. The Rehearsal is about the person who reads about it in the paper and forgets that real people were involved, and it's also the other girls who find out about the affair, and it's consequences for them.

                The main characters are three girls who go to the same (female) saxophone teacher: Bridget who rather bores the teacher, Isolde, the younger sister of  Victoria who had the affair, and Julia, who might be a way for the saxophone teacher to relive and hopefully fix her own mistakes. When these girls talk to their saxophone teacher they reveal their fears and desires, and they are both mystified and drawn to Victoria, because they cannot understand how it happened.

                On the other side of the novel is Stanley, who has started his first year at a drama school. The students are supposed to create an original play, and they decide to write it about a major news story, the girl and her teacher. As the novel winds its way through these characters' lives, their stories become more and more interconnected.

                I liked this book but I also found it really unsettling. We never find out much about Victoria, and her motives always are unclear. Other character's try to figure out what happened, but there is no way for them to know the truth. Also, characters regularly speak theatrically, even when there isn't a stage in sight. All subtlety is striped bare and people say intense truths to each other, with no consequences, or even a reaction. It's almost as if the reader gets to read the truth without any of the politeness and camouflage of ordinary conversation. 

CB # 20 The Wise Man's Fear

The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

               I'm so proud of myself for finally reading a series in the right order on this blog. This is the sequel to The Name of the Wind, which I read back in May. It was pretty much what you would expect if you had read the previous book. There is still magic and Kvothe is just as un-self-aware as before. 

              The major surprise for me was that this book, although longer than the first one, felt a little less padded than the first. I mean, an editor could still be used. There is a bit too much time spent wandering around the woods and fooling around with a fairy (in the most literal sense). The Kvothe who tells the stories of his adventures does not seem to have any of the skills he acquired over the course of the adventures, and it makes you wonder if he’s a completely unreliable narrator (he did spend a long time talking about his amazing physical ability to subdue a sex-crazed fairy).  However, this book was enjoyable, kept on pushing the narrative forward, and made me excited for the next book, which will finish the series off (at least I assume it will).

If you’ve read the first book and enjoyed it, then I’m fairly certain that you’ll enjoy this novel. 

           Dear readers, I'm sorry for the short review, but I'm finding myself far behind where I want to be in the Cannonball Read. I've read about 40 books so far, but sometimes it's hard to say anything interesting about a book. Sometimes a book is just a book; something that makes your lunch hour more enjoyable. Sometimes a book has more going on inside of it, but then it takes longer to read, and it's even harder to write about it. Sometimes you just can't put your finger on what you liked and what you didn't like.

CB # 15 For the Win

For the Win by Cory Doctorow  (YA)

This young adult novel follows teenagers all over the world as they play video games and try to mine gold and create a union for all the people who work within the system of the games. I thought the concept was really interesting, as it follows people in countries like China and India who play games for money. Their jobs is to farm gold, get the super awesome weapons to sell, or help new or lonely players to get further along in terms of experience. However, the gaming companies don’t want this to happen, so they hire other players in these countries and in North America to find these people in the game and kick them out. Since all of this is happening online in games that resemble World of Warcraft, outsiders don’t realize how both groups of players are being exploited. A group in Indonesia reaches out to players all over the world in an attempt to create a union for those who work within the online world. Unfortunately, a wild-cat strike of players in China means that workers are likely to experience the most vile strikebreaking techniques.

I know what Doctorow was trying to do with this novel, in terms of raising awareness in young adults about worker’s conditions around the world, as well as the way technology is changing the way people can connect. I guess I just wasn’t the perfect audience for this one. I found that there were too many characters and not enough time spent on them, so it was hard to feel strongly about any of them. I know that I don’t know too much about gaming, but I felt that there was too much explanatory description of how the games worked, even for me. However, I did learn the term “wild-cat strike”, as well as a better understanding of economics, so this book was a draw.

Short Cuts

Not much to say about these books:
            A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett

 In this Discworld book for children starring the young witch Tiffany Aching and the Wee Free Men (basically the toughest fairies of all time), Tiffany moves away from her home to study with another witch, but doesn’t realize that she is being chased by an ancient evil. Granny Weatherwax makes an appearance. Like everything Pratchett writes, it’s really funny, but it’s not his best and there are actual chapter divisions and fewer ridiculous footnotes. I love his footnotes.

Crazy Beautiful by Lauren Baratz-Logsted       (YA)

This novel is a modern retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story, with the Beast being Lucas, who accidently blew off his hands in a chemical explosion and is starting over at a new high school. Aurora is the Beauty, who has moved after her mother’s death. It’s short and sweet, but I feel like the author could have gone an awful lot further. The story isn’t particularly fable-like, with the first person point of view switching between the two main characters, so I feel like there could have been more realism around Lucas’ disability. Yes, Lucas does talk about wishing he could touch Aurora, and his shame around the explosion, but I would have liked some more information about how he used his hooks to do everyday things. Sometimes, I honestly didn’t understand how he was doing certain things. As well, Aurora could have had more personality. She’s beautiful and she’s kind, but because she’s new she’s going to go around with the popular crowd. I believe that, but I can’t believe that she doesn’t have more defining features.

                Thank you, Jeeves by P.G Woodhouse

                I usually love P.G. Woodhouse. I love the wacky hijinks, I love the silly names and I love how incredibly smart and sane Jeeves is, especially since he’s the personal valet to the (though often engaged) permanent bachelor Bertie Wooster. Most of this novel gives me exactly that, but unfortunately the entire last half of this plot revolves around black face. Bertie and other characters end up with boot polish on their faces, while they are masquerading as black musicians and can’t take it off for various comic reasons.  It’s a novel from the 1930’s, so it’s not entirely surprising but it did really ruin my enjoyment of the novel. Bertie is mistaken for the devil a few times with his face covered in boot polish, and although I hope it's because boot polish simply looks unnatural on skin, I don't think that was where Woodhouse was going with it.