Reading at Dawn - Book Review Blog

Dorothy L Sayer, Author

Book 19 in A to Z challenge

Dorothy L Sayers was one of the first women to receive a degree from Oxford - and then went on to write a series of detective novels which would become classics. She created a series of novels around the eccentric, and brilliant, accidental detective Lord Peter Wimsey - and later, the woman he tried to convince to marry him, Harriet Vane.

The books are a charming insight into England between and during the World Wars, an enchanting collection of who-dun-its with wit and sophistication - and towards the end surprising levels of romance.

What makes these books so fascinating - and engaging - are the levels of intelligence and culture interwoven with the characters. It is a window into the mind, and life, of deeply clever, and highly educated characters - in which the author never pretends to hide that high level of sophistication like a dirty secret. And still we are caught at every moment trying to figure out who did the dirty deed.

The series slips from pure intellectual enjoyment into something more emotionally engaging when the romance is introduced in Strong Poison. We fall in love with the detective a little here - because he falls in love with a woman whose life and existence had been unconventional at least.

Harriet Vane is an author of detective stories who is accused of killing her lover. Lord Peter Wimsey tries to save her from the gallows - and spends the next few cases, and years, trying to convince her to marry him.

The books, whilst written in the 1920s and 1930s, then were revived and developed further by a modern English writer, Jill Patton Walsh. So there are still new books, and new bodies, to be found today.

These books are not for the lowest common denominator, they are not for those scared of learning - but they are an utter joy for those who love to follow witty and intelligent characters. The emotions are believable and the characters utterly engaging. Within the books the reader can have a glimpse into a world long past, a society changed by two world wars - and fall in love a little bit.


Reviewed by:
Christine Blackthorn
www.christineblackthorn.eu

Revolt, She Said by Julia Kristeva

Book 18 in A to Z Challenge

About the book: "May '68 in France expressed a fundamental version of freedom: not freedom to succeed, but freedom to revolt. Political revolutions ultimately betray revolt because they cease to question themselves. Revolt, as I understand it--psychic revolt, analytic revolt, artistic revolt--refers to a permanent state of questioning, of transformations, an endless probing of appearances." In this book, Julia Kristeva extends the definition of revolt beyond politics per se. Kristeva sees revolt as a state of permanent questioning and transformation, of change that characterizes psychic life and, in the best cases, art. For her, revolt is not simply about rejection and destruction--it is a necessary process of renewal and regeneration.



This is a sort of mid-read review as I haven't finished for it's not the easiest read. I take it a few pages a day in order to let Kristeva's words sink in. This also isn't fiction. So, it's different than most of the books we've reviewed so far this month. This book is definitely not for everyone. For me, I found it very interesting.

I've had a mild fascination with Kristeva ever since I found sections from her book Powers of Horror about abject while working on a policy debate file. It'd started off as me reading De Sade and trying to write a sado-masachism file or at least a response to another team's based on some of their evidence but once I found the information about abjection, I decided that was a better route to take.  It started with De Sade and lead to research on jouissance and that lead to a focus on abjection. Not all would find that interesting, but for me, I want to know more.

I picked Revolt, She Said because it starts with an R and unlike Power of Horror (which I do own and would like to read some day) it is only around 139 pages in length. It's more of a question/answer type of book, an intellectual interview as someone asks questions and Kristeva provides answers. Even though it's just text, at time you can hear the tone changes and attitude that some questions evoked. This made it all the better to read, though the discussions held my interest either way.

However, the 139 pages is one of the slower reads of the month, but not because of boredom by any means of the imagination. (The Floating Islands is in second place on slowness but that review won't be till May.) This is a book with deep answers and language that is intense that I had to savor a couple pages at a time. I found every answer fascinating and will need to read more. Hope to get Powers of Horror read in the future (though it's much longer than 139 pages with similar language and fascination).

It's not a book for everyone but if you have an interest in psychoanalysis, revolution, France and Julia Kristeva, it's a must read. 


Reviewed by:
Dawn Embers

Amjed Qamar, Author

Book 17 in  A to Z Challenge

About the Book: Nazia doesn't mind when her friends tease and call her a good beti, a dutiful daughter. Growing up in a working-class family in Karachi, Pakistan, Nazia knows that obedience is the least she can give to her mother, who has spent years saving and preparing for her dowry. But every daughter must grow up, and for fourteen-year-old Nazia that day arrives suddenly when her father gets into an accident at work, and her family finds themselves without money for rent or food.

Being the beti that she is, Nazia drops out of school to help her mother clean houses, all the while wondering when she managed to lose control of her life that had been full of friends and school. Working as a maid is a shameful obligation that could be detrimental to her future -- after all, no one wants a housekeeper for a daughter-in-law. As Nazia finds herself growing up much too quickly, the lessons of hardship that seem unbearable turn out to be a lot more liberating than she ever imagined.


 My Review: This is a quick read that I found in the library when trying to find a book for day Q and I'm glad that I did. I like reading a variety of books and young adult in particular because we get to see the struggles the YA character has to go through as they are trying to figure out life. Nazia is no different. She goes through a lot in her young teen years as things go from bad, after her father's accident, to worse. It's one thing after the other but she and her mother work hard in order to survive.

Though the description of the book focuses on the main character being a good daughter, it just starts there and the story moves past that point early on. And I liked that. Nazia is going through tough transitions during a tough time in her families life. She has her own way of rebelling based on her world and cultures. It reminded me of my own little rebellions as a teen. I didn't do a lot of yelling or anything like that. As a pre-teen my rebellion was hanging out with a guy my parents said I couldn't be friends with and I wrote an essay about their banning me from being his friend was against my Constitutional rights. So, that was my "rebellion" stage. Nazia has her own.

I read the book in basically a day, my day off from work. It's short but has an interesting story and a character that made me want to keep reading to find out what she was going to do. Though I didn't always understand some of the words or phrases, there is a dictionary added in back for those that don't know them. I recommend people try the book out. Just don't expect it focusing on just being good and dutiful, cause that will disappoint. Expect a little rebellion and see how Nazia fights against the hard times that life can bring.


Reviewed by:
Dawn Embers

Paranormalcy by Kiersten White

Book 16 in A to Z Challenge

About the book: Evie's always thought of herself as a normal teenager, even though she works for the International Paranormal Containment Agency, her ex-boyfriend is a faerie, she's falling for a shape-shifter, and she's the only person who can see through paranormals' glamours.

But Evie's about to realize that she may very well be at the center of a dark faerie prophecy promising destruction to all paranormal creatures.

So much for normal.



My Review:
I got this book back when it first came out. I heard about it online, back then I was constantly on twitter, and even purchased a hard cover copy (I rarely ever buy those) because the release date was around the time of my birthday and I like books as presents. But I didn't get around to actually reading till middle of 2013. First thing that comes to mind right away is, like many, how much I liked the cover. It's just as beautiful in person.

Now for the story. It's an interesting one. I have some issues with the paranormal romance stories with the girl main character and the possibilities of love triangles torn between boys, at least one of which has to have a bad boy complex. So, I am always a bit nervous when I start reading some of the popular paranormal YA books in the past few years. However, I liked this one. The main character didn't make me want to throw my book, which is always a plus. She's interesting, different, has a little spunk to here and has a whole lot of conflict in trying to figure out her own self along with the mysterious attacks that start to happen on the organization she has called home. 

It had very different characters. The dark boy ex-bf, faerie was bordline questionable with my aversion to the trend in paranormal romance, but so far I'm not annoyed with how things are going though we'll have to wait and see what the sequel is like. I did like the other boy, Lend, though not very keen on his name. It was believable to see her interest in him grow in the short time before disaster, and even during those hard times. And the story had a few unexpected twists as well.

Looking for an upbeat, sometimes silly (in how the character picks to "swear") and close to but not deep in the common trends of paranormal romance young adult book? Look no further. This is a book to check out, or at least admire. Now to find a copy of Supernaturally.

Reviewed by:
Dawn Embers

The Others by Anne Bishop

Book 15 in A to Z Challenge

The Others is the new fantasy series by Anne Bishop, the author of the Black Jewels and Tir Alainn series. It is in nature and form very different from any of the other books by this author but it holds the same quality of the other books - an amazing depth and skill of world building and characters who lure, trap and hold the reader without ever letting him go.

Written in Red is the first of the books in this series and tells the story of a young woman named Meg, a Cassandra Sangue, a human who is held in benevolent ownership by other humans because they can, ostensibly, not be left to look after themselves. If Meg’s skin is cut she tells prophecies, prophecies which can be highly lucrative. She has spent all her life in a private facility which sells those prophecies. She has been bred for it.

When she escapes she takes refuge with the Others, the original inhabitants of the world whose shape-shifter, vampire or elemental nature makes them the dominant power on Earth. Humans are food for the Others.

The book is an interesting mix of telling the story of how Meg learns to live in freedom and how the Others engage with her on the canvas of the larger power struggle between humans and Others. It is a fascinating representation of humanity as wasteful, self-centred, destructive race in the shadow of this powerful force of the Others whose harmony with the earth is a stark contrast to the image humanity presents. And still, whilst we follow Meg in finding her feet in this new world, follow the attempts, both physical and political, her owner makes to recapture her, it is both humans and others we get to know and sympathize with.

This is a fascinating fantasy novel which has incredible depth, both philosophically and emotionally. The reader is caught in the story, the fear and mystery, the adventure and threat, and is unable not to feel with them.


Reviewed by:
Christine Blackthorn
www.christineblackthorn.eu

 I couldn't help myself. That and I haven't finished reading the book that I had originally planned for this day. Took me till a couple days ago to remember I used to read Nancy Drew and that it'd work for this blog post.

Book 14 in A to Z Challenge

Nancy Drew by Carolyn Keene

About the Series: The Nancy Drew Mystery Stories was the long-running "main" Nancy Drew series, published between 1930 and 2003. Initially, titles were published by Grosset & Dunlap, but with #57 (1979) publication switched to Simon & Schuster. Some people consider these first 56 to be the original series and consider the Simon & Schuster series to be an entirely different series. The first 56 are considered to be the "classic" Nancy Drew books. In 2003, the series was discontinued, and a new, more contemporary series (Nancy Drew Girl Detective) was created in its place.

It also included a section of stories set in college, with Nancy moving on yet still finding herself in the detective situations.



I have never been very big on either mystery or horror (I used to read RL Stine when I was a pre-teen), but I remember the days when I was younger and I loved Nancy Drew (and the occasional Hardy Boys as well). I still have some of the Nancy Drew books too, in storage somewhere. I have the yellow hard covered copies. I remember reading ones like The Old Clock and the Hidden Staircase. I remember the college books, but I also think I might have missed some of the series at one point or another. It was many years ago.

Characters: Nancy, of course, was awesome. She had spunk, tended to get in trouble on a regular basis, and even though she was just "a girl" there was so much she was capable of, including solving weird and sometimes creepy mysteries. Her father was an important character, which is good because now some end up with missing parents to add tension, but he didn't hinder her actions. It was a good relation, that I remember at least. And of course there was Ned, the boyfriend. I don't remember paying a lot of attention to Ned but I knew I liked that his character wasn't around. It wasn't a big focus, there was no worry about whether she liked him or some other guy (though college might have changed that as I didn't get very far on those) and no paranormal bad buy complex. Ned was a nice guy and helped when he could. But the focus was Nancy.

The college stories were a bit different. They weren't bad but it just wasn't quite the classic that the beginning of the Nancy Drew world created. 


I didn't care much for the movie attempts though. They aren't bad, which was the risk because often times movies get pretty bad in comparison. However, the movies still can't compare to the book. I might some day go back and read the whole series over again. That would be interesting to see how they are years later.

I recommend the books to youth and adults alike, in particular the first section of the series, but I particularly remember them from my pre-teen years and the awesomeness that is was back then. Read. Enjoy.


Reviewed by:
Dawn Embers

Seanan McGuire, Author

Book 13 in A to Z challenge

October Daye is a changeling (half fae) knight who has just woken from fourteen years as a fish in a San Francisco pond. She wakes to a daughter who wants nothing to do with her anymore, a life she cannot recognize anymore, cell phones small enough to lose — and a murdered friend.

In search for the murderer, and a way to remove the death spell which snapped around her the moment her friend was killed, October Day reconnects with old friends and enemies, has to re-evaluate old relationships and make new ones. In the end it is her ingenuity, her honour and loyalty in the face of bone deep heartache which draws the reader into her life.

The October Daye novels are a travel through celtic mythology and urban fantasy, their heroine not a cool, disassociated and disenchanted sex symbol but a normal woman (or as normal as it gets for a half fae who serves as a knight on a fae court and has spent the last decade and a half as a fish). Somewhere between car chases through San Francisco, magically appearing dresses and pointy ears you will fall in love with this heroine - that is if you are not laughing tears.

This is an urban fantasy accessible to both mature young adults and adults alike but I believe it is us adults which will truly appreciate the depth and humour of the story.


Reviewed by:
Christine Blackthorn
www.christineblackthorn.eu