48 Hour Book Challenge Wrap Up

My totals:

Books read: 5
Books reviewed: 5
pages read: 1781

Hours read: somewhere around 20 - was interspered with grandkid watching, unpacking BEA boxes and sleeping off the NY trip oh yeah and the wine tasting at The Colorado Wine Company.

This was great fun and I only wish I had had the whole weekend to read instead of it being so jam packed with stuff. It was my first weekend back from New York and I spent most of it sorting books, baby sitting my two grandkids who missed me last weekend, doing laundry, working and spending time with friends. Still, I got some much needed reading and reviewing done. This was a good nudge to get it done! Thank you Mother Reader and everyone who participated. Great fun!

The Guardians: A Novel

The Guardians: A Novel
Author: Ana Castillo
Publisher: Random House
ISBN-10: 1400065003
ISBN-13: 978-1400065004

Ana Castillo is one of those writers that I always expect not just the best of, but the best of the best of. She certainly doesn’t disappoint in her lyrical new book The Guardians.

The book tells the story in four intersecting voices of the main protagonists. 50-something redheaded virgin widow Regina who is eking out a poor living on her desert land while working as an underpaid teacher’s aide and caring for her nephew is one of the voices. She’s a strong character and embodies self sufficiency, love and the desire to get ahead.

Regina’s raising Gabo, a deeply troubled and religious young man. His mother was murdered seven years before in a border crossing and her body mutilated for its organs. Now his father Rafa is missing and Regina begins a search. The search leads her to Miguel or Mike, a divorced teacher at the school where Regina works. Miguel becomes a friend to them both and helps Regina in the search for her brother.

These three and an unlikely fourth, Miguel’s grandfather Abuelo Milton form a strange band of searchers as they hunt for clues to Rafa’s disappearance. Each chapter is written in one of these fours voices and gives depth and an interesting spin to the story. We see the intersection and the different views of the people who are living it.

"I don't think they could come up with a horror movie worse than the situation we got going on en la frontera," as Abuelo Milton says.

Throughout the book is the story of desperation, the illegal crossings, the coyotes who take advantage of the people they bring across. Castillo weaves into this intricately elegant story the Juarez murders of women, the Minutemen, the politics and the desert border town. It’s an amazing feat. She compels with each word, breathes magic into her words and we’re there, in a border meth lab where border crossers are held hostage until their families can come up with the money to ransom them. We feel the desperation of crossing the desert, the thirst that kills, the desire to make it through, to come to a better life. The book stands as a political statement about immigration, the rights of women and I think most of all it is a cry of outrage.

The Mysterious Benedict Society

The Mysterious Benedict Society
Author: Trenton Lee Stewart
Illustrator: Carson Ellis
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN-10: 0316057770
ISBN-13: 978-0316057776

When orphaned and lonely Reynie Muldoon answers a recruitment ad for "gifted children looking for special opportunities," he finds himself smack dab in the midst of a highly secretive and dangerous adventure. He is given a series of challenging tests and puzzles to complete until he finally passes them all and meet Mr. Benedict. Reynie and three other children are chosen by the mysterious Mr. Benedict, a kind old man who wears a bright green suit and given to fits of narcolepsy to penetrate The Institute, an isolated school for orphans run by the evil Mr. Curtain.

The other children, tiny Constance Contraire, George “Sticky” Washington and Kate Weatherhill quickly form a friendship and bravely choose to help Mr. Benedict who believes that Mr. Curtain is planning something very dangerous and evil which is tied to something called The Emergency. He lets the children know that subliminal messages are being sent through the televisions and that only they can help stop it.

The four children journey to the school and learn that each of them has their own strength. Constance has her stubbornness, Kat, her athleticism and seemingly magical bucket full of stuff; Sticky, his incredible photographic memory and knowledge and Reynie his leadership ability and heart. Working together they discover not only the nefarious plot to take over the world but also themselves and what really is important.

The book tackles issues of loneliness, abandonment, family, loyalty and truth. It has underlying messages about the dubious power of media and the value of education, honesty, courage and strength of character. It’s the story of orphans facing up to strong issues, a criminal mastermind and their own self doubt. The book brings to mind those wonderful Blue Bailliet books or Roald Dahl. It’s full of intricate plot twisting and intelligent dialogue. While it is a long story (485 pages), it doesn’t feel long as the writing and storytelling keep the reader engaged till the very end. Both boys and girls will love this story. I hope there’s a sequel. This one is a keeper.

A Swift Pure Cry

A Swift Pure Cry
Author: Siobhan Dowd
Publisher: David Fickling Books
ISBN-10: 0385751087
ISBN-13: 978-0385751087

A Swift Pure Cry is the poignant and heart wrenching tale of Shell, a 15 year old girl growing up in Ireland. Her mother has died and Shell bears the responsibility of raising her siblings and trying to handle her drunken and obsessively religious father. They live on money he skims off of donations for the Church. Shell attempts to go to the church for support and is seen with a new, young priest. Shell is so out of touch with no mother, that it takes a girlfriend to tell her she needs a bra and then they set off to steal one. That scene broke my heart.

Her best friend is angry with her for no apparent reason and her only joy seems to come from her moments with her boyfriend, Declan in a barley field. Shell becomes pregnant and armed only with a stolen library book, she struggles to understand what to expect from her pregnancy while hiding it from her father and the village. Meanwhile, Declan (not the nicest guy in the world) has taken off for America and Shell’s friend has left town.

Shell’s courage and strength shine throughout the book as she struggles to live with her mother’s death, take care of her siblings and get through her pregnancy. She loves her baby and it seems to be a bright spot in the usual drudgery and hopelessness of her days. Eventually, her siblings catch on and become equally involved in her pregnancy all the while hiding it from the alcoholic father.

In an emotional and graphic scene, Shell gives birth to a stillborn baby girl. Another dead baby is found in a cave and the authorities take Shell in thinking it was her baby. Gossip starts in the small village and the new priest is thought to be the father.

Dowd’s lyrical prose and sensitivity to her subject makes this gut wrenching book a fine read. She gives the reader a sense of Ireland, the life in Shell’s village and most of all, the inner turmoil and hopes and dreams of this young girl. A Swift Pure Cry is one of my best books so far in 2007 and is highly recommended.

The King of Attolia

The King of Attolia
Author: Megan Whalen Turner
Publisher: Greenwillow
ISBN-10: 006083577X
ISBN-13: 978-0060835774


The King of Attolia is the third in the series of books about Eugenides, the Thief of Eddis and long-awaited sequel to The Queen of Attolia. Eugenides or Gen, now the King of Attolia after literally stealing away Queen Irene and marrying her, is now dealing with her court and with being a king. The court thinks he’s an idiot and a pawn of the Queen. She can’t possibly love this guy! I mean after all, she did order his hand to be cut off in a previous book.

The attendants and guards mock him and play tricks on him. Think high school and a medieval "Kick Me" sign stuck on the poor guy’s back. They think he’s a wimp and can’t do anything about it. They think that Queen Irene is all for it because she does nothing. Fact is, she has to let him make his own way, find a way to rein these guys in on his own. There’s even a running palace joke that the Queen and King don’t sleep together. Eugenides is less than a man and certainly not a king to them.

Then one day Costis, a guard in the palace punches Gen right in the face. Beheading is the usual penalty for punching your king’s lights out, but Eugenides devises a better punishment. It is through Costis’ eyes that readers see how he and the court consistently underestimate the clever and calculating mastermind that is the King of Attolia.

There is subterfuge everywhere, plots abound, assassination attempts are prolific and though they litter the story, the real story and focus here is the complicated romance between two people in love who are dealing with the realities of marriage and monarchy.

Whalen Turner’s skilled third person prose is tantalizing, secretive and wonderful. She keeps you guessing, wondering what Eugenides is up to, and dying for the conclusion. Her portrayal of a court full of intrigue and Machiavellian plots is just amazing.

Costis’ gradual grudging respect for Gen really gives readers insight into both Gen and Costis as well as of the seemingly frosty Irene.

The King of Attolia is a worthy addition to the sequel and I feel, the best of the three.

Song of the Sparrow

Song of the Sparrow
Author: Lisa Ann Sandell
Publisher: Scholastic Press
ISBN-10: 0439918480
ISBN-13: 978-0439918480


The first book I finished in the 48 Hour Reading Challenge (by the way forgot to mention I started Friday night at 10:00 p.m.) was Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell. Song of the Sparrow is the story of Elaine of Ascolat, otherwise known as the Lady of Shalott. Being a big fan of the Tennyson poem (it haunts me), I just had to read the book to get a little more story on this mysterious woman who floated down the river to Camelot in her boat named the Lady of Shalott.

“Under tower and balcony,

By garden-wall and gallery,

A gleaming shape she floated by,

Dead-pale between the houses high,

Silent into Camelot.

Out upon the wharfs they came,

Knight and Burgher,

Lord and Dame,

And around the prow they read her name,

The Lady of Shalott.”

In Sandell’s excellent YA novel set in Britain 490 AD, Elaine is a young girl growing up in a world of military men. Her mother has been killed and so she lives with her brothers and father in the moving camps of war, the only girl in a world of men serving under Arthur. Elaine is a tomboy, a good seamstress, gifted healer and has a big and caring heart. Her only other woman friend is Morgan, the sister of Arthur who sometimes visits the camp.

She is almost a mother figure to all the men in the camp even though some of them are starting to change the way they look at her. Sixteen and beautiful though she doesn’t know it, the men are starting to take notice. Elaine however, has eyes only for Lancelot her childhood friend. Lancelot seems to be leaning towards Elaine as well until the fiancée of Arthur comes to live in the camp, the beauteous but cruel Gwynivere who, though engaged to Arthur is deeply in love with Lancelot and he with her. The two girls are as different as can be and

The book is written entirely in free verse poetry and gives both a sense of the haunting poem and painting of the Lady of Shalott and is more hopeful, happier somehow. Elaine is a marvelous character – vibrant, fiery, brave and determined. Gwynivere, her rival is multi-layered and deeply conflicted. The men in the story almost serve as background to these complex and interesting women. The battle scenes, history and the wonders of nature all make this a highly entertaining and great read. Highly recommended.

48 Hour Reading Challenge

A few days ago, I found out about the 48 Hour Book Challenge on Mother Reader's blog. I promptly signed up and even had somewhat of a plan in mind. Yesterday my boxes from BEA arrived and all thoughts of planning ended.

Currently I'm unpacking six boxes of books and reading both The Mysterious Benedict Society which I already love and The Guardians, Ana Castillo's new novel about immigration that I also already love.

I just pulled out Puff the Magic Dragon, Peter Yarrow's lavishly illustrated picture book that I stood in line to get a signature for and I know it's going to work its way into this challenge. Other books that are clamoring to be part of the reading feast this weekend are:
Piglet and Papa
Manga Shakespeare - Hamlet
Manga Shakespeare - Romeo and Juliet
Lost City Radio
Micographica, Renee French's new book
Carmen Dog by Carol Emshwiller
The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Wilbur Smith's new book, The Quest
Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
Paint the Wind by Pam Munoz Ryan
Sparrow, a Novel
Gracie
The Ashleys
The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold (signed!)
Confessions of a Teenage Amnesiac
A Distant Soil
The Winter Rose
The Rest of Her Life by Laura Moriarty
Only Revolutions
The Echo Maker
Wrestling with Angels
Tree of Smoke
Two Moon Princess
Erec Rex
The Christmas Jar;
The Kitchen Sink (poetry)
The Mice of Bistro des Sept Freres
Amelia Rules! What Makes You Happy
The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (no I couldn't get Flight and missed his signing because the line was too long) heavy sigh.
Shiver
Kennedy's Brain
Fablehaven

Well that's it so far. No way am I going to be able to read all of those and the list may change depending on what else I find in my box digging (Mother Reader, does sorting books count in this reading challenge?). It'll be interesting to see which books I end up reading and how many of my list I'll get to. Signing off to go finish sorting books on the floor while reading The Guardian.