Entwined by Heather Dixon

A retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses", Heather Dixon's Entwined is a story of family, loss, magic, and of course dancing.
Azalea, the eldest daughter of the King and Mother (the girls all call the King "sir" instead of father) is called upon to host the annual Yuletide ball, as Mother is very pregnant and very sick. When she is supposed to close the ball with the King, the Prime Minister Fairweller (a younger man, very sober) comes instead to dance with Azalea. The ball is abruptly ended and it is not until the next morning that Azalea discovers why--Mother has died.
The youngest of the princesses, Lily (the 12th daughter, all of whom have flower names), was delivered right before Mother died. The King, distraught and grief-stricken, though unable to show his daughters such, rides off not long after the funeral to fight a war with neighboring country.
Without their parents, the princesses are trapped in the palace during mourning, in which they cannot leave the castle and most depressing for them all, no dancing. Mother loved to dance and when the girls surreptitiously dance they feel connected to their mother. When Azalea finds a magic passage to a beautiful pavilion with a dark man trapped in the passage. In their anger towards their father, the girls swear not to tell anyone--especially the King--about where they go in the evenings.
So begins the fairy tale in earnest. Entwined is wonderfully written, Azalea is a proud, stubborn, determined young woman who wants to fulfill her promise to her mother of taking care of her sisters, and she wants the best futures for all of them (and herself!). It's a great story that doesn't ignore the King, and the personalities of the sisters are developed as well. Definitely a recommended read.

Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer

I did. I finally finished the Twilight Saga.
Thank heavens.
I fully admit to finding Breaking Dawn more palatable than the previous books, especially considering the quality of the writing. I find it much improved in this final book, though it did still drag on for a bit.
Granted, the half-vampire baby eating its mother from the inside out is a little weird and the birth scene a little weird, but those actually were minor in my eyes, probably because I had heard about them before I read the book. The first part of the book told from Bella's point of view had me rolling my eyes frequently. My main complaint with Bella is that she's an insecure whiner. She can't believe Edward loves her, can't believe Edward marries her, thinks she so not worth his time, and frankly, I think that's a terrible attitude for a character to have, especially one that appeals so much to young girls. Yes, I understand that girls are not particularly self-confident, but other others (Meg Cabot comes immediately to mind) have the same flawed characters who end up growing and thinking better of themselves. And I wish it didn't take Bella turning into a vampire to do that for her.
I enjoyed the Jacob-narrated part of the book, if only to get me out of Bella's head (that's really the main irritant for me, the book told from Bella's point of view) for a bit, though--much as I am on Team Jacob--why he puts up with her became much more difficult for me to understand. I just didn't see the attraction I had seen in previous books.
Edward became less obsessed and abusive after Bella became a vampire, I suppose because she couldn't really be broken anymore (and he got her into his family, they're a secret, she wasn't going to see all her old friends anymore, so I guess he won). I've just always thought there was something unhealthy about that relationship.
After Bella became a vampire I didn't like how she kept thinking she was "perfect" and that her human hearing and sight were "weak". I would have been happier if she had come to some sort of positive opinion of herself before she became a vampire. Edward wants to spend eternity with you, Bella, he would not do that with someone he was not devoted to. Wise up. Think better of yourself. Be a vampire, I don't care, just be a better role model for teen girls reading this book.
Renesmee: It's sweet, I think, that Edward & Bella got to have a family. I don't mind the happily ever after part of the story, I think that's quite nice. The imprinting thing I can even handle and think that Jacob's right, Renesmee is why he put up with Bella for so long. One random pet peeve: put the kid in a damn car seat. I don't care if you're supernaturals, the kid needs to be in a car seat, not sitting on someone's lap in the front seat of the car. I don't care if it's fiction.
As for the Volturi, I thought it was interesting that they showed up, I thought it was an intriguing part of the story (I've always found the back stories of the vampires and werewolves interesting in these books), I think I was a little disappointed the confrontation ended so flatly? Glad that none of the Cullens or the werewolves had to die, but it was kind of flat ending to all that build up.
Will I be reading Midnight Sun if Meyer ever decides to complete and publish it? No. I don't think there's anything Meyer could write about Edward that would actually make me like him (or think he's a good book boyfriend for teen girls).
I feel better for having completed the series (even knowing how it ended before I picked up Twilight), primarily because I'm a young adult librarian and if teens are reading, I should have an idea of what they're reading.

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi

On the changed Louisiana shoreline in the perhaps not so distant future, when the ice caps have melted and weather patterns have changed significantly, Nailer works on Bright Sands Beach breaking down old ships. He's young and still scrawny enough to crawl through ducts collecting copper wire and other scavengable parts of the ship. He's hoping when he gets too big to fit into the ducts he'll be able to work on heavy crew, the teams that take apart the hulls of the ships. He's worried that he won't be strong enough or big enough but he decides not to worry about it.
After a hurricane rushes through the beach, Nailer and his best friend Pima have the day off work while the bosses try to get the beach organized enough to start again, so they decide to go in search of fresh seafood. Out on a spit of land (that becomes an island in high tide) they find a beautiful clipper ship wrecked on the beach. Pima and Nailer go inside the ship and begin to scavenge, thinking this is their ticket out of Bright Sands Beach, just one big Lucky Strike will save them a lifetime of back-breaking work. They just need to find a way to protect it.
While going through the ship, they find the dead bodies of the crew and the body of a swank girl, around their age. With gold rings on her fingers, a diamond in her nose, and gold around her neck, Pima and Nailer know they've hit the jackpot. They decide the best way to get the rings off the girl is to cut her fingers off. Much to their surprise, the girl is awake.
Nita is the daughter of one of the big global shipping agents, and she's being chased by one of her father's employees because Pyce wants to do something illegal. Pyce thinks if he holds Nita hostage, her father will let Pyce do whatever he wants with the company. When Nailer's father (a cruel drug addict) finds Nailer, Pima, and Nita, he decides he's going to make the deal with anyone who comes looking for Nita. Nailer and Nita escape towards the Orleans (the remains of New Orleans, most of which is underwater) searching for one of her father's ships that is still loyal to Nita and her father. When they finally find one, Nailer wants to make sure it's all right (his father has shown up in the city at the same time) but it ends up that Nita's taken.
Nailer finally gets his wish and gets to sail on a clipper ship while they search for the ship that has Nita prisoner. They find it, of course, and Nailer helps with a plan to trap the ship and get Nita back.
There's a lot going on in this book. I had a not so easy time going through the book. I didn't dread reading it but it didn't move quite as fast as other books I've read (like Wither by Lauren DeStefano). It's an adventure story, a dystopia story, has slight political comments, it just felt like a jumble of story lines while being not entirely certain what kind of book it wants to be. I definitely didn't dislike it, but I think if it had not been this year's Printz winner I would have been less inclined to finish it. Ship Breaker is a well-written interesting story, especially if you like adventures. It might appeal a little more to male readers than female readers, but that's not to say female readers won't like it. Definitely an adventurous story. I think my issue with it is that I wasn't expecting it to be an adventure story. But as I said, it's well-written and interesting and should appeal to readers who approach the book without any preconceived ideas of what it's about, other than an adventure.

The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

David Levithan has a way with words. I have felt that with every book of his I've read (which is really only 5, including this one, but still, it's the reason I fell in love with his books). He's amazing and brilliant and wonderful.
The Lover's Dictionary is a very brief book (I read it on my lunch hour & one 15 minute break) in which Levithan defines words that tell the story of a relationship. The entries are brief thoughts on a moment or relate an entire episode in their relationship. There's a quiet beauty to the entries, even the angry ones (which is interesting to see the anger pop out between different words, so you don't get the whole story at once), and Levithan brings you into this relationship and the mind of the narrator, and I found it very easy as a reader to identify with many of his entries.
I like how he had part of a conversation in one entry, then further on went back to that conversation, and included just a little more, enough to illustrate the word, teasing the reader to keep reading to find out the whole story. Like with all books that capture just moments of a character's life, The Lover's Dictionary has beautiful moments that build an image in your mind. The great thing about Levithan is that he does it with so few words. One of my favorites:

whet, v.
You kiss me when you get home, and when I kiss you back longer, harder, you say, "Later, dear. Later."

I simply love the image this creates in my mind with so few words. It's difficult to give a full description of the story of this book, but if you're patient, interested in words and imagery, pick up the book. It will not take very long to finish (or to suss out if you like it or not).

The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd

We all know 1) I'm a sucker for books written in the diary format and 2) I'm a sucker for dystopian novels and so The Carbon Diaries 2015 was perfect fit.
The dystopia part wasn't a huge role, the book is meant to take place in modern Britain (and only a few years away from the present) but with a few quirks (or yet to happen events) thrown in. The Great Storm has left the global community thinking that maybe some changes need to be made to how people live.
The UK is the first to make changes by rationing carbon in January 2015. So Laura Brown keeps a diary of what's happening during the year, from the extreme snow to extreme rain to extreme drought (is there any other kind?) back to extreme rain. The weather is just one aspect of crazy during 2015 and Laura just wants everything to be "normal". She wants to play in her band the Dirty Angels, she wants to crush on the boy next door, she wants to pass her exams, she wants her older sister Kim to stop being an evil witch, and she just wants her parents to be normal.
The book reminded me of Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life as We Knew It: the world is going along happily until some extreme event knocks everything out of whack and it's the story of one teenager coping with the changes. Saci Lloyd leaves some humor in The Carbon Diaries 2015, which makes it not as intense as Pfeffer's books. Now the moon didn't get knocked closer to earth, it's just global warming (just? yikes), but the government's plan to put people on carbon rationing changes aspects of daily life: how much you can use the computer, watch TV, take hot showers, cook, all the basic stuff you take for granted. Lloyd does a good job of showing the activities that change that we normally wouldn't think about (Laura's mom can't drive her car as often, Kim is missing her gap year because it's too expensive to fly, students are re-thinking education and careers) and increasing the feeling of desperation that slowly rises amongst the family and the community at large. The snow is frightening (people dying from the cold, no food getting to the UK) and then it all melts and there's relief. The rain is intense (better than the snow) and goes on for days and days and days, and when the sun finally comes out, there's relief. The drought is frightening (people dying from the heat, the city turning off access to water), with no one thinking to save the rain that drenched the people in the spring, and when it finally rains there's relief. The relief is always short-lived because there's some other disaster that's coming closer.
It's amazing how "normal" Laura's life continues to be--she goes to school, plays with her band, fights with her parents, takes her exams, sleeps late on breaks--though cracks in the normalcy peer out from time to time, like when the school has an assembly on what to do during a riot. The diary format moves the book along at a quick and easy to read pace, Laura is a great character struggling with being a teenager and this great change occurring in the world at large. She's easy to relate to and Lloyd does a great job of making some of the usual stuff of teenage life remain "usual". It's a great book, especially for those not as interested in the intense world Pfeffer creates in her books. The Carbon Diaries 2015 is a good book to read after Pfeffer's books. You need a little hope somewhere.
I just started The Carbon Diaries 2017 and I'm interested to see where this one will take me ... check for a review soon!

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier

Which Team are you on? Zombies or Unicorns?
I am most fervently on Team Zombie. Though I have to say, many of the stories I liked best in Zombies vs Unicorns are unicorn stories. The book is a fantastic collaboration amongst popular YA writers who had a ton of fun writing the stories. I like that Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier prefaced each story with a discussion (though I would have liked to see stories by those two as well) and I could easily see they were enjoying the task of editing these phenomenal stories.
Some of my favorite unicorn stories are Naomi Novik's "Purity Test", the tale of a unicorn out to find a human to help save unicorns, and neither the human nor the unicorn are what one would expect; "The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn" by Diana Peterfreund, which asks what if unicorns were really dangerous, something which Peterfreund addresses in her novels Rampant and Ascendant (neither of which I've read); Kathleen Duey's dark "The Third Virgin" tells the tale of a different kind of unicorn; and probably my favorite, Meg Cabot's "Princess Prettypants", in which a sixteen year old girl does not get the car she's pining for.
On the zombie side of things, Alaya Dawn Johnson's "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is excellent, told from the point of view of the partially cured, lovelorn zombie; on the other side is Cassandra Clare's "Cold Hands", telling a love story from the point of view of the human in the human-zombie relationship; Scott Westerfeld's "Inoculata", about what the cure for zombies might be; Maureen Johnson's humorous "The Children of the Revolution", which you just have to read because trying to explain it, it sounds crazy; and the chilling "Prom Night" by Libba Bray, sharing what happens when it's the adults that become zombies and how the kids take control (but still manage to have a prom).
All of the stories are excellent (to be expected from such wonderful writers) and I love that the book is set up with alternating zombie and unicorn stories. Also that there's handy little zombie and unicorns pictures at the top of the page so you can skip the unicorn stories or the zombie stories, but I would suggest not skipping stories. Zombies vs. Unicorns is a entertaining, funny, chilling, amazing read. Also, I totally want a poster of the cover (showing the battle of zombies vs. unicorns). Although I love the unicorn stories as much as I love the zombie stories, when it comes down to it, it's still zombies that will bring about the end of the world ....

Grace by Elizabeth Scott

I thoroughly (and darkly) enjoyed Elizabeth Scott's novel Living Dead Girl and when I read the reviews and descriptions for Grace, I got giddy that she was writing another dark novel. Scott's wonderfully slim but powerful novels are great for reluctant readers and those needing a change of pace (that was me this week).
Grace is a girl trying to escape her country (an unnamed country, and the book takes place some time in the future) after failing at her purpose: to be a suicide bomber and to kill the Minister of Culture as well as herself. She approached the stage where the Minister was, slid the bomb down her leg (as all good Angels are taught to do), but kicked it off her leg and did not detonate the bomb until she was a safe distance away. After her failure, she was no longer welcome with her People, the ones who live in the Hills and attack Keran Berj and his cities and villages through suicide bombers. So Grace went back to the City, went into hiding and found someone who would help her escape.
Grace finally boards the train that will take her to the Border, where hopefully she can cross into another country and start a new life, and with her is a young man Kerr. The two are supposed to pose as brother and sister, fetching a fictitious pregnant sister from the country they are fleeing to. Soldiers are constantly present on the train, checking papers and creating constant worry for Grace and Kerr.
The story unfolds as Grace thinks about what she did, what she was supposed to do, and how her life came to that point. It's amazing to watch this character struggle with feeling sorry that she wants to live, that she didn't want to give up everything, her life, to send a message to the dictator Keran Berj, that she just wants freedom. But freedom at what cost? Who defines freedom? And is the freedom Keran Berj's people want different from that of the People of the Hills? Grace learns that the world is not such a cut and dry place, that what she has been taught is similar to what Kerr has been taught, even though their people fight each other. Kerr has a few secrets of his own that challenge Grace's chances for escape.
Grace invites readers to think about how easily we all grow up believing what we're taught, what we're told, how questioning the way things are can be dangerous, and being true to yourself is dangerous as well. There's one particularly eye-opening moment when Grace thinks about not herself and not her intended target, but everyone else around the day she set that bomb off, something she had never thought about before. Powerful.

Lester Higata's 20th Century by Barbara Hamby

I don't normally seek out collections of short stories to read, though perhaps I should. What caught me about this title as I read a review in ... some review journal, was that all the stories are interconnected and take place in Hawaii. I like Hawaii and will read pretty much any fiction set in Hawaii. So, Lester Higata's 20th Century made its way onto my reading pile. I really enjoyed it.
This was one of those stories that just happen--it's not about action and chases and moving quickly from one point to the next, but about snapshots in the lives of these characters that move backwards in time. Which was pretty cool and unexpected.
The first story begins shortly before Lester's death. And I mean shortly as in a matter of minutes, not days or months, but as soon as he finishes talking to his dead father. Lester's father tells him about the afterlife which is different than what Lester was expecting, so he's a little intrigued by it. The reader is introduced to Lester's wife Katherine and daughter Linda. Son Paul is not around, but pops up in other stories. It's just a very comfortable story and sets up a great place for Lester's past to be told.
The brilliant thing is the stories are not all about Lester and not all from Lester's point of view. Family members, neighbors, acquaintances are the protagonists in the various stories, each finding a way to weave in with the previous stories and the ones following. More than just the stories happening, there's usually one powerful but brief moment in the story that reveals something about each of the characters and those are great moments. The stories are like our lives--days go on and on but there are moments and days and interactions with people that we remember always, even though the rest of our lives become clouded blurs. The stories are quietly powerful and give the reader plenty to think of. If you need a break from fast paced or plot-driven stories, Lester Higata's 20th Century is a fantastic foray into characters and how the stories of people's lives all have their intriguing moments.

whoops

Double whoops: I started this post in February and yet somehow never got around to completing it.
Perhaps my goal should be to update once a month. I might be able to handle that. Maybe.
Just because I'm not posting certainly doesn't mean I'm not reading. Finished recently (really just within my memory): Forever Princess by Meg Cabot, Ransom My Heart by Mia Thermopolis (aka Meg Cabot), Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, and Looks by Madeleine George.
I enjoyed that Cabot linked Forever Princess and Ransom My Heart, the latter being Mia's senior project, a historical romance in medieval England. The main character in Ransom My Heart, in my limited Cabot-reading experience, was different from most of Cabot's heroines in that she was a little more assertive, a little less wishy-washy. However, Finn still didn't think she was much to look at, which is a trait most of Cabot's main characters share. It is a good story, about a girl who kidnaps an earl (but doesn't know he's an earl), and it's a little racy, there being some sex scenes in it (which has Mia rather concerned when she thinks about sharing it with her friends). Definitely an engrossing story, well written and moves at a decent pace. Forever Princess, sadly the last in the Princess Diaries series (sadly for me anyway, I love those stories), begins at the end of Mia's senior year. She's trying to decide what college to go to, whether or not she wants to go to prom, what to do about JP, what to do about turning 18, you know, what to do about life in general. A rather large shocker (and perhaps what turns Mia back to her diary, as she hasn't written in it since her junior year) is that her ex-boyfriend Michael shows up back in New York. Mia has to ask herself, is she really over Michael? Is JP definitely The One? Or is Mia just as confused as she's always been? A happy ending for Princess Diaries fans, but the book definitely should get scooched to the Young Adult area--there's more than just talk about sex in this one.
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert is, as one of my colleagues described it, a character driven story, and Rachel is an intriguing, funny, determined character. I'll be the first to admit that I often do not read books typically chosen by book clubs, but after the insistence and positive reviews of a friend, as well as my own obsession and interest in Hawaiian history, I gave in and read the book. I am very glad that I did. Rachel contracts leprosy at the age of 7 and is sent to a hospital outside of Honolulu. When she fails to get any better, she is sent to the island of Molokai, where most leprosy patients are sent essentially to die. Thankfully, her uncle is on the island, so she is not completely disconnected from all family and that makes being there as such a young girl a little easier. Rachel grows older on the island, adventures out with other teenage girls, gets a job, falls in love, and attempts to live as normal a life as possible, trapped as she is. Major events in Hawaiian history pass over and around the people on Molokai, often not finding out until much later what occurred. This novel is driven by Rachel, so if you begin the novel and do not enjoy her character or are expecting something BIG to happen, you'll not enjoy the book. It is well written and moving and a rewarding read. Highly recommended, if you enjoy well developed characters and are happy to watch a character's life.
Looks by Madeleine George is a tale of a fat girl and a skinny girl, to put it bluntly. Meghan spends her life trying to blend in to the scenery, trying to be ignored, trying to walk past the bullies who tease and torment her, just trying to get to her classes. Meghan is a watcher, she watches and listens to what goes on at the school and speaks as little as possible. Twig thin Aimee is new to the school and is looking for something to enjoy, something to be a part of, and finds Cara and the school's literary journal. Meghan tries to warn Aimee about Cara, but Aimee is a little freaked out by the girl who watches people and appears to have no friends. When Cara does something Aimee finds unforgivable, she and Meghan team up to bring revenge on Cara (and as a bonus for Meghan, humiliate the jock who spends his time torturing Meghan). This is a short book but powerful with strong characters that does not focus on the girls' eating disorders, though there are a couple of scenes that dramatize the hungry--Aimee and her taunting carrot sticks, refusing to allow herself to eat them, and Meghan eating and eating to calm down and not feel so empty. Does their revenge turn out the way they would like? Is revenge the best way to feel better? It sounds great when planning it, but both girls learn that sometimes you can't take things back. Excellent reading.
That's it for this short post; on to the next one to cover some of what I read in the rest of February.
I remain, the (procrastinating) Savage Librarian.