Angieville

My birthday occurred last week and it was a lovely one, filled with sleeping in, unexpected flowers and jelly beans, Boston-style pizza, and cake made to order. But it started off in the wee hours with the best part. Just after midnight, DH asked me if I wanted to open the first part of my present. "How many parts are there?" I asked curiously. "Three," he replied. After some thought, I agreed and he brought out a promising package, just the right size and shape to fill my heart with anticipation. I quickly unwrapped it and slid it out of its protective clear, plastic slipcase. Beauty . The one I'd been wanting. For ages. "It's a signed, first edition," he said. They all were, as it turned out.  And I opened one later that day. And one the following day. Two Robin McKinleys and a Mary Stewart (Signed! I'd never even seen one of those before.) The boy knows me well, doesn't he? I also received a stack of shiny, new pretties from my...

Last night we went up to my sister-in-law's house to meet our newest niece. And in between oohing and ahhing over her indisputable adorableness, I got to take a peek at my oldest niece's bookshelves. Anna's twelve and a reader. The real deal. And I'll admit that I got a little thrill when I saw that she owns not one but two copies of   Robin McKinley 's  Beauty .  I had to take a pic of the one edition, because I've never actually seen a copy in real life, and, because, really, it's too spectacularly 80s for words: I feel compelled to point out how appalled this particular Beauty would be at this representation of herself. But otherwise? Yup. Too spectacularly 80s for words.

R etro Friday   is a weekly meme hosted here at  Angieville  and focuses on reviewing books from the past.  This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. I look forward to this season every year because it means I get to reread Sunshine . This is one of my few solid seasonal reads. I revisit it every year for so many reasons. Because it originally came out in October. Because it absolutely encapsulates autumn for me. And Halloween, of course, what with all the vampires and the midnight outings and the smell of fallen leaves and cinnamon rolls in the air. And because it's just one of the biggest Angie books there is. I remember being almost apoplectic with excitement when I heard Robin McKinley was writing a vampire novel. The whole notion filled me with tingles. And imagine how happy I was when it turned out to be better than I could ever have imagined. I know people have strong f...

Retro Friday   is a weekly meme hosted here at Angieville and focuses on reviewing books from the past. This can be an old favorite, an under-the-radar book you think deserves more attention, something woefully out of print, etc. Everyone is welcome to join in at any time! I include roundups from participating bloggers in my weekly post. I talk about my love for Robin McKinley 's books a lot, but interestingly I've only reviewed three of them on the blog. And only one of those was for a Retro Friday post. So when I cast around for the right one to highlight today, it occurred to me that Rose Daughter was the perfect choice. I know everyone's read Beauty . It was her first book. It's essentially a classic of fairy tale retellings now. And I love it and will always love it for giving me a Beauty who was not beautiful and avoided mirrors at all cost and a Beast with a library of books from all the ages, including ones that hadn't even been written yet. Makes my lit...

So lately I've been doing a lot of rereading. Hence the lack of new reviews. I do apologize, but I have to go where the literary whim dictates, you know? Stacks of new books and all I want to do right now is cuddle up with old friends. And so that's precisely what I've been doing and it's been blissful in the extreme, I must say. But this does not mean that I've stopped reading reviews around the blogosphere and on GoodReads . Oh, no. And I have to say I've been a bit bemused by quite a few of them lately. Maybe bemused is the wrong word. Outraged is probably too strong. Flummoxed, or even better-- incredulous --would most accurately describe my feeling upon reading disparaging, even disdainful reviews of books that I love, that own a little piece of my soul. So perhaps you'll pardon me if I go on just a little bit of a rampage. Before we go any further, let me just state for the record that everyone is entitled to her own opinion of any book. And they...

I've always been fascinated by the relationships between sisters. I am an only child, though my parents had a baby girl on each side of me, both of whom passed away as infants. I would have been the middle child. The second of three girls. Ever since I can remember, I've wondered what my life would have been like had both of those girls lived longer than a few weeks. Would I have been more laid back as a second child? Would we have shared a room growing up, fought and bickered regularly, or would we have gotten along swimmingly? Would I have been like other middle children? Like Mary Bennet? Like Jo or Beth March? More importantly, would I have had someone to call now that we were all adults, when I needed to talk? To laugh about something one of our parents said or did. To reach out along that connection that made us not only siblings but sisters. And so, in the absence of the real thing, I've found myself gravitating toward especially well-drawn portraits of sisters in li...

First up, I have incredibly good news! You'll remember my confusion and dismay when I discovered The King Commands --the sequel to Meg Burden 's Northlander --was nowhere to be found despite having been published not quite two months ago. Well, a couple of days ago Charlotte contacted me to let me know that she talked to the publishers and they informed her that Amazon had just placed an order and that the book, in fact, was now in stock there! Charlotte and I (after doing the happy dance) naturally concluded that it was the review that got the ball rolling. So way to go 'Villians! When I first checked it said there were five copies in stock at Amazon and more were on the way. Those five copies have now been sold, but there are new copies available for the original sale price of $8.95 all over now. Barnes & Noble has them shipping in two days , and now  The Book Depository and Powell's does as well. My copy is already on its way. It's a midsummer miracle! ...

So we bloggers as a whole spend a fair amount of time dissecting cover art and the pros and cons of US vs. UK covers, hard vs. paperback, originals vs. reissues. I get just as excited as the next girl about the latest and greatest--see my angel book cover post from a few weeks back. And most books go through a handful of different covers and styles over the course of their lives, some more attractive and more accurate than others. But how often does a book go through three, say four different covers and every single last one of them are made of win? Not that often, I'm afraid. Then yesterday I ran across the newest reissue of   a book I have been in love with for almost seven years-- Robin McKinley 's Sunshine . This book has been just extremely lucky in the cover department, in my opinion. Here are the first two U.S. covers (hardback on the left, trade paperback on the right): I love them both. So much. They are perfect, they're both drawn from one of my absolutely favo...

It's like some kind of cover craze around here lately. But there's just so many to talk about and spotlight! Yesterday Robin McKinley unveiled the cover for her upcoming novel Pegasus .  Do the words "some authors have all the luck" come to mind? Lol. Just kidding. I know they all go through serious highs and lows cover-wise throughout their careers. But holy crap! This one is  gorgeous . While I gaze at it some more, you can read the first three snippets here , here , and here .  Pegasus is due out November 2nd. 

I have a thing for Robin Hood. Specifically Robin Hood retellings. I love Robin, Marian, Little John, Will Scarlet, Much the Miller, Alan-a-Dale, and the whole merry crew. I read Ivanhoe cover to cover just for Robin Hood's periodic appearances. And when I went on study abroad to England, I dragged my best friend all the way to Nottingham and Sherwood Forest as well so I could walk around in the woods and soak it all up. It's still one of the happiest, most golden days I can recall, that one. My first encounter with the tale itself was no doubt the Disney animated version (which I still love watching with my son), but I'm pretty sure the first actual novelization I read was Robin McKinley 's The Outlaws of Sherwood . And it remains my very favorite to this day. Admittedly, I seem to possess the McKinley gene. I love her writing. I love the unexpected, twisty paths she takes, the obstinate characters, and the wry humor. True to form, her Robin is not the typical Robin o...

Lately I've run across a few authors I love behaving fiercely. Since that is one of my favorite traits in a book, a character, and an author, too, I wanted to highlight them together. When an author I've enjoyed for some time is interviewed and says something striking or blogs about something important or inspires me in some way to work harder or think harder or just be better in general, a little bell strikes somewhere in the back of my mind and I find myself straightening my shoulders. Here are the three that caused that bell to strike most recently: 1. The National Coalition Against Censorship interviewed Chris Crutcher as part of the Kids' Right to Read Project . Mr. Crutcher spoke about his experience as one of the most challenged authors ever, how he deals with the controversy, and reader responses to his books. My favorite bit comes at the end, when in response to the question, "What would you like youth to know about books that have been challenged or banned...

Have you ever finished a book that just knocked your socks off? So far off you felt like shouting its praises from the top of someplace very high. And have you then gone trolling around looking for reviews and discussions on said book and been absolutely flummoxed to find...nothing? Or, if not nothing, small pockets of devoted readers here and there but nowhere near the following you feel it deserves. Last week Diana Peterfreund wrote a thoughtful post about Under-the-Radar Books in which she listed a few of the books she wishes everyone were reading and threw the question out to her readers. A lot of it, for better or worse, has to do with money and marketing but in this day and age it seems like authors and readers and bloggers can do a lot to spread the word on a few hidden gems and why they deserve the love. I can think of a host of excellent books--books that have ended up on my Beloved Bookshelf--that I would never have picked up on my own. But because of some other reader'...