Angieville

Once upon a time, January came for us and proclaimed itself supremely uninterested in taking prisoners. Under the sustained assault, there were simply too many avenues of stress tearing into my brain. On one side of the field stood so many books (as they have always been there for me) ready to be read—to help. And on the other side loomed a distressing number of chasms inside me desperate to find solace and reprieve. But the two could not meet. No matter how many peace talks I attempted to broker.  In February, in a move so unprecedented that I can only describe it as a lifeline thrown down into the deepest of the chasms, my exhausted mind decided it would be a good idea to finally give fanfiction a whirl. Now, there's no getting around the fact that for someone who has read as many novels that involve fic in some way or another as I have—seriously, novels that began as fic, novels written by authors who got their start writing fic, novels about characters who write/illustrate/love...

Since I thought I'd start with the two most egregious reviewing gaps, you get Wayward Son next. I hope this is agreeable to all and sundry. And let's just agree not to pull any punches, shall we? I'll start by admitting that this book wrecked my life. To be clear, I am not complaining. It's just that it had been a long time, yeah? A long time since  Carry On came out. Just such a very long time since I'd been in the company of these two. And their crew. And I thought I was ready. Don't I always? Must remember to learn from past mistakes. But more than that, I wasn't thinking about the fact that of course Rainbow Rowell would create nothing less than the sequel that would naturally follow the events at the end of Carry On. Which is to say a sequel that would hurt . Because everything about what happened to Simon Snow from the beginning of his life to his graduation from Watford was designed to damage. With the shining exceptions of Penny and Baz. And so th...

I haven't wanted to talk about this. With  anyone.  But I think I probably need to. That like Georgina, I need to use my words to break the curse. I think that like Sam, I need to believe in my cure. So I'm going to talk about it here, and maybe you can help. Since pandemic type things got real in my neck of the woods, I haven't been able to read. I haven't been able to  reread . This has (and I am not exaggerating) never happened to me before  in my life.  I know it happens frequently to most everyone. And I have certainly always been a mood reader. It's not in any way uncommon for me to drift from book to book, from shelf to shelf in my library, until I land upon the right thing. But that drifting tends to occur over the course of a few hours. Not ever does it occur over the course of a few days or, God forbid, weeks.  I feel like I'm losing my mind. And, yes, I am fully aware of where this problem likely rates on the triviality scale in the current schem...

There's really very little to say, isn't there? I hope you are well, wherever you are. I hope that your loved ones are. I hope that you're finding small ways to stay afloat, to remain connected to something, someone, someplace (real or fictional) that sustains you. Dark and difficult times, indeed. I've rather been holding on to this review. I felt so much, so quickly, so irrevocably for this book that it rapidly became hard to talk about to anyone who hadn't read it. And so I hope I can do it justice, just barely enough justice that, if you haven't, you'll run right out and do so. Now is the perfect time. I feel strongly that this book is what you need in your life at this moment. And so. You might want to prepare yourselves. I'm about to wax rhapsodic. But first, and introductory excerpt: At the end of that session, Fay said, What if it's not what happened with this boy you regret, it's you? It's the  you  who you left behind. It's ...

No joke, I'm a little shaky right now. I just finished a headlong binge―scratch that, I just paused three books into a headlong binge of Robert Galbraith 's (aka J.K. Rowling 's) Cormoran Strike crime series . I say paused because I downed the first three books back to back to back, and the fourth book is due out September 18th. How is that for lucky?? I never get that lucky with my reading timing! And even so. I'm still  severely uncertain of my ability to actually survive until Lethal White comes out. Because this series grabbed me by the throat and has not let go. From the opening prologue to The Cuckoo's Calling , I was wide-eyed and ravenous. I felt positively giddy to be reading a series by Rowling again. After all this time. I couldn't stop myself long to enough to write up true reviews of the first two books, but given the imposed wait for book four, I felt I had to talk about Career of Evil , the third book in the series. And yes, many of you have k...

I am barely keeping it together as I type this, you guys. I read my review copy of  The Prince some time ago and have literally been counting down the days until I could reasonably share my thoughts with you. Because I want to shout my love for this book from the rooftops, I love it that much. And, yes, before we go any further, we should go ahead and acknowledge that this is more man-chest than has ever been seen before in these parts. I mean, wow is that lot. But the information relevant to your interests is that this book is so good, it transcends any possible cover the Cover Gods could see fit to bestow. I do, occasionally wish that Choose Your Own Covers were an option, because I've been feeling positively agitated at the thought that there might be someone out there who doesn't pick up this book because something about its trappings throws them off. Hence, today's review. I discovered Katharine Ashe a couple of years ago via her very enjoyable Falcon Club series....

Um. Hi. Hi, there. Did you, by chance, hear that Meagan Spooner is doing a Robin Hood retelling and that this is its cover?! I had to take a few deep breaths to let my heart slow down before I could even string words together. After the note-perfectness that was Hunted last year, I struggle to contain my glee at the thought of what we have in store when she turns her hand to Robin Hood. As you know, I have feelings and opinions when it comes to this tale. And exactly none of them are mild. You likely know the usual suspects that make up my beloved versions. So try, if you will, to approximate the expression on my face when I read this will be a gender-bent take, in which Marian dons the hood, in which the first line of the blurb is "Robin of Locksley is dead." I feel like someone may need to start giving me oxygen at any moment. Certainly, long before this Sherwood  is out March 19, 2019. Challenge accepted, Ms. Spooner. Take my money.

It was called Selections from Shakespeare. Later, I came to see that Mr. Dickens and Mr. Wordsworth were thinking of men like me when they wrote their words. But most of all, I believe that William Shakespeare was. How had I not heard about this until now?! I just . . . I am wild with delight. Reading this book was the most beautiful of experiences . I can hardly wait to experience the film adaptation. What do you think of Lily James as Juliet and Michiel Huisman as Dawsey? The film is set to release April 20th in the UK. Fingers crossed it makes it way to the other side of the pond soon!

Look, I knew this day was coming. I mean, there was a chance that it wouldn't. If I hadn't given in and read Sarah J. Maas ' A Court of Thorns and Roses series, I might never have gone back and given the Throne of Glass series a second chance. Which would have been a dashed shame (more on that later). But reading Feyre's story and loving it in the precise way I did was the nail in the coffin of not returning to Celaena's story as well. Thank you, Reading Gods of Second Chances. I think you're all familiar with my history with this series. In fact, some of you have a similar story. I snagged an ARC of Throne of Glass (one of the ones with the original terrible cover) at BEA way  back in the day and started it almost immediately. I ran out of steam a ways in and gave up for lack of anything holding my interest. And, somehow, my reaction was strong enough to withstand literal  years of ensuing hype and rave reviews from readers and writers I truly esteem. F...

I'm a bit giddy just typing this. Emily Wilson—a professor of Classical Studies and Chair of the Program in Comparative Literature and Literary Theory at the University of Pennsylvania—has become the first woman to translate Homer's  The Odyssey into English, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on a copy. This article in The New York Times is well worth a read, if you (like me) are interested in all things Penelope, Odysseus, and grey-eyed Athena. Just take a look at the opening lines of Wilson's translation: Tell me about a complicated man. Muse, tell me how he wandered and was lost when he had wrecked the holy town of Troy, and where he went, and who he met, the pain he suffered in the storms at sea, and how he worked to save his life and bring his men back home. He failed to keep them safe; poor fools, they ate the Sun God's cattle, and the god kept them from home. Now goddess, child of Zeus, tell the old story for our modern times. Find the beginn...

I thought today would be the perfect day to review this unicorn of a book. It is All Saints' Day—a fitting day to revisit all the crooked ones, no? It is also the first day of November and so, today, . . . well, you know the rest. What I'm saying is, today is kind of the perfect day to do all the Maggie Stiefvater -related things! Which is, of course, why I'll be attending her signing event later this evening at my local indie , key in hand. I know. I win today. I do. What I do not do is take it for granted. My good fortune or this book. This beautiful, beautiful book. But before we get into my reaction, I want to make a brief request. If you haven't yet had a chance to read Maggie's post on how this book came about and what it was originally going to be and what it actually became, I straight up implore you to do so. It is one of my favorite things I've read this year and it is something I needed to read this year. My favorite line? "I discovered that ...

I am having difficulty achieving some semblance of coherence when it comes to this beautiful book. My feelings for it are threatening to overwhelm me on every level this morning. I didn't sleep last night. And I mean that literally. I didn't sleep a wink. Twice, I tried to force myself to do the right smart thing and wait to finish on the morrow. But my head and my heart would have none of it. They were both buzzing far too loudly to even think of sleep. I bought McKelle George 's debut novel Speak Easy, Speak Love on the day it released based on three things: it has  easily my favorite cover of the year (I swoon, I swoon over this cover), it was edited by my Martha (say no more), and it is a Roaring Twenties adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing (as Ms. George herself puts it—Shakespeare's most romantic comedy). I really feel like I could just leave it there, and that those of you in possession of a soul would immediately run to the bookstore (as one does) and set...

For the past couple of days I have been somewhat swallowed up in Eva Ibbotson's The Morning Gift . This was the one Ibbotson historical I'd somehow missed. I'm going to finish it tonight, so a review will be forthcoming. But until then, please have this—Christopher Plummer's unparalleled recitation of "Brown Penny" by W.B. Yeats. A line from this poem makes a brief but shatteringly perfect appearance in The Morning Gift, and I can't . . . I can't get it out of my head. 

I am feeling many things, guys, after watching this teaser trailer. I am feeling a complicated number of things. So I require your thoughts. Have you watched it? How many times? What are you feeling? The majority of the reactions I'm seeing seem to be overwhelmingly positive. Like, fawningly so. I'm cautiously optimistic. Just blown away by some things (I love Meg, and all three of the Mrs. W's look amazing ) and a bit befuddled by others (is that really supposed to be Calvin?? the "chosen one" dialogue feels laid on a bit thick for me). And so I need your input. Please.

This belongs here in the happy-making column this week because these women are killing it. 

This will be my sole election-related post on the blog. I have very deep feelings on the matter, and it has been an emotionally cacophonous week year. I love this performance for many reasons, not the least of which is because SNL chose not to be funny for once. Because it isn't funny at all. 

Yeah, I was never not going to post this the moment I saw it. "What I do is not up to you." 2017, I need you now . 

I am placing this here because I cannot tell you how excited I am for its release. And because if you haven't read Six of Crows yet, now is nothing if not the time. September 22nd is still a distressingly long way off. But this cover, you guys. This Crooked Kingdom . Will the pages be edged in black like its companion? Or will they be blood red?  Kaz. Inej . Tell me it's gonna be all right. 

This cover of The Raven King is presented almost entirely without comment because the anticipation is that high.  Blue. Adam. Ronan. Gansey. Noah. Save them all.

So get this. In all my years of blogging (I can't believe I just typed that), I've never written up a post on my favorite literary opening lines! This strikes me as funny given the fact that I somehow have made time to discuss my favorite first kisses , favorite endings , favorite big bads , and all manner of other Very Important Lists. So. Today, we're going to dig into the best first lines, the ones that sucked me in so fast my head spun. For purposes of space, we're going to exclude classics. I know . It's just that once I get started with Austen, Dickens, Tolstoy, etc., I have a feeling we'll start spiraling out to sea.  Some of these lines make me laugh. Some make me cry. Some fill me with the kind of nostalgia only a pivotal book in my life does. And some woo you in gently with their come-hither eyes, deceptive in their simplicity. No matter their ilk, all of them belong to books that reside firmly on my Beloved Bookshelf . And so. Favorite openin...