R.I.P. IX

You guys! If you've been reading this blog for any length of time you know that I looooove Stainless Steel Dropping's R.I.P. challenge. Love it. I have been participating for four or five years now and I look forward every year to setting aside some atmospheric reads for the fall. Here's the general idea (from the original website):

September 1st is right around the corner. It is time to begin.

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.

That is what embodies the stories, written and visual, that we celebrate with the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event.

As time has wound on I’ve honed this event down to two simple rules:

1. Have fun reading (and watching).
2. Share that fun with others.

As I do each and every year, there are multiple levels of participation (Perils) that allow you to be a part of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril without adding the burden of another commitment to your already busy lives. There is even a one book only option for those who feel that this sort of reading is not their cup of tea (or who have too many other commitments) but want to participate all the same.

R.I.P. IX officially runs from September 1st through October 31st. But lets go ahead and break the rules. Lets start today!!!

I'm planning on Peril the First, which is to read four books fitting into the categories of R.I.P. Here are the four I think I'll read:

* The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
* Thorn Jack by Katherine Harbour
* The Secret History by Donna Tartt
* The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

I am also planning on rereading the first two books in the Raven Boys series and, hopefully, Blue Lily, Lily Blue. I also want to listen to The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, which isn't supernatural, per se, but always feels very October to me.

Do you like to read books that fit in with the season? Any good suggestions for October? Comment below!

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

I have never seen this cover before, but it is creepy awesome, amirite?

I usually love scary stories. Picking out books for the R.I.P. challenge is something I look forward to each year. However, for some reason -- whether it be the fact that I am now a mother, or the fact that I care for kids every day for whom death is no joke -- I have had a hard time this year. I started The Diviners and Bellman and Black and could not get through them due to the dark, creep factor. However, Coraline, despite being satisfyingly scary, was just the right level to give me a good scare without disturbing me too much.

Coraline is about a little girl who has a pretty decent life that is pretty boring. She goes off in search of adventure and finds it -- but it leads to a lot of terror and responsibility to go through that terror to save lives. There is a big focus in the book on being brave -- on doing things you don't want to do that are necessary. I think that is part of the reason I loved Coraline -- I don't like books that are written purely to disturb. I like that there is a positive message at the bottom of the scary story.

I also loved the exquisite combination of beautiful writing and creepy, creepy pictures. This is the first Neil Gaiman I have read (I know, I know) and thus far, the hype is all warranted -- in fact, the next book I plan to pick up is also Neil Gaiman. The illustrations are also excellent for portraying the vivid images Gaiman creates with his words. I felt submersed in Coraline's creepy adventure, surrounded by the things that were haunting and frightening her.

Coraline was an excellent read for this Halloween, and I am glad that I finally picked up a Neil Gaiman novel. I may not be able to handle as much fright as I used to be, but it is good to know that there are some great ghost stories out there that aren't overly gory or dark.

4 stars

Warnings: Scary

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

Moment of silence for having completed my last Jane Austen novel. *Sigh*. I read Northanger Abbey for the Classics Club Spin and RIP VIII. I finished a day late, but still have been grateful for the added impetus to read it. I was expecting to be underwhelmed -- many people told it me it was their least favorite Austen, or, even worse, that they hadn't enjoyed it at all. I was expecting a boring read, but was instead completely delighted.

Northanger Abbey begins with Catherine Morland's visit to Bath. Catherine is the daughter of a very large family in a rural area who has seen very little of the world, and Bath brings many new opportunities. She meets a best friend, Isabella, and relishes the pleasure it brings her to have a confidante. She also finds herself in the attentions of two very different men -- Isabella's pushy, talkative brother, John, and a clergyman named Henry Tilney. Catherine's ideas of romance are very much influenced by the book Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, and they color some of her experiences throughout the book.

One of my favorite things about Northanger Abbey was Jane Austen's unmitigated sarcasm. She constantly describes how Catherine is not a proper heroine, whether through being merely conventionally pretty (when she is having a good day) or through not jumping to the most dramatic of conclusions when her lover is late to call. Austen is clearly making fun of herself throughout the book. I also really loved the way Catherine's imagination runs away with her as she reads Udolpho -- and the way Henry eggs her on, planting ideas in her imagination that lead her to pass a few very freaked out nights in Northanger Abbey.

I also loved the relationship dynamic of the book. I don't know how many of my readers are familiar with Brigham Young University, where I received my first college degree, but it is known to those who have attended as a bit of a bizarre dating sphere. Everyone is looking for a spouse, deny it as they might  (and, I'll confess, I found mine there), and people wind up dating a variety of people, some of whom are dreamy, some of whom are, well, interesting. John Thorpe reminded me so much of a few people that I went on first dates with there -- refusing to take no for an answer, talking up his own accomplishments so incessantly that they cease to impress, leading others to think that you are in a serious relationship, etc. It brought back all the awkwardness and emphasized the humor.

I also liked that Northanger Abbey was short and light to read. It was just what I needed. While it lacks the sweeping romance of Pride and Prejudice, it is enjoyable and will bring a laugh. It also has just enough Gothic charm to fit well with the Halloween season. I recommend picking it up this October!

4 stars

Warnings: None

YA Friday: A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

Title: A Monster Calls
Author: Patrick Ness (inspired by an idea by Siobhan Dowd)
Illustrator: Jim Kay
Genre: YA, fantasy, scary book
Publisher: Walker and Company, 2011
Source: Library
Read for: Fun

Conor O'Malley has been having nightmares, in addition to the nightmare of his waking life -- his mom throwing up every day, unable to stay awake long enough to cook a meal, the kids bullying him at school, his mean, ungrandmotherly grandmother, his absent father. But when a monster shows up outside his window, it isn't the monster from the nightmare. This monster wants to tell Conor stories -- but he also wants Conor to tell him a story, one more terrifying than Conor wants to face.

Wow. This book. It is short, and the language is simple and concise -- I read it in just an hour or two. But between the lines of the simple story, it deals with some powerful themes, like justice, good and evil, and who is ever really right. It takes anger and crushing grief and looks at them head on. It examines the fact that adults really can't fix everything, and that in fact the way some of them handle situations for their children actually makes things much, much worse. In short, it isn't always an easy book to read, but it has an important message that I think could help many people, not only young teens dealing with grief.

The presentation of the story is stellar. I've never read anything else by Patrick Ness (although I hear that the Chaos Walking trilogy is a must-read) and I loved his simple, powerful language. I think the writing of the monster's dialogue is the strongest bit of the story. The monster speaks almost rhythmically, growling out wisdom in his menacing voice. The illustrations are also powerful -- the stark, blurry, black and white pictures complemented the story's atmosphere.

Conor just broke my heart, the way he tried to take care of everything for his mom, wiping the counters and making dinner, while his stress and sadness and anger were battling it out inside of him. When he first meets the monster and it asks him if he is afraid, Conor says, "Shout all you want. I've seen worse." It reminded me of the sweet kids I worked with this summer, the eight-year-old who was fiercely protective of her mother, the six-year-old who climbed on my back for a piggy-back ride and told me all about how she didn't want her dad to die and what surgeries he had undergone. They're not afraid of some loud, large being yelling in their window -- they know what else is out there. The way the monster allowed Conor to finally express his emotions was powerful. As we get to know Conor, we see that he is a controlled, even-tempered kid, so when he finally breaks loose it is frightening and heartbreaking. I felt his emotions as if they were my own.

I loved the symbol of the monster coming to heal Conor. We all have to deal with something at some point, whether it is illness, accident, rejection, or failure. The monster didn't represent the tough situations, however; he represented what it takes to pull through them. Allowing ourselves to survive when all we want to do is curl up in the fetal position can be the toughest part of an ordeal, a monster impossible to defeat. However, Conor didn't defeat the monster -- he walked with it until he understood how to leave it.

As I said before, this isn't an easy book to read -- it brought me to tears more than once. However, I think it is an important resource to deal with grief, whether or not the griever is in Conor's exact situation or is dealing with something slightly different. It is definitely something I will be carrying in my arsenal of non-medical tools as a nurse.

4.5 stars

Warnings: 1 or 2 little swears.

YA Friday: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer by Lish McBride

Title: Hold Me Closer, Necromancer
Author: Lish McBride
Series: I've heard there will be a sequel. I know nothing else.
Genre: YA, Paranormal
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 2010
Source: Library
Read For: FYA Book Club, R.I.P. VI

Sam is a college dropout who flips burgers and skateboards. His life is pretty simple, and fairly enjoyable (minus the fact that he hates his job and feels like he has no idea what he actually wants from life. And the fact that his landlady won't stop hassling him about finding a girlfriend). However, after an unfortunate smashed taillight and a violent confrontation, Sam learns that there is a whole world of supernatural powers surrounding him, and that he has irritated one of the most powerful. And now that powerful man wants him dead. Crap.

This book was significantly more enjoyable than I expected it to be. While there are a few paranormal books that I enjoy, in general they aren't my first pick. I also wasn't so sure about the scary factor - I love a good creep-out, but it's always hard to tell if a book will be scary in a thrilling way or a disgusting way. However, right away Hold Me Closer, Necromancer racked up several points in its favor.

Point 1: Clever song titles at the beginning of each chapter. "Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dancer" was stuck in my head for the week that this book was sitting on my night stand, not aided by the fact that my husband burst into spontaneous song every time he saw the book. But still, clever.

Point 2: Sam was college-age. I've seen the want for more college-age protagonists in YA fiction all over the blogosphere, and I completely agree. While Sam was not actually in college, it was great to read about someone close to my age (although I guess technically, at 23, I am a little older than college-age, even though I am still in college. Dang it).

Point 3: Sam himself. I loved this character. He was a believable guy, not too-perfect-to-be-true like most male leads, but he was still sweet. He was protective of his sisters and his female friends. He was a little bit of a softie (evidenced by the fact that he was a vegetarian). He wasn't quite sure what he wanted from life, but he was a good person and a good friend.

Point 4: Humor. This wasn't a book that took itself too seriously. I'm not afraid of books that take themselves seriously - right now Carrie Ryan's The Forest of Hands and Teeth comes to mind, as a book in the same genre with a completely different tone - but I like a little lightness now and then, and this book supplied it.

Point 5: Still a little creep factor. I didn't want something too gory, and for the most part this book delivered. (And when there was violence, it was usually tempered by some humor and self-deprecation, aka Sam keeps getting his butt kicked because he has annoyed the All Powerful Necromancer). However, there were a couple of creepy scenes. Which I appreciated.

So, the book was better than I was expecting. Still not perfect. There wasn't a lot of depth or character development, which I think can happen with humor, but doesn't have to happen. While I enjoyed reading about the characters, I didn't necessarily connect with them. However, still an enjoyable, light read for Halloween.

3 stars

Warnings: Brief sensuality, creepy violence (think severed, cauterized heads)