books – Anthology of V.

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Thoughts on Film Adaptations

March 9, 2022by Anthology of VLeave a Comment

Let’s talk about on screen adaptations. Whenever the rights of a popular novel are bought by production companies, fans are filled with equal parts glee and dread. I’ve seen and felt both, especially the latter. I often wonder what the author really feels, and if money weren’t an issue would they still want to have their novel come to life on the big screen? There are so many horror stories of the rights to a book series being bought only to then later be completely flipped inside out with little to no homage to the original material. Alternatively, there are so many series that I would absolutely adore to see on film, even though I know other fans might not share that sentiment.

So what then truly makes a great book to film adaptation? It sounds like there’s one key element to make everyone happy—and that is to stay true to the plot as best as can be. When creating motion pictures out of written word, there is plenty of room for error but also for a wonderful rendition of the text. I’m a very visual person who tends to make up images in my head like that of a movie trailer when I get really invested in a story, so naturally I have been eager for some sagas to be retold cinematically. Yet even the most popular ones, like Game of Thrones, Big Little Lies, Twilight, and Harry Potter amongst hundreds more, have all faced backlash from critics because of how the film production strays from the text. It is rare that production teams who change the plot are praised for doing so, although on occasion it does occur if the changes remain true to the overall theme and motives of the characters.

One of my favorite things about film adaptions is the music and fashion that comes along with it. People often don’t think of these two subjects at first, but I’ve found overtime that the atmosphere when shooting cinema can easily make or break a scene. From the minute details like lightning or the filters used when rolling to the bigger notions such as action and intent, every detail has to be weighed against the original script to honor the author and the fanbase that already exists. When creating these movies, production teams are lucky that they will already have a guaranteed large audience. Vice versa, authors will also get a new wave of readers based on the marketing of the film leading up to the premiere.

There are few books that I love which have recently been bought by production companies for future adaptations, and while I am excited I cannot ignore the lurking dread. However, there are some film renditions of series that most people loathed and which I found to be quite appealing. Overall, it truly depends on how much the studio wants to do right by the original content.

book reviews, Lifestyle, meta, personal, recommendations, reviews

Novels for Tree Huggers

March 9, 2022by Anthology of VLeave a Comment

Lately I’ve been getting into the nature genre. That must sound strange to read, but there’s no other way to accurately state it. Saying I’ve always been a lover of nature isn’t as profound as claiming that I could easily see myself living out the rest of my days in the middle of a forest surrounded by mountains and creeks. Growing up, I used to spend all of my summers in the Catskills mountain range of New York. This might be part of the reason why I now have such a deeply rooted passion for exploring new terrain. Of all the national parks in this country, my favorites to visit are Olympic, Grand Teton, Joshua Tree, Zion, and the Redwoods. Driving for weeks can be exhausting, and there is certainly a lot of driving needed to visit all of these places. Whenever I’m not behind the wheel, I usually try to read something that will get me in the mood for our next hike. Here are some of my new (and classic) favorite nature-genre novels…

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed: At twenty-two, Cheryl Strayed thought she had lost everything. In the wake of her mother’s death, her family scattered and her own marriage was soon destroyed. Four years later, with nothing more to lose, she made the most impulsive decision of her life. With no experience or training, driven only by blind will, she would hike more than a thousand miles of the Pacific Crest Trail from the Mojave Desert through California and Oregon to Washington State — and she would do it alone. Told with suspense and style, sparkling with warmth and humor, Wild powerfully captures the terrors and pleasures of one young woman forging ahead against all odds on a journey that maddened, strengthened, and ultimately healed her.

The Overstory by Richard Powers: The Overstory is a sweeping, impassioned work of activism and resistance that is also a stunning evocation of – and paean to – the natural world. From the roots to the crown and back to the seeds, Richard Powers’s twelfth novel unfolds in concentric rings of interlocking fables that range from antebellum New York to the late twentieth-century Timber Wars of the Pacific Northwest and beyond. There is a world alongside ours—vast, slow, interconnected, resourceful, magnificently inventive, and almost invisible to us. This is the story of a handful of people who learn how to see that world and who are drawn up into its unfolding catastrophe.

The Nature Fix by Florence Williams: From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to eucalyptus groves in California, Florence Williams investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into brand-new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben: Wohlleben shares his deep love of woods and forests and explains the amazing processes of life, death, and regeneration he has observed in the woodland and the amazing scientific processes behind the wonders of which we are blissfully unaware. Much like human families, tree parents live together with their children, communicate with them, and support them as they grow, sharing nutrients with those who are sick or struggling and creating an ecosystem that mitigates the impact of extremes of heat and cold for the whole group. As a result of such interactions, trees in a family or community are protected and can live to be very old. In contrast, solitary trees, like street kids, have a tough time of it and in most cases die much earlier than those in a group. Drawing on groundbreaking new discoveries, Wohlleben presents the science behind the secret and previously unknown life of trees and their communication abilities; he describes how these discoveries have informed his own practices in the forest around him. As he says, a happy forest is a healthy forest, and he believes that eco-friendly practices not only are economically sustainable but also benefit the health of our planet and the mental and physical health of all who live on Earth.

Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May: Sometimes you slip through the cracks: unforeseen circumstances like an abrupt illness, the death of a loved one, a break up, or a job loss can derail a life. These periods of dislocation can be lonely and unexpected. For May, her husband fell ill, her son stopped attending school, and her own medical issues led her to leave a demanding job. Wintering explores how she not only endured this painful time, but embraced the singular opportunities it offered. A moving personal narrative shot through with lessons from literature, mythology, and the natural world, May’s story offers instruction on the transformative power of rest and retreat. Illumination emerges from many sources: solstice celebrations and dormice hibernation, C.S. Lewis and Sylvia Plath, swimming in icy waters and sailing arctic seas. Ultimately Wintering invites us to change how we relate to our own fallow times. May models an active acceptance of sadness and finds nourishment in deep retreat, joy in the hushed beauty of winter, and encouragement in understanding life as cyclical, not linear. A secular mystic, May forms a guiding philosophy for transforming the hardships that arise before the ushering in of a new season.

book reviews, recommendations, reviews

Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estés

March 8, 2022by Anthology of VLeave a Comment

Women Who Run With the Wolves is not necessarily about lycanthropy. I was browsing my local book store one day when I noticed a new staff recommendation had made its way to the top shelf, displaying a stocky paperback that appeared more like some fragment of a graduate thesis than a fiction novel about wolves (as I had expected). I’ve come to realize this is one of those books that is meant to change your perspective on life, perhaps more than the usual story would. Clarissa Pinkola Estés has a magical voice that takes you on a wild journey through different myths about women throughout history. While twinning together these folk tales with her own shared experiences, Estés creates an ideology for all women to follow—that we are instinctively wild creatures, and that there is a deep power within all of us like some type of inner goddess.

At first, I worried that this might read a bit fanatical. It took me some months to really get into the stories, but when I did eventually start I simply could not stop. It feels like partaking in an otherworldly ritual when reading this essay. As a Jungian analyst and cantadora storyteller, the author is well equips with extensive theories and knowledge on how women can harness an inner strength through a psychological bond with notions of archaic femininity. In particular, the Wild Woman archetype is thoroughly analyzed and discussed in this novel, making it easier to understand where many of these myths originated.

Several fictional stories I love share a similar aesthetic with this one, and it became apparent that this book is like the backstory for all of the others to come. Although the first half might seem repetitive, it is certainly worth the try in reading it. Some of the writing sounded a bit too primitive, albeit I still greatly enjoyed this novel and will continue to recommend it to others who might want something a bit invigorating to add to their library.

book reviews, recommendations, reviews

If You Like, Then You’ll Like: Book Edition

March 8, 2022by Anthology of VLeave a Comment

It’s time for another “if you like this, then you’ll probably enjoy this” article. Truth be told, I find most of the books I desire to read by looking up similar stories to some of my favorites. Not all of the time are they accurately depicted as being similar, although I find it interesting that people pair together certain novels based on unique vibes they share. I often do this with films as well, or even music when I try to encapsulate the feeling of a story beyond the page. For this post, I tried to stick to one well known novel and pair it with one or more lesser known stories that I feel can be considered written for the same audience. There will be some throwbacks in here, as well as a mix of genres.

First, this one is for fans of Leigh Bardugo. The Shadow and Bone trilogy, as well as the Six of Crows duology, have both re-entered the spotlight (if they’d ever left) due to the premier of the 2021 Netflix series Shadow and Bone. While I love all of Bardugo’s work, the trilogy will always hold a special place in my heart because of how impactful it was when I first read it years ago. For that reason, I’m going to suggest that if you enjoyed those books, you might want to check out Deathless by Catherynne M Valente and The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. Perhaps the most obvious connection between all of these stories are the Slavic (particularly Russian) folklore influence they embody. They are fantasy novels, although Deathless is an incredibly strange and somewhat hard to read story at first. I loved it, although I still cannot say with confidence that I understand 100% of what occurred in that novel.

Moving on to all of those Elven and Fae lovers, of course there is Sarah J Maas and Holly Black. I often find that it is challenging to suggest new reads to people who follow these authors because typically everyone has already read the books I recommend because we all couldn’t get enough of the former. I would say that Uprooted by Naomi Novik, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen, and The Unseelie Prince by Kathryn Ann Kindsley are all similar in woodland fantasy appeal.

For fans of dark academia and Donna Tartt, I’ve already written an extensive post on some of the best D.A. novels I’ve had the pleasure of finding, and you can read that here.

Last, for fans of A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab, I’d recommend The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and oddly enough Things in Jars by Jess Kidd. Both of these recommendations have less to do with plot and are more closely related to Schwab’s novels through the atmosphere of the story. They evoke a sense of adventure through a strange and unique writing style. The characters are all ambitious and a bit wicked, which I think is a wonderful combination for a narrator because it keeps the plot entertaining.

book reviews, recommendations, reviews

All The Murmuring Bones by A.G Slatter

March 8, 2022by Anthology of VLeave a Comment

I’ve recently finished reading All the Murmuring Bones by A. G. Slatter and this book is so incredibly whimsical. It begins as any old folk horror would—with a sacrifice. Centuries prior, Miren O’Malley’s family proposed a deal with the mer creatures for the family’s business vessels to have eternal safe voyages, and in return one child of the bloodline would be offered to the sea each generation. As time goes on, not all of the O’Malleys are able to uphold their share of the bargain, which results in deterioration of shipments, fortune, and victorian aristocracy status. Miren’s grandmother is determined to restore the family glory, even if it means sacrificing Miren’s freedom to do so.

I believe that everyone judges a book based on their own methods of reading. For me, I enjoy anything that has ethereal writing or that is chock full or prose. Some find this to be patronizing or pretentious, but I think that the more poetic a story is, the easier it is for a reader to be fully immersed in the tale. Ironically enough, it took me some time to get into this one. At first, despite all of the beautiful writing, this story lags a bit. There is simply so much information to be stored away for future reference, and so many characters to remember, that it becomes a little overwhelming. I stuck it out for a few more chapters and the end result is that I think I might have a new novel to shelf in my favorites pile. The main character Miren can be quite morally ambiguous, even for the narrator, which to some might sound unreliable but for me it made her all the more interesting. I love characters with grit, and she certainly did things that were survival based that we often don’t see with other protagonists for fear of them becoming antagonists.

One of the best things about this novel is the way it reads as an old fishermen folklore. I forget how I was introduced to the plot, but I didn’t realize it was essentially a Victorian gothic until I began the prologue. This has all of the check marks for a wonderfully eerie story that mixes all of the nefarious ambiance of the sea with an interesting and heart-pounding plot twist.

meta, recommendations, Uncategorized

Books That Became Social Media Famous

March 8, 2022March 8, 2022by Anthology of VLeave a Comment

There will always be those few books floating around social media that get picked up by nearly every blogger. I cannot say if it is because of the aesthetically appealing cover, the content, or the promotional marketing, but if you look closely enough there usually tends to be a mass display of certain titles. One great example was the cult following of Rupi Kaur back in the grid-line and green plants era of 2014. Since then, the collection of poems has been so thoroughly advertised that I recently saw it for sale in the starved selection of poetry at an airport. I remember being enamored with Kaur’s writing until the second series of poems came out and I remember thinking to myself if social media didn’t exist, would this truly be as renowned as it is today? That’s not to say that Milk and Honey isn’t wonderful (although it’s definitely lost the hype it once had for me), or that any novel that becomes Insta-Famous doesn’t deserve the “clout” it garners…but the trivial thought remains.

I often wonder how many times we purchase books for anything aside from the pivotal factor—the written work. I’m certainly no pretentious reader who claims to have torn through everything I’ve ever gotten my hands on, and it’s true that my TBR (to be read) pile has taken on frightening lengths, so I’m not too ashamed to say that there are some novels that have made autonomy on my shelf simply by being pretty or hyped up enough that I felt I simply needed to buy it to be a credible reviewer. What came to me as a parody blog post has taken a turn for consideration. I wanted to compile a list of books for any “It Girl” as a joke, although after looking at it I realized I’m guilty of reading most of these stories strictly because I found them through other blogs. So here it is. Below you’ll find the 2022 updated library of “aesthetic reads.” It could be a fun game to guess which ones most people have actually read (myself included). Eventually I hope to read them all…

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Just Kids by Patti Smith (truly, any novel by Patti Smith)
Black Swans by Eve Babitz
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
101 Essays That Will Change the Way You Think by Brianna Wiest
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Flux by Orion Vanessa
Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

Let me know if you’ve noticed others circulating frequently! I’m going to guess Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors will soon take the cake, and you can bet I’m really intrigued by the premise and hope to have a review soon once I actually read it. I’d love to go into the deeper psychological backing as to why these trends start, but I’m not qualified enough beyond my mere fascination with the rise and fall of fads on social media.

book reviews, recommendations, reviews, Uncategorized

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

February 8, 2022February 8, 2022by Anthology of VLeave a Comment

Eight years ago, I sat in a dark theater expecting to watch a film about a woman going on a hike. I don’t particularly remember when I stared crying—perhaps it was the final scene where Reese Witherspoon took a few fawn-like steps across a vacant bridge overlooking swaths of bluish grey sky and towering pines interwoven with thick fog as El Cóndor Pasa by Simon & Garfunkel echoed in the distance. Maybe it was earlier on, when I started noticing that this was no mere movie about a long walk. I felt as though I had gone on the journey with Cheryl, so much so that once the fluorescent lights cascaded against us voyeurs, I was struck with a deep longing. Immediately after, I picked up the memoir by Cheryl Strayed.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail is a story about redemption and the healing power of nature. After losing her mother, her marriage, and any last lingering hope for a better future, Cheryl spent the early half of her twenties drowning in grief and making poor life decisions. Four years later, something changed. Blinded by her own sorrows, and with nothing more to lose, she decided to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, which runs from the Mojave Desert up the coast to Washington state, with no training and no travel companions—a desperate last reach upwards to haul herself out of the dark water.

This was both cathartic and suspenseful, brimming with potent imagery of the west coast and all of the dangers hiding beneath its grandeur beauty. Untrained and lost in more ways than one, the protagonist not only faces lethal creatures and possible stumbles off the side of a cliff, she walks the path of a lonely woman on a trail championed mostly by men. As depicted in both the novel and the film, there is a slight anxiety mentioned of what occurs when a woman is alone in the middle of the nowhere, yet Cheryl finds that the people on this trail are similar to her in that they are hiking to heal, or to experience the euphoria of completing such a strenuous plight. It is a heartwarming notion that evokes a sense of community found amongst fellow wanderers, and it provided Cheryl with the push she needed to start breaking down her guarded heart. Nature does that, it seems. The laborious efforts that go into conquering the PCT can bring a person to breaking point, and it is then that nature begins to heal. Some people might find it crazy to want to push one’s body and mind to such extremes, although there is a massive payoff that does not get enough attention. Being alone, submersed between mountains, streams, and desserts, with nothing but your own inner turmoil to conquer and the trail ahead, people find that reaching the end of the hike is gratifying in more than just a show of physical strength—it’s a mental strength too. You can cry and scream as much as you want on the trail, so long as you leave it behind, pick yourself up, and carry on. That is the essence of this memoir, and that is why this book has become so dear to me as a novice hiker myself (side note: I’ll be heading back to Washington state next week to hike Mount Storm King, so maybe I should drop the novice title).

The final shot of the film reflects the last passage of the novel. Overlapping the song, flitting like birds between the canopy, Witherspoon’s voice recites the last words:

What if all those things I did were the things that got me here? What if I was never redeemed? What if I already was?
It took me years to be the woman my mother raised. It took me 4 years, 7 months and 3 days to do it, without her. After I lost myself in the wilderness of my grief, I found my own way out of the woods. And I didn’t even know where I was going until I got there, on the last day of my hike. Thank you, I thought over and over again, for everything the trail had taught me and everything I couldn’t yet know.
How in 4 years, I’d cross this very bridge. I’ll marry a man in a spot almost visible from where I was standing. Now in 9 years, that man and I would have a son named Carver and a year later, a daughter named after my mother, Bobbi. I knew only that I didn’t need to reach with my bare hands anymore. That seeing the fish beneath the surface of the water would be enough…that it was everything. My life, like all lives, mysterious, irrevocable, sacred, so very close, so very present, so very belonging to me.
How wild it was, to let it be?

book reviews, reviews, Uncategorized

House of Earth & Blood by Sarah J. Maas

April 2, 2020May 11, 2020by Anthology of V1 Comment

As promised, here is my somewhat late but still relevant review of Sarah J. Mass’ first adult novel, House of Earth and Blood (Book #1 of ‘Crescent City’). I intended to write this and have it posted long before the publication date since I was gifted with an ARC, but I think it’s taken me this long because I’ve been trying to dissect my feelings regarding the book. I guess it won’t be what many people are expecting, and maybe it’ll be exactly what some are expecting, but that is the beauty of a predominantly YA author branching out to the adult genre (as recently seen with Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House). But maybe you haven’t yet decided to read this novel, regardless of whether or not you’re already a Maas fan, so here is a little synopsis that might reveal more than just the cover slip.

The story follows Bryce Quinlan, an oddities antique dealer by day and wild partier by night. Her close knit group of friends indulge in the finest things their town has to offer, but after one evening of excessive drinking and drug use, Bryce’s life comes to a chilling pause when the people she loves are brutally murdered by an unknown demon. The only evidence left to go by are the last texts and voice messages exchanged between the friends, leaving Bryce ashamed and isolated. When the investigation takes a drastic turn, Bryce slowly emerges from her catatonic state to seek revenge and get answers.

Enslaved to the Archangels he once tried to overthrow, fallen angel Hunt Athalar is assigned to aid in the investigation with Bryce, while also keeping tabs on her and reporting back to his masters. In return, Hunt will be granted early freedom from his enslavement. As they dig deeper, awful secrets are revealed that threaten to harm everyone they care for, including the unacknowledged feelings Hunt and Bryce begin to develop for one another. With every newfound clue that is unfurled, the paranoia grows as the investigation becomes more and more unbearable with the tragic reality just slightly out of reach for fear of betrayal and denial. The ending will leaved you more shocked than the beginning slaughter scenes.

While I truly enjoyed this book, I also think it’s very important to note that there should be a trigger warning for mentions of drug abuse and suicide. These are not uncommon to the plot, and are often brought up frequently, so everyone please tread carefully! Frankly, a lot of people might suspect that Maas will use this chance to further develop the explicit sexual scenes she often writes (and that I very much enjoy), but I found that the sex scenes were few and far between in comparison to the mentions of drugs and self harm. That, to me, is likely why this is rated as an adult novel, not necessarily due to the romance.

I have mixed feelings about this story because I was prepared to be blown away, and it fell a bit short for me. There were aspects that I really wanted to know more about, and characters who I was very drawn to (like Aidas, the Prince of the Chasm), but they were only prominent on a few pages in this very large book. And because this book is quite large, I though that perhaps there would be many smaller plots within the grand scheme of events, but unfortunately it was the same plot drawn out over many chapters without much action ever happening. I suppose it was set up that way for suspense, but I found myself getting bored here and there, which has never happened to me before with a Maas book.

Another thing I noticed and still don’t know how I feel about is the fact that many of these characters greatly resemble other Maas characters from her prior stories. I could draw so many parallels between the books, but this one read a bit too close for comfort. On one hand, I love the characters in her other stories, but I also wasn’t prepared to read about them years into the future out of context. The story, while unique in plot, bore very similar settings and characteristics to the author’s other works, so much so that it almost came off paradoxical.

I suppose that sounds cynical on my part, especially because I still enjoyed this story. I guess what I’m really saying is that while I liked it, it definitely didn’t rise to the occasion as I had hoped it might. There is mention of an Autumn King throughout, and I won’t say more for fear of spoilers, but I’m greatly intrigued by him and what his affiliation with Bryce might lead to in the second book. Other than that, the writing style is very much the same from other Maas books, and this one certainly begins with a hook. However, you might just have to push through in the initial half of the book to get to the more tantalizing stuff in the later half.

My Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Goodreads Review Link.

recommendations, Uncategorized

Atmospheric Books

March 24, 2017March 24, 2017by Anthology of VLeave a Comment

How we rate a book has a lot to do with not only the characters and the plot, but the setting as well. We might not realize it, but a vast amount of our emotions are placed in the background scenes and subconscious environments. To be fair, most books arguably have their own original settings wherein no two books will ever take place in the same fantasy kingdom or high school, however there are a few books that surpass all others in regards to being wholesomely atmospheric. Books that not only include an environment, but make that environment vital to the storyline. I adore books of the such, because they are the ones that I feel as though I can really submerge myself in and escape reality.

These books emphasize the whimsical aspect behind many genres, not only fantasy, because they seem so surreal yet they were designed to bring forth our own personal encounters and nostalgia in order to raise our emotional awareness. These atmospheric books do wonder for our minds, so I’ve compiled a list of my favorite ones!

Don’t just read books— fall into them.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

“There was a song in this forest, too, but it was a savage song, whispering of madness and tearing and rage.”
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenster 

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.”

The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi
“The Night Bazaar had ensnared me. I could smell its perfume on my skin—of stories and secrets, flashing teeth and slow smiles.”

The Half Drowned King by Linnea Hartsuyker

“She rushed across the fields and into the woods, where some shadowed grove would still shelter winter’s snow. She found a cache of not yet melted snow in the roots of an oak, and there she sat, numbing her hand, while the sun set.”
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

“White Sky. Trees fading at the skyline, the mountains gone. My hands dangled from the cuffs of my jacket as if they weren’t my own. I never got used to the way the horizon there could just erase itself and leave you marooned, adrift, in an incomplete dreamscape that was like a sketch for the world you knew -the outline of a single tree standing in for a grove, lamp-posts and chimneys floating up out of context before the surrounding canvas was filled in-an amnesia-land, a kind of skewed Heaven where the old landmarks were recognizable but spaced too far apart, and disarranged, and made terrible by the emptiness around them.”

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

“It was a palace of vaulting glass and shimmering tapestry and, woven through it all like light, magic. The air was alive with it. Not the secret, seductive magic of the stone, but a loud, bright, encompassing thing. Kell had told Lila that magic was like an extra sense, layered on top of sight and smell and taste, and now she understood. It was everywhere. In everything. And it was intoxicating. She could not tell if the energy was coming from the hundreds of bodies in the room, or from the room itself, which certainly reflected it. Amplified it like sound in an echoing chamber. And it was strangely—impossibly—familiar. Beneath the magic, or perhaps because of it, the space itself was alive with color and light. She’d never set foot inside St. James, but it couldn’t possibly have compared to the splendor of this. Nothing in her London could. Her world felt truly grey by comparison, bleak and empty in a way that made Lila want to kiss the stone for freeing her from it, for bringing her here, to this glittering jewel of a place. Everywhere she looked, she saw wealth. Her fingers itched, and she resisted the urge to start picking pockets, reminding herself that the cargo in her own was too precious to risk being caught.”

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

“The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.

The most obvious part was a hollow, echoing quiet, made by things that were lacking. If there had been a wind it would have sighed trough the trees, set the inn’s sign creaking on its hooks, and brushed the silence down the road like trailing autumn leaves. If there had been a crowd, even a handful of men inside the inn, they would have filled the silence with coversation and laughter, the clatter and clamour one expects from a drinking house during the dark hours of the night. If there had been music…but no, of curse there was no music. In fact there were none of these things, and so the silence remained.”

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

“As the sun shines low and red across the water, I wade into the ocean. The water is still high and brown and murky with the memory of the storm, so if there’s something below it, I won’t know it. But that’s part of this, the not knowing. The surrender to the possibilities beneath the surface. It wasn’t the ocean that killed my father, in the end. The water is so cold that my feet go numb almost at once. I stretch my arms out to either side of me and close my eyes. I listen to the sound of water hitting water. The raucous cries of the terns and the guillemots in the rocks of the shore, the piercing, hoarse questions of the gulls above me. I smell seaweed and fish and the dusky scent of the nesting birds onshore. Salt coats my lips, crusts my eyelashes. I feel the cold press against my body. The sand shifts and sucks out from under my feet in the tide. I’m perfectly still. The sun is red behind my eyelids. The ocean will not shift me and the cold will not take me.”

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente

“Marya watched from the upper floor as once again the birds gathered in the great oak tree, sniping and snapping for the last autumn nuts, stolen from squirrels and hidden in bark-cracks, which every winged creature knows are the most bitter of all nuts, like old sorrows sitting heavy on the tongue.”

In the Woods by Tana French

“…the solitude was intoxicating. On my first night there I lay on my back on the sticky carpet for hours, in the murky orange pool of city glow coming through the window, smelling heady curry spices spiraling across the corridor and listening to two guys outside yelling at each other in Russian and someone practicing stormy flamboyant violin somewhere, and slowly realizing that there was not a single person in the world who could see me or ask me what I was doing or tell me to do anything else, and I felt as if at any moment the bedsit might detach itself from the buildings like a luminous soap bubble and drift off into the night, bobbing gently above the rooftops and the river and the stars.”

recommendations

Book Recommendations / part I

July 7, 2016July 7, 2016by Anthology of V4 Comments

The only thing worse than being in a book slump is having the time to read but not knowing which book to pick up. It doesn’t even matter if you own the book and haven’t started, because odds are you probably already have (at least) a genre you want to delve into for the time being, or at least an idea of what you’re currently interested in reading. A quick way to solve this would be to search for the book on Goodreads and check the similar recommendations section, but honestly most of the time those recommendations are far from what I’d perceive as “similar.” So, here’s the next best thing! “If you like this, then you’ll like this.” All synopses taken from Goodreads. Commentary from yours truly.

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Scholarly boys/ Campus setting
Murder
Everyone is secretly gay
Corrupt and complex characters
Philosophy
Stags
TSH is TRC in the future 100%
Angst

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last – inexorably – into evil.

The Grisha Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo

Russian/ “Ravkan” setting
Dark romance
Strong heroines
Whimsical themes
Epic fantasy
Alarkling = Koschei x Marya
(No, literally, The Darkling was inspired by Koschie the Deathless.)
THIS BOOK WAS LITERALLY INSPIRED BY THAT BOOK. SO READ IT.

Deathless by Catherynne M. Valence

Koschei the Deathless is to Russian folklore what devils or wicked witches are to European culture: a menacing, evil figure; the villain of countless stories which have been passed on through story and text for generations. But Koschei has never before been seen through the eyes of Catherynne Valente, whose modernized and transformed take on the legend brings the action to modern times, spanning many of the great developments of Russian history in the twentieth century.

Deathless, however, is no dry, historical tome: it lights up like fire as the young Marya Morevna transforms from a clever child of the revolution, to Koschei’s beautiful bride, to his eventual undoing. Along the way there are Stalinist house elves, magical quests, secrecy and bureaucracy, and games of lust and power. All told, Deathless is a collision of magical history and actual history, of revolution and mythology, of love and death, which will bring Russian myth back to life in a stunning new incarnation.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Circus setting
Eerie plot
Romance
Fantastic writing
Historial/Fantasy

Wonder Show by Hannah Barnaby

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, step inside Mosco’s Traveling Wonder Show, a menagerie of human curiosities and misfits guaranteed to astound and amaze! But perhaps the strangest act of Mosco’s display is Portia Remini, a normal among the freaks, on the run from McGreavy’s Home for Wayward Girls, where Mister watches and waits. He said he would always find Portia, that she could never leave. Free at last, Portia begins a new life on the bally, seeking answers about her father’s disappearance. Will she find him before Mister finds her? It’s a story for the ages, and like everyone who enters the Wonder Show, Portia will never be the same.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas

Retellings
Strong heroines
Ferocious romance
Hades + Persephone vibes
(Essentially TSTQ is both halves of the Nigh Court)
Nightmares
Complex characters and settings
Fantasy

The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Fate and fortune. Power and passion. What does it take to be the queen of a kingdom when you’re only seventeen?

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire…

But Akaran has its own secrets—thousands of locked doors, gardens of glass, and a tree that bears memories instead of fruit. Soon, Maya suspects her life is in danger. Yet who, besides her husband, can she trust? With the fate of the human and Otherworldly realms hanging in the balance, Maya must unravel an ancient mystery that spans reincarnated lives to save those she loves the most…including herself.

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Psychotic main characters
Not quite sure who is the protagonist
Everyone has a morbid build-up
Melancholy backdrop
Thriller
Feminism

Girls on Fire by Robin Wasserman

Girls on Fire tells the story of Hannah and Lacey and their obsessive teenage female friendship so passionately violent it bloodies the very sunset its protagonists insist on riding into, together, at any cost. Opening with a suicide whose aftermath brings good girl Hannah together with the town’s bad girl, Lacey, the two bring their combined wills to bear on the community in which they live; unconcerned by the mounting discomfort that their lust for chaos and rebellion causes the inhabitants of their parochial small town, they think they are invulnerable.

But Lacey has a secret, about life before her better half, and it’s a secret that will change everything…

The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh

Indian folklore
Retellings
Romance
World-building
Corrupt empires

The Architect’s Apprentice by Elif Shafak

In her latest novel, Turkey’s preeminent female writer spins an epic tale spanning nearly a century in the life of the Ottoman Empire. In 1540, twelve-year-old Jahan arrives in Istanbul. As an animal tamer in the sultan’s menagerie, he looks after the exceptionally smart elephant Chota and befriends (and falls for) the sultan’s beautiful daughter, Princess Mihrimah. A palace education leads Jahan to Mimar Sinan, the empire’s chief architect, who takes Jahan under his wing as they construct (with Chota’s help) some of the most magnificent buildings in history. Yet even as they build Sinan’s triumphant masterpieces—the incredible Suleymaniye and Selimiye mosques—dangerous undercurrents begin to emerge, with jealousy erupting among Sinan’s four apprentices.

A memorable story of artistic freedom, creativity, and the clash between science and fundamentalism, Shafak’s intricate novel brims with vibrant characters, intriguing adventure, and the lavish backdrop of the Ottoman court, where love and loyalty are no match for raw power.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Strong heroines
Folklore
Nature
Romance
Villagers vying for a stranger’s affection
Mysterious (handsome) stranger
Compassionate leads

The Rough-Face Girl by Rafe Martin

This moving adaptation of the classic children’s story Cinderella tells how a disfigured Algonquin girl wins the heart of a mysterious being who lives by the lake near her village.

The powerful Invisible Being is looking for a wife, and all the girls in the village vie for his affections. But only the girl who proves she can see him will be his bride. The two beautiful but spoiled daughters of a poor village man try their best to be chosen, but it is their Rough-Face-Girl sister, scarred on her face and arms from tending fires, who sees the Invisible Being in the wonder of the natural world.

The dramatic illustrations reflect the vibrant earth colors of the native landscape and the wisdom and sensitivity of the protagonist.