The Islands of the Blessed

The Islands of the Blessed by Nancy Farmer is the third in a trilogy steeped in Norse mythology and traditions, set in the 700s, all focused around a young bard's apprentice named Jack.

Taking this seriously, I decided to read the first two books in the series as well, and I'm glad I did. Each is about 450 pages though, so the series itself was a cool 1,400ish pages of Young Adult goodness. That's why there's been a delay since my last post. The first book was The Sea of Trolls, and the second was The Land of the Silver Apples.

So, on to the book. I'll start by saying that I really liked it. Sort of Harry Potter-esque, the series creates its own world that is easy to be immersed in. Nancy Farmer's creativity makes the worlds of elves, trolls, and countless other creatures come alive. The entire set was an adventure. Jack, the hero, is eleven when he's called by the village's bard (read: pagan wizard) to become an apprentice. In the first book, he and his sister are captured and held as slaves by warriors that hope for the halls of Valhalla upon their deaths. On the first of many, many adventures, Jack's character is intriguing: he has the emotions of an an eleven-year-old, but his wisdom grows and grows. He's learning to find his own strengths and gaining the humility to admit weaknesses. I believe that there will be more in this series, and I welcome them. The third book, specifically, allows him to spread his wings. Thanks to Nancy Farmer, I was so thoroughly engulfed in the book (also because I'd been reading it nonstop for three days) that I took any triumph of Jack as on of my own. It was delightful!

As a happy coincidence, I've always been enthralled by Norse mythology. I was immersed in my heritage as a child (thank goodness!) and had fairy-tale books with Norse stories and Viking runes. This series had a wonderful balance of actual mythology tied in with its own adventures.

Now for the bad news. I was a little irritated by one thing in the series: the horrible view of Christians. Now, I understand fully that the lead character, Jack, considers himself a Christian, to some extent. He was raised a Christian and struggles with the things he's seen that conflict with his religion. But for all intents and purposes, he is pagan, as is the Bard. This doesn't other me- it's a fictional story. Nor does it bother me that there are countless encounters with creatures that don't exist and follow other gods and what have you. What bothered me is is that the characters in the books that are Christian are almost all thoughtless men that are either ridiculously stupid or maddeningly power-driven. I wasn't so much offended by this as I was left unsettled, or possibly disappointed. The Bard is quick to say that not all men that are Christians are like this, and there are redeeming characters that are Christians, but overall, I wasn't thrilled with this. It was a personal feeling that I would have changed- but I didn't write the books, so Nancy Farmer has complete artistic license, and I chose to keep reading. I was never so offended that I would think of putting the books down, nor did I think that this was intended- it just happened to be Jack's encounters with the Christians of the time. This was truly my only complaint with the series, and it was minor- a sidenote even within the series.

Anyways, the final verdict.
Overall, I truly loved the series. It was fun, adventurous, enchanting, and easy to read. Now let's hope that the next book is a short one!

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

The book The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie was the one that began this list for me, and I am so lucky it did.

A mystery novel by Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie features a girl named Flavia de Luce that is all moxie. Fancying herself an organic chemist (a point that she proves throughout the story), she finds a dead body in her backyard and tries to solve the mystery. Needless to say, she uses her understanding of chemistry to help her along the way, most of which was far above my head.

So I'll come right out and say it. Read this book. It was wonderful! I LOVE the book and Flavia, and I was completely swept up by her eagerness to be involved in the world around her. I was sold within the first few pages, but a paragraph in chapter four sealed the deal.

" 'I've brought you some nice seed biscuits,' [Mrs. Mullet] said. 'Seed biscuits and tea and a nice glass of milk for Miss Flavia.'
Seed biscuits and milk! I hated Mrs. Mullet's seed biscuits the way Saint Paul hated sin. Perhaps even more so. I wanted to clamber up onto the table, and with a sausage in the end of a fork as my scepter, shout in my best Laurence Olivier voice, 'Will no one rid us of this turbulent pastry cook?'
But I didn't. I kept my peace." (p 49)

Isn't she delightful?

Perhaps a part of my love for Flavia had to do with the fact that I identified so much with her, but I suspect most people would. She has a knack for getting into trouble, and thinks things that are far above being an eleven-year-old (like organic chemistry). I thoroughly HATE chemistry, but I saw a part of her in myself when she said:

"As I stood outside in Cow Lane, it occurred to me that Heaven must be a place where the library is open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
No... eight days a week." (p 57-58)

Honestly, I adored this book. It was an easy read that made me smile and occasionally laugh out loud. I wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone and everyone.

Now for what I didn't like: There's going to be a sequel.

I know that I'm alone in my feelings of this, but when I really, really love a book, I don't want to read a second one. I feel like the second books changes my perception of the first book, and that is irksome. This happened with Love Walked In by Marisa de Los Santos most recently- the sequel changed how much I loved the first one. Maybe I'm crazy, but I don't think so. I think Flavia is a delightful heroine, but having a second book takes the spontaneity out of her first mystery. I don't know; I hope I'm wrong and the next book is even better.

So now please, please, let me know what you think!

What am I doing?

Hey everyone! This is my first post chronicling the ridiculous journey I've decided to take.
A few weeks ago, I got an email from Powell's Bookstore with lists from their staffers of their favorite books of 2009. I glimpsed through the list, but that was it. Then, a few days later, I was at the Tigard library and noticed one of the Powell's top picks on their bestseller shelf, and I grabbed it. It was delightful! (But more on that for the next post...) I felt so blessed to have "happened" upon a book that I would love as much as I did this one, so I was planning on taking this staffer's four other recommendations. Then I thought, "Why not all of them?" By assuming that I will or won't like certain books, or not even giving them a chance, I'm following the cliche of judging a book by its cover. These books are obviously near and dear to someone, so I'm going to take the time to see why!
The point of this whole thing, for me at least, is to go on an adventure. I love seeing what kind of journey an author's going to take me on- and usually I'm content to let them take me there, even if it's not somewhere I'd like to visit again. In addition, I'd like to stretch my own mind and allow others to help me with this. If there's a book I absolutely can't stand (which I'm sure there will be) I want to try and figure out why someone else loved it enough to put it in their top 5 picks of the year. I'd love input from other people to help me with this! Plus, my friends live all over the place- what better way to keep in touch and share in something special?
This may be a waste of time, and I'm okay with that. The list ( http://www.powells.com/staffpicks/stafftop5_2009.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=facebook_fans&utm_content=Top%20Fives%202009 ) has the picks of 35 staffers, making a delightful- and whopping- 185 books. Some are duplicates (though not many) and one unruly staffer only chose one book, so my closest guesstimation is that I'll need to read 15 books/ month (also understanding that I'm a month and a half behind). So... here I go! Join me, won't you?
If this all goes well, or even if I doesn't, I'd like to make this a tradition. Hopefully, I do this every year- so now it's time to get started!