The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

"Set in the harsh Puritan community of seventeenth-century Boston, this tale of an adulterous entanglement that results in an illegitimate birth reveals Nathaniel Hawthorne's concerns with the tension between the public and the private selves. Publicly disgraced and ostracized, Hester Prynne draws on her inner strength and certainty of spirit to emerge as the first true heroine of American fiction. Arthur Dimmesdale, trapped by the rules of society, stands as a classic study of a self divided."

Yes, I know. A classic. Shudder. Before you start lobbing the holy water, though, hear this one out: it won't kill you.  In fact, you may actually end up learning something. There are two main points people bring up if they're arguing against or for this book. On the positive side, the story and material are incredibly thought-provoking and compelling. Characters are strong in their attributes, themes are clear and present, and people can get invested in the things happening. On the critical side, Hawthorne's writing is a bit painful at times. He has a fondness for sentences that take three left turns before arriving at his point; commas and semicolons are his addiction. Additionally, some argue that his symbolism is wrought into everything and the reader is too blatantly hit over the head by it. 
So, my opinion? I think the positive's definitely worth considering. It's one of those books that's very worth it to have read and thought about, not just for the sake of being able to say you've read it. It's very true, though, that the criticism of the writing has some true basis. Some sentences need to be read several times to figure out the original point, and the language on a whole doesn't exactly make for a fluid read. Still, I've read worse, and I think the interest of the characters and themes wins out for me. (Especially Hester. She's pretty incredible). I think I'd recommend it--granted you have a bit of tolerance for exposition. There's copies at Kettleson, Sitka High, and MEHS.

The Queen of the Tearling by Erica Johansen

"Kelsea Glynn is the sole heir to the throne of Tearling but has been raised in secret by foster parents after her mother - Queen Elyssa, as vain as she was stupid - was murdered for ruining her kingdom. For 18 years, the Tearling has been ruled by Kelsea's uncle in the role of Regent however he is but the debauched puppet of the Red Queen, the sorceress-tyrant of neighboring realm of Mortmesme. On Kelsea's 19th birthday, the tattered remnants of her mother's guard - each pledged to defend the queen to the death - arrive to bring this most un-regal young woman out of hiding...

And so begins her journey back to her kingdom's heart, to claim the throne, earn the loyalty of her people, overturn her mother's legacy and redeem the Tearling from the forces of corruption and dark magic that are threatening to destroy it. But Kelsea's story is not just about her learning the true nature of her inheritance - it's about a heroine who must learn to acknowledge and live with the realities of coming of age in all its insecurities and attractions, alongside the ethical dilemmas of ruling justly and fairly while simply trying to stay alive..."

Hello, all! My name is Valerie, and I am the latest addition to this fabulous blog. My reading interests are all over the place, but I mostly stick with fiction, epic fantasy being my weakness. I hope that the reviews I will be posting on here will be of interest to you!

Speaking of reviews, I cannot say enough about The Queen of the Tearling. This was a book that I happened to grab on my way out of the library one day this summer, and I have no regrets in finishing it in one very long sitting. Kelsea, the main character, goes through a truly wonderful character development throughout the book, and the entire time I was reading I was cheering for her. She does not fall into the trap of an angst-filled love triangle while fighting to keep her life; instead, Kelsea takes ahold of the massive job that is handed to her and she runs with it. Immediately upon arriving at what is apparently her new castle, the young queen starts overturning and disrupting every single way of life that had been allowed to become stagnate and foul while she was coming of age. Reading about this scared young woman stepping far out of her comfort zone and seizing the chance to make things better even though she is sacrificing everything is really an incredible read. The fact that there is an attractive bandit hiding out in the woods and loads of fascinating new magic thrown around in the story definitely helps, too. 
Also, one thing that made me want to start over again at page one when I finished the book was a little nugget of information near the end that hinted that the entire storyline that was just read is not entirely what you thought it was...as I don't want to divulge any of the books tantalizing secrets, I will leave off by telling you, dear readers, to go and devour this book. Well, not literally. But I do hope you grab a copy of The Queen of the Tearling and read it if you get the chance, as it is a swashbuckling, adventurous, and magical book that I would easily give a sound five stars to.

Change in the Wind...

Hi! Soo, you might have seen this coming or not, I have an announcement that I think is gonna change things but maybe have an upside! Just hear me out.

Essentially, my free time is at an all-time low. I need to have a serious talk with whoever said junior year was going to be the hardest--yeah, no. Senior year is the year of ten million things and I'm going crazy. The book-a-week thing, while incredibly fun and I love doing it, I have no time for. To that end, I've enlisted my wonderful and gorgeous friend Valerie Chinalski to help me tag-team this blog. At this point we're each going to post one a month, so you'll get a review every two weeks. I know, slower and everything, but trust me, this is gonna work a lot better for us and I'm super excited to have Valerie help me. She's awesome, trust me. And if you, dear reader, love to read and would love to give your quick opinion on a book every month, talk to me! I'm always open to more people!

Alright, that's it for now! Thanks for bearing with me!

Blegh.

I know, I didn't upload yesterday. I succumbed to one of those freaking viruses floating around, and right now I need to sleep and catch up on the homework that was just loaded on me. Sorry, I think that week's kind of a lost cause. I'll have one up for this coming week, though. I hope. Feeling awful can't last forever, right?

Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins

"Still Life with Woodpecker is a sort of a love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. It reveals the purpose of the moon, explains the difference between criminals and outlaws, examines the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism, and paints a portrait of contemporary society that includes powerful Arabs, exiled royalty, and pregnant cheerleaders. It also deals with the problem of redheads."

So, this was recommended by a friend (incidentally, the same one who gave me Good Omens, so I tend to trust her judgment. This one did pretty well, too). Remember when I said Kurt Vonnegut required a certain type of person to enjoy his stuff? Yeah, that's what's going on here, too. Even more so, if possible. That's not to say it wasn't good--it was. It was pretty unexpected, from every angle, but funny and with some spot-on themes presented very uniquely. The characters were all very colorful, though admittedly none were really completely sympathetic. The problem was just that their choices and actions were, every once in a while, a bit strange or not understandable. The friend who lent me this explained it perfectly: something about a Tom Robbins book just gives you a faint suspicion that you might not like the author very much if you met in person. That's the best way I can find to form it into words. But that's not to say that it was an unenjoyable book, on the whole. He has an interesting relationship with the English language and metaphors/similes that captures things unexpectedly and perfectly (it only occasionally strays into weird nonsense) and there are some really priceless themes in it. Overall, it's a book about a redheaded princess living in Seattle, the redheaded bomber she falls in love with, and the central question of how to make love stay. If you're into Kurt Vonnegut or surrealism, this might be a hit. I think it's one that you kind of just have to form your own opinion about... it's at Kettleson in the fiction section. Try it!

Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams

"Arthur Dent hadn't had a day as bad as this since the Earth had been blown up.

Depressed and alone, Arthur finally settles on the small planet Lamuella and becomes a sandwich maker. Looking forward to a quiet life, his plans are thrown awry by the unexpected arrival of his daughter.

There’s nothing worse than a frustrated teenager with a copy of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in their hands. When she runs away – Arthur goes after her determined to save her from the horrors of the universe.

After all – he’s encountered most of them before…"

If I ever give a Douglas Adams book a bad review, please alert a medical professional as it's a very good indicator that I've gone off the deep end. Of course, your mileage may vary with it, because it's a very... interesting niche he's cornered, but honestly these are some of the most enjoyable books I've read. This one was no different--true, I do still think So Long and Thanks for All the Fish might trump it slightly, but it still has the minimum Adams requirements, such as: one fit of unexpected and uncontrollable laughter, two inconveniently timed public giggling spells, and at least a dozen other amazing quotes worthy of marking. Held with the formula, was brilliant as always, and I was quite happy. True, in the lineup of his books it might fall around the middle ranking, but there was nothing actually a problem. A good, solid, pretty-hilarious book. Four stars from me, and as always, if I could personally buy the series for you I would. But I'm cheap and I have no idea who you are, so that's on you. I can offer my undying affection, that's about it. Anyway, go get a copy of this at Sitka High or Kettleson. Ciao!

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut

"In Breakfast of Champions, one of Kurt Vonnegut’s  most beloved characters, the aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. What follows is murderously funny satire, as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth."

Dear God, this man is not afraid of anything. He doesn't care whose feelings he hurts or who he offends, and for me, it's awesome. Because, honestly, every single possibly offensive thing laid out in this book is something that's been believed, said, or done by Americans at one point or another. No lie. He just says it in the simplest forms possible, and if people somehow find it more offensive than the way they'd been rationalizing the issue, that's kind of the point. The book's written as if trying to educate an alien race about America, finding simplistic and surprising ways to explain things about us. A lot of them are funny, most are fairly ridiculous, and all are eye-opening. I liked it a lot (disclaimer: I was raised by reformed hippies, so I have a healthy dose of cynicism about America, and that might tell you a little about whether you might like this book). This little gem popped up in the first chapter:
“1492. As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America. Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that. 1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them.” 
So yeah, that's a good gauge of his sense of humor. It's not for some, granted.
Now, I'd like to touch on the point that there's a reason this is in the adult fiction section.It's mature, in the very literal sense that you need to have a good measure of maturity for it to get its point across. If you start uncontrollably giggling at suggestive situations, maybe read this in a couple years. It's satire. It's got a message. And it was amazing. Anyway, there's a copy at Kettleson. If this looked appealing to you, I super highly suggest it. 4.5 stars.