Chapter Twenty-Seven: St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves

After reading her more recent collection of short stories, I decided to read Karen Russell's first collection, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves.  (What a great title!)  I did not, however, enjoy this collection as much as I enjoyed Vampires in the Lemon Grove.  I felt that most of the stories in St. Lucy's were darker than those in Vampires and the elements of strangeness were also darker and more depressing.  Moreover, most of the stories didn't quite feel finished to me, somehow; I was often left feeling confused about what the point of the story was.  However, they were interesting and well-written, which kept me reading them.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Vampires in the Lemon Grove

Since reading (and being engrossed in) Swamplandia! and hearing Karen Russell at a reading and q-&-a a couple of months ago, I've been meaning to check out her two previously-published collections of short stories. Although I generally prefer novels to short stories, I found myself enjoying this collection, on the whole. Most of all, I really appreciated the strangeness in so many of these stories, from a vampire hooked on lemons to a veteran's extraordinary tattoo (I was reminded by this especially of Roald Dahl's short story "Skin" and in general the collection reminded me vaguely of Dahl's short stories for adults) and beyond. Anyone with a taste for the unusual (and for well-written stories) should definitely take a look at this collection. 

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Ropemaker

This young adult fantasy novel by prolific author Peter Dickinson was definitely worth re-reading. Although it's rather predictable in some of its plot and character elements, there are also a few unique aspects that make it a more interesting read than a cookie-cutter novel of this genre. This novel held my interest pretty well all the way through and was a solid magical adventure story. 

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Artemis Fowl Series

I have read every book in this series by Irish author Eoin Colfer at least once before, except for the most recent and final installment, which was released in 2012. I decided I ought to do the thing properly and re-read the first seven books, most of which I haven't read recently, before tackling the last book. And I'm definitely glad I decided to re-read, partly because I'd forgotten much of the content of the previous books, partly because I love to read book series, and largely because I find this particular series to be both well-written and enjoyable. Although many of the secondary (or even primary but slightly less important) characters are not so dynamic, Artemis (the main character, unsurprisingly) is really allowed to grow and develop over the course of the novels, which is one of my favorite aspects of the series. My main complaint, which is fairly minor, is that the series lacks an overarching story line, instead being comprised of a series of eight adventures that are not so connected to each other aside from sharing the same cast of heroes. I really appreciate, however, the humor that Colfer so liberally includes in his writing and which is, I feel, a major perk to this series. This series is definitely a worthwhile read, especially if you're looking for something a bit lighter. 

Chapter Twenty-Three: Ahab's Wife: Or, The Star-Gazer

What an excellent novel!  As you may infer from the title, this book is very loosely based on Herman Melville's Moby-Dick: Or, The Great White Whale, although I feel this novel by Sena Jeter Naslund can very easily be read and enjoyed without having read Hawthorne's whaling epic.  (I've read Moby-Dick, back in high school, but my memories of it are pretty vague, now.)  Anyway, to return to the excellence of Ahab's Wife, I thoroughly enjoyed this long, epic, fictional auto-biography of a woman mentioned only briefly in Moby-Dick.  I absolutely loved the titular character, Una--she is such a strong, resilient, and very real and human character.  She leads such a wondrous life, with both the thrills and terrors of adventures and the joys and sorrows of 19th-century domestic life.  I found it easy to immerse myself in her narration and become absorbed by her recounting of her life.  Moreover, in addition to this stellar narrator/main-character, the plot is fantastically paced, ebbing and flowing like the ocean that so permeates the book, encompassing both fast-paced plot twists and calmer, stiller moments of bliss, sorrow, and acceptance.  To top it all off, the writing itself is beautiful: it is delightfully reminiscent of the best aspects of 19th-century style while avoiding the less pleasant, harder-to-read aspects of it.  This is a fantastic novel, and it is well worth the time it takes to journey through this ultimately uplifting and affirming tale.

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Alchemyst

I bought this novel, the first of a series by Michael Scott called The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel, about six months ago while I was home for winter break.  I'm not sure exactly what prompted me to buy it, other than its advertisement as a best-selling YA fantasy sort of book.  Yet after buying it, it sat on the shelf (I didn't even bring it to school with me--why?) until now, when I finished re-reading the Harry Potter series and was too despondent about it to go to the library.  But I felt like reading something new, and here this was, conveniently waiting for me on my shelf.  The first few pages didn't really capture me and draw me in, but I decided to persevere to the end of the book (which only took a day), and I'm not convinced it was worthwhile (nor am I convinced it wasn't worthwhile).  During most of my reading experience, mostly due to my emotional resistance to the main teen characters (it's not that I disliked them, but I didn't find myself caring too much about them) I found myself thinking I wouldn't bother reading the sequel(s).  But in the last third or fourth of the novel, I found that the main characters had grown on me somewhat, and--I'll admit it--I'm something of a sucker for a cliffhanger ending, which this book certainly has.  So I might get the next book from the library (but not immediately).  We'll see if my interest matures with time or not.  In the meantime, I think one of my main issues with this book is that, even though my knowledge of world mythologies (or any mythology) is sadly limited, especially for someone who enjoys fantasy and sci-fi, I felt like, rather than being based on historical and mythological characters, this novel ends up using them as stock-characters, often--the villains, especially, seemed flat in this way.  Basically, even if I do decide to read the sequel, I'll probably donate my copy of this first book in the series and get the next one(s) from the library.  Basically, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great.

Chapter Twenty-One: Harry Potter (the whole series)

I deliberated over posting separately for each of the seven books in this series versus posting once about the whole group, but as I really feel they make such a cohesive unit, and as the story line really runs its course from the first installment to the last, I decided to review the series as a whole.  (If you want my thoughts on each installment individually, check out my account on goodreads.com.)

Writing about the series as a whole, I have to say that I love this series whole-heartedly, with no reservations.  I don't know how many times I've read any of the books--why bother keeping count?--but they are superb.  I love the characters and the way Rowling develops them; I'm impressed by the way the larger plot is woven through all of the books so that minor details from earlier books are mentioned again and even become important in later books (this is especially noticeable and pleasing when rereading the series); I notice new things each time I read the books; and there's some quality to her storytelling (I've never been able to figure out what, which is probably part of the books' huge pull over me) that absolutely sucks me in and holds me captive so that, no matter how many times I've read the books, each time I read them I become obsessed with them all over again.  (If I wanted to make a bad joke about Rowling's magical ability to enchant her readers, I'd do it here--but I'll spare you.)

Anyway, I can't even begin to describe how enormous a part of my life these books have been.  I was lucky enough to grow up as the books were being published, so I really feel I've grown up with Harry & co, aging roughly as they aged.  Reading them--and rereading them--and waiting for the next installment, and talking and speculating and wondering about them with friends, and pretending that we were characters in the books--they've played (and, thank goodness, continue to play) a huge role in my life, probably more than any other books.  If you've never read them, I strongly suggest that you do so, because they're solidly excellent.