Reviews of novels, movies and writing events.
As part of our read-along of The Graveyard Book, Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings has invited us to blog about our favorite coming of age novels, so I thought about some of my old loves. The Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird and The Giver and Anne of Green Gables came immediately to mind. Then I thought about paranormal coming of age books I liked and realized I had already reviewed two: The Lovely Bones and Something…
We meet again for our discussion of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book readalong hosted by Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. Are we having fun? I am! Today we’re checking out chapters 4-6. Of these, “The Witch’s Headstone” is my unequivocal favorite. It is here, against all manner of warnings from his elders about the evils of the dead in Potter’s Field, that Bod meets a wistful witch. Of course, we all want our children to obey us without question, but…
Today we begin our three part discussion of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman as part of Carl’s group read over at Stainless Steel Droppings. The book opens with a visit from a knife-wielding Jack who kills a family minus one toddler. Said toddler wanders into a cemetery where he is quickly adopted by kind-hearted nonliving beings (aka ghosts) and one crusty undead curmudgeon with a soft center. In an effort to keep the child safe from knife-wielding Jack, the…
Welcome to Banned Book Week 2012! I love the irony inherent in turning a dusty, fusty institution on its head, don’t you? Here at Pen in her Hand, we’ve already reviewed two banned ghost books. They are Beloved and The Headless Cupid. Check them out. I liked them both, and I believe Beloved is a true tour de force. Today, we’re going to discuss one more banned ghost novel, The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. A true ghost book, the…
The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian I LOVED this book. That is, I loved half of this book. Here are some of my notes to self–“right from the start I adore the style,” “this is refreshing after the last lackluster book,” and “Thank you, Crown Publishers for not italicizing the prologue!” (For more on the great prologue controversy, read my post on prologues here.) It begins so well. A goose-downed (as in a-gaggle-of-geese-downed-the) plane ends in a failed landing (notwithstanding…
Cover artist Matt Hinrichs is back with us today for part two of our interview. Well, Matt, yesterday The Book Designer posted the monthly e-cover design awards. As usual, well worth a viewing. See the contest entries here. Although your Moonlight Dancer cover didn’t win, it did garner this praise from Joel Friedlander: “Very artful blending of illustration and lettering, this cover stands out.” That’s pretty sweet praise. Congratulations! Matt, what is your process as you begin a book cover design?…
The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse In The Winter Ghosts, a despondent Freddie Watson mourns the loss of his favored brother who perished in WWI. Even ten years after the war, Freddie cannot rid himself of a paralyzing case of survivor’s guilt. After crashing his car in a snowstorm in the French Pyrenees, he hikes to the nearest village where some of the local denizens give him a cold reception. However, he soon finds himself invited to a fête, treated…
Today is my birthday. Or was when I began this post. (Alas, I’m a slow writer.) But I have a gift for you. R.I.P is here again! Hard to believe a year has gone by, but there it is. And autumn, the best time of the year, arrives. And with autumn, comes R.I.P. R.I.P (Readers Imbibing Peril) is the brainchild of Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. It’s an opportunity for those of us who like things that go bump in…
Water Ghosts by Shawna Yang Ryan With Ghost Month starting this week, this is the perfect time to review Water Ghosts. This book was originally published under the title Locke 1928, and until I neared the end of the book, I would have said Locke 1928 was a better title than Water Ghosts. This is one of those novels in which the town becomes a kind of character, similar to Empire Falls by Richard Russo. And indeed, author Ryan paints…
I am a genuine “giver” applicant for the 2013 World Book Night. My first duty as aspirant was to nominate four books I deem worthy of giving away. It was my great pleasure to nominate Neverwhere, which I found to be a fantastic read. Now, sadly, our group read of Neverwhere is over, and it’s time for final thoughts. Our fearless leader Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings has asked us to consider the characters we found compelling as well as…
Hi everyone. Today we embark on part two of our discussion of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere courtesy of Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings. Carl has prepared the questions below. I hope you’ll join us! 1. Chapter 6 begins with Richard chanting the mantra, “I want to go home”. How do you feel about Richard and his reactions at this point to the unexpected adventure he finds himself on? More than once during this section I sensed allusions, the first being Wizard…
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman Harper Collins, 386 pages This isn’t a traditional ghost story such as I usually review. This is more of a ghost-as-metaphor-for-the-forgotten-ones story. But that’s actually a quest I seek in the ghost stories I read, the yearning that drives one to cross barriers and struggle to connect. You’ve wondered, I know you have, what would happen if one day you went left instead of right, if one day you stopped because a street person asked for…