My amazing sister went and bought me a copy of this before it was supposed to come out (which was today, I guess). Foolish Books-a-Million (not my bookstore chain of choice) put it on the shelves before its release date, and brilliant Anna bought us each a copy. Joy! Darling Alec, darling Seregil, I support their relationship so much! They are so much more satisfying than Ki and Tamar turned out to be (although I strongly supported that relationship also)! And now they’ve – um. You know. Returned. As the title may have implied to you. What had happened was:…
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The Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie
Published 16 Jun 2008
by
Gin Jenny
I heard about this from um. You know. Everywhere. Before I went to England, I went to the bookstore to pick out three books for myself. They were leaving-home presents to myself, and I was going to read one of them before leaving America, and one of them on the plane to England, and one of them right before I left England. So I got a stack of several books, and I was going to decide which I wanted to buy. I sat down on the chair and read the beginnings of all of them, and The Satanic Verses was…
Leave a CommentFingersmith, Sarah Waters
Published 3 May 2008
by
Gin Jenny
I have mixed feeling about this book. I really do. Because on one hand, I enjoyed it a lot and I liked all the twists and turns it took. Except that um, when part one ended, it wasn’t quite what I expected, because I’m a big romantic, and although I (of course) had already read the end, it didn’t so much let me in on all the stuff that was going to happen in the middle. And I was all going along, dee dee dee, and all of a sudden it was part one ending and WHAM KIDNEY PUNCH. Seriously,…
3 CommentsEmily’s Quest, L.M. Montgomery
Published 12 Mar 2008
by
Gin Jenny
A really sad story: One time when I was in England I developed this mad craving to read all the Emily of New Moon books, so I went to great trouble to obtain them. As things ended up, I had the first two on loan, and the third one I bought at a charity shop, so I read the first two lickety-split and returned them, at which point my yearning to read Emily’s Quest surpassed all imagining. At this point it was late May, I think. I was into exams and all. And I had the bright idea – being…
3 CommentsEmily Climbs
Published 8 Mar 2008
by
Gin Jenny
One of my favorite lines in all of literature happens in Emily Climbs: “Of course,” said Mrs. Ann Cyrilla, “I think a great many of Emily’s faults come from her intimacy with Ilse Burnley. She shouldn’t be allowed to run about with Ilse as she does. Why, they say Ilse is as much an infidel as her father….She swears like a trooper, I’m told. Mrs. Mark Burns was in [her father’s] office one day and heard Ilse in the parlor say distinctly ‘out, damned Spot!’ probably to the dog.” Oh God. That’s as good as anything Valancy says in that…
Leave a CommentEmily of New Moon, L.M. Montgomery
Published 6 Mar 2008
by
Gin Jenny
When my life gets stressful, I don’t read new books. Hence I am rereading a bunch of old things. The Color Purple and now all of L.M. Montgomery’s Emily books. I have to confess that I don’t understand the undying allure of Anne of Green Gables. I don’t dislike those books or anything, but I can totally live without them – and God, how boring is Gilbert? Is it just me? Isn’t Gilbert dull? Don’t we all sort of want to chuck Gilbert off a cliff? When I was a little girl I read Anne of Green Gables and stopped…
13 CommentsThe Color Purple, Alice Walker
Published 5 Mar 2008
by
Gin Jenny
You know what I don’t understand? I don’t understand why The Color Purple is so ridiculously awesome, and why when there are all these really subpar books running around, why people don’t just go ahead and read The Color Purple all the time. Why don’t people just read The Color Purple all the time, and forget about that Atonement crap? The Color Purple. Wow. When I was young, my mother had told me once that The Color Purple was one of her favorite books of all time, and I remember her telling me her favorite line (“White folks is a…
5 CommentsHeck Superhero, by Martine Leavitt
Published 24 Feb 2008
by
Gin Jenny
Martine Leavitt is still my new BFF, and great respect to her for raising seven kids and still managing to write books, but I didn’t like Heck Superhero as much as The Dollmage and Keturah. I think that writing in the present time may just not be her thing, and it may actually be necessary for her to set her stories in strange, alternate versions of England from back in the day. Heck Superhero is about a kid whose mother goes MIA, and as a result of some pretty spectacular magic thinking (he’s only a kid, so this is permissible),…
1 CommentThe Dollmage, Martine Leavitt
Published 20 Feb 2008
by
Gin Jenny
My people, lay down your stones. Before you stone this Annakey Rainsayer, you know it is the law and her right to have her story told. It is my duty as Dollmage to tell it. Each villager has the right to one stone, and no one will forbid you to throw it. But listen to me, and when I am done each of you will decide for yourselves if this Annakey is worthy of execution. That is right. Lay the stones at your feet, keep them close by if it comforts you. So few of you? The stones will get…
2 CommentsKeturah and Lord Death, Martine Leavitt
Published 19 Feb 2008
by
Gin Jenny
“Tell me what it is like to die,” I answered. He dismounted from his horse, looking at me strangely the whole while. “You experience something similar every day,” he said softly. “It is as familiar to you as bread and butter.” “Yes,” I said. “It is like every night when I fall asleep.” “No. It is like every morning when you wake up.” Recommended by: Brooklyn Arden Oh how I liked this book. It’s about a girl called Keturah who goes into the forest after a white hart and meets Lord Death. She doesn’t want to die without having known…
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