(First of all, I hate it that I efficiently wrote this on the airplane on Sunday and today is Wednesday and it’s the first chance I’ve had to efficiently copy and paste my write up here. Gah!)
(coming out in January 2010)
Jasper Fforde’s style is quirky and odd, funny, and richly literary. Or, if not literary exactly, it assumes its readers are, well, readers. I loved the Thursday Next books and the enjoyed the Nursery Crime ones as well, and so was delighted to get an advance reading copy of his newest venture, Shades of Grey. This is apparently the first of three projected novels. The style was very much like Thursday Next-kind of confusing and nonsensical and you just have to give yourself up to it and go along for the ride. And not try to figure anything out. Like Thursday Next this is set in an alternate world with crazy societal rules and regulations. Unlike Thursday Next it is a bit more sinister, a futuristic (but backward) dystopia.
Edward Russett is a Red. In this world everything is ruled by color. It forms the basis for a caste system which places greys at the worker bees who are good for nothings, and the reds, blues, and yellows as the highest ups. A system of merits and demerits rules what people are allowed to do and also controls who might marry whom. Edward doesn’t expect too much from his life except to hopefully marry Constance Oxblood, which would be a very beneficial match to both of their families. But then he and his father get sent to East Carmine, which is a settlement near the Outer Fringes. There Edward meets a Grey, Jane, who opens his eyes to the fact that their chroma-society might not be all it’s cracked up to be.
There are all kinds of weird and wonderful thnigs populating this world: swans that attack people and are feared as vicious beasts, giraffes roaming as freely as feral cats, giant trees that gobble up people like some sort of combination Whomper-Venus Flytrap.
I really enjoyed the wordplay in this, such as the fact that everyone’s surnames are a shade of the color family they are in (Oh and what color you are is determined by what color you can see. That’s right, a Red can see red but not really the other colors.) The Greys don’t get different surnames other than Grey and some of the characters we meet are Jane, Zane, and Dorian, so that’s pretty funny. This whole concept of colors being the foundation of the society and some being considered more valuable than others reminded me a bit of Gathering Blue, by Lois Lowry. Another thing about this world is that when night falls everyone stays inside. To venture into the inky darkness means you will likely succumb to Nightloss and be gone forever. This terrifying darkness outside the town reminded me very much of City of Ember, by Jean DuPre. Thinking about these comparisons, as well as other novels I’ve read, it seems that a tool of those in power in any dystopia is Fear. Fear of the unknown, fear of real or imaginary (but told they are real) threats or creatures, these are the things that keep the masses in line and ignorant.
Overall, a great new venture for Fforde.
This was a sort of hot book this summer that I only just came up on the queue for at the library. I really loved it-a solid adult fiction book. It covers relationships, friendships, and let’s face it-it has a hint of boarding school and YAness about it, and that certainly appealed to me too.
No one can talk about Marcia Willett without saying that she’s like Rosamunde Pilcher or Maeve Binchy, and it’s true. It’s a British novel that seems insanely old fashioned even if it’s set in modern times. There are happy romances, but also very sad things that just don’t work out. They’re cozy, but not entirely sweet. For example, in this one the main character is a woman whose blown her 20 year marriage on a one year affair. The affair ends and she’s left with an estranged daughter, a husband who won’t take her back, and the unbearable guilt of knowing that it’s all her fault. And that doesn’t change. So there you go. But that’s not what the novel is about, it is about the second phase of her life, and that of a few other characters as well, all brought together at a house by the sea. 
I was attracted to the both the cover and the title of this book, which lets face it, is how most people select their books when browsing. I like Dolly Parton very much. I’m sad she’s had so much plastic surgery because I think she looks a bit scary now, but I really admire her a lot. Have you ever heard her version of Shine? It’s outstanding. And I Will Always Love You? How can it be that I abhor that song when song by Whitney Houston, but when Dolly effortlessly sings it in such a lovely lilting manner, it just sounds like a wonderful love song? That’s my two cents on Dolly. Here is something very interesting that I did not get from the cover–it turned out to be a very Christian book. Enough that it gave me pause and for a moment I thought “Oh do I want to keep reading?” But I was enjoying the story and didn’t mind that the characters just spoke from time to time about praying and their faith. It was actually well integrated into the story. So what is the story? Four Southern women get together and open their own catering business. 
I absolutely adored this. I read about it in 
I really like Nick Hornby and was thrilled when Melissa shared this prepub with me. Such a quirky premise for a story: a British man is obsessed with a musician from the 80s who hasn’t produced anything in twenty years and didn’t even have that astonishing a career and is now a recluse. But because of the internet he has banded together with other like minded people and they obsessively talk about Duncan Crowe and pick over his lyrics and every bootleg recording they can. They guy really is kind of a weirdo/tool. His longtime girlfriend comes to this realization over something related to Crowe–the very first release after all these years arrives at their house and she listens to it first and has a different opinion of it than her boyfriend (I forget his name, I read this two weeks ago.) He freaks out and it all starts to unravel. 
I’ve read a bunch of her other books, some I really liked, some less than others. This is her newest and I loved it. It was not a very long book and it was a quick read. By the way, this was our choice for my new two person book club. We’ll be discussing it next week.
It’s been a while since I read any chick lit type books, but this cover/title/style caught my eye and I checked out not only this, but also The Reading Group (by Noble). The set-up of this story is that Natalie has been dumped by her boyfriend of many years and her dear old friend Tom persuades her to spend the next 26 weekends with him (each time doing an activity that starts with a letter of the alphabet). At the end of that time he is sure Natalie will be in love with him. Natalie is not so sure about that, but does think it is a good way to get over Simon. 
I read about this book over at 
I just finished this this afternoon and I really liked it. I read it very quickly and found it super satisfying (especially because there was a very satisfying detailed epilogue–I love epilogues, love them!) This may be the truest book I’ve ever read that captures what it’s like staying at home with young children. I think what I liked so much about it was that it wasn’t an over-the-top portrayal, it wasn’t whiny, and it wasn’t like a “mommy blog” of crazy hijinks. It felt normal to me, though I only have two children, not three in a 5 year span. (Who still thinks you can’t get pregnant when nursing? Who? I couldn’t believe the main character was twice surprised by becoming pregnant.) 
