Charlotte Jane Battles Bedtime by Myra Wolfe. Illustrated by Maria Monescillo.

Charlotte Jane is the daughter of two pirates, who have built a beautiful ship-shaped house in the suburbs. They use endearments like “doubloon” and “pomegranate”, managing to seem both devoted parents and still-fierce pirates. Charlotte Jane grows up wanting the very best of life, and at one point decides that “Bedtime [is] not juicy.” She stays up later and later, until one night, she manages to stay awake until sunrise. Victory turns out to be less sweet than she’d expected as she says, “Arr. My oomph’s weighed anchor!” Then follows a hunt, aided by her parents, for Charlotte Jane’s missing oomph. The illustrations are charmingly bright and stripy watercolor and ink drawings. It’s a bedtime book with a fun pirate twist that’s great for older toddlers and preschoolers. My own toddler did not, alas, decide to learn a lesson from the book, but she did enjoy reading it multiple times.

Pirate King by Laurie R. King This series has been getting good reviews for years, but this is my first try. It’s set in the 1920s, and Sherlock Holmes has married the much younger Mary Russell. Mysteries of course still ensue. This is the eleventh in the series, and I was finally encouraged to pick it up because it is about pirates. Not just any pirates, but the Pirates of Penzance, the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta which I have adored ever since I didn’t make my high school production of it. So: Fflytte films is a film company famous for filming the real thing. Now, there are two mysteries around it that Mary Russell is investigating: a missing secretary and surges in illicit items like arms and cocaine after Fflytte films does a film about such a subject. The easiest way to investigate is to apply for the missing secretary’s job, which Russell does. The current film – get ready for convolution here – is about a film company making a movie of the Pirates of Penzance (set in Portugal and Morocco instead of the actual Penzance in Cornwall), which gets overtaken by real pirates. Naturally, as the film company in our book heads off for Portugal and Morocco, they too are taken over by real pirates. Dun dun DUNNN!!! Despite the action, Russell felt developed enough as a character to keep the book from being a cardboard-character thriller. This was a mystery that hit the perfect balance of fun and literary without ever getting into the gory. It had plenty of both G&S and classic Holmes references to satisfy geeks of both varieties.

Cross-posted to http://library-mama.dreamwidth.org and http://sapphireone.livejournal.com .

Beauvallet by Georgette Heyer Heyer has the reputation of being the mistress of romance, perhaps even the mother of the modern romance novel. I must confess that I’d not read anything of hers before now. This is quite different from the modern romance. The modern romance (as I alluded to in my last post about the genre) has very strict rules regarding the characters, the plot outline, and the ending. The point of the modern romance book is building a strong relationship, with setbacks and romantic interludes at regular points along the way. I would say that Heyer breaks nearly all of the rules, except that it’s more likely that they just hadn’t been articulated yet. It is a journey between two people who find themselves highly attracted to each other in the beginning. There is a happy ending. But the middle is quite different, and there are no love scenes.

So much for what isn’t there, and on to the book itself. The book opens with a sea battle between a Spanish merchant ship and an (in)famous English privateer. The Spanish captain has deliberately antagonized the privateer, Beauvallet, in hopes of impressing the beautiful and single lady whom he is carrying from the colonies to Spain, with her ailing father. Naturally, he fails. Nicholas Beauvallet meets the lady, Dominica Rada y Sylva. There are instant sparks which they both know to be inappropriate (so far following the Basic Plot). Beauvallet sets the rest of the Spanish crew of on a boat to the nearest island, but vows to carry Dominica and her party to Spain, despite the risk to his life. On the journey, they fall more deeply in love. Nicholas says that he will journey back to the heart of Spain to win her hand; Dominica says that he shouldn’t risk his life to do so, but that if he does get there, she will come back to England with him. All of this takes place at the beginning of the book. Then, Nicholas goes back to England to get permission from the Queen to leave the country again. The rest of the book is his Daring Adventure – alone but for his manservant – to make his way into Spain to kidnap the willing Dominica. Matters there have gotten more complicated as well. Dominica’s father has died, leaving her in the care of her noble but impoverished aunt. This lady plan for gaining Dominica’s fortune for her own use is to have Dominica marry her simpering son. The aunt is a delightful villain, lazy and agreeable. When Dominica tells her, for example, that she cannot marry the son because she does not love him, her aunt tells her that marriage will give her the freedom to take all the lovers she wants, but Dominica must marry her son. The whole story is told in beautifully flowery and authentic-sounding language, as like to what I’ve seen less skilled authors try as real fragrant roses are to plastic. On the whole, this is much more like The Princess Bride, with all the swashbuckling but a somewhat toned-down sense of humor than your typical romance book. Dominica manages to be high-spirited while retaining behavior believable to the time period, a very fine line that Heyer walks brilliantly. There manages to be a lot of romantic tension with nothing more than the occasional kiss exchanged, but this is almost more adventure than romance and enjoyable by fans of both genres.

Under the Jolly Roger by L.A. Meyer. Read by Katherine Kellgren Several years ago, I read the first book in this series, Bloody Jack, a rip-roaring tale of adventure on the high seas, as Mary “Jacky” Faber, street orphan, disguises herself as a boy so as to make an honest living as a ship’s boy. I read it in print at the time, which was fun. Now my love and I are rediscovering the series on audiobook. I think that someday soon I will have to write Katherine Kellgren a fan letter, because she is such an amazing reader. The books are full of people and accents from all over, from Jacky’s Cockney to Irish to Jamaican and American, which Kellgren brings beautifully to life. There are also a number of folk songs, and Kellgren not only has a fine voice for singing them, but also manages to make the different character’s singing voices different. This series is winning her all the major audio book awards, and rightly so, but I also loved her work on the Enola Holmes series, where Enola putting on a Cockney accent still sounds different from Jacky in this one.

Under the Jolly Roger is the third book in the series. Jacky has made her way back to England in search of her beloved Jaimy, from whom she was parted for all of the second book. She has only just found him again, disguised as a boy again, when she is caught by a press gang. This time, the ship (Wolverine) is captained by a lecherous man who refuses to let her go even when she reveals her female nature. Events move quickly, if increasingly improbably, as Jacky works her way from Midshipman (a rank she earned in the first book) up to Lieutenant in the Navy, then captures her own ship and gains a letter of marque so that she can operate as a privateer. We do not care about the improbability, though, any more than we care about the improbability of Indiana Jones, because this is about adventure, pure and simple. Well, with some music and romance thrown in, too, because even though Jacky is broken-hearted about Jaimy in this book and vows to live single, she always has a very hard time resisting a pretty boy, and there are several on the Wolverine. This is a great sea-faring romp for teens and up. It will be good in print, too, but listen to the audio if you possibly can.

Only three more days to Talk Like a Pirate Day!

The Republic of Pirates by Colin WoodardThe pirates of legend live free from the laws of kingdoms of the world. Theirs is a life of adventure as they travel where they will, taking what they need and making their victims walk the plank.

The legend is complete fiction, of course. But the fascinating part is that the Golden Age of Piracy followed the legend, brought about by frustrated pirates who thought it already reality. They created an early democracy where people of all colors and nationalities were equal members, though it was stamped out quickly. This is the story of the creation of the Republic of Pirates, the pirates who founded it and the former privateer who brought them down. The good news is that there is a lot in this book. Unfortunately, the facts are packed a little thick for all but the most die-hard of pirate fans. Happily, for those in between, there’s a lot to be had just in the intro.

I'm working on a longer bibliography of pirate picture books for work. Here's a start.

The Pirate Meets the Queen by Matt Faulkner.

This exciting tale tells embroiders what is known of real-life Irish pirate Granny O’Malley (short for Granuaile or Grace). She cut off her hair and disguised herself as a boy to join her father’s ship in her youth. Later in life, in the title episode, she goes in person to petition Red Liz, the Queen of England, for her son’s freedom. It’s illustrated with flowing but realistic gouache paintings. This is a little long for me, at over 15 minutes reading aloud, though not for Mr. FP, who loved it. It's exciting without being scary.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson For those of you going through Harry Potter withdrawal, may I suggest Peter and the Starcatchers? This fast-moving adventure with a sense of humor takes us back to a time when Peter Pan was just Peter, an orphan with a dismal and probably short future. Peter, still the leader of a small gang of orphans, is being sent to a barbarian king on a faraway island, onboard a small and dingy ship. Also onboard is young Molly, apprentice Starcatcher. Apparently, when stars fall on earth, the starstuff causes magical mutations, often harmful, so that it must be removed from earth by the Starcatchers before it can cause too much damage. Sure enough, a large and leaky chest of starstuff features prominently in the plot, as does the evil Captain Stache and his pirate crew. The plot will keep you on the edge of your seat and the characters are charming and believable. The book, for me, restored the magic of Peter Pan that was missing when I reread the original, with its old-fashioned mores. The savages are real people; Molly's aim in life is not to become a mother ASAP. It's an origin story well worth reading.

Sometimes when I see a good fantasy review, I put the book on hold for when it comes into the library. Sometimes this works out better than others…

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss I started this novel with some trepidation, as it is around 700 pages long. I sighed and fidgeted as he took 100 pages to set up the frame story. But they kept saying that this story was the stuff of legends, so I bravely read on anyway (with some breaks for knitting porn and new magazines.) I felt some amount of sympathy for the main character, Kvothe, a brilliant, socially inept but musically talented young thing, though his arrogance was a bit off-putting. Kinda like Harry Potter in Book 5, but without the getting to know him before he hit the testosterone of invincibility. It kept flashing back to the present, where Kvothe would promise again that there would be Romance and Doom any minute now. No romance. No doom. I read on, through the strange days of the week that were never explained and multitudes of different cultures sketchily described. The book ended, with promise of a couple more sequels to come. I am sure that there is an audience for this book. It is probably young and male and really loves books that are so epic that they can only fit two or three interesting episodes into 700 pages. Oh, wait, the plot: Kvothe’s family is slaughtered by the Chandrian, whom most people believe to be only a fairy tale. After some time on the streets, a still very young Kvothe enters the University to study magic and learn the truth of the Chandrian so he can avenge his family’s death. He quickly makes some powerful enemies, and meets the love of his life. However, since he is a Good Boy and she needs a gentleman of means to support her, they don’t do anything. In the frame story, Kvothe is in hiding running an inn in a remote village, and there are some signs that the Chandrian are looking for him.

Victorian Lace Today by Jane Sowerby Sowerby spent 10 years researching Victorian knitting patterns – the first time knitting patterns were written down as they are today. This book traces the evolution of knitted lace, with brief articles about the major knitting sources followed by patterns adapted from the source. There’s also a nice guide to technique in the back, and a guide to the locations in the photos. The lace is absolutely gorgeous, and conveniently progresses from easier to more difficult patterns as the collective knitting skill of the Victorians increased. There are also smaller scarves and fichus as well as larger shawls and stoles. All the knitting is photographed in beautiful Victorian interiors and British formal gardens, including the manor that was used for Mr. Darcy’s estates in the A&E Pride and Prejudice. This is a beautiful and drool-worthy book.

Because I just can’t resist checking out new books about pirates…
Don’t Mention Pirates by Sarah McConnell Scarlet Silver may be the granddaughter of famous pirate Long Joan Silver. And she may live in a ship-shaped house. But she still has to conceal her talents for making people walk the plank and searching for treasure, because the only rule in the Silver family is, “Don’t mention pirates!” Then one day, she finds gold in her yard, and it looks like Scarlet might not be the only Silver with piratical leanings. This silly story with light-hearted watercolor and ink illustrations will delight the pirate lovers in your family.