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Chopsticks
Jun. 27th, 2012 02:35 pm
Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral. This is a story told mostly in pictures which is curiously shelved as a regular novel rather than a graphic novel. That’s maybe because it’s told in photographs rather than drawings, though drawings and paintings that the characters make also show up. There are also programs, instant message conversations, homemade mix albums, and Youtube links (which I didn’t have time to look at), with just a touch of actual spoken dialogue. (If you buy it as an iPad app instead of a print book, the links are live and let you click right through.) In that way, it’s slick and modern and cutting edge of fiction, kind of. The story, though, is a twist on the age-old story of lovers whose families don’t approve. Glory is a 16 year old piano prodigy, famous for improvising mixes of classical pieces and modern rock on the stage. She is known, puzzlingly, as the “Brecht of the Piano” and has her first world tour lined up. But somehow, despite her father’s strict practice schedule, she finds time to fall in love with the boy next door, a new immigrant from Argentina called Francisco at home and Frank for Anglos. He’s an aspiring artist, but failing at school, mostly because he doesn’t care enough about America to put in the effort. With Glory, though, he is all sweetness and consideration. Glory’s father, however, sees nothing but a bum and tries to sever contact between Glory and Frank. The separation leads to madness – the less contact Glory is allowed, the less she can think about anything else. This directly impacts her on the stage, as she starts playing nothing but variations on “Chopsticks”. The tour is cancelled; she is sent to the Golden Hands Rest Home for Young Prodigies. The book begins with the ending: Glory has gone missing from the home, and no one knows where she is. It looked to me like she found a way to rejoin Frank, now 18 and able to return to Argentina. However, the back cover implies ambiguity and a potentially untrustworthy narrator. I’m not sure if that’s the authors being hopeful or me not having the patience to figure out puzzles, reading as I do in my chronically sleep-deprived state. I’d be happy to hear thoughts from anyone else who’s read this; otherwise, it’s an interesting scrapbook-style book that lets the reader put the story together.
How to Knit a Heart Back Home by 
How to Knit a Love Song by Rachael HerrickThis is a classical romance – meaning focus on the couple and the progress of their romance more than any other aspect of the plot. It features Plot Variation B, where the couple starts out hating each other as people, fighting a strong physical attraction. Abby, our heroine, is a young knitting designer of some renown. She was the protégé of Eliza C, an older knitting star, whose initials and advice quoted at the beginning of each chapter make it clear to those familiar with the knitting world that she is modeled on the incomparable Elizabeth Zimmerman, or EZ, all of whose works are still popular and in print decades after they were first published. Eliza has recently passed away, however, leaving to Abby the small cottage on her ranch, and to her nephew Cade, the current occupant, the house and surrounding land. Cade is furious at having the property split up, after his years of work making the ranch profitable. He’s especially furious because the cottage is uninhabitable, in poor repair and stuffed full of boxes, so that Abby has to stay in the house with him. Abby is fleeing a scary, stalking ex and is determined to make a fresh start here, no matter how unfriendly Cade is. There was just slightly too much description of the hotness of Abby’s figure from Cade’s point of view for my taste, but this was still satisfying overall on both the romance and the fiber-love aspects.
The Iron Duke by Meljean BrooksThis is going further into my exploration of the steampunk genre. Once again, we are in quasi-Victorian England. However, no Queen Victoria, but a young king. England (and the rest of Europe) was, some time ago, taken over by the Mongol Horde, who used radio-controlled nanoagents to control the population. England is now free, however, due to the actions of former pirate and now Duke Rhys Trahaern. In the present time, the nanoagents are necessary for survival, as they clean the pollutants from the lungs in the heavily coal-operated country. Society is now divided into “buggers” and “bounders” – those with nanoagents and those who fled during the occupation and returned afterwards, sans nanoagents. Once again, my explanation might make it seem as if there is no action, but anything but. Our heroine, Detective Inspector Mina Wentworth, is in a somewhat precarious position as the daughter of nobility, but obviously born of a Horde-induced Frenzy, and thus subject to open hostility in the streets. As the story opens, she is called away from a ball to investigate a frozen body that has landed seemingly from nowhere on the front steps of Duke Trahaern. There is of course instant attraction followed quite some time later by Hawt Sex and novel description of steampunk-style personal pleasure devices. There is action and adventure involving chasing down airships and escaping from zombies. There is political intrigue and some reflection on how mores and the roles of women would be changed by generations growing up under the Horde Occupation. It is a darker steampunk world than usual – certainly lacking the lightheartedness of Soulless - but still absorbing, with enough action to satisfy those frustrated by pure romance and enough romance for those looking for that. 
Steamed by Katie MacAlister Jack is a computer-ish engineer in the modern era, at work a bit tired from going to a concert by the steampunk* band Airship Pirates the night before. His sister Hallie drops by to inform him that she’s auctioned off a date with him and manages to do something very bad with the materials in his lab. Shortly thereafter, Captain Octavia Pye is quite shocked when her first mate reports two apparently unconscious people in the hold of her airship. Naturally, there is instant attraction between Jack and Captain Pye. There is shock on her part and on that of her crew that he is wearing a shirt that proclaims him to be a pirate. There is disappointment on the part of Jack that, despite the beautifully tailored uniform, Captain Pye insists on wearing her corset underneath her blouse. There are a good number of explosions, chases and escapes relating to Octavia’s secret involvement in an organization trying to overthrow the Empire, all of which is somewhat trying to Jack’s Quaker beliefs. The point of view alternates between Jack and Octavia, Jack speaking in rather foul-mouthed modern vernacular and Octavia in formal Victorian-era language. This is a humorous and light, yet steamy romance, suitable for fans of steam of both the romantic and, um, punk variety. 
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. 
Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton Here we have a delicious book for Library Mama – a romance set in a knitting shop in a magical town.
Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore Love, friendship and the mob mix in surprising and fascinating ways in this classic graphic novel. Katchoo and Francine are roommates. Francine is broken-hearted when her boyfriend leaves her after she refuses to sleep with him. Katchoo exacts a fearsome revenge on him, but refuses to tell Francine she’s in love with her. Meanwhile, Katchoo meets a persistent young man, David, at an art gallery. Even though she refuses the romantic relationship he wants, they develop a strong friendship. One might even go so far as to call it a love triangle. And then it turns out that Katchoo has old connections with the mob, and the mob is no longer willing to let them stay in the past. (I have to give a shout-out to my old library school friend Erica of 
The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig Eloise is a Harvard graduate student, writing her dissertation on English spies in France after the Revolution. She's in England, worming her way into old family archives to find the truth behind spies who, unlike the Scarlet Pimpernel, were never unmasked during their lifetime. Her modern-day dilemmas are the frame for the story of the spies she's researching. In this second book of the series, our spies are Lady Henrietta Selwick and Lord Miles Dorrington. They are under great suspicion from France, as they are the little sister and best friend of Lord Richard Selwick, formerly the Purple Gentian. Either one of them could be or could lead the French to the Pink Carnation, the subject of the first book. In fact, the Pink Carnation is trying to get word to them that France has unleashed its deadliest assassin, the Black Tulip, on England. Both Hen and Miles are eager to help the Pink Carnation discover the identity of the Black Tulip. Miles is struggling with the realization that Henrietta is prettier than ever – and strictly off limits. It is equal parts intrigue and romance, with each cropping up at inconvenient moments for the other. The author, herself a Harvard graduate student, pays attention to historical accuracy, with a note at the back to explain where and why she changed things. This is delicious fun.
Key of Light by Nora Roberts
Malory, an art dealer, searches for the first key in Key of Light. They really mean Key of Beauty, but I guess that didn’t make for such a good book title. Dana, a tall and foulmouthed librarian, searches for the second key in Key of Knowledge, while Zoe, a hairdresser and single mother, searches for the Key of Valor. You might be wondering where the romance and women’s fiction comes into all of this. Wonder no more: finding each key involves each woman acknowledging a) that she is really good at what she does and b) that she can safely let into her life the handsome, wealthy and devoted man who is wooing her. (It’s romance, so we must allow the people to have problems even if they are all heart-stoppingly gorgeous and will have only temporary financial difficulties.) They all have different reasons for feeling they need to be single, of course, so completing the quest involves Personal Growth. 
Roberts does a fine job of upping the stakes of the quest in each book, making each successive heroine work harder and be in more danger than the one before. All the characters appear in all of the books. The downside is that you know from book one which girl will end up with which guy, but on the plus side, the couple from book one isn’t just dropped after their book. Finally, there’s a strong element of women pulling together, as the three women are best friends almost immediately (but I’d have to say, if you believe the quest thing, best friends is pretty logical), working together not just on the quest but also helping with the romantic and job issues. I’d quibble with facials and toenail-painting as the most important method of female bonding, and I dislike the occasional use of words like “plunder” and “ravish” for consensual sexual activity. But all in all, this trilogy made for addictive reading.
Stolen Magic by M.J. Putney. Narrated by Simon Prebble. Simon Falconer (best friend to our hero from the previous book) is the magical law enforcer for the Guardians. When he tries to arrest the Lord Drayton, Drayton turns Simon into a unicorn. It’s a mythical beast even then, but Drayton wants to slay him by ritual magic so that he can take the horn to add to his personal power. Simon escapes, but is recaptured with the unwitting help of the ugly Mad Meggie, Drayton’s ward. They manage to escape again together, somewhat injured. When their blood mixes, Simon turns back into himself. Simon is able to find and release the spells on Meg, which kept her stupid, ugly, and unaware of her great magical power, which Drayton was drawing on to supplement his own meager strength. Naturally, this being a romance, they are powerfully attracted to each other. But Simon is still turning back into a unicorn pretty easily, and only Meg can turn him back – the going theory being it’s because she’s still a virgin. Also, Simon was only able to knot off, not cut, the energy cord tying Meg to Drayton, so she’s still in danger. The rest of the Guardian Council is finding Simon’s story about Drayton unconvincing, leaving him on the loose. He’s plotting shadowy evil things, still trying to get Meg and Simon back, and Meg thinks he has more energy slaves. 
A Kiss of Fate by Mary Jo Putney Great Britain, early 18th century. Gwynne Owens is a young member of the secret magical group called the Guardians, who use their magic to preserve the peace as much as possible. She herself doesn’t have any sign of power, but is a librarian and a serious student of Guardian lore. When the action begins to heat up, she is a young and wealthy widow, living with her much older Guardian sister-in-law. Then she meets Duncan Macrae, a powerful Scottish weather mage. Their attraction is both powerful and frightening to Gwynne (nothing like a few lightening bolts to heat things up), and an early kiss leaves her with vivid visions of violent destruction. She wants to run the other way as fast as she can, but the Guardian Council senses that she will be crucial to balancing Duncan’s power during the gathering uprising in Scotland. After a hasty wedding, the pair is off on a short wedding tour on the way to the Macrae manor in the lowlands of Scotland. And now Gwynne’s power is awakened – truly high levels of seduction, charm, and persuasiveness, with some pretty good future reading to boot. Just quiet female powers, really, she thinks – will they be enough to keep Duncan from adding his power to the uprising and causing the rivers of blood in her visions? Though the Guardian premise seems promising to me, magic in Scotland during the ‘45 says Outlander to me. That series really sets the bar as far as combining adventure, romance and magic, even getting kudos for appealing to both genders, and this one can’t quite meet it. Kiss of Fate a fine book, a little heavier on the romance than the adventure, and a lot more sex than your average romance, due to the heroine’s special powers. It still has a scholarly and adventurous seductress, and a kilt-wearing man whose kisses cause storms. If these are up your alley, give it a try.
Demon's Kiss by Eve Silver Clea Masters always thought her parents died in a car accident twenty years ago. She doesn’t know why she survived. Ciarran D’Arbois, a sorcerer sworn to protect the boundary between the human and demon worlds, remembers the dying eight-year-old who managed to draw on his power to heal herself very well. The crack in the boundary she opened up left him with a demon permanently struggling to escape its prison in his left hand. He just didn’t know she would be so irresistible 20 years later, and still able to siphon of his power without knowing it. But now, someone has betrayed the Compact of Sorcerers. Someone seems to think that Clea is the key destroying the boundary and letting demons have free reign on earth. Meanwhile, Clea and Ciarran can’t keep their hands off each other. Will this dangerous attraction prove to be their salvation or their downfall? OK, so there were some parts of this that made me snort – our sorcerer has an evil hand, for goodness’ sake, and it seems to draw a bit uncomfortably on Renaissance thinking about sex to have our heroine just leach power from our hero. However, the plot is fun, our heroine smart and capable, the sex steamy, and the author an anatomist who does not feel the need to use silly phrases like “woman cleft”. If you want some hot lovin’ with actual sparks, this is a good choice.
