29-30.12: I'm Starved for You and I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth, by Margaret Atwood (2012, available in eBook only)

 Anyone who knows me well is aware of the fact that I am a big fan of Margaret Atwood's work. I've read everything she's written, whether poetry, fiction, children's picture books (Princess Prunella and the Purple Peanut is a favorite of mine.) or nonfiction, and I wrote my master's thesis on three of her novels--exploring the way women use power in relationships with each other. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that I'd be willing to shell out $2.99 and $1.99--the cost of these two publications on iBooks--for two short stories. You might not be so eager to do so, but I for one have no regrets.

I'm Starved for You (I'm waffling on the choice of quotation marks or italics here, but I've decided to use italics as this is a single publication, despite its short length.) is what Atwood would refer to as a piece of ustopian speculative fiction. In an America that is spiraling into violence, poverty, and environmental degradation, one corporation finds a solution--and a way to maintain a comfortable profit margin. People are invited to volunteer to serve as inmates at a prison for monthly shifts, alternating with others who share their house when they are incarcerated. In this manner, people trade personal freedom for security and comfort. I'm sure you won't be surprised to find out that it's not quite that simple.

In I Dream of Zenia with the Bright Red Teeth, readers get to revisit characters from The Robber Bride. Roz, Charis, and Tony have weathered the years together and still provide emotional support across their different social circles. In this story, Charis reports on a dream she had, starring their former enemy, now deceased, dressed in a wolf's coat, and Roz and Tony spend time dissecting it and offering Charis advice about her love life and Billy's return to the scene. The story itself is charming, but what I really enjoyed was being reunited with these old friends. Anyone who was a fan of The Robber Bride will enjoy this story, with the only disappointment being that we didn't get more time with Charis, Roz, and Tony.

28.12: 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami (2011 handcover)

This is a HUGE book, and I'm a little over half way finished. I'm posting the entry now to encourage me to finish it. (It's too big to travel with, so it's not the best choice for my summer-traveling schedule!) So far I like the book and Muakami's writing, and am deterred only by said bulk, so let me know what you think if you've read it. A bit of a pep talk--without spoilers, please-- will help to spur me on. If you decide to read it, I highly recommend the e-version or the paperback, which was recently released in a three-volume set.

7/30 update: I forgot to grab this off the nightstand before my recent travels, and I've yet to get back to it. I will resume my reading soon, however: I want to both see how it concludes and get the massive volume off my bedside table. 

I did finally finish this--sometime in September, I believe. Interesting but odd, and very Japanese, if that makes sense to you. I'll have to read another Murakami book before I decide whether or not I like him. 

27.12: The Wind Through the Keyhole (A Dark Tower book), by Stephen King (Published 2012, iBook edition)

If you follow this blog, you know that I'm a Stephen King fan. For more on this--and for reviews of King books I've read since January 2011--simply click on the King tag in the right-hand column of my blog and you can catch up with my King fandom. 

Now that you are caught up, I'll have to say that I may love Stephen King books, but it's his Dark Tower series that I love the most.  Interestingly, the seven novels that make up King's original Gunslinger tales are likely the least known of his books. He's much more popular for his horror novels, and, while I'm a fan of those books as well, the Dark Tower series is superior for those who like books about fantasy worlds, such as Tolkien's Lord of the Rings or Pulling's His Dark Materials series. Since the books were published between 1974 and 2004 (Yep, that's a 30-year span, but you're a lucky reader because you won't have to wait for the next book to come out as I did!), I haven't reviewed them here, so let me provide you with a summary borrowed by the Official Dark Tower website: "The Dark Tower series tells the story of Roland Deschain, Mid-World’s last gunslinger, who is traveling southeast across Mid-World’s post-apocalyptic landscape, searching for the powerful but elusive magical edifice known as The Dark Tower. Located in the fey region of End-World, amid a sea of singing red roses, the Dark Tower is the nexus point of the time-space continuum.  It is the heart of all worlds, but it is also under threat. Someone, or something, is using the evil technology of the Great Old Ones to destroy it." If that intrigues you, click this link to visit the site for more details about the books, their inspiration (Browning and Tolkien), etc.

Frankly, while this book claims to be a stand-alone volume, a supplement that would fall somewhere between volumes four and five in the series timeline, I wouldn't recommend it if you aren't familiar with the Gunslinger and his ka-tet--Eddie, Susannah, and Jake--and their billy-bumbler companion named Oy. While King goes to some pains to explain these characters (and the entire series premise) in a foreword, it seems to me that the world within the pages of this book would be much paler and shallow without the knowledge of the kingdom of Gilead and its demise that are explored in the earlier books. If you're looking for a great new world of adventure, I'd certainly start by reading the first four books in the Dark Tower series and adding this as volume 4.5. 

Now! Read them now! (Really, I highly recommend the series and am a bit jealous that you have the chance to encounter them for the first time.)

One caution: While I compared the Gunslinger books to Tolkien and Pullman--both with series read by younger audiences--King's books are for more mature readers. While they are by no means overly graphic, they do contain references to sex, drugs, and violence, and the characters swear just about as much as do a good number of humans you know. I'd say that these books are most appropriate for the teens and mature 'tweens of parents who understand that kids can read literature with adult themes and benefit accordingly.

26.12: Insurgent (Book 2 of Divergent series), by Veronica Roth (2012 hardcover)

In May of 2011, I recommended Divergent to those enjoying The Hunger Games. After reading Roth's second book in this series, Insurgent, I am not convinced that it is as good as HG, but it is still a decent TeenLit selection that will keep me looking for future releases.

To learn more about the premise of the Divergent series, check out my review of the first book. As with any series in general, but with TeenLit in particular, it's pretty important that you read these things in order. In fact, if you haven't read Divergent and plan to check it out, I'd suggest that you stop reading here so as not to encounter any spoilers.

If you're still reading, that means you've already read the first book, don't plan to read either, or simply are one of those (weird) people who reads the last page of a book first. Either way, I'm letting you know that Tris joined the Dauntless faction--something I withheld in my review of Divergent. As a member of this group, she fought a battle with Erudite, the faction that led a war on the other factions by controlling the minds of people in the remaining four groups and forcing them to engage in violence against each other. Some of the Dauntless actually joined the Erudite in this endeavor, and in the second book they are referred to as the Dauntless traitors. By the time the second book opens, there is a calm in the fighting, as Tris and other Divergent Dauntless (including the beloved Four/Tobias) were not affected by the simulation and managed to interrupt the mind-control activity.

In Insurgent, Tris and her fellow Dauntless leave their headquarters and spend time with both the Candor and Abnegation--in addition to making contact with the factionless outsiders of society. Ultimately Tris must decide whether she will remain faithful to her chosen faction or seek the truth regardless of the consequences. You may have a decent guess, but you'll have to read the book to find out whether or not you are right.

(PS: As with my reflection on the Delirium/Pandemonium series in my previous posting, I am also pondering what the third title in this series may be: Divergent, Insurgent, Convergent?)

25.12: Pandemonium, by Lauren Oliver (2012 hardcover)

In recent posts I've complained about the fact that the romance aspect of some of the recent teen novels I'd read had become overplayed. This is particularly true in sequels, where each book seems to get more and more focused on the characters' relationships and less on the societal constructs established in the early books. I'm a long way from being the target audience of these books, but I can't help wondering why this happens. If the teen readers liked the early books enough to continue with the series, didn't this indicate that they, too, were fond of the actual premise of the book? Why sideline the exploration of dystopic societies and ethical problem solving in favor of rated-PG kissing?

I can't really complain about the trend with this sequel, as I was forewarned by the very subject matter of the first. In fact, while getting ready to write this review, I went back and read my discussion of Delirium, the book before Pandemonium, and had to laugh at this observation: "This one leaned a bit too far toward the romance end of things for my taste; I can tolerate the romance as long as the world developed behind it is interesting and compelling.  In this book, however, the romance is center stage." Over the course of the review, though, I explored a few things I really liked about the book, and I suppose that's what I responded to when I saw it available at my local bookstore. Fortunately, in this book, Lena is on her own for the first half--which flashes back and forth between her life in the Wilds, beyond the fenced-off community of the standard society, and her reintegration into that society as a secret rebel. She may be pining for her lost love, but at least she is taking action and becoming a strong person as well. And, by the time the new boy comes into the picture, there's been time for Lena to explore the novelty of a society that allows self-expression and emotion and to see how the lack thereof is affecting the regime inside the walls.

I'm really hoping that Oliver's next book in the series (The ending of Pandemonium implies that there most certainly will be one.) continues in this direction. For now I'm trying to decide what the next book's title will be, seeing as it should really end with an -ium suffix.

23-24.12: The Final Warning and Max (Book 4 and 5 of the Maximum Ride series), by James Patterson (iBook, originally published 2008 and 2009)

I really enjoyed hearing James Patterson speak about kids and reading during a luncheon at the 2011 NCTE Convention, and I think his Read Kiddo Read website offers amazing resources for young readers and parents. These things have made me check out a couple of his book series for Tween and Teen youth, and the Maximum Ride series--about a flock of mutant bird kids who were experimented on in labs--is one of the more interesting. They have good story lines for both boys and girls, with both romance and fart jokes mixed in, as well as strong good-versus-evil plots and exposure to contemporary issues. In these two books in the series, for instance, global warming becomes the focus.

Considering the huge number of books Patterson is publishing annually, in both the adult and youth categories, he either gets no sleep or has a full cadre of ghost writers assisting him. In either case, his work is engaging if not brilliant, and these books are sure to be a hit with young readers.

21-22.12: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played With Fire (Books 1 and 2 of the Millennium Trilogy), but Stieg Larsson (iBook versions, originally published in English in 2008 and 2009)

Stieg Larsson's trilogy was all the rage several years ago--fueled by the release of movies in both Swedish and English--and somehow in all the media frenzy I became convinced that I had read them. While killing time in an airport bookstore this summer, however, I took the time to read the back cover of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and found that I hadn't, indeed, read it. I hopped on my iPad, downloaded the digital version, and soon became engrossed in the story and characters.

Prior to starting the novel, I mentioned it to my mother, a connoisseur of mystery novels, and she told me that she read Dragon Tattoo but didn't continue with the trilogy because it was too "dark." With my reading tastes, that was a bit of an endorsement. I also found that the pacing, storyline, and character development were engaging, and the cultural differences in the book made me less sure of what was going to happen next. Indeed, the relationships between characters, the description of political and social institutions, and the few bits of trivia I picked up about Larsson's Sweden were the things I most liked about the book.

In addition to exposing/discussing violence against women in an unsettling manner (the darkness my mother referred to), Larsson also does a very good job of making a societal misfit--the Girl of the titles--empathetic. The clash between the standard opinion of her and the view that a few others develop once they know her is startling, and it caused me to reflect on how this might be true in daily life. I did like the first book a bit more than the second, but that won't stop me from going on to read the third in the trilogy. 

I've heard mention of a few other Swedish authors I should check out if I liked these books, but I don't recall their names. If anyone has recommendations, please comment below.