Upcoming Release: The Gospel of Loki, by Joanne Harris.

It's no secret that I love Joanne Harris' work. When I found out that she's about to be releasing a new novel, The Gospel of Loki, well, I got rather excited.

Not just because, to me, Loki looks like this:

 

Ms Harris does some incredibly insightful and evocative work, from the ongoing small time #Storytime hashtag on Twitter to the recent MBE insignia for services to literature she received from the freaking Queen of England!

Of course, like any author of relative popularity, she doesn't always receive high acclaim for all her works. I recently read a review of her Four Quarters of the Orange which, among other things, stated that the reader is an adult and wants to read about adult things. Funnily enough, that review and what I already knew about Joanne Harris just made me get around to reading this book faster. And what a read! Filled with such amazing and evocative writing as usual:

"The secret is to leave the stones in. Layer cherries and sugar one on the other in a wide-mouthed glass jar, covering each layer gradually with clear spirit up to half the jar's capacity. Top up with spirit and wait. Every month, turn the jar carefully to release any accumulated sugar. In three years' time the spirit has bled the cherries white, staining itself deep red, penetrating even to the stone and the tiny almond inside it, becoming pungent, evocative, a scent of autumn past. Serve in tiny liqueur glasses, with a spoon to scoop out the cheery, and leave it in the mouth until the macerated fruit dissolves under the tongue. Pierce the stone with the point of a tooth to release the liqueur trapped inside and leave it for a long time in the mouth, playing it with the tip of the tongue, rolling it under, over, like a single prayer bead. Try to remember the time of its ripening, that summer, that hot autumn, the time that well ran dry, the time we had the wasps' nests, time past, lost, found again in the hard place at the heart of the fruit."

Delicious!

Her latest novel The Gospel of Loki tells the story of the trickster god (no surprise there) finally taking the stage after being thoroughly misrepresented in histories and the tales we know of him. He's going to set the record straight on May 24th later this year.

My Best Books of 2013 (for me)

It's almost Christmas, which means it's almost New Year's, which means it's almost the end of my reading for this year. I thought it might be a nice way to round out the year by listing my top reads in order of, well, awesomeness.

Five Top Books of 2013.

1. The Fault in our Stars.

From the minute I put this book down, I knew that nothing was very likely going to move this from the top of a list like this if I ended writing one. This was the first book I ever read from John Green. I found it at times hilariously witty and at others... challenging... (by which I mean I put it down for a week because I couldn't deal with ALL THE FEELS). I'm glad that I persevered, though. This book has stayed with me ever since I read it.

I make it a habit not reading the back of books before I've started reading them for myself. Several years back, I went through a period where I kept reading the blurbs and turning myself off reading a number of books before I even opened the first pages. 

What I knew about this book was that John Green had written it. I knew that I loved a lot of the quotes I was seeing of him from this and other books and I knew that a couple of my friends had picked up books from him and liked them. Oh, and I knew he was one of the Vlog brothers, which I suppose didn't really have much to do with my choice to read the book, as they are completely different mediums.

What I did not know about this book was that it's a "cancer book". 

For the full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/596788262

2. Gentlemen and Players.

I've read other books by Joanne Harris before. None of them have come even close to touching me in the way that this book did.

In my experience with her books, I've come to learn that there is a place in the middle where the plot lags, or the characters irritate me, or something just slows down enough for me to put the book down and pick something else up before going back to it.

That point didn't happen in this book.

For the full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/662451038

3. The Book Thief.

I'm not usually a fan of stories told in a time of war. They usually tell too much about how awful things were without giving much in the way of either plot or characters.

Instead of being unrelentingly confronted by the atrocities that happened during this time, we are given glimpses into the life of Liesel Meminger - the book thief, as judged by Death, our narrator.

This is not just a 'war story'. Far from it. At times sad, at others uplifting, this book explores themes of family and belonging, loss that has nothing to do with the war, friendship, community and kindness. It shows a shared passion for books and stories and the power those stories can have for a wide range of people. 

For the full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/605049612

4. Delirium.

There have been a lot of different dystopian fictions to come out in the last couple of years. I've read them all and I can honestly say (as much as I enjoyed Insurgent particularly), Delirium was my very top favourite.

Delirium is set in a world vaguely similar to Hunger Games and Legend where the government has taken over and decided that certain changes must be made to the clumsy way life used to run. In this case, the change was to love and desire. It is discovered, more than sixty years before the beginning of this book, that love is in fact a disease, causing delusions, erratic behaviour and, in the end, death.

What is truly insightful about this book is that most of the arguments given early in the book are so hard to argue against. 

For the full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/544856971

5. The Night Circus.

This book is part young adult, part literary fiction, part mystery and all a very arresting book from an author I hadn't heard of before this.

I think that this novel is none of these things and perhaps all of them. That is the beauty of this kind of book. It's something that just kind of exceeds expectations.

Second person passages continue every so often throughout the book, giving the reader a sense of being one of the circus goers that eventually form a culture of their own within the story. From beginning to end, this story is breath-taking, whimsical, beautifully lyrical, evocative and a whole bunch of other adjectives I could fill the page with.

For the full review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/616513683

November Reading List 2013.

Yes, I am just crazy enough not to be slacking on books while writing NaNoWriMo this month. Boy, do I have a list of books I'm excited to read this month! I hardly think there's an author in here that I haven't been excited enough to either make a post about up till now, or plan to write about soon enough.

Grave Surprise.

This is the first of many of my continued series reads. Last year, I started the first one in Charlaine Harris' series after it was given to me for free. I've always meant to get back to it. Luckily, there are a bunch of readers on Goodreads who are happy to join me in that aim.

Magic Strikes.

The second continued series read. This book series just keeps getting better and better. Not quite as amazing as Patricia Briggs (I know, I'm a hard judge), but more in keeping with a female Dresden by Jim Butcher. As with that series, the more we get to know about this world, the more and more I'm being dragged into it.

Ship of Destiny.

This is actually the last book in a series, so at least one series will be closing up for me this month. Totally reason for me to start a whole bunch of new series? Whether it is or not, that's what I've got coming up this month!

Wideacre.

I first fell in love with Philippa Gregory reading The Queen's Fool. This is a very different time and type of story. Still historical, the main narrative point that has jumped out at me is that it involves incest between brother and sister. Intriguing, I say.

Charmed Life.

Another first book in a series. This also doubles as my young adult token read of the month. Apparently this is the woman who has taken a large hand in defining Young Adult writing as we currently read it. Published in 1977, I can't wait to see where Young Adult writing has developed from.

Five Quarters of the Orange.

For all I know, this is another young adult-ish read. Heavy on the "ish" as this is not usually the style of writing that Joanne Harris employs. However, what I do know about this novel is that it's meant to be a book primarily about childhood. So. It's not part of a series, but it is the second book I've read by her this year.

Shelf Life.

This book doesn't appear in the picture, largely because I have it on ebook format. Still, I have been waiting for the next great book from Stephanie Lawton, and I have been lucky enough to score an ARC just before release. Be assured, there will be more written about this book to come!

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As ever, feel free to follow my progress on Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878229.Nicole_D_Fergusson

Joanne Harris, 'Gentlemen and Players' and the writer's responsibility.

You may recognise this lady, Joanne Harris, who had such prudent words to say when I was having a difficult time at work.

It was a recent reblog from her blog that enticed me into reading Gentlemen & Players this month specifically. This book's been sitting on my shelves for a number of months, but this photo set and accompanying text sold me beyond doubt.

Gentlemen and Players, by Joanne Harris.

"If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past fifteen years, it’s this: that murder is really no big deal. It’s just a boundary, meaningless and arbitrary as all others-a line drawn in the dirt."

How completely evocative is that? How much more does it make me want to read it? How talented this person for putting this collection of images together in such a way?

If there's one thing I've found that is commonly inherent in Joanne Harris' books, it's that there are very few characters of conventional morals. Joanne seems to have a particular talent for drawing out these characters and making their motivations sympathetic, understandable, whether they be protagonist, antagonist, or something else entirely.

I love any excuse to post something from her Tumblr. Around the same time as the problems concerning Charlaine Harris' final book in the Southern Vampire Mysteries were making themselves public, Joanne responded to a fan letter which took it upon itself to dictate to Joanne what she should and shouldn't write. Joanne was in the middle of a five part series of blog posts on herself and her relationship to others at the time.

In response to him, she wrote,

But readers are not everything. Basically, I write because writing is necessary to me.

This is a statement I've seen written by many other writers. That's why (some of us) are paid terribly. There are an abundance of us who just need to write, not for the money, not for the readers, just for the writing.

She also went on to write,

A writer can (and should) only try to please one person at a time. That person is the writer herself – because trying to please anyone else, or modifying what you write for the sake of a real or imagined readership leads, not only to madness, but to dishonest writing. And, whatever else we expect of them, we need writers to be true. (read more)

July 2013 reading list

So I'm having a lovely time around here, working out what it's like to work as a full time admin from home while still working out how everything's supposed to look. My writing has taken a little bit of a pause of late, but that's just allowing my beta readers to catch up on a little bit of the backlog.

I've been watching a lot of Boston Legal.

I also had my first bout of depression since leaving the 'Real Life Job', which was a bit scary. I'd somehow thought that maybe my depression was being caused by going to a job I didn't like and by ceasing to go to that job, I would be magically CURED! Sad truth is, although the Real Life Job may have exacerbated the extent to which I was feeling sad, sad and depression is just something I have to look after now and again. That in itself is entirely too depressing a thought to linger on.

So! When I haven't been in the middle of all of that, I've been reading.

Here is my monthly dose of new books:

Heartless.

3/5 - An okay read, not as good as others in the series.
I remember in March, the first book that I listed was Black Heart by Holly Black. I remember it because it was the last one of its series and, as excited as I was to start reading it, I was also dreading it because it would prove to be the end of a series I had very much enjoyed. Well, there is still one more book after this in Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series, but only one.

The Night Circus.

4/5 - Imaginative and different.
I know almost nothing about this book except that the writing is said to be evocative and I haven't seen a single bad thing said or written by anyone whose advice I lean to in these matters. Onwards to finding a new author I'm sure I'll love!

The Elementals.

4/5 - Not the best book by her, but enjoyable just the same.
'I stood alone by the large window, looking out at the town below.'
This is the first new book by Francesca Lia Block that I have read for years and I am so excited by it! There's been a lot of talk about the new genre of New Adult writing going around. I think this might be the first book I'd place in that category since I started posting here. It seems, while I have not been paying attention, Francesca's visibility as a writer has gone up and up to the point where all her books are on hold or borrowed out at my local library. I'm so proud!

Something Rotten.

3/5 - This one dragged. I wanted to like it more than I did.
As I started reading the back of this book, I can't believe I've left it so long between reading the previous Jasper Fforde book and this one. It's a book whose narrative circles around Hamlet and Shakespeare! Be still my beating... I don't talk about Shakespeare enough on here. I barely even mentioned him when I read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are dead. I really should do more of it.

Gentlemen and Players.

5/5 - Amazing, simply amazing. The best book by her I've read yet!
Joanne Harris. Need I say more? I'm sure I'm in for a treat, actually. With both the lyrical writing expected from The Night Circus and from Joanne Harris, the only thing I feel I'd need to add to this would be another book from Sarah Waters, but I don't think I have any more of hers that I haven't recently read. :/

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As ever, for updates on how I'm going with all these books, follow me on Goodreads.com:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6878229.Nicole_D_Fergusson

Work, sickies and Joanne Harris.

I love Joanne Harris. Joanne is a novelist who may still be best known for her 1999 novel which got turned into a movie by the same name, Chocolat.

I have a bookshelf at home that is all but dedicated to her books and have read all but two of them. Her writing is the kind that I love to dive into, her life is one I have enjoyed being voyeur to ever since I found her Twitter account (@joannechocolat) and her regular #Storytime segment is one I read every time and can't understand how it loses her followers.

Now, she is also someone with whom I can feel somewhat of a spirit of unity after reading this recent blog post of hers on Tumblr:

Sickie

When I was an accountant (oh yes, twelve months in hell), I pulled a sickie whenever I could. It was a sick environment: I was surrounded by people I loathed, whose conversation revolved entirely around money, their car, squash, money, Margaret Thatcher (whom they idolized) and their chances of discovering a fraud - which was every trainee accountant’s dream, the Suit equivalent of winning the Lottery.

I dreamed of stories (and wrote them, too, whenever I could). I had no money, no car. I didn’t play squash and I despised the Thatcher government. The other trainees called me “The Squaw” - because they thought I looked like an Indian. I had no interest whatever in fraud. I felt like a character in a Terry Gilliam movie, fighting a giant, bureaucratic machine.

Some days I played hookey, telling Accounts that I was working in Archives: telling Archives I was working in... (read more)

This is today's quick #Storytime for me, something that reminds me I'm not the only writer who's ever found it hard to juggle that-thing-we-love with that-thing-that-pays-our-bills.