July Giveaway

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Yes, blogfrogs, it's Fantasy for All Ages Month! Here are the books I plucked off my TBR Shelf this month. Pick your fave and win a brand-new copy. Note: This supershort giveaway lasts only 4 days! Here are your choices:

 

THE BOOKS OF ELSEWHERE: SPELLBOUND
by Jacqueline West
MG fantasy
An ancient spellbook is the key to the mystery of Olive's creepy old house

THE CARPET PEOPLE
by Terry Pratchett
MG fantasy
A tiny civilization that lives in your carpet battles another tiny civilization that lives in your carpet

CREWEL
by Gennifer Albin
YA dystopia / fantasy
A teenage girl fights a system wherein women are forced to weave the fabric of reality

LAVINIA
by Ursula K. Le Guin
adult fantasy / myth
The story of Lavinia, the woman Aeneas fought for in Virgil's The Aeneid















GIVEAWAY RULES:
1. U.S. entrants only, please.
2. Be sure to note the book you want to win AND WHY.
3. Giveaway prizes will be brand-new books delivered to you via Amazon.com. They will be paperback editions unless the book is still available only in hardcover. 
4.  This giveaway ends 12:01 AM JULY 11.
5. There's a new giveaway every month! CLICK HERE to receive a brief email every time a new giveaway is posted on the blog. 


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Review: CREWEL by Gennifer Albin

Title: Crewel
Author: Gennifer Albin
Pub info: Farrar, Straus, & Giroux Books for Young Readers, 2012; 368 pp
Genre: YA dystopian fantasy

This book has a fascinating concept about an alternate society where an elite group of women weave the fabric of reality--whether they like it or not. Cool!

Goodreads summary:

Incapable. Awkward. Artless.
That’s what the other girls whisper behind her back. But sixteen-year-old Adelice Lewys has a secret: She wants to fail.

Gifted with the ability to weave time with matter, she’s exactly what the Guild is looking for, and in the world of Arras, being chosen to work the looms is everything a girl could want. It means privilege, eternal beauty, and being something other than a secretary. It also means the power to manipulate the very fabric of reality. But if controlling what people eat, where they live, and how many children they have is the price of having it all, Adelice isn’t interested.

Not that her feelings matter, because she slipped and used her hidden talent for a moment. Now she has one hour to eat her mom’s overcooked pot roast. One hour to listen to her sister’s academy gossip and laugh at her dad’s jokes. One hour to pretend everything’s okay. And one hour to escape.

Because tonight, they’ll come for her.

Status: finished 6/22/14

My impressions:
First of all, what an amazing idea for a book. It's a little bit The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood), but placed squarely in its own unique universe and with a premise that completely captured my imagination. Our heroine, Adelice, is strong and spunky, and what's not to like about that? Gennifer's writing speeds the plot right along, so the ride is easy and fun.

That said, maybe things are a bit too easy in this book. For all its originality, it includes the usual love triangle (rebellious Jost vs. company man--or is he?--Erik), and that aspect doesn't interest me much unless the relationships are unusual or unique in some way. These aren't, really. Since Suzanne Collins introduced the dystopian society-plus-love triangle plot back in The Hunger Games, it's been done often enough that it's lost its appeal. I don't get a clear sense beyond mere archetypes of either of these boys. I also feel like I've just skimmed the surface of Adelice's emotions. The opening is gripping, when she's torn from her family and their fate is unknown; but after that, I'm told more often than shown how Adelice is coping with her new life as a Spinster.

This is the first of the series, and it may well be that some of these issues are resolved in future books. And maybe it's unfair to compare a new writer to masters like Atwood and Collins. If the writing feels a bit lightweight compared to the novel's conflicts, things may improve later on. For now, this is an interesting and fun read, but I'm not necessarily racing to the next volume.

About Gennifer:
Gennifer Albin holds a Masters degree in English Literature from the University of Missouri. A recovering academic, she turned to writing her own books. In her free time she sits on the National Novel Writing Month Advisory Board. The sequel to Crewel is called Altered (Farrar, Straus, 2013), and the final book in the trilogy (Unraveled) is due out in October 2014. While she used to live right near little old me in Lenexa, Kansas, Gennifer now lives in Poulsbo, Washington, with her family.

Online:
Gennifer's website has all the news about her books and author events. She also blogs here. Gennifer gets around on Facebook and Twitter, too.


Want to win a free copy of this book? The first Monday of each month features a giveaway of any of the titles I've reviewed the previous month. Pick your fave, enter, and win! Next giveaway: July 7.


SIGN UP HERE TO RECEIVE A BRIEF EMAIL WHENEVER A NEW GIVEAWAY BEGINS.

To follow my progress as I bulldoze my way through a stack of 51 to-be-reads this year, search for the tag 2014 TBR Shelf. Read all the reviews here.

Review: LAVINIA by Ursula K. Le Guin

Title: Lavinia
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Pub info: Harcourt, 2008;  279 pp
Genre: adult / YA fantasy/mythology

Ursula K. Le Guin is one of those authors I've been meaning to read forever. She's a crossover writer, meaning even people who don't normally read fantasy love her. Critical acclaim, awards, best-seller-dom--she's achieved it all. I'm so glad I finally got started on her canon.

Goodreads summary:

In The Aeneid, Vergil’s hero fights to claim the king’s daughter, Lavinia, with whom he is destined to found an empire. Lavinia herself never speaks a word. Now, Ursula K. Le Guin gives Lavinia a voice in a novel that takes us to the half-wild world of ancient Italy, when Rome was a muddy village near seven hills.

Lavinia grows up knowing nothing but peace and freedom, until suitors come. Her mother wants her to marry handsome, ambitious Turnus. But omens and prophecies spoken by the sacred springs say she must marry a foreigner—that she will be the cause of a bitter war—and that her husband will not live long. When a fleet of Trojan ships sails up the Tiber, Lavinia decides to take her destiny into her own hands. And so she tells us what Vergil did not: the story of her life, and of the love of her life.

Lavinia is a book of passion and war, generous and austerely beautiful, from a writer working at the height of her powers.

Status: finished [date]

My impressions:
All I can say is, I'm a firm Le Guin fan now. This book isn't for everyone--it isn't a light fantasy, nor would I give it to someone who just wants a quick romp through the ancient world. Heavy on text, light on dialogue, it looks a bit dense and intimidating when you flip through the pages. But give it a try. I've never read The Aeneid, but just knowing that Le Guin has turned it on its head is intriguing (and now I do want to read it). Her portrait of women centuries before the founding of Rome is fascinating--their roles, their rituals, their relationships. Is it accurate? It's impossible to know, but Le Guin takes stuffy history/myth and breathes life and passion into it. Her take on the people and times includes less entanglement with gods than Virgil's poem--or Homer's Iliad, where Aeneas first appears--and creates a portrait not just of Lavinia's life, but that of her city.

Now having read it, would I call it fantasy? Not exactly, but it does have that myth vibe, and the attention to religious ritual and oracles enhance that. So I'm leaving it in the Fantasy for All Ages month. And I stand by my original assertion that this is really an adult novel. Plenty of teens could handle it, but it doesn't read like a YA novel to me, despite how some have categorized it.

About Ursula:
Ursula K. Le Guin has published twenty-two novels, eleven volumes of short stories, four collections of essays, twelve books for children, six volumes of poetry and four of translation, and has received many awards: Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, among others. Perhaps her most well-known fantasy series is the Earthsea Cycle. In addition to Lavinia, her recent publications include a collection of poetry (Finding My Elegy) and an essay collection on "how and why fantasy matters" (Cheek by Jowl). She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Online:
Le Guin maintains an extensive website here, and blogs at this site.


Want to win a free copy of this book? The first Monday of each month features a giveaway of any of the titles I've reviewed the previous month. Pick your fave, enter, and win! Next giveaway: July 7.


SIGN UP HERE TO RECEIVE A BRIEF EMAIL WHENEVER A NEW GIVEAWAY BEGINS.

To follow my progress as I bulldoze my way through a stack of 51 to-be-reads this year, search for the tag 2014 TBR Shelf. Read all the reviews here.

Review: THE CARPET PEOPLE by Terry Pratchett

Title: The Carpet People
Author: Terry Pratchett
Pub info: Clarion, 2013 (originally pubbed 1971); 304 pp
Genre: MG fantasy (ages 9+)

I'd only read a couple Terry Pratchett novels before, so when I saw a free ARC of this book at the ALA trade show last summer, I nabbed it. A Pratchett book is always funny, satirical, and a great read.

Goodreads summary:

In the beginning, there was nothing but endless flatness. Then came the Carpet . . . That’s the old story everyone knows and loves. But now the Carpet is home to many different tribes and peoples, and there’s a new story in the making. The story of Fray, sweeping a trail of destruction across the Carpet. The story of power-hungry mouls—and of two brothers who set out on an adventure to end all adventures when their village is flattened.

It’s a story that will come to a terrible end—if someone doesn't do something about it. If everyone doesn’t do something about it . . .

First published in 1971, this hilarious and wise novel marked the debut of the phenomenal Sir Terry Pratchett. Years later, Sir Terry revised the work, and this special collectable edition includes the updated text, his original color and black-and-white illustrations, and an exclusive story—a forerunner to The Carpet People created by the seventeen-year-old nascent writer who would become one of the world's most beloved storytellers.

My impressions:
This story works wonderfully as an introduction to Terry Pratchett and the way he writes. He writes fantasy, yes, but often he satirizes it too, especially its thirst for bloodshed and overarching authority figures. It's simpler than his later works, and I suppose it read a bit thin for me, overall. I didn't find the story quite as engrossing or complex as others of his I've read (The Wee Free Men, for example, and A Hat Full of Sky). But I did enjoy it, and for fans of Pratchett's work, it's a must.

About Terry:
Regarded as one of the most significant contemporary English-language satirists, Pratchett has won numerous literary awards and has received four honorary doctorates from the Universities of Warwick, Portsmouth, Bath, and Bristol. His acclaimed novels have sold more than 45 million copies (give or take a few) and have been translated into 33 languages.

In December of 2007, Pratchett admitted to being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. In 2009, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He was awarded the World Fantasy Life Achievement Award in 2010.

Online:
Terry's website is stuffed with all things Discworld and other things--games, interviews, etc.--relating to his many books. You can also follow him here on Facebook and here on Twitter. Read an excerpt here of The Carpet People.

Review: SPELLBOUND by Jacqueline West

Title: Spellbound (The Books of Elsewhere No. 2)
Author: Jacqueline West
Pub info: Dial Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House, 2011; 304 pp
Genre: MG fantasy / paranormal (ages 9+)

What fun to discover a series that continues to get better with each book! Fans of fun mysteries where magical things happen will love Spellbound. If you haven't read Book 1, you won't be completely lost--the author does a good job of catching you up--but you might as well dive in from the beginning.

Goodreads summary:

With no way into the house's magical paintings, and its three guardian cats reluctant to help, Olive's friend Morton is still trapped inside Elsewhere. So when Rutherford, the new oddball kid next door, mentions a grimoire - a spellbook - Olive feels a breathless tug of excitement. If she can find the McMartins' spellbook, maybe she can help Morton escape Elsewhere for good. Unless, that is, the book finds Olive first.

The house isn't the only one keeping secrets anymore. Mystery, magic, corruption, and betrayal abound (plus just enough laughs to take the edge off). You'll never guess what happens next in this thrilling, chilling second volume in the critically acclaimed series.

My impressions:
I read The Shadows (Book 1 in the series) a couple of years ago, and I loved it at once--the writing is gorgeous, intelligent, and doesn't talk down to kids. I loved the character of Olive and her math-genius parents who are clueless about the goings-on in their creepy new (old) house. The sequel, Spellbound, is perhaps an even better book. The story is stronger and a little darker (though nothing a kid can't handle), and it shows a deeper side to Olive and her friends. The new characters are delightful, especially Rutherford, and now I've got to get the rest of the series. Jacqueline West has finished all the books, so you can own the complete set of five. This is a fantastic treat for kids who love magic.

About Jacqueline:
Jacqueline's short fiction for adults and children has appeared in a variety of publications, and her poetry has received many honors, including two Pushcart nominations, a Rhysling Award nomination, and a Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg prize. (Her poet's soul is obvious in her exquisite word choice, even in prose.) She lives amid the bluffs of Red Wing, Minnesota, with her husband and her dog, a Springer Spaniel mix named Brom Bones. The fifth and final book in the Books of Elsewhere series, Still Life (Dial), arrives in stores and online June 17.

Online:
An interesting interview with Jacqueline about the Books of Elsewhere series can be found here, at Literary Rambles. Learn more about Jacqueline's writing on her website and blog, and follow her here at her Facebook page.

Check out more MMGM reviews and giveaways of middle-grade books at Shannon Messenger's blog.










Want to win a free copy of this book? The first Monday of each month features a giveaway of any of the titles I've reviewed the previous month. Pick your fave, enter, and win! Next giveaway: July 7.


SIGN UP HERE TO RECEIVE A BRIEF EMAIL WHENEVER A NEW GIVEAWAY BEGINS.

To follow my progress as I bulldoze my way through a stack of 51 to-be-reads this year, search for the tag 2014 TBR Shelf. Read all the reviews here.