rambly book talk

Ruined by Paula Morris
soooooo.... i found this book lurking in a drawer (it wasn't my drawer, but before you go accusing me of thievery, it was a draw i am allowed to take books from) and debated whether or not to read it. it was a debate because i have a fascination with the deep south (this book is set in new orleans) and really want to go there and love reading about it. but because the pages of my found copy were that really crappy, cheap thin paper that probably isn't even partially recycled (bastards) and makes the spine feel awkward and sort of like it is ashamed of being a spine, i didn't want to read it.

but i did. and it was good. it wasn't brilliant, but i did enjoy it, and i absolutely loved the detail about new orleans. oh it sounds so amazing! i want to go! after, of course, i go to bhutan (gross national happiness people!), nepal, new york, the daintree, alaska, the moon... fuck me, i may as well give up now- no! i must remain optimistic, i will get there one day... assuming i don't get distracted and add another sixty thousand places to my visiting list.

err, this has turned into a 'i want to go here and here and here' travel rant, so i shall stop now.

actually, i just want to say that it really was quite a good book. there where times when i wanted to smack the main character, but mostly i was grumpy with the baddies, not the goodies. which is a pleasing characteristic in a novel of this kind, with lots of intrigue and family mysteries. now that i think about it, the plot was like something from 'passions' (and yet again i find myself referencing this ridiculous 90s soap opera), with ghosts and crazy class rivalry, but the way Morris managed it was excellent, and honestly, it is worth reading just for an insight into the gorgeous, multilayered mystery that is new orleans.

au revoir!

oh! wait! i forgot to tell you, i read another Eva Ibbotson (lordy, she is fab) story- Journey to the River Sea- about Maia, an orphan sent from england to live with distant relations in the amazon jungle. it was brilliant! utterly brilliant. i felt excited, scared, angry and ridiculously happy all in the right places, and it left me with the same aftertaste that the Piper's Son did. and now i want to go to see the amazon jungle! well, more specifically Manaus, the capital city of the state of Amazonas, a city hidden in the jungle!
oh, dreams.

Seal Lullaby

Oh! hush thee, my baby, the night is behind us, 

And black are the waters that sparkled so green. 

The moon, o'er the combers, looks downward to find us

At rest in the hollows that rustle between.

Where billow meets billow, there soft be thy pillow;

Ah weary wee flipperling, curl at thy ease!

The storm shall not wake thee, nor shark overtake thee,

Asleep in the arms of the slow-swinging seas.

Seal Lullaby by Rudyard Kipling. Isn't this beautiful!? My favourite line is the one about the 'weary wee flipperling'. Those words just sound so fantastic together! and a flipperling! Kipling is a clever, clever klipperling!

Curse of the Wolf Girl by Martin Millar

curse of the wolf girl continues the engrossing and addictive antics of the MacRinnalch clan of werewolves (introduced in lonely werewolf girl as well as the assorted fire elementals, fairies and human beans that get caught with them.

i think this should be a tv show. i have never thought that about a book before. usually i get very depressed when tv shows do the inevitable mangling of books when making them into a series. although true blood is an exception to this rule, what with the show being way better than the books. and possibly round the twist cos that was adapted from awesome Jenning's stories into an awesome tv series.

this could be a fabulous show, a sort of cross between buffy, six feet under and gossip girl (gossip girl being another good adaptation of the original book series) having said that, i still reckon this is awesome in book form, it just has the potential to be an awesome tv show too. it is very possible i don't actually have a point and am just rambling. so, back to the science lab...

Kalix is a scottish teen with a drug habit and a tendency towards trying to bite or kill what she doesn't like.

'Auntie Malvie' and her dismal neice Agrivex are Hiyasta fire elementals. Malveria has returned more elegant and insane than ever, and Vex is my favourite character due to her obsession with enormous boots and an overly optimistic attitude that borders on delusional.

Daniel and Moonglow are still the long suffering flatmates of Kalix and Vex, and while Daniel is still trying to woo her, Moonglow is doing her best to encourage both teens to go to college, pass, and not reveal their true natures by bursting into flames (Vex) or mauling fellow students (Kalix).

Thrix is still designing fabulous garments, and Dominil is killing werewolf hunters for money. Markus is still breaking hearts as Thane, and the Douglas MacPhees are up to no good once again.

so it is totally a soap opera but i really like it. i have become strangely affectionate towards both books, and they will never be shucked from my bookshelf in an attempt to downsize (lili st crow, you may not be so lucky...)

however i am also a huge passions fan (anyone remember that show? with timmy the creepy doll character, and tabitha the witch. awesome tv right there) so it's very possible i have weird and dubious taste. but curse of the wolf girl is just so intriguing and the characters are all so well conceived that once you meet them you can't stop wondering what they will do next. the plot didn't give me a headache as i am more familiar with the characters, and cos i read lonely wolf girl first this time i knew what i was in for. in conclusion if you like epic fantasy stories with a mix of popular culture, fashion, violence and complete madness then you will adore this book. i want the third book please.

well. i am very glad i started my copy of Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley AFTER the launch yesterday. i started it today instead and while i knew that it was going to be fab, i didn't really comprehend how mindblowingly excellent it would be. which is good, cos it means i saved myself the embarassment that would have been caused by the screaming, leaping, and excitedly but unintelligibly yabbering creature that i would have otherwise become upon sighting Cath. i am not exaggerating. i did it once when Jen Storer came into work and i had just read Tensy Farlow and the home for mislaid children. i was hideous, like one of those crazed fans you see at concerts. i nearly threw my undies at her.

so, thankfully for all of us involved, i am only just now learning how utterly fabbitty fab fab fabaroo it is (thankyou georgia nicolson you have invaded my head yet again). see, i knew that it would be great. it's cath crowley! not only is she an awesome writer, she is like the NICEST person in the world (ok, so i have only met her twice-ish but she was just so lovely) but for those of you non believers out there here are some of the reasons it is so fab:

#lucy. she is a glass blower! how fucking cool is that?

#ed and leo. they are sheddies/graffers just like my ex but unlike my ex they are completely adorable in a roguish way, they paint things that have some meaning as opposed to scribbling tags on a wall, and i don't feel like screaming RUN AWAY everytime they arrive on the page.

#it is just so real. i love it. i imagine the legal graffiti bit that shadow and poet go to in the second chapter as the one that is in degraves street in the city. and the way lucy and jazz talk about shadow and leo is just like how the despicable ex and i used to ponder about bonez and stan. their names are all over the city and word on the street was that stan was dead and bonez was overseas. or in jail. or it was the otherway round? anyway i hope you see my point, which is that Cath has captured so crystal clear this world of streets and teenagerness i just want to kiss her.

my gosh. it's... FAB. and i am only up to page 57. i may or may not write more when i finish. but just in case i dont, Cath, thankyou.