Quick Note

Voting closes on Tuesday for the nation's favourite poet at www.bbc.co.uk/apps/ifl/poetryseason/captcha Choose from poets including Simon Armitage, Carol Ann Duffy, Wendy Cope, William Wordsworth, Slyvia Plath, Seamus Heaney and many more.

Movie Moment

I'm not normally a fan of book to film adaptations but here are a few that look like they might be quite good. (I don't know how to embed the videos, so it's just youtube links for now).

Fantastic Mr Fox http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2igjYFojUo

Where The Wild Things Are http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NOkQ4dYVaM

Alice In Wonderland http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjMkNrX60mA

Julie & Julia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjvJHsJD8ic

Here's hoping they're as good as the trailers (and the books!!)

Picture Time!!

These are some of my favourite book related pictures. I think they're awesome and one day my house will feature the igloo and the stair/book case.

The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - John Boyne

Wow. This slim book sure packs a punch! A story of two boys and their unconventional friendship, a fence, and the consequences that keeping secrets entail. I don't want to give anything away. I know this book's been out for a while and was made into a film last year, so it's not hard to find out the plot but the ending is just so unexpected. Read it. Do it somewhere quiet so you can concentrate, this is not a book for a commute. But just read it.

A Conundrum!

I'm confused. My copy of Jules Verne's Around The World in 80 Days shows Phileas Fogg and Passepartout in a hot air balloon when, in the novel, they never actually do, boats, trains and elephants yes. Hot air balloons no!! I know it's a commonly held belief that they do travel at least part of the way in a balloon, but although it's mentioned as a possibility, they never resort to it. Did the cover artist not read the book before they designed the artwork? Or at least ask someone what happened? Very peculiar!!

Tamora Pierce

Tamora Pierce writes fantasy novels set in lands where knights still ride by and people fight with swords and sorcery. However there is a twist, the heroes are girls! In worlds dominated by men, these teenage (and sometimes younger/older) girls have to find out what their gifts are and where they fit in. Her books divide into two distinct universes, Tortall and the Circle-verse. Tortall is a medieval kingdom where the eldest sons become knights of the realm, until Alanna of Trebond decides she wants to be a knight and swaps places with her brother Thom who goes off to train as a sorceror. She has to keep her real identity a secret and only the family man-at-arms who accompanies her knows the truth, at least to start with! Alanna's story comprises the Lioness Rampant quartet, Pierce's first series, and Alanna crops up again in The Immortals quartet and The Protector of the Small quartet as well as in the two books concerning her own daughter, Trickster's Choice & Trickster's Queen. Not all of the books are set entirely in Tortall, they move around it's neighbours too, allowing the characters to interact with a variety of people, some of the fun comes from working out which country the fictional ones are most alike! The latest Tortall books are set 200 years before Alanna sets out to win her shield and concern a very different life to that of the nobility, Beka Cooper is a member of the Provost's Guard (a sort of medieval police force) who learns to use her unique skills to bring down criminals and write wrongs in Terrier and Bloodhound, the third in the series is hopefully due out in the next year or so.
The Circle-verse is a different place, with very different characters. Instead of one central protagonist, this series of 10 books (and counting) revolve around 4 young people and their burgeoning magical gifts. Briar is a street rat destined for the cells, Daja and outcast whose people blame her for the deaths of her family, Triss has been passed around her family because they're afraid of the strange things that happen when she loses her temper and Sandry is a lady from one of the most powerful families around but just wants to spend her time sewing. Together these four have the power to halt earthquakes, bind winds and save those they love. They just have to learn to work together, and their teachers at Winding Circle temple will attempt to show them how.
All of her books are great slices of fantastical fiction with heart. They're perfect for a teenager struggling to find her place in the world and who needs to know she can rescue herself, she doesn't need to wait for a prince!
Check out www.tamora-pierce.com or her livejournal http://tammypierce.livejournal.com for more info.

Francesca Lia Block

Francesca Lia Block is an LA based author who has written, well, a lot of books! I have at least 10 of her books if not more. She writes strange otherworldly contemporary fairy tales. But these are definitely not for children. Some are aimed at the teen market but others are more adult and all have an undercurrent of darkness in the midst of all the magic. I first read I Was A Teenage Fairy on holiday in California as a teenager, I'd never heard of her before but I was instantly hooked. Her descriptions make the mundane seem extraordinary and the glittering world her characters occupy is somewhere I wanted to be, even though the seedier side was creeping through and all that glitters is definitely not gold. She deals with serious topics such as sexuality, child abuse, death, obsession, love and loss in her work in way that means you understand the issues without feeling alienated from the story and while there's often a happy ending, the darker elements are dealt with, not haunting their characters. If you like contemporary tales of the magical with a sting in the tail then I highly recommend Francesca Lia Block's fantastical stories.

Here are a few of her titles to get started:

The Weetzie Bat Books are collected as Dangerous Angels (Weetzie Bat, Witch Baby, Cherokee Bat and the Goat Guys, Missing Angel Juan, Baby Be-Bop)
Echo
Girl Goddess #9
The Hanged Man
I Was A Teenage Fairy
Necklace of Kisses
Violet & Claire
and many more....
http://www.francescaliablock.com

New Bits

To the right of this post is a little section marked "Recommended This Week", something I first put up last week. In it I shall attempt to recommend 3 new books each week. A selection of poetry, fiction and possibly the odd non-fiction choice. If anyone reading this (hello!!) wants to recommend something please feel free. Also comment on my posts please, I feel all alone! Anyway, here's a quick round up of books I've read in the last few days.

White Oleander - Janet Fitch (really, really good)

Possession - A.S Byatt (dragged a bit, but I do like a literary mystery)

West Coast - Kate Muir (not as good as Left Bank, but it was ok)

Naked Brunch - Sparkle Hayter (, very funny and the author has an awesome name!)