I have two words for you: Air. Pirates. Oh, how I wish this was a real thing. I'd quit both my jobs and join up with a buccaneer crew to participate in raiding and pillaging the skies. Alas, these particular air pirates are only found in the Cinder Spires, the setting of Jim Butcher's latest fantasy endeavor.
Last week I discussed my embarkation on a fantastic reading journey that I hope will last me most of 2016. (You can read that post here.) The first title I chose to read for my 2016 Reading Resolution project was The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher. Now, I've mentioned before that I have a deep love for Harry Dresden, the hero of Butcher's Dresden Files series. I find him a compelling character for many reasons, the least of which is the fact that he always seems to be in some sort of trouble, ofttimes through no fault of his own. He does, however, usually connive a way out of that trouble using his wits. I like smart characters. And my deep admiration of Dresden had me a little nervous going into Windlass. What if I (gasp) didn't like it? Would it ruin any subsequent Dresden titles for me? Would it sour me on Jim Butcher forever? As it turns out, I was worrying needlessly.
The Aeronaut's Windlass is a rollicking romp through the streets of a city (for lack of any equally adequate term) built in the mists of the sky to the decks of air ships captained by disgraced scoundrels. And these streets and decks are full of *really interesting* characters. Including sentient Cats. Yes, you read that correctly - Cats. With a capital C. It is undoubtedly a fantasy, as there are elements of magic and imagination, and fantastic examples of both WORLDbuilding and WORDbuilding. Additionally, it is a suggestively steampunk fantasy. I LOVE STEAMPUNK. (And dieselpunk, and cyberpunk...) I say suggestively steampunk, because it contains all of the skeletal thematic elements of a steampunk story (gadgets, steam engines, goggles, leather, copper and brass, a feudal-type societal system, etc.) without bashing the reader over the head with them. Essentially, the elements are there in the background of the story, rather than being the story. In this way, Butcher is able to spin the story in his own way, rather than following any type of genre formula.
First, let's talk about the setting. The surface of the earth is shrouded in mists, which protect the Spire inhabitants from a sun whose rays would otherwise cause madness. The Cinder Spires, miles-high towers built to shelter earth's inhabitants, are divided up into Houses and Guilds based on social rank and trade, and each Spire is home to a specific people group. The Spires have, for years, been trading and forging alliances with one another, each hiding behind the strength of its air fleet. Windlass takes place in Spire Albion. This is the world Butcher's characters inhabit.
The characters in this book are fantastic. The cast is diverse, but not too large, and the characters compliment and play off each other nicely. First there are cousins Gwen and and Benedict, both members of the Spire Ark's guard and of House Lancaster, one of the most powerful families in the Spire. Gwen is headstrong and sometimes short-sighted, but is brave and determined and loyal. Benedict is Warrior-Born, which means that he carries in his blood strains of lion DNA. This gives him heightened senses, plus added strength and agility. Interestingly, this also makes him somewhat of a social outcast, as the Warrior-Born are seen as lesser. Next, there is Grimm, captain of the airship Predator. Wrongly disgraced and expelled from Fleet, he exists as a privateer. He has a rigid sense of right and wrong, though those two may not exist exactly the way one might expect. Then there are Bridgit, of the noble if somewhat diminished House of Tagwyn, and Rowl, prince of the Silent Paws. Bridgit is the quiet voice of reason in the group, and Rowl is, well, as Cat, and thinks and behaves exactly as one would expect a Cat to behave. Finally, Ferus and Folly, the old, half-mad Etherialist and his wispy apprentice (think Luna Lovegood) call into question of truth and perception.
I am loath to give away any points of the plot, as they are many and deeply intertwined. Suffice to say there is nothing boring in this book. There is action, there is dialogue, there is romance, there is deception, there are duels, there are air battles, etc. Yet it never seems rushed or busy. The pacing is such that it makes one want to keep reading, yet is never overwhelming.
Overall, this was a wonderful, swashbuckling adventure I enjoyed every minute of. I would highly recommend it to fans of adventure stories, as well as those who are avid sci-fi/fantasy and steampunk readers.
So, on to the next title.
I am teaching Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers in one of my classes this fall. I've never read it. Therefore, Outliers is next on my reading list by default. It hails from the 300 section of the library, and will count as one of my five non-fiction titles. I am briefly acquainted with the concept of the book - Gladwell studies what makes people successful. And it's not what you think. Stay tuned...
The ramblings and adventures of a quirky librarian who is an avid reader, writer, and dreamer.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Friday, January 15, 2016
And Happy New Year... Late.
New Year's resolutions aren't my thing. I'm not a resoluter. I don't resolute. I find that making a resolution (in my experience, anyway) is basically daring myself to fail. And I don't like to fail. So, you will never find me resolving to become a vegetarian, or resolving to lose that pesky extra five pounds, or resolving to donate more of my time to charity. (Not that those aren't all good things.) I may do those things, but I'm not going to resolve to do it.
That said, one resolution I'm not opposed to is a reading resolution. Becky Spratford, the library world's own Reader's Advisory guru and the author of the gem blog RA for All recently posted her New Year's Reading Resolutions, and I thought to myself why, that's an utterly brilliant idea! You see, my approach to reading is rather willy-nilly; I read what sounds good. However, I am grown-up enough to know that only reading what appeals to me will never help me develop my knowledge of, say, philosophy (gag), or familiarize myself with what's going on down on the Amish prairie. And as a librarian who makes it her goal to provide quality reader's advisory for her patrons, this is a less-than-ideal situation. This is where the reading resolution comes in.
I have authored for myself a three-part reading resolution for 2016. The goal here is to broaden my genre knowledge base and (gulp) read some non-fiction. Now, I did read two whole non-fiction books last year. Both were by Erik Larson (Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City), and both were superb. It helped that I listened to them on audio, and that Scott Brick and Tony Goldwyn respectively, both did a brilliant job with the narrations. I would read more Larson books. I would read all the Larson books. But, well, I'll bet you can see the problem with that. It's still not branching out. So, here's how I plan to break out of my reading safe-zone and learn ALL THE NEW THINGS.
FIRST, to read five non-fiction titles and review them upon completion. This sounds easier than it will be, because I am placing a restriction on myself: these five books must be from three different Dewey number ranges. For you non-library folk, there are ten Dewey ranges (the 0s - the 900s), and each step of the 00s indicates a different range of subject areas. This means I can't just read five biographies; what it does mean is that I'm going to end up reading something I really don't want to. But I guess that's kinda' the point, right?
SECOND, to read one title from each genre and review it upon completion. This is around ten books, depending on whether one counts "women's fiction", "inspirational", and "new adult fiction" as genres. Generally, the accepted genres are Thriller, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, Western, and Horror. Then there's the optional Women's Fiction, Inspirational Fiction, and New Adult Fiction. Now, some of these are areas in which I regularly read, such as HF and FSY (Historical Fiction and Fantasy for the Cretins). Some are not, such as WF (kill me now) and IF (sorry, Zondervan, but just nope). The problem is, many of my patrons <3 WF and IF. So this puts me at a disadvantage. Hopefully, this plan will take care of that. There are a myriad of sub-genres represented here, as well, so I have many options.
THIRD, to read at least three each Teen and Juvenile books and review them upon completion. This shouldn't be too much of a stretch for me. I still read some of the authors who were writing when I was a teen (which doesn't really SEEM that long ago until I start to do the math), so they are already on my to-read list. And as I have a two-year-old, it only seems wise that I start building her a must-read list. Oh, and there are a million billion kiddos who come in to the library every day looking for books.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED the "review them" qualification I put on each part of my reading resolution. This is to keep me honest. If I know there are people *anxiously awaiting* my review of a title, it may inspire me to follow through (note: sarcasm). What reviews do is allow me to think through all aspects of a title, and consider which books might be good "readalikes", or titles I can suggest to patrons who want to read something "exactly like Fifty Shades of Grey!". Oy-vey. It also keeps me visiting my blog and my Goodreads page, and helps me build my NoveList base. All things that are great resources, and, in the long run, will help me better serve my patrons.
By my count, that gives me around twenty-five books to read to fulfill my resolution. That's not bad; definitely doable. And it leaves me room to fill in the gap with things I *really want to read*. ;) My plan is to herald the beginning of a new book with a post, and announce its completion with a review. This is an experiment; I've never tried something of its like. We'll see how it goes. But I would love some cheers and encouragement along the way, so feel free to weigh in. If you've read the book I'm reading, let me know your thoughts about it. (But NO SPOILERS, or I will sic the nazgul on you.) If you disagree with my review or my opinions, I welcome that, as well. One of the most interesting things about books is the profoundly different effect they have on people. I love a good discussion.
I AM BEGINNING WITH... The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher, which will fulfill the Fantasy genre requirement. I chose this book because it's been staring up at me from my desk for a couple of months now, begging me to read it. I love Jim Butcher. Wait, that's not right. I love Harry Dresden. So I am eager to see what Butcher can do with characters that aren't Chicago's only wizard for hire. Review to follow.
That said, one resolution I'm not opposed to is a reading resolution. Becky Spratford, the library world's own Reader's Advisory guru and the author of the gem blog RA for All recently posted her New Year's Reading Resolutions, and I thought to myself why, that's an utterly brilliant idea! You see, my approach to reading is rather willy-nilly; I read what sounds good. However, I am grown-up enough to know that only reading what appeals to me will never help me develop my knowledge of, say, philosophy (gag), or familiarize myself with what's going on down on the Amish prairie. And as a librarian who makes it her goal to provide quality reader's advisory for her patrons, this is a less-than-ideal situation. This is where the reading resolution comes in.
I have authored for myself a three-part reading resolution for 2016. The goal here is to broaden my genre knowledge base and (gulp) read some non-fiction. Now, I did read two whole non-fiction books last year. Both were by Erik Larson (Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City), and both were superb. It helped that I listened to them on audio, and that Scott Brick and Tony Goldwyn respectively, both did a brilliant job with the narrations. I would read more Larson books. I would read all the Larson books. But, well, I'll bet you can see the problem with that. It's still not branching out. So, here's how I plan to break out of my reading safe-zone and learn ALL THE NEW THINGS.
FIRST, to read five non-fiction titles and review them upon completion. This sounds easier than it will be, because I am placing a restriction on myself: these five books must be from three different Dewey number ranges. For you non-library folk, there are ten Dewey ranges (the 0s - the 900s), and each step of the 00s indicates a different range of subject areas. This means I can't just read five biographies; what it does mean is that I'm going to end up reading something I really don't want to. But I guess that's kinda' the point, right?
SECOND, to read one title from each genre and review it upon completion. This is around ten books, depending on whether one counts "women's fiction", "inspirational", and "new adult fiction" as genres. Generally, the accepted genres are Thriller, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Romance, Western, and Horror. Then there's the optional Women's Fiction, Inspirational Fiction, and New Adult Fiction. Now, some of these are areas in which I regularly read, such as HF and FSY (Historical Fiction and Fantasy for the Cretins). Some are not, such as WF (kill me now) and IF (sorry, Zondervan, but just nope). The problem is, many of my patrons <3 WF and IF. So this puts me at a disadvantage. Hopefully, this plan will take care of that. There are a myriad of sub-genres represented here, as well, so I have many options.
THIRD, to read at least three each Teen and Juvenile books and review them upon completion. This shouldn't be too much of a stretch for me. I still read some of the authors who were writing when I was a teen (which doesn't really SEEM that long ago until I start to do the math), so they are already on my to-read list. And as I have a two-year-old, it only seems wise that I start building her a must-read list. Oh, and there are a million billion kiddos who come in to the library every day looking for books.
YOU MAY HAVE NOTICED the "review them" qualification I put on each part of my reading resolution. This is to keep me honest. If I know there are people *anxiously awaiting* my review of a title, it may inspire me to follow through (note: sarcasm). What reviews do is allow me to think through all aspects of a title, and consider which books might be good "readalikes", or titles I can suggest to patrons who want to read something "exactly like Fifty Shades of Grey!". Oy-vey. It also keeps me visiting my blog and my Goodreads page, and helps me build my NoveList base. All things that are great resources, and, in the long run, will help me better serve my patrons.
By my count, that gives me around twenty-five books to read to fulfill my resolution. That's not bad; definitely doable. And it leaves me room to fill in the gap with things I *really want to read*. ;) My plan is to herald the beginning of a new book with a post, and announce its completion with a review. This is an experiment; I've never tried something of its like. We'll see how it goes. But I would love some cheers and encouragement along the way, so feel free to weigh in. If you've read the book I'm reading, let me know your thoughts about it. (But NO SPOILERS, or I will sic the nazgul on you.) If you disagree with my review or my opinions, I welcome that, as well. One of the most interesting things about books is the profoundly different effect they have on people. I love a good discussion.
I AM BEGINNING WITH... The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher, which will fulfill the Fantasy genre requirement. I chose this book because it's been staring up at me from my desk for a couple of months now, begging me to read it. I love Jim Butcher. Wait, that's not right. I love Harry Dresden. So I am eager to see what Butcher can do with characters that aren't Chicago's only wizard for hire. Review to follow.
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