Revisited Read: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

“A philosopher once asked, "Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?" Pointless, really..."Do the stars gaze back?" Now, that's a question.” 

Everyone that knows me knows that I'm a massive Neil Gaiman fan. That's putting it lightly. I had the absolute joy of seeing his talk in Seattle in April and it felt like it was one of those life affirming moments one always dreams about. I took my best friend along with me, who has never read anything of his before (but I try not to hold it against her) and even she was falling in love with his mastery of words.

I know I said I'd be focusing on books I've never read before, but this was a special circumstance, I swear. Stardust was one of my favorite books in college, but I'd never listened to the audiobook before. I currently have a 40 minute commute each way to work five days a week. While I of course enjoy my karaoke sessions, on occasion I need something to focus my mind to ready myself for the day. Audiobooks are an excellent way to pass the time and squeeze in a quality literary break.

Romantic stories do not do much for me. I'm not what I would consider a romantic at heart, albeit love is something that I absolutely cherish. Stardust has a beautifully lyrical combination of love, adventure, and self discovery. Gaiman himself in the introduction described the story as a "fairy tale for adults" and I couldn't agree more. The story is so delightfully whimsical that there's something for everyone, and all readers will be left grinning like a fool from at least one moment in the pages. There's just something so uniquely special about the artful prose Gaiman spins, meticulously weaving together phrases and characters, creating a completely immersive tale. I don't want to delve too deeply into the plot, as that is not the point with this post. This is simply a revisitation to an old friend in a new form, something that I think we should all do from time to time.

“Every lover is, in his heart, a madman, and, in his head, a minstrel.” 

Hearing Mr. Gaiman read his own work is something I find absolutely fascinating. It is without shame I admit that I might be at least 85% in love with Mr. Gaiman's voice as much as I am with his writing, but it adds an entirely different element to the stories to hear just how much he loves what he does. Each character has a distinct personality that comes through in the voice he chooses and it's rather funny to picture him sitting in a recording booth. But, that's probably just my imagination running off as usual. I think the thing that resonates so deeply with me from this story is that it is about, and for, dreamers. It's for the people who fall in love, do reckless things in the name of it, live their own lives, tell their own tales. Even if we don't live in a typical fairy tale, life itself is magical. Look up at the stars and try to argue that every twinkle, every gleam it just that. There's an awful big world out there. We are all adventurers at heart.

"You have to believe, otherwise it will never happen."

Spotlight Read: The Book of Speculation - Erika Swyler

“Once you’ve held a book and really loved it, you forever remember the feel of it, its specific weight, the way it sits in your hand.” 

Every once in a while, I'll come across a book, get a few chapters into it, and realize that this was exactly the book that I was meant to read in the time I chose to pick it up. This is one of those books. Erika Swyler crafts her words so precisely, so delicately, it feels as though she is caring after a centuries-old tome, much like that of her protagonist.

The only reason I picked this up was when I asked a coworker about magical realism titles. As a library worker, I have to say I'm particular about the way certain library protocols are handled. Granted, I'm part of a larger library system spanning two counties, but still. There's not a lot of glorious spare time to go on genealogical goose chases. Which is why I'm glad certain plot points happened as they did. Like I've said before, my aim is to keep this blog spoiler free, so I am going to try my hardest not to get into the particulars.

I'm almost positive I was a fortune teller in a past life. 

Another thing I'm protective of is weird arcane things, like tarot. If someone dramatically flips over the Death card as lightning strikes, I'm going to pull a grumpy face and be all salty for the rest of the story. That is not the case here. Swyler did her research with hidden meanings and symbolism with tarot cards and readings, which I very much appreciate, although . Coupled with the mysterious Slavic woman who interprets the cards, mermaids, and you've got the makings of a classic tale. But that is just the part of the story that takes past in the centuries past. There's a contemporary story, one that surrounds a mysterious book arriving in the mail and a possible family curse. Intrigued yet?

“Something is very wrong. What began as a passing fascination with the book has turned into something darker.”

On the modern day side of the tale, we have Simon. He and his younger sister Enola are orphans and while Simon spends his days filling grant requests and curating the whaling history collection of his library, Enola is off reading tarot cards for a traveling carnival with her cephalopod-inked boyfriend. Simon himself is an interesting character. We don't see many hints into his personality outright, and to some readers he may come across as rather boring. I took a shine to him and his introverted, introspective self. Hmm, an introverted librarian living an a coastal town, why would I relate to that? (Hint: because it's me.) His relationship with his fiery younger sister is incredibly real and Enola is so interesting that I did find myself half-wishing that the book was from her perspective as the coincidental deaths in their family follow the women. But Simon as a protagonist is a quiet one, which adds a low-key energy as he begins to uncover the past and mysteries from his family's history.

“We carry our families like anchors, rooting us in storms, making sure we never drift from where and who we are. We carry our families within us the way we carry our breath underwater, keeping us afloat, keeping us alive.” 

I'm a huge sucker for dysfunctional family stories. While I wouldn't consider my own to be such, we are certainly not without our quirks. One things that makes this book truly special is the complex dynamics between the characters. We see Simon's interactions with his sisters boyfriend, as well as the weighty realization that his baby sibling is, gasp, having sex, something I'm sure no older brother would want to be aware of, my own included. In the sections taking place in the past, we see a much different type of family, one that people are capable of choosing of their own accord. We follow a mute young boy, Amos- a name given to him by the Russian fortune teller, Madam Ritzkova, through the course of his life from abandonment to finding his way into a traveling carnival, where he is adopted as a sideshow spectacle- "The Wild Boy", and further as he enters adulthood, falling in love with a woman whose sudden appearance changes everything for the troupe, setting into motion events that will ripple into the future. Being mute, Amos communicates mostly through the pictures and details hidden in the intricate hand-drawn tarot cards Madame Ritzkova uses in her trade.

One of the many interesting traits of Simon's family is that they are swimmers. Not "doing a few laps at The Y" swimmers; Simon himself can hold his breath upwards of ten minutes at a time, something his mother taught him. There's so much about symbolism and beautiful imagery that I want to get into about what that means for the family and their fates but I just cannot do that without breaking my "no spoilers" clause. If you'd like to go into it further, feel free to message me here or on Goodreads!

Now, the ending of this book doesn't have a huge shock reveal, at least not to me. It felt rather obvious that the direction it was taking was leading to it, but for others this may be a surprise. Others may be disappointed. But I feel that the point of the story follows the idiom "it's the journey that's important, not the destination" and family reminds us that we're more than just ourselves. And love is just as wild, unpredictable, and all encompassing as the ocean's waves.

"Because there are things you do for people you’ve known your whole life. You let them save you, you put them in your books, and you let each other begin again, clean.” 

Update on the Challenge Thus Far

How I feel about my current To-Read list.

WHEW. It's already three weeks into March. According to Goodreads, I've read 21/100 books and I'm currently "1 book behind schedule". Well, Goodreads can stuff it. As far as I'M concerned, I'm perfectly on track and totally not crying over the amount of stuff left on my To Do list.

How I'm sure the books feel about their To-Read status.

While I definitely intend to branch out in terms of genre, so far this list has been dominated by sci-fi and graphic novels. I do apologize for that, but for the record, they've been really, really good books. You may (or may not) be wondering why so far I've had glaringly positive reviews on this blog. On Goodreads, it's a little bit of a different story. The truth is, I want this blog to have a nice, positive atmosphere, not a group of angry villagers with pitchforks. I don't like talking about all the reasons why I don't like something when I could put the energy into something more positive. I try to limit my negative reviews on Goodreads to less than a paragraph, unless it's so awful I just can't contain myself.

Anywho, this is just a small update so you all know I haven't given up on this blog. I'm still more than willing to accept recommendations for future reads!

In progress (in audiobook form):

Spotlight Read: Monstress by Marjorie M. Lui

GASP a quote on the cover from Neil Gaiman? Art deco plus steampunk art?! Talking animals and magical hybrids?? Man, it's almost like Rhianna's dream. To further that idea, the plot surrounds an incredibly diverse, mostly female-lead, ragtag bunch in a mystical version of Asia. And the main character, Maika Halfwolf, is technically handicapped- she's missing her left forearm. 

Okay, how FREAKING cute is this character? This is Kippa, an archanic, with the feline Master Ren.

It's not every day that I'll buy a comic when I'm not even done reading it. I was 1/3 of the way into this one before I knew I had to buy it, no question. I don't want to get too heavy into the plot because seriously, it's so well done that I'm afraid I'll get ahead of myself and end up diving into my spoilerific conspiracy theories about where the story is headed. But this is what I will say: there is a war between the Arcanic and the Cumea, sorceresses  which feed off the power the Arcanic posess. Archanics, although some can pass as human like our protagonist Maika, others, like the adorable Kippa, are obvious to those wishing to do Archanics harm. The first few pages show everything from cannibalism, torture, and kidnapping, even hinting at the genocide behind the acts. Now that's a heavy plot to follow right off the part, but Lui writing is absolutely mesmerizing. I had to force myself to deliberately slow my reading speed down to fully take in everything on the page.

Let me take a moment to talk about the art. I'm a massive sucker for epic comic art, stemming from my love of Dave McKean's art for the Sandman series. Sana Takeda's art definitely crosses over into the manga style, which makes the art as a whole for this volume truly stand out. Every panel is so intricate, it's easy to get lost in the illustrations. I found myself continually flipping back to pages that stood out. Between the terrifying gods of the Old World (something the insane Lovecraft fan in me lets out an epic "squee" over) to the ridiculously adorable kitsune girl Kippa, the balance of the grisly violence and the tenderness in Maika's life before her capture, the intense feeling laden in the pages is spellbinding.

I mean, just look at this. It's gorgeous.

I came across the Kotaku article "Monstress Has the Best Cat in Comics Right Now" and I really have to agree. I don't encounter feline cohorts very often, in face the only that immediately come to mind are the Lying Cat from Saga and the post-apocalyptic cats from Legend. One thing that is fascinating about the way animals are handled in this series, is that cats are intelligent creatures, ones that speak and are viewed as diabolical saboteurs. Although, many of us cat owners will see this as not being too far off the mark from reality. There's a blur between humans and animals in this universe, and a definite caste system with Arcanics being hunted down and enslaved. I don't want to see this is an allegory to racism and inherit bigotry with real-world inspirations, but....

I've never seen a better depiction of cat behavior. (also- MY EMOTIONS)

Behold, my favorite line in volume one. 

To sum up, Lui and Takeda are an unstoppable powerhouse with this one. The story is dark, comple, and completely original. Image has some of the best comics on the modern day market as far as I'm concerned, between Monstress, Paper Girls, Sex Criminals, and of course the much beloved Saga. I think we're seeing something really special here, guys. And I for one am looking forward to it with all my Archanic heart.