bookshelves of doom

Malinda Lo on Elizabeth Peters.

As promised, it's going to be All Elizabeth Peters, All the Time this week!

If you've been meaning to get in on the action, NOW IS THE TIME. As I've received so many lovely contributions (Did I mention that I'm totally still taking them?), I'll be running some of the longer ones over the course of the week, and linking everything up together at the end.

Here's what author Malinda Lo had to say:

"I'm pretty sure it was either my grandmother or aunt who first recommended an Elizabeth Peters book to me, and as soon as I read the first one, I was hooked. I've read every EP and Barbara Michaels except Barbara Michaels' Prince of Darkness because for some reason I never could get into that one. These days, funnily enough it comforts me that I have not read ALL of the Barbara Michaels books.

My favorite is definitely the Ramses and Nefret quartet within the Amelia Peabody series. I read those breathlessly when they first came out and Ramses and Nefret (Ramfret? Ha!) is one of my favorite fictional romances. Peters is such a pro — she maintained the sexual tension for so long and never made it annoying. I really need to re-read those someday soon. I'm also a huge fan of the Vicky Bliss books.

As an author, I'm always asked which authors inspired me, and I rarely say Elizabeth Peters/Barbara Michaels, but I don't know why. I should probably start mentioning her! Maybe I'm a little worried that nobody knows about her anymore? Because she clearly taught me almost everything I know about romantic suspense. And she did it while being witty, feminist, and extremely smart. I love her books!

In fact, that makes me think: I do have a recommendation for EP/BM lovers. Read Sarah Rees Brennan's Unspoken. It's perfectly within the funny/smart/gothic Elizabeth Peters vein."

Malinda Lo is the author of several YA novels, most recently the sci-fi thriller Adaptation. Her website is www.malindalo.com.

The Seventh Sinner: Jacqueline Kirby, #1 -- Elizabeth Peters

As promised, it's going to be All Elizabeth Peters, All the Time this week!

If you've been meaning to get in on the action, NOW IS THE TIME. As I've received so many lovely contributions (Did I mention that I'm totally still taking them?), I'll be running some of the longer ones over the course of the week, and linking everything up together at the end.

For those of you who've never been introduced, Jacqueline Kirby is Elizabeth Peters' wonderfully wonderful middle-aged librarian sleuth. She's a bit like Mary Poppins—the book version, not the movie version—in that she's crabby and bossy and a bit vain, but she's also fascinating and resourceful and so all-around awesome that you'd follow her anywhere, through fire, snow, or more fire. Also like Mary Poppins, she travels with an apparently-bottomless handbag.

She's also a bit like Chrestomanci, in that if she puts on her forgetful and/or vague face, WATCH OUT.

In The Seventh Sinner, the first Jacqueline Kirby book, SHE'S NOT EVEN THE MAIN CHARACTER! Which is so unusual, right? (And which makes me wonder if she was even originally planned as a recurring character: did she just TAKE OVER? I certainly wouldn't put it past her.)

Jean Suttman is a graduate student studying in Rome. Between herself and her six friends—they call themselves the Seven Sinners—they are a painter, a sculptor, an art historian, a priest, and... er... well, I forget the rest, but you get the idea. And then there's Albert, who all of them dislike intensely, but who insists on tagging along with them at all times.

One day, while they're touring an underground Roman temple... Jean finds Albert alone in a room with his throat slit. Just before he dies, he manages to scratch the number seven into the dust... but no one knows what he was trying to say. Luckily for Jean (and unluckily for the murderer), Jacqueline Kirby is there as well: because no one—saint or sinner alike—is any match for Jacqueline Kirby.

Is it a bit dated? YUP! It came out in 1972, which comes across in the cultural aspects, especially, and there are also some bits that don't come across as particularly politically correct. But is it still totally fun? FOR SURE. I love Elizabeth Peters across the board, but the Jacqueline Kirby books continue to be my very favorite.

A few of my favorite things in this one:

How we first meet her: It's the classic librarian-with-her-hair-down scene! Jean and Michael (one of the other students) barrel around a corner and run full-tilt into her, knocking her down. While Jean had noticed her in the library previously, she hadn't paid much attention to this severe-looking figure with her bun and her horn-rimmed glasses and her impeccably tailored suits... a far cry from the creature that now lies before them, with the whistle-provoking legs and the hair like "molten bronze" and the green "seawater" eyes.

Then, of course, she opens her mouth and she's wonderfully snippy and crabby (but not without a large dose of humor), refuses their help in standing and instead, threatens to lie there on the floor for the rest of the day.

The cultural and historical references, from the most well-known to the most esoteric: Jacqueline, as a librarian and a knowledge-lover, knows "more totally useless things than anyone you'll ever meet." She drops references without explaining them, and expects people to keep up with her... much like Elizabeth Peters does in her narration. If the references go over the reader's head—and it seems doubtful that anyone would catch them all—it isn't a big deal, though, as they're not necessary for mystery-solving purposes, and just act as little fun bonuses. Example: when all of the Sinners get introduced at the beginning, the Scoville siblings get described as having hair like "Little Orphan Annie, Struwwelpeter, and Art Garfunkel."

J. Kirby's love of thrillers: As she's a huge fan of murder mysteries, she references them while doing her detecting, and the whole thing gets pretty fantastically meta. ALSO, the book culminates in one of those scenes where all of the suspects get together, the investigator explains her process and then identifies the killer. AWESOME.

This: "I expected to be laughed at, but that didn't bother me; ridicule, as a weapon, is only effective against the young." 

She always drags her knitting around with her, but she's terrible at knitting:

"It's supposed to be a sweater," Jacqueline said doubtfully. "For an unfortunate baby of my acquaintance. Not a grandchild, no. I don't think I'm about to acquire one in the near future. The real function of this mess is to keep my hands occupied so I won't smoke."

"I think you just dropped a stitch."

"The baby won't know the difference," Jacqueline said callously. "And if you keep up those smart remarks, I'll let you do it." 

Every dude on the scene has the hots for her, but in her case, IT'S ACTUALLY UNDERSTANDABLE.

I could go on and on (yes, even more), but I'll save it for Book Two tomorrow.

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Author page.

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Amazon.

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Book source: ILLed through my library. (I totally own it—probably in triplicate—I just CAN'T FIND IT.)

Skulduggery Pleasant fan?

Then don't miss the free short story at the Guardian!

(I've only read the first one—this was a nice reminder to get caught up!)

Are you a fan of Elizabeth Peters? (And/or Barbara Michaels?)

I have declared March 3-9 to be PETERSWEEK* in these here parts.

SO. If you'd like to join in, definitely do send me your contribution**—something about why you love her, your first experience reading her, your favorite character or book or series—at bookshelvesofdoom AT gmail DOT com! I'll round them up and post them throughout the week. Be sure to include info about who YOU are, including your blog (if you have one), Twitter handle (ditto), etc.

Or, of course, if you'd like to post something at your own blog, just let me know when you do, and I'll round up the links! Same goes for tweets with the #elizabethpeters hashtag.

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*I am totally open to changing the name if anyone has anything more ridiculously puntastic to suggest...

**It doesn't have to be an essay or anything—this is supposed to be a fun lovefest, not homework!

In light of today's news about Richard III...

...two reading recommendations: Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time, and Elizabeth Peters' The Murders of Richard III.

(How crazy-cool is that story, by the way??)

Anyway, if you're familiar with Elizabeth Peters, you'll know what to expect of The Murders of Richard III: loads of mysterious hijinks while also being smart, funny, romantic, and entertaining. AND it has the added bonus of being one of the too-few Jacqueline Kirby books... she's a librarian with a Mary Poppins-ish handbag and martial arts know-how. In this one, she goes to a Ricardian weekend and a series of pranks TURNS DANGEROUS.

The Daughter of Time, meanwhile, is a bit more serious: it's one of Josephine Tey's far-too-few mysteries. In it, Inspector Alan Grant is laid up in the hospital with a broken leg, totally bored, and so his actress friend brings him pictures of historical figures who were embroiled in unsolved mysteries... and with the help of a young historian, he starts researching Richard III. It's seriously tragic that there are only, like, eight Tey mysteries—they are all totally, totally different and all totally, totally awesome. (My favorites, btw, are this one, The Franchise Affair, and BRAT FARRAR, which is OMG-FAINTWORTHY-SWOON-CENTRAL.)

Kiki Strike: The Darkness Dwellers -- Kirsten Miller

Blog tours are a rarity here at Bookshelves of Doom, so on the very few occasion that one swings through, you can be confident in assuming that I feel very strongly indeed about the book in question.

It's been six years since the last Kiki Strike book, and even the most devoted fans of Ananka Fishbein and the Irregulars had given up hope of a third installment. So when The Darkness Dwellers was announced, there was much rejoicing in the kidlitosphere. And not classy, tempered, polite rejoicing, but RAUCOUS, DELIGHTED SQUEEING.

I was working when I found out, and it's possible that I whooped so long and so loudly that some of my patrons shushed me... but I'm not admitting to anything.

If you haven't read the first two books, you're missed out on huge fun: Kiki Strike is a tiny, white-haired girl with life-threatening allergies, a penchant for wearing black and using her martial arts prowess on anyone who gets in her way... and is a secret princess to boot; Ananka is our narrator, has a avid interest in all things cryptozoology and conspiracy, who lives in an apartment with a private library so impressive that it would rival most public ones; Betty is a sweet-natured master of disguise; DeeDee is a science genius and explosives expert; Luz is aggressive and crabby, but a whiz with gadgets; Oona is a hacker, lock-picker, and business maven; Iris is a younger-mascot-turned-member. Because they're teenage girls, villains often underestimate them... but like Mary Quinn, Buffy, and any number of kickass heroines, Kiki and the Irregulars always use that to their advantage.

As in the first two books, many of the chapters end with sections of practical advice about how to handle oneself in a number of tight spots. In the previous books, the advice offered up would have been right at home in one of the Worst Case Scenario handbooks... but this time, in a rather brilliant twist, those sections could have come straight from Miss Manners. It's all about being a twenty-first-century lady (or gentleman): there are sections on Tea Parties and Flower Arranging, Delightful Dinners and The Rendezvous. NEVER FEAR, THOUGH, the girls haven't come close to losing their edge, and the advice sections are just as clever and subversive as fans would expect. 

So, I went in with high hopes—which is sometimes a dangerous proposition—but I'm happy to report that Kirsten Miller has done it again: like its predecessors, The Darkness Dwellers is chock-full of excitement, mystery, secrets, disguises, stock market shenanigans, and smartypants humor. There are punches thrown and tires slashed; code-breaking and chemistry and cool tidbits of lesser-known history.

And while that'd be plenty to keep anyone entertained, it's ALSO an emotionally engaging story about the importance of loyalty, honor, friendship, and family; about realizing that sometimes you can rely more on the family you choose than the family you're born to, but that you also shouldn't be too quick to give up on people. That there isn't only one way to be strong; that you don't have to appear hard-as-nails to be tough; and that being compassionate, polite, and offering second chances doesn't equate to being weak... as long as you don't throw your pragmatism out the window. (And always keep your right hook in reserve, just in case.) 

Kiki and friends, I'm glad you're back, even though I'm well aware that this might be your last outing. If so, I'm comfortable with that—the major plot threads were resolved, after all—but I very much hope that it won't be.

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Author page.

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Amazon.

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Book source: Review copy via Netgalley.

Across the Universe -- Beth Revis

It took me a long time to get to Across the Universe. Not because I wasn't interested—HELLO, SPACE OPERA MURDER MYSTERY—but because over a year ago, I started listening to the audiobook, and I HAD ISSUES.

Not with the story or the writing, but with something entirely out of the author's control: I had issues with the reader. Or, well, with one of them, since the audiobook actually has two narrators.

Lauren Ambrose—you may know her from Six Feet Under, Diggers, or Psycho Beach Party—went in a really... THROBBY direction, interpretation-wise, and while it actually made sense in terms of the character and situation, her habit of putting a mini-sob into every other word was a tad grating. (The only person who gets a free pass in that department is Dwight Yoakam.)

So, anyway, it's taken me this long to get over myself and actually read the book. And DAMN, now that I've actually read the whole thing, I'm totally glad I have the sequel on deck.

Across the Universe is narrated by two characters: the first is Amy, who is cryogenically frozen along with her parents and loaded onto a spaceship headed to colonize a new planet. Since the trip is expected to last three hundred years—hence the freezing—all of the colonists (mostly a mix of military personnel and scientists) will be woken upon arrival, while those who run the ship will live out their entire lives on it, passing their responsibilities down to the next generation, the next, and the next. Elder, our second narrator, was born some 250 years after Amy, has lived his entire life on the ship, and is next in line to lead it.

Something goes wrong, though—well, more than just 'goes wrong', as it was done deliberately—and Amy wakes up decades early. Even discounting the fact that she's on a spaceship, the world she wakes into is nothing like the world she fell asleep in—the rules, the technology, the culture, even human behavior seems to have completely changed—and her looks and speech and behavior seem just as bizarre to the ship's populace. And none of that even takes into account the man currently in charge of the ship: Eldest, a man who believes that Adolf Hitler was a 'wise, cultured leader'. 

Even without Lauren Ambrose's throbby delivery, Amy isn't an immediately likable heroine: she's more of a runner-awayer than a go-getter, and more of a moaner and complainer than an argumentative debater. HOWEVER. That doesn't mean that she's not believable—just the opposite, in fact, she's extremely believable. She's far more realistic than any number of badass, quippy, special snowflake protagonists, because she really does read like an Regular Girl in an Extraordinary Situation.

AND, when push comes to shove, she does take action, and she does make sacrifices for the greater good. She cries a lot while she does it, but she does it. Which, for me, actually makes her a stronger, more interesting character than any of those BQSSs—because none of this comes easily to her. It always feels like she has to overcome not only the situations she's in, not only the prejudice of the people she's surrounded by, but also her own fear.

I had one part of the mystery figured out pretty early on, but that turned out not to matter... because OH MY GOD, THE PLOT TWISTS. As I learned more and more about the truth of life on the ship Godspeed, I started getting vocal. Vocal as in, "WHAT. OH MY GOD, THAT JUST HAPPENED. THAT IS SO MESSED UP. WHAAAAAAAAT. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT." In a GOOD way. Surprise after surprise after surprise, and I am so very much looking forward to A Million Suns.

Bonus points: I assume (?) that the number of Amy's freezer compartment—42—was a nod to Douglas Adams. Which is awesome. Actually, even if it's a coincidence, it's awesome. BECAUSE WHAT A COINCIDENCE THAT WOULD BE. There's also a character named Luthe, which I'm inclined to think is a reference to Robin McKinley's Luthe, but as Revis' character is d-bag wannabe rapist asshat, I could be mistaken.

Full disclosure: Although we've never met in person, Beth Revis and I have interacted quite a bit online over the years. (Also, she's purchased stuff from my Etsy shop.)

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Author page.

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Amazon.

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Book source: Finished copy from the publisher.

The 2013 Edgar Nominees...

...have been announced:

Emily’s Dress and Other Missing Things, by Kathryn Burak

The Edge of Nowhere, by Elizabeth George:

I absolutely guarantee that some of you will want to throw this book across the room. For one, some readers are bound to be hugely disappointed by the prosaic solution to the mystery. Much more problematic, however, is the portrayal of the one black character—an adoptee from Uganda; he is constantly exoticized and, in more ways than one, comes off as very much “other.”

Crusher, by Niall Leonard:

There are no firsts, and there is no coming of age. When the book begins, Finn has already joined the adult world. He’s already dealt with major loss (when his mother abandoned him), is way past experimenting with mind-altering substances and he lost his virginity years ago. As he’s no longer in school, he’s working full-time—pretty much supporting the household. When his father dies, there isn’t a big reckoning about responsibility, finances or authority. His dealings with adults are all on adult terms; while he doesn’t get a whole lot of respect from them, that’s less about his age and more about his demeanor. In a nutshell, Crusher isn’t a crime story that also portrays an aspect of the teen experience. It’s a crime story, period.

Amelia Anne is Dead and Gone, by Kat Rosenfield:

The specialness isn’t just in Rosenfield’s description, turns of phrase or how she captures the slow, heavy feel of summer. It’s about how she makes every single action, interaction, sometimes even the briefest of moments...feel like a turning point. There’s a constant sense of dread, inevitability and change.

Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein:

Trust me? Add this to your list. Don’t trust me? Add it to your list anyway. Fan of historical fiction? Espionage? World War II stories? Add it, add it, add it. Even if your tastes don’t usually tend in that direction, you need to pick it up anyway. It will make you dissolve into a puddle, and then, once you’ve recovered, you’ll immediately read it all over again. That’s what I did.

I've read four of the five YA titles. (And I still don't think that Crusher is actually YA, but whatevs.) 

You?

Today @KirkusReviews...

...I wrote about Jacquelyn Mitchard's What We Saw at Night, the first book in Soho's new Teen imprint:

It’s a solid thriller with a cool premise—think Rear Window, but starring a Parkour-practicing heroine who has Xeroderma Pigmentosum, a condition that makes sunlight not just dangerous, but life-threatening—strong dialogue and character development, exciting action, suspenseful plotting, and the requisite smootchies, AS WELL AS being a really believable, effective story about friendship, secrets and lies.

In other recent Kirkus columns, I covered April Lindner's Catherine (Wuthering Heights in NYC) and Adrienne Kress' The Friday Society (Charlie's Angels goes steampunk).

Just perused @torbooks' Winter 2013 catalog...

...and am BEYOND OVERJOYED to see that, A) Farthing's being reprinted, and B) it has a new look:

Ooooo.

The Book of Blood and Shadow -- Robin Wasserman

This cover art is a great example of the illustration/photo divide: until I actually opened a copy of The Book of Blood and Shadow, I assumed it was a middle grade novel. Because apparently, in my mind, illustration = middle grade, while photographs = YA. Weird, right?

Anyway, I was totally, totally wrong. The Book of Blood and Shadow is narrated by Nora Kane, high school senior and Latin scholar. And it was clear, from the very first page, that this wasn't a story geared towards the middle-grade audience:

But beginning with that night, with the blood, means that Chris will never be anything more than a corpse, bleeding out all over his mother's travertine marble, Adriane nothing but a dead-eyed head case, rocking and moaning, her clothes soaked in his blood, her face paper white with that slash of red razored into her cheek. If I started there, Max would be nothing but a void. Null space; vacuum and wind.

Maybe that part would be right.

OH MY GOD, GUYS. The hype/chatter/squeefest is TOTALLY, TOTALLY ACCURATE AND DESERVED. Because The Book of Blood and Shadow is outstandingly excellent. Even after simply typing out that excerpt, I had to take a moment to calm down and stop flailing all over my keyboard.

There's murder and tragedy, betrayal and first love, alchemy and secret societies and religion and conspiracy and danger and on and on and on. All that, and it's imbued with a love of knowledge, curiosity, history, and truth. Nora's voice is immediately compelling, Elizabeth's letters are pitch-perfect and heartbreaking, and Robin Wasserman's writing is fabulously fabulous. Nora's connection to the long-dead Elizabeth Weston works on an intellectual level, an emotional level, and a personal level—it's so strong that as the book goes on, it starts to feel like a two-way connection. 

The characters all feel real, Nora's perspective is both knowing (because she's telling the story after the fact) and unknowing (because she's not giving the reader more information than she had at the time). (<--Translation: there's foreshadowing, but she never tips her hand. It's never completely obvious how the story will end, but when the ending arrives, it'll feel right, and you'll realize exactly how Nora—and you—got there. ...if that makes any sense at all.) 

The codes, the running around Europe, the centuries-old mystery, the conspiracies, secret societies, and existence of The One... all of these things will draw comparison to The Da Vinci Code. But The Book of Blood and Shadow isn't the YA equivalent of Dan Brown. Far from it. Robin Wasserman's prose and plotting, voice and characters all blow Dan Brown not only out of the water, but into space.

There. Have I expressed how much I loved this book?

Good. Now go and read it.

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Booklists: Alchemy.

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Author page.

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Amazon.

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Book source: ILL through my library.

Commences freaking out.

Um.

OH MY GOD THERE'S A NEW KIKI STRIKE BOOK COMING OUT IN JANUARY!!!!!!!!!!

That is all.

So, I was going to write a review today...

...but then I stopped by Mainely Murders on my way home, and suddenly it was three hours and just-as-many martinis later.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you all about the books I read this past weekend, I promise.

The Night She Disappeared -- April Henry

One Wednesday night, Kayla Cutler left Pete's Pizza to deliver three pizzas.

She never came back.

The thing is, though, the kidnapper got the wrong girl. At the last minute, bubbly, flirtatious Kayla switched nights with studious, shy Gabie Klug. It was Gabie that the kidnapper wanted. That the kidnapper still wants.

Gabie and her co-worker Drew Lyle are sure of it—when Drew took the order, the man specifically asked if "the girl with the Mini Cooper" would be working, which could have only referred to Gabie—but the police aren't interested in their theory.

So Gabie and Drew start investigating on their own. The closer they get to the mysterious John Robertson, the more danger they're in. And the closer John Robertson gets to Gabie, the more danger Kayla's in... after all, he only needs one girl in his "special room" at a time.

The Night She Disappeared is a straightforward—yet still tense—thriller. From chapter to chapter, the perspective shifts between the four main characters—Kayla and Drew, Gabie and John Robertson—as well as some of the minor ones, like the boys who stumbled on the crime scene and one of the divers who searches the Willamette River. The voices and perspectives are all distinctly different, and the short chapters—none more than three or four pages long—are interspersed with transcripts of 911 calls and police interviews, evidence slips, search warrants, and other documents related to the case.

Gabie's mixed feelings about the mistake—horror, guilt, and some amount of relief—are all very understandable, and her growing friendship/romance with Drew is believable. The technical details about the investigation (especially the methods of the dive team) are worked in naturally, and fans of procedural/forensic mysteries are bound to like those elements. Similarly, fans of The Mentalist will like the subplot that deals with the faker psychic lady. Oh, and it's worth noting that John Robertson is creepy as all get out, but while there's certainly an implied threat of sexual assault, nothing like that ever happens onscreen.

While it hasn't inspired any gushing on my part, I enjoyed it. I did have two issues, though, one more problematic than the other. Minor: the dialogue is a bit shaky in spots. Major: the detective assigned to the case is so unhelpful, so unwilling to follow up leads, so dismissive of Gabie and Drew's concerns, and so aggressive towards them that I found it hard to believe in him. Rather than a three-dimensional person, he was a character pulled straight out of the Police are Useless trope. Which was pretty glaring, especially when contrasted with the more complex characterization of the teenage characters.

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Author page.

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Amazon.

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Book source: Review copy from the publisher.

New YA imprint.

FROM SOHO PRESS!

SO. EXCITING.

*faints*

Here, feel free to peruse this sampler of their upcoming offerings while I recover.