Tender Morsels

I read Margo Lanagan’s Tender Morsels weeks ago, and am just now getting around to reviewing it for a reason: I have no idea, still, how I feel about it. It seriously left me a jumbled mess. The only other books I can think of that have come anywhere close to haunting me like this one are Never Let Me Go by Ishiguro Kazuo and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
 
And yet, Tender Morsels is nothing like either of these two novels. It is a re-telling of the fairy tale Snow White and Rose Red. In this version, it is Liga, the girls’ mother, who is the focus, rather than the daughters, and if you’ve got visions of Disney’s plump little dwarves and sweet and sleepy Snow White, stop now. The source material for this version is the far more sinister Grimm tale, and the brothers’ last name describes it to a tee.

The Map of Time

I once read a craft theory book (doesn’t that sound riveting?) that discussed the shape of stories –square, spiral, and, of course, circular. The Map of Time by Felix Palma is definitely circular. The storylines and plots run circles around one another, over one another, and beside one another, which is a great metaphor for the time travel premise of the novel. But like anything that runs around in circles, the whole thing soon becomes tired and dizzy, and feels a little lost.

The Night Circus

Considering the recent disappointment I experienced after buying into the mega-hype of a new book (see first review), I was reluctant to take a chance on another.  But Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel, The Night Circus, is a lovely book, and more than lived up to expectations.  While totally original, the tale does recall the mood and imagery of some pretty heavy hitters, namely Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes; Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, The Magic Toyshop, and Nights at the Circus (ahem); and lastly, perhaps my favorite book of all-time, Susanna Clarke’s Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. 

There are even shades of The Hunger Games, for those of you who like your popular fiction really popular.  Here, two children, Marco and Celia, are pitted against one another in a magical battle to the death, the outcome of which will settle an ages old argument regarding magical theories between Celia’s father, Hector, and the eccentric AH__.

A Brood of Foxes

I stumbled across this little book by accident.  After seeing it listed on a friend’s website and digging the cover – black background, red lettering, gray and black steampunk sketch of a fox wearing a morning coat and holding a zeppelin-esque balloon - I decided to give it a go.    

When it arrived, I was surprised to see it is only 87 pages long, but I ended up quite impressed with what Kristin Livdahl did in those few pages.  While the tone and the prose have Kelly Link written all over them (though perhaps less esoteric), it is no bad thing.  I personally love the fact that we’ve got all this new literary fantasy, or slip stream, or magical realism – whatever you want to call it – coming out of late.  Viva la trend, as long as it continues to be done this well. 

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

I am always reluctant to buy a book surrounded by a lot of hype.  For whatever reason, my reading tastes rarely gel with those of the general public.  Not that I am a snob.  I read everything, and I do mean everything, and if it’s good, I have no problem admitting it, no matter its source.  It just seems that if there’s a great new book bandwagon rolling through and everyone is jumping on it, it usually turns out not to be my thing.  

So why I was even bothering to browse those stupid “Best of Summer” book lists, I don’t know.  I thought that by avoiding the ones with the words “Beach Read” in the title, I might accidentally stumble across some good new books.  It could happen, right?