Book Review: Trigger Warning

Title: Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances

Author: Neil Gaiman

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕  (5)

I finally had the opportunity to read Neil Gaiman’s new collection of short stories. When I sat down to read Trigger Warning I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’m a huge fan of Mr. Gaiman, and I’ve enjoyed nearly everything he’s written, but I’m generally not a fan of short stories or poems. However this book could not have dropped into my hands at a better time. It's been a busy month; basketball, health crises, work, kids, etc... Which makes it difficult to get into a book let alone finish one. Trigger Warning fit perfectly into the chaos that was my life the last few months.

I never know how to review collections of short stories or poems, and it’s not any easier with Trigger Warning. Mr. Gaiman could probably write a novel for every genre and every age group and they would all be great; this time he wrote a short story for every genre and age group and collected them into one book. So you can understand my problem when I sat down to write this review. Since I am a fan, I have learned one very important lesson when reading Mr. Gaiman’s works, don’t skip the introduction! In Trigger Warning, Gaiman uses this space to explain why he chose the title and he also gives the reader a little insight into each piece included in the collection. The stories and poems included in this anthology are as creative as they are varied, and like any anthology, there were some pieces I liked, some I didn’t care for, and some that I absolutely loved. Gaiman’s own brand of wry humor shines through each story, making even the least satisfying story passable.

I wish I could write a review for each story, but I’m afraid by doing so I would give something away. However, my favorites were The Thing About Cassandra, Orange, and The Case of Death and Honey.

In The Thing About Cassandra, Stuart Innes keeps hearing from friends and family that they have recently spoken with his former high school girlfriend Cassandra. Which is odd since Cassandra isn’t a real person, but an imaginary girlfriend Stuart created when he was fifteen.

Orange is something to be experienced. It’s the story of a Jemima and her sister who has an unhealthy obsession with self-tanners.

The Case of Death and Honey is the story of Old Gao and the summer that an odd foreigner took an interest in his cantankerous bees.

Although there were one or two pieces that I didn’t care for, I am giving this a 5 cup rating. The overall quality of the stories and poems included make up for the odd miss. My overall opinion of short stories hasn’t changed, but now I’m a bit more willing to read more instead of avoiding them.

After reading Trigger Warning I was struck with an immediate desire to reread American Gods…

Book Review: The Walls Around Us

Title: The Walls Around Us

By: Nova Ren Suma

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ (4)

I was in the middle of a book slump when a friend suggested I read Nova Ren Suma’s new book, The Walls Around Us. In it she tells the stories of two girls who have never met but they share a common link; Violet, the prima ballerina and Amber, an inmate at the Aurora Hills juvenile detention center along with the girl that ties them together, the deceased Orianna. The story is told in alternating viewpoints and through Violet’s and Amber’s voices we learn about Orianna and how she went from celebrated ballerina to an inmate at Aurora Hills.

Aside from the ending, which I’ll get to later, my one major complaint is that Orianna gets lost in the story. For someone who plays a pivotal role in the stories of both girls, I felt like I didn't know who she was, maybe that was the intention of the author, but it left me feeling unsatisfied and made the ending all the more puzzling. 

The one character that really grabbed me was Violet. I hated her. It was great. She has very few redeeming qualities, and you can feel it as you read her narrative. What is so great about her is that she knows she is an unpleasant person and that her outside demeanor is a mask holding back her true self. 

The book itself is not very long and I was able to finish it in a day. However it took about three days for me to wrap my head around what I had read. I’m not even exaggerating here. When I finished, I sat back in my chair and thought “What the hell did I just read?” A few hours later, I went back and reread the last 2-3 chapters to see if I’d missed anything. I had. But instead of clearing things up, I felt as if I were looking at a ball of yarn to be untangled, but every time I pulled the string there was another knot or broken thread. Over the next two days I tried to convince everyone I know to read this book so I would have someone to talk to about it. Even though I've had some time to reflect and untangle the ending, I’m still not sure if I like or dislike it. 

Initially I was going to give The Walls Around Us a 3 star rating, mostly because Orianna’s character lacked dimension. But I changed my mind when I realized I spent the better part of a week thinking about this story. It wasn't a spectacular or life changing book, but it stuck with me long after I finished it.

Le film du Petit Prince ! Nouvelle Bande-Annonce

The extended (French) teaser for Le Petit Prince. I can't wait to see this film (in French of course). Le Petit Prince is one of my favorites and I can't wait to share it with my own children.

Mini-Break

I'm taking a mini break this week due to reoccurring health problems. I have some reviews pre-scheduled to post this week but all other updates will need to wait until next week. In the meantime I'm hosting a giveaway on my tumblr page latte-books.

One of those days....

Have you ever spent over an hour typing in HTML code and then have the power go out before you could save the update?

Well, it happened to me tonight.

I was trying to update the Fiction page but now it's going to have to wait until tomorrow. I'm discouraged and I need to sleep because I have work tomorrow. The lesson in this is SAVE, SAVE, SAVE.

I'll have a more thorough update tonight or tomorrow - but in the meantime I'm still here. Basketball is over but now I'm obsessed with beating FF Type-0 HD. I'm no where near finishing it but I'm going to take a break from it to catch up on everything. My husband has also threatened to snap the disc in half if I don't finish the laundry, so it's time take a break.

I was doing so well updating and then basketball tournament season started. I will be posting a review on Neil Gaiman's Trigger Warning in the next few days but until the NCAA Tournament is over I won't be updating as frequently.

Book Review: Nightbird

Title: Nightbird

Author: Alice Hoffman

Publish Date: March 10, 2015

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ (4)

Friendship? Check. Romance? Check. Family Secret? Check. Pie? Check. Alice Hoffman’s new book Nightbird has all the ingredients needed to create a wonderful story. Our narrator, Twig, lives in the small town of Sidwell, Massachusetts. She’s spent her life trying to be invisible, which is pretty hard to do in a small town where everyone knows each other. But her family has a secret that must be protected no matter what. But when things start disappearing and curious blue graffiti pops up on buildings all over town, Twig and her new neighbor Julia need to find out who the culprit is before the whole town discovers the Fowler Family secret.  

For me, books by Alice Hoffman have been a hit or miss, but I really enjoyed this first attempt at writing for middle-grade readers. There is a fairy tale atmosphere to the story which perfectly complements the setting, even more so because we see it through the eyes of our twelve-year-old narrator.  I just adore Twig; she cares deeply for her family, but at times her loneliness pours into her narrative and it breaks my heart. When she meets the Hall family she starts to open up little by little and we get glimpses of what the real Twig is like.  

There are a couple of things that disappointed me though. The second half of the book was so rushed that when I got to the last page I thought to myself “Is that it?” The ending itself was a bit too neat and pretty, I could almost picture a little wrapped box tied with pretty ribbons and bows.  I also felt that there wasn't enough character development for the secondary characters. For example, I would have liked more scenes with Twig getting to know Julia. All I learned about her was that she had a sunny personality and she liked art. And poor Agate was just a pretty blonde who also liked to sew.

Overall, Nightbird was a story of friendship with a little bit of magic thrown in, I just wish the book was a little longer. I would love to see Alice Hoffman write more stories for middle-grade readers, the scenes that she creates are magical, and out of all of her books that I've read, Twig is by far my favorite character.

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

You can purchase this book and more at the Book Depository

Book Review: Eden Volume 1

Title: Eden: Volume 1

Author/Artist: BASH

Publish Date: June 2, 2015

Rating: ☕ ☕ (2)

Let me be blunt. This was a mess. There are so many things wrong with this manga that I don’t even know where to start. The biggest problem is that the entire project is disjointed and lacks focus. I’m not even entirely sure what the premise is supposed to be.   

The story begins with a boy named Touru wandering the forest. Monster-like creatures called Red Crosses are watching him and trying to prevent him from finding the village of Jinrou. Which would be bad, according to an angel named Vanguard. After that, I’m not 100% sure what’s going on. There is too much happening and there is no explanation as to who anyone is or why things are happening. I get that the mangaka is trying to project an element of mystery around Touru and the people in Jinrou, but that only works if you give the reader a clue to the bigger picture. He tries to do this toward the end of the book when Touru is led to an epitaph that tells the story of Jinrou, yet even that serves to confuse the reader further. 

The art was the only thing about this book that kept it from getting a 1. The art isn’t spectacular, and it doesn’t really stand out from artists working in similar genres, but it wasn’t bad. The artist might benefit from working with a circle where someone else is creating the plot and doing the writing.

In manga the point of the first chapter, the first volume, is to hook the reader and make them interested in what is about to happen. That didn’t happen here. I didn’t connect with any of the characters enough to care about what happens to them, and I was so relieved when I finished reading this. I have no desire to read volume 2 when it is released in July. 

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

All I can say is that it was a good thing I had a post automatically scheduled today.

Sorry for the short absence. I had some medical issues which required my full attention. I'm still on the mend but while I was recovering I was able to finish up some of the books on my TBR list. I managed to write up some reviews and sent them out to my mom for editing. Hopefully I'll get back on track over this week.

Book Review:The Book of Memory Gaps

Title: The Book of Memory Gaps

Author: Cecilia Ruiz

Publish Date: March 10th 2015

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕

I was really looking forward to this book because I enjoy gothic inspired humor like Tim Burton’s “The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy”, and Edward Gorey’s “The Gashlycrumb Tinies”. Unfortunately “The Book of Memory Gaps”, like its subject matter, was rather unmemorable.

The book features 14 vignettes, each describing a different memory condition and how it manifests in the featured character. The symptoms are based on real life brain conditions and it is interesting learn how memory can go wrong in so many different ways. But the vignettes lacked the cleverness of similar works and were easily forgotten. The best part about this book was the art. The illustrations were simple, but lovely and definitely more memorable than the accompanying text. And they are the sole reason I gave this book a 3 instead of a 2. 

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

Book Review: Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter

Title: Manga Classics: The Scarlet Letter

Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne

Art: SunNeko Lee

Adapted By: Crystal S. Chan      English Translation: Stacy King

Publish Date: March 10, 2015

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ ☕ (4)

Manga Classics is at it again, and this time they are releasing a manga version of The Scarlet Letter. I almost passed on this because The Scarlet Letter and I have a long and tortuous history dating back to high school. I spent many hours buried in this book, picking apart sentences, analyzing everything, and basically learning the entire book by heart (Thanks Mrs. Bookwalter…). For a book that I didn't even like the first time I read it, I was relieved when I could place my well-worn copy on my bookshelf with all the other classics that I had no intention of reading ever again. As the years have passed, I slowly began to forgive Hawthorne and acknowledged that, while The Scarlet Letter will never be one of my favorite classics, I have a great respect for it and its place in history and literature.

My standard procedure before I read something from Manga Classics is to go back and read the original material. It’s been many years since I've read The Scarlet Letter, but since I am already biased toward the original material I wanted to try and minimize that bias when I read the manga version.  This is why I decided not to reread the original text before reading the manga. I wanted to go into this with a fresh perspective.

I have to give credit to Crystal Chan, she did a remarkable job with the adaptation. There is so much symbolism in the original text that it would be difficult for anyone to decide what stays and what goes, but she struck the right balance. The amazing thing about manga and graphic novels is that the symbolism becomes visual. The casual reader may not catch all of the symbolic references and how they play a role in the story, or how they enhance the theme of the story. But with manga, the artist can put it right in front of your face, you still might miss the meaning behind it, but it’s still there to discover later.

This is where the talents of artist SunNeko Lee come into play. The backgrounds are detailed, although Boston is not quite historically accurate (but that’s just me nitpicking), but on the whole it looks beautiful and doesn't detract from the main characters. I love the way the artist chose to draw the four main characters. They have a distinct style that separates them from everyone else, drawing the focus on them. It also makes a visual statement about each individual’s personality and motivation. One example is the design for Reverend Dimmesdale; he looks timid and weak from the beginning. As the story continues, he becomes more and more haggard as the weight of his conscience presses down on him.

Roger Chillingworth is another example, when he openly displays his feelings of hatred and revenge, the artist includes a cobra in the panel with him. Using animals as part of the character is a common technique used in manga to emphasize emotion, and while it might not have been necessary, it worked well.

Of course we can’t talk about a manga adaptation of The Scarlet Letter and not talk about the aforementioned letter. The most important symbol in the story is the scarlet “A” embroidered on Hester’s chest. The “A” is almost a character in its own right and SunNeko Lee and Crystal Chan make sure the “A” is seen every time you see Hester. How did they accomplish this? Well the beautifully embroidered “A” is the only part in the entire manga that is in color, and it is a bright scarlet red throughout the entire book. You can’t miss it, you can’t forget it’s there, it becomes one with Hester.

The thought both SunNeko and Crystal put into this is astounding. They even included the prologue chapter where Hawthorne gives a fictionalized account of how the narrator (Hawthorne) discovers Hester’s story while working in a customs house. There are also little items here and there that were included in the background because the original scene was cut. These and other symbols and metaphors are mentioned in the adapter's notes at the end.

I thought this adaptation was nicely done. I felt like the goal of the piece was to give the reader a taste of the story and encourage them to seek out the original text, and I think that was accomplished. For me it was nice to have the opportunity to enjoy the book and erase some of the negative emotions this story stirs in me. For the serious classics reader, this may be a disappointing read because there was quite a bit left out or left unexplored. But for a reader who doesn't usually seek out the classics, it may be a starting point.

**NetGalley provided me with an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.**

What's DNF?

I think I may have my first Do Not Finish (DNF) of the year. I'm trying to get through it but I may have to throw in the towel on this one.

Great article from The Daily Dot

Your Guide to the Greatest Heroines of 

Young Adult Fiction

by Aja Romano

Book Review: Since You've Been Gone

Title: Since You've Been Gone

Author: Mary Jennifer Payne

Rating: ☕ ☕ ☕ (3)

Publish Date: February 17, 2015

It seems like forever since I was given a YA novel to review, and a contemporary one at that. It was nice to have a little break from the non-fiction and fantasy I've been reading lately. Like many of the contemporary YA novels that have been published in the last five years, this one deals with sensitive subjects that real teenagers may be dealing with. Since You've Been Gone begins with 15 year old Edie and her mother fleeing into the night – again. Being on the run is something Edie knows all too well since she and her mother have been fleeing from her abusive father for the last five years. But this time it’s different, they’re not only trying to start over in a new city but a new country.

This story had a lot of potential but it fell flat. The pace of the writing was good, it kept me interested enough to finish the book, but I felt like the story was too rushed. Some of the problems with the storytelling may be because this is the author’s first novel and prior to this she was writing for graphic novels. Storytelling in graphic novels tends to have a quick pace and things can be left out in the dialogue because they can be shown in the art. Since You've Been Gone suffered because it was too short, things that should have been explored in more detail were cut short, and things that weren't necessary to the plot were overdone. The last quarter of the book was particularly rushed to the point where the narrative became unrealistic.

 I also had a hard time sympathizing with Edie, I understand that her circumstances were terrible, but her character was inconsistent at critical points and it made it hard for me to like her since I wasn't sure which Edie the author meant to portray. I would have also liked it if the supporting characters were fleshed out more, especially Jermaine and possibly Precious (when you get to the end you’ll know why).

I’m giving it a 3 because the potential is there. The writing was, for the most part, good and it kept my interest. I just wish there was more.