The Night Bookmobile - Audrey Niffenegger

Pages: 40
Published: 2010

 

I’m a big fan of giving books as gifts, though I don’t have many people for whom I would do this. I so enjoy the weeks of considering the perfect books, weighing up all my options. Even more than this, I enjoy receiving books as gift which, coming from a non-booky family, you can imagine that I don’t get very often. I am very fortunate, however, to have people like Wendy in my life, who recognises all too well how wonderful a gift a book can be and who gave me a beautiful book for my birthday this year.

She chose a copy of Audrey Niffenegger’s The Night Bookmobile – which as a book lover and fan of Niffenegger, I immediately fell in love with. After some debating with Wendy about its classification as either a ‘graphic novel’ or ‘adult picture book’, I have decided to go with the later, but with the caveat that it is indeed intended for adults – do not let its heavy use of illustration and picture book format sway you into thinking that it is intended for children.

Without giving you any spoilers (it’s only 40 pages – go, find yourself a copy), The Night Bookmobile tells the story of Alexandra, live long reader and booklover. One night, after a fight with her boyfriend, she heads out for a walk where she encounters a library mobile – one that operates only from dusk to dawn. Stepping aboard she peruses the shelves... only to come to the realisation that not only has she read all the books, these are all the books she’s ever read, right down to her childhood diary. The librarian explains that this is, in fact, HER library, that it is his job to shelve everything she ever reads. The following years for Alexandra revolve entirely around the bookmobile – the finding of it, and her, apparently fruitless, endeavour to gain the chance to work with it. Through doing so Alexandra is forced to evaluate her life, both as a reader and as a person.

Firstly, I cannot say how much I loved this book. It most certainly had its darker moments, but the core idea, that of the personal bookmobile really intrigued me. I starting thinking of all the books I had ever read in my lifetime, stacking up there on my bookmobile shelves. I started to think of all the books I started and never finished. And all the books I read in secret, too embarrassed to have their covers show – though I would never do it, I can’t help but imagine these poor books sitting there naked, their covers having been torn off. I started thinking about all the ebooks I’ve read, all the blogs and articles online – and I start to wonder if my bookmobile has a digital wing. The concept has crawled into my brain and it is not going anywhere.

Thought not as wordy as her novels, Niffenegger’s precise prose is again present here in The Night Bookmobile – but this time married with her simple but touching illustrations. It was a quick read (like I said, only 40 pages, and much of that illustration), but no less a moving one. In fact, I read it over several times in that first sitting, uncovering new details each time. If you’re a booklover, or a fan of unconventional stories, I recommend it heartily – and if you do read it, please come back and tell me, as I would love to discuss it with you in more detail.

5/5

The No Nonsense Guide to Soul Mates

The No Excuses Guide to Soul Mates
Stacey DeMarco and Jade Sky

Soul Mate stories can be traced as far back as 3000 BCE Egypt... there has been evidence of Soul Mates throughout the ages, but the difference between our Hollywood inspired kind of soul mate and how the ancients viewed the idea are worlds apart. In most ancient references to Soul Mates, there was more than one type. (12-13)

 

Regular readers of my blog may note that non-fiction – self-help in particular – is not my usual fare, however when approached to review this book, the title intrigued me. And while it’s not a book I would have normally picked up on my own, I can honestly say that I enjoyed reading it, in part because of its novelty to me.

Authors Stacey DeMarco and Jade Sky call on their years of experience as spiritual practitioner and psychic/medium, respectively, to explore, explain and then advice on the subject of soul mates. While their focus is definitely of a spiritual – one might even say mystical – nature, I was impressed by their ability to seamlessly include both historical and scientific information on the subject.

The book takes on the mission to discredit the Hollywood notion of a singular soul mate

“Stacey... didn’t much like the idea that somehow she was fated to meet this person and if she messed it up, well that would be that and she would never be happy.” pg. 5

instead they centre on the idea of multiple soul mates – that a person can not only have more than one soul mate, but attract and possess different varieties that fulfil different purposes throughout their lives.

Being a self-help book, the book offers many suggestions or tips in attracting, keeping or dealing with soul mates. These tips range from the common sense (of the ‘you smile and the world smiles with you’ variety) to the more involved (rituals, or spells). The authors also provide case-studies from their own clients to demonstrate these examples. It should be noted that while the authors write with a genial, friendly tone, that the titles promise of a ‘no nonsense’ approach is certainly delivered.

I cannot honestly say that I was inspired to perform any soul mate-attracting rituals, nor have I discovered a long-lost karmic soul amongst my friends or family. However, as I said above, I did enjoy reading this short book. I was truly impressed by the authors’ attempts (I would say success) at writing a book of this variety that can and should cater to peoples of all lifestyles. The book is an informative and interesting read that would be appealing to those interested in the subject from either a practical or historical standpoint. 3/5

Nebula Awards 2007

Nebula Awards Showcase 2007 Mike Resnick (ed.)
383 pages; published 2007

The Nebula Award is an award established and bestowed by the members of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It targets excellent new examples of Science Fiction and Fantasy in the novel, novella, novelette, short story and script formats.

This year was a showcase of the winners and nominees of the 2007 awards. It held excerpts from the winning novel, as well as full texts of the novellas and short stories. There are also a collection of essays on sci-fi/fantasy as a publishing field and genre, written by several known SF writers.

They were all, obviously, wonderful examples of sci-fi/fantasy, but I was particularly pleased to find it a nice blend of fiction – some very serious, some fantastical, and some downright ridiculous.

A nice collection for fans of the genre. 4/5

Teen Reads

Right Book, Right Time: 500 Books for Teenagers

Agnes Nieuwenhuizen
353 pages; published 2007


Read! Read! Read! Read for pleasure, for thrills, for escape, for ideas. Read books that make you laugh and cry and wonder and think. Read for yourself and not for others. (viii)


Yes, that’s right, it’s another list book. I have a sickness. Therapy didn’t work, I’m looking into medication. This was an early Christmas present I bought for myself and my sister, who, as a new ‘reader’ likes recommendations for books. This book was a winner, if the little post-it note taggies popping out the top are any indication.

After having read a few of these books, I’ve decided to change how I review them, focusing on just a few central points, so I hope you’ll bear with me as I iron out the kinks.


THEME: Books for Teenagers.
The premise was a book for every occasion, mood, phase, experience. As the book is aimed at teachers/librarians as well as teenagers, I thought it was a particularly good idea. Teenager or not, you often have to be in the right place for the right book.


FORMAT:
The book is broken up into twelve chapters/sections:

• Action, adventure and crime
• Been and gone
• Extreme and edgy
• Fantastic worlds
• Life, love and loss
• My place in the world
• Not such ordinary lives
• Outside the square
• This sporting life
• War and conflicts
• What if…?
• When you want to laugh

These chapters are broken up by the occasional mini essay or editorial on a variety of topics from “pink books” to graphic novels.

Within chapters are, and this was the best part, full page reviews for each novel/series with the occasional author bio/review.

Each book was classified with its country of origin and reading age:

Y = Young Reader
YA = Young Adult
A = Adult

but then goes on to show the primary audience and the audience who may be interested. For example: a book marked YA/A indicates a YA novel that may be of interest to an adult reader.

In between these reviews were shorter topical lists (“grand love stories”, “extraordinary international lives”, “recent Australian YA books with Shakespearean connections”) with shorter paragraph reviews.

This format made this book not only extremely easy to read and navigate, but also quite pleasing to look at.


SELECTION OF BOOKS:
Here’s where the list book can potentially fall down. You don’t want a generic list of books which you’ve seen a hundred times, but at the same time, you don’t want a list so out there that it’s unrecognisable or unrelatable.

Right Book, Right Time: 500 Great Reads for Teenagers focuses mainly on recent YA novels which, considering the discerning teen audience, is probably a good idea. However, it still includes (in the topical lists mostly) more traditional or enduring teenage and children’s’ classics. The range of books was impressive and very well selected, catering for all tastes and interest. 5/5

Purchase Right Book, Right Time: 500 Great Reads for Teenagers here.

Other Reviews
Have you written a review for this book? I would love to include it, comment below and I'll add your link!

Twilight Saga

I'm having a bit of a slow week, blogging wise; the reading's getting done, but I'm falling down on the reviewing side of things. The problem is that this week I read Stephenie Meyer's New Moon and Eclipse... how do I write a review for books that practically everybody in the entire world (or at least the reading/blogging world) has already read and reviewed themselves?

Well I've decided to simply not.*

I liked the books, and enjoyed New Moon best of the three (haven't read Breaking Dawn yet). By now you've probably already made up your mind as to whether or not you're going to read the Twilight saga, and don't really need me to sway you either way.

Happy reading!


*I feel like such a cheater.

Neverwhere

Neil Gaiman

372 pages, published 1996

I love Neil Gaiman; I think I may have found a new favourite in him. He has a strange humour, slightly Pratchett-like in its random quality, but he also has a richness in detail and phrasing that makes his work more than just a light read.

Richard Mayhew is an ordinary man (some may say boring) who has little more to worry about in his life than keeping his appearance-conscious girlfriend, Jessica ("not Jess"), happy. Until the night he plays good Samaritan, that is.

Picking up an injured homeless girl on the street may seem straight forward at first, but the young girl, Door, is more than she seems. Rescuing her marks his unwilling descent into the real London underground: Neverwhere. A state of being as much as a location, Richard has to deal with the oddities of this realm while at the same time come to realise that, to the people populating his previous life, he is now literally invisible.

And so he and the Lady Door make a deal: he will do what he can to help her uncover the mystery surrounding the murder of her family, and she will help him get the heck out of there. 5/5

Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro

304 pages, published 2006

Sometimes there is nothing better than a book that annoys you into reading it faster. There is not a great deal I can tell you about this book without giving away the plot, so I'll say nothing much at all. But if you enjoy the kind of book where they only dole out the tiniest bits of information, and very slowly, then this is the book for you. I had to keep reading, if only to find out what they weren't telling me. 3/5