Angels and Visitations

Angels and Visitations: A Miscellany
Neil Gaiman
166 pages; published 1993

Memory is the great deceiver. Perhaps there are individuals whose memories act like tape recordings, daily records of their lives complete in every detail, but I am not one of them. My memory is a patchwork of occurrences, of discontinuous events roughly sewn together: the parts I remember, I remember precisely, whilst other sections seem to have vanished completely. (141)

I always enjoy Neil Gaiman’s writing, so I pretty much knew I would love this one too. His writing is just so clever, so rich, that you can’t help but want to read more.

Angels and Visitations, however, was a little different from the other novels and short stories of his that I’ve read. It is, as the title says, ‘a miscellany’, a collection of literary bits and pieces he has accumulated over the years: poetry, book reviews, stories written for this and that. As such, it was a bit of an odd collection, but still full of wonderful pieces that I’d recommend to any Neil Gaiman fan. 4.5

Other Reviews
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The Adoration of Jenna Fox
Mary E. Pearson
265 pages; published 2008

On the eighth day Father had to return to work in Boston. He and Mother whispered, but I still heard. Risky … have to get back … you’ll be fine. Before he left he cupped my face in both of his hands. “Little by little, Angel,” he said. “Be patient. Everything will come back. Over time all the connections will be made.” I think my gait is normal now. My memory is not. I don’t remember my mother, my father, or Lily. I don’t remember that I once lived in Boston. I don’t remember Jenna Fox.

Father says it will come in time. “Time heals,” he says.

I don’t tell him that I don’t know what time is. (7)

Her mother gave her a box of discs, all labeled. Jenna Fox/Year One ... Year Two ... Year Sixteen. "Watch them," she suggests. "Maybe they'll help you remember."

That's the problem. Jenna doesn't remember. She doesn't remember her mother, her father, even herself. She doesn't remember why her grandmother seems to hate her and she doesn't remember the accident that left her in a coma for over a year. She doesn't remember anything at all. What's more, the little bits that are coming back to her piece by piece are leaving her with the awkward suspicion that something is not quite right.

There is something curious about where we live. Something curious about Father and his nightly phone calls with Mother. And certainly something curious about me. Why can I remember the details of the French Revolution but I can’t remember if I ever had a best friend? (12)

Why is she not allowed to leave the house? Why did they move from Boston to California? How did they time their move to her waking up so perfectly? And, if California is their new home, why does her father spend all his time in Boston, keeping his job at the large bio-engineering research hospital?

What aren't they telling her? What doesn't she remember? 4/5



Also Reviewed Here
Serena


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Atonement

Ian McEwan

368 pages, published 2003

As Atonement was the selection for our first bookclub meeting, I was quite eager to read it. (I think we wer all excited little nerdlings!)

Seen and told through the eyes of Briony Tallis, a young aspiring writer, Atonement revolves around the love story of Briony's older sister Cecilia and her beau Robbie. However, the story - and the romance - suffers server complications wen Briony seriously mitakes what she witnesses. Romance turns to violence, mistakes become crimes, and the lovers are harshly separated.

I felt that the book dragged in places. Though beautifully written in places, and technically amazing throughout, the story was slow to get into. 4/5

Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents - Terry Pratchett

The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents
Terry Pratchett

241 pages, published 2001

A Discworld novel intended for a young adult audience, Amazing Maurice is the hilarious story of a talking cat (Maurice), a young piper, and their band of “educated rodents” who move fro m town to town making a living by providing and then effectively removing rat infestations.

A clever, not to mention humorous, retelling of the Pied Piper folk tale, you can’t pass up Terry Pratchett. 3/5

Georgia Nicolson Series

Angus, Thongs, Full-Frontal Snogging

On the Bright Side, I'm Now the Girlfriend of a Sex God

Knocked Out By My Nunga-Nungas

Dancing in My Nuddy Pants
Louise Rennison

Being the dedicated, hard-working student that I am, I'm reading as many teen books as I can get my hands on ... what, you didn't buy the part about being dedicated and hard-working? Yeah, okay, i probably wouldn't have, either. To be honest I was drawn in by the titles of this series a few months ago, so when I saw them in Penrith Library today I picked up the first two. I read the whole thing this afternoon - and had to read the bits I kept laughing over to Bethany. It was extraordinarily crude but definitely funny. Almost like an updated Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. If you like to read the whining of a teenager who is somewhat insane, then give this one a go. 3/5