I have just finished reading the first book of The Books of Elsewhere series, The Shadows. It is the story of Olive, a girl who moves into an old Victorian house with all the trimmings of the original owners, a very unique personality and many secrets. Bearing several striking initial similarities to Coraline by Neil Gaiman (a story which I adore!), the book pulled me in and kept my attention, particularly near the end, where excitement and potential peril lurked in every old, immovable painting in the house. With the help of some very unique residents of the house, Olive strives through danger, in order to stake her family's claim on the house and make it a place of her own.
I loved the book, and am quite frustrated that I read the first several months before the second book comes out. Scheduled for release in June 2012, Spellbound continues Olive's story as she and a new neighbor friend seek a spellbook hidden somewhere in the old house. I am looking forward to this release very much, and hope to maybe procure a copy at one of the Spring library conventions!
As a follow up to the fantastical fantasy of The Shadows, I have decided to break from my contemporary fiction fixation and take a step back with an old classic, Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. The copy I am currently reading (not the same as pictured above) is a much-abridged version of the story, adapted for a young audience. Striving to read selections from my school library in order to make very specific recommendations, I anticipate this version to only take a few days to read. Cliff's Notes versions are never a bad thing, are they? :) With brevity, comes introduction. Perhaps I will follow up with "the real thing" once this pocket version is complete.
An obsessive audio-book listener, I must voraciously move from one to another. The current channeling of my obsession is Inkspell, the follow-up to the well-known Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Although this title follows Meggie, Mo and Resa, along with other favorites (Dustfinger, Farid, Fenoglio) and not-so-favorites (Basta, Mortola) that were introduced in the first book, and although the prose is often as poetic as Fenoglio's lyric ink-weaving, the plot in this one seems to be a bit more overbearing, with the introduction of an almost confusing amount of new characters, and a plot that more hops around than twists. I am enjoying the audio version though, very much, as it is narrated by Brendan Frasier, who lends a unique tone, accent, timbre and rate to each character's voice. It is entertaining while driving or working without distraction, but in order to be appreciated, should be enjoyed without much activity going on. Otherwise, the intricacies of world-jumping and plot twisting would be as confusing as reading the story in Funke's native Deutsch.
