Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler

Audio book

I don't know why it's taken me this long to figure out that the best way to stop whining about how much time I feel I waste driving to and from work every week and not reading (which is what I'd rather do with that free time if I had it) is to listen to audio books.
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald was on my TBR list for a few years, but never quiet committed the time to read it. I mean, I love Zelda a little more than her more famous husband and always have. I can't explain why, as I always felt that what I knew about her seemed unreliable.
So I suppose this is why I'm still on the fence about this novel - because it is a novel. There's nothing much wrong with that - in order to write a novel based off of someone who did exist in history, you do have to do some research first. And this novel did set out to show a new perspective of a person who many of us have made up our minds about before ever reading this book. Maybe that's something I struggle with - you may not. You may be happy to just read a nice story about a beautiful, dramatic couple. In which case, you will not be disappointed. It's no secret that Francis and Zelda got a long like cats and dogs for most of their marriage. Personally, I found that aspect to be a bummer. Francis and Zelda were so spirited, it almost became a battle over who can out-maneuver the other. All marriages are a struggle over power - there is no sugar coating that fact, deny it all you want. But sometimes those struggles aren't as depressing as the Fitzgerald's.

I am in no way an expert historian on the Fitzgerald marriage, so I can't say for sure how accurate this novel was. But I am glad I "read it."

Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg

Library Copy

Over on Tumblr, there's a great little blog called The Reblog Book Club - a kind of reading group where they discuss up-and-coming books. For the better part of the summer, the Book Du Jour was Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg. I'm not a huge participant in reading groups (I'm not organized enough for it) but I really wanted to read this book. To my luck, I found it at my new library on my very first visit!

Saint Mazie, is a novel inspired by the real life of Mazie Phillips - a buxom, raspy-voiced, bottle blonde from the Prohibition (I'm personally very interested in de-glamorized POV from this time period) who referred to herself as a "good time gal" but took the bums on the street under her wing. She's brassy, she's tough, she is exactly what you'd think of when you hear someone talking about "Old Broads." If I knew Mazie irl, I might actually be a little afraid of her. She's intimidating, but that's her shtick. You can be an intimidating woman and still be capable of goodness, you know? She's a really complicated - and interesting - character. Though this fictionalized version of her is inspired by a real person, there's still not a whole lot known about her. However, since the real woman only died about 50 years ago, there's still a lot of people who did know her and could have shared some first hand accounts of her. But try to keep them separate in your mind!

an "artsy" picture of my new library's entrance

Anyway. The book. I typically find books with multiple points of view frustrating to read. I don't know why this device is really common in most things I read lately. Someone who works in publishing might be able to explain this trend. But this time around, my personal preferences aside, I think it was successful and worked out well. The meat of the novel is told through Mazie's diary, starting from her childhood on through her middle-aged adulthood. She lives with her sisters and brother-in-law in New York. Her brother-in-law, a businessman, owns several businesses including a movie theater - Mazie spends several decades working in the ticket booth. At first unwillingly, she soon sees it as home, her clientele become family.

The diary entries are broken up between very frank interviews with people who knew her or about the era she lived in. VERY frank. And though Mazie called herself a "good time gal" and often beat herself up about being "no good," here's the thing about saints (from a practicing Catholic) - the saints weren't even saints. They were human and some of them did some pretty rotten stuff - they were sinners, not just because they broke some societal, morally incorrect rule, but because sinning actually means to do something unloving to God. Saints are our proof that you can be a good person even when you might not think you are. Mazie Was a good person. Rough around the edges, scandalous, tougher than hippie bread, but she fought to help those that couldn't help themselves.

Also interesting about Mazie (as the book character) is that though there was pressure to get married and become a mother, she doesn't. Not because she doesn't always want to (she desperately wants to be loved) but because she chooses not to. Sometimes fate helps her make that choice. But it makes her stand out even more. This is the sort of book that, now that I'm done, I won't be able to forget for a long time.

Keeping the Castle by Patrice Kindl

Kindle

This book kept popping up in book review blogs I follow over and over again, and every time I read a review I thought "This book is perfect for me." Here's how to hook me: Regencies, YA, humor, character growth. This book has all of this, but I still had my qualms since I find that when something comes highly recommended, it tends to fall short of my expectations. Not so this time!
One day I just decided to buy it on my Kindle since I had no luck finding it in any of my local bookstores or libraries, but it was still (well, this isn't unusual for me, after all) several months before I actually read it. This little novel is a bit of an homage to I Capture the Castle (which I haven't yet read, but after this I don't plan on wasting another moment) and Jane Austen, obviously.
At 17, Althea is responsible for an entire household of women (besides herself, she lives with her mother and two step-sisters), her baby brother, and the servants who work for the decaying household, built to look like a faux Castle. Anyone familiar enough with Regencies and Jane Austen know why - women where completely at the mercy of male heirs and their husbands. As there were no grown men alive to support the family, it fell on the beautiful Althea to land a rich husband. Here's the thing, Althea is what my Mom would call "sassy." Then a wealthy, unattached baron and the moves in with the usual company and things get pretty interesting from there.
Right from the very first paragraph, I knew this book was not going to let me down. When I tell you "this doesn't happen," this doesn't happen. It's very unusual for me to become hooked within a few sentences, but here we are! I'm very glad that I gave this book it's due attention, and I recently found out that a companion has lately been published. It's not very often anymore that I find a book with quiet this much magic in it. I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Regencies, Jane Austen (it doesn't mimic Austen in style very much, though Althea does behave a bit like Emma at times). or novels on manners.

The Deed by Lynsay Sands

The Bank Ladies

In the building where I work there is a tiny bank branch on the ground floor. The two little old ladies who work there as tellers have noticed that I spend my breaks reading, and one day sent me a bag filled with their gently used books. It was very sweet of them, but through the act I learned that these women have very... singular tastes in literature. Thus, my collection of trashy romance novels grew. Rather than immediately taking them to my local thrift or used book store, I decided I would try to read some of them, Virginia. I try not to be one of those who makes fun of anyone's taste in books, but what works for one might not work for me. We're all allowed to enjoy something and get as much entertainment from making fun of it, too. See TLC reality tv for an example.
This is the one book in the entire bag in which the blurb basically told me right away that this was going to be the kind of cray-cray you can only find in Romancelandia. I knew I had to read. I knew I might need a bottle of aspirin nearby (I did), I knew I'd need to keep a notebook handy in case I had any snark to write down (I did - however I opted to write them directly into the books margins instead, thus "improving" the reading experiences of anyone who came after me). The Deed is what SBTB often refers to as "old skool" romances. There's a degree of "bwha?" and political incorrectness that readers today might not tolerate so lightly, but it was enough that in 1997 Lynsay Sands could build a new career for herself.
Oh yeah, I'm not saying that Romance novels being published new today aren't crazy-town banana-pants. But a Virgin Widow? That's the kind of trope you can only find in old skool romances. (Nowadays, it's gotten to be kind of a cliche in Romancelandia, so it's becoming a rarity.)
Yes, now you know the gimmick that attracted me to this particular book. Virgin Widows - how is that supposed to work? Gentle reader, I was dying to know.
Emma has sought the audience of the king to force her husband into giving her the deed. Not, we can assume, the deed of sale, to like, a car or a mobile home or whatever. Anyway, not long after her husband dies. How does someone remain married to a lady, we are assured, so very fetching but doesn't want to have sex with her, not even once? Romancelandia has an entirely different set of rules from Real Life American Physics, and that's the only thing I can think of to explain it. No one knows. Husbies #1 didn't talk much, and as a matter of fact poor communication, and sometimes a complete lack of communication is a huge issue in this book. Another theory? Maybe he was into the dudes. Just a thought.
Emma isn't allowed to enjoy virgin widowhood for very long, because now that she's caught the king's attention, he's already sent a replacement. New theory: the king is like Apple support or something. Bad theory - toss it out. Anyway, his reasoning is that if Emma doesn't remarry soon, her late husband's cousin will take claim of her and all of her wicked cool stuff. We don't want that. That guy is the worst.
Amaury is a buff, tuff warrior guy who, unlike our heroine, has lots of experience with the ladies. (Just for once I'd like to see the hero of a romance novel be, like, a weasely school teacher or something). They have to get married real fast because Cousin Bertrand is coming 'round. They're not even allowed a quick "How d'ya'do? Cute boots you're wearing." Nope, they have to jump in that bed and giggedy-giggedy. But remember, Emma is a virgin - to the degree that an adult woman should never be reasonably allowed to be. I mean (okay, this is my favorite part) she mistook Amaury's penis for a malformed 3rd leg. A 3RD LEG!!!!!! I mean... I mean... that's the goofiest shit I've seen in a long time. I laughed.
There are all these random near-death scrapes, and stupid misunderstandings that only teenagers who don't communicate - just make-out all the time - have. It was incredibly painful to read - I was grateful for my pet Asprin Bottle. It was so, so over done. I made a prediction: that the climax of the plot would be when Amaury finally admitted to Emma that he thought she was smart and pretty, and guess what I was right. This was far more important than they admit that they were in love with each other, which was an entire fiasco all it's own. (They repeatedly realized that they were falling in love with each other for the first time over and over again - this is why this books are for old ladies. They repeat themselves.)
Oh gosh, and then there was that weird rapey scene. I'm still not sure what to make of it. It came out of nowhere and was such an unpleasant surprise. It was... unconventional, let me say that. It was confusing, uncomfortable, and for the way Sands tried to excuse it, was completely unnecessary. 
"Sounds like bad writing."
Yeah, no kidding?





It was frustrating, insipid, goofy, forgettable, and but good for a laugh. It was like a junk food book - not the best thing I could get, but does in a pinch and it's satisfying for a little while. I guess we all like junk food every once in a while.

Blameless: Book Three of the Parasol Protectorate Series

Local Used Bookstore

After reading the Finishing School series in such a whirlwind, I felt a little bad about never having finished up the Parasol Protectorate when I easily could have. The first book had been entertaining, but the second book was a little bit of a pot boiler, and so I nearly fell off because of it. But after enjoying Finishing School so much, I decided I'd wasted enough time not reading the rest and dove right in. During my extended weekend brought on by that surprise dental visit, I had enough time to catch up on some reading - which is always something I'm trying to squirrel out more of. I still managed to take longer than I needed to read this, mainly because the volume before it didn't exactly leave me thrilled, even though it ended in an exciting cliff hanger. In fact, it feels like it has been so long since I've last picked up this series that I barely can remember any of the minor characters. If it hadn't been for my closest friends being in the throes of Carriger Mania, I might not have picked it up again at all. But I'm glad that I did. As for forgetting characters names, I found it was a bit like riding a bike - it all comes back to you pretty quickly.
Now, where we last left off Alexia found herself in a delicate predicament. Cast out by her husband, family, The Queen, and embarrassed by society, you'd be tempted to worry about her. However, Alexia has always managed to take care of herself, though she gets by with a little help from her friends. The always dependable Lord Akeldama has suddenly left London, leaving Alexia to be pursued by all the remaining Vampires of London who now want her dead. She has no choice but to leave town herself, making a break for Italy (along with a few of her dependable friends) to seek out the care (????) of the Knights Templar - a collection of highly trained warrior monks. While there, Alexia learns more about her predicament and herself.
I'm really glad I decided to finally read further than the 2nd book. The characters are developing further and it's so much more interesting as a whole. I only have two books left of the series and I'm a little worried about what I'll do after it's all done (It isn't like I don't have 3 bookcases literally overflowing with unread books, bless my heart) but the good news is that I have Gail's new book preordered!

13 rue, Therese

Book Source: Ms. Laurie

This was a book lent to me by a dear friend of the family - one who loves Paris but who gets the utmost rarest delight in traveling there (which is still more often than I do). Because of this, one year her sister gave her a stack of Paris-themed books. This was one she hadn't gotten around to reading yet, but on a visit she allowed me to take it home.
I love a good historic novel, and this was an odd one. But when I say "odd," what I really mean to say is that it's a bit of a curiosity. In fact, if you like books with puzzles and artifacts to look through while reading it, this is a good choice - and unusual because they are usually more thriller-mystery-adventure stuff. And this was... really hard to peg down: not a romance, not really chick-lit, but I don't know many men who would willingly read it without a ton of convincing first. Literary fiction?
The premise of this novel is that an American scholar visits a library in Paris and is inflicted with a box of letters and personal items to sort through, and threading them together tells us the story of a Parisian woman named Louise. (Actually, a cool side note is that the author actually grew up in the same building, a floor below, the real Louise. Though this book only borrows and fictionalizes the woman's name and the mementos she left behind when she died)
Louise is in an - well, not unhappy marriage, but an unsatisfying one. Here first love was forbidden to her - her own cousin, who died during World War 1. She later settled into a marriage with a young man her father approved of, and she was content with it until a young family moves into an empty apartment in the building which she lives and she begins a secret correspondence (resulting in an inevitable love affair) with the father and husband. (Spoiler: somehow she manages to keep her marriage from unraveling afterwards)
It's a quick read - and since I read it at the same time I read A Tale For The Time Being, it's a little hard not to compare the two even if they have nothing in common - which seems really silly, now that I think about it. Both books were serious, but this one was a little weaker of the two. It's kind of like a candy truffle of a novel - decadent and rich, and if you let it melt on your tongue your knees will buckle, but you kind of feel a little guilty for enjoying it so much.

Manga Manifesto, Bride's Story, and Sakuran

I made a promise to talk about every book I've read from cover to cover - I also made a promise to talk a little about everything I read while away on vacation, and that it would be a lot. But I've never written reviews for comic books until now. Interestingly, because I've been a huge fan of manga since I was 13. College almost killed that joy, but in the past year I've reconciled with it.
A note on comics, manga, and shojo: Manga might not be as popular now as it has been in the last few years. That's okay, because it's still really huge. I understand that in the wide, wide world people still think of comic books as "for the boys," and that's still largely true - in American comics. With the introduction of manga in the US, and the shojo genre with it, there was finally something on the market for girls to read. I understand that Marvel and DC have tried (with limited success) to introduce something marketed towards girls. The thing is, they always seem completely clueless as to how to navigate those waters. I really think the popularity of manga has a lot to do with having a HUGE female audience. In 2001, I was one of those kids that helped make manga so popular. Manga, particularly CLAMP's Cardcaptor Sakura, introduced me to comic books. In the early oughts the quality and quantity of manga available doesn't compare with what it is today. Anime and manga was still a very niche market. It was rare and expensive, but the fans didn't take themselves so seriously and it was still, well, fun. All the same, when people tell me that girls don't read comic books, I think of shojo manga - a genre made for and adored by women all over the world.

Comics makes great beach reads, too. It's a breeze to read through and doesn't take the same amount of concentration that novels require. Personally, I find it hard to read anywhere that isn't perfectly quiet and private. Hotel rooms with TV's blaring, bustling pool sides, etc can be very distracting to me, even when they don't mean to be - I'm particular about my surroundings. But when I'm reading comics, none of that is an issue. That's how during this trip I managed to read 5 volumes of manga and a leetle bit of Clash of Kings.

I started the series Bride's Story by Kaoru Mori - the first three volumes of it, at least. Bride's Story is gorgeously illustrated and richly detailed. I'm personally a big fan of historic fiction and costume drama, and if you are too that this'll be your cuppa. Bride's Story is set in Central Asia's Silk Road, a setting that isn't often seen fictionalized in Western literature. That alone makes it worth a read, in my opinion.

It's about a young boy who takes a 20 year old woman from a semi-nomadic tribe as a wife. As you can imagine, there is some nudity, but it's nothing I think you'd try to hide your kids from. ... Unless it's that big of a deal to you. Honestly, it's a beautiful series with a very sweet story. Of all the manga I read this week, it's probably the best written. Even if you don't read graphic novels very often, I think this would still be interesting to a lot of women. Volume 1 introduced us to the characters and world, but not in the tired, worn out way that manga usually does it. In Volume 2, Amar (our favorite bride, who is really more of a big sister character - tough, but sweet) makes a new friend. There is some fighting over her - this is some of the family politics of the time, but it's basically resolved. Volume 3 is where the drama picks up. In fact, Amar and her child groom Karluk are barely in it. The volume ended on a cliff hanger involving a character that initially wasn't much more than a dippy side character. So I'm eagerly waiting to get my grubby little paws on volume 4.

If you're as curious about the daily lives of women and families on the silk road as you are dramatic stories - thinking along the lines of  Downton Abbey of Central Asia and The Silk Road - I do recommend this series highly.
I've quickly become a fan of Kaoru Mori's work, and it's surprising that I'm only discovering her now. She's well known for Emma, which speaking of Downton Abbey, is Victorian romance about a maid, as Kaoru Mori is a bit of an anglophile. It won't be long before I pick up that manga series as well.

The next manga title I read over vacation was a one volume, shrink wrapped title called Sakuran ("Derangement" in English). Sakuran is set in Japan's Edo period, in the "pleasure quarter," about a courtesan. In other words, it's about a Japanese prostitute. Fun Facts About "Oirans": The way you could tell the difference between a geisha and courtesan at the time is the way that they tied their Obis. Geisha's tied theirs in the back while courtesans tied theirs in the front for easier access. Otherwise, they had a few things in common.
In Sakuran, Kiyoha is sold to a brothel at a young age and is trained from a maid up until she becomes one of the most popular courtesans in the house. She's very sassy and rude, which doesn't make her very popular in the brothel - all the other women she lives with basically hate her. But, that kind of spunk and feminine wiles makes her very popular with customers. The story doesn't so much center around how competitive her life is, but the impossibility of love. As bold and brash as she is, her story is very tragic.
As I've said, it's a shrink wrapped manga, which you understand means one thing - it's for mature readers only, please. But it means another thing, too. Shrink Wrapped Manga was pretty common in the late 90's not because so much of it was for mature audiences, but because the glue was so cheap. Bending the spin while reading, even just a little bit, meant that pages would drop out. I haven't seen that as often lately with manga, but that is definitely true here. If possible, try to read it online instead of buying a hard copy - or watch the movie is you're so inclined.