Stardust by Neil Gaiman

I finally read Stardust this weekend.  And what a good read it was!  I normally read books before movies, but in this case, I just happened to see the movie first.  The movie was very good, starring Claire Danes and some other guy I've never heard of.  The plot was interesting with lots of twists and turns and combined fantasy and romance very well.  The book was all those things, plus Neil Gaiman's wonderful writing.

The book.

Stardust is the story of young Tristran Thorn, a romantic boy who is in love with the "prettiest girl in all England", Victoria Forester.  She, however, sees him as merely a shop boy with no prospects whatsoever.  So, Tristran makes a bargain: if he finds a shooting star that has just fallen, Victoria must marry him.  She laughingly agrees and Tristran sets off over the wall that separates a regular English village from the land of Faerie.  He ends up where the star fell and he is shocked to find that the star is not just a piece of glittering rock, but a woman named Yvaine.  He ties her up and insists that she come with him to meet his future wife.  She, with much complaining and eye-rolling, agrees to go.

The movie.

Meanwhile, there are two other people that are on the hunt for this star.  Three brothers who are up to no good must find the star before one of them becomes king.  Along the way, their four ghost brothers who are already dead provide commentary on the living brothers' quest.  Also, the Lilim, three ugly and wicked witches, are on the hunt for Yvaine because if they cut out her heart they will be young again.  Tristran and Yvaine have more adventures, from meeting the sky pirates to meeting a lion and a unicorn fighting for a crown.  And, of course, there is a happy ending.

I really enjoyed this book.  It was the perfect weekend read because I had the time to sit down and read larger chunks of it instead of just a page here and a page there.  I recommend this for anyone who likes a good fantasy story with a good portion of suspense.

Sunset

Here's a sunset picture for all you lovely readers.  I'm taking a little blogging

break for today, but I'll be back tomorrow with a review of the book Stardust.

Hope you all have had a lovely weekend and are refreshed for a new week!

The Pigs

We have pretty much every animal on my farm: beef cattle, chickens, a few loud guinea hens, 3 ornery geese, sheep, goats, two dogs, and a bunch of barn kitties that roam at will.  Well, three days ago a kind neighbor called and asked if we wanted 3 little piglets.  After a few minutes of thinking, we said yes.  So now, there are three little piglets that are living in a horse stall until they are old enough to go out on pasture.  These pigs were born in an extremely conventional (for the United States) pig operation, called CAFO units.  Now these 3-week-old piglets are living in a wildly different setting at our farm.  They have will have lots of sunshine and grass and I think they're going to be very happy.

Piggy naptime.  They're babies, so they spend quite a lot of time
sleeping and chewing on things.

Contemplative pig.

I promise, this is the last time you will ever see a pig butt on my blog.
But look!  It's a perfect heart and no, that wasn't tattooed on.

Since we've gotten pigs, I am remembering all of these books and stories about pigs.   Of course, there's the classic Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, but there are many others.  In Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder, there is a story about somebody taking a pig for a ride on a bobsled.  All I remember about that story is it was funny.  Then there's the Beatrix Potter book, Pigling Bland.  There's the famous Charlotte's Web, the pigs in the Richard Scarry books, the stories about Olivia the pig, and dear old Babe: The Gallant Pig.

The waterer.  It's just a pvc pipe with a little tappy-nipple thing like
rabbits use.  These smarties figured it out without any coaching on our part!

The shoelaces on boots make excellent chew toys.

Apparently chewing on the feeder and an old rag is very fun.

This is just a smidgen of the stories about pigs.  I've wondered why there were so many pig stories, but I'm starting to understand it since I got pigs.  You see, pigs are one of the most sensitive and smart farm animals.  They actually remind me a lot of dogs.  They can get very bored if they don't have something engaging to do, they get lonely if they don't have company, and they all have very distinct personalities.  The most rewarding thing about taking care of the pigs is that when you go out to the barn, the pigs have a special happy grunt when they hear people.  All this to say, I think I'm going to like keeping pigs and I can understand why people have liked them for a long time.

Speaking from Among the Bones

I'm done with Flavia de Luce # 5, Speaking From Among the Bones.  Well!  I finished the last page and shrieked a little when I finished it.  The very last sentence drops a huge bombshell.  I have recommended Flavia over and over on this blog, so I don't think I need to rhapsodize anymore about how wonderful the books are.  Instead, I'll give a brief summary and then some of my favorite quotes from this book.

In this book, the little Hamlet, Bishop's Lacey, in which Flavia lives is holding a five-hundredth anniversary celebration of Saint Tancred.  In this celebration, they will dig up his remains.  Flavia just so happens to be on the spot and is the first to discover the former church organist, killed and wearing a gas mask in the tomb of Saint Tancred.  Nobody can think who would have bad feelings for the mild mannered Mr. Collicutt, but Flavia is determined to find out.

Quotes (Some of these, I marked in the book because I liked them, and some are thanks to GoodReads, who helps me remember every book quote I ever forgot):

“I was the eighth dwarf. Sneaky.”

“There's an unwritten law of the universe which assures that the thing you seek will always be found in the last place you look. It applies to everything in life from lost socks to misplaced poisons. . .”- This is so true!  

“The word “actually,” like its cousin “frankly,” should, by itself, be a tip-off to most people that what is to follow is a blatant lie— but it isn’t.” -  And, I would add, "No offense".  Of course you are going to say something offensive, there's no need to add that annoying little preface. 

“History is like the kitchen sink,” Adam answered. “Everything goes round and round until eventually, sooner or later, most of it goes down the waste pipe. Things are forgotten. Things are mislaid. Things are covered up. Sometimes, it’s simply a matter of neglect.” 

And finally, I have a poll for all you readers.  How do you pronounce the name Flavia?  When I read the first book, I pronounced it "Flahvia".  But here's the thing: Flavia nicknames herself "Flave", which makes me think that maybe it's "Flaevia."  I wonder if this is a British/American thing. I have a poll to the right and I'd love it if you would vote one way or the other.

A Letter to My Library

Dearest Library,

I really do adore you.  You are filled with fantastic, interesting books on pretty much any subject under the sun.  Many of those books are delightfully musty and smell of interesting places and times.  However, like most things, you have your faults.  I am writing to address the several small irksome things that bother readers everywhere.

A random lamb picture.  Meet Louisa May Alcott.

1.  Puhlease do not ever, under any circumstance, put the barcode right over the synopsis.  I'm not going to check out a book if I have no idea what it is about.  There have been many books that look very interesting, but are all covered up by stickers and barcodes, so that I can't see the cover and I can't see the plot and I can see about half of the author's name.

2.   I am begging you: don't get rid of the old, archaic books.  They are usually some of the most charming and interesting books.  I understand that they might not be as huge a crowd pleaser as vampire fiction.  However, the old dears have lived a long life and deserve a respectable old age on a nice library shelf, not pitched in the library sale bin.  If you keep them, I promise I will check them all out and read them cover to cover.

3.  Comfy armchairs- how would you feel about putting some really comfy armchairs in a cozy little corner?  I doubt that a squishy old armchair is any more expensive than the stiff chairs you have sitting rather awkwardly around.  That said, this is lower on the list than keeping the old books and the barcodes covering up important parts.  I understand that you have limited money, thanks to cuts in state funding, which is most definitely not your fault.

4.  I wish that I could have more book requests from inter-library loan.  Honestly, after 1/2 an hour with my book blogs, I have far more than 5 book requests.  I understand that if everybody got 100 requests, there would be no books left on the shelves.  But 10 requests?  Please?

And those, dear Library, are my simple requests.  However, I want you to know that if you don't fulfill my requests, I will still come faithfully every week.  I am so pleased with the great service that you do to my community.  One of the best services in the world is access to free books, wherever and whoever you are.

Your's Truly,
Clara

4/23/14 Library Loot

Here's this week's Library Loot from The Captive Reader.  I went to the library yesterday, so this post is just in time!  I got a good pile (I've been having great book luck recently).  I hope you find some titles to add to you TBR list!
                                       

1.  The Scent of Water is a story of a woman who finds consolation for a failed romance in a little country cottage and the people that she meets around her.  I love Elizabeth Goudge, so I think this will be good.

2.  Another Fred Chappell book.  I'm sure it's going to be just as good as Brighten the Corner Where You Are.  This is the story of Jess Kirkman, the son of protagonist in Brighten the Corner.  As his grandmother is dying, he looks back on the stories of the women before her.

3.  A 20s mystery about a husband and wife detective team who solve a murder case.  The back of the book says that this book has a lot of social commentary in it.  The book makes fun of murder stories, with the victim being shot, stabbed, bludgeoned, strangled, and poisoned!  This is also a very feminist book, with commentary about the helpless position that most women were in.  The very equal partnership between the husband and wife is emphasized.  I'm interested to read this!

4.  The 5th Flavia de Luce Book

5.  The 6th- and last- Flavia de Luce book.

6.  Introverts in the Church: Finding Our Place in an Extroverted Culture- The title is pretty self-explanatory. I found this on some blog, I'm sorry I can't remember where.  As an introvert in the church, I think this is going to be a very interesting and inspiring read.

7. For some reason, the last two times I was at the library, I forgot to get the 3rd Emma Graham book.  I'm glad I finally remembered!

8.  I am so pleased that I found this.  (From another blog...blogs have given me so many good book ideas!)  I read Nancy Drew in late elementary school/early middle school and loved them, although I distinctly remember noticing that I could never remember the latest Nancy Drew I had read.  They all kind of ran together.  However, I have a real fondness for Nancy and it will be interesting to read about her origins.

So that's my loot for the week!  What did you get?

I am Half-Sick of Shadows

I got my Flavia de Luce book back!  I sat down and started reading.  I think this might be my favorite of the Flavia de Luce books so far because of all the developments in character and in the ongoing story about Flavia's mysterious mother.  I really was very pleased with what happened in this story.  The other new new thing about this book for me is that for the first time, I actually am interested in Dogger's character.  (Dogger is Flavia's father's valet of sorts and also a gardener/odd jobs man.  They were also in a war together and Dogger still has painful flashbacks.)  He seems to be developing into a main character and not just a background character.

In this book, Colonel de Luce (Flavia's father) is even closer to bankruptcy on the old mansion in which they live.  Finally, he hears about a film producer that is looking for an old English mansion for his latest film.  Colonel de Luce rents out the mansion and the set trucks and the famous actors start appearing a few weeks before Christmas.  This both disappoints and thrills the de Luce daughters, who are excited to have real live actors living with them, but also disappointed because it means that there will be no Christmas tree and presents.  However, things start to get very exciting when Flavia becomes friends with the selfish but strangely likable leading actress.  The night after a play that the actors give for the locals, Flavia can't sleep and so is wandering the halls.  Suddenly, she hears a movie that the actress starred in.  She hurries to the actress's room and finds her, hung from the ceiling with rolls of film.  But the odd and slightly chilling thing is that the actress was dressed and covered with make-up after she died.  Now it's up to Flavia, with the grudging assistance of the inspector, to find out whodunnit.  There are a pile of suspects, as half the village has been snowed in with the de Luces.

The quote on which the title of the book is based.
Each book title in the series is from a quote.

I am enjoying each Flavia de Luce book more and more as I go along.  Each story stands out in my mind and the characters are well-developed.  My next read will probably be the 5th Flavia book.  I'm also very excited because there is a TV show about Flavia de Luce being made this year!  I will most definitely be watching it.