1/16/2012 -

Amongst these Shadowhunters are Will, annoyingly arrogant yet charming and fiercely loyal to Jem, a pale, mysterious young man not often seen by the others. There are Mr. Henry and Mrs. Charlotte Branwell, the heads of this Shadowhunters Institute who take a vested interest in Tessa and the new-found abilities she exhibits. And there is Jessamine, a proud, selfish girl who sees the Institute as the bane of her existence where she has been thrust back since her parents’ deaths.

Tessa has been thrown into a world that only inhabited stories as the Institute and its Shadowhunters now look into the disappearance of her brother Nathaniel and his connection to a group called The Pandemonium Club.

(To be continued)

So when this book was given to me for Christmas, all I could do was gasp in rapture over it. I have never owned a book this beautiful and I am looking forward to reading all the stories it holds.

Thank you, my dear. This is wonderful!

Born to nobility and duty, Jacquetta was married off at sixteen to the Duke of Bedford, the Protector of Calais, the King of England’s man in France. When illness took her might husband, Jacquetta married herself to Richard Woodville, his faithful squire, a marriage of love despite social inconvenience.

Born of a line that claimed the river goddess Melusina as its matriarch, Jacquetta was taught herbology, as well as divining by wise women of her family and acquaintance. Her first husband sought to use her virginity in his alchemy, her Sight in his planning. Jacquetta did indeed See, though when her fellow Duchess was arrested and tried for witchcraft, sorcery, and treason, she denies her abilities and refuses to practice them outside of her chambers.

Jacquetta takes Margaret of Anjou, become Queen of England, under her wing, doing her best to try to wrangle the passionate, opinionated Frenchwoman. And that is a task to be the making of any strong Englishwoman, as you will see.

Once again, Gregory has brought characters to vivid life and stark reality. Jacquetta and Richard are characters that you come to adore, fear for, and cheer on as they long for each other, do their duty, and raise their family.  The Lady of the Rivers ends JUST where The White Queen will pick up and that is a beautiful moment to realize.

This book, based loosely on Perrault’s fairytale “Donkeyskin” (or as we know it from “The Storyteller”, “Sapsorrow”), focuses on an Earth Master named Richard Whitestone. Struck by tragedy Whitestone soon falls into despair and darkness, blighting the land for which he was supposed to care. Meanwhile, his motherless daughter, his wife having died in childbirth, grows up in obscurity and power. Susanne is a Master herself and must soon come to terms with her father’s descent into darkness and what he now plans to do.

I hesitate to go on because it will give away a compelling story that strives in directions that I did not expect. This book is easily laid alongside Lackey’s Phoenix and Ashes as the overarching event of World War I is the same, as it details its effects on these Elemental Magicians. Lackey is also a master at dialect and the thick couintry Yorkshire brogue employed during the first half of the novel is written brilliantly.

I am vastly picky about my magical fantasy but the Elemental Masters books will always have me eager to read.

The images are beautiful from the beginning, with a brave little moonbeam seeking out something that just “doesn’t feel right”. That imagery alone is lovely to me, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book. ^_^

Here we get her side of the story, beginning with her wedding day and how she met the King in the first place. I love redone fairy tales, as you know, so I was very, very excited to find this book in Half Price Books today. It is 250 pages long and has an Accelerated Reader level of 5.8 so that students could most definitely use for their A.R. Tests in school.

11/22/2011 – FINISHED - This book was very good and so very sad. Valentino did an excellent job tracing the downward spiral of a woman torn by grief and loss of love. It rather echoes Gregory Maguire’s question: “Are people born wicked or are they made that way?”

It’s a quick read once you sit down with it so if you’d like something to evoke those fairytale memories, this is the perfect book for you!

This book tells the story of MiM, the Man in the Moon, his parents, and their amazing flying moon-ship. The illustrations are lusciously colorful, the story beautiful and engaging. This is a story that I would recommend for any child and I am hoping that it will be one that my students know by heart someday.

9/22/2011 –

9/26/2011 – I’m still mesmerized. Celia’s audition for Les Cirque de Reves  was simply amazing! And the challenge has begun!

Morgenstern’s way of weaving color, image, and action  makes everything flow like water around you, like a river that you cannot stop, nor would you want to. It’s too beautiful, too…much. You just want to lie back and let the river take you where it will.

9/30/2011 - How is it possible that almost every chapter of this book makes me smile, marvel, and re-read in some way, shape, or form? It does and I am amazed by it. Single lines, entire descriptions, quick moments or quips…these all catch me and make me thrill all over again. It has been a long, long time since I have been so enthralled by an author and I think I shall just keep praise Morgenstern over and over again until she proves me otherwise.

One of my favorite passages:

“So proper for a circus girl,” Mme. Pava says with a gleam in her eye. “We shall have to loosen those corset laces if we intend to keep you as intimate dinner company.”

“I expected the corset lacing would take place after dinner,” Celia says mildly, earning a chorus of laughter.

“We shall be keeping Miss Bowen as intimate company regardless of the state of her corset,” Chandresh says. “Make a note of that,” he adds, waving a hand at Marco.

“Miss Bowen’s corset is duly noted, sir,” Marco replies, and the laughter bubbles over the table again. (page 136)

10/5/2011: I will say that we must needs credit Ms. Morgenstern with being the author who convinced me to purchase my first book on a Kindle. I decided that The Night Circus is so amazing that I simply must share it with friends. But what would I do when I no longer had the book in my possession? I would be bereft. So I asked my husband’s permission to purchase a copy of the book on his Kindle so that I would always have access to it. So…brava, Ms. Morgenstern. I am not fully converted but I am willing to note uses. ^_^

10/7/11 - Few books have affected me, surprised me, dismayed me, and delighted me so that I had to put them down for a little while. This is one such book. I will not give away the moment, as that would be unfair to others.

While some may find Morgenstern’s back and forth between past and present jarring, I still feel that it flows fairly well as, by that point, you are absorbed into several different threads of the same tale, each their own story in and of themselves. I find myself able to move fairly easily between Celia and Marco, Laynie and Mr. Barris,  Marco and Chandresh, Bailey and the Murray twins, and, when they all finally come together in a startling moment, the effect is quite striking. And, yes, jarring.

The kind that leaves my heart pounding and aching for more.

10/8/2011 – FINISHED: I finished this book in the quiet of a sleepy Saturday morning and in the company of friends. No better way to do so, I think. I have to say that I was quite pleased with the ending, with the way that the important parts of the stories were laced together and bowed, like the laces at the entrance to Widget’s dream and memory tent.

This has been the first book in a long while to capture me as it has and I must tip my hat to Miss Morgenstern. She has perhaps only one grammatical quirk that could tend to annoy me, if I decided to let it. But I won’t.

Thank you, Erin, for an amazing debut. May all your future efforts be as fruitful and, if I and other reveurs may hope, perhaps someday we may all return to the Circus together.

Lisa is a lovely, fiery character and to see her surrounded by such greats as Da Vinci and Botticelli, not to mention the Di Medici was immensely gratifying, as was the part she played in one of the greatest works of art in history. But she didn’t capture me like Catherine de Medici or Catarina Sforza or even Sancha of Aragon did. Her determination was not centered on duty, not really, or not even love, but on hatred. A burning, deep-seeded hatred that changed foci several times. It made her dark and almost scary in a way. Not as endearing as she could have been.

So, all in all, not a bad book but not one of my favorites.

However, I cannot let a silly fear keep me from one of my favorite authors or the idea that a girl who would be Queen was very human after all. Now can I?

That being said, I truly have enjoyed the first few pages and Weir’s third person limited view of a dear, three-year-old Elizabeth and how she views the world around her.