You Grow Girl by Gayla Trail

My reading plan for the week (Popular Music from Vittula by Mikael Niemi) got hijacked by sunshine. By which I mean, there is sunshine out there and when I walk outside it smells like spring. This means that it is time for me to break out the gardening books, because I can't actually get into the garden yet, probably for another four to six weeks.

Waiting for Gayla Trail's hugely popular (at our library) Grow Great Grub, I have instead picked up her earlier book, named after her blog, You Grow Girl. It's like gardening's answer to the young-hip-knitter books like Chicks with Sticks and Stitch 'N Bitch. It's a very basic guide to gardening, which I need more of like I need a hole in the head, but this one had a few perceived advantages over others.

First, Trail's Canadian. She lives in Toronto, not too far from me. I prefer to read advice from gardeners who have had to put up with crappy, too-hot-or-too-cool unpredictable summers and long, snowy winters. However, I've noticed that despite the fact that Trail gardens basically a stone's-throw (well, if I was Superman) away from my backyard, there is next to no Canadian-specific advice. It's very general leaning towards Americanized, even mentioning things like "state borders" instead of "provincial borders" and it has an inset telling me how to get my soil tested, if I'm American -- but no Canadian info on that. This is particularly galling as I had mentioned to a patron at the library that she was Canadian, and the patron was excited to read something specifically Canadian. Ah well. She does have an entire section on making it through the winter, so that helps. Particularly at this time of year.

The other perceived advantage was Trail's somewhat laissez-faire attitude, and on this she has delivered. I do not mean lazy (this is the sort of gardener I am), I mean try-it-and-see. With a helpful dash of let-it-go-don't-worry-about-it. See, though I am a lazy gardener, I am also an anxious gardener. Or I was, when I started. I am much less now, because let me tell you, being lazy and yet anxious is an exhausting combination. It helps to have books that essentially remind me that plants want to grow, much like The Potted Plant (reviewed lo these many years ago). Sometimes bad gardening books can be like bad parenting books: they make you feel like an idiot if you aren't doing things The Right Way. Trail's writing, however, is neither patronizing nor admonishing, and that's a great thing in a beginner book.

In this book, too, I have also discovered several nifty little ideas that get the creative gardening juices flowing. There are a few little recipes, sewing patterns (I'm going to try to make my own reusable tea bags now, when I get around to it) and other crafty ideas and plans, all very straightforward. The illustrations are cute and hip. Despite not focusing so much on Canada, Trail does provide some reassurances for container gardeners, including those who grow plants on fire escapes and tiny balconies. She's got some great ideas for people who are gardening in very small spaces. I don't have to put up with this anymore, but I still appreciate it.

Finally: if you're a young, hip, male gardener, there is no reason to not use this book, despite its title and despite the introductory paragraphs which do target young women. Generally, after that, Trail doesn't bother with making any distinctions; she just basically mentions the continuing trend of women of my generation in our particular culture picking up things for pleasure that our grandmothers had to do. I'm always sensitive to anything excluding one gender or the other, and this book certainly starts off with the impression of doing so. Part of me wishes she hadn't bothered with that and just kept it to the rest of the completely gender-neutral book, but I guess in the field of beginner gardening books one has to find a way to distinguish oneself.

Overall, Trail's gardening tips are simple to follow (largely) and organic; and her writing style is very accessible, enthusiastic without being terrifying or overwhelming. It is written as a book for raw gardening beginners and as such it delivers admirably. Someone like myself, who considers herself an expert armchair gardener but a bumbling beginner outdoors, can also pick up a few things, but there's not a lot here that will be brand new.

Ranma 1/2 Volumes 26 and 27 by Rumiko Takahashi

I have to say, as much as I enjoy the series, I am sort of running out of things to say about Ranma 1/2. I mean, I think I have covered all the bases: it's silly, it's funny, it's sometimes a little bit emotionally affecting, I like many of the characters, and I think most of the stories have their good points, even the ones that are completely forgettable. We're sitting at Volume 27 complete, now, and we're not getting that much closer to Ranma solving his little dilemma. I have decided that this isn't really the point of this series, though.

Volume 26 contains one of those slightly more "deep" (note the quotation marks, they're there for a reason) storylines, in which an impostor comes to claim Ranma's place in Mrs. Saotome's heart and get revenge on the Anything Goes School. Ranma is pretty awesome in this volume, inspiring some genuine sympathy from me; and Takahashi does that thing she does so well where she appears to be getting serious and then pulls the rug from underneath the reader, laughing all the way.

I really despised Ryu, the false Ranma, at first. I thought pretending to be Ranma to gain his mother's trust was a pretty jackass thing to do to her (as does Ranma) and it doesn't help that he looks an awful lot like Ryoga, who still irritates me. But I have to admit, by the end of the story I'd re-evaluated him. Significantly. I'm glad to see the end of him, but I'd actually come around to accept his character. This is interesting, because I don't think I've had that experience in this series yet.

Which leads well into Volume 27, in which there is a Shampoo heavy story. Given that Shampoo has been around for considerably longer than Ryu was, one would think I might at least be okay with her by now. I'm really not. She bugs me. Now, this storyline was actually okay, because there was lots of Shampoo getting a little taste of her own medicine, and the eight-year-old in me appreciated that a lot. Akane also had a great moment to shine, which she rarely does when Shampoo is around, and that made me happy too. There were a couple of other short stories in this volume, including a Nabiki-heavy one which one would have thought I would have enjoyed, but it was just kind of meh for me. I did enjoy the fact that instead of donating money to adorable children she ended up making money off them -- that was the high point of that storyline for me.

I'm going to start putting the Ranma 1/2 volumes on hold at a rate of three per go-round this time, which will mean... only three more Ranma 1/2 entries on the blog. I am ambivalent about this. I have really been enjoying this series, but my suspicion, as stated at the beginning of this entry, is that I'm coming to the close of things to say. There's only so much I can squeeze out of "it was ridiculous! i like this character! i dislike this one! it was completely stupid and hilarious!"

The Secret Ministry of Frost by Nick Lake

On a winter's day when you don't have to go to school, snow is a beautiful thing: white and other-worldly, it falls gently to the ground in unique, fragile flakes, covering the earth in a softening layer that can make even the ugliest landscapes breathtaking. In the Arctic, though, the beauty of snow is underpinned by deadly danger -- in the same way that a beautiful bunch of flowers becomes something more terrible and more devestating when you see it propped against a lamp post at the side of a busy road, with a note pinned to it.

As I start this review, I'm sitting here at my dining room table, wrapped up in a blanket and shivering. There's a good three to five inches of snow on the ground outside, and some pretty stunning icicles hanging off the trellis. This book has made me cold; this is a cold-weather book, a book to be read in the wintertime when there is snow and ice everywhere and the chill menace of Frost can be felt in the air.

I should mention I live in Southern Ontario. We don't get Arctic temperatures down here. The sun still comes up every day and stays that way for at least seven or eight hours. But reading The Secret Ministry of Frost in winter, even here, just adds to the experience.

Light's father was an Arctic researcher, and he's disappeared. The book opens with his funeral at his estate in Ireland; his body has not been found, but it has been six months and he has been declared dead. Light is an orphan now, her mother having died years before, and the only person left to care for her is Butler, her father's friend and trusted servant. But things rapidly get complicated, and perhaps Light's father is not dead after all -- so Light and Butler set off on an infinitely desperate and dangerous journey to save him, and perhaps the world.

Let me just say, this book is hella difficult to summarize. It's complex and wonderful. It defies classification, which I'll talk about more in a moment. The whole thing has deep roots in Inuit mythology, which I will admit to knowing next to nothing about. I'd heard of Setna and that's about it, I'm afraid. I've got a much better grasp on it now. Lake's use of mythology and Inuktitut is central to the feel of this book, and it's a good introduction, I think, to a culture that is very different from mine. There are themes of grief, loss, death, revenge, morality, hope, life, and loyalty running strongly through the storyline, too. It's not as dark as it might sound -- but this book isn't light, either.

It is a great story. On these meaty concerns, Lake has hung some wonderful characters, among whom Light stands out. Light is a powerful, imperfect, and genuine girl. I like that she's tough and smart and a little sassy, but she screams when I would scream, and she makes mistakes that cost her, and she accepts the consequences of her decisions, and she just keeps going because she needs to even when she doesn't think she can. She's skeptical when she should be, but she moves through that realistically too -- when there's evidence to support what she thinks impossible, she doesn't waste precious time going "I see it, but I don't believe it!" She just rolls with it, not without comment but without obstinate self-inflicted ignorance. She was by far my favourite character, and I think she's a character who is going to stick with me.

Now, about classification. I checked: my library has this in the YA section. Simon and Schuster give it an 11+ rating. I could see putting it in the JFICs for sure -- the writing style warrants that, with short, snappy chapters and mostly very easy reading. But I think I know why the library's stuck it in YA: it's violent and scary. There is blood, guts, gore, and characters we grow to love dying in very unpleasant ways, which my library at least tends to avoid putting in the JFIC unless it's an Issues book based on contemporary or historical realities, or a "classic." I don't necessarily agree with this, mind you. But I do think that as a librarian I will be a little careful about which readers I recommend this to, because I know as a kid this book would have given me nightmares. The thing, of course, about classifying this as YA is that more people will read it and that's a good thing. Adults tend not to read in the JFIC (unless they're like me and several other librarians I know, or reading books with their kids) but many of them do occasionally browse the YA, and this is a book that adults will enjoy too.

Overall, this is an amazingly original book, with a fascinating premise, lots of tension, and great action. I love that it's based on a mythology and culture that tends not to show up in literature often, particularly in the fantasy genre, and I would recommend it just for that. Luckily, it's also just an awesome story.

I must thank Mandy for this one. She not only wrote the great review that got me interested, but she then proceeded to give me the book to make sure I did read it! It's taken me a while to get to it (I'm getting to all my Christmas reading now, is how bad the backlog is) but it was absolutely worth the wait.

*book clubbing* Lament by Maggie Stiefvater

We're baaaaaack! And this time Mandy and I have reviewed and discussed Maggie Stiefvater's Lament. I am a little behind on the Stiefvater curve -- I know a lot of people have read both this and Shiver. But better late than never. Head on over to edge of seventeen to check out Mandy's review! I'm always amazed and excited about how we can read the same book and yet get such different things out of it.

My review:

I got totally wrapped up in this book. When I put it down, I was thinking about it. I possibly dreamed about it. I like that in a book, and I've not had it in a little while. There are books that make me gulp them down whole, which is also a good experience to have every now and then; Lament wasn't like that, and now that I'm done I don't feel like I've been gorging myself on slightly too-sweet milk chocolate. This one could be put down -- but not for too long -- and I could, nay, had to slow down to savour the writing, because that's something Stiefvater does extremely well. There's a good balance of suspense and humour and angst.

Lament is the story of Deirdre Monaghan, extreme introvert and harpist extrordinaire, who right around the time of her sixteenth birthday discovers she has a few rather unusual talents. And it turns out faeries are real, but they're not the pleasant, cutesy faeries with gossamer wings and magic wands we might hope. These faeries are immortal, powerful, indifferent (at best) to human suffering, and largely extremely unpleasant. Dee's attracting the wrong attention and things are going to get worse before they get better, if they ever do get better.

First of all, let me say, hooray for inhuman non-humans! Some of the fae might look human, enough to pass, but they're sure as hell not. And they are not nice creatures, either, although some of them are just amoral, as opposed to creepy and awful. Creepy and awful is something that most authors can do, but a decisively, strangely, inhumanly amoral non-human is another thing entirely and Stiefvater pulls it off. I liked Dierdre, too, as a sixteen-year-old girl. She felt right to me, for someone in her situation; I think she dealt with most things like I would expect her to.

There were, though, some inconsistencies that bothered me. Decisions that were made by Dee without me fully understanding how or why those decisions were made, even when I got the feeling that there must be a reason other than plot advancement... There was one thing in particular that bothered me a lot, something I can't talk about because it's a major spoiler, where emotional depth seemed to be sacrificed for plot or pacing. It still doesn't sit well with me. There were a few cases like this where things happened that I think probably should have been acknowledged more by the characters; on the other hand, though, it might have slowed down the book considerably. I don't know if slowing things down a bit would have been a bad thing. Some of Dee's familial relationships, in particular, seemed to be less developed than I might have wanted; but then, her family really is largely background in this story, as opposed to major players. As I read more YA, this does seem to be a bit of a theme across books I've read.

Overall, this is a relatively light book -- having put a few days between reading it and now, I'm not really thinking about it so much, unlike some books which stick with me weeks and months and even years later. I have no hesitation recommending this book to fans of fantasy and YA. This is a romance, and that part of the story gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from me even though it's a triangle again. Although, what is with the YA love triangles involving really nice best friends who suddenly get up the balls to say something once the protag has decided she loves someone else?! I just really don't like them, usually, and even here it made me glower a bit, although the third wheel really never gets rolling.

Ballad is the sequel to Lament, which is kind of crying out for a sequel, if just to see whether Dee's horrible aunt Delia gets hers. I am not chomping at the bit to read Ballad, though -- I'm happy with where I left the characters and the story. I'm more inclined to try Shiver, if I can catch it as it zips off the library shelves. Stiefvater's writing really has potential, and as Shiver is a later book of hers I'm wondering if some of the structural things that bugged me in Lament have been cleared up in Shiver.

***

Mandy and I enjoyed our Chatzy experience so much last time that we've gone back for more. Following is our discussion, which encompasses fairies, prologues, bad boys who are not bad, problematic relatives and the world of Lament. Enjoy!


Mandy: Have you read any other teen books about fairies? Do you like fairies in fiction? I've only read Wicked Lovely. I can't say I'm a fairy person.

kiirstin: I'm... hmm. That's a really good question. I have, actually. O. R. Melling's books -- The Hunter's Moon being my favourite -- actually stack up quite favourably against Lament. Plus there's CanCon.

Mandy: Oh yeah. I haven't read any Melling. It's good stuff?

kiirstin: Quite. Some better than others, but largely really good. Um, the Spiderwick books too, on a junior fic level, are pretty awesome about fairies. I haven't read Wicked Lovely though. Is it comparable?

Mandy: Yeah, I think I've only read the first Spiderwick book. But it WAS good. Apparently based loosely on a true story. Or at least, Holly knew a family who claimed to see Fairies. Wicked Lovely is pretty comparable.

kiirstin: I did not know there was a kernel of truth in the Spiderwick Chronicles. I love that. I've read other fairy/Sidhe stuff too. Some of Mercedes Lackey's urban fantasies. Oh, and Charles de Lint has to count. Apparently I have read a fair bit!

Mandy: Way more than me! :) You are the fairy expert between us.

kiirstin: What was it about the fairy aspects that turned you off, do you think?

Mandy: Well Fairies in fiction don't turn me off. I just don't look out for fairies. Although I do have that assumption that fairies are going to have sparkles on them.

kiirstin: I think there is a difference between "fairy" and "faerie"

Mandy: Oh, tell me about the difference in spelling.

kiirstin: Okay. Let's see. I think the difference is maybe in my head, but I have perceived that "fairy" is usually used to mean sprites in tutus with wings and wands. And faerie, or fae, tends to be a little more on the human-sized immortal side -- what I would actually tend to call "elves" -- I am really not up on the actual mythology. Although the Wikipedia article uses the "fairy" spelling.

Mandy: Maybe it's like Vampyre? :)

kiirstin: Ha! Yes, almost certainly.

Mandy: I thought Dee's mom was kind of a jerk. And cardboard-y. She really wanted to stunt her daughter into the perfect model of daughter-dom. Kind of freaky.

kiirstin: Yes, actually, I disliked her a lot. I thought there could have been a lot more development around Dee's family situation. I think I could have found her mother an interesting character, but there wasn't enough there.

Mandy: Totally. Even with her aunt and her aunt's fate.

kiirstin: Oh my god. That whole thing, yes. I have to admit, her aunt was pretty fascinating, but how much did I want to punch her. I did like that she went from just being an overbearing, sour, terrible relative to much more sinister.

Mandy: And I like how Dee's grandmother like, knew that her aunt had something wrong with her.

One of the scariest scenes in Lament was when Dee is in bed and kind of wakes up to realize that there's a very present dark shape in the corner of her room. So scary! I thought this scene was well done.

kiirstin: Ugh, yes! I agree. And the sort of thing that keeps people up at night. Just saying. Overall, I was pretty impressed with the scenery and descriptions. Even something as simple as the reception tent, I could identify that space. It grounded the story very well.

Can we talk about the beginning a bit? What worked well, what didn't?

Mandy: Yeah of course! Like the prologue, which was stellar?

kiirstin: One of the best opening scenes of a book I've read, I think.

Mandy: Absolutely. Chilling and kind of perfect.

kiirstin: It opened itself up to so many questions. Who is the boy? What are the nails for? What's the deal with the bird? I couldn't help myself -- I had to keep reading.

Mandy: The ambiguity was perfect. I wanted to dive into the book right away. And I love that, after having read the book, I went back to re-read the prologue and it was even cooler. All of the images made sense in a whole new way.

kiirstin: I should try that, actually. I do think, too, it prepared me a little for feeling somewhat baffled for the first little bit of the book. Which I was.

Mandy: I love reading the beginning of books right after finishing them. I can't explain why it's such a neat experience.

kiirstin: That's pretty cool. I am absolutely going to start trying that. Was it a conscious thing that she did, do you think?

Mandy: I don't know. There's a lot of images at the beginning that are beautifully written without giving anything away. I think this was masterfully done. What was the strongest aspect of the beginning for you? After the prologue?

kiirstin: That's a hard question, because I actually got a bit frustrated with the beginning post-prologue. I think the description of place was very solid. And I did like Dee pretty much off the bat. What about you?

Mandy: I didn't love Dee. And I was like "Why is this guy being so perfect with her? So sensitive and interested in her?"

kiirstin: "And why is she okay with that?"... was my big question.

Mandy: Yeah. Luke kept telling her about herself. I mean, when is this a turn-on?

kiirstin: That's such a good point. It's actually just stalker creepy. And yet, you liked Luke, no?

Mandy: Well, he was okay. He was no Patch from Hush Hush in terms of bad boys with a heart of gold. I would liked to have seen a bit of his worse side, considering his background. There's a great scene halfway into the book where the reader starts to immediatey wonder what Luke really wants with Dee. And I felt that that could have been worked in a little better.

kiirstin: Yeah. I was never really convinced that Dee was ever in any danger from Luke, even though I think I was supposed to be.

Mandy: Yes, that's it exactly. He was too nice. And how could he be?

kiirstin: It's this whole problem of having "teenage" characters who are incredibly old, and yet don't seem to carry the weight of their history at all.

Mandy: Exactly.

kiirstin: He acts quite mature, but undamaged. One would expect someone with his life experience to be permanently scarred by it. If he really was a nice, decent guy, I would think that his experiences would have made him crazy.

Mandy: Like Spike, season 7.

kiirstin: Yes! Yes. Ah, Spike.

Mandy: Incapable of a relationship, really. Or at least really messed up about them. Not the perfect guy that any girl would swoon over.

kiirstin: Yeah. A pretty scary creature, all-in-all. Who probably needs at least 500 years of talk therapy to work his way through his problems.

Mandy: "talk therapy" -- too funny

kiirstin: I did enjoy Lament -- I'm glad I read it. I really think Maggie Stiefvater's writing has a lot of potential, and I'm looking forward to trying Shiver. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I think I had pretty high expectations. Overall, though, the world-building and setting seems to be something we both appreciated.

Mandy: I also liked the "explanation" for how faeries use their powers, based on consuming and manipulating energy. Very smart and unique.

kiirstin: And the way it wasn't Faerie that granted Dee her powers, but rather that her powers made her a target. Like Faerie was a side-effect.

Mandy: Very cool.

***

And there we are! Thanks Mandy, for the great discussion!

Both Mandy and I are pretty backlogged for books now, but our next book to read together is one we're both really excited about, and something quite different from what we've reviewed so far. In an interesting coincidence, I notice that Katie over at read what you know has just reviewed Lament too, and has yet another perspective on Lament than Mandy and I did.

look what I did!

I'm participating in Aarti's wonderful series, With Reverent Hands. Go see! If you've never been to B O O K L U S T before, you're in for a treat. It's one of my very favourite book blogs. Go for my Patricia McKillip lurve and stay for Aarti's insights and excellent reading choices.

By the way, if you've been reading my blog for a while, you will know about that book already. But I say some new stuff about it!