Sharp Teeth by Toby Barlow

Don't judge a book by its blurb. This is a verse novel written about werewolf gangs in LA. It follows several characters, all affected by the history of these gangs and who are currently getting wound up in multiple revenge plots. It also involves a love story with a human. I know - I almost didn't read it either. I picked it up because I got it mixed up with another author and the cover seemed neat. I would have put it back, but the positive review by Gregory Maguire (of Wicked fame) in the front cover convinced me to give it a shot.

I can't say that I really loved the book - but I was definitely fascinated. It was an interesting book, rather than one you read for entertainment. I'd long ago given up on the gimmicks of verse novels, but this one found a way to separate itself from those. The author is clearly a talented poet, and often has interesting imagery in his lines. Though he occasionally slips into the old gimmicks of sub-par teenage verse novels, overall he has found his own way of using poetry and plot together to make a hybrid creation. I think this is a step in the right direction to finding a modern form for successful verse novels and I wonder if it's a way for poetry to return in popularity and sophistication. I read Macbeth alongside it and found the comparison fascinating - it would be neat to see if a (good) modern form of poetic storytelling will develop.

The story itself is gritty and gruesome and very adult. The poetic nature brings a focus to the emotional elements of the story and it's a bit of a challenge to read in comparison to other novels, because of the need to interpret the poetry much of the time. Still, the plot itself is clear and straightforward and satisfying. Most of the interest in the plot is in the way the story is told rather than the actual story, but there's a lot of interesting themes and tones and moods threading through it that gives one a lot to think about about various aspects of life.

A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True

Brigid Paulska compares Poland during WWII and Poland afterwards by alternating chapters between a girl living in New Poland and her grandparents when they were young.

The novel was more charming than I expected. The story starts out sweet and the flashbacks are almost fairy-tale like and slightly cheesy without being too gushy. With a little war-time story, a little romance, and a little coming of age, this story keeps it fresh and interesting for the most part. There are, however, a few chapters in the middle where it dragged so much I wondered whether it'd have more to offer me. I eventually pulled through and found the ending extremely satisfying.

The story is worth reading to the end due to it's bitter-sweetness and way of wrapping things up. Paulska finds her distinctive voice among these pages and in her way of bringing them to a close.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo follows a financial journalist who, on break from his job as a result of a scandal, ends up investigating the death of the niece of a CEO of a major corporation years after it happened.

For a crime novel, it definitely beats the likes of Sue Grafton and Patricia Cornwell. The plot is far more clever and intriguing and surprising than any other crime novel I'd picked up before (note this is a grand total of two, after which I mostly gave up on the genre). The events are brutal and intense. It definitely made a 15 hour car trip far less boring, and I was generally compelled to read more.

If you were looking for something profound and earth-shattering, as so many seem to claim, you will be sorely disappointed. Though the author preaches a bit about abuse of women and financial journalism in Sweden, and we gain some degree of fascinating insight into the country through it, that part is little more than interesting information we could have read on Wikipedia. The characters, language, and similar elements in the book were enough to support the plot but nothing special.

Overall the novel is a well-done mystery with an interesting peep into Swedish culture.

Mr. Norell and Jonathan Strange by Susana Clarke

Mr. Norrel and Jonathan Strange is a novel about the return of magic to England, taking place in an alternate universe England in some undefined victorian-esque era. The new magicians have to deal with many obstacles on the way to promoting magic, including a mad fairy.

Sometimes I wish the editor of a novel had done his job. After all, if he had, about a third of this enormous book would have been cut out - and maybe more. While the beginning is intriguing, by the end of the novel little of it is relevant and Clarke could have started further along in the story. Many bits were dry and unentertaining, and I was tempted several times to put down the book, save for the fact that I paid $9 for it and had heard so many good things.

That being said, this novel is absolutely beautiful. The whole tone and elements of the novel had a very magical and whimsical feel to it, but at the same time dealt with very realistic situations and politics despite the unrealistic nature of the magic. This is not a book where you end up questioning the ability of eleven-year-olds in a magic school to defeat a Dark Lord - the only suspension of disbelief here is the existence of magic. The characters are well-defined. The plot, when one stumbles upon a scene that contributes to it, is clever and complex. The good parts are interesting enough - and following the social politics is a lot of fun. The picture of England that Clarke paints for us is rich.

Overall, when I reached the end, I was glad to have read it. I just wished I didn't have to read so much of it, and could have skipped the irrelevant information.

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets by Eva Rice

The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets addresses post-WWII England, following a young girl living with her brother and mother in an old house whose upkeep is draining their resources. When she meets a maniac and spontaneous girl named Charlotte, she is pulled into a journey of self-discovery and healing.

I'm a most picky reader, and these days it takes a lot for a book to absorb me like this one did. Though a little predictable and a slightly muddled ending, the characters drew me in and made me giggle and smile a lot while reading. I can assure you this doesn't normally happen. The world was very rich and the language fresh. The thing that keeps this book from being just a fun, well-written read was Eva Rice's subtle and wonderful sense of humor. She approaches many situations with a charming satire and her quirky characters come up with fabulous one-liners. I only wish the novel had been more thoroughly soaked with this humor.

This novel is a quick and thoroughly enjoyable read (though I can't speak for the men). Funny, sweet, and just a bit heartwarming, this novel will definitely cheer you up.