Booking Through Thursday: Fantasy and Sci-Fi

This week BTT asks about the fantasy and science fiction genres. Sci-fi author Sharon Lee has declared June 23rd Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Day:

"A day of celebration and wonder! A day for all of us readers of science fiction and fantasy to reach out and say thank you to our favorite writers. A day, perhaps, to blog about our favorite sf/f writers. A day to reflect upon how written science fiction and fantasy has changed your life."

Thus, we have this week's topic: What might you do on the 23rd to celebrate? Do you even read fantasy/sci-fi? Why? Why not?

I do read sci-fi and fantasy, although I'm not going to get into "why." I just like it – OK? And although reading SF/F has helped me through some rough patches of existence, I'm pretty sure it hasn't changed my life in any significant way. Well, nothing that springs to mind anyway – I'd have to think about that a while.

These days I don't read sci-fi or fantasy as much as I did in the past. There was a time when I was a real science fiction fanatic, and read almost nothing but. I once had a huge collection of SF/F books and magazines. No more, though – most of it got left behind when we moved from Louisiana to Virginia a couple of decades ago. Still wish I'd held onto those original editions of the James Blish Star Trek adaptations, published by Bantam in the late '60s and early '70s – they're a little hard to find these days, in really good condition.

Moving on.

I'm still something of a sci-fi devotee, although I do more watching than reading – I love sci-fi movies and TV shows. But I do still read science fiction (in the last year I've read Solaris and 2010: Odyssey Two), even though I might be a little more discriminating about it. And I have to admit that I stay mainly with the older authors that I loved in my youth – Ray Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Clifford D. Simak, Theodore Sturgeon, John Wyndham. As for fantasy – well, that's a little different. I read fantasy, but it's mostly the kid lit type – like the book I just finished reading, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH. I've never really been very interested in sword-and-sorcery tales or Lord of the Ring clones.

And as for celebrating the genre on June 23rd, well I guess that's an OK idea. I might do a blog post about a favorite author or book. Traditionally, June 23rd is Midsummer's Eve – so it might be a good opportunity to re-read A Midsummer Night's Dream, one of my favorite fantasies. In fact, that's part of one of the challenges I'm involved in this year, Carl V's Once Upon a Time Challenge. And if you're looking for some intriguing ideas about fantasies to read, the challenge website here is a good place to start.

Review: Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH

Written by Robert C. O'Brien
Illustrated by Zena Bernstein
An Aladdin Paperback, Simon & Schuster, 1975; 233 pages
First published 1971; 1972 Newbery Medal Winner

Robert C. O'Brien's charming fantasy tale, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH clearly deserved the Newbery Medal it won in 1972. It's been on my need-to-read list for ages, but it took this year's reading challenges to nudge me into finally getting around to it.

The book tells the story of Mrs. Frisby, a widowed field mouse who must move her family to their summer quarters to avoid certain death at the hands of Farmer Fitzgibbon and his tractor/plow. But when her youngest child Timothy comes down with pneumonia and can't be moved, she fortunately discovers the extraordinarily learned rats of NIMH who devise a brilliant but dangerous solution to her problem.

The book is really made up of two tales that ultimately come together – Mrs. Frisby's dilemma and the saga of the rats who have near-human intelligence and a literate, mechanized society. They have electricity which they use to run sophisticated machinery, including elevators. They store food for the winter. They have the ability to read and have a large collection of books. And because of the research conducted on them before they made their escape from the laboratories of NIMH, they have greatly extended lifespans – in fact, no one really knows how long they might live.

But the rats' amazing way of life has obliged them to rely heavily on human society. That's risky, and many of the group see it as stealing. So they've decided to abandon their present lifestyle and return to a more independent existence – a sort of self-sufficient back-to-nature movement which isn't popular with everyone in the colony. Several members have already left the group and their leaving has attracted the attention of the human population. The account of the rats' efforts to avoid detection, and at the same time help save Mrs. Frisby's home and family, is real edge-of-your-seat storytelling.

I absolutely loved this book! I can see why it's on so many lists of beloved childhood books. I loved the fact that although it's a fantasy about cute furry animals (and a few cute, feathery birds), it never deteriorates into nursery language or "talks down" to its audience. It's a book that adults can enjoy just as easily as younger readers can. I unreservedly recommend it to everyone – it's a wonderful read. Oh, and the two story lines make it a very economical book as well – it's almost like getting two books for the price of one!

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Reading Challenges: 20 in 2009, 2009 TBR (Lite), Book Awards II, Once Upon a Time III, Read Your Own Books (RYOB), Spring Reading Thing, What An Animal!

Teaser Tuesdays: Who Do You Think You Are? Sherlock Holmes?

This week, I'm reading The Valley of Fear by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The title makes it sound like it might be one of Conan Doyle's ripping yarn type adventure tales, with dinosaurs roaming the lost Amazonian jungles. But in reality it was his final Sherlock Holmes novel, first appearing as a magazine serial in 1914. Here's a quote from page 56 of this edition:

"It's all very well your saying that a man escaped by wading this moat, but what I ask you is, how did he ever get into the house at all if the bridge was up?"
"Ah, that's the question," said Barker.

Yes, indeed – that's the question all right. And that's exactly why you should always be sure your bridge is up and your moat is stocked with piranha fish.

And here's another snippet, much more representative of Holmes' personality and the whole Holmes/Watson dynamic:

"Good, Watson, good! But not, if I may say so, quite good enough!" [p. 21]

Poor Watson. Why does he put up with it all?


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB17 at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or participate yourself, head on over to her blog. And these are the rules: Grab your current read; Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you're getting your "teaser" from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given! Please avoid spoilers!

Friday Finds: 12 June 2009

Friday Finds is a weekly event hosted by mizb17 at Should Be Reading. Participants are asked to share with other bloggers about the new-to-you books found during the week – books you either want to add to your TBR (to be read) list, or that you just heard about that sounded interesting.

This week I have half a dozen new finds. They all look really interesting, and I imagine several of them will be going on my TBR list. Well, the ones I haven't already read, anyway.

The Condition, by Jennifer Haigh
The Shimmer, by David Morrell
Summer House, by Nancy Thayer
The Wildwater Walking Club, by Claire Cook
Duchess of Death, by Richard Hack
The Longshot, by Katie Kitamura

The first four are being featured in BookReporter.com's weekly "Beach Bag of Books" contests. I believe Summer House is in this week's batch; the others are all coming up in July or August. I discovered Duchess of Death, Richard Hack's new biography of Agatha Christie, while browsing the June selections in LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

Katie Kitamura's The Longshot was an ARC and something of a surprise when I received it. Didn't really look like anything I'd choose to read, but after the first page I was hooked and rapidly made my way through it in one sitting. Very unusual for me. I'll try to get a review up later today, but for right now I'll just say it was truly extraordinary.

Booking Through Thursday: Finding My Niche

This week BTT asks about the niche books we read. You know – special genres, or those esoteric works, or books that concentrate on one particular subject. And I have to admit this was a tough question for me. At first glance, I would have said I don't really read any "niche" books. I don't read how-to manuals or cookbooks. I do like to read books about books – bibliomysteries and the like; but that's really more of a sub-genre of fiction, not exactly what we're talking about here.

But then I started thinking about it. And I realized that while I may not actually do a lot niche book reading, I certainly do some niche book collecting.

I suppose the closest I've ever come to real "niche" reading would be the doll-collecting books I read back in the '90s when I was building my collection. But I don't really read those anymore, except for looking up an occasional fact or price or other reference-type article. I still read Doll Reader Magazine – does that count?

I have a few books on needlework and fabric crafts, but I don't actually read them. I did some needlepoint years ago, and keep thinking I'm going to get back into it one of these days, so I've collected a few books on the subject. But it's not really something I'm actively involved in.

I guess the biggest "niche" collection I have is theater- and acting-related. Many, many centuries ago, I started out intending to work in the professional theater world, and I have a huge collection of plays, scripts, playbills and programs, and books on theater and stagecraft. That's mostly all packed away in storage now, along with my youthful dreams. And so it goes.

Oh, and one more – home decorating and architecture. Although I don't really read them all – I do collect books on modern architecture and decor. I love everything Mid-century or Mod, and I have a pretty good collection of books on the subject. As I say, I can't claim to have read every word of every book, but I love, love, love looking at all those thoroughly modern interiors.

So I guess I am one of those niche readers after all.

Tuesday Thingers: Non-finishers

Tuesday Thingers is hosted by Wendi of Wendi's Book Corner. If you'd like to see more or participate yourself, head on over to her blog and leave a comment. And this week's topic is about all those books you just can't manage to wade through:

How often do you find yourself struggling through a book (if you HAD to estimate)? How far will you read before you stop and consider it a DNF (Did not finish)? Will you skim ahead and see if it gets any better? Once you put it down, do you still write a quick review? What do you do with the book when you are done?

Well, generally I try to find out as much about a book as I can before I start reading it, so most of the books I begin I also finish. However, once in a while I'll inevitably pick up something that turns out to be not what I was expecting or hoping. And in those cases, I think it's best just to move on to something new.

It usually only takes a chapter or two (occasionally, not even that much) for me to decide whether or not a book is for me. But sometimes, before completely abandoning a book, I do skim ahead to see if any of it is more to my liking, or to find out how the book ends (good to know, even if I don't like the way it gets there). And although I might mention that I tried a book and didn't care for it, I don't think I've ever written a full review of a book I haven't read in its entirety – that would be too much like cheating on an exam. Of course, that means that now and then I'll have to read something that doesn't appeal to me – a book I wouldn't ordinarily have finished. Unfortunately, that's happened to me twice lately – both of my most recent Early Reviewer books from Library Thing were books I probably wouldn't have finished if I hadn't felt obligated to review them. And in one case, I was glad I finished the book because it turned out to be better than I'd expected when I started it. So maybe there's something to be said for sticking it out, no matter what your literary taste buds may be signaling.

And as for what I do with the books I don't finish – well, that's a good (though embarrassing) question. I'd like to say I don't keep them; that I donate them or give them to friends who might find them more palatable. Or swap them for other books. But in reality I have to admit that when a book comes into my custody it's usually mine for life! Like it or not. One of these days, I'm definitely going to have to do something about that – before rescue workers have to break down the door to my apartment and dig through the piles of paperbacks that have toppled over and buried me alive!

Teaser Tuesdays: Don't Mess With Old Folk

This week, my teasers come from Silver on the Tree, by Susan Cooper. In this snippet, Will Stanton is trying to explain to his older brother Stephen about himself and his mission to save the world from the forces of the Dark:

"We are the Old Ones," Will said, strong and self-confident now. "There is a great circle of us, all over the world and beyond the world, from all places and all corners of time." [p. 13]

And he's not talking about us Baby Boomers!

I read the first four books in Cooper's The Dark Is Rising sequence last year, for the Once Upon a Time II Challenge, and really enjoyed them. So I'm very much looking forward to finishing up the series with this final book, which I'm reading for this year's OUT/III Challenge. As the publishers explain, the six main characters "fight fear and death in the darkly brooding Welsh hills, in a quest through time and space that touches the most ancient myths of the British Isles." And maybe it's because of my Welsh blood or something, but that sounds to me like the finest of tales.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizB17 at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or participate yourself, head on over to her blog. And these are the rules: Grab your current read; Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12. You also need to share the title of the book that you're getting your "teaser" from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given! Please avoid spoilers!