Waiting on Wednesday: The Magnolia League
Title: The Magnolia League
As in her popular adult novels, Crouch’s poignant and humorous voice shines in this seductively atmospheric story about girls growing up in a magical Southern city.–Goodreads
Okay, I feel like there’s something y’all need to know about me. I am Southern, I love that I am Southern, and I will read just about anything set in the South. So, obviously this book is on that list.
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| My trip to Savannah, March 2010 |
However. This book is extra super-special because not only is it set in the South, but it’s set in SAVANNAH, which is breathtaking, and definitely one of my favorite places. But a book needs more than just a fantastic setting, (At least most of the time. I’m sure there are exceptions.) and The Magnolia League seems to promise more than just Spanish moss and weeping willows–it’s about both a debutante society and a hoodoo family! I mean, c’mon. Rich, entitled, Southern bitches + creepy magic = Yes, please!
I am counting down the days for this one! You best believe I have it marked on my Google calendar.
Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine.
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday (hosted by the lovely ladies of The Broke and The Bookish) is allllll about family. But of the fictional sort. While making this list I definitely learned a thing or two about my preferences in the types of people I tend to feel familial toward. Let’s see if you can pick up the pattern…
Without further ado, I am pleased to introduce my totally fictional, totally uncanny literary family.
2. Rachel Morgan (Gallagher Girls series)–Mother
She’s a spyyyyyyy. And she’s gorgeous. And A SPY.
3. Fitzwilliam Darcy(Pride and Prejudice)–Husband
Duh.
4. Flavia de Luce (Flavia de Luce series)–Daughter
I looooove precocious Miss Flavia. She’s smart and British and fearless and funny and great. I really hope that one day I can use those words to describe my daughter. (Especially the British part!)*
5. Ron Weasley (Harry Potter series)–Son
I can’t help it. I love Ron. He’s just the best. And if I ever have a son, I want him to be an affable British ginger who can do magic.
6. Aunt Peg (13LBE & LLBE)–Aunt
How I would LOVE to have an aunt as awesome as Ginny’s. Deceased or no, this woman is fantastic. Her adventurous attitude, generous spirit, love for life, and general wackiness is everything that an aunt should possess.
7. Sirius Black (Harry Potter series)–Uncle
I feel like this needs no explanation.
8. Dumbledore (Harry Potter series)–Grandfather
See sentiments above and multiply them times one thousand. 😉
9. Tessa Gray (The Infernal Devices series)–Grandmother
I LOVE Tessa. And how awesome would it be for her to be your grandma? All of those stories of steampunky London and Will Herondale. Yes please!
10. Zora Stewart (The Vespertine)–Cousin
I’m not really sure why, but I felt so drawn to Zora in this book. Maybe she reminds me of someone I know? I don’t know. But what I do know is that I would love to have someone as fun and sweet and loyal as Zora in my life.
So what have we learned from this little experiment? That I am an serious Anglophile. God help us all (and, as always, save the Queen!) if I ever make it to the UK. Not that I would kill the Queen. It’s a play on words…oh nevermind.
Let me know your thoughts on my fictional family, and tell me all about yours, in comments!
*Sorry Nick (boyfriend w/ American accent), but if we ever decide to have kids, we have to raise them in the UK.
Review: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Title: The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Author: E. Lockhart
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 14:
Debate Club.
Her father’s “bunny rabbit.”
A mildly geeky girl attending a highly competitive boarding school.
Frankie Landau-Banks at age 15:
A knockout figure.
A sharp tongue.
A chip on her shoulder.
And a gorgeous new senior boyfriend: the supremely goofy, word-obsessed Matthew Livingston.
Frankie Laundau-Banks.
No longer the kind of girl to take “no” for an answer.
Especially when “no” means she’s excluded from her boyfriend’s all-male secret society.
Not when her ex boyfriend shows up in the strangest of places.
Not when she knows she’s smarter than any of them.
When she knows Matthew’s lying to her.
And when there are so many, many pranks to be done.
Frankie Landau-Banks, at age 16:
Possibly a criminal mastermind.
This is the story of how she got that way.–Goodreads
Before cracking the spine, I thought The Disreputable History was going to be a story about a girl who inadvertently found out about a secret society, and then exploited her knowledge of it to blackmail the members. But what I got was an intelligent story about a girl who refuses to have her ideas and knowledge ignored. Which is so much better than what I thought I was getting in to.
The book is essentially about a girl, Frankie, who returns to her fancy-pants boarding school for her sophomore year, after a summer of physical change so drastic that Matthew Livingston, the perfect senior she crushed on throughout freshman year, doesn’t even remember her. She finds herself being pursued by Matthew, and upon her invitation to a by-invitation-only event that paired her with Matthew, is welcomed into his friend group, including the charming, yet poisonous Alessandro “Alpha” Tesorieri.
After about a month, Frankie realizes that Matthew and his friends are part of a secret society called the Basset Hounds, a group that her father was also a part of. After learning that she knows something that the Bassets don’t, she seizes the opportunity to slyly insert herself into the group.
In a lot of ways, this book really reminded me of A Separate Peace. But more than that, it reminded me of one of my favorite episodes of Gilmore Girls. In it, Logan (who is very much like Alpha, but has a little Matthew in him too) tricks Rory into joining a secret society at Yale called The Life and Death Brigade. Not only did the plot of The Disreputable History remind me of this episode, but many of the male characters in the book reminded me to Logan and his group of care free, gallivanting, word-obsessed friends.
But, in the character of the eponymous Frankie is where the genius of the book really lies. I love that Lockhart crafted a smart, crafty, assertive, strong female character, who doesn’t let institutions or men or boyfriends or even other women dominate her or change her ideas. But more than that, I love that Lockhart inserted Frankie into a good ol’ boys institution and in the middle of a friend group with the good ol’ boys mentality. However, despite her gumption and wisdom, Frankie is still a teenager with a boyfriend whom she is obsessed with, so there are moments when she is submissive and does exactly what he wants her to do, but overall, she stands her ground. And when she decides she’s had enough of being lied to, she takes matters into her own hands, and leaves an impression on everyone in her life that is absolutely not delible.
If you haven’t read this book, I highly, highly suggest it. It’s the best book I’ve read thus far this year!
Review: Angelfire
Title: Angelfire
Author: Courtney Allison Moulton
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 464
Pub Date: February 15, 2011
Format: Galley via NetGalley
In the first book of Courtney Allison Moulton’s Angelfire trilogy, we’re introduced to Ellie, a seemingly normal high school girl who is struggling with her classes, her relationship with her father (whom I’ve decided is pure evil), and her intensely vivid nightmares. But other than that, her life is pretty normal–she has friends, she goes to parties, and she loves to shop. Then she meets Will, the mysterious and gorgeous new guy in town. As she keeps running into him, she can’t shake the feeling that she knows him.
Then, on the night of her seventeenth birthday, all of Ellie’s nightmares come to life when she goes for a midnight stroll. Will activates her powers and her sight of The Grim plane, and she is thrust into a world of killing demonic reapers, creatures that kill humans and send their souls to Hell.
The basic premise is very Buffy–girl is chosen, girl’s powers are activated, girl struggles to hone her powers, girl is awesome. But where Ellie differs from Buffy is that she will always exist–not that she can’t be killed, but that her soul is reincarnated every time she is killed, and Will always finds her to awaken her powers on her seventeenth birthday. But Will expects Ellie to just remember how to fight and kill the reapers and sundry other demons, as well as the history of her past lives. Unfortunately for Ellie, and for Will, her memory is not intact, and the lack of it turns out to be problematic.
Which brings us to darling, sweet, amazing Will, who is (get ready for Buffy references!) Giles and Angel all rolled into one yummy character–he is Ellie’s intensely loyal guardian who also happens to be in love with her, despite the fact that he is forbidden to be in love with her, which makes for some deliciously angsty moments between the two of them. But Will isn’t an entirely glum character–though he can be super brooding, he can also be pretty funny and is seriously sexy.
When Will and Ellie find out that Bastian, this trilogy’s big bad, is trying to find the Enshi, a super ancient evil something-or-other than can destroy souls, the two of them take it upon themselves to find it and destroy it before Bastian gets ahold of it. Which creates A LOT of demon drama.
I Desperately Need More Men (from Books) in My Life
While staring at the mountain of books stacked on my dresser, I realized that all of them had something in common.
They all feature female main characters.
This would be a bigger issue if I was reading the same kinds of books, but I’m really not. Sure, most of them are YA, but I have everything from paranormal to historical fiction to mystery to romance. I kid you not when I say that ALL OF THEM are lady-centric.
Now, part of this makes sense. I am of the lady persuasion (in case you were wondering), so it can be argued that I naturally migrate toward books about “people” I have something in common with. Apparently this thing is being female.
Another notable commonality is that the majority of these books are written by women. And women writing female characters makes perfect sense–you write what you know. I’m not saying that women are incapable of writing great male characters because I am ABSOLUTELY NOT saying that. Hello, female writers have blessed us with Jace, Cassel, the Salvatore brothers, MR. DARCY, and a slew of swoon-worthy others. I’m just saying that it makes sense for women to create female main characters and then, from there, surround them with amazing male characters.
But I digress.
What this all boils down to is my desire to read more books about male main characters. And if it’s a book written by a man, awesome. If not, that’s awesome too. So, I implore you, dear reader, to suggest books about dudes for me to read. Because I desperately need more men in my life.
Bethany Larson 