Leviathan – Scott Westerfeld

Book: Leviathan
Author: Scott Westerfeld
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Trade Paperback/440 pages
My Rating:



It is the eve of WWI and a Hapsburg prince named Alek is unaware that his life is about to drastically change. The Germans have been itching to start a war and the assassination of the Archduke has given them the opportunity. To avoid capture, Alek flees his Austrian homeland in a “Clanker” called a Cyklop Stormwalker with a few loyal men that are entrusted with his safety. On the other side of Europe, Deryn is a young woman who desperately wants to serve in Britain’s military so she disguises herself as a boy and signs up to fly in “Beasties” and is assigned to Leviathan. Little do either of them know that the war will make them cross paths and set them on a dangerous mission together.

I do not read a lot of YA novels, but I was desperately looking for some steampunk to read. I picked up Leviathan because Scott Westerfeld is coming to the Texas Book Festival on October 16-17 this year and I am going to try to make it in to his event where he will talk about the second book of the Leviathan series, Behemoth. I really wanted to read this before his talk so that I won’t be completely lost!

I think Leviathan is a great introduction to steampunk. The novel reads really fast and has a compelling storyline that feels familiar since the events in the book roughly follow WWI. Alek and Deryn are both likeable characters that are struggling with their place in the world. Alek is a prince without a throne and Deryn is a girl that desperately wants to be seen as an equal. Together they form an alliance that quite possibly is not what their respective parties want. In this first book in the series, a good portion of the time is spent exploring their individual stories so I got a good feel for them as characters and what motivated them. Neither of them have the typical teenage angst that can weigh so heavily in some books. They are truly characters of their situations—thrust into very stressful situations and they show their strength of character throughout.

I also loved the world. I think I’m addicted to steampunk now! I especially like the way Westerfeld made the novel as a clash between Clankers v. Beasties. The Leviathan is simply awesome. The description of it was vivid—I felt like I could see and smell everything that went on in that giant ship. The illustrations by Keith Thompson add so much to the novel as well. They are simply beautiful drawings and lend such description to the scenes. A picture truly is worth a thousand words in this book. Being that it is my first foray into the genre, I found the artwork helped me imagine what the world was like—what the ships and land machines looked like. The novel is a clash between two types of technologies which are each unique and well thought out.

At the end of the novel, Scott Westerfeld writes an Afterword about the historical period and what artistic license he took with the history of WWI. These last few pages made the book more interesting to me and made me want to read more on The Great War. I will warn you that the book doesn’t really have a true ending so you will most likely want to run out and buy Behemoth after you finish. For parents who want their pre-teens and teens to show more interest in history class, this is a great novel to pick up and read. I also think this is a good novel for people wanting to expose themselves to steampunk without getting bogged down in complicated explanations of technology that might exist in adult novels. It’s a quick read, plot driven, and kept me turning the pages. I feel a little less intimidated by steampunk and look forward to reading Behemoth and further exploring the genre.


 Links of Note
Samples of the illustrations in Leviathan
Scott Westerfeld’s Webpage




**I am a Book Depository and IndieBound afilliate so If you purchase any of the books I have featured through the links I posted or from the banners in my left hand sidebar, I get a small commission from them. I am in no way compensated for the reviews I post of my books.



I read this book for the Steampunk Challenge.

It Begins! The Count of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas

Last week I posted a “review” of Middlemarch by George Eliot. I don’t really call it a real review per se because it was more about my experience reading it as a read-a-long with Lydia from The Literary Lollipop and my Shelfari friend, Ellie. After four months of reading Middlemarch, we finally finished and Lydia is now hosting a read-a-long of The Count of Monte Cristo for get this…the next 5+ months! Is this daunting? No! It’s only five chapters a week and the last one was so much fun that I can’t wait to start this one.

Lydia will be using the Modern Library edition of The Count of Monte Cristo which was translated by Chapman and Hill in 1846. This is the unabridged version that is most widely available and includes the Oxford Classics publication.



I will be using the Penguin Classics edition of the book that was translated by Robin Buss in 1996 and updated in 2003. It includes some portions that were removed in the Chapman and Hill version and includes updated language. I chose this version because searching around the internet looking for which version was the most complete translation, the Robin Buss translation seemed to be the most complete. So, if you are looking to read this, you might want to pick up both copies and determine which is most important to you—the updated language and less omissions or the preservation of the Victorian language and the original translation.


To get us in the mood to read, here are a few tidbits about the book and Alexandre Dumas:


The Man:

• Dumas was a popular writer and wrote for money (he was paid by the line…hence the LONG 1200+ page The Count of Monte Cristo) so he was dubbed, “Alexandre Dumas and Co.”
• His work was frowned upon by those in serious literary and art circles because he wrote for pay.
• George Eliot thought that ‘the French’ [writers] looked for melodramatic situations and characters rather than dealing with everyday life which she felt revealed human nature (taken from A Note on the Text in the Penguin Classics translation). –After just finishing Middlemarch and reading this in the notes, I feel this is an especially satisfying way to spend the next read-a-long! hehehe
• The lack of respect for Dumas in literary circles has most likely contributed to the book not being retranslated very often.

The Book:

• The Count of Monte Cristo is a precursor to other detective novels—the man who finds the truth and uses it to prosecute the wrongdoer.
• Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle have some of the same elements in their work that is contained in The Count of Monte Cristo
• The story of Edmund Dantès is inspired by the true story of a man named François Picaud who was denounced by his friends as an English spy shortly after he became engaged to a woman named Margeurite.
  • The plot was concocted by a cafe owner named Mathieu Loupian who was jealous of Picaud’s relationship with Margeurite.
  • Picaud was a servant to a rich Italian cleric while in prison and became very close to him. The cleric died and left his money to Picaud and also told him where to find a hidden treasure.
  • Picaud was eventually released from prison and found the treasure and began to investigate who betrayed him so he could exact his revenge.

See?! The truth IS stranger than fiction! Does this make you want to read the book any more than if you hadn’t known these things? A few people have told me that they are intimidated by Dumas, but I find him to be one of the more accessible classic authors. It’s most likely due to him being a writer for the masses rather than a writer for the art.

If you have any interest at all in the intrigue, betrayal, and revenge of this novel, head over to The Literary Lollipop EVERY Wednesday starting October 13, 2010. We will be reading this book in five chapter increments. Totally doable! Easy peasy! I hope you’ll join in. The story is just fantastic! I know this because as some of you know, I accidentally read the abridged edition some years ago. I felt I had to remedy my error.)!

Friday Coffee Chat (13) – Have you been book bullied?

Book Bullying: Are you a victim or a perpetrator?

Last week on Friday Coffee Chat we talked about Weird Reading Habits. We all have some and maybe sometimes people look at us funny for our odd reading habits. This week, I want to talk about bullying of the book persuasion. Jennifer at Girls Gone Reading is talking about movies that are BETTER than the book this week on her portion of Friday Coffee Chat. Can you think of any? I think I actually can so make sure you go put your two cents in on her blog as well!

_____________________________________________________________

Book bullying. Does such a thing exist? For weeks we’ve been talking about things like judging a book by its cover, the YA phenomenon, and odd reading habits we have. But are any of these things embarrassing enough that we actually hide what we read around others for fear of being made fun of or just outright bullying?

Last week on Twitter a fellow book blogger tweeted that she had been mocked and made fun of in the lunch room for her choice of reading. Not only did they make fun of what she read, they went through her Kobo and refused to give it back until they had all had their bits of fun. I was honestly horrified that this person was basically bullied. These aren’t kids in grade school—these are grown adults that were making fun of her for choosing to read YA and some Middle Grade books. Never mind that this woman is a mother and who reviews YA and some younger fiction regularly on her blog; these people decided that it would be a nice thing to mock her by saying things like, “What are you going to read next, Clifford?!” Hmmm…she’s a mom so it IS in fact possible that she might read Clifford to her children. Instead of fighting back which would almost certainly end in more retribution, she sat there quietly until they had finished. She felt humiliated.

I have to admit. I felt so bad for her. I think what is worse is that I felt bad for her because while I may not have gone to that extent to humiliate someone, I have definitely judged people on their reading choices at times. That’s right. I am openly admitting that at times I have vocally said things about the choices that people make about their own personal reading! I am ashamed. After doing these weekly chats for three months, I have learned so much from all the bloggers that stop by and give their input. We don’t always agree, but we usually have a good laugh, give each other a virtual handshake, and move on because we all know we have different personalities and therefore, different tastes. Because of this, I have become much less judgmental of all those people out there that choose to read things that I would never pick up. I no longer care if someone has an Edward or Jacob obsession, or if they like reading Gossip Girl. I don’t care anymore if people like reading steamy romances or erotica. We’re all unique and there are enough books in the world to satisfy us all. I might even throw some glitter on my friends who like the sparkly vampires to show my support!

My point is, what exactly does it accomplish when you question what someone is reading? Is there ever a time when it is justified? I still struggle some with people reading books by Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, Al Franken, Michael Moore or other polarizing figures. I might even make an off-handed comment if I saw people reading it. Is that ok for me to do? I think good conversation is ok. I think it’s ok to disagree, but I’m beginning to see that it’s possible that my off-handed comments can hurt someone’s feelings. I also think that sometimes we all can be overly sensitive and that stepping back from a situation and looking at things from a different perspective can open our eyes to what people may be trying to get across (in the blogger’s case at the beginning of my post I think she was truly bullied and the people in question should be ashamed of themselves). I have taken comments on my blog and on Twitter personally sometimes, but then I realize that I am who I am and I can only control my reaction to things—the world will not change for me as much as I want it to. I will say that I am trying harder to be more aware of what comes out of my mouth and my fingers while typing. I may still disagree with people, but I hope that I will never be disrespectful or make that person feel bullied.

So this week, I want to ask you readers:

• Have you ever been bullied for what you read OR have you ever bullied someone for what they read (be honest here…we’ll be respectful of admissions)?
• Have you ever hidden what you read for fear of someone making fun of you or criticizing you?
• Do you think people are too sensitive when it comes to the books they enjoy?
• Are there any times that you just cannot keep your mouth shut when you think you should (like me and my penchant for ranting against political pundit books)?
• Do you think it’s possible to be opinionated about reading/books without backing someone into a corner?

Link of Note

I saw this really good blog post by a man that was bullied as a child. Good food for thought:

Dan and Noah’s Single Dad Laughing – Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

The Alienist – Caleb Carr

Book: The Alienist
Author: Caleb Carr
Publisher: Random House
496 pages
My Rating: 1.5 of 5 stars



New York Times reporter John Moore is paired with criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler to solve a series of crimes against young child prostitutes in Caleb Carr’s first book, The Alienist. The murders are heinous and no one knows who is committing them. There is also little interest because the boys come from the immigrant community and their occupation is taboo. Corruption is rampant in New York City and police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt charges Moore, Kreizler and a small group of others to search for the killer.

Just writing that little summary makes me feel like this book would be interesting. I was actually very excited to read this because so many people had said it was one of their favorite mystery reads of all-time. Sadly, it was not to be. I slogged through this entire book. I even fought with it and wanted to throw it across the room more than a few times. I read the hardcover version of the book too so those 496 pages would have been even longer in paperback. There were so many problems that I had with this book that I am just not sure where to start.

The storytelling was overwrought with foreshadowing. I would say a good half to two-thirds of the chapters ended with some form of foreshadowing. Chapter 24 ends like this:

“We watched the burning pieces of paper turn into flakes of smoking ash, both of us silently hoping that this would be the last we’d ever need to speak of the matter, that Laszlo’s behavior would never again warrant investigation into his past. But as it turned out, the unahppy tale so sketchily referred to in the now-incinerated report did surface again to a later point in our investigation, to cause a very real—indeed an almost fatal—crisis.”

Now doing this a few times throughout a book would not have bothered me, but it became so habitual that I found myself anticipating the “duh duh duh” moment that was surely coming at the end of every chapter. The book tried so hard to be literary and it actually accomplished it at some points in the book, but overall the literary devices were so overused that they became clichéd.

Then there was the initial question of whether or not the attacker was a male or female. Based on physical evidence, they postulated that the attacker was 6’2”. It must be a male, right? That’s what they thought. Well, later in the book another boy is killed and a team member named Sara goes to view the crime scene. She is so horrified by what she sees that she says something like (and I’m paraphrasing), “The murderer is a male. There is no way a woman could do this.” All the men on the team were taken aback that Sara knew this so definitively. Really?!!! You think?!!! You just finished going on an on in previous pages about the murderer being 6’2” tall. Now how many women in 1896 were over 6 feet tall? At this point in the book I just let out a sigh and a groan. I had to finish it since it was the choice for my book club.

Then there was Dr. Kreizler. The man was a caricature. I think Richard Attenborough’s portrayal of John Hammond in Jurassic Park would have fit Dr. Kreizler really well at some points. The man would never divulge information. It was a murder investigation and he was working with a team of detectives, a newspaper reporter, and a female employee of the NYPD. You’d think that they would be open with their ideas so that they could find this person that is ravaging New York City. No, he wasn’t. Everything was riddles with him up until the end of the book. I found myself wanting the killer to make Dr. Kreizler his next victim.

I can say that I did like some of the non-fiction aspects of the book. The historical parts of Theodore Roosevelt being the police commissioner and just what the city was like was interesting. I also enjoyed the parts of the book where the alienist studies were examined (though it wasn’t very detailed). For me, the story is what fell far short of being remotely interesting. The best part of the story was the villain who actually had depth to his character despite only physically being in the book for a very short period of time. I wish there would have been more storyline with the killer’s story than there was because it was the only part of the book that I found hard to put down.

I am in the minority as far as my opinion of this book goes. Most people love it. They think it’s fantastic so I won’t tell anyone not to read it. I think my book club enjoyed it (I actually showed up late because I had not finished the book by the time they met—the only time this has happened to me in 11 meetings). So, instead of saying that people should just let this one fall by the wayside, I think I would recommend that they read the description of the book, some reviews of it, and decide for themselves if they think it’s worthwhile to read. I am definitely interested to see what other people have to say about this book.

Middlemarch – George Eliot

Book: Middlemarch
Author: George Eliot
Publisher: I read the Bantam Books version and also listened to the Audiobook read by Kate Reading
791 pages
My Rating: 4/5 stars


What can I say about Miss George Eliot and her masterpiece, Middlemarch? This is a novel that frequently shows up on the 100 Top Novels of All Time-type lists and is EPIC in every sense of the word. I really enjoyed Silas Marner, so a few years ago I picked up this book and started reading. I gave up after Book 4. I even did a nationwide interlibrary loan search for the unabridged audiobook to help me get through but alas, it was not meant to be. Once I actually found the audiobook I never went back to it.

When Ellie, a friend of mine on Shelfari mentioned that she was going to read the book I told her I was in and was determined to finish it this time. Every two weeks, we read a book (there are eight total). Part of the way through, I found Lydia from The Literary Lollipop’s Middlemarch Read-a-Long and yes, I was ecstatic. Her summaries were awesome and it really did appear that she might be doing the read-a-long all by herself so Ellie and I joined in on her weekly posts. Every week for probably 12 weeks we all got together on Lydia’s blog and chatted in the comments about these Middlemarchers who were, let’s face it, kind of a mess. Sure, the scandal was tame compared to today, but these people were hapless. Whether it was Dorothea marrying that stick-in-the-mud, Casaubon or Rosamund and her spendthrifty ways, we were consistently flabbergasted, bored, and entertained through this 800+ page tome.

Don’t get me wrong. The three of us struggled through parts of this book while other parts had us turning the pages because we couldn’t believe what was happening. We weathered it and made it through. It felt like we formed a special bond that only Middlemarch Read-a-Longers could form. Yup…it was that special when we finished. Lydia even said she felt like we deserved t-shirts that said, “I survived Middlemarch and all I got was this t-shirt.” I suggested, “To the well with her!” referring to Rosamund’s horrific behavior combined with a shout-out to Silas Marner. We joked, we threw up our hands in exasperation, and then we signed up for Lydia’s next read-a-long of The Count of Monte Cristo because even though it wasn’t the fastest read (it took 4 months!), we had great fun going through it all together. I even posted this video in the comments on Lydia’s very last Middlemarch post:



 

Oh yes, it was that special. I did a little jig. I threw my hands up in the air when I was done. I think it’s possible that Ellie and Lydia did as well (although you would have to ask them if they did actually do that. While I would never, ever pick up Middlemarch ever again, I did enjoy reading it with my new friends and I will gladly pick up any read-a-long with these ladies because they helped me finish this book that is simply one of the bigger reading accomplishments of my life. So thank you Ellie and Lydia for taking this journey with me and pushing me to finish this book!

Lastly, I do want to plug The Literary Lollipop’s next read-a-long of The Count of Monte Cristo. The first post goes up on October 13 and will cover the first five chapters of the book—totally doable! There are a lot of people who have told me that Alexandre Dumas is daunting. At 1300 pages, I will agree that this book is daunting, but it is so fun to read together. I will NOT be posting weekly posts like Lydia is doing. My comments will all be made in her weekly posts because honestly, I like doing it that way. I like the feeling that we are sitting around chatting about the book over coffee in one place instead of bouncing back and forth from blog to blog, AND Lydia does far better summaries than I could ever do. So if you are looking for my comments on The Count of Monte Cristo, you’ll see them in The Literary Lollipop’s weekly posts on the book and you’ll just see a post like this from me in five months time about the fun we had reading together. I can’t wait!

Read the Book, See the Movie Challenge

Yes, I know. This ridiculously long book just wasn’t enough for me so I watched the BBC mini-series that starred Rufus Sewell as well. Six-plus hours of Middlemarchers in addition to the 26 CDs I listened to while reading along in the book sounds like a perfect way to finish off this book. It was! The series was actually pretty good even though it left enough out that I didn’t really connect well with the characters the way I did with the book. The cast was pretty superb. They were all what I envisioned the characters to look like and behaved the way I thought they would.

There were things that were done VERY well. The politics and societal changes were much more interesting in the movie than in the book. I found myself wandering in the book when they would talk about medicine or building a railroad, but the movie held my attention during the talks about Parliament and the railroad. It made more sense to me as well to see it played out by actors rather than just reading about it.

Other things I was disappointed in. Rosamund’s story with Will Ladislaw was played down and that was one of the best parts of the book! Will Ladislaw’s speech to Rosamund toward the end of the book was completely missing from the movie and it was so passionate and well done. His talks with Dorothea toward the end of the book were also missing so all that dramatic romance was missing. It was sad. It was one of the better parts of the book.

All in all, I think you could get a good idea of the book by watching the film and while it’s not a replacement for the book, it’s a great way to supplement it or I would recommend it as a way to determine whether or not you think the book is something you want to explore.

Winners! – Book Read ‘Round the World Giveaway

WINNERS!

Please contact me within 48 hours. If I do not hear from you, I will randomly choose another winner (e-mails have already been sent to the winners).

   

~ Winner of The Lunatic Express ~

Shelley Z. (did not contact me w/in 48 hours)

New Winner!  -  Mandy M.

~ Winners of the Origami Earrings ~

Crane Earrings – Manon de R.

Kimono Earrings – Zoe O. (did not contact me w/in 48 hours)
New winner Kimono earrings - Norma C.

I should have packages in the mail by Tuesday, October 12 (I think the post office is closed on Monday for Columbus Day).

Friday Coffee Chat (12) – Weird Reading Habits

Are you a weirdo when you read?

Last week we talked about book series that last too long and we all had at least one series that just seemed to drag on forever. Sometimes we marched on through the series even though it no longer had the pull it once did, while other times we got disinterested enough to just toss the series and move on. This week I wanted to talk about something less serious and ask you all, “What are your weird reading habits?” After you are done answering my questions, make sure you head over to Jennifer at Girls Gone Reading’s blog to see what her topic is this week!

____________________________________________________________

We all have them. Some of us can’t sit down without a cup of tea or coffee when we read while others couldn’t fathom having food or drink near their prized books. I have a couple of odd habits while I read. I noticed recently that not all of these habits are good and others really help me get through a book.

One of the oddest habits I have is multiple bookmarking. I am not alone in my weird habit because I’ve actually had this conversation with Amy from Amy Reads. She and I both tend to put multiple bookmarks in our books as a way of benchmarking where we would like to end up or just to give ourselves an idea of where the next chapter starts. I enjoy this. It’s goal oriented, and I’m a fairly goal oriented person. I have something to look forward to when I feel the pages getting thinner and thinner as I turn each one. I also tend to look at how many pages are in every book I read. It is just something I do.

 

Some not so good habits I have. I tend to twirl my hair while reading A LOT which breaks my hair. I have “baby chicken” hairs all over the place on my head that poke up out of my head. I also have a tendency to touch my face a lot while reading so I break out in pimples! I’m in my 30s! Far to old to be looking like a teenager with pimples all over my face. I must stop! I also *gasp* bite my cheeks while reading. Worst habit ever, but it’s compulsive! It’s such an embarrassing habit. I get scolded by my dad when I am around him. I’m much too old to be scolded by my dad!

 

So I have some habits I need to change while reading, but others I will hold on to (like drinking water while I read and my bookmarking obsession).  All of this got me thinking, what do other readers do while reading? Are you a compulsive popcorn eater while reading? Do you read the last page in your book? So many questions that could be asked so here I am, asking you to tell me what your strange, embarrassing, good, bad, and ugly habits are.

• 
  
  What is your best reading habit? Are you compulsive about spreadsheet stats, bookmarking, putting your book away when not reading, etc?
• 
  
  What is your worst reading habit? Do you like to eat desserts or other foods while eating, have coffee or other beverages, bite your nails, or anything else you can think of?
• 
  
  What is your most embarrassing habit? Do you like to reading your “library material” in your “library’s porcelain chair” (aka, the toilet), read out loud to yourself, fall asleep often while reading, etc?

I want to know it all! Tell me all about your weirdness!