Inkheart

Inkheart – Cornelia Funke

Evan’s ESS = 8 out of 10

Erin’s ESS = 4 out of 10

Content = PG (Adult Content, Human Violence, Book Violence)

Why: How can you not like a story where one of the secondary characters is a real life Bibliomaniac?  In addition, Elinor Loredan has one of the coolest home libraries in the history of fantasy literature. 

Inheart explores possibly the coolest superpowers anyone could ever have the joy of possessing - reading characters into real life.  Imagine for a second that you enjoyed a reading voice so powerful that whenever you read aloud, fictional characters would occasionally jump from the pages.  Pretty cool, huh?  Regrettably, like most wicked awesome talents, this one has plenty of drawbacks.  Not to mention that real life people can accidently be swept into books, the fictional characters who come to life aren’t necessarily fond of their new surroundings.  Oops.          

Cornelia Funke has written several great Young Adult fantasy novels, though in our mind, Inkheart is her best.  With characters like Dustfinger, Capricorn, and The Shadow; plenty of intrigue awaits.  And with any luck you’ll find yourself completely hooked and anxious to read the other two books in the series.  Until we here at Two Bibliomaniacs are able to complete our invasive read-a-loud study, it’s probably safest to keep quite while reading this one.  

Editor’s Note: Don’t bother renting this movie.  Your time would be much better spend pulling out your fingernails or eating a bucket of rusty nails.

Editor’s Note: Not surprisingly, the Two Bibliomaniacs are split on this one.  Due to this unfortunate fact, we’re inclined to offer the following disclaimer:  Fantasy haters be wary.

The World of Book Blogging - Part 6

That’s right people – it’s time for everyone’s favorite Friday social! As always, thanks to Jennifer over at Crazy-For-Books for hosting the book party! While you take a look at this week’s question, we’ll just be over here hanging out by the beverage table... again...

"What do you consider the most important in a story: the plot or the characters?"

Well, another Friday and another difficult question.  Is there really a wrong answer?  Debating whether plot or character is more central to a great story is sort of like deciding between your heart and lungs.  Sorry, but we’ll take both!  That being said, if we absolutely had to make a choice - life depended on it - we’d say character… no plot.  While we’ve been able to manage through a novel with one dimensional characters, it’s nearly impossible to keep turning the pages if the plot has systemic problems.  For us, the plot is most…er important and strong characters are icing on the cake.  At least that’s our or decision for the time being…

Have a wonderful weekend and be sure to stop by again real soon.  Also, indulge the urge to click that button on the left side of your screen that includes the word “Follow”.  It might just be the most exhilarating thing you do today… then again it might not, but how will you know unless you try.     

A Christmas Carol: Read Along (Stave 3)

Welcome back, welcome back! Week three and we’re delighted to see only a few empty chairs this week. We’ll remind everyone that passing notes in class is not allowed and unless you want to share your message with the entire class, wait until after the final bell. Now, please get out your books and turn to Stave Three.

At some point, Stave 3 marks the halfway point of our journey through A Christmas Carol read-along hosted by Dog-Eared & Bookmarked. What better way to mark this arbitrary milestone than with a giant, a smorgasbord of food, and more healthy self reflection. Without hesitation, and at Scrooge’s insistence, the Ghost of Christmas Present sets forth to teach his lesson. The mood throughout this Stave is somber and with the introduction of Bob Cratchit’s family the reader is able to experience a personal aside to Scrooge’s miserliness. Enter one of the most caring, selfless, and inspirational characters in all of literature: Tiny Tim. The scene at the Cratchit’s house is so powerful that it almost overshadows the second scene Scrooge witnesses at his own nephew’s house. While the message is different, the pill is just as difficult to swallow.

It was quite impressive to us how Dicken’s describes the atmosphere on the street as Scrooge and the ghost make their way towards the Cratchit residences. We continue to see the transformation happening in Scrooge, especially as his heart breaks for Tiny Tim. The ghost is relentless in his efforts and even re-quotes Scrooge at one of his most despicable moments in order to prove his point. And then at Fred’s house we see Scrooge desire companionship and game, which in many ways is his most profound change as of yet.

We are left at the end of Stave three with the approach of a hooded figure. The suspense has built to a crescendo and it will take every ounce of our will power to wait another week until we all meet again. Patience is a virtue we must employ… or so we’re told. Class dismissed.

Top 10 Tuesday – 2011 Anticipated Reads

Top 10 Tuesday: the greatest thing to hit Tuesday’s since…  Sorry we got nothing.  Why not just head on over to The Broke and the Bookish and join the fun.

This week’s question: Top 10 books we’re anticipating to read in 2011

Many people have commented over the past few weeks how charming it is that we’ve start a book blog as a couple.  Well, up until Top Ten Tuesday came along we would have been inclined to agree.  Unfortunately, we found out the hard way that agreeing on one consolidated list is much more difficult in practice than on paper.  It took a heated arm wrestling contest and another episode of Evan crying in the fetal position before we came to the realization that splitting the Top 10 Tuesday duties was necessary.  Therefore, we can now reveal that this week’s list was created by Evan with a fair amount of partiality…  

For the few people that actually had the stomach to endure that laborious explanation, we give you our most anticipated reads for next year.

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – To be honest we’re excited to finish this entire flipp’in series.  We feel marked as the only two people with a blog who have not read this book.  All that changes now (or at least at the start of next year)!
2. The Discworld Series – Unfortunately, The Color of Magic left us wanting.  We understand that many Fantasy book bloggers are now glaring at their computer screen and gnashing their teeth, but we weren’t impressed.  Next year we plan to give this series another shot and have already committed to reading Mort and Wyrd Sisters. 
3. Hunger Games – Similar to the explanation provided in choice number 1, this novel has our YA dystopian senses salivating all over the house.
4. Les Miserables – Okay, so this might not have anyone else doing literary cartwheels, but we’ve heard plenty of good things about this classic.  (Literary cartwheels are much the same as standard cartwheels, only with a book in hand, preferably not an e-reader.  Erin was last seen performing this maneuver after the completion of book 9 in the Georgia Nicholson series)
5. Jamaica Inn – We absolutely loved Rebecca, and are excited to give Ms. DuMauier a second go.
6. James and the Giant Peach – To be specific we are very excited to read this to our 5 year old son.  We’re trying to introduce him to literature without totally overwhelming and freaking him out.  He enjoyed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and we’re determined to read him another Dahl.  Currently, we’re stuck in the Jigsaw Jones mystery series rut…
7. A Passage to India – We recently posted about our spirited feelings towards A Room with a View and are quite excited to see if Mr. Forrester can deliver again.
8. The Angel’s Game – We (Evan) absolutely loved The Shadow of the Wind, but for whatever lame reason, we have not read the sequel.
9. A Thousand Splendid Sun – We bawled our eyes out during the reading of The Kite Runner and if rumors are correct, we expect nothing less from Mr. Hosseni’s second novel.  Bring on the Häagen-Dazs.    
10. About 45-55 gems we’ve yet to discover – Considering our goal is to read close to 100 novels next year we believe it’s reasonable to expect 45%-55% of our selections to be literary gold.  We look forward to the new discoveries!

Also, don't forget to click that follow button before you leave!  We'll be sure to return the favor.  Hope everyone has a great week!

The Name of the Rose

The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco

Evan’s ESS = 8 out of 10

Erin’s ESS = out of 10

Content = PG (Adult Content, Violence, Spooky Medieval Library, Highly Intelligent Friars)

"Books are not meant to be believed, but to be subjected to inquiry. When we consider a book, we mustn't ask ourselves what it says but what it means..."

Why: Think Sherlock homes for the early 1980’s, with more of an epic feel… and with monks. 

The Name of the Rose is a historical murder mystery that starts off like a faint whisper and finishes like one of those oversized bullets in Mario Galaxy.  The novel is a highly intelligent read, which admittedly, caused a significant hurdle for us to overcome.  The novel is narrated by Adso of Melk who basically hero worships his teacher and main problem solving enthusiast, William of Baskerville (think MacGyver in a set of oversized robe).  The pair travels to a monastery in Northern Italy, which just so happens to be riddled with a series of murders – almost never a good thing.  William and Adso are going to need all the logic and deductive reasoning they can muster. 

For us the book was just a tad bit slow, but contained enough suspense to keep us turning the pages.  The ending is very satisfying and Eco does an amazing job tying together all the loose ends of his wildly complex plot.  It’s also important to note that The Name of the Rose contains one of the most amazing libraries of all time.  Containing a labyrinth of rooms and secret passages, visitors are almost certain to be lost within the endless shelves.  Personally, we can think of no better location to be misplaced for about a week or so (maybe longer if we could find a stash of un-stale food somewhere). 

The World of Book Blogging - Part 5

That’s right people – it’s time for everyone’s favorite Friday social! As always, thanks to Jennifer over at Crazy-For-Books for hosting the book party! While you take a look at this week’s question, we’ll just be over here hanging out by the beverage table... again...

"What is the thing you like most about reading book blogs?  Is it the reviews, author guest posts, articles, giveaways, or something else entirely?"

It seems like we begin each week reiterating the fact that we’re new to the world of book blogging (when does this excuse run out? At what point do you become a seasoned pro?), and thus have difficulties compiling a response.  We’re pleading the same defense this week!  We’ve yet to participate in any giveaways, so for the time being we haven’t experienced the breathtaking excitement associated with literature freebees.  That being said, probably our favorite topic to date has been reviews and posts on random literature happenings.  Our very first Read-Along has also been an enjoyable experience as we are currently participating in A Christmas Carol.  It's been a lot of fun diving a little deeper into a book and reading the thoughts of the other participants.  We’re definitely looking forward to more of these in the year to come! 

Sorry for the long winded response… Happy hopping and have a great weekend!  Oh, and if we haven’t mentioned it before, we’re very fond of followers on this blog – give us a try and we’ll be sure to return the favor! 

Skipping Christmas

Skipping Christmas – John Grisham

Evan’s ESS = 8.75 out of 10

Erin’s ESS = 6 out of 10

Content = PG-13 (Adult Content, Holiday Indulgence, Snowman Imprisonment)

Why: Because at one time or another everyone’s secretly thought about trading all the Christmas consumerism for a nice relaxing Caribbean Cruise (with a stack of books of course).  And even if you haven’t, it still makes for an interesting premise for a book.

Skipping Christmas is about a bold couple who sets out to do just that.  Their plan is to use all the money saved on decorations, food, gifts, and parties to fund an elaborate 10 day cruise.  While the Kranks find their noble idea practical in the conception stage, things quickly unravel when their friends and neighbors get wind of the diabolical scheme.  Throughout their journey they are confronted by an angry Boy Scout troop, Fruitcake salesmen, and neighbors picketing for the liberation of outdoor Christmas decorations.

All in all, we found Skipping Christmas to be a lighthearted and fun holiday read.  You’ll quickly find yourself taking sides on whether or not the Kranks should go through with their boycott.  Everything is taken to the extreme and blown way out of proportion (maybe some symbolism here…), yet in the end the spirit of the holidays is not entirely forgotten.            

Our advice, wait for the next cold blustery December evening, pull a traditional sleeveless blanket around your shoulders, get frustrated, quickly steal your spouse’s Snuggie (the same one you gave her a hard time about last year), and enjoy this entertaining Christmas delight.

       

That reminds us…. We should probably go plug in the light display attached to the front of our house.  Time to go spread some Christmas commercialism cheer!!!

Editor’s Note:  The movie (Christmas with the Kranks) isn’t too bad either.  It took us a second viewing to get over our annoyance at the differences from the book, but Tim Allen is always a good laugh.  Plus, the performance from Jamie Lee Curtis’s is spot on.