An overdose of Shannon Hale

My mom has been organizing and cleaning out rooms in her house, which has resulted in bags and boxes and stacks of free books for me! Two of the books she gave me in the latest batch were Enna Burning and River Secrets, both by Shannon Hale. They had colorful and appealing covers, which is why I chose to read them. Both books are sequels to The Goose Girl, which my husband and I listened to 3 or 4 years ago on a road trip. When I "listen" to a book on a road trip, what I'm really doing is snoozing against the car door until the CD is done, which prompts me to wake up long enough to put in the next one. So after reading the second and third books of the Bayern series, I decided to read The Goose Girl for real. While I was on the library's website requesting that one, I was reminded that I had wanted to read Book of a Thousand Days and Austenland, also by Shannon Hale. I requested all three of the books, and they were ready for me this past week. So here I was, with 3 books to read, wondering how I would get through all 3 before the due date. Done, done and done! It helps to have a sick kid, the Disney Channel, and bad weather all converge into one week. When you're trapped inside for 8 days and you can't take another episode of the Imagination Movers (I'll have to blog about them another time), it's nice to have some easy lit to help you tune out the zany antics of Rich, Scott, Smitty and Dave (yes, I know their names).

Here's a quick review of each one:

The Goose Girl (and Enna Burning and River Secrets): Shannon Hale admits in an interview at the back of the books that her weakness as a writer is being slow to get into the story. Amen, sister. Goose Girl was especially slow at the beginning, partly because she was carefully setting up the background for a world she was planning on staying in for several books. One advantage to taking time building the story, however, is that she also builds the main character into someone you understand. Ani, Enna, and Razo, the main characters for each book, have histories to them that explain their actions and drive the story. This series explores the relationship between the characters and the basic elements of nature surrounding them. For Ani (also called Isi), it's animal speech and wind speech. For Enna, it's fire and the internal battle she faces between her desire to do what's right peacefully and the need to burn everything to the ground. For Razo, it is his attempt to figure out the intentions of a woman whose communication with water may be used for good or evil. The world Hale has created is detailed and interesting and easy to accept. My one complaint with her writing is her habit of reusing phrases a lot when describing feelings. I've read 5 of her books in the past 2 weeks, and she loves the use of "yawn in the chest." The 452nd time I read it I yelled aloud, "For crying in the mud, come up with a different phrase!!!" They are fun and wholesome books overall, though, and I'd recommend them for 10- to 16-year-old girls especially. (There's some romance, of course.)

Austenland: Eh. Great idea, bad execution. Not that I could do better. Here's the rundown: A thirty-two-year-old single woman who has had a number of failed relationships clings to the hope of a Colin Firth-esque Mr. Darcy romance. She is obsessed with the 5-hour Pride and Prejudice movie, hides her DVDs in the houseplants, and watches it time after wretched time to drown her sorrows after each boyfriend doesn't measure up to Mr. Darcy. Her rich Great-Aunt discovers her unhealthy obsession and tells her to snap out of it, dies, and leaves her a trip to a theme park--a Jane Austen theme park. They dress in the clothes, they lead lives of leisure, the men go on hunts and speak politely, and all modern technology is banned (except modern make-up, which is encouraged). Sounds fun, right? Well, we find our heroine trying to cast off her obsession with Mr. Darcy and find true love all at the same time. The idea behind the story is great. It's obvious Shannon Hale was among us college students who devoted every Saturday to either P&P and a pan of brownies or Anne of Green Gables and a tub of ice cream. I can relate to the character in many ways (a trail of bad dating experiences is related throughout the story), but I don't like the style she uses to tell the story. It's choppy and hard to follow (kind of like this post, I think, which is why I won't ever attempt a book), and a bit on the predictable side. There you have it.

Book of a Thousand Days: I loved this book. Loved it. It started out a little on the slow side (just like the other books), but the best part of this book was discovering the story page by page. The story is set in a land similar to Mongolia (yaks and mare's milk and the like), and is divided into several kingdoms. The book is set up as a personal journal, written by a lady's maid whose employer is locked in a tower on her first day of work. The Lady Saren has refused the hand of a powerful man and betrothed herself to a kinder man from another kingdom. Her father locks her in a tower and tells her she must stay there for 7 years, so she can consider her poor choice and make the right one. The maid swears an oath to the Lady, follows her to the tower, and slowly discovers her own strength and abilities, while attempting to find her Lady's. It's hard to explain. Just read it. I love the story, and the way Hale tells it. It's touching and sweet and romantic. It's about finding your strength in the face of adversity, and about finding beauty inside others. I'm making it sound cheesy, but really, it was just a nice story that I think most will enjoy.

Okay, this has turned into a much longer post than I was planning. Sorry. I have been reading a lot, and I figure it's either that or telling you all about Mickey Mouse's Clubhouse. Now you have some new books to look up at the library. They're great for a snowy day (or week).