The Watcher in the Shadows

The Watcher in the Shadows by Carlos Ruiz Zafón  262 pp.

It's been a long time since I completed a book in two sittings just because it grabbed my attention. This is an early book of Ruiz Zafón's although it has only recently been translated and published in English. As with The Prince of Mist, this book is also a spooky seaside tale written for teens. In the years before World War II, 14-year-old Irene Sauvelle, her younger brother, Dorian, and their widowed mother, Simone, relocate from Paris to a small, town in Normandy. Simone is hired as housekeeper at Cravenmoore, the home of a strange recluse who is a toymaker. The house is filled with strange automata, the creations of Lazarus Jann. Jann has given strict instructions as to parts of the house that may never be entered because that is where his invalid wife resides. The family is given a cottage by the bay to live in in exchange for Simone's work. Hannah, the young cook at the mansion, and Irene soon become friends and Irene begins a romance with Hannah's cousin, Ismael. Ismael relates the tale of the woman who sailed to the lighthouse, never to be seen again. Somehow this is connected with the appearance of a sinister shadow that begins terrorizing the family. When Hannah is killed Irene and Ismael begin investigating the cause of her death, the story evolves from a mystery into a creepy horror tale with an intriguing ending. 

The Hangman's Daughter

The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch  435 pp.

in the mid-1600s, Jakob Kuisl is a hangman descended from a family of hangmen. (The author is also descended from hangmen.) Kuisl is also the one designated to torture confessions from prisoners. In spite of this, Kuisl has his kind side. When the local midwife is accused of the murder of local children and witchcraft, the hangman and the son of the local physician, himself a physician, embark on a search for the real killer while conspiring to keep the midwife alive. What results is a tale of a creepy one armed men, arson, kidnapping, murders, buried treasure, and an illicit romance between the hangman's daughter and the physician's son. There is a lot going on in this book and it's an excellent story that only occasionally lags. The one drawback is that some of the phrases/cliches used in the translation were far too modern for the 17th century. I don't know if the original German edition had that problem. 

Rake

Rake by Scott Phillips 192 pgs.

Scott Phillips is not a guy who writes lovable characters.  This book is no exception.  Dr. Crandall Taylor - or rather, the actor who plays him on a run-of-the mill soup opera, is in Paris trying to get a movie made with him in the lead role.  He doesn't have a script or financing but won't let that get in his way.  In his spare time, he is eating lots, drinking lots, and having sex with many women.  He is not the kind of guy you would ever want to take home to mother.  But, I must say, it is oddly appealing and in his own little narcissistic world, seems to be doing ok.

check our catalog

The Complete Don Quixote

The Complete Don Quixote/Miguel de Cervantes & Rob Davis 288 pgs.

Coming in quite a bit shorter than the version being read by the adult summer reading group, this graphic novel is really pretty awesome.  It seems to hit all the highlights and the drawings are fabulous.  Now as I read the full version, I have Don Q. and Sancho pictured as this volume handily illustrates them. The language is simplified too so really there is nothing but the best parts remaining.  Sure, any self respecting English major would disagree but that does not take away from this fun volume.

check our catalog

Domique Laveau: Voodoo Child

Dominique Laveau:  Voodoo Child by Selwyn Seyfu Hinds and Denys Cowan; graphic novel, horror; 168 pages

I really liked the idea behind this book:  the descendants of Marie Laveau rule the underground Voodoo Court of New Orleans, maintaining an uneasy truce between the gods, humans, and supernatural races of the city.  Dominique is a college student trying to help her beloved city recover from the effects of Katrina when the current Queen is assassinated.  Half the court believes Dominique to be responsible, while the other half believe her to be the next true queen. Dom, meanwhile, just wants to live a normal life with her boyfriend...

As I said:  the story sounded good, and I had high hopes for this book.  The execution, however, was somewhat lacking.  The storytelling is choppy and hard to follow, and while I loved the folklore woven into the story, a little more background would have been helpful (I, for one, cannot name all the myriad loa of the Voodoo religion, and I certainly don't know what their personalities or dominions are, so clarification would have gone a long way towards helping me get into the story).  I felt like the story started to coalesce around issue five, and issue six was a nice one-shot that showed the potential for this series to play with mythology and storytelling in much the same way as Sandman and Lucifer before it.  Vertigo cancelled this title, however, with issue seven, which perhaps accounts for the huge jump in time between issues six and seven.  The final issue opens six years later, as Dominique lies dying from injuries sustained in an attempted coup, telling her heir how her downfall occurred.  What follows is apparently an attempt to cram six years of story into a single issue, and, predictably, it falls flat.  For the final issue, I would have much rather seen another one-shot, or maybe a more contemplative story that would have a more open ending, in case the series was ever revived. 

An interesting read, but disappointing. 

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, 345 pages.

Frankie, a sophomore at Alabaster, an exclusive Massachusetts prep school, is relatively happy when the book starts. She is in love with Matthew, a very popular boy at her school, and he adores her. Her relationship with him allows her entry into the group that includes the most popular seniors, several of whom are members of the school's secret society. Frankie knows of the clubs's existence from tales her father told. It's a boys-only club, so not only is she not allowed, but Matthew won't discuss it with her. As the book progresses it becomes apparent to Frankie that while Matthew truly adores her, he has very little respect for her as a person, and kind of wants to control her. She seeks to earn his respect by secretly hijacking his club's agenda, planning a series of complicated pranks for them, while letting them take all the credit. In the end all the planning goes a bit awry, and people react a bit differently than Frankie expected. Well-written with sympathetic, believable characters.

Check our Catalog.

Ebook. 

Don't Pigeonhole Me: Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketch by Mo Willems

Don't Pigeonhole Me: Two Decades of the Mo Willems Sketchbook by Mo Willems, 279 pages.

Mo Willems is known in our house for the Pigeon books: Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, The Pigeon Finds a Hot Dog, etc., and the Knufflebunny books. He's also known by my sons for his TV work. We all think he's kind of a genius. It's nice to find that feeling shared and reinforced with this compilation of Willems's drawings and the collection of nice things that famous people have said about the man. It always feels good to stand with the famous.
This is a collection of yearly sketchbooks that Willems put together, at first for zine called Ersatz, and then as an ongoing project to amuse himself and his friends, and as part of his contract with Nickelodeon / Cartoon Network. The Pigeon came out of these annual collections, and he is featured here in an early version of Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, and as the narrator of the excellent story, "The Little Engine Who Couldn't."

Lots of fun. Some of it for grown-ups, but most of it suitable for older children and childish adults.
Check our catalog.

Mumbai New York Scranton

Mumbai New York Scranton/Tamara Shopsin 276 pgs.

Tamara and her husband take the trip of a lifetime to Mumbai but she gets food poisoning or a parasite or something she can't really shake when she is back in New York.  They go to their house in Scranton and things take a turn for the worst.  Is she pregnant?  She is basically starving to death she has vomited so much.  I don't want to do a spoiler here but this memoir is a lovely story and a reminder that life can really sock it to you.

check our catalog

I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) by Chuck Klosterman

I Wear the Black Hat: Grappling with Villains (Real and Imagined) by Chuck Klosterman, 214 pages.

Klosterman is someone that I have always assumed that I would have read. I have thumbed through his books, and checked them out from the Library, but I have (until now) never actually read them. Cindy recommended this one, and though she no longer blogs about her reading (why is that, Cindy?) she is still a force to be reckoned with in competitive reading circles, and her recommendations are not to be ignored.
I Wear the Black Hat is witty and well-thought out, but could have been expanded. It is basically a series of essays on villains such the Eagles, The Oakland Raiders, NWA, Bill Clinton vs. Linda Tripp vs. Monica Lewinsky, and O. J..
Sort of tongue-in-cheek, and funny, and insightful-Klosterman is a fine writer. After I was done, though, it seemed that Klosterman could have said more.

Check our catalog.

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan, 586 pages.

Book three in the Heroes of Olympus series.
Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and their friends Leo, Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, are all back trying to defeat the giants, keep Gaia from waking, and saving Olympus and all humanity. They must travel to Rome in order to close the doors of death. Along the way they accidentally enrage the Roman camp, they encounter Nemesis, Phorcys, Hercules, and some angry nymphs.
Annabeth has her own quest within a quest, relating to the title.
Book Four, The House of Hades is due soon.
Kara reviewed this title here.

Check our catalog.

Downloadable audio.