Friday, July 23, 2010

Two Intriguing Reads and The Book Blogger Hop

For the Book Blogger Hop this week Jen says, "TELL US ABOUT THE BOOK YOU ARE CURRENTLY READING!"

Sapphique by Catherine Fisher is the sequel to Incarceron. I loved Incarceron (my review here) and can't wait to see how things will play out in the sequel. I like how Fisher creates legend within a fantasy by starting chapters with "quotes" from a long lost hero. I'm giving away Sapphique to U.S. residents so check out my giveaway!

I'm also reading Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen as part of a readalong. I'm through chapter 9 right now. As usual, Austen is witty and perceptive of her culture. There are several passages that address reading - reading people, reading novels and reading situations. I loved in chapter 7 how Catherine learns to read the obnoxious and exaggerating Mr. Thorpe. She gets confused by his contradictions and realizes that maybe this guy is more than annoying, his word is untrustworthy. Austen is rather bold about her thoughts on the merits of novel reading and about women reading and writing in particular. Her sarcasm is kicked in high gear as she discusses women writers and readers. Austen's crticical and  feminist attitudes towards writing may have attributed to the fact that her "publisher" who bought the manuscript and advertised the book never actually printed the book, much to Austen's dismay, and Jane had to buy the manuscript back several years later so she could have the right to publish it somewhere else. What a fool that publisher was (p.s. he published Udolpho, so conflict of interest?)! Austen never did see Northanger Abbey published. Her brother, Henry, had it published after Jane died. How sad! Stay tuned for more thoughts on this gothic paradoy next week!

If you're stopping by from the Hop leave a comment and I'll visit your blog this weekend! Happy Hopping!

19 comments:

  1. Thank for stopping by My Readers Block. I'm glad you liked the covers...I think those old pocket size editions are so cool.

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  2. Hi - I am hopping by from the Blog Hop - I finished library school about 5 years ago! I too love helping people find exactly what they want!

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  3. Great point about the sarcasm and the probable reasons behind it. I definitely noticed the snarkiness but never put 2 and 2 together as to the reason for it.

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  4. Found you via the hop. Love your blog's color scheme.

    My blog: http://www.primoreads.com/

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  5. Stopping by from the Hop. I can't wait to finish Incarceron so I can enjoy Sapphique!!

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  6. +JMJ+

    Well spotted! =) Catherine will do more reading of other characters later on. And in this light, isn't it perfect that she is paired with a hero who loves novels as much as she does--and who has read even more titles than she has?

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  7. This week is my first Hop and wanted to say hello.

    I haven't read Northanger Abbey yet, but it's been languishing on my stacks for years! Shame on me. So far have only read Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Emma, but I love both and am sure I'll enjoy this one, too.

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  8. Hi I hopped on over from the book hope and love your site. I am a JA fan myself. I am a new follower and here is my blog site:
    http://babs-worldofbooks.blogspot.com/
    My website that has the JA talk is www.babslighthouse.net

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  9. Thanks for hopping by! Your blog layout is great, and so are your reviews. I'm going to follow, and then peruse a bit more. Happy Friday!

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  10. Hi! I'm just stopping by for the book blog hop.

    Hope you have a great weekend!

    http://www.cookiesbooksbikes.com/

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  11. Caught you through the Hop and the Northanger Abbey read-along! I'm now following and have added you to my Book Blog List.

    I loved how Catherine finally formed an opinion on Thorpe. It seemed to take her FOREVER to do so. And I'm not sure if she's fully convinced Thorpe is the problem, or if she's just comparing him to Tilney. I hope it's the former.

    Austen's rant about novel reading/writing threw me for a loop. It was so unexpected to find it in the middle of a story, I didn't really know how to process it. Still, it was pretty great to hear her voice her opinion on the matter.

    Care to venture into The Wolf's Den?

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  12. Hi, Chelle. I'm stopping by from the Blogger Hop. I love your blog and am now a follower. Have a great weekend.

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  13. Enbrethiliel - Thanks! I loved it when Thorpe showed his ignornance about the books Catherine was reading. That was funny.

    Andi - This readalong was just what I needed to get Miss Austen off my shelf! It's not too late to join in! I've read P&P and Persuasion as well with P&P being my favorite. It's just so great.

    Vicki - I agree. The novel critique was sudden and definately felt like Austen speaking her mind. I don't know how many authors would get by with such a direct address today. In fact, I'd be pretty critical of such a technique. But she's JANE AUSTEN and so I'll let it slide. =) Plus, she makes some great points: women should be allowed to write and expected to write really great fiction, not just "sensational" lit or literature that upheld notions of propper feminitity of the day. Not that J.A. was a radical but she was brave to voice such an opinion.

    Thanks to everyone else who's hopped by!

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  14. Hopping on over to say hi! I just finished Sapphique and totally loved it!!

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  15. I really enjoyed Northanger Abbey when I read it back in February, I liked it more than a lot of her other books. Very funny.

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  16. What a lovely blog you have. I am new here, from the Hop! I am a new follower. :)

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  17. New follower via the hop. I'm particularly like finding teachers and librarians so I'm glad to be here. Enjoy your weekend!

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  18. Loved your thoughts on the 'reading' in Northanger Abbey. I hadn't really connected to that but you're quite right.
    I knew this was the novel in which Jane spoke out but wasn't prepared for way it suddenly appeared.

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  19. Visiting from the hop--I love Northanger Abbey!

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