Tag Archives: historical fiction

Around the Interwebs: Volume IX

24 Nov

We hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving stuffing your faces, arguing with relatives and getting too drunk to function. We know we did! <3

Robert Pattinson Hates Twilight, Oh And Also His Life (via Jezebel)

Robert Pattinson Hates His Life might be the best Tumblr of all time. The premise is simple, collect all the most amazing .gifs and quotes of Robert Pattinson hating on Twilight (and occasionally himself) and share them with the world. Gems include, “Surely there’s another way to get the creepy baby out of her stomach,” “Why are they still going to high school? They’re a hundred years old!” “I like the idea of him turning into a mermaid,” and “It’s terrible!” Robert Pattinson has no shame, and we love it.

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Art Imitating Life: Cassie-la Paints a Picture of “Sacré Bleu” by Christopher Moore

18 May

Sacré Bleu: A Comedy d’Art by Christopher Moore
Genre: Historical fiction, humor, satire, art, is this real life?
Rating: 4.67 out of 5 stars

Summary: Impressionists throughout Paris are stricken with strange bouts of memory loss and sitings of a mysterious Colorman. At the center of these curiosities are baker/painter Lucien Lessard and his friend Henri Toulouse-Lautrec who are investigating the mysterious death of their friend Vincent Van Gogh. As if things weren’t strange enough, the love of Lucien’s life Juliette has returned to town and with her a rise in the use of the sacred blue.

Some books cannot be read on an eReader (at least not a black and white eReader), but require full physical immersion, this being one of them. With a focus on art and the color blue, the aesthetic choice was to make all the book’s text blue. Chapter titles, numbers, heading, page numbers, and even the prose are all in shades of blue. Think taking House of Leaves to the next level. The cover is also done in shades of blue to represent the theme (I have included an uncovered less “scandalous” version of this later in the review). There are also paintings scattered throughout that inform the text, but more on that in another section. For now I’ll discuss the plot without giving too many of the surprises away.

Sacré Bleu is ultimately although not completely centered around the strange suicide of Vincent Van Gogh, who shot himself in the chest in the middle of a field and then walked to a doctor’s house where he died. And you thought the ear thing was the weirdest stunt he ever pulled- don’t worry, that comes up too. While not focused entirely on Van Gogh’s death, it covers the Impressionist painters (and Post-Impressionists) who stumble on the inner workings behind his death, which if you think about it, is an awfully bizarre way to commit suicide. It was this mystery that took off in Christopher Moore’s imagination and created this novel, his most ambitious and unique yet. Although I might still love A Dirty Job just a little more. It was my gateway book into Moore’s insane wacky worldview and has a special place in my heart.

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If Fantasy Became Reality: Cassie-la Takes You to the “Night Circus” by Erin Morgenstern

23 Sep

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Fiction, fantasy, circus, magic, historical fiction,  I want to go to there
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Summary: Les Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams) appears without warning. Tied to this enchanted circus is illusionist Celia and her challenger Marco, both of whom have been bound to compete in a mysterious game since their youth. Unknowingly along for the ride are Tsukiko the contortionist, Herr Friedrick Thiessen the clock-maker, and Poppet and Widget, the powerful red-headed twins born opening night.

Beautiful, haunting, and bursting with imagination, The Night Circus is a literary journey you will be hard pressed to forget.

The first thing that drew me to this amazing novel was the gorgeous cover. Look at that, it’s beautiful. The UK cover is also equally stunning, but I’m really drawn to this US cover, particularly due to the fact that the entire thing looks like it’s made from construction paper.

The second thing that drew me in was the theme of both magicians AND the circus. There are a lot of wonderful novels out there about the circus: Dreamland, Geek Love, Freaks! Alive, on the Inside!, Water, or as I like to call it, H20 for Elephants, but not so many about magicians. Now, I have read The Prestige, but it was one of those rare cases where the movie was better than the novel. Shocking, I know. It might have helped that the movie has Hugh Jackman in it.

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My Year in Reading: Cassie-la Blabs About EVEN MORE Upcoming Literature

19 Aug

Since I last wrote a post with a list of upcoming books that excite me, a bunch more have been announced (probably solely to mock me for jumping the gun and making an upcoming book list).

This time around, the books are even more exciting. Every single pre-order of John Green’s new book will be signed, all pre-orders of Maureen Johnson’s book purchased from Books of Wonder will come signed with hand made gifts, and even Terry Pratchett is selling signed copies of his book.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that books as a media are on an upward trajectory, despite the recent closing of Borders and the rise in eBook sales. But that might just be me making assumptions based on my own experiences rather than a trend in the world at large. We’re all egotistical like that I suppose.

Regardless, there are a shit ton (yes, that’s an actual count of measurement now) of books coming out! In September there are seven books I want to read and in October there are a whopping nine (four of which come out on October 11th), and again in December there are four. It’s madness. Pure unadulterated madness!!!

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Kelly Reviews “The Hangman’s Daughter” by Oliver Pötzsch

9 Mar

The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch
(translated by Lee Chadeayne)
Genre: Historical fiction, mystery
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Summary: 1659 – Schongau, a small town in the Bavarian region of Germany, is rocked to its core by a heinous crime. A small boy is pulled out of the river, severely beaten and with a strange marking on his shoulder. After he dies, the townsfolk cry witchcraft and immediately blame the midwife, Martha Stechlin, for killing the boy. The townspeople form an angry mob and attempt to extract justice, vigilante style. However, the town’s hangman Jakob Kuisl puts a stop to it, insisting on a fair trial.

Kuisl believes Martha is innocent, but using logic in a time of superstition is highly suspect. Fears mount, especially as more children disappear and people whisper reports that The Devil himself walks the streets of Schongau. The young physician Simon Fronweiser and Kuisl’s daughter Magdalena are the only two willing to help the hangman find the truth behind the terrible events befalling the town. But will the truth come too late?

Not gonna lie – the cover is what attracted me to this book. The fancy font against the matte black, and the slippered feet hanging ominously over the title. It just looked cool. So I was pleasantly surprised when judging the appearance of something turned into an excellent reading experience. In your face, proverbs! Continue reading →

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