Weekend Reads: The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion by Beth Brower (Sarah)

 

“I’ve arrived in London without incident. There are few triumphs in my recent life, but I count this as one. My existence of the last three years has been nothing but incident.”

Young Emma M. Lion, wholly without sympathetic relatives (but with an unfortunate number of unsympathetic or downright trying ones), at last nears her majority and makes a successful return to London. Yet she soon finds her plans for reclaiming her familial home and becoming an academic thwarted by the dreadful Cousin Archibald and looming financial woes.

The series chronicles her maturation as well as how she processes grief and loss, but it maintains a charming, humorous tone even while dealing with deeper issues. As the name suggests, The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion are diary-style novels, and the intimacy of this perspective suits the journey into the trials and triumphs Emma experiences.

While set in 1883 London, little touches of the fantastic are neatly woven into the fabric of the setting. Emma lives in Lapis Lazuli House, in the neighborhood of St. Crispian’s which is “almost perfectly normal” save for peculiarities like The Roman and objects that disappear and reappear at will. The eccentric inhabitants of St. Crispian’s accept these as part of regular life, and indeed, they perfectly fit the tone of the book.

The interactions between Emma and the rest of quirky cast of characters make these delightful stories, and I look forward to seeing Emma’s adventures continue in volume 6. Short and engaging, these novellas would make an ideal “weekend read.”

Do you enjoy novels told in journal form?

Weekend Reads: The Magicians and Mrs. Quent (Mary)

 Blame it on my rebellious streak, my desire to be unorthodox and live off the beaten path, but when I see every bookstagrammer in the world gushing and fawning over the same book, when Barnes and Noble has entire kiosks set up to display their selection of different cover art and themed merchandise from said book...I usually have no interest at all in that book.

I much prefer the books nobody has ever heard of, those quirky, out-of-the-way titles you won't see on bookstagram or in glitzy Barnes and Noble displays.

And I love, love, love historical fantasy.

So when my best friend loaned me The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett, I was utterly captivated.

In an Austen- and Bronte-esque fantasy world where no two days or nights are ever the same length, Ivy Lockwood and her sisters and mother are struggling to keep their family together after their father, a brilliant scientist, has lost his mind. With a mysterious star growing brighter in the sky, greedy relatives circling like jackals to snap up their home, and their father's invention - a model of their solar system - slowly revolving towards a catastrophic conjunction, Ivy is forced to turn to unusual sources for help. Along the way, she finds unexpected love...and unexpected abilities.

Don't get me wrong, the story is great. But it was the world building that made this book so utterly, incredibly captivating. Maybe it was the similarities to the worlds of stories like Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. Maybe it was the detailed exploration of what life would be like in a world with erratic days and nights. Whatever it was, I felt like I could get transported into this world and know my way around perfectly. It is absolutely delicious and I could read and re-read this book over and over, just to keep living in the story world.

So if you're looking for something a little off the beaten path, and you love both fantasy and Jane Austen, you will go crazy over this book. It's the best fantasy experience you've never heard of!

Weekend Reads: Melanie Dickerson and the Importance of Jellybeans (Mary)

 Pretty much everyone who knows me knows I love the Medieval era. Those who know me beyond passing acquaintance know that I'm slightly obsessed with it.

Those who know me very, very well, know that during our teens, my best friend and I actually kept journals of "our lives" that we wrote as though we were living in the Medieval era. That's how deep my obsession goes. Granted, we were wildly inaccurate historically speaking, creating instead some kind of weird, mostly fictional, Medieval/Renaissance/sheer fantasy alternate universe in which the drama ran outrageously high and we both spent the majority of our time either being kidnapped or proposed to--sometimes both, for good measure.

We spent hours every week--sometimes hours per day--pouring our dramatic little souls onto the pages of those journals, and looked forward with giddy excitement to seeing each other every Friday, when we could exchange journals, read each other's adventures and exploits from the previous week, and add to them our own adventures for the next week.

Looking back at those journals now I think "Oh my goodness, I want to die..." but at the same time, there is still an appeal to living in that world, as much as I blush to admit it. The castles and knights and gorgeous clothes and pageantry and coats of arms and tournaments...but with enough fantasy thrown in to break the historical rules whenever I need or want to, to conform to the story I'm telling.

I think that's why I love the work of Melanie Dickerson so much.

(My most recent Melanie Dickerson read)

Melanie Dickerson's books are a relaxed blend of Medieval historical fiction and fairy tale/fantasy, but in my opinion they don't fit neatly into either category. There are too many anachronisms to really call it historical, but they are too historical to really qualify as full-fledged fantasy, either.

And I think that's part of what appeals to me. Dickerson's books are fun, relaxing, easy reading, and don't require a lot of thought to follow--the kind of books that I like to call "jellybean reading."

You can't live a healthy lifestyle if all you ever eat is jellybeans--they aren't going to power you through a 5k or boost your immune system or keep you satisfied all day at work--and in the same way I don't believe that you can have a balanced, well-rounded literary diet if all you ever read is Melanie Dickerson.

But boy, jellybeans sure taste good.

 If you want a little something sweet and enjoyable (and let's be honest, jellybeans are just cute to look at), if you want something with a variety of flavors but the same basic form and format, if you're feeling down and need a sweet, colorful little pick-me-up, nothing quite hits the spot like jellybeans.

I know people who won't touch a sugary snack like jellybeans, and I know people who won't read books like Melanie Dickerson because they're "fluff." But I would argue that, just as jellybeans can have an important cheering-up effect, "fluffy" reads can be an important part of a literary diet.

Sometimes I'm just too tired to read nonfiction or heavy, "serious" literature. Sometimes I'm sad and don't want to read anything emotional or that deals with super heavy topics. And, I'll be honest, sometimes I get nostalgic about living in a Medieval fantasy world with my best friend, and just want something to remind me of that.

Literature doesn't exist only to educate and challenge us. Literature also exists to comfort, to console, to be a friend, to help us relax, to just have fun. Different books and different authors fulfill different purposes with their work, and who's to say that the jellybeans you use to cheer up and have some fun aren't as important to a balanced, varied diet and lifestyle as an 8-ounce steak or a spinach salad you use to build up your muscle and get some serious work done?

Weekend Reads: Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal (Sarah)

 

I’ve loved Jane Austen and the Regency era since my teenage years, when I devoured all of Austen’s novels, and then sought any that might evoke a similar feeling. And of course, like most of you, I also love fantasy. So when I heard Mary Robinette Kowal discussing her Regency-era fantasy novel on the Writing Excuses podcast, I was intrigued.

As a historical fantasy, Shades of Milk and Honey, the first book of the Glamourist Histories, takes place in Regency England, with a twist that changes everything: the use of glamour. With it, men and women can form visual illusions, alter appearance, enhance their homes and lives, and fashion creations of remarkable beauty. 

This provides a backdrop for the tale of Jane, a homely woman of good breeding, but great talent with glamour. In contrast, her sister Melody possesses great beauty, but only a feeble ability to work glamour. This makes for an interesting dynamic between the two, as their love for one another receives a strain from jealousy and completion, especially as each seeks to find a place in the world and wrestles with societal and familial expectations of forming an excellent match. 

Relationships—both between family members and with possible love interests—form a vital part of the story. Ultimately it’s a desire to protect her sister that puts Jane on the path of finding her own love and purpose in life, and I appreciated this thread of devotion and familial sacrifice that was woven through the tale.

Shades of Milk and Honey unfolds at a steady pace, through conversations in drawing rooms, picnics in the idyllic countryside, and eventful balls. It’s a light, enjoyable read with interesting relationships, a touch of humor, and a bit of intrigue, and one I’d definitely recommend to those who like historical or gaslamp fantasy.

Do you enjoy Regency-era or gaslamp fantasy? It’s one I definitely favor, and I’d love to hear if you have any you recommend.