The Thirteenth (Perfect) Tale
The very first morning I walked into Half Price Books as an employee, it was a cool April. I was wearing my favorite olive green sweater, the sleeves curled just perfectly around my fidgety fingers; too excited to be stilled they fondled the woven material with angst. My boss was giving me the grand tour, and that’s when I saw it for the first time – the name Audrey Niffenegger. It was a hardback copy of The Time Traveler’s Wife, it had shoes on the cover, one large men’s pair, one small little girl’s pair. That’s what drew me to her work first. By the next day, I had devoured the book.
Later, she came out with Her Fearful Symmetry, which I loved even more. I am addicted to Niffenegger’s strange, yet perfect stories, her intense writing is something to be reckoned with. The feeling you can’t let go of once the book has ended is something like no other.
Several years later, still working at Half Price and in charge of the fiction/literature section, my safe haven, my heaven, my home away from home, a place at which I spent many happy hours of sweat and tears and occasional splinters, I stumbled across something new. It was a dark book, it caught my eye because the cover seemed to radiate the ambiance of ‘If you love books at all, you’ll love me.’ It was Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s Shadow of the Wind. He was compared to Umberto Eco and Gabriel Garcia Marquez on the jacket. I devoured it. Again, I was in love.
Those moments, now being properly relayed so that you may understand the depth of my love at first sight memories of these two author’s work can only help define how high a compliment it is for me to say: If Niffenegger’s Her Fearful Symmetry and Ruiz’s Shadow of the Wind were to have a love child, it would be Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale.
The Thirteenth Tale moved me in a way I am only moved so rarely for someone who reads so often. Having worked now in a bookstore these past four and half years, I have become both desensitized and overly inspired by everything. Everything interests me with its prospects, the possibility of discovering magic within the pages of something new, as I have in the past. But most things slightly disappoint with their lack of fervor, their severe void of original thought, or the absence of a classic feel.
The Thirteenth Tale is missing nothing. It is rich, full, thorough; it is mysterious and ghostly, beautifully gothic. It is a perfectly woven tale. Vida Winter could quite possibly be my favorite heroine of all time.
The Thirteenth Tale for sale on Amazon.com: http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=anakawhims-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0743298039
Time Traveler’s Wife for sale too: http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=anakawhims-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=0547119798
Crack in the Edge of the World
A Book Review
Simon Winchester never fails to fascinate and inform. When I picked up Crack in the Edge of the World, I was surprised to discover that the author I dearly remember for writing The Professor and the Madman (a history of the making of the Oxford English Dictionary) was also a geologist and highly knowledgeable in both language AND the science of rocks – what a foundation! This particular history on the great earthquake of San Fransisco met high expectations of Winchester’s talent compared to his previous work and I recommend this to anyone who likes history, science, or just plain good storytelling.
The Woodlanders
A quick blurb:
I’ve been up and down with The Woodlanders, mostly based on my mood. I loved it, it lulled, I hated it, and now with its final sentence I love it again. I am finding more and more that this is the sway of things with Hardy and me. His characters are so dynamic and unique and yet you find familiarity in each one every time you turn. He has nailed the human race time and time again, yet he is most known for his nature descriptions. I truly recommend every avid reader to enjoy at least one Hardy a year for literary sustenance.
Scentsy pairing: Shades of Green in the room you are sitting in, but keep Honey Peared Cider going in the adjacent room and let them subtly linger together.
The Duchess of Bloomsbury Street
A Review of Helene Hanff’s sequel to 84, Charing Cross Rd.
At the end of 84, Charing Cross Rd. when Helene’s correspondence with London bookseller Frank Doel seemingly came to an end – I cried. Now, in Duchess of Bloomsbury Street when Helene first sees Charing Cross Rd. with her own eyes – I cried again. Helene Hanff is simple, witty, clever, and utterly enjoyable every time she takes pen to paper. I enjoy romping through London with her and cannot wait to read what she has to say about life in America when I finally find myself a copy of Apple of My Eye. And, if I ever visit London, I hope I have even half as many wonderful people available like The Colonel and PB to escort me to all the best sites, and then maybe my trip could be almost as perfect.
Anakalian Whims 