My pick for this week is:

Castle Waiting, Volume Two by Linda Medley

Available December 2010 from Fantagraphics Books

The long-awaited return to Castle Waiting! With its long-awaited second volume, Linda Medley’s witty and sublimely drawn fantasy eases into a relaxed comedy of manners as Lady Jain settles into her new life in Castle Waiting.
Unexpected visitors result in the discovery and exploration of a secret passageway, not to mention an epic bowling tournament. A quest for ladies’ underpants, the identity of Pindar’s father, the education of Simon, Rackham and Chess arguing about the “manly arts,” and an escape-prone goat are just a few of the elements in this delightful new volume.
The book also includes many flashbacks that deepen the stories behind the characters, including Jain’s earliest romantic entanglements and conflicts with her bratty older sisters, the horrific past of the enigmatic Dr. Fell, and more. 384 pages of black-and-white comics.

I guess that summary above might not make any sense if you haven’t read the first volume. It is a graphic novel and I had read Volume One awhile ago and it was just so charming and wonderful and so different! Check out some info about this story at the publisher’s website here in case you’re interested. So excited that this is coming out. I hope the book packaging is as lovely as the first volume was.

I’ve never attended a midnight release event of any book, even the Harry Potter books, but I was super excited about this one. Not only to actually attend the event, but to also complete my signed collection of the Hunger Games trilogy!

So what did my evening look like? Well me and two friends from work were planning on going, and me being the paranoid one, was going to waltz over there at around 6:30 to see if there was a line and even if not, take my place in line in order to get my voucher at 8pm. Because as stated in the flyer above, the earlier in line the better because then you wouldn’t have to wait too long after midnight to actually get the book signed. After such a long night, I wanted to be sure I was outta there quickly.

But at some point during my Monday afternoon, I came across this tweet from Books of Wonder: “just so you know: customers have been calling in saying they’ll be lining up as early as 5pm.”

I went into panic mode! We needed a new plan of action. I declared that we leave at 5pm to get there and wait those long three hours….which we did. And there were some people already in front of us. So what did we do for three hours while waiting for the store to re-open at 8pm? We stood around talking and then some people from another publisher, HarperCollins, joined us and we kept on chatting in one big group.

This might have been the line between 6 and 7 I think.

Finally the doors opened!

I had preordered my copy for the event about two weeks prior. So after some more waiting, we got our numbers, and welcome packs, which included a crossword puzzle, a temporary tattoo, as well as a raffle ticket, and the purple piece of paper to exchange for the actual book.

So what were we to do for the next few hours? Well we were already sore just from standing. And hungry. So we went to a bar nearby where, they had boiled peanuts!!!! Yipeee! So the five of us ate and chatted. It became 10 or so, so we walked back to the store, just in time for the raffles, where they were giving away special Mockingjay mugs, bag clips, and signed copies of Catching Fire. None of us won anything. Although one did win a bag clip by answering a trivia contest. There was also face painting and juggles and a tarot card reader in the store. But at that point, the place was just too jam packed, as you can see below:

Two girls from our group sporting their new tattoos

The jugglers as we were waiting in line to get our vouchers

Spin the wheel for some trivia!

Getting crowded

At 11:30pm, David Levithan, one of the editors, came out to introduce Suzanne. I couldn’t see her from where I was standing, but she read a short part of Catching Fire, and then the beginning of Mockingjay. And she read Katniss with an Appalachian accent.

A fan came dressed in a very particular wedding dress from the series:

Actually, here’s a better picture of the dress that someone from Egmont took of the dress:

The moment we had all been waiting for: getting our books and getting them stamped!

Shiny new book with a shiny stamped signature!

I was number 59, and the group of us were out of there by 12:15! We dashed in the drizzle to the Union Square subway to go our separate ways home. I was home at 1am. I went straight to bed. It was a bit hard to get up this morning. I was barely able to read this morning on the subway, because I was so tired. A white mocha from Starbucks did little to help keep me awake today at work….

So now I have all three books signed! I got the first one at the NCTE conference in 2008 when Hunger Games first came out. And I got Catching Fire signed at an event last year.

And no, I still haven’t finished reading Mockingjay. I think I’m going to savor the reading experience all week.

From the midnight release party at Books of Wonder, with Suzanne Collins. It was a long night. A full write-up due later tonight!

So sleepy….

My first class for grad school starts in just a little over a week from now. So I had to buy some textbooks. I needed three, THREE, textbooks for my Canterbury Tales class:

That third book, when I opened it and saw that it was in Middle English, I panicked! I might as well have been looking at a foreign language! I think I will be buying a modern translation of the Tales to help me along. I graduated college four years ago…I might be a bit rusty. I think I need to look through these books before the first class session. It will be interesting though going to class once a week, writing papers, reading the Tales, but still working with childrens’ books full-time. Totally different mindsets. But we will see how it goes. So expect some posts about grad school….and the Tales. Josh said he would read along with me, which means I will be providing the insight as I learn it myself.

One thing we discovered on our way down and up was boiled peanuts! Oh so good! Now I’m trying to find some place in NYC that has them.

Myrtle Beach was nothing special…..except for the few moments we got to hold a baby tiger and a monkey at this place! We didn’t get to go on the tour because they didn’t have it on the day we were there but I told Josh that I want to go back and see this place up close! It’s only a 10-hour drive. No biggie. Good long weekend plan.

Sadly, Sea World is not the same place as I remember it from my childhood. The best show though was the sea lions. At night, their act is essentially making fun of the other Sea World shows. When we went to Disney, we did Hollywood Studios and Magic Kingdom in one day, and we were there until closing. Josh went on more rides than I did. I’m too chicken for some of them. Kennedy Space Center was fascinating and fun! I highly, highly recommend it! It was awe-inspiring! We just might be crazy enough to fly down there in February to see the last shuttle launch.

Key West was amazing, with the food, the dolphin watching, the beach, the drag shows, and just the atmosphere! Such a laid back community. It was nice not driving for those 6 days. Instead, we walked everywhere. I think we will be going back sooner than later. Right, Josh?

So, here are some photographic highlights in case anyone was interested:

Watching the sun set in Key West

At Hemingway’s House: his writing room, which was separate from the main house.

Charlie Chaplin, the most photographed cat on the Hemingway property

Poultry running loose on the streets of Key West. The owner of Blue Heaven remarked about his restaurant: “The only place you can eat fish with the chickens.” Blue Heaven is also the place where you can key lime pie the way it was meant to be made, with actual key limes, and the meringue piled up high!

Dolphin Watching off the Keys

Me with the ladies of the 801 Bourbon. If you are ever in Key West, go there! We went there twice, and once for their Drag Queen Bingo. You will have a good time!

Sea World

Disney

Kennedy Space Center (This was our favorite part of our stay in Orlando)

The Vehicle Assembly Building: The tallest one-story building, where they assemble the actual shuttles.

The Rocket Garden (yes, they are real)

Getting to meet an actual astronaut

And if you ever drive South, or even if you drive North, you will constantly see signs for this place, “South of the Border”:

Britain, 1045 – The Normans are circling, waiting their turn to pounce on the English throne and wrest it away from the Anglo-Saxon barons. King Edward the Confessor, the childless, half Norman ‘Virgin King’ does his Machiavellian best to aid them. Everything centres on the succession. Earl Lovric of Mercia and his powerful wife, Godiva – two of the most powerful of his Anglo-Saxon vassals are inevitably drawn into the machinations at Court. When Edward manipulates their son into a treasonable act and makes him a pawn in his power play, Godiva’s maternal instincts rise to the fore. Intrigue and power play undermine her own trust in her husband…and the stage is set for one of the most powerful mythological stories of British history. This is the story of an independent, resourceful and intelligent noble woman tested to the limits of her endurance, which illuminates one of the great myths of British history.

What a wonderfully written story about this myth/legend! I know it was historical fiction, but it did some insight as to how the event might have come to pass. I mean, it’s not everyday that the lady of the land walks through the town sitting stark naked on a horse.

Now traditionally, it is told that Lady Godiva rode naked at the request of her husband, saying he would do what she asked of him (to help the townsfolk) if she rode naked on a horse.  Here, in this story, it is at the request of the king, King Edward the Confessor, in order for her to repent for her sins, and so that her people wouldn’t get taxed.

So what do we have here? A very clever, cunning, and really weird king who manipulates his subjects to his whims. I really did not know about Edward the Confessor so it was interesting to know that history, and to see how his actions, or lack thereof (however you want to interpret them, since he was a supposedly a virgin), affected the kingdom. There’s a lot of politics involved in this story but the author does a good job of not confusing you. But everytime Edward showed up, I got very uncomfortable, only because I didn’t know what he was up to! Oh, and even the nuns were conniving! Who can anyone trust?

Now, as for Godiva herself….well…my only problem was that I didn’t believe her to be as loyal and pious as the book was supposed to show. I feel like there wasn’t enough background on her as a character to show that it was within reason for Godiva to give in to Edward’s demands. I wanted to read the backstory about her and her husband, and the fact that Lovric was her second husband, not just get glimpses of it through a few sentences here and there. Plus, her little love tryst seemed a bit out-of-character, but it did serve a purpose for the story overall. Again, I wanted to know more about Godiva. I guess I wanted the book to be thicker and longer. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoyed what I read, but it left me wanting more of the beginning, and not the end.

The author also writes up at the end of the actual history and events and people surrounding these events. Not only does the book shed light onto the legend, but also on the general politics.

Not sure what else to say. So do I recommend it? Yes! If you need a change of pace from the other historical fiction out there, then this is for you.

Below are some renditions of Godiva in various art forms:

Lady Godiva by John Collier

Lady Godiva by Edward Henry Corbould

Lady Godiva by Jules-Jospeh Lefebvre

Maureen O’Hara in the movie Lady Godiva of Coventry

The statue of Lady Godiva in Coventry’s Cathedral Lanes Shopping Centre

Lady Godiva by Edmund Blair Leighton, depicting the decision to do the ride

My pick for this week is:

Available September 2010 from St. Martin’s Press

This is the story of the only woman to ever stand up to the Virgin Queen – her own cousin, Lettice Knollys. Far more attractive than the queen, Lettie soon won the attention of the handsome and ambitious Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, a man so enamored of the queen and determined to share her throne that it was rumored he had murdered his own wife in order to become her royal consort. The enigmatic Elizabeth allowed Dudley into her heart, and relied on his devoted service, but shied away from the personal and political risks of marriage. When Elizabeth discovered that he had married her cousin Lettie in secret, Lettie would pay a terrible price, fighting to keep her husband’s love and ultimately losing her beloved son, the Earl of Essex, to the queen’s headsman. This is the unforgettable story of two women related by blood, yet destined to clash over one of Tudor England’s most charismatic men.

Now this is a story I did not know about. Count me in. I’m rather bored reading books that focus on Elizabeth and Dudley at this point, so anything different, like this book, sounds like a good change of pace to me.

“I am the first writer, The Scribe. My books lie open before the Throne, and someday will be the only witness of your people and their time in this world. The stories are forgotten here, and the Day draws close. I will tell you one of my stories. You will record it.”
So begins the narration of one such angel in this sweeping historical tale set during the reign of England’s Henry VIII. It is the story of two women, their guardian angels, and a mysterious, subversive book , a book that outrages some, inspires others, and launches the Protestant Reformation. The devout Anne Boleyn catches the eye of a powerful king and uses her influence to champion an English translation of the Biblical ??Scriptures the common people could read for themselves. Meanwhile, Rose, a broken, suicidal woman of the streets, is moved to seek God when she witnesses Thomas More’s public displays of Christian charity, ignorant of his secret life spent eradicating the same book, persecuting anyone who dares read it. Historic figures come alive in this thrilling story of heroes and villains, saints and sinners, angels and mortals … and the sacred book that will inspire you anew.

I didn’t finish this book. As quick of a read as it was, I just couldn’t finish it. The premise sounded interesting and different. I thought it would fit nicely in terms of timing too, since I have just finished watching the first season of The Tudors on Netflix. But I was so confused as to what was going on, in terms of this Scribe who shows up a dying editor’s hospital bed, forcing her to write down this true history. Who was this Scribe? Was it Death? Someone else? Apparently there was a mystery as to why this woman was chosen to wrote it down, some connection to Anne or Rose. But as you can tell, I wasn’t invested enough to continue and find out.

And when were these “guardian angels” supposed to show up? Or were they even supposed to show up at all? I got halfway through the book and no angels of any sort, just the idea that someone was protecting Rose from being run over on a road. And what was Rose’s big crime that she was so ashamed of? Was she a prostitute? Did she sleep with someone she shouldn’t have slept with? I don’t know!

And Henry VIII might as well have been some other generic suitor of Anne’s. Nothing about his character stood out for me.

And Anne! Such a  pious lady and a stark contrast to the characterization on The Tudors.

The constant interruptions of the Scribe and the editor conversing and writing really felt jarring. I think that was one of the reasons I kept feeling lost. A few pages of Anne, and few pages of Rose, oh look we’re back in the present again for no reason at all…

As you can see, lots of questions but not not enough interest to find out the answers….

So this book wasn’t for me. Maybe it will be for someone else. It’s in PBS rotation, waiting to be requested.

My dad first introduced me to Charles Bukowski. I read some short stories and some novels. But for some reason, I could not sit through Barfly. Still, are there any women out there who like him besides me?

Got two books recently from PBS:

Brigid of Kildare is the story of the revolutionary Saint Brigid and the discovery of the oldest illuminated manuscript in the annals of the Church, a manuscript that contains an astonishing secret history.Fifth-century Ireland: Brigid is Ireland’s first and only female priest and bishop. Followers flock to her Kildare abbey and scriptorium. Hearing accounts of Brigid’s power, the Church deems her a threat and sends Decius, a Roman priest and scribe, on a secret mission to collect proof of Brigid’s heresy. As Decius records the unorthodox practices of Brigid and her abbey, he becomes intrigued by her. When Brigid assigns Decius a holy task—to create the most important and sacred manuscript ever made—he finds himself at odds with his original mission and faces the most difficult decision of his life.
Modern day: Alexandra Patterson, an appraiser of medieval relics, has been summoned to Kildare to examine a reliquary box believed to belong to Saint Brigid. Hidden within the sacred box is the most beautiful illuminated manuscript Alex has ever seen. But even more extraordinary is the contents of the manuscript’s vellum pages, which may have dire repercussions for the Catholic Church and could very well rewrite the origins of Christianity.

Is this Ragnarok, or just California?

The Norse Code genome project was designed to identify descendants of Odin. What it found was Kathy Castillo, a murdered MBA student brought back from the dead to serve as a valkyrie in the Norse god’s army. Given a sword and a new name, Mist’s job is to recruit soldiers for the war between the gods at the end of the world – and to kill those who refuse to fight. But as the twilight of the gods descends, Mist makes other plans. Journeying across a chaotic American landscape already degenerating into violence and madness, Mist hopes to find her way to Helheim, the land of the dead, to rescue her murdered sister from death’s clutches. To do so, she’ll need the help of Hermod, a Norse god bumming around Los Angeles with troubles of his own. Together they find themselves drafted into a higher cause, trying to do what fate long ago deemed could not be done: save the world of man. For even if myths aren’t made to be broken, it can’t hurt to go down fighting – can it?

And here’s some more goodies that came!

So what is all this you may ask? Well, you may have heard me rave about Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise from time to time, or randomly. Well, this week I got the Women of SiP print (signed), his newest sketchbook, also signed, as well as a special SiP Tumbler, so that I may drink my water and tea at work with style! These were all new at San Diego Comic Con, and I was anxiously awaiting for these things to be available for purchase online from him. The print is actually bigger than I expected. Now I must find a frame and hang it somewhere. I probably could have waited for New York Comic Con to get these, but I didn’t want to risk not getting them, in case they sold out.