The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster

The Lemoncholy Life of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book has everything that I love: magic, time-travel, letter-writing, unusual characters who find each other and form a loving little community, wit, intelligence, historical verisimilitude, and smatterings of quoted Tolkien.

I often say "If you liked The Night Circus..." - I'll say it again.

Utterly delightful. I read it in two days, and will read it again.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC. This is a fair (and exuberant) review.

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Wylding Hall

Wylding Hall by Elizabeth Hand
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Elizabeth Hand channels the summer of 1972, deep in an ancient English forest, where five young musicians are secluded from the world, creating their masterpiece. Their Child ballads, mystical and mythic original lyrics, virtuoso musicianship, and sense of wonder have been disorganized and derailed by the death of their lovely lead singer. Their manager thinks that Leslie, with her strong voice and lyrical skills, will energize the music and the remaining members of Windhollow Faire.

Wylding Hall reveals itself as a portal to very old magic, perhaps older than the perspective-bending barrow deep in the woods. By the time the young musicians record the album during a spontaneous outdoors session - photographed haphazardly by a young teenager with his first Instamatic - each member has been wounded by a mystery, and has discovered uncanny links to past tragedies. Have they also seen a ghost?

The short novel is structured as the transcript of a 21st century documentary, narrated in turns by each of the band members and participants - all but one, the beautiful, brilliant Julian, whose disappearance decades before was linked to a very strange young girl, and a very strange melody...

Did you enjoy Uprooted by Naomi Novik? Do you eagerly await the work of Charles de Lint or Pamela Dean or Terri Windling? Does your playlist include Loreena McKennitt, Pentangle, Steeleye Span, or Fairport Convention? This is your book. Anyone who loves folk-tinged fantasy will love it too. The only thing that will disappoint you: there is no soundtrack. Maybe someone will put together a Spotify list.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley.


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The Mysterious Disappearance of the Reluctant Book Fairy

The Mysterious Disappearance of the Reluctant Book Fairy by Elizabeth  George
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Annapurna (a/k/a Janet) is a librarian with a Special Ability. Mildred is an Indomitable Force. Add one indie bookstore with money woes, adventure-seekers with deep pockets, a best friend who can't keep a secret, and a dollop of literary opinions. Voilà - fifty pages that will leave you laughing and yearning for a friend named Annapurna.

Janet has always been able to lose herself in a story. Literally. Not as a character, already written, but as a participating extra. As a sickly child, she drank tea alongside Alice in Wonderland, tried on Cinderalla's slippers, and climbed down Rapunzel's hair. Her secret was never meant to be public. Ah, but after she settled an argument with her talkative friend by transporting her to a pivotal scene beneath an oak tree in To Kill a Mockingbird, she became a very popular girl indeed.

Years later, she has long eschewed her talent, and has spent 15 years travelling the country in a school bus with folks who want to duplicate "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert." Her now-married friend, Monie, entices her back to her hometown; a library job is the lure, but a desire for temporary escapes from her dullard husband is the real motivation. Monie really, really needs a trip to the terrace at Monte Carlo where Maxim proposed to Rebecca's nameless successor. (The delicious scene with Mrs. Danvers will have to wait.)

Enter the Indomitable Force, a stalwart fundraiser for local causes. She learns about the Special Ability. Enough said.

(Janet, by the way, is not a pushover. She has always sent people into books they had not requested, because a trip on the Argo is better than a game of quidditch, n'est pas? She insists on Dracula instead of trips with glittery vampires, refuses all requests for Danielle Steel, and acquaints many with The Scarlet Pimpernel and Pemberley.)

Elizabeth George has concocted a wicked funny book, a total delight. Will you think about "Being John Malkovich" and larks by Jasper Fford? Of course. That's part of the fun.

Five stars for a book that's short, but oh, so savory.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


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(By the way -- I played the Book Fairy in my first-grade play. I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone...)

Lost Lake

Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another lovely story from Sarah Addison Allen!

Highlights:

Lisette: a mute French woman who senses others' emotions "... slipped straight to her as if through mouse holes..."

A woman named Bulahdeen, whose grandmother used to say that old hands make the best food.

A lake described as "a dense round plop of gray-green water surrounded by trees with Spanish moss hanging from their limbs, like the long hair of ladies dipping their heads to sip from the lake."

All this, plus redemption, courage, love charms, food, and a talking alligator...


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