The Four Corners of the Sky by Michael Malone

Dear Barnes & Noble:

Thank you for giving me such a wonderful book for free.  I don't always appreciate the books you offer on Free Fridays, but this week you've given me a gift :)

Annie has had an interesting life.  She spent the first seven years of her life with her father, Jack Peregrine, running cons and constantly on the go.  She's never known any other life until, on her 7th birthday, he leaves her with her Aunt Sam & Sam's best friend Clark, and vanishes for 10 years.  During that time, Annie learned to adjust to a 'normal' life in Emerald, North Carolina--being raised by Sam and Clarke bearing a remote resemblance to normal.  She is a star athlete, has a wonderful best friend and gets accepted into the Naval Academy to reach her goal of being a fighter pilot.  On her seventh birthday, when her father left her at his childhood home to be raised by his sister, he told her that her birthday present was in the barn--an old airplane.  Annie loved that plane and convinced Sam & Clarke that she wanted to fly.  She even convinced D.K. Destin to not only give her flying lessons, but to teach her to be a flyer.  Annie hadn't slowed down since. 

Aside from a brief encounter on her 17th birthday, where her father emerged at full speed from a corn field to leave Annie a ruby for her birthday present, only to exit at full speed when the local police showed up, Annie hasn't had any contact with her father since her left her when she was 7.  Until, on her 26th birthday, he contacts her.  He's dying and he needs her help.  Annie, currently in the middle of a divorce from a man who will not divorce her, is heading home to spend her birthday in Emerald, as she does every year.  She's on top of the world, divorce not withstanding, because she's been chosen for an incredible opportunity to test a new aircraft and take a crack at a new speed record.  Why would she drop everything to help her father?  the man who abandoned her?  Love.

I absolutely loved this book!  Michael Malone has created some wonderful characters.  Annie, self-confident, successful woman, abandoned little girl on the inside.  Her best friend Georgette, raised by the 'perfect' mother with all the emotional baggage to show for it.  Sam and Clarke, best friends, totally devoted to each other with the wrong sexual preference to turn their friendship to romance.  Jack Peregrine, fast talking con man with more secrets than the CIA.  Their family is completely dysfunctional and works so well.  The relationships are solid, anchored in the kind of love that not every family has but this mashed together family has in abundance.  As the characters grow, you find yourself wanting to know more and more about them.  You are rooting for each of them to find their happily ever after--it's a wonderful story. 

Review: One of Our Thursdays is Missing

 It's been almost four years since the last installment of the Thursday Next series, but One of Our Thursdays Is Missing: A Novel by Jasper Fforde was well worth the wait.  The novel follows the Written Thursday as she traverses BookWorld looking for the Real Thursday, who seems to have gone missing while deep undercover.

The majority of the story takes place in BookWorld, which has recently undergone a remaking based on a geographic model.  The peace talks between Racy Novel and Women's Fiction and Dogma are coming up fast and the Written Thursday is being pressed upon from all sides to find the Real Thursday or replace her at the peace talks.  Her journey takes us all around the BookWorld, through fiction and non-fiction, with interesting treks into Vanity and Fan Fiction.  Along the way, she manages a trip into the Outland, where she finally meets her love, Landon.  Landon is killed off early in the written series, so the Written Thursday has spent her life longing for someone she's never known.  Her trip to the Outland raises questions about her identity:  could she possibly be the Real Thursday?  Suffering from some sort of delusion?

I love this series.  The stories are original and smartly written.  Fforde uses literary device to his own ends to create something spectacular.  This is classic.  He reminds me of Mark Twain in his use of humor to address societal issues, while still poking fun at himself and his work.  I can't find strong enough words to explain how much I enjoy his work.  If you haven't read any of the Thursday Next series, go get started on The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel.

Mr. Fforde, if you're out there, please do not make us wait another four years for Thursday.  While worth the wait, not much out there that can fill the void while we await another Thursday Next adventure.

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Deborah Harkness' debut novel, A Discovery of Witches: A Novel, is amazing.  I was drawn in from the first and did not want to put it down.  It's like a mature Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1) meets The Da Vinci Code.  The characters are interesting and complex, the story is exciting without being too ambitious or overcomplicated.  The book held me spellbound and is responsible for a few hours of lost sleep. It's an historical-supernatural-romance-adventure-mystery--my favorite genres wrapped into an exceptionally good book.

Diana Bishop is not going to use her magic--at least, that's what she keeps telling herself.  She is the last in a long line of powerful witches, with a father as powerful as her mother.  However, having lost her parents when she was seven years old has turned her away from her heritage and her magic.  While researching alchemical manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, she comes in contact with a volume that reaches out to her magic.  Panicked, she returns the book to the stacks, but it is too late--word is out that she has discovered the lost Ashmole 782 and now all species of creatures are after her.

Enter Matthew Clairmont, renowned scientist and vampire.  He has been searching for Ashmole 782 for centuries and is determined to retrieve the book Diana has recalled.  He feels drawn to Diana, feeling the need to protect her from the other creatures, despite witches and vampires being notorious separatists.  They are thrown into an uneasy friendship when the worlds of witches, vampires and daemons descend upon Diana, all looking for the manuscript.

A Discovery of Witches: A Novel is one of the best books I've read in quite a while.  It's clearly written to have a sequel, possibly more than one, and I am anxiously awaiting the next book.  I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading.

Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston

Save the world, Save Sonny, Save the theatre, Save yourself.  Tyff's advice pretty much sums up Kelley's role in Tempestuous, the third and final installment in the Wondrous Strange trilogy by Lesley Livingston.  Kelly has lied about not loving Sonny because she feels it is the best way to protect him from the truth and those that would hunt him down for his abilities.  Sonny takes off and finds himself drawn underground to a world inhabited by Lost Fae.  One little lie brings everything together and sets both Kelley and Sonny on the path to not only finding the truth about their enemies, but the truth about themselves.

I really enjoyed the end of this trilogy.  Livingston goes beyond wrapping everything up in a neat package and shows that her characters really have grown during their journey.  Both Kelley and Sonny learn from mistakes made in earlier parts of the their respective stories and even the Fae Royals are able to admit some wrongdoings.  Overall, the entire series was highly entertaining.  I particularly enjoyed the inclusion of the Shakespeare references/parallels in each story.  Livingston writes her characters as complicated, yet trusting and inexperienced young people.  Kelley really grows from the somewhat insecure young actress into a young woman worthy of being Fae royalty.  Sonny also matures from the blind, trusting young guard into a man who sees beyond the surface of people and begins to understand their natures.  I am sorry to see the story end, but it does end well.  I look forward to see what else this author has to offer in the future.

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