Merry Wanderer of the Night [Search results for audrey niffenegger] 

I was a little late to the party with The Time Traveler's Wife

but fell in love with it. I heard Audrey Niffenegger read a section of Her Fearful Symmetry

during the Iowa City Book Festival last year and thought it sounded fantastic. I love ghost stories and I trusted Niffenegger's ability to create a complicated and original story. Right after the reading though I heard from several others who were disappointed in the book and decided to put it off. And put it off. And put it off some more. In the end I got the audio version of the book because I was afraid reading the book would be too painful.

The story was great. It's about two twins, Valentina and Julia, who move to London from Chicago after their mother's twin dies of cancer. Their mother, Edwina, and her sister, Elspeth, had a falling out sometime that no one really knows anything about. Due to the falling out Elspeth writes in her will that Valentina and Julia must live in the London apartment for one year but their parents cannot come into the apartment. While Valentina and Julia live in London they make friends with Elspeth's lover Robert and another neighbor Martin, who is obsessive compulsive. The characters were extremely well written, unique, and interesting. I particularly loved Robert because he reminded me of Henry from The Time Traveler's Wife.

Valentina and Julia are glued at the hip but throughout the story you learn more about Valentina's desire to separate from her sister and Julia's obsession with taking care of Valentina. You also learn that Edwina and Elspeth had a similar relationship which played a role in their falling out.

Valentina and Julia are not the only people living in the apartment, however; Elspeth's ghost is present and trying to communicate with them.

So I have a story that I think well sums up my feelings about Her Fearful Symmetry. As I said earlier I listened to the audio version of this, which was divided into two parts. I didn't know this when I started it though and when I reached the end of the first half I thought the story was over. I didn't understand why everyone thought the book was so horrible. I thought it was just the right length, and had a great ending. Then I discovered there was a second half to the book. Once I started to listen I understood what all of the groans were about.

The first 80 percent of the book was all good and fine, but I felt the ending dragged and ruined my enjoyment of the characters. Overall I enjoyed the audio, but the reader used different voices for different characters and I found her incredibly difficult to listen to when she was reading Valentina's character. She made her voice very high and mousy, which was fitting for the character but horrible for my ears.

I think the book is worth reading if you consider yourself a big fan of Audrey Niffenegger. Of course, if you consider yourself that you've probably already read it. I'm not sure I would have finished the book if I hadn't listened to it on audio, and I think if you skip this one you won't miss out on much.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

When I started The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger I wanted to read it mostly because I want to watch the movie. Once I started talking about it I realized that everyone is reading this book. I have never read a book at the same time as so many other people before. I didn't realize so many of my friends had read the book, or how much everyone liked it. I have always been skeptical about this book. I don't know why, I think something about it made me think it would be Nicholas Sparks-y. It is so not Nicholas Sparks-y. It did make me cry though, and about one hundred pages from the end I wasn't sure if I could even finish the book.

The truth is that I fell head over heels in love with Henry DeTamble. He time travels, he's a librarian, he is kind of an asshole but is willing to change, and he is so punk rock (Thanks Kate for spicing up my description). And I fell head over heels in love with Clare too. She is so strong, so willing to live her life in this upside down way. I basically just wanted to marry both of them. Niffenegger does an amazing job of making you fall in love with these people, and it is so important that you do fall in love with them because it makes the end of the book effect you that much more.

For those you that don't know what the book is about, I'll give you a quick run down. Henry is a CDP, chrono displaced person. This means he time travels as a result of a genetic disease. Clare, his wife, meets him when she is a little girl, but he is actually usually in his forties. Henry doesn't actually meet Clare until he is in his twenties. It's kind of confusing to explain, but the book is mostly linear when you take into account the times that the time traveling is taking place. I would love to tell you more, but I don't want to spoil anything for you. I really just think you should read this book.

One of my favorite aspects of the book was how Henry was completely unable to change the past or the present. I thought this was more realistic than him changing everything all the time. There is one scene in which Henry's father walks in on him and his time traveling self (who is naked, Henry is always naked when he time travels). The present Henry gets really pissed at the time traveling Henry for not warning him, or doing something to prevent his dad from seeing him with a naked boy. The time traveling Henry then tells the present Henry to shut up basically.

I do have one quibble with this book, although I do with most. I hated how sometimes Niffenegger would introduce a topic and then just stop at that. I'm fine with foreshadowing, but there wasn't always enough to make me feel satisfied. Some questions that she left I didn't feel like she ever answered, or maybe she didn't answer them soon enough. Basically there were times she brought things up, but they weren't brought up in a way that allowed me to remember my questions when they were answered.

Pub. Date: July 2004
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Format: Paperback, 560 pp.

I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you make a purchase using one of my links I will earn a small percentage which will then go back into this blog.

I slept in until noon today and I definitely wasn't planning on that. Actually, I got up at eight to finish my cookies and then I went back to sleep at ten, planning on only sleeping for about thirty minutes. Silly me for not setting an alarm. It wouldn't be a big deal but I'm going to a Christmas/Birthday party at two o'clock so I have zero time.

I am not in Iowa City anymore, I'm at my parents house very far away from Iowa City. Actually not really, only about in a hour and a half. So far my mom has pushed a hydrating nasal rinse on me because I have a small nose and asked me if I'm eating enough fruit in Iowa City. Gotta love moms! My boyfriend brought his presents for my parents over yesterday but my dog has started to open them. Woops!

Last week was a good reading week for me because I had nothing else to do. I didn't finish quite all the books I wanted to, but I never expect that I will. I finished The Eyre Affair, The Moment Between, and The Red Necklace. I also posted a review of In A Gilded Cage, which I finished two weeks ago. I did some deep thinking this week about how people look at you when you read certain types of books, and how it doesn't really matter. Today I plan on finishing The White Garden by Stephanie Barron and The Clumsiest People on Earth edited by Todd Pruzan. I am also reading The Luxe by Anna Godbersen right now and I must admit that I am hooked! This week I also plan on reading The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, and Sex Lives of the Roman Emperors by Nigel Cawthorne. I was only planning on reading four YA books for my self challenge, but I ended up purchasing the first three of The Luxe series and I might end up reading all three before I turn 20. We shall see!

Happy Holidays and Happy Reading!

P.A.B.D. has plagued me on and off for my entire life. I know many bookworms who are faced with the same problem. Please read on to see if you have PABD and see how you can help yourself or others suffering from this disorder.

So what is P.A.B.D.?

Post Amazing Book Depression - The over-whelming sad feeling one gets after finishing a great book.

Signs of P.A.B.D.

• missing characters

• constant rereading of the same book

• stalking of the author

• lack of interest in other books

How to live with P.A.B.P.

• Find other books by the same author.

• Search for books with similar themes.

• Have a rebound book.

• Force a friend to read the book

Books Known to Cause PABD

* Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling
* Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
* The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
* Sookie Stackhouse/Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris
* The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Have you had PABD?
What book caused it? How did you deal with it?

* For more information on PABD or to steal a warning banner to use in your reviews head over to www.25hourbooks.com

I know I already did a post at the end of my one hour, but I didn't include any stats so I figured I'd just include them here.

But first, mini challenges! I couldn't resist I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read's mini-challenge to make a soundtrack for a chapter of the book you are reading. I just finished Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and I wanted to pick a song to be playing during the scenes where Guy Montag and Clarisse McClellan are talking and Montag starts to realize that something is really wrong with the world. The song I chose is Something to Talk About by Badly Drawn Boy, which was actually mad for the soundtrack of the movie About A Boy which is a great book by British author Nick Hornby. So I got very literary on this one.

This song might sound a little too peppy to be on a soundtrack for Fahrenheit 451, but can imagine it being really cool in a movie for the scene, especially since I see Clarisse as being a soft but strong character.

And I'm also going to do 'Til We Read Again's And The Nominees Are challenge.

Favorite Female Character in a book: Marian Halcombe from the Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Favorite Male Character in a book: Henry DeTamble from The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Favorite Side Kick in a book: I really like Dick in High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, is he a sidekick?
Favorite Couple in a Book: Jane and Rochester in Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Favorite Book Series: Right now probably The Luxe series by Anna Godbersen
Favorite Author: As far as authors I have read multiple books by... I'd probably have to say Virginia Woolf
Favorite Book Cover: I really like the cover of The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova
Favorite Book of 2009: Middlemarch by George Eliot, which is a book I read in 2009

And lastly, I'll do a kick rundown:
Title of book(s) read since last update: Fahrentheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Number of books read since you started: 1
Pages read since last update: 179
Running total of pages read since you started: 179
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 3.5
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 3.5
Mini-challenges completed: Miss Remmers' Kick-off Challenge, I Just Wanna Sit Here and Read's Soundtrack Challenge, and 'Til We Read Again's And The Nominees Are challenge.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Iowa City Book Festival just wrapped up yesterday and I was exhausted last night from the festivities. I couldn't take in as many events as I wanted to because I had to come home fairly early on Sunday and wanted to catch up with some friends Saturday evening. Overall though I hit some events and can't wait for next year's festival to come around! For those of you who aren't from around here, the Iowa City Book Festival is a three day event where readers, authors, librarians, booksellers, and others come to celebrate a love of books and reading. There are readings, presentations, films, book sales, and activities for children all going on with food and music for everyone to enjoy. This year I was also invited to participate in the event and I gave a talk about five of my favorite books from the past year and I also talked about blogging for a little while. I had a fairly good crowd, about 20-25 people were there.

This is me preparing to speak on Saturday, a little nervous.

Here I am in Gibson Square, where all of the music and book sales were. I'm standing next to the portion of the schedule that has my name listed on it.

I met some cool people as well. Chelle from The Prairie Library came to listen to me during her 15 minute break. It was awesome to put a face to a name and she is the first blogger I've met in real life, well that I didn't know before I started blogging. I also met Andrew Shaffer of the Huffington Post who asked a ton of great questions and is a truly funny guy. In addition to meeting people, I also saw some great writers. Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife, was the headlining speaker. I never realized just how dark TTW is until I heard her talking about it. She definitely has an interest in the darker side of life and is actually trained as visual artist, not a writer, which I never knew. Clearly she is a woman of many talents, and she is hilarious to listen to. Right after her Q&A I ran off to hear Hope Edelman and Carl Klaus talk about memoir and memory. Klaus interviewed Edelman and since the two already knew each other they had great chemistry. I haven't read anything by either writer but if their writing is as good as their insights on the memoir genre then I know I am in for a treat!

Sunday was A Day in the City of Literature and there were several readings scheduled. I, unfortunately, could only go to one before I had to leave town so I really had to think about who I wanted to see. I decided to see Stephen Bloom whose most recent book, Tears of Mermaids, has received kind words from many places and Michael Kindness from Books on the Nightstand was especially excited about it so I felt I had to go. The reading was held in the jewelry store M.C. Ginsberg, which was a nice fit because Tears of Mermaids is a micro-history of pearls. Bloom read a short, funny selection from the book and I was glad I recently purchased it (and I got my copy signed!). After the reading he shared a wealth of knowledge of pearls, passing around polished oyster shells and describing the several kinds of pearls and the places in the world they come from. He also spent some time talking about research and writing as well as what he enjoys about it and what he doesn't. It was a great way to spend an hour and I'm confident that I chose a good reading to attend.

Overall my experience at the Iowa City Book Festival was incredible, and to top everything off my name is even on the event's t-shirt because I was a speaker at it, how amazing is that?!? If you couldn't make it but are interested in what books I talked about I posted my picks on Saturday. I'm already looking forward to next year's festival and since I won't be living an hour and a half away hopefully I'll be able to take even more in.

Top Ten Tuesday is a new meme at The Broke and Bookish. This week's top ten is top ten desert island picks, or what books would you take if you were stranded on a desert island.

1. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I've read this book three times and I could read again and again never getting sick of it. Definitely desert island worthy. (I'd actually bring the illustrated version with pictures by Dame Darcy)
2. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. I love this and I think it'd be nice to have at least one graphic novel with my while I was stranded, in case I decided to start drawing in a cave or something.
3. Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman. This collection isn't my favorite by Klosterman but it is hilarious and I know I'd be laughing out loud the whole time I was reading it, which I'd probably need if I was stranded. I mean, who else is going to make me laugh? Plus my copy is signed, so if I crazed Klosterman fan with a boat appeared I might be able to use it to barter.
4. The Next American Essay Ed. by John D'Agata. I've actually had to read several selections from this for two classes but there is so much to explore in it. It's a whopper of essays, some I love, some I hate, and all of them I'd like to get to know better.
5. Middlemarch by George Eliot. This novel is huge and I read it last fall for a class. I loved the book then, but since I was reading so many other things for school I don't think I really gave it the attention it deserved.
6. Notes From No Man's Land by Eula Biss. Favorite essay collection. Ever. Will read it until I die.
7. The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson. I figure a lot of her poems are about being alone so maybe I'd find some solace in this book.
8. Moments of Being by Virginia Woolf. I have read a lot of Woolf but for me nothing is better than her autobiographical works.
9. Shakespeare Wrote for Money by Nick Hornby. I haven't actually read this but I'm a huge fan of Nick Hornby and his (returned!) column. He always delivers laughs and deep thinking so I'm sure I would enjoy this one.
10. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Okay, I really gave a lot of thought to this one, but it's so romantic and depressing I think I'd just have to take it with me. You know something to keep you one your toes on a desert island. Besides snakes and sharks and the like.

So what would you pick? Join in at The Broke and Bookish!

I hope you all a great holiday week! Because of the holidays I'm a little behind on my reading, as I'm sure most of us are. Today I'm planning on finishing The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger and The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. I've really been enjoying both books but since The Time Traveler's Wife is a little bit faster to read I've been more eager to read it. I'm actually further in the The Swan Thieves though because I keep thinking I'm further in The Time Traveler's Wife so I read it more. I know that makes no sense.

This week I posted reviews of The White Garden and The Luxe. Both were excellent books that I would recommend to anyone. Check out the reviews if you don't believe me. I also posted some photographs of the book wreath I made. And what would the holidays be without some complaining? Check out my English Major Grievances post here. You can even share some of your grievances here, I love to hear people complain.

I got a lot of books this Christmas, and I'm actually going to do a post about what books I did get most likely tomorrow. I got some book related things though so I figured I would share some of those right now. First of all I got a great calendar from my parents called The Reading Woman. I've actually been eyeing this calendar for months and I was really hoping someone would get if for me. It's just a collection of paintings of women reading. It is a beautiful calendar, the only painting I don't really care for is the last one, Micah Williams' Portrait of a Lady. There's nothing wrong with it it's just really not my taste.

I also got Jane Austen: An Illustrated Treasury

from my boyfriend. It is a beautiful collection of history and photographs/paintings from Jane Austen's past. There are envelopes throughout the book that hold items you can take out. These are copies of Austen's letters amongst other things. My favorite "treasure" is the collection of drawings from an early edition of Pride and Prejudice. There is also a very long section on the history of the gothic novel in the Nothanger Abbey section. I could not stop looking through this book for the rest of the night. The next thing isn't really book related but I got The Tudors

Seasons 1-3. I've never really watched Tudors before but I started it on Christmas Eve and I am so glad I have these!

Happy Reading!

VIA Rachel McAdams joins 2010 best