Free Classics So Worth the Read

April 28, 2020January 26, 2021

Most of us have a lot of unexpected time on our hands at the moment (please stay healthy out there, everyone). A lot of us are have time for all these things we’d always wanted to do but now lack the budget. (Ahem. My new Social Isolation comic is also free. Read it in good health.) So here are some public domain books available for free (note: I say it like that because not all copies are free. Some get gussied up with fresh covers and forwards and the like, as opposed to the free digital copies you can find in the Amazon kindle store, Project Gutenberg, etc.).

In a nutshell, these are all books that I have read and that I thought added value to my days. And were free.

Peter and Wendy, J.M. Barrie. Kind of a spoiler (but not an important one): Did you know Peter completely forgets Tinker Bell ever existed? Yup, this is not the Disney version you know, or even the one you glimpsed in movies like Finding Neverland. Peter isn’t just the eternal child, he’s the ultimate child, with all the strengths and weaknesses that includes. A wonderful read that is sometimes shockingly different from the story I thought I knew.
The Phantom of the Opera, Gaston Leroux. Another great read, with aspects not found in any production I’ve seen (the musical, the Claude Rains version of the movie, the old soundless version…I’m quite the Phantom fan). It is, of course, violent. But if you still feel the sympathy for the phantom that the musical offered, that just shows how masterfully it’s written. It’s more twisted (and inevitably darker) than any version of the story you may know.
Anything Jane Austen, Jane Austen. Okay, I haven’t read ALL her works. But I have Northanger Abbey on my Kindle, and Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books. Jane Austen is always worth a revisit or a first look. Of the ones I’ve read, however, Pride and Prejudice is by far the funniest (but still romantic, even if you aren’t picturing a young Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy).
A Room with a View, E.M. Forster. Wow, did Forster ever write great female characters, by which I mean fair, realistic and interesting portrayals. Howards End (possibly the more famous book) is on my personal wish list, but this one I’ve both read and enjoyed. I can’t say enough good things about PBS’s recent adaptation of Howards End, which also made me recall this book fondly, so here we are. Is something wrong with me? Probably too much Chopin.
Henry V, William Shakespeare. War! Redemption! Grief! Courage! Surprisingly tender romantic overtures at the very end! French lords whose names you recognize from wine! Well, what are you waiting for?
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte. I first read this in high school as a pick of a reading list. A classmate who’d already tackled it gave me some of the best reading advice I’ve ever heard: “It’s slow at the beginning, but keep going and it gets REALLY good.” Slow was an understatement (one might say boring), but then all the sudden the story truly started and I was engrossed. This book is now one of my all-time favorites, and might be the book I’ve read the most times.
Tao te Ching, credited to Lao Tzu (various translations). If you haven’t read it yet, then why not? I picked this up at a time when I was beginning a period of self-reflection and in very need of a little macro view on life, the universe and everything. It brought me a bit of peace, it brought me a bit of a new perspective, and it brought me (you guessed it, just a bit) into a different type of thoughtfulness and awareness.

That’s not to say you need to have a somber or searching state of mind to read it. It’s not very long, but it can be contradictory, opaque, and some say it is best read in the language it was written in. Could the way I felt about it be the effect of reading something very different than what I was used to, that can feel a bit obscure so that my focus was on figuring out what something meant rather than, say, worrying about my dumb problems? Sure. Either way, it was great.

Note: It is possible to find versions of the Tao te Ching that rhyme (I have a hard copy like this), which means the text has been bent to accommodate English words, rather than finding the English words to accommodate the text. After reading a plainer translation, I found the rhyming kind of difficult to read and not as good an experience. But maybe you could use a jaunty rhyming scheme right about now, who knows?

There you have it!

Cheers and stay well,

-CKB

For more book recommendations, news and free content, join my mailing list today!

Indie Book Spotlight: The Purple Haze (Einspruch)

April 21, 2020May 1, 2020

A little preface: These are tough times for all of us right now, and I hope all of you are staying well or recovering, and getting by. Recently, I found myself self-isolating in that special limbo of “is this flu or Covid-19?” It was too late for a non-healthcare worker or first responder to get tested for either, so my doctor’s office said I’d just have to let the virus run its course. And that’s when I read today’s indie book spotlight:

The Purple Haze (Book I of The Western Lands and All That Really Matters), by Andrew Einspruch. (August 3, 2018; YA, Fantasy, Humor)

(Note: I received a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

The Purple Haze just happened to be next on my reading list, and I couldn’t have landed on a better book. I was stressed, sick and anxious, and chapter one made me smile. Princess Eloise and Jerome Abernatheen de Chipmunk (an actual chipmunk, albeit an anthropomorphic one) became a staple of my nightly wind-down routine.

But this is more than a zany, hilarious book. Like Einspruch’s shorter work, The Wombanditos, The Purple Haze starts out amusing and the plot picks up steam as it goes, in this case replacing its endearing characters as its number one asset (which is no easy feat with such a funny, quirky and loveable cast). By its midway point The Purple Haze was getting very interesting and proved to be well-thought out, with a clever, neatly foreshadowed twist driving the action. And after that?

We have ourselves a page-turner.

The story follows Eloise Hydra Gumball III, princess of the Western Lands and All That Really Matters. She’s a shy homebody, hampered by compulsive behaviors and germaphobia referred to as her “habits,” and she’ll one day be ruler of their queendom, no matter how she–or her contrary twin sister Johanna–feels about it. When a reliable court seer’s visions reunites Eloise with Jerome, her childhood best friend, the jester-phobic, quick-witted chipmunk becomes a peculiar choice for Eloise’s champion. Which may not be a bad thing after all, as Eloise’s short trip to retrieve her traveling sister becomes a massive quest, and Eloise is about to need all the help she can get.

Talking (or singing) horses might distract from the strong world-building, but while you’re smiling, laughing or shaking your head, it’s there all along. References to the other kingdoms, some of which will be important, are never forced, thanks to the fact that they are humorous asides. In one, a long description of the history and bureaucraticly hampered build of the Adequate Wall of the Realms sets a scene but mostly provides amusement: “[Eloise’s] reaction was the same as everyone else who saw it for the first time: ‘Yeah, that’ll do, I guess.'” But an entire chapter earlier in the story (chapter 8) centers on the travels of a disgruntled king, describing his kingdom, the purple haze and his other options to better his lot in royal life:

“Had he been a little more personable, Doncaster might have found a wife (or husband, he wasn’t choosy) from the royalty of the other four realms…So, yes, the Western Lands were off the table in the making-his-kingdom-suck-less department.”

You never quite know what will stay as a funny aside and what will be important.

And that works, because by the time Eloise and her retinue end up somewhere major, the reader already has a memory and impression of the place, which can then be upended at any time. It’s not by chance that this story comes together so well.

All of this makes for a funny, skillfully told story that never lacks heart. Einspruch’s greatest trick, however, is crafting a book that becomes so much to the reader, yet leaves them wanting more–without being the slightest bit disappointed.

Like Jerome’s prognostication says, “you’ll be happy about it.”

Indie Book Spotlight: The Prince and Poisoner (Rookwood)

March 22, 2020February 13, 2021

Today’s indie book spotlight is on…

The Prince and the Poisoner (Carnival of Fae Book 1), by Helena Rookwood (May 14, 2020; New Adult Fantasy/Romantic Fantasy)

(Note: I received an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.)

Four words: The Carnival of Stars. The ultimate setting of Helena Rookwood’s The Prince and the Poisoner is unique, wonderful, and begs to be explored almost as much as Hogwarts or Lothlorien. The morning after I finished this first installment of the Carnival of the Fae series, I woke up thinking I couldn’t wait to get back to the Carnival of Stars and see what happens next. I was genuinely disappointed when I remembered I’d finished The Prince and the Poisoner the night before.

In addition to those four words, this book has four great strengths: it’s heroine (Lira), it’s near-constant plot developments (action and twists!), it’s realistic writing (the characters’ motives and dialogue), and its imagination (gorgeous, magical settings). Those last two sound like contradictions, but Rookwood proves you really can have both.

When one character protests something, or offers troubling new information to another, the listener is quicker to believe it’s a lie than almost instantly believing what they don’t want to hear or accepting information from someone they don’t trust. And the royals in the story are neither shining heroes nor ruthless tyrants (with one possible exception, though we see very little of that particular king).

The story begins with Lira in a small traveling circus. Everyone in the circus has a specialty, and Lira’s is that she makes potions according to the specific ways her father taught her. When she gets a headache at the back of her head, she knows that her potions will work. And work they do, better than anyone else’s. As Lira steals and scrapes to save money to flee the circus’s abusive masters, her talent draws the attention of a mysterious man on horseback, who whisks her away on a journey to the Carnival of Stars one night.

But her escape comes with a surprising catch: Lira must poison a princess and thereby frame a kingdom. She then must balance the enormity of that task with her need to get away from her old circus, which the mysterious man threatens to return her to if she doesn’t fulfill her end of the bargain. But this is Lira, which means there is plenty of unexpected adventure, a little romance, a helping of magic and very little navel-gazing involved.

Lira is by far this story’s greatest asset (that’s what you’d want out of a MC, right?). She is both different and well-rounded, a secretive, bold, brassy, bratty, proud, secure, confident, flirtatious, headstrong, resilient, “preening,” braggadocios, and all-out marvelous female lead. If the necessary quality of a main character is that they would want to tell their own story, Lira does it with a lot of flare and no self-pity. She also has realistic motivations.

Lira rarely has a woe-is-me moment throughout the story, and when she does it’s almost always short-lived. She tends to make brave and sometimes surprising choices, and it’s not because of generic heroism: her motives are self-preservation and unwavering belief in her own talents, and a lot of that comes from her difficult (but never overly dramatized) backstory. It doesn’t mean she’s always likable, but she is never boring, either. It was frankly refreshing to find a heroine who never doubts her abilities and actively promotes them.

All in all, The Prince and the Poisoner makes for one heck of a circus.

Next in the Series: The Thief and the Throne (Review)

YA books that changed the game (#2 of 9)

February 12, 2020January 25, 2021

Did you see? I have a mailing list now! It’s right there, in the sidebar! (Or maybe below, if you’re on a mobile device). Now, without further ado…

Today’s YA novel that shaped me and countless others in the pre-Harry Potter days is 1995’s Sabriel.

#2. Sabriel, by Garth Nix (The Old Kingdom Series).

In high school, I had a wonderful English teacher. No matter how much you disliked a book from the summer reading list or complained about it with your classmates, you left her class appreciating that book. Then there were the non-reading list books you read for fun, that you’d prefer to spend your time with instead and couldn’t wait to get back to.

Sabriel is in both those categories for me.

As a kid voraciously reading it, I loved the interesting world with just enough horror to creep me out but not keep me up at night. A disdainful talking cat? A magic book? Yes, please! It was unlike anything I’d ever read. But that was where the trouble started: the ending.

Without spoilers, I will say that I read to the end, a part I usually savor, and thought, What?! That’s it?!

It was so abrupt, it left me feeling cheated after all that excitement. But that was the thing: I’d never read a book that didn’t wrap things up pretty neatly at the end. I didn’t know where the characters ended up, if they ended up together, how things worked out…no happily ever after, or ever after mentioned at all.

To top things off, the sequel, Lirael: Daughter of the Clayr (I think that was the original title) didn’t come out when expected. I kept searching each time I went to the bookstore, because young people didn’t and probably couldn’t look for books on the internet then, you see, and each time nothing was there except Sabriel and Shade’s Children. Where was it?! What happens next?!!!!

And that, right there, was the mark of an excellent book. For all my grumbling I wanted more, perhaps because of the way it ended but mostly because of the experience of reading it as a whole. I loved Sabriel. I still think of it as one of my favorite books, because of the book itself and because it changed reading for me. Even for a Goosebumps fanatic (that link there is to the first one of those I read), it opened up a whole new kind of world.

Sure, there were some growing pains for me. But Sabriel has stood the test of time, not just as a popular read and YA book of legend, but in my own memory.

Years later, I finally met Lirael and the Disreputable Dog. And while that is one of my favorite books, too, Sabriel is special. It’s not just the first, but one of a kind.

YA books that changed the game (#1 of 9)

January 11, 2020January 25, 2021

Today, I want to take a moment to share one of my favorite YA books from when I was that age. This is the first of nine posts about books in the Young Adult genre that changed me and countless other readers.

#1. Talking to Dragons, by Patricia C. Wrede (Enchanted Forest Chronicles).

This is the last of four books in the series The Enchanted Forest Chronicles. I actually read it before the others (apparently most people did when it first came out in 1985, because it was published first, as a standalone. I picked it up in the 90s and was none the wiser). Thanks to a strong attraction to the cover illustration and back copy (plus the other books in the series being sold out!) I ignored that “Book 4” business. My mom bought it for me, and I read it multiple times.

The thing is, Talking to Dragons is great on its own. It’s the only book in the series that jumps ahead to the next generation, though reading it first did spoil major plot points of books 1-3, which I then read like prequels. I will always wonder what it would’ve been like to discover it right side up (you had to go out to a bookstore then, so I’m guessing the wait to get #4 was devastating). But learning everything alongside the main character and having that element of surprise is worth it.

It all starts (finishes?) with Daystar, a boy living alone with his mother, suddenly discovering that his mom can use some pretty powerful magic. I won’t spoil what happens next except that Daystar ends up leaving home on a great and perilous adventure with some odd new friends he finds on the way. I laughed, I wanted a dragon (would give him some Jell-O dessert), and I kind of identified with the fire witch. It was a wonderful world and story that invited me to dive in and join in my own way.

I recently found the series (I’m Kon-Marie-ing) in a Ziploc, tucked away in a storage container with many of my other treasures. As I prepare to possibly donate my set of four to the library, I hope to be passing on my love of this series to others. And getting a new digital copy, of course.

Read about The Enchanted Forest Chronicles on author Patricia C. Wrede’s website

For more book recommendations, updates and free content, join my mailing list!

Indie Book Spotlight: Sunbolt (Khanani)

October 15, 2019June 9, 2021

I’m trying something new tonight. This is about to be my first Indie Book Spotlight:

Sunbolt (The Sunbolt Chronicles #1), by Intisar Khanani (Clean YA Fantasy; 2013)

This one’s a fantasy, and would work for YA-readers.

Note: the author is soon to leave the indie ranks, though The Sunbolt Chronicles are staying in the self-published realm as of this post.

So what’s it about? An ethnically mixed foreigner in a place where that’s a dangerous thing to be, where sinister government plots are afoot (plus those who are working against them). The main character, Hitomi, dashes through a vibrant market, meets vampires and werewolves, steals to survive and rebels to live.

OK, so when I started reading this I thought, “Yeah, this is a good story. Well-written. Not really my taste though. Why did I buy it?” Then I kept reading and found out. Yup, Sunbolt was for me. And I loved it.

Hitomi was a breath of fresh air, and Sunbolt and its sequel (Memories of Ash) taught me a lot about good world-building. It was also a perfect remedy for the doom and gloom of other fantasy tales I’d been reading.

I actually had no idea the author was self-published until I reached the end (which did come too soon, but in a “Where are the sequels, I need them now!” sorta way). Khanani, who will be traditionally published with a new version of her novel Thorn, writes clean fantasy, meaning her work contains suitable language for a wide audience. Mind you, the monsters and violence in Sunbolt may scare younger readers and could be inappropriate.

Official synopsis:

The winding streets and narrow alleys of Karolene hide many secrets, and Hitomi is one of them. Orphaned at a young age, Hitomi has learned to hide her magical aptitude and who her parents really were. Most of all, she must conceal her role in the Shadow League, an underground movement working to undermine the powerful and corrupt Archmage Wilhelm Blackflame.

When the League gets word that Blackflame intends to detain—and execute—a leading political family, Hitomi volunteers to help the family escape. But there are more secrets at play than Hitomi’s, and much worse fates than execution. When Hitomi finds herself captured along with her charges, it will take everything she can summon to escape with her life.

That’s all. Thanks for reading!