Review: ELLA MINNOW PEA by Mark Dunn

Rating: 5/5 stars

This epistolary novel is very clever. You only have to read the first page to surmise that much.

On the island of Nollop, a way off the coast of South Carolina, lives a community that has effectively elevated the use of “language to a national art form,” while in turn “relegating modern technology to the status of avoidable nuisance.”

In the town square of Nollopton sits a monument of Nevin Nollop, who is venerated because he is the creator of the sentence "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog." This sentence is on the monument, with each letter hanging on its own plaque. One day a letter plaque falls off, shattering on the ground, and the High Island Council is convinced this is a message from the posthumous Nevin Nollop himself. Some citizens state their belief “that Nollop does indeed speak to us from his place of eternal rest, through the manipulation of the tiles upon his hallowed cenotaph.” The Council’s decision is then to remove the fallen letter from the vocabulary and the printed works in Nollopton. Anyone caught using the excised letter will be publicly and painfully punished.

If this wasn’t interesting enough, once a letter is removed from the vocabulary of Nollopton denizens, it is also removed from the epistles Ella Minnow Pea writes. (As this novel is made up entirely of epistles, that means the individual letters are removed from the actual book itself.)

What really interested me, especially as someone who studied linguistics in school, was that only the use of the letter was prohibited, not its sound. For example, when Z falls off the monument and therefore becomes forbidden, people are not allowed to say “buzz” and “seize,” but to say “bees” or “cease” or “desire” is okay because there’s no Z in those words. English is full of examples like that, where one sound can be represented by more than one letter, or one letter can represent a plethora of sounds. (This is especially true with vowels.) The story touches on this idea later in the book, and it was truly hilarious, to the point of out-loud laughter, to read Ella's correspondences once there were more than ten letters of the alphabet stricken from use.

Throughout the novel, more letter plaques begin to fall in Nollopton, and coincidentally, more letters start disappearing from the book. Writing a story that turns into more of a lipogram with every chapter would have taken a lot of patience and linguistic skill, and author Mark Dunn does an excellent job of this. The book is humorous and such a pleasure to read.

The irony throughout the whole story is that language is placed on a high pedestal in Nollopton, and any reader can tell this from the very beginning as Ella Minnow Pea uses eloquent language that flows easily and sounds very educated. But as each letter is removed from the alphabet, that significantly decreases the number of words able to be used to express oneself and to communicate. At the beginning, it is a matter of simply choosing different words to convey one's desired meaning. But by the end, when so few letters remain, the citizens of Nollopton have no choice but to skip letters and intentionally spell words wrong, simply just to communicate on a basic level (my favourite example: fugitive becomes "phewgitiph"). By trying to elevate language even higher by making it more sophisticated, the High Island Council has turned everybody into inarticulate, taciturn beings who start to develop an aversion to their own language. 

This book is very well thought out and unique in its concept of slowly becoming a lipogram over time. I would never be able to write like this, but the author has constructed his work with painstaking detail, consciously choosing which letter will fall off the monument next so he can still write a cohesive story and have the characters communicate as need be. It’s all very impressive.

Anyone who loves language or wordplays or who has a deep appreciation for all the idiosyncrasies of the English language will enjoy this book. It is lighthearted and funny while also touching on what it's like to be ruled by a totalitarian government, even in a “utopian” society. I wish I had a book like this to read back when I was in high school or even while getting my undergraduate degree. It's so excellent that I know I'll read it many times again in the future.

Review: CHASING THE SKIP by Janci Patterson

Rating: 3/5 stars

I decided to read this book because I heard the author give a lecture at my university that was about writing and getting published, and I became interested in her. I found this first book of hers at a book sale and decided to pick it up based on my previous experience hearing her speak. This novel isn't really my style, and I wouldn't have picked it up otherwise, but I'm glad I gave it the chance and decided to read it.

We follow teen girl Ricki, who ends up on a road trip with her dad, who's a bail bond enforcement officer (read: bounty hunter). Her dad is on the hunt for a particularly dangerous criminal across the United States while Ricki is stuck tagging along, all the while wishing she could just go back home to her mom and friends in Utah. But when they pick up teen bad boy Ian, Ricki thinks she sees a good side to him even though he's being faced with several criminal charges. On their journey, Ian plays a few tricks up his sleeves, and Ricki is forced to learn what it really means to trust someone.

My biggest compliment for this book is that it's highly entertaining; it's fast paced and action packed, with exciting shenanigans around every corner. There was never a dull moment. However, I do feel like that made the story slightly unrealistic (though it sure was enjoyable).

Although this book is a fun read, it also tackles some darker themes. Ricki faces abandonment issues with both of her parents and she has to learn to stand up for herself and voice her feelings in the end. We see her go through a nice character development and come out better on the other side. The author also deals with alcoholism and how that addiction negatively impacts all aspects of your life.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but it's not one I'll ever be rereading. It was a cute, fun story, but I do feel like the target audience is definitely teen girls, and I don't really fit into that group anymore.

I thought I'd been in the position of power. But maybe I never had. Maybe the weapon didn't make Ian more dangerous. It just made the danger easier to see. 

Review: THE FORGOTTEN GARDEN by Kate Morton

Rating: 5/5 stars

Kate Morton just became my new favourite author, and this was only the first book of hers that I've read.

The Forgotten Garden is a mysterious multi-generational historical fiction. It was everything I wanted in a good book, and I was completely lost in its seemingly magical English setting. The book follows Nell, who finds out on her twenty-first birthday that her parents are not her biological parents. This news shatters her sense of identity, and Nell becomes determined to discover the truth of her origins. Throughout her life, Nell searches for answers to her past, but her journey is suddenly put to an end when extenuating circumstances take over. Now dying from old age in her final days and unable to uncover the full truth, Nell leaves the search of her identity to her granddaughter, Cassandra. Cassandra is intrigued to take up this journey, and she travels across the world to find the answers that have been hidden for almost a century in a forgotten garden.

This story is told from many viewpoints but most notably from Nell's perspective in the 1970s, from Cassandra's perspective in the present day (2005), and from Eliza's perspective in the turn of the twentieth century. For the first fifty or so pages of this book, the jumping time periods and multiple points of view were a bit confusing, and I had some trouble keeping all the details straight, but soon I learned each character's voice and was able to follow along clearly. The multiple time periods add suspense to the story that just kept me turning the pages because some detail would be revealed, and I wanted to see how the characters reacted to it, but then the chapter would end and the next chapter in a new decade would start. Each chapter ended like this, which just kept my interest piqued throughout the whole story.

Something that Kate Morton does very well in this book (and I presume in her other books?) is to answer questions throughout the whole story. I do not like reading mysteries where the author keeps introducing more and more questions and adding to the suspense but will not drop any hints or answers until the very last page. Those books feel so rushed, and I just get frustrated. This book is completely different: we get answers all along the journey with the characters as they slowly learn secrets of their pasts. Of course, this means we also get more questions, but that is to be expected. I savoured every detail and loved trying to piece together the puzzle right along with the characters.

On the same note, another thing that Kate Morton does exceptionally well is to keep the reader guessing until the very end. I had speculations at the beginning, but she challenged my thoughts with every chapter. I thought I knew exactly the right answers, who was connected to who, but then another piece of history would come to light and I would have to rethink all my assumptions. Readers truly do not get the last piece of the puzzle until the last few chapters of the book. I loved that Morton wrote in this manner because I really dislike reading a book and knowing the end very early on; it makes the story lackluster and very predictable, but The Forgotten Garden was anything but.

In short, I devoured this book and was completely lost in the historical time period within its pages. I loved the main characters and their stories and felt like I knew them personally from all the details shared about their lives. This book is not a fantasy, but it has a magical, ethereal quality to it that I just adored. I would love to have my very own forgotten garden like the one in this book, but alas, I do not. What I do have, however, is the desire to read every one of Kate Morton's books now because I can only hope they are as beautiful as this one is.

You make a life out of what you have, not what you're missing.

2018 Read-My-Own-Books Challenge

One of my biggest goals last year was to read primarily my own unread books. I didn't do as well at that as I wanted to, so I'm hoping I will be able to accomplish last year's goal this year. To help me read my own books, I have created a list of 18 reading challenges for 2018. The idea is that I can mark off a challenge only if I read a book (or series of books) on my physical bookshelf that corresponds to that challenge. Rereads do not count, and one book cannot count for multiple challenges. I'm pretty good at following reading challenges, so I have faith that I can complete this challenge and get my owned To-Be-Read list down to under 250 books. (I recognize that is still a lot of books, but I can only read so many books a year. Baby steps.) My TBR is currently at 293 books, which is just outrageous. Without further ado, here is my 2018 reading challenge:

1. Read a book that's been on your TBR the longest.
2. Read a book you bought in high school.
3. Read your most recently acquired book.
4. Read the shortest book on your shelf.
5. Finish every series you started but never finished.
6. Start and finish a new series.
7. Read a popular backlist book.
8. Read a book by one of your favourite authors.
9. Read a book by an author you've never read before.
10. Read a book that's becoming or already is a movie.
11. Read a book you received as a gift.
12. Read a book you acquired through marriage.
13. Read a book you want to give away after you read it.
14. Read a book not written in prose.
15. Read a book about animals.
16. Read a religious book.
17. Read a classic book.
18. Read a nonfiction / memoir / biography.

For updates on how I'm doing with this challenge, please see my Reading Challenges page here.

2017 Reading Goals Review

My first reading goal of 2017 was to focus on the quality over the quantity of books I read, so I set my goal at forty. Halfway through the year, I felt that I could still accomplish that goal while reading more books, so I upped that number to sixty. I managed to read 62 books in 2017, thus completing my first goal.

My second goal was to reduce my owned TBR pile; however, this year I decided to reread a lot of childhood favourites. I didn't intentionally decide this at the beginning of the year; it just happened throughout the year. I reread the Spiderwick Chronicles and the Land of Elyon series. I reread a recent favourite, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I also reread Twilight (which wasn't originally a favourite), and that led me to read the rest of the series for the first time. I've never been a big rereader; in fact, I hardly ever reread books at all, even ones that I love. But this year I guess I just had the deep desire to relive a part of my past, and I am so glad I did. Rereading the Land of Elyon books was such a happy time (that's one of my favourite series of all time). I've learned over the past two years to reach for the books that my heart desires, and it always ends up being a good reading experience because I'm reading what I genuinely want to read. Besides rereading, I also ended up borrowing and thus reading six books from some friends this year.

Because I did a lot of rereading and borrowing, I didn't get to as many of my own unread books this year. At the beginning of 2017, I had 415 books on my TBR. After completely overhauling my bookshelves (click here to see that journey) and reading and acquiring books throughout the year, my TBR now at the start of 2018 is 293 books. That's a huge decrease, but that's also still a huge amount of books to read.

Another factor that prevented me from reading as many of my own books as I wanted to was that I joined NetGalley last year. I ended up requesting and thus completing seven books from NetGalley: The Hour Wasp, All Things New, The End We Start From, Why We Sleep, Reincarnation Blues, The House at 758, and The Ice House. All but one of these books (The End We Start From) I really enjoyed, and I would have never heard of them or picked them up if it wasn't for NetGalley. The only downside to reading these advanced copies is that I didn't read books from my physical TBR during that time.

My third goal was to read three longer classics and to read more classics in general. I wanted to read Anna Karenina, Jude the Obscure, and Don Quixote. I didn't get to Don Quixote, but I did read the other two. I also ended up reading some smaller classics: Black Beauty, Treasure Island, and 1984. I never read any classics while growing up, so I'm trying to expand my mind now by reading a few more every year.

My fourth and last goal I made last year was to read five religious books. This is the only goal I utterly failed doing because I read only one religious book, and even that is stretching it. I read Love That Lasts, which is a book aimed at strengthening marriages for LDS couples. I was hoping to read books with a basis in and study on doctrinal concepts, but I guess those will have to wait for another year.

Overall I am fairly happy with what I managed to read in 2017. I read a lot of books that I really enjoyed, and I had far fewer one- and two-star reads than in 2016. I've learned to let my heart choose what I read next, and that is something I will continue to do in the future.

Check out my top five favourite books of the year here, and if you want to see what my goals are for next year, be sure to check out my 2018 Read-My-Own-Books Challenge.

Top 5 Books I Read in 2017

The year of 2017 was a good reading year for me. I read a total of 62 books, and I had more four- and five-star reads than the previous year. On this last day of the year, I want to share my top five favorite books of 2017 with you.

1. The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman

This was one of the most breathtaking books I've ever read. The story is about a lighthouse keeper and his wife who live alone on a small island, simply maintaining the lighthouse from day to day, when one day a boat washes ashore with a dead man and a live baby inside. Believing this baby's family is all dead, the couple decides to raise the baby as their own. It isn't until months later when they travel back to the mainland that they discover they may have been wrong, and there is a woman mourning the loss of her husband and baby at sea. Now faced with a difficult decision, the couple must decide whether to keep the secret safe they now harbor or to come forward with their crime. Stedman's writing in this novel is lyrical and elegant, and the story is truly spectacular. This book immediately became one of my favourites.


2. Love That Lasts by Gary and Joy Lundberg

This nonfiction handbook helps couples in all stages of marriage achieve a more fulfilling and intimate relationship with their partner. The book is full of anecdotes and tips from a variety of couples, and the stories really provide perspective into your own marital relationship. Although written by an LDS couple and directed primarily at LDS couples, this book will guide couples of all faiths toward a happier marriage. This book is very enjoyable and easy to read, and I see myself revisiting it year after year. To read my full review, click here.





3. The Dark Hills Divide (Land of Elyon series) by Patrick Carman

This series was one of my favourite trilogies when I was younger, back when it had only three books. Now a decade later, I reread the original books then finished the additional two, and I love the series more than ever. This is one of the most adventurous and exciting middle-grade fantasy stories out there (that I've read). We follow Alexa Daley on a journey across the land to discover hidden secrets and solve mysteries, all with the help of some forest animals that she can communicate with. This is one of those stories that did not lose its savor with age, and I would recommend it to readers of all ages. To read my full review of the first book, click here.


4. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

This is a steampunk post-apocalyptic young adult novel about a city that was built underground to withstand a massive war above ground. Over two centuries after its inception, the city is falling apart and the lights that keep the city alive are starting to flicker and go out. Lina and Doon are two kids that find some clues to a world beyond their crumbling city, and they are determined to discover what's out there. This novel is full of real problems that face the protagonists, which I loved to see in a kids' book. The underground setting it authentic and the writing is excellent. Again, I would recommend this book to all fantasy lovers. To read my full review, click here.




5. Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore

I read an arc of this book earlier in the year, and I never expected an arc to become one of my favourite books of the year. This was a very original story that truly covers all genres of literature from science fiction to historical fiction to contemporary to fantasy. We see Milo, who has already lived 9,995 lives, trying to achieve perfection before his ten thousandth life. The reason this achievement is so hard for him is that Milo is in love with the persona of death, who he calls Suzie. We read through the last of Milo's lives as he struggles to truly reach perfection, making mistake after mistake along the way. This book was funny and sad and crude and thought-provoking, and I loved it all, even the hard-to-read parts. To read my full review of this novel, click here.

Review: LOVE THAT LASTS by Gary and Joy Lundberg

Rating: 5/5 stars

This book is excellent. This is the kind of book I will revisit year after year because of the effect it has (and will have) in my life.

Written by a long-time married couple, Love That Lasts is about how to strengthen your marriage in all ways. The Lundbergs discuss secrets to a happier marriage, including communication, finances, parenting, humor, intimacy, kindness, and enduring to the end as a couple. The format of the book is very easy to read with each chapter covering one of the fourteen "secrets," and the book is full of personal experiences of many couples across the country. These anecdotes were my favourite parts because I can see how other couples face their problems and how overcoming them strengthened their marriage. It was also very humbling to read about the trials that others faced because it puts into perspective how blessed I am in my own life, but also how much I need to improve upon.

Although this book is written by an LDS couple and is written primarily for LDS couples, I believe anyone will benefit from the guidance and counsel found within its pages. There is only a very little bit that has references specific to LDS culture. I would honestly recommend this book to anyone looking to create a deeper and more meaningful and loving relationship with their husband or wife.

The most important lesson I learned from Love That Lasts is to always keep your spouse at the top of your list. He or she should be your number one priority and should be the most important person to you. If you make all other decisions based on that thought, your marriage will flourish and your love for them will deepen. Over the past four months that I've been taking my time reading this book, I've been implementing some of the suggestions and I've seen a difference in my own marriage. I've become more patient and I'm learning to love my husband's idiosyncrasies. Next year we even plan to read the book together to strengthen our marriage even more.

Review: DANGEROUS CREATURES by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl

Rating: 2/5 stars

If I didn't already own this book, I probably wouldn't have decided to read it. I bought it years ago when I read the original Caster Chronicles because I loved that series, though I don't think I wanted to read this spin-off series much when I bought it or I would have done so by now. At least I finally read it this year.

Dangerous Creatures follows our favorite bad girl, Ridley, and her boyfriend, Link. They move to New York City to follow Link's dream of being in a band, or so Link thinks that's the plan. It turns out Ridley's keeping from Link the real reason she came to New York with him: she has a debt to pay. Honestly, this book felt a lot like a typical YA novel, full of unnecessary drama. If I didn't already know the characters, I probably wouldn't have cared much about them.

But speaking of characters, Ridley had a different disposition in this book than in the original series. In Beautiful Creatures, she was dark and rebellious, not caring what anyone else thought of her. She forged her own path regardless of the situation. She is a siren, after all. But in Dangerous Creatures, she has turned soft. She suddenly cares about these "friends" she's known for only a few weeks. She whines about doing mortal work. She even sheds a tear. Ridley just wasn't the same siren I've grown to love in the other books. Link, on the other hand, was every bit the same.

One nice thing about this story is a cameo appearance from Ethan, Lena, Liv, and John in the beginning. They make a pact and Lena forges these rings for them to keep them all bound together. She tells the group they will warn the others of danger, and they will all jump to the rescue if anyone needs it. This sounds great and all, but this concept was left open. Throughout the story, the rings Link and Ridley wear change color and burn them, but we never learn what that really means. Shouldn't the crew back home be warned that the two in New York need their help? Wasn't that the whole purpose of the rings? We never hear from Ethan and Lena, etc. again in the story though, so we can't know what they were experiencing and thinking while Link and Ridley were fighting for their lives up north. I was a little disappointed the authors didn't put a deeper purpose behind the rings.

I listened to this book on audio, and the audiobook was done really well. The narrator did voices for the characters, so it was easy to keep the dialogue straight. There were even sound effects and music in the background. My favorite thing, though, was that whenever Link and his band performed, there was a snippet of a band playing with Link singing his lyrics about chicken wings, etc. It was a nice touch.

Overall, this book was just alright. While I want to reread the original series someday, I won't be rereading this book. However, I'm probably going to read the next book just to finish out the series and because Dangerous Creatures ended on a cliffhanger -- and not a very good one at that; it was more of an afterthought thrown in there for suspense.