Christmas Reading Update

Though I took a massive stack of books home over the break, the evil flu that decided to infect me stopped my eyes working properly and I managed to do impressively little reading over the two week break.  Boo.  But here’s what I did get through:

 

White Cat, by Holly Black



First book in the Curse Workers series, and my favourite of the break, White Cat tells the story of Cassell, who lives in a world where magic workers are heavily reagulated, but a black market of shady magical dealings runs like a dark river under him and his family.  The only non-curse worker in his family and haunted by his deeds years ago, Cassell suffers from strange dreams about a white cat, who seems to be asking for his help.

I loved this book and found it utterly gripping.  The characters are appealingly dark and tied up in a complicated world of allegiances and employment.  There are strong elements of horror in this story, and I wouldn’t recommend it for the faint hearted; there’s an underlying violence in some parts that’s quite harsh but fleshes the book out from fairy tale to a very human world.  Really looking forward to the second part of the series, Red Glove, but can’t believe I have to wait until June for it!  If anyone has an ARC they could slip my way, I will reward you biscuits.

 

Nobody’s Girl, by Sarra Manning



Seventeen year old Bea has grown up overshadowed by her energetic and exuberant mother, who is determined that her daughter will not repeat her own youthful mistakes.  When the popular crowd at school suddenly befriend her and invite her on holiday with them, it seems like the perfect way to step out of the gloom and into her own life, but when plans change and she finds herself suddenly alone in Europe, the world opens up and she starts to find her own way.

I read this as an attempt to read outside my comfort zone and experiment with some of the books that are really popular with my students, and I admit I struggled.  Around a third of the way through, I gave up for several days.  Not having been a girly girl or having a group of female friends at that age, the whole bitchiness and back stabbing, tried my patience in such a way that indicates that Manning captured perfectly how these relationships play out, with the mind games, manipulation and feelings of rejection that I’d always fought to avoid so stubbornly.  It was a bit like hating snakes but deciding to read a book about them.   But I returned to it when I started to recover a bit, and as soon as Bea and Toph (read it, you’ll find out who he is) were in Paris, I became very fond of this book and of the two of them, and when I closed the book after the last page, had a big silly grin on my face.

 

The Dark is Rising, by Susan Hill



If was dark, freezing and there was a thick layer of snow on the ground. Of course I had to read this book!  Book two of The Dark is Rising sequence, this book tells the tale of Will Stanton, seventh son of the seventh son, and born an Old One, warrior of the light.  In the dead of winter, the dark is rising and it’s up to Will to find the six Signs of Light and bring them together to save our world from freezing.

I first read this sequence of books when I was very young and absolutely adored them.  Magic, history, adventure bravery, there was nothing not to like.  Re-reading them as an adult, I still loved them, though this time I only read The Dark is Rising, as it was the most approapriate to the season.  Getting utterly carried away in this story is harder now, some elements have dated a little, and I occasionally felt that there was too much going on, such as Will’s first trip to the Great Hall, but the sense of wonder and the feeling that winter is something so much bigger than just the cold that bites at your fingertips will never be lost, and I’ll continue to reach for this book any time it snows before Christmas.