Abarat

Title: Abarat
Author: Clive Barker
Pages: 388

(NON-SPOLIER)Seemingly ordinary Candy Quackenbush from Chickentown Minnesota goes on a journey to the land of Abarat and meets many colorful characters along the way.

ABARAT:The land of Abarat is composed of 25 islands. Each island is a time of day except for the 25th island.
Yzil, the island of Noon, is a place of exceptional beauty and fruitfulness.
Hobarookus, the island at One O’clock is a haunt of saw bandits and buccaneers.
Orlando’s Cap, the island at Two o’clock, and an asylum for the insane.
Nonce, the island at Three o’clock, is the island where life began.
Gnomon, the island at Four o’clock, is littered with ruins of temples and oracular sites.
Sona Plume, the island at Five o’clock, is home to Ziggurat the place of burial.
Babilonium, the island at Six o’clock, is a most pleasurable hour.
Scoriae, also called The Island of Lengthening Shadows, at Seven o’clock, are an ashen depressing place.
Yebba Dim Day, the island at Eight o’clock, is also called The Great Head and is the last hurrah of daylight.
Huffaker, the island at Nine o’clock, is home to Hap’s Vault the home of the thread that joins all things.
Ninnyhammer, the island at Ten o’clock, is home to a tribe of tarrie-cats and a certain wizard.
Jibarish, the island at Eleven o’ clock, is a place of paradoxes.
Gorgossium, the island of Midnight, is home to the Carrion family and Christopher Carrion the lord of midnight.
The Six Pyramids of Xuxu, the island at one o’clock, are sites of mystery and tragedy.
Idjit, the island at two o’clock, is an immensely charming island plagued by lightning.
Pyron, the island at three o’clock, is owned by Rojo Pixler who builds the largest brightest city called Commexo City. Pixler is also the maker of Panacea and its salesman the Commexo Kid.
The Isle of the Black Egg, the island at four o’clock, is home to mountainous ranges.
Speckle Few, the island at five o’ clock, is home to a wide variety of species.
Efreet, the island at six o’ clock, is home to the city of Koy the most cultured city in the Abarat.
Autland, the island at seven o’clock, home to Queen Muzzel McCray’s dream palace.
Obadiah, the island at eight o’ clock is an island of extraordinary flora.
Qualm Hah, the island at nine o’clock, is home to Tazamagor a seaport town with good food and happy people.
Spake, the island at ten o’clock, is a splendid green place.
Nully, at eleven o’clock, is home to the Repository of Remembrance filled with objects once beloved by the mighty.
And finally, The Twenty-Fifth Hour, or Odom’s Spire, is the greatest mystery in the Abarat. Those who travel there are either never seen again or return insane.

IMPORTANT CHARACTERS:
The John Brothers: John Mischief is a gentleman with a pair of antlers. On the antlers are 7 heads, or seven brothers. They are John Fillet, John, Sallow, John Moot, John Drowze, John Pluckitt, John Serpent, and John Slop. They are the first being from Abarat that Candy meets and her guide to the other side.
Mendelson Shape: A servant of Christopher Carrion, the Lord of Midnight. Sent to fetch a key from the John Brothers and later sent to find Candy. He dies after a fall from a moth.
Deaux-Deaux, Tropella, and Pux: sea-skippers who help save John and Candy from the sea.
Izarith: Mother of Maiza and wife of Ruthus, who lives in the Yebba Dim Day and offers Candy food and shelter.
Christopher Carrion: The Lord of Midnight: The lower half of his face is filled with a fluid in with streams nightmares. He breathes the nightmares in and out. He wants to find Candy.
Otto Houlihan: The Criss-Cross Man, a trusted lieutenant of Carrion.
Requiax: evil creatures similar to dragons that live in the sea.
Mater Motley: Grandmother to Christopher Carrion, she lives in the Thirteenth tower of midnight and makes stitchlings, creatures sewn together from skin, leather, and fabric.
Samuel Hastrim Klepp the Fifth: Maker of Klepp’s Almenak which details everything Abarat.
Rojo Pixler: builder of the largest, brightest city in Abarat Commexo City. Maker of Panacea (a type of all purpose medicine). Pixler also created the Commexo Kid an advertising device to sell his creations. The Commexo Kid can be seen everywhere. Pixler wants more science and less magic.
Geneva Peachtree, Captain Hemmett McBean, Two-Toed Tom, “Kiss Curl” Carlotti, and Tria: A band of sailors who hook up with the John brothers in search of Finnegan Hob and who battle dragons.
Kaspar Wolfswinkel: a magician imprisoned on Ninnyhammer. He is short and wears a banana yellow suit with several hats on his head. He is also very cruel.
Malingo: a geshrat slave to Wolfswinkel who helps Candy escape and then accompanies her on the rest of her journey.
Jimothi Tarrie: leader of the tarrie-cats of Ninnyhammer. Tarrie-cats can see through Wolfswinkel’s magic and he is afraid of them. Jimothi also helps Candy and Malingo escape.
Diamanda Murkitt, Joephi, and Mespa: The sisters of Fantomaya who are connected to Candy in some way. Possibly seers or witches.

VERDICT:
3 out 5 stars. I was really getting into it when it ended. I can’t wait to pick up the next one so the story can continue.

My Last Supper

Title: My Last Supper: 50 Great Chefs and Their Final Meals
Author: Melanie Dunea
Pages:203 (Pages 1-146 interviews and pictures. Page 150-203 recipes)

NON-SPOILER INFO:
Melanie Dunea asked 50 great chefs the same 6 questions:
1.) What would be your last meal on earth?
2.) What would be the setting for the meal?
3.) What would you drink with your meal?
4.) Would there be music?
5.) Who would be your dining companions?
6.) Who would prepare the meal?

What she discovered are answers as varied as their chefs. Some chefs want the simple foods that remind them of home or family. For example, Tyler Florence wants to indulge in fried chicken. While other chefs, want the best of the best, like caviar and truffles, or the most exotic, like bone marrow.

VERDICT:
3 out of 5 stars. Interesting read. Although I’m not sure I would ever make the recipes in the back.

The Bride's Farewell

Title: The Bride’s Farewell
Author: Meg Rosoff
Pages: 214

(NON-SPOILER INFO)
The year is 1850, and Pell Ridley wakes up on her wedding day determined to never marry anyone. So Pell grabs her pure white horse Jack and her mute brother Bean and sets out into the world on her own adventure.

(MY THOUGHTS [SPOILERISH])
What I liked about this book was the way Rosoff brought all the stories together at the end, like the story of Jack; the story of Bean, the gypsy, and Pell’s father; the story of Dogman, Harris, and Pell; and the story of Pell’s mom and sisters. What I didn’t like about this book was the fact that it was mostly a sad story. Also I didn’t like how unattached to the secondary characters I was. While reading, I knew Pell and felt her but I couldn’t really feel Bean (or the other characters) except for to see how Pell felt for him. My heart broke because Pell’s did, not because Bean was abused. In the end I have to say it was just ok.

VERDICT:
3 out of 5 stars. Good, not great.

The White Queen

Title: The White Queen
Author: Philippa Gregory
Pages: 464

NON-SPOILER INFO:
The fictional account of Elizabeth Woodville, who would marry King Edward IV and give birth to 10 of his children all while fighting with the house of the Lancaster’s in the “Cousin’s War” or The War of the Roses.

MY THOUGHTS:
I love, love, love Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl. That book stared my love/obsession with the Henry VIII and his wives. A love that carried over into reading The Constant Princess (Henry’s first wife) and The Boleyn Inheritance (Henry’s 4th and 5th wife) both by Gregory, as well as The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson. So when I heard that Gregory was going to start a new series about the War of the Roses and the grandmother of Henry VIII, I was VERY excited! But the book was sort of a disappointment. First I couldn’t stand all the stuff Gregory inserted about Elizabeth being descended from Melusina the water goddess and therefore having special powers. I could have lived with it and believed it more if Elizabeth thought herself a witch casting spells. I also felt no connection to Elizabeth or her husband Edward as characters. And I definitely didn’t feel the love between them. Edward risked everything to marry Elizabeth in secret and I felt no passion, no lust, no love, not anything. The most intriguing part of the book was the mystery of the two princes. Elizabeth’s son’s Edward and Richard were both taken into the Tower of London where they eventually disappeared without a trace. To this day no one knows if the princes were killed; and by who, or if they someone escaped in secret, or if they simply died of an illness in the Tower of London and were given a hasty burial to hide the truth. Gregory has a theory on what may have happened but I won’t tell, just in case you plan on reading this.

VERDICT: 2 and half stars out of 5. Read the Tudor Series instead!

April Recommended Reading

Title: Like Water for Elephants
Author: Sara Gruen
Pages: 350

When his parents are killed, leaving him with no money, Jacob Jankowski joins the circus and uses his expertise to work with the animals. On arrival at the circus Jacob encounters many colorful characters including Kinko a dwarf clown; Uncle Al the power hungry and creepy circus boss, and August the head animal trainer who is both charming and brutal. And then there is Marlena, the beautiful star of the circus, who Jacob falls madly in love with. But Marlena is already married to the vicious and cruel August. So, Jacob is left to wonder if Marlena loves him back and if she does how dangerous it could be for all of them.