This is a debut novel?!

Congratulations, Susanna Clarke! You have cracked my Top 10 Favorite Authors! *confetti explosion* I couldn't believe that this epic masterpiece was a debut novel. However, it makes sense when you discover that Clarke has a history in the publishing world and most likely has had time to learn the ins and outs of the business and craft her work accordingly. The book had such a great reception that it was recently made into a 7 part BBC miniseries (I've started it and it's also amazing). The book focuses on two English magicians who are trying to bring practical magic back to England. The two men couldn't be more different. Where Strange is looking to test the boundaries of what magic can do, Norrell is trying to lay his hands on every magical book in existence (and keep himself cooped up in his library doing the same spells over and over). The book reads as a nonfiction historical piece with footnotes detailing the history of magic as if the reader should be aware of the general history but just in case here are the particulars. (I LOVE footnotes, guys.) The characters, the language, the settings, the magic. It's all SO GOOD. AND I've discovered she's written a collection of "fairy tales" from the land of Faerie itself titled The Ladies of Grace Adieu (and Jonathan Strange makes an appearance!). You know I'm adding that one to the TRL.

I'm back in the swing of The Lunar Chronicles with the next in the series: Cress. This one focuses on the story of Rapunzel who in this case is a Lunar shell trapped in a satellite orbiting earth. She's an expert computer hacker who is basically the puppet of the thaumaturge Sybil. (If you're completely confused about the terminology used here you might want to check out my review of Cinder and Scarlet.)

As always, I thank you for checking out my blog and if you're feeling so inclined please drop a comment and let me know what you thought. :-) If you're a longtime reader of the blog, thanks for making my blog a part of your life and I hope that you're getting as much out of it as I am. If you're new, I encourage you to take a look through my posts either randomly if that's your thing or by using the search bar to look through the tags.  HAPPY READING!!

Can you ever truly know another person?

It must be said that John Green is an absolutely phenomenal writer. The only experience I had with his writing was The Fault in Our Stars which is completely different from Paper Towns (except for the main characters being teenagers). There is another similarity in that you are made more aware by reading this book. It's an excellent book for introspection. You're almost led to believe that the book is about Margo Roth Speigelman when in point of fact it's about Quentin "Q" Jacobsen and in actuality he is really just a stand-in for the reader. (This book is also a love letter to Walt Whitman. Seriously.) This is the story of someone who everyone felt they knew but at the same time was unknowable. It is more the story of someone who wanted to know that person as utterly and completely as they knew themselves. We are all so many facets and pieces put together and what we choose to show to the world may not even be a true reflection of what lives inside of us. John Green somehow articulates this and makes it okay that it is not always possible to get to the root of a person and that even if you do you might discover that what you find there is nothing like what you imagined or hoped. 10/10

I'm definitely the kind of person that sees a commercial for a film or tv series and when I see that it was based off of the book I immediately write down the title. That's how I came to discover Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. This book is 1,006 pages long. Nope, that wasn't a typo. It's the story of two very different magicians living in the early 19th century in England. They join forces to fight in the war against France but for one of them there is a pull toward the dark side of magic and everything is in danger of collapse. I like magic. I like the early 19th century. I definitely like England. This should hopefully be a no-brainer.

If you're a longtime reader of the blog, thanks for making my blog a part of your life and I hope that you're getting as much out of it as I am. If you're new, I encourage you to take a look through my posts either randomly if that's your thing or by using the search bar to look through the tags. No matter what camp you fall into I hope that you drop me a comment and let me know if you're reading the same book or if you have any recommendations for me. HAPPY READING!!