six years is quite a while

It has been quiet at Adventures of Cecelia Bedelia over the past six months.  And that’s okay.  Life (even reading life!) changes.  That said, I’m here.  I’ve been going to book club and checking Twitter and Tumblr for the latest news from my fellow readers and bloggers.  I’ve been thinking about blogging recently, too.  Unfortunately, my reading pace hasn’t picked up much.  Still, Sunday was my six year blogging anniversary, and it seemed like the kind of thing I should write about. 

Six years (whoa. dude.)!  For my five year anniversary I wrote about five authors that blogging introduced me to.  This time around I’ll feature six more.  As I said last year, one of the best parts about blogging is that I’m constantly discovering new favorites.  I may not have read every book in these authors’ backlists yet, but the ones I have, I loved.  And to quote myself, “I trust their stories: for entertainment, wisdom, emotion, and always, always, beautiful writing.”

Merrie Haskell – I always have been (and likely always will be) a soft touch when it comes to fairy tales.  Haskell writes really lovely middle grade retellings of my favorites, and she includes strong doses of history, mysticism and other elements mixed in with the magic.  I liked her debut, The Princess Curse, but I fell irrevocably in love with The Castle Behind Thorns.  I know her books will be auto-buys for years to come.

Frank Cottrell Boyce – I very much appreciate books that are smart, feeling AND funny.  It takes a lot of skill to balance those elements, and if I had to pick one writer for young readers who gets it right every time, I’d point to Frank Cottrell Boyce.  He charmed me with Cosmic, his tale of outer space and family dynamics, and his upcoming The Astounding Broccoli Boy is just as charming.

Sylvia Izzo Hunter – I read a book* this past fall that was 100% a Cecelia book.  Meaning, I fell in love with it immediately, was not disappointed when I finished it, and I keep thinking about it after the fact.  I shall be following Hunter’s career with hungry eyes.

*The book!  Was!  The Midnight Queen!

Kate Elliott – Before I began blogging I had no idea that there were book communities online.  Obviously I learned the error of my ways, and began participating in the bookternet.  I also began noticing that these online communities were finding ways to meet up in person.  What were BEA and ALA?  I researched.  I went to ALA Annual (my first conference!) in 2010.  I was a hot mess, let me tell you.  I was a newbie blogger wandering the exhibit floor, wearing a tiny denim skirt and flip flops, surprised/pleased/terrified to find that booths were just giving away books.  One of those books was Kate Elliott’s Cold Magic.  I had no idea that she’d written previous books, I just liked the look of that one.  And I’ve liked her books (and her fantastic online presence) ever since.

Erin Bow – Dear Lord, does Erin Bow know how to write.  Her book Plain Kate is just… one of the best books I’ve ever read.  Yep, that’s a pretty good description.  I think it’s a mix of really knowing and loving language (Bow’s also a poet) and not shying away from the darkness of life.  I have her Sorrow’s Knot on the shelf, and I know it’ll be just as fantastic (all of my trusted sources say so), and there’s another book coming out soon.  All to say: if you haven’t read Bow yet, you should make the time.

Jonathan Stroud – Real talk time, subject: book acquisition.  I follow bloggers whose opinions I trust, yes.  And sometimes a book just sounds fantastic (aka it ticks all of the Cecelia crack boxes).  And sometimes I pick based on gorgeous cover art.  BUT.  Sometimes it takes an award to get a book on my radar (or in this case, a nomination for the CYBILS).  Stroud’s Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase was one of those.  Once I read it, I became its biggest fan.  I gave it to people for Christmas, I made a point to meet the author when he came on tour, and I haven’t stopped thinking about the fantasy world Stroud created.  That book made me a Stroud fan (for life).  I’m pretty happy about it.

These are some of my blogging author discoveries.  Who are yours?

lockwood & co: the screaming staircase

There are times when you need to sit with a book for a while after finishing it to process your feelings and reactions.  Maybe the reading experience was emotionally exhausting.  Maybe the subject matter was disturbing (or nightmare-inducing!).  Maybe… a lot of things.  After I finished Jonathan Stroud's Lockwood & Co.: The Screaming Staircase, I struggled to evaluate my reaction.  My roommate walked in and saw me sitting on the couch, book closed on my lap, staring into space.  I told her, “It was a good book, but creepy as hell.”  She said, “Put that in the review.” Great advice.

When the dead come back to haunt the living, Lockwood & Co. step in…

For more than fifty years, the country has been affected by a horrifying epidemic of ghosts. A number of Psychic Investigations Agencies have sprung up to destroy the dangerous apparitions.

Lucy Carlyle, a talented young agent, arrives in London hoping for a notable career. Instead she finds herself joining the smallest, most ramshackle agency in the city, run by the charismatic Anthony Lockwood. When one of their cases goes horribly wrong, Lockwood & Co. have one last chance of redemption. Unfortunately this involves spending the night in one of the most haunted houses in England, and trying to escape alive.

Set in a city stalked by specters, The Screaming Staircase is the first in a chilling new series full of suspense, humor and truly terrifying ghosts. Your nights will never be the same again…

Lucy is a girl with: an exceptional ability to listen to ghosts, bad mistakes in her past, and a tendency toward obsessive preparedness.  She’s also an agent at London-based Lockwood & Co., a small outfit whose job it is to banish spirits.  To do her work Lucy abides by three rules: 1) Get in quick, 2) Don’t use electricity, and 3) Wear a watch with a luminous dial.  The other (unspoken) rule is that things never go quite as expected.  Increased hauntings are plaguing Britain, and only the young can detect and eliminate them.  Which is how/why three teenagers came to run a business of a sinister nature. 

In this first in a new paranormal series, Stroud introduces three young ghost hunters: the narrator Lucy, Anthony Lockwood and George.  Lucy is new and trying to prove her competence.  George is abrasive and fanatical about jelly doughnuts and research.  Lockwood brings them together as a clever and charismatic leader.  And Stroud unites their disparate talents and abilities to tell a dark and disturbing tale for middle grade readers.  Oh, it’s also funny, smart and can’t-put-it-down-addictive reading.  If you like mystery,danger, and stories that involve escaping by the skin of your teeth, this is the book for you.

Did I love it?  I had a hard time knowing for the first few days.  It scared the freaking daylights out of me in parts, but I couldn't stop reading.  I loved Lucy and George and Lockwood, and I will be counting down the days until the next book releases and I can find out what happens next.  I thought the mystery was extremely well-executed, with twists you could see coming, and others you couldn't.  In some ways, I was intrigued in spite of myself, because I say I don't like scary books.  And yet.  I couldn't stop thinking about The Screaming Staircase.  I think this is what being in love with a complex book looks like, folks.  Yes, I think it must be love.  Because while the story offers all the thrills and chills expected of a good ghost story, it's also about three characters who have the odds stacked against them and still rely on their ingenuity (and luck!), and let their stubborn will and intuition guide them through.  That sort of pluck will win me over any day.

Let me be clear: The Screaming Staircase is close to perfect.  It has a well-realized fantasy world with an insidious paranormal problem, engaging characters and real danger.  The story has enough twists, surprises and scares for everyone.  It's also great all-ages (10 and up?) reading - I'm giving a copy to my 23 year-old brother for the holiday.  Yeah, that's a pretty whole-hearted recommendation.  It IS love!

Recommended for: readers ages ten and up (especially those who like mysteries), fans of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book, and anyone who likes a good ghost story.