You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

Peggy, Cherie and myself will be reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente for December's monthly challenge. Feel free to join us...

We will be starting on 6th December.

I'm really excited about this book - I only added it to my TBR recently upon reading Patrick Rothfuss's review of it.

I think I added it a couple of months ago because Cherie mentioned it in a thread.

I have an ebook without illustrations I think, too bad, because the illustrations I found online look really nice!

I have the kindle version but I haven't looked at it yet to see whether there are any images or not.

Ah, this is good - it was published in 2011, and my Toppler numbers are 0, 1 and 2 (I chose them for the very reason that they would give me lots of choice with years!).

Sarah wrote: "Peggy, Cherie and myself will be reading The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente for December's monthly challenge...."

Oh, how cool. I never saw his review about this book before. Thanks, Sarah!

Peggy wrote: "I think I added it a couple of months ago because Cherie mentioned it in a thread.

I have an ebook without illustrations I think, too bad, because the illustrations I found online look really nice!"

My ebook does not have any illustrations in it either, Peggy. Bummer. Mmm, I will have to see if a copy of the ebook is available from the library when I get home. I may look and see what is available from B&N too, although I already have a copy to read.

Gail wrote: "Ah, this is good - it was published in 2011, and my Toppler numbers are 0, 1 and 2 (I chose them for the very reason that they would give me lots of choice with years!)."

Wow, Gail, you are going to read three books for the toppler - in 24 hours? I will be hard pressed to read the two we have chosen, if I stay up all night.

I should know better! I am such a sucker. I logged into the B&N site to look at the ebook, and it was only $2.99, so I bought it. Then, I looked at the author's other books in this series and bought all of the rest of the rest and pre-ordered the next. I better like it now! The other two books have titles just as long.

No, I'm not going to read three books for the Toppler, but we could choose as many numbers as we wanted without penalty, so I thought just in case I happened to read really quickly, it would be fun to give myself the option of reading three! :-) Realistically, I'll probably just read one.

Fingers crossed you'll like them then Cherie ;-) They have got some great reviews, won several awards and a few of my favourite authors have either rated it 5 stars, given it an excellent review or blurbed the book. Neil Gaiman provided a blurb for my copy by the looks of it.

It does have a great title!

I just bought it so I would like to join in :)

Glad you'll be joining us Lisa.

Hmmm, looks like I may be late in starting this. My copy hasn't arrived in the post yet despite supposedly being sent out last Friday! I've been told that I have to wait until next Wednesday and if it has not turned up by then, a replacement copy will be sent. Hopefully it will turn up before then *crosses fingers*

Ah, it's no fun when you're all excited about receiving a package in the mail and it doesn't show up!

I have 150 pages to read in the Riyria Revelations and will start this one after. Probably tomorrow.

I had that happen a month or so ago with Amazon. They sent a replacement out then I ended up receiving the lost one as well. Worked out ok as they were useful map books so I gave the other set to my Dad!

I will start it tomorrow for the toppler but I'm not going to be able to start until about 9pm as I have some family to visit then we have visitors briefly Sunday so I'm not sure how much I'll get read either. As it's a toppler, I'll probably spend more time reading than writing (well, maybe) so I'll probably start discussing the book as I get closer to completion and the days to follow.

I will be starting tomorrow at 9AM my time. I actually have three books lined up, but this is the first one I will tackle until it is done. ☺

I hope I like it, 'cuz this might be the first on on my series list that I kill off next year, since I bought them all. hahaha

Sarah, does this Toppler start at 5pm in UK time? I just got confused and thought it started at midnight and started reading a book!

Gail wrote: "Sarah, does this Toppler start at 5pm in UK time? I just got confused and thought it started at midnight and started reading a book!"

Yes 5pm UK time.

Ah, okay - thanks. Well, I guess I'll have also read another book that won't count! :)

It's 8pm here and I just finished Heir of Novron. That ended the series which is sad, so for the rest of the evening I'm going to think about the book a bit more, and start with Fairyland tomorrow :)

I started this morning. It is a little strange but I am liking it so far. It took a little work to get used to the language.

I'm just starting now.

She really can paint an interesting picture. I am in Chapter V. I am really starting to appreciate her word choices.

I just started Chapter VIII. (view spoiler)[I wonder why September did not insist that Ell accompany her into the Briary? (hide spoiler)]

The theater (view spoiler)[I loved the popped pomegranate seed in the little striped box for popcorn! Showing my age, but anyone else know about the newsreels they showed or cartoons at the movies? I don't actually remember newsreels, but saw them in school. I DO remember seeing the cartoons. (hide spoiler)]

The Marquess - don't read until after finishing Chapter VIII (view spoiler)[ her hair changing colors reminds me of the horse of many colors in the Wizard of Oz, but she is definitely NOT nice. (hide spoiler)]

I read the first chapter and I love love love the writing! I had to look up several words, but the way the sentences are constructed and the story flows is just fantastic.

I agree Peggy. Love the writing style and I too have had to look up a couple of words. I really like the names of the characters too.

I get a vague Labyrinth meets Alice in Wonderland feel to the book so far. I get the feeling it is going to be fantastical, sweet with a hint of darkness.

I really like how the chapters are named followed by a brief summary of what is to come.

I love the smoking jacket that Green Wind gave to September (view spoiler)[I love how it moulds to her shape and grows a little orange brooch. (hide spoiler)]

Cherie, you mentioned somewhere that your granddaughter wouldn't read this. This book is listed as YA but in Chapter 3 there is a line which makes me think that the author had intended the book to be for adults. (view spoiler)["You, and I, being grown-ups and having lost our hearts at least twice or thrice along the way, might shut our eyes and cry out, Not that way, child!" (hide spoiler)] In this spoiler is shows the narrator addressing the reader directly. This doesn't happen too often, on occasion at the beginning or end of a chapter. It's an interesting was of writing - it through me a little at first.

I have read to the end of chapter IV and I'm really liking it.

I agree with what you say about the chapter names and explanations Sarah.

I have so many bookmarks! I am on Chapter XIV. Such great characters and plot detail. So much humor too. Not falling-on-the-floor laughing, but so subtle. I love it!

Cherie wrote: "I have so many bookmarks! I am on Chapter XIV. Such great characters and plot detail. So much humor too. Not falling-on-the-floor laughing, but so subtle. I love it!"

That's just as well Cherie considering you've bought the follow ups ;-) Yes I am liking the subtle humour too.

Even inantimate objects are characters and there is a narrator too. The objects become animated, like the jacket. Wait until you get to the cities in Fairyland and see how she describes them.

I might have missed the comment about adults, Sarah. I will go back and look.

This book is like Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz and The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe all in one.

The Interlude: (view spoiler)[ the key is so much fun! (hide spoiler)]

Wait until you get to Chapter XV! The new folks and the conversations are so unique I am just dumbfounded!

I am mid chapter (V) with the soap golem - (view spoiler)[I have practically highlighted the whole bath scene. I will come back and talk about it when I have finished the last bit of it. (hide spoiler)]

I finished. I am too tired to write anything.
I read the author's interview at the end. Yes, this was definately an adult fairytale.

I loved the soap golem and the bath scene where more was washed than one might think!

I love Wyvern! Not sure what chapter September meets him - III perhaps?! (view spoiler)[I love that he think his father was a library and therefore he should be called a Wyvery because he's have Wyvern - half library! I also love that his knowledge is limited to things which start with A through L!

The Marquess sounds like a piece of work. At first I thought she was going to be a positive figure but as September meets people along the way, we learn that things aren't what they seem.

I thought the run in with the witches was very Macbeth-esque! Bt funnier.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter V - The Bath scene (view spoiler)[I loved the idea of the soap golem. The Queen sounds like a sweet but lonely person to have had to create a companion of soap. Loved that not only did the baths wash away the dirt from travelling but also wash your courage, wishes and luck. I thought this was such a lovely idea. I've highlighted it all as it's a great metaphor and imagery to use with my clients. I also liked what she said about never being naked with your clothes off.

I'm liking the narrator additions. They state that in addition to Pan meaning many, it is also a god who happens to be rather mischievous and so her time in Pandemonium might not go as smoothly as she thinks. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter VI (view spoiler)[It's funny that pookas are mentioned - they featured in Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron - I'd never heard of them before reading that book and now they've popped up again.

I had a great image in my head of the Fairy Ferry! I didn't quite get the tithe part - I think I got distracted by something on the radio at that point. September was very brave to step in though to save the pooka girl. Giving her shadow seems like a bad idea and the fact that blood was spilled in the taking of her shadow was a little worrying.
(hide spoiler)]

Interlude (view spoiler)[The key is interesting. It seems to be following September - it was on the smoking jacket but fell off - was it the brooch or an actual key?! I can't remember reading about a key before but I might have missed it. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter VII (view spoiler)[I love that inanimate objects can be embarrassed and therefore blush. The road blushed because September and Wyvern stood too long in one place on it.

September keeps helping herself to food despite the Green Wind's caution to not eat fairy food. She dismisses the caution thinking that the food is wyvrn food, witch food or dryad food etc as it's given to her by them and not fairies but I think she's going to come unstuck at some point with this logic.

The Marquess speaking to September through the cinema screen was a bit weird. I am curious as to how she knows of September already and that she called her a thief.
(hide spoiler)]

Chapter VIII (view spoiler)[I don't remember newsreels or cartoons at the cinema before a film. They may not have done them here in the UK anyway. I will have to ask my Mum if she remembers them.

Not sure why Wyvern remained outside other than perhaps his size?!

I really liked that the Marquesses hair changed colour with her moods. No she's definitely not one of the good guys! So it seems that she has made all these changes to Fairyland to safeguard the tourist human children that come here from pesky fairies and their mischievous ways but in the process made Fairyland a bit depressing and oppressive. The Marquess, while not much older than September, is wicked. I couldn't believe she threatened to make the Wyvern in to glue and perfume if September didn't agree to go to the Autumn Land to get the sword. I did have to laugh though too - made me think of the glue stick!
(hide spoiler)]

Oh yeah, and we get 3pts for Cake being mentioned and 3pts for someone having a bath! Just need Christmas to come around and someone to get married and we'll score big on the bonus points ;-)

Sarah wrote: "Oh yeah, and we get 3pts for Cake being mentioned and 3pts for someone having a bath! Just need Christmas to come around and someone to get married and we'll score big on the bonus points ;-)"

You just may get your wish!☻

I read this during the Toppler, but was too busy reading to slide over here and comment.

I also enjoyed her wring style, she whimsically paints a thing with descriptors and emotions so that it initially seems absurd. However in considering it, you not only see the thing but feel your reaction to the observing of it.

Now I'm going to go back to read everyone's comments.

Peggy wrote: "I think I added it a couple of months ago because Cherie mentioned it in a thread.

I have an ebook without illustrations I think, too bad, because the illustrations I found online look really nice!"

All of the illustrations are in black and white and each is a good representation of the chapter which follows. Still the written descriptions are so visual that you don't need the pictures.

Sarah wrote: "narrator addressing the reader directly ..."
I've heard this is known as "Breaking the fourth wall". It is difficult technique to pull off, since it pulls the immersed reader out of the story. I think Valente uses it well, reminding you that you are reading a fairy-tale.

Chapters I, II, III and IV (view spoiler)[

Didnt' the description of Septembers mother bring to minf Rosie the Riveter? "her mother, bending over a stubborn airplane engine in her work overalls, her arm muscles bulging."

Her father is described " in his long coffee-colored trench coat, gone away over the sea with a rifle and gleaming things on his hat." What are the "gleaming things"?

Interesting choices at the signpost... to lose her way, her life, her mind, or her heart.

She encounters a trio of eccentric Witches, Hello and Goodbye, Manythanks, who offer her some cake (which she accepts)...just in case you are using this book for the challenge. (hide spoiler)]

Sarah wrote: "I am mid chapter (V) with the soap golem "

(view spoiler)[So many things that need cleaning besides just the body. A great segment. (hide spoiler)]

Sarah wrote: "Chapter VII ..."

(view spoiler)["The Marquess speaking to September through the cinema screen was a bit weird. "

I thought it was pretty creepy. Made me realize that the Marquess probably saw everything that went on everywhere. No place is safe from her eyes.
(hide spoiler)]

Cherie wrote: "The theater"

Chapter VIII (view spoiler)[I also remember cartoons. As for newsreels...do I remember them or remember movies that show them going on within the movie that I watched? I'm not sure. lol(hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

Chapters IX and X

(view spoiler)[Immediately deciding that granted wishes would be a big help, I could not fathom how Saturday, the Marid could be physically hurt by September and her companions. What good is a wish if you have to hurt a friend to get it? (hide spoiler)]

Don't know what chapter XI or XII (view spoiler)[That was pretty insightful of Sarah to notice that September was eating fairy food. I was afraid she was being tricked into eating later on at the irresistible wedding feast. It never occurred to me that all food in Fairyland is fairy food and that she had already broken that rule.

What a delicious wedding feast in Mercurio, a town constructed entirely of baked goods...(including towering high cakes upon cakes!☺). Way better than a Hansel and Gretel gingerbread house!
(hide spoiler)]

Almeta wrote: "I've heard this is known as "Breaking the fourth wall"."

I've not heard that phrase before. I know I've read other books where author's have employed this technique and you are right - some can pull it off while others can't. As I said, it threw me the first time it happened as it made me question who was narrating - I had at first assumed it was September, but then after a while I got used to it and I think it's done well. And as you say, it makes it fairy tale like - all fairy tales have a narrator.

chapter IX (view spoiler)[I like Saturday - he seems an interesting character. Horrid that he had been kept in a cage and forced to fight with others like him so the Marquess could ask a wish of him. It was very selfless of Wyvern to decline the offer of having his chains removed out of solidarity for his kin. I hope he does get to loose his chains in the end. (hide spoiler)]

mid chapter X (view spoiler)[I love that there are wild herds of bicycles and that they lasso one to get a ride to the Autumn Province. Valiente has a great imagination and I like some of the play on words she uses. For example, they meet Calpurnia Farthing (who is riding a wild bicycle) along with her ward Penny (who presumably has the surname of Farthing also). (hide spoiler)]

I'm a bit behind, and curious to read all spoilers. Hopefully I get some more reading done tomorrow.

Sarah wrote: "mid chapter X "

(view spoiler)[Oh, I think this is my favorite section of all. Herds of Wild Bicycles!

I didn't catch the Farthing/Penny pun. I have a feeling that there are a lot more that I didn't notice. The book is chocked full of them. (hide spoiler)]