A Fairytale for the Ages

4. A Kingdom Far and Clear: The Complete Swan Lake Trilogy by Mark Helprin

Genre: Fiction/ Fantasy
Rating: 5/5

Once upon a time there was a young maiden with rose coloured hair, she simply could not resist a book with a beautiful cover...

I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge the fact that I 100% bought this book purely for the beautiful illustrations, but thankfully the writing was even more dazzling than the storybookesque pictures that were sprinkled throughout the engaging narrative.

A Kingdom Far and Clear by Mark Helprin is actually a collection of three brief novellas that make up the Swan Lake Trilogy. The first novella, Swan Lake, tells the  story of young girl of about eight who lives in the mountains with a man we are lead to believe is her grandfather. As the story progresses he begins to tell her a story of two young people who lived long before her time, a princess whose parent's were murdered and the young prince of the emperor. This particular novella visits the classic story of Swan Lake that many of us are familiar with, but re-imagines it with more detail and back story. It is Helprin's inventive and emotionally engaging sense of narrative that captivated me from the start and drew me into the world of Swan Lake.

The second novella, A City in Winter, tells the story of the young girls quest into the city. After finding out that the young prince and princess had in fact been her parents, making her the rightful heir to the throne, she journey's down from the mountains, the only place she has ever known, to the plains to begin her mission of rallying the city to her cause and overthrowing the usurper. Helprin fills out the girl's character not through description of her attributes but through the details of her actions. Upon first arriving in the city, the girl witnesses the horrors of the usurpers rule first hand, and so do we as readers. This is where we first meet the devoted Astrahn and Notorincus, who will protect and counsel the young queen throughout the rest of the story. Helprin chooses to use slaves and slaves of slaves as this young queens confidants which helps to instil in the reader the sense of moral rightness that she posses in juxtaposition to the usurper that has created these slaves in the first place.

The final novella of the book, The Veil of Snows, is told from the point of view of an old singer. Who has been freed from the prison in which the Usurper placed him for refusing to bow to his demands to sing of only the glories of the Usurper. The tale picks up where the last novella left off with the young queen reigning over her kingdom until the day that the Usurper rises again. What I loved so much about this last novella is that Helprin wasn't afraid to go to a darker place with his storytelling, it is reminiscent of the original Grimm fairytales, although maybe not quite so twisted. He weaves the story leaving you guessing right to the end; I was disappointed when I finished this book, only because I had enjoyed it so much. It reminded me of reading fairytales as a child, yet the writing was complex enough to be engaging for adult readers as well. This is a book that truly transcends age and bares rereading throughout your life.

Book Review: Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson

So there's three things in life I have learned since marrying a Brit;

1. I receive a lot of England themed items as gifts (double decker bus change purses, London teacup sets, etc.), which I'm totally ok with because they're super adorable and I'm a bit of an Anglophile
2. When I ask my husband what certain British slang means he'll giggle and shake his head muttering 'Silly Canadian" under his breath.
3. Cockney rhyming slang is the most irritating, nerve grating abomination to the English language.

With our impending trip to the UK I figured it was time I finally get around to reading the copy of Notes From a Small Island that had been collecting dust on my TBR shelf, maybe give me some inspiration for things I'd like to do and see...

3. Notes From a Small Island by Bill Bryson

Genre: Travel Writing

Rating: 3/5

Note's From a Small Island finds Bill Bryson taking a trip around the UK in seven weeks travelling only by means of public transportation-except for a brief excursion in Northern Scotland where no one actually lives and public transit is therefore non-existent,  as his last hurrah to the UK before him and his family return to America after nearly two decades of living in England.

Bryson hits up the usual suspects; London, Manchester, Edinburgh and the likes, but also enjoys frequent forays into smaller towns and hamlets that most readers (unless they're from said smaller town or hamlet) have probably never heard of and could never find on a trusty ordinance survey map either!

He reminisced about certain things that only a foreigner living in the UK could truly appreciate, like the senior citizen population's love affair with walking, as a past time - not a means of transportation. Or the fact that central heating isn't necessarily standard procedure on the rainy little island. That fact by the way, holds true still even 14 years after Bryson made his trip, I have stayed in my fair share of drafty accommodations in London where the archaic looking radiator on the wall makes you question whether it's safer to slowly freeze to death by not turning it on, or risk being burned alive when the clanking metal contraption takes on a life of it's own.

This book has left me torn on whether or not I actually liked it. On the one hand it was Bryson's usual chuckle inducing, dry wit that I loved so much. But on the other I felt very much like he was just a broken record some times, griping on about the same damn thing in every town or city; we get it, you're a bit of an architecture snob!

Overall, I would have to say I did enjoy it and it has me looking forward to our trip back to the UK this spring, but I don't think it is something I would read again.

With Special Appearances by the KKK...

#2 Tru and Nelle by G. Neri

Release Date: March 1, 2016

Genre: Young Reader's Historical Fiction

Rating: 3/5

So this advanced reader's copy has been kicking around the break room at my work for a couple weeks, I have taken my fair share of books from the pile, thus I figured I would give someone else the chance to snag this book. But they didn't, it just sat there forlornly with the rest of the rejects. The cover is what initially grabbed my attention, I think it's safe to assume at this point we all know I am a sucker for a good cover.

While a work of fiction, the story is heavily reliant on the true story of the childhood friendship between (Nelle) Harper Lee and Truman Capote. Being a fan of both authors work I figured I would give it a go. The story winds its way through a summer when Truman was left to live with relatives in Monroeville, Alabama and befriends Nelle who he mistakes as a little boy at first meeting. Originally it is their shared love of reading that brings these two together and then a sense of belonging for two misfits that don't fit in anywhere else in town.

At first I thought this book reminded me a little bit too much of To Kill a Mockingbird but upon reflection I think that has less to do with this book and more to do with the fact that TKAMB is heavily influenced by the real life events of Harper Lee's life.

This books reads like an amalgamation of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Sherlock Holmes and To Kill a Mockingbird, with equal measure of each story.  Although this book is definitely a children's book (think ages 8 & up), it still reads well for the older audience as well.

-The Wayfaring Bookworm x

Bagels, Scones, Poutine and Ice Cream

So this post is specifically for my big sister, ok well not specifically, you all can read it too! But she asked for it. That is, a break down of my travel plans for this year, or as much of a break down as someone who is as notoriously unorganized as myself can have. So this is what my 2016 will look like...somewhat.... sorta.....

January - Possibly a long weekend in Ottawa, but that's still to be decided...

February - A long weekend in New York with my husband and the in-laws (I'm going to see if I can persuade them to make a stop at The Strand Bookstore while we're there, it's seriously a book worm's heaven!)

May - A two week trip back to the UK where we will most likely be hitting up London and Brighton before I ditch the hubby and adventure up to Scotland to visit some friends for a couple of days.

September - A two week trip back to Edmonton to visit friends and family, and apparently learn how to drive stick-shift in a right-hand drive car in preparation for further UK adventuring in the future. We will see if a friendship can survive trying to teach me to drive stick on the wrong side of the car... I will also be smothering my other dog that unfortunately had to stay in Canada when I made the move down to the United States. She has been living with my mum and enjoying being the only child in the house, she probably doesn't even miss me, the brat.

December - A week long excursion in Seattle!!! I love Seattle and haven't been in years and the hubby has never been so I am extremely excited to show him my favourite places and for us to find new favourites together. December isn't too cold for Molly Moon's Ice Cream, right...?

If you have any suggestions of things to do, places to see, where to get a good cup of tea, or a bookstore that I simply can't live without seeing, please leave all advice in the comments below! And don't worry, I will be sure to take you guys along for the ride.


-The Wayfaring Bookworm x

Murder, Dinosaurs, Dragons, Oh My!

Last year I set and made my goal of reading 50 books in 2015, instead of increasing my goal this year I figured what with being a full-time university student, part-time book seller, part-time stay at home wife and full-time dog mama to the neediest rescue mutt on the planet, that 50 books is still an admirable goal for me for 2016. With that being said you may notice in upcoming reviews that books are numbered, that's just me keeping track of how many books I have read so far this year. So let the reviews roll on!

#1 Beastly Bones: A Jackaby Novel by William Ritter

Genre: Young Adult meets historical science fiction
Rating: 4/5

This is the second Jackaby novel by William Ritter; I read Jackaby last year and if we are being completely honest I only bought it for two reasons: 1. It had a pretty cover. 2. It was described as being Sherlock Holmes meets Doctor Who. 

A quick word about the first book before I delve into the second book; the first books felt like a pastiche of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's work with a bit of blood sucking and shape-shifting monsters stirred into the mix, it wasn't exactly what I would call an original piece of fiction. That being said, I did quite enjoy the book. It was an easy read with an admirable female protagonist, Miss Abigail Rook (who's Jackaby's equivalent of Watson), and thoroughly entertaining if not a bit unoriginal.

Now I enjoyed the first book enough that I figured I would give the second book a go when I saw it had recently come out. The second book finds Jackaby and Miss Rook embarking on an adventure to investigate a murder in a nearby small town, a small town that also happens to be the location of a very bizarre recent discovery, what appears to be dinosaur bones. We see some familiar faces from the first book: Jenny Cavanaugh- the beautiful spirit who lingers in the house that Jackaby and miss Rook now inhabit, Dougla - Jackaby's former assistant who now resides in the pond on the third floor of the house after a tragic case takes a turn and leaves him stuck as a mallard, and Charlie- the gentleman police officer who had to flee Newfiddleham after Jackaby's last case exposed a peculiar family secret.

I found this book to be more original than the first instalment, with Ritter's imagination for fantastic creatures even more on point than last time but it was a bit of a slower read. I enjoyed that he still played up the romantic aspect between Abigail and Charlie without ever turning this book into a romance, merely hinting at it from the sidelines. I do hope he continues the series with a third book, one that is hopefully a bit more fast-paced than this particular one.

Here, There, and Everywhere. With a book!

Welcome to my new blog! We'll see how long I stick with it this time around.... while living in Ireland I kept a travel blog that I know was quite popular with my family as they liked to follow my exploits around the small island (you can find that extremely out of date blog here if you're so inclined) so with all the travel plans we have coming up for 2016 I figured that I might give it another go! But I'm also a book addict and I am sure some of the people in my various social media circles, who aren't bibliophile's themselves, are a little sick of seeing me natter on about whatever book it is I'm reading at the moment.

That brings you to The Wayfaring Bookworm; a combination of my two great passions, books and travel. Here you will get the latest in what I'm reading and a short (or maybe not so short depending on how I felt about the book) review of books finished, with the odd dash of a travel blog as the husband and I explore new (and our most beloved) corners of the world.

So welcome to the Wayfaring Bookworm, buckle up and let's get ready for an adventure!