My Top 10 Ya Titles

I you haven’t done it yet,  go and give your opinion on your Top 10 Ya Titles (the list is compiled by Adele on Persnickety Snark), taking inspiration from her post and considering how much I love creating lists here are my picks:

1. Confessions of a Not It Girl by Melissa Kantor :  Jan is a very fresh character,  following her adventures in the City while she is baby sitting, partying, writing college applications and of course crushing over a boy (who doesn’t) was  hilarious (a trip back in time).

2. Vegan Virgin Valentine by Carolyn Mackler: I could totally relate to overachieving high school senior Mara, I also liked the way it dealt with the V issue, it stayed with me for a while and it pops into my mind every time I create a list so it must have been good.

3. Looking for Alaska by John Green: I had a love-hate relationship with this book, it’s street-wise, it’s told from a boy prospective, it describes infatuation in such a real and poignant way  that feels real. I feel it could have done without “the main event that takes place in the book“, it felt kind of forced and not properly dealt with.  However I would recommend this to anybody who loves YA.

4. Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles: it was a perfect chemistry between me and this story, loved it loved it loved it

Those are books that I could recommend again and again and again:

5. Sisterhood of Traveling Pants (Book 1) by Ann Brasheres: Brasheres is a favourite of mine, she writes with style, I feel in love with the first book and I read them all. Those four girls are still in my heart, I laughed and I cried

6. Nick and Norah’s infinite playlist by Rachel Cohn and  David Levithan: a little masterpiece, reading this is like spending your night in a loud club with live punk music, go places in the city, randomly wander around until it’s morning and you have something greasy and disgusting for breakfast and oh you are in love ( How did that happen?).

7. This Lullably by Sarah Dessen, as a teen I used to be a control freak, the whole “life is what happens between plans” theory surely didn’t appeal to me, I could relate to Remy and I am glad that out there there are a few Dexter-like boys/men willing to take a “leap of faith” and stick to the girl no matter how hard it is (and the other way around).

8. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta, evocative, intense, compelling, a must read for everybody who likes reading (I honestly feel that the publishing industry has miserably failed in promoting Jellicoe Road, this is a book that I would expect to see on the front shelf as I enter a bookshop instead I had to buy it on amazon because book stores don’t have it in stock)

9. Second Helpings (second book in Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty),  this series gave me Marcus Flutie aka the coolest fiction  character ever. Marcus is the reason you keep the page turning because he is  unpredictable charming, mysterious and so-compelling. It copes with insecurity, friendship, expectations, when I think about Jessica I think about sarcasm, this series is sugar-free and I loved it. McCafferty is truly gifted writer who likes experimenting new things and styles (perfect in her imperfection).

10. Kiss and Make Up (second book in  Diary of a crush series by Sarra Manning), relatively unknown outside of England, Sarra Manning is a genius  and believe me when I say that you won’t be able to put this book (and the previous and the next) down, the whole reading experience made me feel possessed and I can’t recommend it enough. Simply Toxic.

I deliberately decided to create a list with titles that can be accounted as contemporary ( I do have some favourite vintage Ya titles but I didn’t mix them here), sadly there are no fantasy titles in my list … I don’t think there is something wrong with my brain (I read The Lord of The Rings twice, I adored Harry Potter…I also loved the Dark Materials trilogy). I tried with vampires but  I couldn’t get into those books , I didn’t like Ice by Sarah Beth Durst, I hope I will like Suzanne Collins, I haven’t read anything by her and I read amazing reviews. Finger Crossed!

Em

Unsticky by Sarra Manning

I am a fan of Sarra Manning  ya books (they all rank on top of my favourites) so when  Unsticky, her first adult novel,  was published in 2009 I rushed to Waterstone and bought it.

“How far would you go to get the life you want?”

This is the question printed on the cover and you’ll find yourself asking  that question many times while reading this entertaining and somehow unethical romance.

Did I enjoy it? I couldn’t put it down but it also troubled me just the way Pretty Woman did, maybe even more because Vaughn is much worse than  Richard Gere.

I am not a feminist per se but  my inner ethical code prevents me from doing things that could advantage me in life but don’t match with the mentioned code. I am talking about that kind of compromise with ourselves that makes us feel dirty, like having sex for money even if there is a natural sexual attraction (“Where’s the line between acting the trophy girlfriend, and selling yourself for money?), the kind of compromise Grace Reeves agrees to.

Generally speaking I don’t have a problem with prostitution as far as it’s a free choice, I do have a problem with exploitation, I would like to point out that what happens in Unsticky it’s all between consensual adults.

Grace is a 23 years old young woman who is given an opportunity to make easy money (money she desperately needs)  by being a mistress for older wealthy Vaughn, a man she is attracted to before the deal is mentioned in the story.

“It’s a partnership, an agreement with a contract – say for a six month period”

“This is not how you do things. It’s so calculated and it’s cold. You’d be paying me – and last time I checked, that was prostitution”

“Sshhhh….it’s better this way with clear-cut boundaries, so we both know exactly where we stand. Aren’t you tired of constantly stumbling about in the dark?”

Vaughn is a forty four art dealer that condenses in himself all those toxic features a woman should run away from: obnoxious (“another reason why people take me seriously is because I never apologize even when – no especially when I should”), snob , manipulative and utterly charming in that kind of toxic way some men are (especially those who are so detached from everything  like Vaughn seems to be).

The agreement includes  sex ,  before signing Grace tries to argue with Vaughn that it could be a hostess job but in front of his reasoning she agrees to his terms. Grace is intrigued and attracted by Vaughn.

Grace experiences a sexual education through the story, there are some very detailed descriptions that hooked me on the page, usually I don’t like romance for the specific reason that I cringe in front of the sexual intercourse descriptions a romance involve ( I am not a prude but those descriptions are often very clichè and fake) but Sarra Manning is so good that I could feel the raw passion between Grace and Vaughn.

Sex plays an important role in Unsticky , this book could also be described as an account of the sexual education of a young woman.

Both characters go under some kind of change and emotional development through the story as individuals and as a couple but always relying on the mutual understanding that what is happening between them can be accounted for within a legal framework rather than a different scenario that involves love. Both Grace and Vaughn don’t believe in the concept of love itself, they are deeply conflicted self destructing characters.

I am sure that lots of people will hate this book  for many reasons: usually in romances by the end of the book it gets established  that the obnoxious hero is a sweetheart after all, this does not happen with Vaughn, the difference of age, the mutual taking advantage that soon turn into a dependency for Grace, the amount of swearing. At some points this fucked up relationship can be quite disturbing, at one point (Christmas holidays) Vaughn goes beyond acceptable and I actually hated him and was surprised by how dependent Grace had become.

This book deals with the complexity of desire,  is Grace a good model for young readers? Certainly not but I don’t have a problem with this subject because  Unsticky it’s not a YA book .

Grace is not “pretty woman”, Manning creates a temperamental realistic character with a really low self esteem  and very few illusions left (might as well be with someone who wasn’t going to pretend that se was the one girl he’d never get enough of. At least he’d buy things to make up for it).

Manning chose an unusual storyline considering this is her first adult novel, out of the standard chicklit box, If you have read the book I would like to hear your opinions.

I found an interesting thread of comments on Five Minutes of Peace, you can read them here.

My Grade: 4/5

Em

Off The Record by Jennifer O’Connell

Off The record by Jennifer O’Connell is a delightful chick lit read. I really enjoyed this one more than her ya books.

“Jane Marlow is a true-blue good girl: plain, predictable, and perfectly responsible. But when her brother catches an episode of Music One’s “Off the Record,” he discovers that former pop sensation Teddy Rock is actually their childhood neighbor Theodore Brockford, and that his one-hit wonder twelve years earlier wasn’t just a catchy tune that took the charts by storm-it was a song about Jane Marlow! Now Jane has a chance to live life off the record, but is she ready for the changes it brings? And even if she’s willing to take the risk, is she willing to face the music?”

Jane Marlow is a buttoned-up Chicago attorney up for partnership’s evaluation at her law firm. In her  effort to get ahead she has  neglected all the other areas of her life:  family, friends and especially romance.

Differently from other reviews I read I don’t think this book focuses on corporate culture or pop culture. The book opens with a swedish proverb “Those who wish to sing always find a song“, truer words were never spoken, Off The Record is about finding your inner voice and give yourself a chance for happiness.

I could fully relate to Jane, plain, efficient, hard working, problem solver, high-achieving, obsessive:

“you believe there actually is a right way to hang toilet paper and take it upon yourself to remove and rearrange any non-complying rolls, and that bartender brother of yours who’s still in bed at two in the afternoon probably wonders how his conscientious sister even shares the same gene pool.”

and I found her character amusing, well developed and delightful: her  boss looks at her and what he sees is an accessorized van (you push the right bottom and the job gets done) and Drew, a firm’s partner who is temporarily  in Chicago to help her on a case, doesn’t even attempt casual conversation (and he has quite a reputation with ladies) .

Jane is fully conscious of the way people see her and more and more she finds herself challenging herself and surprising Drew in the process. Needless to say Drew is adorable, I actually doubt that there are those kinds of executives out there.

Each chapter opens with an article about rocker Teddy Rock (aka Theodore Brockford, an old neighbor)  and his 1989 hit song Janey 245, a Janey that Jane’s brother Andy finally realizes is about her.

Teddy sings about wanton thighs and ruby lips, that’s not exactly Jane today, but will Jane give herself permission to be Janey?

I like the way Jennifer doesn’t describe characters (very little physical details and no expressions such as “dark, broad and sexy”) she builds them through the story , I got really fond of them and their interactions.

I would surely recommend this book, it’s very light but really entertaining, smart and full of witty observations.  The fact that the storyline is predictable didn’t bother me at all as this is a very engaging read.

From the start this book is a keeper, and the ending was absolutely perfect.

My grade: 4/5

Em

Labyrinth by Kate Mosse

“The echo of her voice sounds somehow hostile and threatening in the silence.

“P-A-S A P-A-S… Pas a pas.”

Step by step? Step by step what? A faint memory ripples across the surface of her unconscious mind, like a song long forgotten. Then it is gone”

Kate Mosse writes mystery novels, so far I read Labyrinth and Sepulchre (I am planning to read more of her books) her stories are enchanting tales (no matter how young or old you are)  in which history  and folklore play a very important role.

In Labyrinth we have two temporal levels of narration.

In 2005 Alice Tanner is a british archeologist , her auntie Grace Tanner died and left everything to her, including a house in France. Alice who also has a friend that work in an archeological site in the south of France decides to visit, working in the site  she stumbles into something that sets in motion a disturbing series of events, a pattern she identifies also in Grace’s house. The pattern represents a labyrinth.

In the year 1209 in Carcassona Alaïs Pelletier is a noble young woman, newly married to her beloved Guilhelm de Mas, a knight of privileged position, Alais receives a legacy from her father that will define her destiny.

(Possible spoilers but nothing significant)

Both Alice and Alais experience nightmares in which fire plays an important role and a book is sought after.

The majority of the narration focuses on Alais’ story , most of the people in Carcassona belong to the Cathar Christian sect or at least are very tolerant towards it, a sect that has been declared heretical by the Catholic Church.

As Carcassonna comes under siege by the Roman Catholic Crusaders, Alaïs’s father, Bertrand Pelletier, a member of The Noublesso , receives a message and decides to entrust Alais  with a book that is part of a sacred trilogy connected to the Holy Grail.

The trilogy is made of three books: the Book of Potions, the Book of Words and the Book of Number, each of them has a different guardian but now  time has come for their reunion.

Alais is only 17 years old and has been married for six months, fearless in everything else she is still cautious and reserved with Guilhelm but she is very much in love with him regardless of the fact that her father doesn’t approve of him.  Alais has a sister Oriane who is  also married,  Oriane and Guilhelm are having an affair. Both Oriane and Guilhelm in different ways feel excluded by the intense relationship between Alais and her father.

“Res contr’Amor non es guirens, lai on sos poders’s”atura.“ There is no protection against love, once it chooses to exert its power.

Day by day Guilhelm finds himself falling in love with Alais and yet unable to resist the temptation represented by Oriane, when Guilhelm’s relationship with Alais is finally blissful and Guilhelm turns into a caring devoted husband, Oriane exposes his betrayal and suggest that their reconciliation is entirely due to his desire of getting hold of the book (a book he wasn’t meant to be aware of ).

Oriane has a plan that in the political and religious crisis that is affecting Carcassona will eventually save herself and sacrifice everybody else.

Made prisoner in her own room by her sister and forced to handle the book over, on the night her dad passes away,  Alais escapes  and seeks refuge with Esclarmond, an old friend who lives modestly in town, and her grandson Sajhe.  Esclarmond is a healer, an expert of  potions and herbs.

Guilhem is left behind trapped in a web of his own deceit.

“Yes.” The word slipped from between his lips. “I loved her more than the world. I just did not understand how precious a thing love is, how fragile until I had crushed it in my hands.”

While Alais ‘ journey begins, Alice embarks in a research looking for an explanation between the labyrinth, her aunt and her nightmares,  what she doesn’t know is that other people are interested in the very same things . The Cathar treasure has a great value and modern members of the Noublesso Veritable are in charge of protecting it, among them is the charismatic Audric Baillard.

Alice gets involved with an american Will who is connected to characters that belong to the Noublesso Veritable. The  archeological friend she was visiting disappears and  the narration rapidly assumes the fast pace of a thriller.

At the end of the book you have a feeling of having been in a Labyrinth for real and only when all pieces come together in a worthy gran final your heart will rest, it’s not an unpleasant feeling, this book has great rhythm and it mixes an excellent plot with some interesting theories. It investigates the concept of the Holy Grail and it will make you curious and willing to read more on the subject .

I loved the reflections and observations hidden among the dialogues, it speaks of tolerance, courage, integrity.

The very far from ideal romance between Alais and Guilhelm and the tenderness built in Sajhe’s character introduce a concept of  love that I found quite daring and unconventional for a best seller,   love is not a matter of choice, is somehow unavoidable, it doesn’t make you happy and it requires a compromise with ourselves  above everything.

Labyrinth is the first book in Languedoc Trilogy ( Sepulchre is the second book and it’s absolutely brilliant) , Mosse is the Co-Founder & Honorary Director of the prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction, set up in 1996 to celebrate outstanding fiction by women from throughout the world, she is a very talented writer I would recommend you give her a chance.

My grade: 4/5

Em

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

A while ago I was looking for something to read, two friends of mine at work had just finished The Shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and so I borrowed it.

The reason why I am reviewing it here, regardless of the fact that you won’t find this book in the Ya (or romance)  section of your library (just the way you won’t find Jellicoe Road in the general fiction section) , is that The Shadow of the wind is a beautiful coming of age story that can be enjoyed by everyone who is above 14.

The narration is told from Daniel Sempere’s prospective . Shortly after the spanish war that took his mother away Daniel is 11 years old and  living with his father in a modest street in the heart of Barcelona, above their family bookshop.

One early morning Mr Sempere decides that time has come for Daniel to see the Cemetery of Forgotten Books ( ‘Now? At five o’clock in the morning?’ ‘Some things can only be seen in the shadows,’ my father said, flashing a mysterious smile probably borrowed from the pages of one of his worn Alexandre Dumas romances) and so they walk together until they find the decadent building, a place of echoes and shadows, a labyrinth of passageways and crammed bookshelves guarded by Mr Isaac.

‘This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens. This place was already ancient when my father brought me here for the first time, many years ago. Perhaps as old as the city itself. Nobody knows for certain how long it has existed, or who created it. I will tell you what my father told me, though. When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here. In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader’s hands. In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you here has been somebody’s best friend. Now they only have us, Daniel. Do you think you’ll be able to keep such a secret?’

According to the tradition the first time a person visits The Cemetery must choose and adopt a book ensuring that it will never disappear, Daniel chooses a manuscript titled  The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax and this is how a link between his future and Carax’s past is created.

Daniel wants to get to know more about Carax so his father agrees to take him to Mr Gustavo Barcelo, a wealthy librarian specialized in old editions and odd books. Barcelo explains that all other copies of this book have been burned and then introduces Daniel to his beautiful blind niece Clara, Clara is in her twenties and she was introduced to Carax by her tutor Monsieur Roquefort who spent years researching information about Carax.

Daniel falls instantly under Clara’s spell and he agrees to go back and read for her. Sinister episodes happen in the years to follow and  two important encounters for Daniel.

Daniel is 16 when he is approached by a stranger whose face is hidden, he wants to purchase the book and is willing to do everything it takes to obtain a Carax book and burn it, including hurting his adored Clara if necessary. The stranger’s face is a mask of scarred skin with no nose, lips or eyelids, consumed by fire.

Then Daniel  has an interesting conversation with a beggar whose name is Fermin Romero de Torres, he introduces Fermin to Mr Sempere and the beggar, who claims espionage used to be his field of work,  is given a job in the bookshop.

Daniel finds out about Mr Lain Coubert (the name of a fictional character in Carax’s novel) and how he wanted to buy all Carax’s books just to burn them and about Nuria, a secretary in Carax’s publishing house who got really fond of Carax’s novel and had a sort of romantic friendship with Carax himself . Nuria is also Isaac’s daughter and the one who put the book in the Cemetery

Daniel, now over his childhood crush for Clara, is intrigued by his best friend sister, Miss Beatriz Aguilar.

As Daniel deepens his investigation into Carax’s life more characters from the past and the present are introduced in the story, Nuria is found murdered, buried secrets are unveiled, the pace of the novel increases until present and past collide and what started as a childhood game might put Daniel’s future at risk.

I haven’t given any spoiler so far and I won’t because what makes this book so good  is above everything else an excellent story line, it’s a completely enjoyable mystery novel that takes place in a gothic mid-century Barcelona with lots of engaging characters.

The Shadow of the Wind has a quirky dark mood , an ironic side (Fermin caracter is one of my favourites), it’s about innocence and the loss of innocence, it’s about first love, actions and consequences.

It’s rare to find a book so well executed, it literally sucked me into its gothic word. This haunting story will stay in your heart once the book it’s on the shelf.

It also contains a really interesting reflection regarding the value of a manuscript, a book has a history made of past,  present and future,  until it exists it can affect our world if we stumble into it.

My grade: 5/5

Em

Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Before I start I apologize if my review doesn’t give Jellicoe Road the credit it deserves, I wish I was able to convey into words how much this book touched me, yet I know my writing skills are not quite accomplished.

I honestly feel that the publishing industry has miserably failed in promoting Jellicoe Road, this is a book that I would expect to see on the front shelf as I enter a bookshop instead I had to buy it on amazon because book stores don’t have it in stock, Jellicoe Road cannot simply be regarded as Young Adult,  it’s a brilliant piece of fiction and on my bookshelf it stands close to The Shadow of the Wind by Zafon close to all my favorite titles.

If I only had one word to describe this novel it would have to be EVOCATIVE as through a contingent story of fictional characters it made me experience and reflect upon the abstract concepts of love and loss.

Through the story  Marchetta weaves a tale that captures the reader and his emotions, I found myself crying and what amazes me is that this is a very sharp novel in which Marchetta uses  no easy tricks.

Taylor Markham is  the 17 years old leader of her school’s underground community, for years Jellicoe School students, Townies and Cadets have engaged in  war games in the countryside, defending territorial borders, negotiating for assets, and even taking hostages. Everybody knows that three years ago Taylor ran away with a cadet, this year that cadet, Jonah Griggs, is  her counterpart as a leader of the enemy community. This summer the only adult that Taylor ever  trusted, Hannah, has disappeared and the brigadier is back. Something bad is about to happen, she finds herself anxious and unable to sleep.

“According to Dickens, the first rule of human nature is self-preservation and when I forgive him for writing a character as pathetic as Oliver Twist, I’ll thank him for the advice”

Hannah has left behind an  unfinished manuscript that involves five  fictional characters Webb, Narnie, Tate, Fitz and Jude, as Taylor finds herself staring at The Prayer Tree she starts realizing that within Hannah’s tale of loss and friendship there is the key that can unfold the many mysteries that surround her life and, differently from three years ago when she was betrayed by Jonah and found by the brigadier, this time she is determined to dig deeper and find her mother, the person that can reveal how Hannah’s tale and her life are intertwined.

Hannah’s prose is  enchanting, it’s a story in the story and I really got engrossed into her narration of a friendship between five kids that turn into adults. On the other level Taylor’s coming of age story unfolds as she  finds herself breaking all rules and starting a  friendship with Santangelo (leader of the Townies) and Jonah Griggs (leader of the cadets) and breaking previously untouched emotional barriers with her best friend Raffi.

Jonah Griggs  is trying to come to terms with his own past as  he finds himself being undeniably attracted by Taylor and involved in her plans. Given the intensity of both characters this turns into a thrilling beginning of new love.

The intensity of those two characters it’s actually one of many strong points in Jellicoe Road, Taylor doesn’t let people in, she cares about very few things which means she is fearless in a battle, a crucial quality in the middle of a war among communities, she is a witty  feisty character whose voice is the soul of the novel (told from her point of view). Jonah Griggs is a ruthless young man with refined commanding skills and the physical power of a rugby player, he has a sharp wit and a sense of humor , he has that kind of intensity that make girls swoon and he is among my favourite male characters.

You can read other  beautiful reviews here:

Angieville

The Crooked Shelf

Persnicketysnark

My grade: 5/5 plus

Em

The overnight socialite by Bridie Clark

Am I a fan of Cinderella? I suppose not, I certainly enjoyed the fairytale when I was a child but I wasn’t crazy about it, my favourite was a fairytale in which Fantaghirò was a princess who pretended to be a prince to fight against her father’s enemies because her dad was to old to fight them off himself. Fantaghirò was feisty, a kick ass character that satisfied my appetite for action, in comparison Cinderella was  frankly plain. Lucy Jo (the main character )  is definitely more Cinderella than Fantaghirò and The Overnight Socialite is more Perrault than Shaw.

The overnight socialite is a retelling of The Pygmalion, a play that was written by Bernard Shaw 1913, interestingly Shaw didn’t believe that Professor Higgins and Miss Eliza could potentially get married,  in the musical My Fair Lady (based on the Pygmalion) there is an ambitious ending , The Overnight Socialite will instead give you a hint of closure.

The Overnight Socialite it’s definitely  a romantic novel, the beginning it’s so promising  that I was kind of hoping for something  a bit more edgy and sarcastic.

Story is a about wealthy  anthropologist Wyatt Hayes IV  who wants to conduct a social experiment in Manhattan and report everything in his new book.  He want’s to prove that any girl, given the right training and material, can turn into The Socialite, chance wants that on the night the idea materializes in Wyatt brain, wannabe designer Lucy Jo Ellis happens to be in his line of vision and desperate enough to take up his challenge on the night the idea materializes in Wyatt brain.

A brilliant piece of chic lit, what I enjoyed most are thoughts and lines that define Wyatt cynical personality (often I find myself thinking that ya writers are careful in describing both the Girl and the Boy while romance writers tend to focus only on the woman) :

“One of the liabilities of being a deep thinker, Wyatt mused, was that it left him vulnerable to existential crises”

The plot is quite engaging and I found myself hooked in the story, Bridie Clark puts life into characters with a style that is smart and sophisticated yet  also fresh and entertaining.

The week point of this novel is Lucy Jo.  Somehow Lucy didn’t really capture my heart, a bit too mellow for my taste, I think there was a potential space for creating a more engaging character, the transformations she undergoes  it’s almost exclusively a fashion  make over, the progressing of the relationship between Lucy and Wyatt it’s almost given for granted and it escapes me why Wyatt at some point starts falling for Lucy.

Witty and Enchanting but surely not mind blowing, I would say it’s the perfect book to read on plane or put it in your summer reading list.

My grade: 3/5

Em

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble

I saw them yesterday in Dublin,  upcoming events on their myspace:

15 Apr 2010 20:00	Roisin Dubh	Galway, Ireland
16 Apr 2010 20:00	The Pavilion	Cork, Ireland
18 Apr 2010 20:00	Coachella + Gorillaz show	Coachella
21 Apr 2010 20:00	Wyeside Arts Centre	Wyeside
22 Apr 2010 20:00	Welfare Arts Centre	Swansea
23 Apr 2010 20:00	South Hill Park	Brackel
24 Apr 2010 20:00	Departure Lounge @ The Cave w/ Souljazz Orchestra	Edinburgh
25 Apr 2010 20:00	Band on the Wall w/ Souljazz Orchestra	Manchester
26 Apr 2010 20:00	Scala w/ Souljazz Orchestra	London
27 Apr 2010 20:00	Komedia w/ Souljazz Orchestra	Brighton
28 Apr 2010 20:00	Thekla w/ Souljazz Orchestra	Bristol
29 Apr 2010 20:00	Bergenfest	Bergen
30 Apr 2010 20:00	W/ Gorrilaz TBA	London
1 May 2010 20:00	Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival	Belfast
5 May 2010 20:00	City Winery	New York City
31 Jul 2010 20:00	Field Day	Victoria Park, UK
1 Aug 2010 20:00	Camp Bestival	Lulworth Castle, UK

they are from Chicago (might be living in NYC now),  they make you jump, squat (literally), sweat, sing and definitely by the end of the performance you are left with a big smile on your face and a general feeling that life is truly good.

Believe it or not they are all brothers, sons of trumpeter Phil Cohran, each of them plays a brass instrument (8 horns instruments) plus a drummer, the whole ensemble is vital, invigorating, raw and ultimately fan.

It’s impossible to stand still. Do not miss this gig!

Em

Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninomiya

Even if I am pretty much over my japanese phase, with a few significant exceptions,  I constantly think about Nodame Cantabile and I check the web daily just to make sure nothing new has been published.

Nodame Cantabile is a shōjo manga written by Tomolo Ninomiya (shōjo could be an equivalent for romantic), it was also made into three anime series (that I watched entirely on crunchyroll) and two different television series. Nodame Cantabile Anime Season 3 recently  aired in eleven episodes  between Jan 14 2010 and  Mar 25, 2010.

Plenty of materials to get addicted to.

The plot is fairly typical:

1) Boy meets girl: Shinichi Chiaki (twenty-one years old and a 3rd-year piano student at Momogaoka Music Academy at the start of the series. He is an accomplished pianist and violinist, but is also known to be a perfectionist and highly critical of himself ) meets Megumi Noda (aka Nodame, a twenty-year-old free-spirited second-year music student. She is complete slob: her cooking and cleaning skills are atrocious. She  is possibly the less ambitious student in the Academy, goofy and awkward)

2) Chiaki and Nodame are opposites personalities (a favourite theme of mine), they have almost nothing in common. He comes from a wealthy family of musician and  she has an hilarious family (in the countryside), he is pure ambition and  she is pure sloppyness, he is quite successful when it comes to his love life and she is sincerely hopeless;

3) Outside forces continuously conspire to make boy and girl cooperate. Boy and girl finally realize they like each other (it takes a long time to have a significant romantic hint). I love when a friendship  slowly develops into something more;

4) more adventures in Paris;

The execution is  impressive. The initial part of the manga/anime is based in Japan, second and third parts of the manga( 2° and 3° seasons Anime) are based in Paris.

I actually prefer the Anime simply because music play a key role in this story and when you watch the anime you can appreciate the soundtrack in real time, plus I love this  animation’s style.

Highlights:

* the way Nodame and Chiaki develop artistically and emotionally from the first to the last episode;

* supporting characters are significant, well developed and adorable;

* the music (one of the Nodame Cantabile soundtracks — Nodame Cantabile LIVE! — broke a record by becoming the highest ranked classical music album ever on the Oricon charts) ;

* the fact that this story  is about artistic geniality (think juilliard school): passion, failures and discipline play a very important role;

* it’s only slightly romantic (it’s not your average cheesy, obvious romantic comedy);

I you haven’t seen it I hope you’ll give it a try (I recommend the anime not the live action).

My grade: 5/5

Em

Innocence by Kathleen Tessaro

Kathleen Tessaro writes what I refer to as chic-lit, so far she published three novels, I read the first two Elegance and Innocence, I liked them both.  Innocence has one of my favourite  cover in the whole chic-lit department:

The guardian refers to Innocence as  ‘A wonderful tale of lust, love, life and redemption.‘

I enjoy romantic novels that keep me on the edge, Tessaro style is ultra smart and very edgy.

Narration  is organized on a double  level: it’s 1987 when Evie Garlick leaves her home in America to study as an actress in London, she meets Jack, a struggling rock musician and falls desperately in love (desperately being the relevant concept).  Through Evie’s eyes we get to experience an optimistic London full of art and possibilities.

Fast forward to the present day and we discover that Evie’s hopes and aspirations haven’t exactly turned out the way she hoped. As a single mother teaching drama and living with an eccentric old lady and a house full of artistic lodgers, Evie realizes  she needs a radical change.

I love the delicacy that Tessaro puts into building insightful characters (second characters play a very important role, Robbie above everyone else) and the  bohemienne decadent aura that surrounds them.

“There are no great fanfares for the truly great moments of your life. Just dripping taps and the sound of your own footsteps, walking from one room into another.”

The intensity of this story hooked me from page one, I found myself being really involved into Evie’s life, this is coming-of-age novel for a thirty something, Jake is a fine example of the literary toxic man (rather than boy, read this post here) Evie is  a fine young woman struggling not to be self-destructive and eventually succeding.

My grade: 4/5

Em