{"id":34003,"date":"2017-01-16T06:30:56","date_gmt":"2017-01-15T17:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/?p=34003"},"modified":"2017-01-15T18:15:07","modified_gmt":"2017-01-15T05:15:07","slug":"what-i-read-over-the-holidays-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/2017\/01\/16\/what-i-read-over-the-holidays-2\/","title":{"rendered":"What I Read Over the Holidays"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Christmas & New Year period in New Zealand (& pretty much throughout the Southern Hemisphere) is also the summer holidays so definitely time to double down on reading material when you head away.<\/p>\n

Here are four titles I read and enjoyed while also enjoying the break.<\/p>\n

\"Scorpio<\/a>1. The Scorpio Races<\/em> by Maggie Stiefvater<\/h4>\n

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy; YA<\/em><\/p>\n

I’ve read a few Maggie Stiefvater novels now and I think this may just be my favourite, although I liked The Raven Boys<\/em> a lot as well. The supernatural element in The Scorpio Races<\/em> are Capaill Uisce — the waterhorses of Celtic legend and I really enjoyed the coming-of-age tale Ms Stiefvater wove around them. Great worldbuilding, engaging characters, and a plot that kept me turning the pages — what more could you ask of a holiday read?<\/p>\n

\"the-bear-and-the-nightingale_cvr\"<\/a>2. The Bear And the Nightingale<\/em> by Katherine Arden<\/h4>\n

Genre: Folktale Retelling; YA<\/em><\/p>\n

As indicated in my Just Arrived post<\/a> last year, I was lucky enough to receive an ARC (advance reader copy) of this title, which is a YA Fantasy debut (out tomorrow, on the 17th January in fact!) based on the retelling of several Russian folktales, most particularly that of Frost and the Bear of Winter. I enjoyed the book’s delving into Russian folklore, the interweaving of history and fantasy in the story, and the strength, intelligence and determination of the heroine, Vasilisa.<\/p>\n

\"Other<\/a>3. The Other Hand<\/em> by Chris Cleave (also published as Little Bee<\/em> in North America)<\/h4>\n

Genre: Contemporary Realism<\/em><\/p>\n

In September I was honoured to appear at the inaugural National Writers’ Forum<\/a> (NWF) and even more honoured to meet and hear the keynote speaker, Chris Cleave. The Other Hand<\/em>, aka Little Bee<\/em>, is his New York Times bestselling novel about what it means to be a refugee, arguably one of the major issues of our time. The Other Hand<\/em> is very well written and the subject matter compelling, but it is definitely not for the faint hearted. While not the unremittingly grim slog of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road<\/em>, the book nonetheless challenges the reader’s complacency and there is no happy ever after. No surprises there, though: this is realism and the book is about a refugee and the conditions that create refugees.<\/p>\n

\"Havoc\"<\/a>4. Havoc<\/em> by Jane Higgins<\/h4>\n

Genre:<\/em> Dystopia; YA<\/em><\/p>\n

Way back in 2012 I was very impressed by Jane Higgins’ debut novel, The Bridge<\/em><\/a>. The sequel, Havoc<\/em>, came out in 2015, and it’s a case of “shame on me” that I’ve only just gotten around to reading it. I have to say, though, that the story was worth the wait. I loved the characters in the first book and they only get better in this second instalment, as does the Dystopian worldbuilding and the way the plot plays out. This is a story with gravitas, too, when it comes to the youthful protagonists making their way in a divided world. If you haven’t read it yet, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed — but definitely read The Bridge<\/em> first.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

Additional Information:<\/strong><\/p>\n

I read:<\/p>\n

i) The Scorpio Races<\/em>, paperback edition, 404 pp, Scholastic 2013: purchased;<\/p>\n

ii) The Bear And the Nightingale, <\/em>ARC, 312 pp, Del Rey 2017: received via my publisher;
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

iii) The Other Hand<\/em>, paperback edition, 374 pp, Sceptre 2009: purchased;<\/p>\n

iv) Havoc<\/em>, paperback edition, 342 pp, Text Publishing 2015, purchased.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Christmas & New Year period in New Zealand (& pretty much throughout the Southern Hemisphere) is also the summer holidays so definitely time to double down on reading material when you head away. Here are four titles I read and enjoyed while also enjoying the break. 1. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater Genre: […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34003","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-what-im-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34003"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34003\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34015,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34003\/revisions\/34015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34003"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}