young adult

Reading novels about where I’m traveling adds another dimension to the trip.  The people who pass me on the street, the current news, the historical sights all take on a deeper meaning when I experience them in person and in a book concurrently.  Before our big family trip each year, I ask various booksellers for literary recommendations.  This year we spent two weeks in England and Wales, here’s what we read along the way:

Once and Future King by T.H. White – This is one of Claire’s favorite books and when I decided we would travel through the region of Arthurian legends, I knew it was time to read it.  I’m not a huge fantasy reader (love C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, but who doesn’t), yet I enjoy the Arthurian legend with all those handsome knights dashing around.  White’s take is deservedly one of the best for combining adventure with moral challenges and decisions, it is definitely my kind of fantasy.  Plus, I liked the mental torture of envisioning how Merlin lived backwards.

The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart – When I read this series 20 years ago, I raced home from work, grabbed dinner, and spent the entire evening reading.  This time, I revisited the Arthur tales with Once and Future King and passed Stewart’s tale to my husband and daughter.  Keith loved The Crystal Cave and went on to read the entire series.  Kelsey kept asking “when is Arthur going to show up?”   At which point I remembered that this telling was from the Merlin angle, that Once and Future King is largely about Lancelot, and The Mists of Avalon about Morgan Le Fey.  Who writes from Arthur’s point of view?  After reading about the legends, we all got a kick out of standing in silence (required) around the well in which Arthur dropped the chalice.

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Sussana Clarke – Staying in the fantasy genre with some historical fiction thrown in (think British magic meets the Napoleonic wars), I enticed Kyle with Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell.  While he liked the book and was able to add historical tidbits when walking around London, he thought it was unnecessarily long.  My husband picked it up about halfway through the trip and realized at about page 200 that he liked it, but not enough to read another 400 pages.  If you love delving into a long book, my impression is that this one is great company for an overseas flight.  (Recommended by Idlewild Books)

Un Lun Dun by China Mielville- a fantasy book for Kelsey recommended by Idlewild Books, she read it multiple times.  Set in present day London, a different world is discovered by the heroine.

Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson – We have a family of Bryson fans, all lead by Kyle, and when I found a book about Bryson’s travel around Great Britain at Idlewild Books, I knew it would be a hit.  Little did I realize how much laughter it would add to our trip.  Both Kyle and Kelsey read the book in the backseat of our little rented car and we would hear bursts of gut splitting laughter.  As we traveled through some of the areas Bryson visited, the kids found the appropriate page and read what he wrote.  There is a mining city in Wales that I laughed all the way through.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith – a crossover YA book, I bought it for Kelsey and me.  Kelsey tried reading it several times, but it didn’t interest her.  Initially written in 1948 and recently republished, it isn’t the typical plot driven YA book.  It has an aura of romance and a clash of American and British youth, but the plot builds relatively quietly.  I enjoyed it but understood how today’s younger YA reader expects a book to move faster.  (Recommended by Between the Covers)

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen – We spent a couple of days in Bath and I couldn’t imagine visiting there and not knowing its Austen heritage.  I gave my husband  Northanger Abbey and possibly I should have remembered that it is Claire’s least favorite Austen.  He finished it, grumbling.  I’m not sure if he’ll ever read an Austen book again.  I did ask if he understood 18th century Bath better because of the book, were the Pump Room lunch or the walking the promenade enliven by the book?  I think his response was something along the line that Northanger Abbey kills more than it enlivens.  That being said, I love the book and felt I was walking around the city in Jane’s footsteps.

I read a slew of realistic novels that contained social commentary and/or an inside view of British life.  If I were to do it over again, I’d read them in the following order, that is Read the rest of this entry »