What might you be perhaps become / because one book is somewhere? Book recommendation blog! Send me an ask and I’ll recommend you a book! If I don’t know you, best results obtained by telling me three things you like :)
Do you need to compile research for a book but don’t know where to begin? Need help tracing down a historical mystery? Do you need to know accurate details about what Mongolian traders on the Silk Road wore for your work of fiction, but don’t have the time or patience to dig in yourself? Want someone else to do it for you?
As a professional librarian and amateur sleuth, I’m here to do it for you!
Send me a research query or topic and I will trace down, compile, and summarize all the obscure sources you need!
• $15 for a research packet on a specific query (I.e, did they shoe horses in Ancient Greece? What would a lady’s wardrobe consist of in 1658? This will get you all the detailed information I can find in answer to the question.)
•$50 for a research packet on a general subject (I.e. “I need to know everything there is to know about food in the Dust Bowl or the life of Julia Morgan”. This will get you a packet of research based on the most original sources I can find.)
I may also take commissions for research into specific historical figures that might require original research (say you want to know more about your great great grandma or the founder of a town) or track down sources of information.
Ko-fi here :D
Support Marion-the-Librarian On Ko-fi. Ko-fi lets you support the people and causes you love with small donations
Leigh Bardugo’s recent picture book, The Invisible Parade. Artistically and storytelling wise, incredibly beautiful. Content may be heavy for some children, but not for others.
The story takes place on the Day of the Dead celebration, following a little girl who has recently lost her grandfather. At the celebration, she meets the four horsemen of the apocalypse, moving through her grief. Highly recommend.
Goldstone Wood and the Oddness of Christian Fantasy
Princess Varvare in a kingdom of roses
I want to share some illustrations inspired by the Tales of Goldstone Wood series by Anne Elisabeth Stengl. It's a Christian fantasy series that I really like. Give me a moment to talk about that – unless you absolutely love Christian fantasy, all Christian fantasies, in which case, maybe skip this.
I spent a chunk of the early 2000s defending fantasy as a genre to a variety of Christians I ran across – not the majority, but still a variety of them – both in my head and to their faces. The preacher who said, from the pulpit, that Harry Potter was Satanic. Writers explaining why JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis were (of course) okay, but all other fantasy novels were suspect. Websites that dissected the occult symbolism you never realized was buried in fantasy media. My friend who frowned at me in concern and said she wouldn't want to have to explain to God why she read “that kind of thing” when she met him after death.
This is Rosie (and her goat Beana, who talks.) I love Rosie utterly, she tries so hard and she feels things so much. The next image is a spoiler, showing her unveiled.
I think that's partially why I'm interested in the genre of Christian fantasy, this attempt to make these two things fit. For me, the fusion often doesn't work. Either writers mix theology and fantasy in a weird confusing way. (Wait, you just had your heroine marry an angel. Do you actually think that happens? Which parts of this actually reflect your belief system?) Or they play things extremely safe and traditional. (Oh boy, another story about a young farm boy who's going to go on a quest and fight the Satan figure and become a hero while his girlfriend does... something peaceful off-screen.) Or they try to be another Lewis in the belief that since Lewis and John Bunyan did it, allegory is an acceptable vehicle for fantasy, and let's be really obvious about the symbolism. (I bet this demon symbolizes evil.) I read Christian fantasy, but it's partially optimistic curiosity, it's partially pessimistic irony, and I haven't found many that I'd recommend.
Rosie unveiled.
But I do like Tales of Goldstone Wood, at least what I've read so far (still missing a few of the installments). I like it enough that I would recommend it to a Christian who wants to read fantasy, or a fantasy reader who doesn't mind Christian themes. Anne Elisabeth Stengl often approaches the Christian elements indirectly, from less obvious angles, so you don't have all the heavy-handed symbols you see in the Lewis and Tolkien knockoffs. She has many, many interesting female characters and a lot of humor. Her series also builds, adding complexity to the world and characters with each installment, many of the characters showing up in multiple books.
Varvare and the unicorn. This unnamed unicorn is one of my favorite elements of the third book – beautiful but dangerous and eldritch. Corrupted – but not exactly evil.
Stengl's also not afraid to get weird and fey with her fantasy elements, at times reminding me strongly of things like Labyrinth, The Neverending Story, and no end of Celtic and European folklore. Her magical characters are unpredictable, merry, fearsome, and unabashedly over the top. Her heroes have depth, flaws to go with their heroism, and never become morally perfect even after their conversions – unlike in so much Christian fiction. Much of Christian fantasy bears the thumbprint of CS Lewis; in Stengl's case, though her writing shows clear nods to Lewis (and not just his Narnia books), she isn't trying to replicate him. These aren't books that Lewis would have written.
Daylily and Lionheart. If the series has a protagonist, it's probably Lionheart there on the right. He seems to be doomed to keep showing up in different story arcs, and he's always interesting.
I recommend you begin with the first one, Heartless. Though Heartless is the least ambitious/unique entry – it's straightforward and, of all of the books, the most directly allegorical. (I bet this guy's the Jesus figure. Yep, yep he is.) But it lays the foundation for the world and establishes many of the central characters, including my favorite Eanrin, the blind cat-shapeshifting bard-knight with the heroism of a knight, the selfishness of a cat, and endless flair. Stengl does explore Christian themes, but at the same time she clearly wants to create beautiful language, memorable characters, and engrossing stories. The stories and characters don't feel secondary to the message.
Eanrin, I like him a lot. He also shows up in almost every book, at least the main books, sometimes pre-injury, sometimes post-.
My favorite book is Starflower, the fourth, because of its courageous heroine (who grows into the librarian-knight Imraldera we see in other books), its twisted echoes of “Beauty and the Beast” and Till We Have Faces, and its focus on, who else, Eanrin in his younger years, before he's really gotten that whole hero thing worked out.
Imraldera. (She's looking at Eanrin.) The series is allegedly over, but I feel like there are still some narrative threads hanging, including with Imraldera here. My hope is that the author returns to the series someday.
As with any recommendation, this isn't a blanket recommendation; you may find things in here you don't like. I don't sign off on every element as perfect. But Christian fantasy is a small genre, it's a weird genre, in my opinion it's often a clumsy genre. Goldstone Wood is proof that it can produce interesting, original material – stuff not merely “good for a Christian fantasy”, but just a good series, period.
Looking for good middle grade graphics with a lot of weight, great worldbuilding, that are also fun? For fans of Avatar the Last Airbender, Faith Erin Hicks’ series The Nameless City is the way to go!
Do you need to compile research for a book but don’t know where to begin? Need help tracing down a historical mystery? Do you need to know accurate details about what Mongolian traders on the Silk Road wore for your work of fiction, but don’t have the time or patience to dig in yourself? Want someone else to do it for you?
As a professional librarian and amateur sleuth, I’m here to do it for you!
Send me a research query or topic and I will trace down, compile, and summarize all the obscure sources you need!
• $15 for a research packet on a specific query (I.e, did they shoe horses in Ancient Greece? What would a lady’s wardrobe consist of in 1658? This will get you all the detailed information I can find in answer to the question.)
•$50 for a research packet on a general subject (I.e. “I need to know everything there is to know about food in the Dust Bowl or the life of Julia Morgan”. This will get you a packet of research based on the most original sources I can find.)
I may also take commissions for research into specific historical figures that might require original research (say you want to know more about your great great grandma or the founder of a town) or track down sources of information.
Ko-fi here :D
Support Marion-the-Librarian On Ko-fi. Ko-fi lets you support the people and causes you love with small donations
Here’s a beautiful and delightful graphic novel from Sean Rubin
Through pages of beautiful art and simple, Paddington like prose, it follows the story of a little girl who’s certain her neighbor is a dinosaur…only everyone else is simply too busy to notice.
“The Thrifty Time Traveler’s Guide to…” series are a great way to learn some detailed history in a laugh out loud kind of way. Not only does the author include *primary* sources in his list of source of information (impressive for a kid’s book) but he presents the information in a way sure to engage anyone who’d rather be having a good time than learning history. The books are also colorful and illustrated. Here are some samples of helpful advice for time traveling in Rome:
Highly recommend for students who can’t really get into history, I survived lovers, 12 year old boys, and anyone looking to have a good time and learn some history through a little light reading
Looking for a great book on the scientific process for kids? Look no further!
The Iguanadon’s Horn by Sean Rubin is a picture book that traces the process of trying to recreate dinosaurs from their bones. It’s a great look at how what we know about science changes as things are uncovered, and is beautifully illustrated to boot! Highly recommend!
A WISH IN THE DARK, by Christina Soontornvat, Candlewick Press
A WISH IN THE DARK, by Christina Soontornvat, Candlewick Press
A boy on the run. A girl determined to find him.
All light in Chattana is created by one man — the Governor, who appeared after the Great Fire to bring peace and order to the city. For Pong, who was born in Namwon Prison, the magical lights represent freedom, and he dreams of the day he will be able to walk among them. But when Pong escapes from prison, he realizes that the world outside is no…
ooo do you have any light romance recs for my 15yo friend? she especially likes first-person pov
I do actually! Emma Lord of “what even was Gale? The boy without bread??” fame has done a succession of light fun but not stupid rom coms with nothing but maybe some language in them, I read Tweet Cute and Begin Again and enjoyed them both :) And all her stuff is first person!
Hey queen you know what I've read and loved because I Will Not Shut Up About It do you have recs for me? Love you sm btw!!!!
Ok babes I’ve got for you
1. I know I recommended this before and your bro disagrees and idk if you ever tried or what you thought but Mortal Engines book 1 I really just think you’d be a little insane over Hester’s arc (movie was kinda weak sauce about it tbh book made me SOB with the grace and eucatastrophe and healing)
2. If you don’t mind some more middle grade fiction our beloved and some obscure but well researched American history facts I’ve got The Detective’s Assistant by Kate Hannigan listen it’s got complex but non stereotypical female characters it’s got a feral little orphan girl surviving by figuring out how to make people like her it’s got Plots and abolition and vindication and love it’s such a fun jaunt I think you might like?
3. More American history but come hear about Nellie Taft with me boy (Nellie Taft: Unconventional First Lady of the Ragtime Era by Carlos Anthony) she’s a wreck she’s a control freak she’s classist she’s the Worst she changed Phillipine society by treating people kindly Taft loved her so insanely much PLUS there’s a lot of weird personal politics shaping the big politics it’s kinda cool to see
