Nine Lives Plus A Horrid Sister

Hello All!  Did you miss me and my long rambley rambles?  Well you are in luck, 'cause to make up for all my short skimpy posts that last week you are gonna get a double header!  Yep that's right. two ramblings in a row.  They are two books that have been combined into one volume and I liked them both so much that I didn't take a breather in between stories, so two ramblings it is.  Today's rambling is Charmed Life by Diana Wynne Jones and is the first story in the Chronicles of Chrestomanci Volume 1.  As always SPOILERS AHEAD!

Eric "Cat" Chant and his older sister Gwendolyn are left orphans after their parents drown in an unfortunate steamboat accident.  Gwendolyn survives because she is a witch and everybody know's witches can't drown, Cat survived by hanging on to Gwendolyn.  After some discussion, the children are placed in the care of a Mrs Sharp, a hedge witch who does the most minor of magics, but is well connected and gets Gwendolyn and her astounding talent some teaching by a man of not so good intentions.  Gwendolyn appears to have a vast amount of power, especially for one so young while Cat appears to have none.  Eventually both children are brought to Chrestomanci Castle, to live with the Chrestomanci and his family.  In case you have never heard the term before Chrestomanci is the term of office and title of the most powerful enchanter in World 12B (where magic is as common as music) and has the responsibility of keeping all the other magic users in line.  What is World 12A?  It is a world in a series of worlds that are all connected in some way, shape, or form and World 12A is where the Chrestomanci is in charge...at least of the magic.  Anyways our young friends are brought to Chrestomanci Castle to live with the Chrestomanci (also known as Christopher Chant), his wife Millie, his children Julia and Robert and other various magical staff members.  Cat is torn between excitement (he gets his own room with a shower) and wishing he was back with Old Mrs. Sharp.  Gwendolyn does not make things any better when she finds she is to be a mere student along with Cat and the other two children.  Gwendolyn feels that her immense talent sets her above everybody else and goes into rages when Chrestomanci won't even so much as look in her direction.  To attempt to get Chrestomanci's attention, Gwendolyn uses her magic to pull all kind of grotesque and trouble causing pranks.  This culminates in Chrestomanci taking her magic and forbidding the use of witchcraft.  Meanwhile, Gwendolyn has been in communication with her former teacher and with him and his dastardly group forming some kind of insidious plan.  After her magic is supposedly taken away Cat awakens to find that Gwendolyn has gone and in her place is Janet, another

"Gwendolyn" from one of the Related Worlds.  Turns out that Gwendolyn, using illicit dragon's blood and some sort of magic had gotten into a world where she is queen, the result is that all the other "Gwendolyns" from the other worlds all slid up one to fill the void, leaving Janet trapped in World 12A.  Cat is terrified that his sister will get in trouble (never mind that she abandoned him) and he and Janet get themselves into even more trouble trying to keep it a secret.   Eventually Janet and Cat discover a book of matches among Gwendolyns things and when Cat lights one, goes up in flames himself.  Chrestomanci finally tells Cat that it is he, not his sister that has the power, being one of the rare people who do not have counterparts in the Related Worlds, but instead have all the lives concentrated into one person.  This also makes a person one of the most powerful enchanters and next in line for the title of Chrestomanci.  Gwendolyn figured this out when Cat was a baby and leaned heavily on his power to augment her own.  Still leery of Chrestomanci and unable to fully believe his sister meant him harm, Cat and Janet get into Chrestomanci's secret garden and let in Gwendolyns old teacher and his cronies.  The nefarious group informs Cat that they must kill him to fully break the special garden of Chrestomanci's and take his power.  Cat is frightened but knows that he has a couple lives left so no biggie.  The group capture Chrestomanci with silver (which is his weakness) and go about tying Cat up.  Gwendolyn reappears to tell the group that Cat has multiple lives so that they will have to kill him several times.  Cat finally realizes what a heinous person his sister is and helps Chrestomanci (along with the rest of the household) vanqauish the bad guys.  Gwendolyn flees to another world causing Janet to reappear when she begs to be allowed to stay as the other Janet/Gwendolyn appears to be happy at her world.  Chrestomanci agrees at it appears that all the Gwendolyns are happiest in their new worlds.  Cat is to be taught magic and groomed as the next Chrestomanci and they all appear to be in good shape.

Soooo...that was much longer then intended, but so much stuff needed to be explained...also it might help with understanding the next rambling as well...maybe.  Anyways what did I love about this book?  Well I love this author in general, she also wrote my beloved Howl's Moving Castle and really knows how to write a book that is both complicated, yet easy to follow.  As you can tell from my synopsis a lot goes on in this story, yet I always felt I could follow along.  Part of this is that she doesn't over detail things, a quick description, a comment, a short lesson is all it takes to build this familiar, yet magical world.  I will say, it is a bit frustrating on occasion that the Related Worlds are not fully explained...or really explained at all, but the next story does a good job of remedying that.  I loved Gwendolyn and Cat and their twisted relationship.  Cat clung to Gwendolyn no matter how horrid she was towards him, and up until the very end she would actually treat him quit well on

occasion, playing with him when he was bored, comforting him when he was scared, getting him treats and so forth.  I thing that is what made so much more horrifying at the end when she was not only willing to kill him, but came back on purpose to make sure he lost ALL of his lives.  For a kids book this gets a little dark, I mean seriously could you imagine the psychological ramifications of your beloved sister turning on you like that?  At least if she had been horrid to him the whole time it would not have come as such a blow.  That being said, Gwendolyn was one of my favorite characters if for nothing other then the flavor she added to the book.  I liked the idea of Cat's various lives and the ways you could lose them without even realizing it.  Robert and Julia, Chrestomanci's children added a great perspective and dimension to the story as they come from a house of magic, that is both normal and controlled.  These are children who are taught to control their impulses (mostly...Julia can have a bit of a temper) and use magic to it's best potential.  Really the only thing that drove me crazy about this story was the deliberate lack of communication, so much of the bad stuff could have been avoided if the adults had just let the kiddo's know even a little bit of what was going on!  This is one of my biggest pet peeves...though I'll admit the author did attempt to put in a plausible reason for it, it still irritated me.  Overall I very much enjoyed this book, the characters, and the sheer amount of magic tidbits the author stuffed in.  I recommend it to anybody who likes magic, the English countryside or had a bratty big sister growing up.  I give this book 8 out of 10 fiddles turned cats.
What would you do with nine lives?  Did you have a bratty sibling growing up?  Do you think my siblings would classify me as a bratty older sister?

Books And Burlesque

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY SIS!!!!!!  My baby sis and her sweet husband came down for the weekend to celebrate her birthday, as an added bonus our brother also showed up to surprise her, fun was had by all.  Later we ditched the boys to head out to the Sax Lounge where we were not only treated like royalty but were privy to the clubs in house burlesque shows as well. I love burlesque, mostly 'cause of the musical Gypsy.  I love the old school sexy, but not completely slutty feel to it, I like that it is a bit more of a show and dance then a strict strip joint kind of deal, also you rarely actually see the naughty bits, just the idea of them. So in honor of that wonderful evening her are some books about the famous Gypsy Rose Lee for you to read and partake in the love of all things burlesque.

Gypsy: A Memoir

Gypsy Rose Lees take on her life

The G-String Murders

A mystery novel written by Gypsy Rose Lee

Mamma Rose's Turn

A biography of Gypsy's mother, who had a substantial influence on her life

Early Havoc

A memoir by Gypsy's sister June, telling a different side of the story

Gypsy

A book version of the famous and most wonderful musical

Hopefully that will give you a well rounded insight into the world of vaudville, burlesque and marathon dancing, with a healthy dose of drama and humor, enjoy.  

On a side note I have an interview in the middle of nowhere tomorrow so I may not get a post up, or it may be late, so you have been warned.  Happy Reading Everybody!

Brothers And Sisters

My lil sis has been posting videos and pics of her two sons and I have to say I love how much they adore each other.  My other two nephews are also very tight...which made me then want to call my siblings and have awesome conversations with all of them.  I love that no matter how far apart we are we are still each others best friends (and best enemies on occasion).  I love my Hubbin and his brother are close and I love that this sibling bond is being taught to the next generations in our families. My Daddy used to tell every day when we left the house, watch out for each other, then you will always have each other and this is true to this day.  Here are some of my favorite books/series that feature a some sort of sibling relationship.

Little Women by Lousia May Alcott- This has always been one of my favorite books, mostly 'cause the sisters and their relationship is very similar to the one I have with my two sisters.  We still play, fight, talk, get jealous of, tease, console and are always there for each other, the addition of my brothers wife, and my SIL have just added to the feeling of sisterly bonding that this book embodies.  And I have to imagine that my brother felt a wee bit like Laurie growing up, having to deal with all the girls with no brothers to help him out :-) (I know Laurie wasn't their real brother, but he may as well have been).

Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling-There are several examples of siblings and their various relationships throughout the books.  There is the interwoven Black family with Bellatrix and Nacissa, there is Hagrid and his giant half brother, there is the twins Padma and Parvati, there are the Creevy brothers, but of course my favorites are the Weasley children. Again the chaos, lack of money and abundance of love remind me of my own wild and wonderful family, even their "adopting" of Harry is similar to what my parents did on a regular basis.  I love that the boys are all different, yet when push comes to shove they are there for each other, and they are all so wonderfully protective of Ginny...who could probably out hex them all.  I even liked that the author put in a falling out with Percy and the rest of the family ('cause this actually happens in a lot of families) and the pain it caused and the reconciliation at the end of the series.  Love this family!

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis- Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy were the first characters that I made my siblings play in games while we were growing up (with Edmund being turned into Edwina 'cause we had three girls and one boy).  I always identified with the four kids going off and having adventures, turning on each other, fighting, making up, bossing each other, it always felt so real...'cause that is how me and my siblings acted.  It always made this book feel all that much more possible and many a hide and seek game was arranged in the fervent hope that one of us would stumble upon a magic world to share with the others. I think that by creating a play world for ourselves we did eventually find our magic, and it persists to this day.

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull-This series features a brother and sister duo.  I love reading about brother sister duo's 'cause it has all the elements of guys and girls...without the stupid romance part.  You can have the snarky back and forth, you can have the love and protectiveness, you can have the special bond and the unique angst all without the inaneness that comes with certain romances.  This series sums up all the above with an adventure twist.  Kendra is the quintessential young teenaged older sister, bossy, a bit angsty, a bit self absorbed but fiercely protective if not annoyed with her little brother.  Seth...well Seth could have been based on my brother.  Seth is an 11 year old boy through and through, he does things without thinking of the consequences, likes to think that he is fearless, and would do anything to help his sister. The two of them are very realistic as far as siblings go, and the books show their relationship grow and change as the series progresses.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin-I like the sisters in this book because it shows that as much as you may love all your siblings...you don't have to like them all equally.  Elizabeth is very clear in her preference for Jane and Lydia and Kitty may as well be best friends as well as siblings.  The other sibling relationships in this book are far from perfect as well, the Bingley sisters (especially Caroline) trying to bend their poor sweet brother to their matrimonial plans is both amusing and unfortunately way to common. Mrs. Bennets dependence on her sister Mrs. Philips for gossip and consolation and her utter need for her brother Mr. Gardiner when life gets tough shows the various dynamics one can play in a sibling role.  Of course the sweetest sibling relationship is between Mr. Darcy and his much younger sister Georgianna.  This one is different because the age difference makes it much more of a protector/protectee then one of companionship.

I could go on and on and on, there are so many books that explore the various meanings of siblingship.  There are full-blooded siblings, half siblings, adopted siblings, step-siblings, foster siblings.  Stories where the relationship is good, stories where it is bad, stories where it is indifferent.  I chose stories about fairly healthy relationships here because I am missing all my sibs today and want to focus on the happy.  Maybe later I will do a post about some not so healthy sibling relationships (I'm looking at you Jamie and Cersie).  I hope this has inspired you to call, text, message or skywrite your sibling(s) today and let them know that even though they are always wrong, you really love them and could not imagine life without them. Bubby, lil sis and baby sis, I love you guys so much!!!!!!!!

Do you have any siblings?  Do you like them?  Do you bond over Harry Potter books in the geekiest way possible like me and mine do? What is your favorite story of siblings?