Trader by Charles de Lint

Title: Trader

Author: Charles DeLint

Pages: 352

Finished: February 8, 2020

First Sentence: If dreams can be portents of what is to come, then I had my fair share of forewarning before my life was stolen away.

Summary: Max Trader, a luthier drifting through life, wakes one morning to find himself in the body of Johnny Devlin, a toxic, selfish man whose life is ruined. Suddenly, Max, in Jonny's body, finds himself having to deal with homelessness, people who hate him, and a whole host of other problems while trying to get his body back.

Thoughts: This one is really interesting. First, the story is told in many different points of view. Max's, then all the other people who surround his life. However, Max is the only one whose narration is in first person. Everyone else is in third person. It changes the way one sees the characters. Also, we never get Devlin's point of view.

Familiar characters come in and out. Jilly plays a side role. I feel like we've either met Bones or his partner Cassie before. Sophie's mentioned, though we don't see her. Geordie is of course busking. I even recognize Fitzhenry Park. I'd say this has been my favorite part of this project so far. I enjoy revisiting Newford. I enjoy seeing how it ages from the 80s to the mid 90s. I love the people who keep popping up.

As for this book, it was a very compelling story. I like how de Lint doesn't shy away from things not coming out perfect. The fantasy feels significantly more real. More possible. but even so, I still enjoy reading it. It's not as frustrating to read as realistic fiction is. The characters felt believable even if they frustrated me at times due to how realistic they are. All in all, happy to read this in my de Lint line up.

This book counts for the following challenges: Beat the Backlist, Virtual Mount To Be Read, Personal Newford Challenge, and Library Love. 

2020 Goals/Challenges

I thought long and hard before committing to any challenges this year. The reason for that is that I'm pregnant with my second child! It's due in May. But with that being said, I have no idea just how things are going to go between time and brain power. I considered not joining any and just being directionless, but then decided I probably wouldn't end up reading at all if I did that. So I've signed up for a few and decided to continue my others. However, I'm not going to feel bad if pregnancy/new mom brain takes me completely off track. As long as I'm reading, I consider that a win.

1. Beat the Backlist / Virtual Mount To Be Read
   Last year, I participated in the TBR challenge from Roofbeam Reader. I did poorly in it, and it's not coming back this year. So I've found some others. Both Beat the Backlist and Virtual Mount To Be Read seem like they'll fit the bill. If you scroll down, you'll see twelve books I'm going to use to start, BUT books listed in the other challenges will count as they've been part of my Backlist / Mount To Be Read. However, the other challenges are a little more specific in their rules. For Beat the Backlist, I'm on Team Borrowers. For Virtual Mount TBR I'm starting at the Mount Crumpit level which is 24 books.

2. Read "half the books" remaining on my Classics Club list

    Half is in quotes because a number of the books on my list are SUPER long. So I added together the page lengths of the books and divided it in half. In 2020, I hope to read approximately 3000 pages from my list which comes out to either three chunky books or basically all the other ones. Hopefully I can fit these into some Back to the Classics Categories as well.

3. Complete my Newford Collection Challenge
    This feels doable. I enjoy reading De Lint so I don't think this will be too difficult at all. Of course, since this is lower down on my priority list, and there are a lot of books to read, there's a fair chance that I won't get through this one. But that's okay.

4. Complete my Austen Challenge

    Last year I decided to read all of Austen's writings including novels, novellas, unfinished works, and juvenilia. Midway through the year, I added a modern book that someone had written a favorable review for. And then I dropped this challenge to low priority. It's low priority this year too, but I would like to finish it if possible.

5. Reading Classic Books
    It seemed as though Back to the Classics was not coming back this year, so I searched and found a similar challenge that I signed up for called Reading Classic Books. While I have gone ahead and fit some books I plan on reading this year into the categories, this is by no means a final list.

6. Library Love Challenge - January
    Natural challenge for me to join as 99% of the books I read come from the library. In fact, looking at the books listed below, at least 40 of them will be checked out from the library.

7. Back to the Classics
    Looks like it did come back. Categories listed below. My aim is to fit six of my books this year into the categories. I have an idea of what will go where... but of course, that depends on what I actually read! Books listed are completely subject to change.

Beat the Backlist / Virtual Mount To Be Read:

1. Nights At the Circus - Angela Carter 
2. Endless Night by Agatha Christie 
3. Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow 
4. The Impossible Girl by Lydia Kang
5. Water for Elephants - Sarah Gruen
6. Practical Magic - Alice Hoffman
7. The Snow Child - Eowyn Ivey 
8. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
9. Heart's Blood by Juliet Marilier
10. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
11. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
12. The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer

Remaining Books on Classics Club List:

1. Atwood, Margaret - The Handmaid's Tale
2. Austen, Jane - Sanditon and Other Tales
3. Barrie, J.M. - Peter Pan
4. Byatt, A.S. - Possession
5. Cervantes, Miguel de - Don Quixote
6. Dickens, Charles - Martin Chuzzlewit
7. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan - A Study in Scarlet
8. Forster, E.M. - A Room with a View
9. Shakespeare, William - Twelfth Night 
10. Shakespeare, William - A Winter's Tale (folger shakespeare library ILL)
11. Steinbeck, John - East of Eden
12. Thackeray, William Makepeace - Vanity Fair
13. Tolstoy, Leo - Anna Karenina
14. Wilde, Oscar - The Picture of Dorian Grey

Remaining Books in Newford Collection:

1. Trader (novel)
2. Someplace to Be Flying (novel)
3. Moonlight and Vines (collection)
4. Forests of the Heart (novel)
5. The Onion Girl (novel)
6. Tapping the Dream Tree (collection)
7. Spirits in the Wires (novel)
8. Medicine Road (novella)
9. The Blue Girl (YA)
10. Widdershins (novel)
11. Make a Joyful Noise (YA) (available in Crow Girls)
12. The Cats of Tanglewood Forest
13. The Hour Before Dawn (IN Muse and Reverie)
14. Old Man Crow (In The Very Best of Charles de Lint)
15. Little Grrl Lost (Find somewhere (buy?))
16. Promises to Keep
17. Dingo
18. Muse and Reverie (collection)

Austen Challenge

1. Northanger Abbey
2. Persuasion
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. Letters to Pemberley
5. Sanditon and other Stories

Reading Classic Books

1. Over 500 pages - Anna Karenina
2. POC author or main character ???
3. Set in country other than where I live - Peter Pan OR A Study in Scarlet
4. Translation - Don Quixote
5. New to you author - A Room With a View
6. Poetry ???
7. 1800-1860 - Persuasion
8. LGBT author or main character: Picture of Dorian Gray
9. Woman Author - Pride and Prejudice
10. Novella - Lady Susan
11. Nonfiction ???
12. Banned or censored: Twelfth Night

Back to the Classics

1. 19th Century Classic. - Martin Chuzzlewit
2. 20th Century Classic. - A Room With a View
3. Classic by a Woman Author. - Pride and Prejudice
4. Classic in Translation. - Don Quixote
5. Classic by a Person of Color. ???
6. A Genre Classic. - Peter Pan OR A Study in Scarlet
7. Classic with a Person's Name in the Title. - Picture of Dorian Gray
8. Classic with a Place in the Title. - Northanger Abbey
9. Classic with Nature in the Title. - A Winter's Tale
10. Classic About a Family - Anna Karenina
11. Abandoned Classic - East of Eden
12. Classic Adaptation. - Twelfth Night

The Ivory and the Horn by Charles de Lint

Title: The Ivory and the Horn

Author: Charles de Lint

Pages: 318

Finished: December 10, 2019

Summary: A collection of short stories set in de Lint's fictional town of Newford. Later in chronology than Dreams Underfoot.

Thoughts: I'll start with thoughts of the collection of a whole followed by thoughts on the individual stories for those who wish to read a wall of text.

There was a significant increase in continuity, call backs, and further exploration of familiar characters in this collection than any other de Lint I've read so far. Six of the fourteen stories specifically continued or related to stories from the first collection, Dreams Underfoot. Two others were vaguely connected to each other. It was neat seeing the connections and finding familiar characters. For two books that were read quite far apart from each other, I was surprised at how much I remembered of the previous iterations with these characters.

One thing that shook me, for some reason, I always though of Newford on the west side of the continent. In at least two stories, it was made clear the city is on the east side.

The stories I liked, I really really liked. The ones I didn't... yeah. While I appreciate that de Lint explores the dark side of humanity, I don't particularly enjoy reading it. Particularly now that I'm pregnant. I like things lighter. So, as with any collection, there are stories that really stick out as some of my favorites, and others that I just read and want them to be over.

Anyway, onto my thoughts on individual stories.

Waifs and Strays - When I started reading this, I recognized the characters, which meant I had to go digging through Dreams Underfoot. Sure enough, there they were. Obviously, getting back on one's feet is not so easy as we see in this continuation.
Mr. Truepenny's Book Emporium and Gallery - One of my most favorite stories in Dreams Underfoot is the story "The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep." In "Mr. Truepenny," we meet Sophie again. Now she's discussing a man she seems to have brought into being by dreaming him. Perhaps due to her fairy blood that she's not sure she believes she has. I like that she still has Jeck in her life, even if it is in the world of sleep. Wherever that is. Also, this feels similar to the creatures in Memory and Dream who come across when an artist paints them into being.
The Forest is Crying - First story not to harken back to characters from Dreams Underfoot. In fact, I'm fairly certain all the characters in it are new. Interesting use of time travel or spirit walking. I'm not sure which. I like when things come out all right in the end.
The Wishing Well - This is one of the stories that I was done with. As someone who has been through dark times, not like this but my own version, and has come out the other side with the help of therapy, I find it difficult to be around people who aren't ready to accept help yet even though they so clearly need it. I'm not a good person to help. And as I read this one, I found myself continually thinking, "You need therapy. Now. Please go get help." This is also the longest story.
Dead Man's Shoes - So totally de Lint. Creepy exactly what I expect out of him.
Bird Bones and Wood Ash - I feel like we're getting to the dark point in the book. Story after story is dealing with really tough and depressing topics. Which is part of what makes de Lint so effective. We meet Dennison from earlier again in this story.
A Tempest in Her Eyes - I like this one. Call back to Dreams Underfoot and just a good, old fashioned fairy encounter.
Saxophone Joe and the Woman in Black - Hm.... short and to the point. But not my favorite ultimately. Callback to a character from one of his darker books I read earlier this year.
The Bone Woman - This feels very de Lint-y. I suppose all his stuff is de Lint-y considering her wrote it, but this one has the right ratio of Otherwordly, real, and emotion.
Pal o' Mine - ... Another sad one. And one of those ones where you feel like there's nothing you can do because you can't help someone who doesn't want to help themselves, even when they're crying out for help. Just super tough.
When Desert Spirits Crowd the Night - Another Sophie story! I love Sophie stories and her dream worlds! I just hope she learns to accept them.
Dream Harder, Dream True - Sophie again! But not... this one is how Sophie's parents met. And for as short as it is, it's lovely.
The Pochade Box - Ooooo, connections and continuations. Jilly meets Tommy and Maisie from our very first story of the novel. Sometimes I feel Jilly is almost too good to be true. How can she be so wise? How can she know so many people? But when I read stories where she's more of the center, I realize I don't care. I just love her. Also, I want to read more with these people. I need Maisie closure.
Coyote Stories - This one went above me. I'm not entirely sure if Albert and Coyote were the same person or... what. Perhaps I'll read it again and come back to edit this. Or maybe just sitting with it will bring the knowledge I'm looking for.
The Forever Trees - An interesting study of friendship and what happens when you break it with a hint of Otherwordly in the Hundred Acre Woods. Also a sad ending to to set of stories.

Memory and Dream by Charles de Lint

Title: Memory and Dream

Author: Charles de Lint

Pages: 400

Finished: November 24, 2019

First Sentence: Katharine Mully had been dead for five years and tow months, the morning Isabelle received the letter from her.

Summary: A book of artists, magic, memory, and abuse. Isabelle has turned her back on her previous work, her abusive mentor, and most of her friends. But when a letter from her now dead friend shows up right around the same time that that same friend's books are about to be republished, Isabelle's past comes roaring back.

Thoughts: Whew. This is the first "normal" de Lint I've read in a while. His normal stuff is lighter than the books he wrote under his pseudonym, but they're by no means light.

The story is engaging and the characters really multifaceted. While you get the idea that the bad guy is the bad guy, the amount of mind games he plays and the way he plays them really makes the reader second guess what's happening. In fact, there was definitely a point where I didn't feel I could really trust anyone. Of course things come around again.

The non-linear storytelling is interesting too. The story starts in 1992. The reader knows little other than Isabelle has received a letter from her friend Katharine, something bizarre considering Katharine died five years ago. The reader also knows Isabelle's painting style has taking a 180 degree turn and she has reservations about painting in her old style. Then the story shifts back to 1973 and we start to see Isabelle's beginnings with her mentor, the controlling and abusive Rushkin. From the beginning, we hear about various events from Isabelle's past in the "present day" section which are then slowly revealed in the past section.

Isabelle, herself, is an odd person. Throughout the novel, things happen, and it becomes clear that she may or may not be telling the full truth about stuff. She may be rewriting history. Whether she truly believes it, or not, it in question through much the story.

The book was published in 1993. It always amazes me just how sensitive and completely properly de Lint manages to peg things like abuse and sexual assault. He writes the characters so convincingly. He writes the feelings so convincingly. There's a point where a girl is dealing with the after effects of reporting a rape, and it could have been written today.

We met quite a few of our favorites again though. Jilly plays a role, which makes sense considering this is a book about artists. The Riddell brothers have a passing role. I really like how characters keep showing up in Newford. And the geography. It's fun to hear about the same streets or restaurants. The world building is fun. Also, he namedropped Jane Yolen. It is interesting to me, too, how he usually has a character that in some way seems to be an extension of himself. Very meta.

I did find one thing about the writing to be... I wouldn't say annoying... but it pulled me out of the story. Let me just quote a bit to show you what I mean. To give some context, Izzy's mentor hit her in a fit of rage, but then they talked about it. Then the following happened:

She was in such good spirits as she took the bus back to the university for an afternoon class that she completely forgot about what had happened in the studio earlier that day. Until the next time he hit her.

de Lint used this technique a lot in this book. A foreshadowing of types, but it felt clumsy. Or something. Like I said, it took me out of the experience the few times I was reading. 

I enjoyed reading this though. Yes, there was darkness, but in general, things turn out okay in de Lint novels. I like how he sets up the fantasy in a real world setting. In fact, because the rest of the world is so real, it makes it all the more believable. While Dreams Underfoot is still my favorite so far, this was quite a good addition to the world of Newford.

Read for my Newford challenge.

I'll Be Watching You by Charles De Lint

CONTENT WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MENTION OF ABUSE AND STALKING

Title: I'll Be Watching You

Author: Charles De Lint

Pages: 31/351

Finished: Stopped on July 18, 2019

First Sentence: A thunderstorm was raging in Rachel Sorensen's sleep.

Summary: (from back of book) Rachel Sorensen feared she would never escape her ex-husband's abuse. Then a passing stranger came to her rescue - a stranger who had watched her from afar.

He was a photographer, and Rachel was his perfect subject. He lived only to make her happy - and eliminate those who didn't.

Now he wants more than her beauty. She owes him her life - and he means to collect.

Thoughts: I did not finish this one, not because it was bad, but because it was just too dark for me. De Lint wrote a number of books under the pseudonym Samuel Keyes. The purpose for this, as he explains in the introduction, is that the books are super dark and quite different from his normal affair. By using the pseudonym, his fans would be able to self select books for themselves before reading them. Those who didn't want to read the darker ones would be able to tell without getting mired into plot.

And this one is dark. Super dark. Not bad. Just dark.

In 31 pages, we meet four main characters:

Rachel - the main character who escaped from her abusive husband. Fully realized within a couple paragraphs. Also, her flashbacks are super disturbing. She also mentions something about how it doesn't matter what you wear as a woman. You're still going to get catcalled. Book was written in 1994 and it's still a thing today.

Lily - Rachel's best friend. When we meet her, she's in the middle of lecturing her boyfriend about how women can't "just get out" of an abusive relationship. It's a discussion that you could still have today and doesn't feel out of place.

Frank - Rachel's abusive ex-husband. His chapters are awful. How he views women... just makes your skin crawl.

Unnamed savior - hasn't saved Rachel yet, but he's absolutely disgusting. Clearly sees women as property. Just awful awful person. Made me sick to my stomach.

So my impression, the characterizations are fantastic. Gross and ugly, but fantastic. If the quality is of De Lint's normal books, this is probably a great book. It's just not one I'm interested in reading. So I'm going to count this one as read and strike it off the list of Newford books to read. 

From a Whisper to a Scream by Charles de Lint

Title: From a Whisper to a Scream

Author: Charles de Lint

Pages: 304

Finished: April 18, 2019

First Sentence: Thomas Morningstar was on traffic duty that month.

Summary: Thomas Morningstar shoots a man during a routine traffic violation in 1988. That man happened to be Teddy Bird, a pedophile and serial killer. So when killings start happening two years later to teenage prostitutes, no one connects them with said pedophile. 

Thoughts: De Lint prefaces this book by mentioning it's dark. In fact, he used to publish is darker books under a pseudonym so people would know not to expect his normal affair when they read them.

Guys, this one was dark. I mean, it started out like a procedural. Yes, there's blood and gore. The addition of it being a pedophile was extra dark, but it wasn't worse than watching an episode of Bones or even Game of Thrones.

But then there were chapters from the point of view of Teddy Bird. And those were hard. Those made me sick to my stomach as I read them. And at the end, as we learn about the past from some of the other people... well... dark is definitely apt.

Regarding the setting: this is now the third book I've read set in Newford. I'm starting to get a map of the city in my brain. I have an image of the Tombs and where they are. I don't necessarily like something so dark set in this city I love, but it was nice having some familiarity.

I thought the juxtaposition of Native American traditions with voodoo traditions quite interesting, especially mixing in the deLint fantasy elements. I like how in the end, it's all the same with just different dogma defining it.

The book was a quick read. Like any mystery, you want to know what happens. I was appreciative for the preface warning of the darkness. I even read a couple of reviews to see how dark it was. I might wait a bit before delving into the next novel on my challenge - also a dark novel. 

The Dreaming Place by Charles de Lint

Title: The Dreaming Place

Author: Charles de Lint

Pages: 138

Finished: February 13, 2019

First Sentence: "I didn't see you at school today, Nina," Judy said.

Summary: Nina dreams she's in a different animal every night. Only in each of these dreams, the animal she's in gets attacked or killed. And then, one night, a woman mentions that Nina is promised to her. Ash, meanwhile, has a hard time adjusting to life with her Aunt, Uncle, and cousin. But when she finds herself having to save her cousin from a manitou, she goes on a journey through the Spirit World both to save her cousin and herself.

Thoughts: This is considered Newford adjacent. It takes place in Newford, but as it's a YA novel, it doesn't have the same characters that we saw in Dreams Underfoot. It's second in the line up simply because of when it takes place, but it's not necessary to read it to really understand Newford.

In terms of my thoughts, I wasn't as thrilled with this one. It's not that the story isn't good. I did like how Ash was busy finding herself. This one felt much more akin to Moonheart though rather than the stories in Dreams Underfoot. We spent more time in the Spirit Realm than we did in Newford. And while I like other worlds, that's not what I go to de Lint for.

Read for my Newford challenge.

Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint

Title: Dreams Underfoot

Author: Charles de Lint

Pages: 414

Finished: January 18, 2018

As this is a collection of short stories, it doesn't make sense to review it as I normally do. At the end of this, I added my thoughts for each story as I felt about it after reading it.

I read this collection a number of years ago when I was in my early 20s. I remember being absolutely enamored with it. So much so that I bought my sister-in-law a copy for Christmas. I tried reading it again when I was pregnant and stopped halfway because I wasn't enjoying them. This third time through was fun though!

I didn't realize before that many of these stories had been published in other collections and stories before they were pulled into this specific collection. I'm not sure how much if at all he revised them for the collection, but I was really impressed at the tiny threads of continuity throughout the book!

My favorite is Jilly. I remember Jilly from other stories of de Lint's I've read in other places. I mean, we're supposed to love Jilly, but she's just lovely.

There's a bit in the middle of the collection where there's really not much fantasy at all and instead we read about some truly horrific things that humans do. At first I was a bit frustrated because I was in this for the fantasy, but then I realized, humans mirror the fantastic. Some are good. Some are bad. Most are really just there.

I'm probably not making much sense, so I'll just leave this with my thoughts on the various stories.

This book was read for my Newford Challenge

Uncle Dobbin's Parrot Fair - Interesting idea of introducing us to Newford through the eyes of another reader of another book

The Stone Drum - I Know I've met Meran before in another Newford story. Also, most of my knowledge from Jilly Coppercorn must be from later. She had the knowledge then. Very haunting story though!

Timeskip - ending gave me shivers. I remember the passage where Geordie was busing to be able to pay for his date so clearly.

Freewheeling - poor Zinc. I remembered the bikes, but I'd totally forgotten the end. That was brutal

That Explains Poland - One of the things I really enjoy about de Lint's stories is that the people feel real even as they're experiencing the unreal. In this case, Bigfoot.

Romano Drom - this is one of those stories that I remember so clearly. As I was reading it, everything came back to me.

The Sacred Fire - I didn't remember this one. It was unsettling, though I suppose that was foreshadowed in the first story when the unpleasant stories in Christy Riddell's book show up.

Winter was Hard - 1. I love Jilly's stories. 2. Winter finally decided to show up where I live. Felt like a proper story to welcome in the cold

Pity the Monsters - another very disturbing story. Sometimes de Lint's stories feel all too real.

Ghosts of Wind and Shadow - More Meran! I believe this is the story I remember her from the most. I only recall certain images from this story, but this is definitely the Meran I remember.

The Conjure Man - I've read this book before, but I have no recollection of this story. I do like the idea of the Storytelling Tree

Small Deaths - I did not remember this one at all. And after finishing it, I found it forgettable.

The Moon is Drowning While I Sleep - This is the one I remember the most. I was absolutely entranced with it as a Young Adult. It's still a wonderful story.

In the House of My Enemy - Oh no. I remember this one. It's so heartbreaking.

But For the Grace Go I - One of teh things I really enjoy about this collection is the subtle thread of continuity between stories.

Bridges - I really liked the idea of Hope vs. Despair and that other world of Bridges. 

Our Lady of the Harbor - de Lint's retelling of The Little Mermaid. I haven't read Anderson's Little Mermaid recently, so I'm not entirely sure how it compares, but I thought it was interesting told through the eyes of someone almost outside the story

Paperjack - A conclusion to Timeskip and just as amazing. I cried so hard.

Tallulah - Oh look, we get to meet Christy! It seems Christy is a fictionalized de Lint in some ways.