A Scroll column where writers Ella Hayes and Sean Glover post reviews for books, podcasts, and scripts they have recently read and listened to and take suggestions for more books, podcasts, and scripts to review for future columns.
Photo courtesy of Sixteen Miles Out (unsplash.com)
Hello and welcome back to another issue of the book and podcast reviews! I sincerely hope that everyone is doing well with that end-of-the-year academic pressure, and that you are keeping plenty of time to read! This is especially important for this month. I have two fantastic podcasts and two amazing books to discuss this month!
A quick rundown of my column in case you are new here: In my section of this column, I review some books I’ve read and podcasts I enjoy listening to, along with some quick ratings and quotes about the books/podcasts. I also take recommendations for books people have read, and want to see reviewed in the column!
So, without further ado, let’s get on with the reviews!
-Ella Hayes; Writer and Reporter
As the beautiful month of May rolls around, the book/podcast/script column is back for another set of reviews from our previous or current reads. Like last month, I only have a set of two script reviews, but once again, they are analyzed to a fairly large extent and have been tackled despite the barrier of time, language, and societal standards that stand between now and then. I hope these plays intrigue you all once again, Scroll readers, and enjoy your time perusing our monthly column.
-Sean Glover; Photojournalist and Writer
Where I Get my Books and Podcasts
Other than buying physical copies of books at local stores, I also check lots of books out online through the Josephine Community Library. Additionally, GPHS Library has great ways to get library books, as well. (See the library page on the GPHS website!)
I use the app "Overdrive," and use my local library card to sign in. (If you have a library card with the Josephine Community Library, you can do this, too!) The online library has thousands of books for you to choose from. It’s also easy to find exactly what you are looking for; using the search engine and filters, you can find books easily by their title, genre or format. You can check out books straight from your phone with the app, and read them on your phone, as well. If you prefer audiobooks, you can also check out audiobooks and listen to them with the app, too. If the book you want is unavailable, you can recommend the book or place a hold.
This is a great way to have access to many books for free (if you have a library card)!
Additionally, I’d like to mention the site Goodreads as a resource that you can use. This isn’t a place to buy books, but a good website to find new books and read reviews of books you are planning to read. Goodreads has thousands of reviews on many books, and it is a great resource to use when finding a book that you might enjoy. Additionally, with a Goodreads account, you can write your own reviews for books, or just keep track of your books read and make reading goals. Altogether, it is a fantastic source to use when searching for new books to read.
As for podcasts, I listen to every podcast on Spotify, though you can find any episode on each podcast’s website (linked down below).
Podcast Reviews
If you’ve been reading my column for a while, you ought to know that I am obsessed with true crime. (In fact, both of my reviews from last month were solely true crime podcasts. . .) However, for this month I have stepped slightly out of my comfort zone and tried some new podcast genres! For this month, I first have a scientific podcast called Medical Mysteries, which discusses odd and abnormal--and often undiagnosable--medical phenomena. For my second podcast, I am introducing a new type of podcast: a narrated reading of Pride and Prejudice, as performed by Ballarat National Theater. I hope you all find these as fascinating as I did!
Title: Medical Mysteries
Hosts: Molly Brandenburg & Richard Rossner
Focus: science mysteries
Review: Once again, I am highly impressed by a Parcast podcast. If you’ll remember from last month, both of my podcasts were from the podcast company, Parcast, and I spent a while raving about their professional and engaging podcast style. This show is no exception.
In this podcast, hosts Brandenburg and Rossner discuss famous cases of unusual, odd, or undiagnosable medical phenomena. Telling their stories in an illustrating and engaging manner, they paint the scene for listeners, causing them to sympathize with the patients, and allow readers to be able to picture their situations. I love this podcast for the producers' in-depth research, their storytelling, and--most of all--their fascinating stories. One story I found particularly interesting was the two-episode story they did on The Elephant Man. Many people have heard of The Elephant Man, but if you’re like me, you haven't heard of the real story. This episode is what hooked me into this series, and I encourage you to take a listen, as well!
Title: Pride and Prejudice
Hosts: Ballarat National Theater
Focus: literature
Review: I’ll start this review with a rather general statement: I read because I love the stories illustrated in writing. I enjoy reading in styles and writing I find most familiar, as it makes it easier to visualize each story. Consequently, this often makes it quite difficult for me to truly appreciate old classics; if I have to focus too much on understanding a text, it’s all too easy to give up on reading it.
This is what I experienced when I attempted to read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Only several pages into the novel, I set the book down, exasperated. I felt as though I couldn’t fully understand Austen's language, and could therefore never fully appreciate her story. I didn’t want to give up on reading, though.
This is when I found the podcast Pride and Prejudice by Ballarat National Theater, and I was immediately immersed in their show. In this podcast, amazing actors perform their audio rendition of the novel, with individual voices for each character. This made understanding Pride and Prejudice a great deal more easily. With the emotions and tones conveyed through each character, I was suddenly able to visualize each character and scene, and I immediately became engrossed in the story. Currently, I am listening to Chapter 30 of Pride and Prejudice, and I am so glad that I’ve been able to stay engaged in the story, despite its occasional troubling language. Not only this, but Ballarat’s National Theatre also added ambiance sounds to each chapter, such as a clock ticking or a chair rocking. Each sound is dependent on the setting, which makes these scenes even more picturesque!
If you’ve ever found yourself wanting to read Pride and Prejudice, but are concerned about the difficulty of the text like I was, I would have to highly recommend Ballarat National Theatre’s amazing rendition of this classic novel.
Book Reviews
For this month’s book reviews, I have two great YA fiction novels (my most favorite type of book to review!). I have one book from last month--House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig, a YA horror novel, which is also a fairytale retelling of The 12 Dancing Princesses. Secondly, I have the YA book that I am currently reading by the title of An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir, an enthralling fantasy novel. I hope you enjoy it!
House of Salt and Sorrows
Title: The House of Salt and Sorrows
Author: Erin A. Craig
Genre: YA fantasy, horror, retelling/fairy tale, mystery
Rating: ✰✰✰✰ (4 stars)
Review: For reference, here is the review I wrote last month when I was about 70 pages into the book:
Annaleigh has always lived at Highmoor, a manor on the sea with her twelve sisters. However, her family never seems to escape the distressing times of mourning as her sisters keep. . . dying. How can each sister mysteriously dying one by one be simply seen as a “coincidence”? Annaleigh realizes that she must understand the supposed curse that is falling on her family, and work to stop it before it claims more lives.
I love fairytale retelling, and that is exactly what this is. Based on what little material I’ve read so far, I know that this story had taken the traditional Brother’s Grimm story of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and put a dark and spooky twist on it. As in, if I could describe this novel in one word, it would be dark. I’m picturing a stormy, wet coastline, beaten ruthlessly by the ocean waves, on the island where the family resides, permanently haunted by the lost lives of their sisters. *cue full-body chills* This gothic oceanic tale is unlike any retelling I’ve ever heard of before, and I. AM. HERE FOR IT!
As I mentioned, this book is a fairytale retelling of The 12 Dancing Princesses, written by the Brothers Grimm. Though I knew the general storyline of this fairytale, it turns out I had no idea how close this book is to the original story until I actually looked it up. If you want to check it out, you can find it here.
I’ll admit that when I first picked up this book, I had absolutely no idea how eerie and twisted this tale would be. Author Erin A. Craig basically took the “spook” factor of the original Grimm story, and turned it up to ten. As mentioned earlier, the main character, Annaleigh, is one of twelve total sisters who, one by one, keep dying off due to mysterious circumstances. Though the rest of Annaleigh’s family simply wants to forget about each death as it happens, Annaleigh can’t help feeling like there’s something more at play. And when Annaleigh’s youngest sister begins drawing mysterious and disturbing scenes in her sketchbook, which Annaleigh soon discovers, she realizes that someone--or something--may be targeting the sisters. She begins to realize. . . their family may be cursed.
However, Annaleigh’s sisters begin to step out of their grief-stricken shells when a mysterious cave is discovered on the manor’s grounds that can transport the sisters to a glittering lake-side mansion, where they can dance at balls all night without a care in the world. (If you read the "Brothers Grimm" story. . . are you detecting the similarities?) Annaleigh seems to be the only sister unnerved by the entire spectacle; she watches helplessly as her siblings grow more fatigued by the day, getting no sleep due to their restless nights. And when a mysterious stranger shows up at the manor, Annaleigh seeks his help in solving the mystery of the curse, and how to break it.
I think what I loved most about this story was the atmosphere of the entire novel. (To be fair, that seems to always be my favorite thing about YA books. . .) The book takes place on a small island with towering, rocky cliffs, and small beaches. Within a rowing distance lies another island, where you can stroll through the marketplace. The entire tone of the story can only be described as dark, as I accounted for in last month's partial review. Like, I’m picturing the towering manor as always being shaded by a deep cover of clouds, and ocean waves battering the cliffs through the night. It must be my absolute favorite thing about a novel when it is so easy to picture a story like that. Not only this, but as the story goes on, you can almost construct a sort of map of the enormous manor, which Annaleigh calls her home. I can almost see the picturesque dining room, beautifully decorated Blue Room, and Annaleigh’s neat chambers. Craig artfully created a world that was oh-so-perfectly situated for the basis of a horror story.
Secondly, the characters of this story were amazingly written. While I’ll admit that all 12 sister’s names were a bit difficult to remember at first, I eventually sort of got the hang of who was who. I think a very important thing about these characters was the dynamics between them all. Annaleigh had a unique relationship with every single one of her sisters and, though there were so many characters to keep track of, the special bond between each and every one of them was apparent and a great contribution to the story. Not only this, but every one of them had character development! To see each character change and mature over the story was proof of Craig’s thorough writing. Also, what is a YA fantasy novel without a little romance? I loved how the romance between the main character and love interest was subtle, and didn’t take over the whole plotline. I think many of us can agree that, sometimes, when a romance takes over an entire story, it can ruin the entire plot.
Next, let's talk about Erin A Craig’s writing. *slow round of applause*
I can clearly tell that this genre is basically meant for Craig’s writing. The suspense and drama that she was able to craft always made me get the “spooky” feeling when reading (which must mean that her writing is amazing!). Unfortunately, however, I really only had time to read this book right before I went to bed. (Terrible idea, really.) For many of us, watching a scary movie will always frighten us, especially right before bed, though books don’t always have that same effect. I will definitely caution you before reading this, however. The scenes that Craig creates not only develop mystery, but readers can almost sense the feeling that something is off. Without explicitly stating anything, Craig is able to create the feeling of eerie, unsettling, and sinister moods, which were apparent through her writing.
Lastly, I want to talk about the ending. While this is a spoiler-free review, there are some things that I’d like to touch on that affected my overall rating. Now, from reading the Goodreads reviews (linked below), it was apparently quite obvious from the beginning who the antagonist was (AKA the “curse setter”). Well, maybe I’m just clueless, but I honestly cannot say the same for myself. The ending, which revealed the meaning and person/thing behind the curse, seemed to totally come out of the blue for me, which made the ending all the more shocking and dramatic, of course.
The climax of this novel was. . . intense. It was horror-filled, spooktastic, and altogether rattling. There was a total shock factor that really blew me away at the end (which I’m obviously not going to reveal), but it really made me eager to learn more. As a reader, however, the climax was almost frustrating (but in a good way?). I won’t reveal too much, but the entire last couple of chapters were wonderfully written to get the readers more attached to the characters and their means. I think this is how readers begin to really “root” for Annaleigh, and personally want her to break the curse herself, which I think is a great writing strategy on Craig’s part.
My one biggest complaint about this story would have to be the epilogue. As a general rule, I don’t really care for epilogues when they are included in books. They usually try to create an ending that doesn’t fit what I would’ve pictured or, even worse, they try to wrap up big storylines in the last couple of pages of the epilogue. Unfortunately, this book was the latter. In this case, what ruined the ending for me was the sudden and almost random finish to two character’s relationships. I suspect that this was the author’s attempt to create a “happy ending” for her readers, and though I love the happy ending as much as any other person, it felt too rushed. It would have been much better done if it had happened slowly, and not on the literal last page of the book, in my opinion.
All-in-all, however, I definitely recommend this book! If you love atmospheric, dark stories, this certainly would be the YA novel for you. (Though it doesn’t really fit the warm spring weather we’ve been having here lately. . .)
See the Goodreads review here.
An Ember in the Ashes
Title: An Ember in the Ashes
Author: Sabaa Tahir
Genre: YA fantasy, thriller, romance, adventure, dystopia(??)
Review: DISCLAIMER: This is a review of a novel that I have not finished yet, and I am currently reading this story. This will be a brief description and discussion of how I feel about the story so far. I am nearly a third of the way through the book now.
In the Martial Empire (inspired by Ancient Rome), you either swear allegiance to the Empire, or you get killed. For all of main character Laia’s life, her family has never challenged the Empire, for fear of repercussions. But when Laia’s brother gets taken by Empire soldiers, she feels conflicted. She never stood up to the Empire, but what if her brother’s life is at stake? With the help of underground Empire rebels, she is able to enter into the life of training Martial soldiers as an undercover spy, at the infamous training camp, Blackcliff Academy. By spying on the inner workings of the Academy for the Resistance, she can trade information for the rescue of her brother. Working as a slave, yet spying for the Resistance is a grueling life for Laia, but she is determined to do it for her brother.
Elias is the best soldier at Blackcliff Academy. He has committed himself as loyal to the Empire, though he has always been secretly unwilling to be a pawn of the Empire. He has always dreamed of escaping, though he has never had the nerve, nor the chance. But when an opportunity arises to make him the most powerful soldier in the Empire, he can’t refuse without arousing suspicion. Now, Elias must find a way to get away from the Empire, without his fellow soldiers turning on him.
Though Laia and Elias live very different lives, it seems as though their destinies are intertwined. They soon begin to realize that the decisions they make may change the future of the Empire itself.
So far, I am in love with this book. It is usually very difficult for authors to world-build in a way that is actually engaging to readers while being still in-depth, but Tahir does this amazingly. The Empire is based on Ancient Rome, with the soldiers governing all citizens’ ways of life. This brutal society along with the harsh leadership makes for an intense and thrilling story, while the main characters attempt at rebelling, with their lives on the line.
Next month, I’ll post the updates with the full review! Stay tuned!
Script Reviews
You’re really here for another round, aren’t ya? Well, luckily for you, this month is full of Shakespeare-- including a couple of extremely popular works of his. Romeo and Juliet: the tale of two star-crossed lovers that have left an irreplaceable imprint on the modern day’s outlook on love and companionship, and Macbeth: the infamous Scottish play that discusses the mental toll that one’s consequences have on unforgivable actions. These reads are literary works of art and stand within the list of stories that should be read by everyone at least once in their lives.
Title: Romeo and Juliet
Author: William Shakespeare
Goodreads Rating: ✰✰✰✰ (3.8 stars)
Personal Rating: ✰✰✰✰ (3.6 stars)
Synopsis: An age-old vendetta between two powerful families erupts into bloodshed. A group of masked Montagues risks further conflict by gatecrashing a Capulet party. A young, lovesick Romeo Montague falls instantly in love with Juliet Capulet, who is due to marry her father's choice, the County Paris.
Review: Ah, the most well-known, overdone romantic tale that has ever existed. This original Shakespeare work spiraled into fame due to the concept of what love really was and how far people were willing to go because of it. The legacy of this play sparked an influence among other playwrights and screenwriters, which led to the birth of West Side Story, Shakespeare In Love, and even Gnomeo and Juliet. Another notable descendant is William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet, starring Leonardo Dicaprio, which was made as a unique spin to the play, as it is set in 1996. Even when referencing a relationship with a strong bond, people will compare it to Romeo and Juliet. Why is this? Well, it’s probably not the fact that these two had horrible communication and ended up committing suicide over one another, but probably because they had quite a healthy relationship, despite the “love at first sight” theme.
Yeah, sure, it’s still hilarious to make fun of two fourteen-year-olds in the 1500s falling so much in love that they literally die over it, but there is a sense of depth that people don’t look far enough to see into the two teenager’s relationship. Their relationship was one where each of them was happy and not stressed over being with the other, as well as one of bravery, where Romeo was willing to get killed to go back to Verona and see Juliet, and Juliet was willing to fake her own death in order to marry Romeo.
On the other hand, even though the love is pure between these two, their actions and faults lead them to the downward spiral that is the events of the play. Both Romeo and Juliet are very selfish and do not take their own feelings or other’s feelings into consideration when the world changes around them. All they want in the world is each other. This becomes the cause of Mercutio and Tybalt’s death, which the kids barely bat an eye at. This series of events give us a good lesson regarding what we should consider when we fall in love with someone we want to spend the rest of our lives with. Romeo and Juliet get so caught up in their own small, minuscule bubble together, that they end up pushing away all the problems between their two families and die because of it. What we learn is that we still have to take our circumstances into consideration when all we want to be involved with is someone else.
Now, if Romeo and Juliet’s circumstances were different, and there was no conflict arising from them being in love, this would be the perfect love story. They could spend their whole lives together and be perfectly fine. However, the whole point of this story is to show that they are “star-crossed lovers” and that the world is railing against them. Everything in the world was telling them to not be together, but that gave them even more of a reason to do so.
Now, all signs point to this story having a higher rating than I’ve given it so far; however, even though there is an amazing mantle underneath the story’s crust, the crust itself is not executed as well as some other Shakespearean plays I have read. Every character has a motive, but each time they try to reveal it or progress that certain motive into action, they come off as very one-dimensional and almost as if they are not actual people. Romeo, for example, is depressed and devastated over losing Rosaline, his last girlfriend (this dude is two years younger than me and had two girlfriends in the span of a week? I’m impressed), but then completely forgets Rosaline ever existed once he meets Juliet. Not that it wasn’t good character development for him to move on from something that brought him down, but there didn’t seem to be much inner turmoil going from one situation to the other.
Overall, this play is a very mixed pot-- it has some amazing qualities and life lessons that stay with you forever, but the plot and characters that develop those lessons are not very relatable (except for Benvolio, you go dude!). Whether it is an appealing read or one that makes you want to claw your eyes out, it is a must-read for anyone who studies literature out there. The language in it is a significant part of history, and it is also just funny to bite your thumb at someone instead of flipping them off.
Title: Macbeth
Author: William Shakespeare
Goodreads Rating: ✰✰✰✰ (3.9 stars)
Personal Rating: ✰✰✰✰✰ (4.4 stars)
Synopsis: A brave Scottish general named Macbeth receives a prophecy from a trio of witches that, one day, he will become King of Scotland. Consumed by ambition and spurred to action by his wife, Macbeth murders King Duncan and takes the Scottish throne for himself. He is then wracked with guilt and paranoia.
Review: I started reading this play a few weeks ago, and it has been a slow process, trying to analyze all of the text and understand it in full. For anyone wondering, I have just begun reading Scene Two of Act Two-- the events leading right after King Duncan’s death. As far as I can see, Macbeth still has yet to suffer the mental toll that comes with the regicide and the other Thanes who have yet to sniff his trail. It’s an odd place to be in when reading the script, but it gives a bit of insight into the bridge Shakespeare subtly wrote in Macbeth’s mental state and how he thinks his actions are completely rational until they are taken too far, which forces him to juggle with his own thoughts.
So far, the play has taken off much quicker than I thought it would, but it may just be the illusion from writing on paper to action on the stage, which can be taken into account for any script, since they are primarily made to be shows performed instead of novels read. This show, in particular, is definitely one that I would have to see on stage before I read the script, but I unfortunately already made that mistake, and no theatre company in a thirty-mile radius of me has decided to do it this season. Either way, the story becomes quickly fast-paced, as I can already imagine there will be a lot happening in the second half of the play.
A reason why I may also feel like this is because the characters are quickly developed in order to establish their personality, motives, relationships, and willingness to take a step too far. For example, in the first couple of scenes, you meet Lady Macbeth. You can already tell that she’s the catalyst to all of Macbeth’s inner demons, and she’ll stop at nothing to gain as much power as she can. This connection with Lady Macbeth also makes you realize how easily Macbeth is controlled by fate and how others choose it for him. All the three witches had to do was plant the seed in his mind that he was the rightful heir to the Scottish throne, and Macbeth spiraled out of control from there.
Besides the intensity of the character development and the speed at which the play’s events unfold, something that also caught my interest was the annotated version of my script, due to it being a new copy published by Penguin Books. If you’re not familiar with the specific style of these scripts, it’s formatted in a way where the line number is footnoted at the bottom of the page, listing definitions of old, fancy, Shakespearean terms or simply just suggests a simpler phrase for another old, fancy, Shakespearean saying. This helps the reader (especially if you’re insanely dense like me) comprehend all of the confusing text that a forty-two-year-old poet thought would be necessary to add in order to impress Queen Elizabeth I. Admittedly, I’ve found myself rereading the same line and looking down at the definition three times to find out what one sentence meant.
So far, the Scottish play gets a pretty generous rating in my eyes. I still have yet to read the other third of the story that I know includes some juicy, action-packed scenes, but when it comes to Shakespeare, you definitely have to take your time to read it thoroughly. That is-- unless you have seen the play previously or have been studying it for a class. In that case, you have a nice stepping stone to help you out. Either way, it is definitely a script I recommend reading and analyzing.
Thank you again for tuning in on my monthly script reviews, and enjoy your time on The Scroll.
Thanks again for joining me this month! See you back in June of 2021.
