And the result is. . .

Your result for The Jane Austen heroine Test ...

Fanny Price

52% romance, 45% sauciness, 44% etiquette, 82% intelligence

Still waters run deep. You've got plenty of intelligence and more heart than you get credit for. But you never say a word when insulted, and this reticence sometimes allows others to assume you're a pushover. You're also a bit shy in mixed company, which leads those who don't know you well to accuse you of snobbery. They couldn't be more wrong! You just never seem to know what to say. Of course, the meek shall inherit the earth...eventually. But do you really want to wait that long for redemption? Ideal matches: Edmund Bertram, Edward Ferrars, Captain Benwick, Colonel Brandon Guaranteed heartbreak: Frank Churchill, John Thorpe Not worthy of your affections: Henry Crawford, John Willoughby

 

I always knew I was a Fanny Price.  Its okay.  I'm not offended.  Mansfield Park is my favorite Jane Austen novel.  I know its probably everyone elses least favorite (with the exception maybe of Northanger Abbey), but I love its intelligence.  And hey, the above description is pretty spot on.    

 

Take the test yourself at http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/the-jane-austen-heroine-test

Season to Taste - A Review

An aspiring chef's moving account of finding her way—in the kitchen and beyond—after a tragic accident destroys her sense of smell

At twenty-two, just out of college, Molly Birnbaum spent her nights reading cookbooks and her days working at a Boston bistro, preparing to start training at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. She knew exactly where she wanted the life ahead to lead: She wanted to be a chef. But shortly before she was due to matriculate, she was hit by a car while out for a run in Boston. The accident fractured her skull, broke her pelvis, tore her knee to shreds—and destroyed her sense of smell. The flesh and bones would heal...but her sense of smell? And not being able to smell meant not being able to cook. She dropped her cooking school plans, quit her restaurant job, and sank into a depression.

Season to Taste is the story of what came next: how she picked herself up and set off on a grand, entertaining quest in the hopes of learning to smell again. Writing with the good cheer and great charm of Laurie Colwin or Ruth Reichl, she explores the science of olfaction, pheromones, and Proust's madeleine; she meets leading experts, including the writer Oliver Sacks, scientist Stuart Firestein, and perfumer Christophe Laudamiel; and she visits a pioneering New Jersey flavor lab, eats at Grant Achatz's legendary Chicago restaurant Alinea, and enrolls at a renowned perfume school in the South of France, all in an effort to understand and overcome her condition.

A moving personal story packed with surprising facts about our senses, Season to Taste is filled with unforgettable descriptions of the smells Birnbaum rediscovers—from cinnamon, cedarwood, and fresh bagels to rosemary chicken, lavender, and apple pie—as she falls in love, learns to smell from scratch, and starts, once again, to cook.  ~ From Goodreads

Season to Taste is a semi-interesting memoir about one young woman's journey to come to terms with the impairment of her sense of smell.  The book is at its best when describing food with luscious adjectives, but too often it gets bogged down with the author's inability to structure her thoughts. 

Season to Taste constantly jumps back and forth between Molly Birnbaum's everyday struggles with regaining her sense of smell and the science behind how the brain processes scent.  I found the author to be slightly annoying, mainly for her inability to stay on topic.  I never got over this annoyance because she really never gave the reader time to know her.  Instead, any time the reader gets close, she begins spouting off more facts and figures.  Interviews popped up at random times, jarring the reader out of the narrative.  Overall, the book was just oddly paced and structured.  I would have liked it much better if she had separated her personal life into different chapters from her interviews and research.  The timeline is all over the place and indiscerible since everything is just meshed together.  I wished she had spent more time recounting the stories of others who had lost their ability to smell.  I found their stories to have much more flavor and emotional impact than her own.

I would only recommend this book to people who either have a condition similar to her own or are  interested in the science of scent.  Molly Birnbaum did bring attention to the much overlooked issue of loss of smell, and for that, she should be applauded.  I only wish her book would have been written a bit better so it could have packed a harder punch. 

I give this book two stars. 

The Fellowship of the Ring

The 19th of December will mark the 10th anniversary of the release of The Fellowship of the Ring in theaters.  Back when it was released, I was a thirteen year old on the cusp of becoming a full fledged geek.  I had read children's fantasy for several years but experiencing Lord of the Rings, both movies and books, marked my irrevocable entrance into geekdom. 

I saw that first movie five times in the theater - each time with a different set of people.  I saw it first with my parents for my dad's birthday.   I remember the sort of breathless excitement I had going in that first time.  I wanted so much to know what it was going to be like, but, at the same time, I dreaded it.  I wondered who would play Pippin?  Would they include Tom Bombadil?  Would they change everything?   Would it be awful?  I waited as the trailers played through and the haunting music began.  Then that breathy prologue started began, and I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed.  I loved that movie from beginning to end, and I'll never forget the euphoric feeling of experiencing that movie for the first time.       

After watching LOTR, I began chain reading other epic fantasy series like Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time and Terry Brooks' Sword of Shannara series.    I fell in love with other fantasy movies like Willow and Ladyhawke.  I talked incessantly about hobbits and followed the actors online.  My cousin and I wrote slash laden stories for each other and made Pippiny cards and shirts for all occasions.  I wrote quiz books and made unfortunately long LOTR inspired skits at youth group movie nights.  I waited with baited breath for the next movie to come out and then the next.      

It was such a fun time to be introduced to the fantasy genre.  I was able to see LOTR in the theater and collect all the fun, geeky toys and game as they were released.  I was able to watch award shows and root on writers, directors, and films for the first time.  I could talk to all sorts of people about the stories and the characters and the actors.  I really was able to feel a sense of community over these books and movies which is something I've only ever experienced since with Harry Potter.  

I will always cherish my time as an unabashed LOTR fan.  I might not love the movies as much as I used to or EVER plan to read the books again, but this series introduced me to fantasy and to a community of really interesting and enthusiastic people.  And for that, I will always be thankful.  

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - A Review

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.   ~ From Goodreads

Catherynne M. Valente's novel is absolutely wonderful.  It has the same wild creativity as a Neil Gaiman novels mixed with the knowing wisdom of Terry Pratchett's work.  Valente does not shy away from uncomfortable truths like C. S. Lewis did in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, but rather faces them full on, making her story completely different than all its predecessors.  

I fell in love with this book from the first page and surprised myself by loving it all the way through.  So often children's novels of this sort lag at the halfway point (The Graveyard Book for instance) but Valente's story kept its pace from beginning to end.  I completely lost in Fairyland along with September, and I was a bit disappointed to find my way again with the closing of the last page. 

Chapter XVI (Until We Stop) is by far my favorite part of the entire book.   The fishing scene is gruesome, heart wrenching, and overall just plain truthful in its depiction of September's reaction to killing the fish.  If I had to do what September did, I would be bawling my eyes out too.  I love that  Valente shows real emotion and loss.  I've always held C. S. Lewis at fault for not depicting the repercussions of the Pevensie children's adventures.   After all those children went through, they should have PTSD.  Valente, however, does not shy away from exposing her characters to lasting pain.  Blood is drawn.  Bones are broken.   Loss is real.  

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making is not treading new ground, but it really isn't trying to.  Valente gives nods to Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland,  and Chronicles of Narnia throughout her story, and really this book has everything you loved about those old classics and so much more.  Its a fairy tale for adults as well as children.  And aren't those really the best kind?     

Practical Magic - A Review

At 11:00pm last night, I became extremely peeved when my copy of Practical Magic abruptly ended at page 260 in the middle of a sentence.   I had been trying to read through the last two sections before going to bed.  Unfortunately, I was brought to a halt twenty pages short of the conclusion.  This morning, I had to rush out to the library to pick up another copy so I could know how it all ended.  

First, let me say that I loved this book.  And I mean LOVED.  As soon as I read the first sentence, I knew it would be one of those rare books that I could just lose myself in from beginning to end.  This rarely happens for me, and so its absolutely heavenly whenever I find a book that I connect to in this way.   Alice Hoffman has a way of making you feel like you're being buoyed in warm bath as you read her novels.  This isn't to say her books are what most people would consider comfy cozy.  I'm probably unusual in that my comfort reading tends to include death, heartbreak, and desire.  I don't like happy books and so Hoffman's more realistic (albeit magical) stories appeal to me.  

In Practical Magic, I loved that the story focused on the relationships between women.  Its rare to find a book that feels truthful in its depiction of what women are really like.   Alice Hoffman is gifted in being able to reflect the complexity of these relationships with such understated ease.  Of course, everything Alice Hoffman does is understated.  I am sick to death of books that bang you over the head with all their themes and romances and complicated relationships.  It is so refreshing to find an author who just gives you an interpretation of life and allows you to glean from it what you may.

This is only the third book I've read by Alice Hoffman, but I'm already looking forward to my next.  She's becoming one of my favorite, authors and for me this is exhilarating since I rarely like any author well enough to read more than one of their books. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who loves stories stories about strong women, magic, and the worth of true love.

I give it five stars.