I don’t know what I was waiting for all these years before I picked up an Adriana Trigiani book. Okay, I do know – I hadn’t heard of her before people’s BEA posts from this past year. But now that I know what I’ve been missing, it won’t be long before I devour every book she’s written.

Big Stone Gap is the first book in the Big Stone Gap series. It follows Ave Maria Mulligan through her thirty-fifth year, when she goes from being the town spinster to being content with who she is. Of course, it turns out that who she is is different than who she thought she was (everyone follow that sentence?). Ave Maria’s mother left her a letter when she died, explaining that the father she grew up with was not her biological father. Ave Maria, who has always been so in control of her life that she could spend it focused on others, suddenly needs to discover who she really is. Ave Maria’s voice shines throughout the story, and this is what had me hooked by page two. I knew Ave Maria and was inside her head from the very beginning.

There are moments when I’m glad I’ve been introduced to a series late, and this is one of them. I can go to the library right now and get the rest of the Big Stone Gap series, without waiting years between publication dates. On the other hand, some series need to be read slowly and savored, rather than devoured, and this is certainly one of those. I love Adriana Trigiani’s writing! You’ve got to slow down and read carefully or you miss some of the best phrases. To savor or devour. . .Oh, the dilemma!

If you, too, are late to the Adriana Trigiani party like I was, please remedy that soon! Find a copy of Big Stone Gap or any of her other books, and introduce yourself to this amazing author and her irrestible writing.

This is a book about books. Queenan wrote eight essays, covering everything from public libraries to keeping books you know you will never read. It’s usually fun to hear another bibliophile’s take on these topics. Queenan is a witty writer, but he’s also, well, snarky (in the words of his local librarian). He’s been a voracious reader since his youth, reading mostly classic literature and nonfiction on obscure topics. And somehow those reading choices make him a better person – or at least, reader – than I am. Or you are. He comes across as a bit of a reading snob, even looking down his nose at classics like To Kill a Mockingbird. I enjoy reading about others’ reading tastes, but not if it makes me feel like less of a person because I read fiction books that people have actually heard of.  I enjoyed Queenan’s take on some bookish things, but I would have been just fine without having ever read this book.

Paul Collins has fallen in love with the town of Hay-on-Wye in Wales. Who wouldn't? It's a town with 1,400 residents and 30 bookstores. Every book lovers' heaven! Collins loves it so much, however, that he decided to move there - taking along his wife, young son, and many, many boxes of books. And we get to embark on his adventure along with him. Sixpence House follows him in and out of the bookstores and unstable piles of books. It chronicles his family's search for the perfect house in Hay-on-Wye ("perfect" being defined as level-ish floors and not too much mold). It introduces us to some of the residents of the town. Bibliophiles galore! Collins also intersperses amusing quotes from obscure books that he has read. These were some of my favorite parts, since I know I would never have come across these quotes in any other way. Collins writes with wit and humor. His adventure in this bookish town in Wales is well worth your time. You will most certainly add Hay-on-Wye to your list of places to go someday, just as I have!

This is really two books in one. The first half of the book introduces Hazel and Jack – two best friends who rely on each other for everything. We follow Hazel through her school day of getting bullied and not fitting in. And then we see her with Jack after school, and they just fit. The second half of the book is a fairy tale. Think Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm. Jack is kidnapped by a snow witch, and it’s Hazel’s task to enter the enchanted forest to bring him back to reality.

This dual story is both this book’s greatest asset and its greatest liability. It’s an asset because it sets this book apart from every other book following two best friends who grow apart. It’s a twist you would never expect, since the first half is regular realistic fiction. But even though I like fairy tales and I like the idea of the twist, I liked the first half of the book better. Ursu’s writing is phenomenal. Her descriptions of the characters and their feelings are so spot on. When Hazel entered the enchanted forest, though, some of that seemed to get lost. The fairy tale elements became the focus. It was almost as if Ursu was cramming all of the oblique fairy tale references she could into the narrative. Hazel’s progress as a character took a backseat. And the ending, to me at least, was rather anticlimactic. If the second half had lived up to the promise of the first half, this book would be on my to-buy-immediately list. As it is, I’ll definitely keep an eye out for a copy to add to my classroom library. This is a book many children would enjoy.

I have to reiterate that I loved Ursu’s writing and her grasp on the characters. Hazel was such a realistic character, almost as if Ursu was living inside the head of a fifth grade girl. I’ll gladly pick up other books by Anne Ursu just to re-experience seeing the world through her eyes.

It’s been awhile since I’ve read any classic literature. Since I’ve discovered the world of book blogging, my reading tastes have tended towards contemporary fiction with a bit of nonfiction and a smattering of YA. I used to read a fair amount of classics in high school and college – even (gasp!) just for fun, not because they were assigned. Since that’s fallen off recently, I decided to join the Classics Club in an attempt to remedy this lack. I figured that would give me some motivation to pick up a book that requires a bigger investment of time and attention.

I am so glad I did. I read Xingu by Edith Wharton last week, and I remembered all the reasons I love classic literature. Wharton writes with a complete mastery of storytelling that seems to be missing in much of today’s literature. (Please don’t get me wrong. There are many extremely well-written and profound books published today. But I think we can all agree that there are many – too many – that are not that well-written and are far from profound.) Xingu is a short story, by the way, and the copy that I had also included seven other short stories by Wharton. Each one was an example in and of itself of the crafting of a story. Some of them were creepy – I did not know that Wharton wrote ghost stories. But each story gave so much credit to the reader. “Coming Home,” for example, left more unsaid than said at the end of the story, but I had no trouble figuring out what Wharton meant. I was just repeatedly awed by the way that Wharton could give the reader information without ever saying it outright. It really takes a talented writer to be able to accomplish what she did with each of these short stories.

I know I’ve told you pretty much nothing about the plot of any of these stories, but I don’t want to give anything away. Each story needs to be discovered for itself. And I highly encourage you to discover the short stories of Edith Wharton. They are well worth the search (and it may be a bit difficult – I had to request Xingu from my library’s storage). It’s refreshing and rejuvenating to read the works of someone who has mastered the art of storytelling.

So I've been looking for a way to show in more detail what I like about the books I read. Sometimes it doesn't come out very clearly in the review. Sometimes I spend more time focusing on what I didn't like, even though there are some definite positive things about the book. To solve this problem, I am now introducing the 5* Elements.

For each book review I post on Smiling Shelves, I’ll include a list of those things that I absolutely loved about the book (well, only if it deserves them). For an absolutely amazing book, this will show what was so absolutely amazing about it. For a just plain good (or maybe not-so-good) book, this can show the redeeming features, things that were absolutely amazing even if the book as a whole is not. In other words, it doesn't have to be a five star book to have some 5* Elements.

Here are the general categories I’m thinking of right now:

• Lovable or fascinating or well-developed characters
• An interesting or twisty plot
• Learning (for the nonfiction books)
• Voice (I’m a sucker for a first-person narrative with a good voice.)
• Wonderful writing
• Atmosphere (This means a bit more than just the setting to me, but setting is a large part of it.)
• Deeper meaning

So how do the 5* Elements help you? Well, you know your own reading preferences. If you read books because of the characters, then look for my book reviews with a 5* Element of Character. If you love plot twists, look for that 5* Element. If, like me, you’ll pick up a book just because someone said they loved the character’s voice, then the ones with a 5* Element of Voice are for you! I’ll also be tagging my reviews with the various 5* Elements, so you can eventually click on the tag and have a whole list of books with that particular element.

I’d love some feedback from you, especially as this system gets going. Does it work? Is it helpful? What are some other 5* Elements that you’d like to see?