The Curious Reader

Growing a Reader from Birth: Your Child's Path from Language to Literacy by Diane McGuinness

2010-06-13T10:37:00.001-07:00

Hey it's a book review!! Yes I am still reading, although you can see how my tastes are changing. I decided to do a book review on this book because I just really wanted to talk about it. I also posted the review on my baby blog.
The book is Grow in g a Reader from Birth: Your Child's Path from Language to Literacy by Diane McGuinness. Obviously I am interested in having a child who is a reader. I think the main reason why I am such a big reader is because both my parents modeled reading as a (very) common behavior as I was growing up. After reading this book, especially the last chapter about current literacy programs in schools, I have been thinking about how I learned to read. I actually do remember bits and pieces of learning, but not where it came from. But when I think about it hard enough, I think that my mom must have taught me before I started school. I remember being way ahead of the other kids, even when I started in the gifted program in second grade. Go Mom!
So, back to the book review. McGuinness structures the book by your child's age, beginning with the first year of life. For each section she reviews the literature on language development. (Her basic premise is that in order to be a good reader, we must first have top-notch communication skills.) She distills the important information out of the most current studies, and offers it to the reader in a coherent fashion. She finishes each section by discussing ways that parents can improve their child's language development, based on the current science.
Many of the tips are self-explanatory (talk to your child!), but she gives important details and ways to test your own communication style. The ideas that resonated the most with me were the difference between a repetitive style and an elaborative style, and, related to that, letting your child guide the conversation, rather than forcing it where you want it to go. The communication styles refer to conversations with toddlers - a repetitive style is one that mostly contains one-word answers and does not bother to expand on the topic under discussion, while the elaborative style is one where the parent adds lots of extra information on the topic under discussion, especially if it is one the child finds interesting. An example of an elaborative conversation from the book is -
Parent: What did we see down in the harbor?
Child: Boat
P: Yes we did, we saw a lot of boats didn't we? Do remember, some were big and some were small.
C: Small boat. Bird.
P: Oh, you remember the birds! We saw birds sitting on the small boat didn't we? Looking for fish. Do you remember what kind of birds they were?
C: Fish birds?
P: No they're called seagulls. Can you say seagulls?
C: Seagulls.
P: Good! That's very good!
The boy in this example is thirty months old. This is contrasted with the actual conversation, where the dad kept changing the subject to try to get the "proper" response from his son. That conversation ended with the boy in tears. Obviously not much learning taking place in that case. The key is to not be afraid to talk more than your child. He needs to hear you, as long as you're giving him a chance to participate as well.
The book ends with a discussion of current literacy practices in schools, and how, for the most part, they do nothing to actually teach children how to read. From McGuinness's examples, it's hard to see why these are the methods that are still predominate. She gives tips on investigating your school's methods, and what programs you can use at home if your school is not using a phonics-based method.
As you can probably see, I really thought this was an excellent book, and I highly recommend it for parents with children ages five and under. I know I will be using all of the tips, as well as modeling reading to my child. I kind of can't help that part!

Break Time!

2009-12-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

As is probably clear to anyone who reads this blog, I have been very lax about posting lately! I know I have explained before, but I wanted to give another update.
I will probably be having a baby here in the next week or so, and while I was supremely confident in my ability to sort of keep up with posting, that has clearly not happened. And I doubt I will be able to once I have a little infant to care for either. So I am sort of officially going on hiatus. I will be posting reviews of the ARC's I still have (although I will probably try not to get any more of those), but otherwise I will not be doing reviews for the time being. This means I'll be working extra hard to keep my goodreads profile updated. So you can still check there if you would like to see what I am reading. I may even do reviews there, just briefly. We'll see.
Sadly this means that I may not even do any wrap-up posts in the next week or so. I did have some I wanted to do, but I can't really claim that they will get done. Oh well.
Not sure when I'll be back - family takes priority obviously! Thank you to all of my readers and followers - feel free to add me as a friend on goodreads or follow me there, if you like (but please let me know who you are when you add me as a friend, otherwise I may ignore you!). Happy reading!!

The Foundling by Georgette Heyer

2009-11-24T16:21:00.000-08:00

Another lovely reading experience, brought to you by Georgette Heyer. I think that this one is my favorite so far by her. It had all of the components of her other historical romances, but this one managed to pull them all off flawlessly. It is a slightly different story than seems typical for her books, but maybe that's why I liked it so much.
The Duke of Sale, known as Gilly to most people (his full name and titles are amusingly very long), is an orphan, raised by his uncle until he reaches his majority at age 25. We meet him at 24, and see in him a man who has been so sheltered and cared for all of his life, that he practically cannot stand up for himself. He wants to speak for himself, and live his own life, but he knows that those responsible for his extreme disconnection from the world, his uncle and servants, only treat him so because they love him so much. And he does not have the heart to cause strife among his household. However, we see that this "mollycoddling" has begun to be simply too much for him, and he begins to show signs of breaking free. When his cousin finds himself in some trouble, Gilly volunteers to solve the problem. His first step? Tricking his servants and informing absolutely no one, not even his closest friend Gideon (another cousin), of his intentions, he sets out to have himself an adventure, to prove to himself whether he is "a man, or only a duke."
Gilly is a fantastic character, one whose strength the reader can see through all of the sheltering he has grown up with. The other male characters are equally well-drawn; I especially love Gideon, and his attitude towards Gilly, who he insists on calling Adolphus (his true first name). The two main female characters are also likeable, and Heyer does a terrific job of making us love the foundling Belinda, while being just as annoyed with her as the rest of the cast of characters most of the time. The romance in this book is more subtle than in the others, but I found it perhaps even more satisfying. Like I said, this is my favorite of the Heyer books I have read so far, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of historical fiction and romance.

Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin

2009-11-17T10:13:00.000-08:00

This is definitely one of the strangest books that I have read in a while, and I'm not really sure if I liked it. It was a fascinating read, and I kept thinking about the book after I was done. But overall, I think it missed the mark in a few ways.
Fade to Blue is the story of Sophie Blue, who decided to start wearing all black, including her lipstick, on her last birthday, which was also the last time she saw her father. Sophie is pretty sure that she is losing her mind, and the scary dreams and creepy popsicle truck that seems to be following her don't really help things. The book also seems to be the story of Kenny Fade, the school basketball star for whom everything seems to go exactly right. But he may be going crazy too. Their stories begin to intertwine in a way that makes you scratch your head, that makes you go, "Okay, this book is totally not what I thought it was about." The other main characters of the story, Sophie's best friend Lake and her brother O.S., are also not quite what they seem.
As the plot twists and turns, I found myself getting a little bit lost, which I don't think was entirely my fault as a reader. Beaudoin seems to want to take this story somewhere that he can't quite get to. But it really is a fascinating read, nonetheless. Also, I couldn't read about the creepy popsicle truck without picturing the ice cream truck from that old Play Station video game, Twisted Metal. If you know what I'm talking about, you'll know what I mean when I say it's creepy.

The Lie by Fredrica Wagman

2009-11-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

This book was totally not what I expected it to be. Honestly, I really had no expectations, it's been in my to-read pile forever and I finally just got to it. But even with no expectations, it completely surprised me. This review may contain spoilers, it is incredibly difficult to talk about without giving away plot. But I think it will be okay, if you plan on reading the book - I don't think anything I discuss will ruin the story in any way.
Ramona Smollens is seventeen when she meets the man she will marry, just one month after meeting him. Their meeting is very strange, and sets the tone for the rest of their relationship. The entire novel takes place inside Ramona's head, with her as a narrator. And what an unreliable narrator she is! The "Lie" of the title is complicated - Ramona's entire life seems to be a lie, as she has lied to herself and others for so long. But really, the Lie for Ramona seems to be that love and sex and marriage can bring happiness and fulfillment to life. Ramona has believed in the promise that she was told by the sirens of the silver screen, Rita Hayworth in particular, that she will be swept off her feet with passion, and sex will come easy to her, and she will be happy. But none of this happens. And so Ramona lies, to her parents, to her husband, to herself. And she lives within the lies that society has told her, and the lies she believes that her husband is telling her. And within her narration, it is sometimes impossible to tell the truth from the fiction.
The writing itself is not what I was used to. Wagman uses a sort of stream of consciousness style, with sentences that seems to go on forever, broken up by elipses and dashes. But it always makes sense, and the style never distracts from the story. It only adds to the sense of madness that we get from Ramona. She is entirely obsessed with Rita Hayworth, and entirely obsessed with the idea of herself as a woman. She grew up in a household that destroyed her soul, and made her seemingly incapable of real feeling. This book was really a fascinating read, and would be a terrific choice for a book club. There is so much here to discuss! I read it in a few hours, it just flies by. If this review has made the book sound interesting at all, I would definitely say go pick it up. You may not like the story, or Ramona, but you won't forget it, and you won't regret picking up this book for a glimpse into the way the Lies of our society can alter a life.

Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell

2009-11-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

This is the first book that I have read by Malcolm Gladwell, but if his other two books (The Tipping Point and Blink) are anything like this one, the man is a genius when it comes to synthesizing information. Synthesizing is not the exact word that I want, but what I mean is he has an incredible ability to bring together information from all sorts of studies, creating a pattern that he shows to his readers to make his point. His point in Outliers is that our notion of success is flawed. We love to believe in the self-made man, the super successful genius who pulled himself up by his bootstraps, came from nothing or nowhere, and became an icon of success. However, Gladwell shows that this myth is simply not true; for every super successful person, he can show examples of people who are just as talented, and could have been just as successful, but for whom life did not provide the lucky breaks it did for the success stories. (This is not meant to lessen the genius of those successes in any way - it just gives a different perspective on their lives.)
Gladwell's examples range from the Beatles to Bill Gates, from Jewish lawyers in New York to Chinese children and mathematics. In every single chapter there was something that I absolutely had to share with my husband while I was reading - really, I would have just read the whole book to him if I had the chance. The most fascinating information I found was his description of cultural legacies, and how those continue to affect us on all levels.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I was unable to provide a category for it in my labels, but anyone who enjoys reading will enjoy this book. It is fascinating, especially if you are a non-fiction reader. But even fiction readers will find themselves hooked!

My Lord John by Georgette Heyer

2009-11-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

My Lord John was Heyer's last novel, and is actually unfinished, with the manuscript ending right in the middle of a sentence. She had planned on writing the life story of Lord John, Duke of Bedford, son of King Henry IV and younger brother to King Henry V, but this book ends right before the death of his father. It covers his life from childhood through to 1413, when he was in his early twenties. Heyer did an enormous amount of research to write this book, and this becomes very obvious throughout the story. In addition to discussing the life of one man, we learn about the entire world during that time period, from details of the lives of the princes, to the struggles on the world stage.
I found this book to be incredibly difficult to read. For fans of Heyer's light romances, which are also excellent historical fiction, this book might be a bit daunting. It is very different from the others I've read by her. What made it most frustrating for me was the fact that I could not for the life of me keep all the names and titles straight, even with the help of the cast of characters at the front of the book and the family tree in the back. The problem comes from Heyer's use of not only the character's given names, but also their titles, which seem to be constantly changing, and even their nicknames, if the characters have them. Most historical fiction authors that I have read try to keep things a little bit more in order for their readers, as though they understand that this can be confusing. Heyer also uses language from the time, and she helpfully includes a glossary, so that her readers will not be further mystified about what is going on. Still, this use of language tended to add to my difficulty with the book.
Overall, the historical detail is incredible, and the reader can learn a tremendous amount about this time period from the book. It would have been good to read the entire thing, no matter how difficult I found it. However, I hesitate to recommend this one, simply because the constant name switching and use of language were for me very distracting.

The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood

2009-11-04T08:55:00.000-08:00

When I first read about The Year of the Flood, and that it takes place in the same world as Oryx and Crake, I was intrigued. The world of these two books is a future of our world, around fifty years in the future, I think. So much of it is very similar, and what isn't the same as our world is still recognizable. I read Oryx and Crake when it came out a few years ago. I liked it, but it did not become a favorite of mine. It stuck with me, and yet it did not mean very much to me. As a result, I did not remember many details.
As a result, it took me a while to recognize that The Year of the Flood not only takes place in the same world as Oryx and Crake, but it also takes place over pretty much the exact same time period. The Year of the Flood is not a sequel, nor is Oryx and Crake a prequel - they are more like companion novels. I may have to go back and reread Oryx and Crake now, as I feel like I may see it in a different light.
I love Margaret Atwood's writing style. The Handmaid's Tale is my favorite book, and I have read many of her other books over the years. In this book, as in all of her others, Atwood simply drops you right into the story, and begins to describe the world from the point of view of one or more of the characters. In a science fiction-like story such as this one, this makes things a bit disorienting at first. Atwood leaves it up to her readers to piece together the meanings of many words - although the world is very similar to ours, many things exist in it that do not in our time, and so there are new words for many objects and ideas. But Atwood is an excellent writer, allowing the reader to pick up on these things as she goes along.
The Year of the Flood is told from the points of view of two different characters, Toby and Ren, who have both survived the plague that wiped out humanity, known as the Waterless Flood. Interspersed between their chapters are sermons given by the leader of the Gods Gardeners, Adam One. Toby and Ren give us a picture of what their life is in the present tense, as well as telling us about their past. The stories of their pasts move forward until at the end of the book, they meet with the present. I always really enjoy this novel structure, as it is suspenseful in a way, but you also know the ending.
I would have to say that I liked this book a lot better than Oryx and Crake, but it would be really interesting to reread that one now that I've read this one. They are incredibly different books, told by characters who are vastly different from each other, and experience the world in a very different way. Atwood's views of the future are always interesting, and are critical of many aspects of our present societies. I highly recommend this book to everyone, not just fans of her work.

The Silent Man by Alex Berenson

2009-10-30T11:46:00.000-07:00

John Wells is a CIA agent who has had a rough time the past couple of years. In two previous books by Berenson, The Faithful Spy and The Ghost War, Wells is the hero who must save the world in some way. And The Silent Man is no different. I have not read the other two books, but I can vouch for the fact that this book stands on its own - no need to read the other two first.
The Silent Man is the story of an Iraqi man who becomes a jihadi after his family is killed during the American invasion of Iraq. He connects with various people around the world who help him to acquire nuclear material in the form of bombs from Russia, which he plans on using to make his own bomb. In the beginning of the book, there is no connection between this plot and Wells, but after Wells attempts a mission of revenge against a man who tried to have him and his fiance killed, he becomes very involved. Wells is unable to accomplish the act of vengeance that he seeks against Pierre Kowalski, and in order to save himself, Kowalski offers Wells information about the terrorists. From there it is a tense race against the clock.
I enjoyed this book, and I can see why people are fans of this genre. I must admit that I am not a fan of thrillers of this sort, and even though I read and enjoy them occasionally, I doubt they will ever be my favorite. I mostly find them depressing and rather cynical, especially because I feel like the bad guys are always stereotypical. But I guess they have to be recognizable, so in this day and age, the bad guys are typically Muslim terrorists. Anyways, this is a good example of the genre, and it is definitely a page-turner. The characters have a decent amount of depth, even the bad guys, which makes reading it much more interesting. All of the characters are conflicted in some way, especially John Wells. He has had more time to develop as a character through the series, and he is a very complicated man. Not your typical hero at all. But he does his best, and when that involves saving the world, who can complain?
This is another book that qualifies for the Suspense and Thriller Reading Challenge, which I am surely not going to finish by the end of the year. But whatever. This one qualifies as both a Spy Thriller and a Terrorist Thriller, but I think I will use it for the former. A Spy Thriller is "where the hero is generally a government agent who must take violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years) terrorists."

The Tudor Rose by Margaret Campbell Barnes

2009-10-29T16:18:00.000-07:00

The Tudor Rose is the story of Elizabeth of York, the mother of Henry the Eighth. This telling begins when she is a teenager, and is to be wed to the Dauphin of France. Although this marriage falls through, pening the book this way gives the reader a good glimpse of what the rest of the book is going to focus on. After the King, her father, dies, and her brothers are presumably dead, she is basically the heir to the throne of England. Her uncle Richard takes the throne after imprisoning her two young brothers in the Tower, yet she still has the stronger claim. Therefore she becomes the prize to be won, along with the rightful rule of England.
The first half of the book focuses on the struggle for the throne, which ends with the victory of Henry Tudor, who will become King Henry the Seventh. From there on, the story is of her marriage and her children. It is rich in historical detail, although sometimes the way that detail is conveyed is told rather than shown. That was my main difficulty with really getting into the story - the author tends to have her main characters throw in history for us, but it sounds incredibly forced. And in some cases it is clear that the conversations are probably not in anyway historically accurate, but are there to fill the reader in on some details. Despite this, it is an enjoyable book, and as my mother is already reading and enjoying my copy, I can definitely say that fans of historical fiction will like this one.

Arc of Justice: A saga of race, civil rights, and murder in the Jazz Age by Kevin Boyle

2009-10-19T18:53:00.000-07:00

I picked this book up for my woefully unfinished 999 Challenge. It won the National Book Award for Nonfiction in 2004, which is why it made it onto my list. (You can look at my whole list here. I think I've only read about 10% of them!) It also finishes off my New Author Challenge, which is exciting. Good thing that one doesn't take nearly as much work.
Arc of Justice is the story of Ossian Sweet and his family, and the murder trial they become involved in when the Sweet family attempts to move into a part of Detroit where they are not welcome. The Sweet family is black, and in 1920's Detroit, this means they cannot live where they choose, especially following the race-related violence of 1924 and 1925. When a mob gathers outside of their new home and begins throwing rocks and getting more and more violent, shots are fired, although by whom it is never fully clear. Dr. Sweet had filled his house with friends to help defend it from the violence he knew was coming. When one man in the mob dies after being shot from the house, the eleven people in the house, including Ossian's wife and two of his brothers, are taken into custody and eventually charged with murder.
This book is not just the story of the Sweet family and the trial, however. It is a story of race relations in the northern urban areas of America in the 1920's. Boyle does a tremendous job bringing all aspects of the story together to educate us on this issue. I am continually amazed by how little I know about the history of race relations in this country. This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to know more about our recent past.

To Serve Them All My Days by RF Delderfield

2009-10-18T11:11:00.001-07:00

Towards the end of World War I, David Powlett-Jones is discharged after being in the hospital, injured and shell-shocked, for months. He is sent to Bamfylde, a private school in Devon, to teach history to boys who are less than ten years his junior. He has no experience as a teacher, and does not even have a degree, but the doctor felt that this would be the best remedy for the soul-sickness that David suffers from after spending three years in the trenches. And soon David comes to realize that Bamfylde was just what he needed.
The story of David Powlett-Jones and Bamfylde covers the time between the two World Wars, and follows David through the ups and downs of his life, as well as the ups and downs of Bamfylde, and England as a whole. Delderfield is a wonderful storyteller, and I enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed God is an Englishman. The only difficulty I had with reading this book was that I am not British. So much of the politics of that time period that Delderfield includes, but chooses not to explain, went over my head. Obviously he is writing this for a British audience who would know that names he is speaking of. There are a few other things that come up like this, that as an American I had to work harder to understand. But that does not lessen the book's interest for me. It is just a comment on one of the difficulties of reading it. Apparently there is a BBC miniseries based on the book, which now I'll have to check out. Delderfield's stories, although they seem to be about simple subjects, are definitely engrossing, and a wonderful experience to read.

The Giver by Lois Lowry

2009-10-07T12:08:00.001-07:00

Here is another of the books I read this summer that I thought I would comment on. It's pretty easy to say why I chose it for my list - I have heard about this book for years, but it came out just a little bit after I was in junior high, so I never read it in school, as I think many students do now. It also won a Newbery Medal.
The Giver is the story of Jonas, who lives in a Community where there is no strife, no real pain or fear, no war. Society has become very strictly controlled in order to eliminate these things. Lowry does a decent job of showing how the powers-that-be do this, through her descriptions of life through eleven-year-old Jonas's eyes. Sometimes she does have to tell the reader explicitly, or in some cases, when she doesn't explain something well, it can be confusing - I was pretty confused about the whole color issue, until that became really clear. I found the world that Lowry has created to be totally fascinating, and it brings up a lot of issues of giving up control over our lives in order to gain safety. I can see why it is popular at schools - it would give a lot to talk about.
While I found the world to be interesting, and I loved reading about Jonas's transition from an Eleven to a Twelve, the way the book ended really did nothing for me. This book had a lot of potential, but I felt like it went somewhere that did not take the issue to its fullest. I would still recommend it, just because the issues it brings up are interesting, and if you have a tween or teen to read it with, it would be an excellent discussion starter. However, because of the weak ending, I can't say that it is the best of this genre I have ever read.

Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village by Laura Amy Schlitz, illustrated by Robert Byrd

2009-10-06T12:52:00.000-07:00

This was one of those books I read over the summer for my Tween Materials class. I picked it up because it was a Newbery Medal winner (2008) and also because it was non-fiction. For the final project for the class I had to read and review 50 books and other materials for tweens, half of which had to be fiction. The majority of my books were fiction, so I needed a few non-fiction titles to break it up.
As I obviously am not reviewing every book that I read this summer here, I chose to review this one for a specific reason. That reason is the honesty of the portrayal of medieval life, made accesible to kids. Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! is written in an interesting format - it is a series of plays (mostly monologues, but a few for two people) written for students at a Middle School. Each of these plays is a portrait of an individual in this medieval village, all of which are first-person accounts by narrators that can be assumed to be the same age as the students reading the book. I expected something fun and light-hearted, and what I got was a very good lesson in what medieval life might really have been like. Not really fun and light-hearted at all, but difficult in many ways, even for the young people of the time. In addition to the plays, Schlitz also includes background information to help young readers learn more about the time period. This is truly an excellent book to include in any lesson about medieval history, or to give to any young person who wants to learn more about this time period.

Annie's Ghosts: A Journey Into a Family Secret by Steve Luxenberg

2009-10-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

The story of Annie Cohen is a tragedy, a story of mental illness and physical disability, of family abandonment and secrets. Steve Luxenberg first discovered Annie's story when his mother mentioned having a sister to a doctor in her old age. Steve and his siblings grew up being told that their mother was an only child, so the casual mention of a sister, even one that was put in an institution at the age of two, was rather shocking. It wasn't until after his mother's death that Luxenberg discovered Annie's true identity - she had grown up with his mother, had not been institutionalized until the age of 21, when his mother was 23. But in the family history according to Beth Luxenberg, she did not exist.
Annie's Ghosts is Luxenberg's attempts to piece together Annie's history. He includes not only family details, but also details about the history of services to people with mental illness and mental and physical disabilities. Not only is Luxenberg trying to discover the truth about an aunt that he never knew, he is also searching to find the answer to why his mother would have kept such an enormous fact about her family a secret. He is not even sure that his father knew about Annie, or which of his mom's friends knew. Steve has to reconcile this part of his mother with the woman he knew and loved, and he begins to reconsider some family memories he himself holds.
This is a fascinating story of a single family's history, and all of the little details that tie into that history. Luxenberg reconnects with cousins he never knew, and discovers more about the tiny Eastern European village that his grandparents came from than his family had ever told him. Reading this book forces the reader to compare their own family to the Luxenbergs. Are there secrets that we know nothing about hiding in our history?

God Is an Englishman by RF Delderfield

2009-09-30T11:32:00.000-07:00

I was not sure what to expect of this book, but when I received it and saw how large it was, I was certainly surprised. I was further surprised by how engrossing a book it actually was. Giving a plot outline really doesn't convey how good of a book this is, but I'll go ahead and try anyway.
God Is an Englishman tells the story of Adam Swann and his rise to prominence in London in the 1860's. His story begins when he makes the decision to end his career as a soldier and begin his life as a businessman, at the age of thirty-one. His chosen field of commerce is transportation, where he decides to fill the gap that the great trains of that era cannot. At the same time that he is establishing his business, he meets Henrietta, and from their first meeting he is captivated by her. Although she is much younger than him, she is a strong-willed woman, and circumstances conspire to create a situation in which he marries her after only knowing her for a few months. Thus begins the story of not only their life together, but the story of the newly formed Swann-on-Wheels transportation company.
The historical detail in this book is truly fascinating. Even when Delderfield is going through details that should be tedious - train schedules, shipping and transportation issues - he makes it interesting. Adam Swann is a fantastic character, one that you love to root for. And I loved following his marriage and family life, as he and Henrietta grow to know and truly love each other throughout the years. This is the first book in a trilogy, one I am going to have to follow through the rest of the series.

The Treasures of Venice by Loucinda McGary

2009-09-10T08:33:00.000-07:00

Samantha Lewis is in Venice, taking a tour by herself that was supposed to have been her honeymoon. When she is approached by a handsome stranger who pretends to be meeting her at a cafe, she decides to play along. His name is Kiernan Fitzgerald, and he is definitely more than he seems. Sam is instantly drawn to him, but she feels crazy for getting so attached after just an hour or two. When he reappears in her hotel room later that night, injured and needing her help, she is immediately drawn into his troubles.
Kiernan is looking for the Jewels of the Madonna. His sister was also searching for the Jewels, until she was kidnapped. Now the only way for Kiernan to save her is to find them himself and turn them over to the kidnappers. He doesn't want to get anyone else involved, but he can't seem to stay away from Sam. They are drawn to each other in a way neither can explain, and so they stop trying to fight it, and start trying to save Kiernan's sister, before it's too late.
Besides being a story told in the present time, The Treasures of Venice is also told in flashbacks to fifteenth century Venice, where the reader learns the story behind the Jewels that Kiernan seeks. The lovers in that story have some striking similarities to Kiernan and Sam - coincidence? As Sam and Kiernan get closer to the Jewels, and to each other, they both begin to wonder if they have some sort of deeper connection that goes beyond the present time. This element of past lives adds another dimension to the story and the mystery, making for a more interesting read. I liked the parallels between the two stories. This is an exciting, romantic adventure book that any readers of romance will enjoy.

Highland Rebel Judith James

2009-08-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

The fiery Catherine Drummond is the Highland rebel of the title - a willful woman who was raised by her father to lead her clan, but now that her father's gone, her worth is still measured by what kind of marriage she can make. Captured in battle, she knows her fate will not be pleasant, until she is rescued by Jamie Sinclair, a man who has no loyalties except to himself. For some reason, unknown to both of them, Jamie decides to save her by marrying her on the spot. His ploy works, until she escapes. Now he must find his inconvenient wife, while trying to keep himself from getting killed by her family. And Catherine must decide if being married in name to an Englishman is really a very bad thing, especially when he's not around to actually be her husband.
This was a very entertaining read, and the historical details are truly excellent. The story definitely feels set in its time, and James even goes so far to add some interesting author's notes at the end of the book. For the historical fiction aspect, this book is a great read. The romance is also good, although Cat and Jamie do a tremendous amount of jumping around in their feelings for each other. And they simply can't seem to figure out how to communicate without ruining their relationship, in whatever stage it's in. However, the romance is very satisfying, nonetheless, just a bit frustrating to read through. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good amount of historical detail in their romance.

To Tempt the Wolf by Terry Spear

2009-08-28T10:03:00.000-07:00

Tessa Anderson has always been drawn to wolves, as has her brother Michael, though neither of them can explain why. But when Michael is convicted of a murder he did not commit, Tessa is left alone in their cabin in the woods, and discovers that she is being stalked. When she finds a gorgeous naked man on her beach, her life just gets more complicated. The man is Hunter - he knows that he is a werewolf, and he remembers his first name, but other than that things are a little bit foggy for him. He commits to helping Tessa, both with her stalker, and with her brother's false conviction. But the more he becomes a part of Tessa's life, the more complicated things get.
I enjoyed the werewolf lore that Spear has created for her books. I know that this is not the only one, although I haven't read the others. Her werewolves live in packs, oftentimes related by family, but not always, and the alpha male (Hunter, for example) rules absolutely, along with his mate, if he has one. As with other werewolf romances the werewolves mate for life, which I always find a nice change from many other romances. It was actually kind of amusing how many werewolves kept popping up in this book - not just the main good guys and bad guys, but also nurses at the hospital, cops, judges, you name it. They're everywhere. The romance was good, and overall the book was a good read. The murder mystery was a bit weak, but as that was not the main focus of the story, it didn't necessarily have to be watertight. To Tempt the Wolf was a good introduction to Spear's world of werewolf romance - I'd be interested to see how it works in her other books.

Jabberwocky reimagined and illustrated by Christopher Myers

2009-08-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

This is a first for this blog in more ways than one! The first picture book and the first book of poetry. I expect I'll be reviewing more picture books as I begin to gather them to read to the baby, so this definitely won't be the last one. And I have lots of poetry on my to-read list, I just never get around to reading it - so this probably will not be the last review of poetry either.
Christopher Myers' version of the Jabberwocky poem by Lewis Carroll keeps the text the same - it is the illustrations that reimagine what the poem is about. In this tale, the Jabberwocky is a giant, fourteen-fingered, basketball-playing "beast". Our hero is a boy, who decides to play this giant in a game of one-on-one. He wins triumphantly, and the neighborhood celebrates with him.
Jabberwocky is a difficult poem to read, without any sort of context to imagine, because it is full of gibberish words. Myers' version makes it comprehensible to kids who might otherwise get lost in the language. They can envision what the words mean for themselves, and maybe imagine other battles in their lives that this triumphant poem can apply to. This is a fantastic retelling of this classic poem.

The Abhorsen Trilogy by Garth Nix

2009-08-15T10:33:00.000-07:00

**In giving my reviews and synopses of these three books, I do give away some spoilers, mainly regarding the second book. So if you are planning on reading the books, don't read my synopsis of the final book, Abhorsen, as that is where the spoilers are.**
The Abhorsen Trilogy begins with Sabriel. In this book we are introduced to the world Nix has created, where the Old Kingdom and Charter Magic are separated from the rest of Ancelstierre by The Wall. Only those who live close to The Wall even believe the tales of magic and the Old Kingdom, but they have good reason for knowing the truth. It has been decades since things were right in the Old Kingdom - the Dead are restless, and it is the Abhorsen's job to make sure they stay dead. Sabriel's father is the Abhorsen, and while she has been living at a school in Ancelstierre, he has begun to train her to follow him. When her father goes missing, she travels beyond the Wall by herself to discover what happened to him. There she meets Mogget - a being in cat form who is a servant to the Abhorsens, and Touchstone - a young man, also trained in Charter Magic, who she frees from imprisonment. Together they must stop the Dead trying to take over the Old Kingdom, and restore it to its former life.
Lirael is the second book of the trilogy, skipping 15 years or so into the future to follow the story of Lirael, a Daughter of the Clayr. Lirael is 14 when the story begins, but she has yet to receive the sight that is the birthright of all the Clayr. She has long felt alone, since her mother's death before her tenth birthday, and as is common among the Clayr, she has no knowledge of who her father is. In order to keep her mind off her anguish at not yet receiving the sight, she begins work in the Clayr's library, as a Third Assistant Librarian. It is in the library that she begins to teach herself the use of Charter Magic, and although she still does not gain the sight, she gains a companion, the Disreputable Dog, and discovers a destiny that will send her into the world, away from the life she has known with the Clayr. In the course of her journey, she discovers not only her true calling, but she becomes involved in a new plot against the Abhorsen Sabriel and the Old Kingdom. In Lirael, we also meet Prince Sameth, the son of Sabriel and Touchstone, who has gotten himself involved in the plot as well. His older sister Ellimere is the heir to the throne, making him the Abhorsen's heir. He too must discover his true calling, and find his destiny alongside Lirael.
Abhorsen is the third book in the trilogy, and it begins right where Lirael left off. We discover at the end of Lirael that Lirael herself is the true Abhorsen-In-Waiting, as she is Sabriel's unknown little sister. Prince Sameth has a calling from the Wallbuilders, something that has not been seen in memory. Together they continue their quest to stop the Necromancer Hedge from raising the Destroyer, and to save Sam's friend Nick, who has been unknowingly swept into Hedge's power. They are helped along the way by Mogget and the Disreputable Dog, and interesting pair, but they will both be crucial to success in the end.
I really loved this series - I recommend it to every fantasy lover that I know, or that needs recommendations at the library. It was published as young adult fantasy, but it is definitely good enough for adult reading. The world that Nix has created is so different from that of most fantasies, and the characters are rich and complex, causing the reader to really become a part of the story while reading. I actually liked the character of Lirael better than Sabriel, alhtough it is difficult to say why. So far there is only a short story following the final book in the trilogy, but I would love to continue reading about the Abhorsen's world. If you haven't read these yet, you should. I hear the audiobook version is excellent as well, with Tim Curry narrating.

Dark Highland Fire by Kendra Leigh Castle

2009-08-14T14:22:00.000-07:00

The first catch-up post is here! Hooray!
You may recall from my previous posts that I have really enjoyed the two other books I read by Castle - Call of the Highland Moon and Wild Highland Magic. This book comes in between those two, in terms of storyline, although it is perfectly acceptable to read them out of order (I did - I began with the most recent one!).
Dark Highland Fire tells the story of Gabriel MacInnes and his mate Rowan an Morgaine. Reading this one clarified a lot for me, especially about the various races that are present in the realm of Coracin. It was also interesting to read some of the backstory involving Lucien Andrakkar, who appears very prominently in the third book.
Gabriel is second in line to his brother Gideon (whose story we read in Call of the Highland Moon), which means that he has never really felt a whole lot of purpose in his life. He keeps himself entertained by running his pub and having meaningless flings. When Rowan is literally dumped into his arms, by her brother Bastian, his whole life changes. He makes it his duty to guard her, but she herself is the heir to tremendous magical power, and does not feel that she needs protecting. However, Mordred Andrakkar is threatening both the realms of Earth and Coracin with his madness, which involves both the MacInnes werewolves and the Dyadd Morgaine. Gabriel and Rowan must learn to put up with each other in order to save both their families.
As I have mentioned about these books before, I love the romance in them. The world-building is good as well, making it a great read for both fantasy and romance. Castle's characters are three-dimensional, with foibles that make you love them while you grit your teeth at some of their choices. They certainly aren't perfect. The books are also very funny, and this one is no exception. Definitely check this series out if you haven't yet.
Oh yeah, and this is my final book for the Love Bites Reading Challenge. I finished reading the book before the challenge was over, even if I didn't get anything posted about it until now. So I feel like that's one challenge that I completed on time.

Blog Updates

2009-08-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

Computers can be so frustrating sometimes . . . I just typed this post, and then blogger lost it when I went to publish it, because my computer's connection was being iffy. Ugh . . .
So anyway, I wanted to make my readers aware that soon I will get back to posting reviews more regularly. And I might even be able to do some challenge wrap-up posts, and even talk about another award I received from a fellow blogger. I decided that in order to catch up I will not be reviewing every single book I read this summer (I read stacks and stacks of tween books for a class), but I'll be posting about the ones that I feel like talking about. At some point I may go back to posting about every book that I read, but we'll see when that happens. I will still be posting about every ARC I read, which is another area I am behind on.
So, this catching up will probably begin tomorrow. I'm excited to get back to it. I will only be working for two more weeks, so I should have more time to read as well. Yay!

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall

2009-08-04T12:58:00.000-07:00

The Penderwicks is the story of the four Penderwick sisters, Rosalind, Skye, Jane, and Batty. Rosalind is the oldest, and at twelve, she has spent the past few years taking care of her younger sisters. Skye and Jane are eleven and ten, respectively, while little Batty is only four. Their mother died soon after Batty's birth, leaving them with their loving botanist father. The book takes place the summer that the Penderwick family, including their dog Hound, take a vacation at Arundel, the estate of the snobby Mrs. Tifton, where they will stay in her back cottage. They are told to stay out of Mrs. Tifton's way, but the girls can't seem to help getting into trouble. Along they way they meet Cagney, Arundel's 18-year-old gardener, his two rabbits, Carla and Yaz, and Mrs. Tifton's son Jeffrey. The girl's have many experiences in their few weeks at Arundel, including facing down a bull, chasing bunnies, developing crushes (Rosalind is just old enough to get her heart stuck on Cagney for a time), and helping Jeffrey stand up to his mother. This is a vacation they will never forget.
The Penderwicks won the National Book Award for Young People in 2005. It is definitely one of the best tween books I have read, in that it is one that it not only a good story, but deals with issues that tweens deal with without being heavy-handed. It never feels sappy or unrealistic. And although everything turns out happily in the end, it does not feel forced or fake, simply the natural ending of the summer. There has since been another Penderwicks book published – The Penderwicks on Gardam Street (2008) – so it may be developing into a series. These are excellent books to recommend to any tween who enjoys reading contemporary fiction, and although the story seems simplistic, the writing is sophisticated enough to be appreciated by older kids.
I read this book for my 999 Challenge, as it won the National Book Award for Young People in 2005. My whole list can be found here.

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

2009-08-03T10:29:00.000-07:00

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a fantasy of Chinese folklore blended together to tell the story of Minli, a fearless girl who sets out on a quest to find the Old Man of the Moon, and change her family's fortune. Minli and her parents live in a village at the foot of Fruitless Mountain, at the edge of the Jade River. The land is difficult to work, and all of the villagers must struggle to grow their rice. The village is colorless, and Minli's main joy comes from listening to her father tell fantastic stories. It is these stories that convince her to find the Old Man in the Moon, to see if he can help her family. On her journey, Minli meets many fascinating people and creatures, and learns even more stories. A dragon becomes her closest friend, and teaches her about friendship, and the true meaning of being fortunate.
This was a very enjoyable book, full of magic and love. With all of the stories, it would be a terrific choice to read aloud, but it would also be loved by older children and tweens, to read on their own.

Strawberry Hill by Mary Ann Hoberman

2009-08-02T10:00:00.000-07:00

Strawberry Hill is a sweet story of friendship and family that takes place during the Depression. Allie is a ten-year-old Jewish girl who moves with her family to a house at the very beginning of the book. She is unsure that the move is a good idea, but when her father tells her they will be living on Strawberry Hill, and that she will have her very own room, she gets excited. Things are not what she expected when they arrive, however. She discovers that just because the street is named Strawberry Hill, that doesn't necessarily mean there are any strawberries anywhere. And she is confused by her feelings towards her new friends, the two neighbor girls who do not speak to each other, although each wants to be her friend. Allie must learn that appearances are not the most important part of a person, and that it is what is inside that makes you a good friend.
I enjoyed this story, although sometimes Allie's actions towards her friends, especially Mimi, were frustrating at times. I am sure that a tween would identify more with her choices, and understand her better than I do. Although the story takes place during the Depression, there is not much information about it, mostly because it is not something that affects Allie's life directly, most of the time. She struggles with acceptance and Antisemitism more than with her family's economic situation. This book would be enjoyed by tween girls, especially those who like historical fiction, or it would be a good introduction to the genre.

Confetti Girl by Diana Lopez

2009-08-01T10:16:00.000-07:00

One of the main characters in Confetti Girl are inanimate objects - cascarones, confetti filled eggs that you crack on your friends' heads, spilling confetti everywhere. Lopez even includes a recipe for cascarones in the very beginning of the book. The real main character of the story, Lina, is best friends with Vanessa, whose mother is obsessed with making the confetti eggs. Lina is a very entertaining character, a girl who is crazy about her socks, and organizes them very carefully, she is also a science lover and a volleyball player, though she knows that she's not very good. Her father is a widower, an English teacher who seems to be only interested in his books, or in Lina's English grade at school. As Lina and her father struggle with dealing with her mother's recent death, they also help Vanessa and her mother come to terms with Vanessa's father leaving. In the midst of all of this, Lina and Vanessa are discovering the boys at their school, and understanding the changes that happen to their friendship as a result.
This is a good story about friendship and family struggle, although it is definitely a book that will really only be enjoyed by tweens. It is not one that older teens or adults will find anything in, but for less sophisticated readers, it is a great story of family, friendship, and Latino culture.

Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey

2009-07-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

I love Jacqueline Carey. She is one of my all-time favorite authors. This book begins a new series by her, separate from her beloved Terre D'Ange books. It is a very different story from those books, but I enjoyed it, and I am really looking forward to a sequel.
Loup Garron is born in the forgotten town of Santa Olivia, where she is raised by her single mother. She has been named by her father, who had to flee while her mother was pregnant with her - he was an enigma, a man who had been genetically engineered, told he could not have children. Loup's mother and her older half-brother Tommy teach her how to be "careful" - she is not like other children. Loup has no fear, which makes her do things that seem strange to others. She also is incredibly fast and strong. She learns how to hide these things, because if the soldiers stationed at the base discovered who she was, she would disappear. Santa Olivia is not on any map, not anymore. The people who live there have been forgotten by the rest of America, and they are allowed no contact with the outside world. But as a teenager, Loup can no longer keep quiet who she is, although she still manages to hide it from the soldiers. She begins to plan a way to help the people of Santa Olivia.
Loup's character is fascinating, Carey does a great job of making her seem very human, but slightly different at the same time. I loved the actions that Loup and her orphan family, the Santitos, plan and execute. They're like a little team of superheroes, even though Loup is the only one with any supernatural powers. Besides Loup's actions against the soldiers, boxing is the other main focus of the book. I am not a fan of boxing, however, Carey kept this part of the book interesting enough to keep my focus. Overall, this was a fantastic book, and had a few surprises that I was not expecting. I am genuinely looking forward to the next story about Loup, as she learns more about who she is.
Oh, and this is my final book for the Pub 2009 Challenge. Maybe one day I'll get a wrap-up post up.

Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler

2009-07-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

I have to begin this post by saying that I absolutely loved this book. So this is going to be a rather gushy review, because I really just adored it. Even the cover is perfect. The only thing I really didn't like about it is the title, because I found it off-putting. To me it sounds frivolous, like a cheesy teen romance, but that is nothing like what it is. You'll see.
Anna and Frankie are best friends, and have been forever. They were always joined by Frankie's older brother Matt, an inseparable threesome, until Matt's tragic death the year before. Now it's summer again, and Frankie's family are trying to pull the pieces back together, deciding that the annual family trip to Zanzibar Bay will be the best thing for them. But instead of Matt, this year they will bring Anna. They will be there for 20 days, and Frankie decides that she and Anna will meet 20 boys, and just see what happens. Anna goes along with this, as she has gone along with every wild thing that Frankie has done over the past year. Because she has a secret, one that she is afraid will destroy her friendship.
Anna accidentally fell in love with Matt when she was 10 and he was 12. Last year, on Anna's fifteenth birthday, Matt kissed her for the first time. This began a sweet, and secret, love affair between the two of them. Matt wanted to be the one to tell Frankie, but he wasn't sure how to. He was leaving for college at the end of the summer, and he wanted to make sure he didn't leave on a bad note. He decided that their trip to Zanzibar would be the best time to tell her, and he made Anna promise she wouldn't tell first. But he died the day before they were to leave.
The love story between Anna and Matt is so sweet, and the way that Anna deals with her feelings for Matt, and the new feelings she has for Sam, a boy she meets in Zanzibar, is very well told. All of the things she goes through feel authentic. This really is an excellent book, for teens, but also for adults who enjoy authentic, heartfelt stories. I loved the characters, and the way they grow during these 20 days will change them forever, but for the better.
This book qualifies for many challenges, I'll just list them here: RYOB 2009, The New Author Challenge, The Pub 2009 Challenge, and the A-Z Reading Challenge.

The Corinthian by Georgette Heyer

2009-07-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

Another very enjoyable read from Georgette Heyer. I found this one just as amusing and sweet as Frederica. And as with the other Heyer books I have read, it was fascinating to read all of the details of fashion that she goes into.
The story of The Corinthian is perhaps more absurd than in the other books I have read by Heyer, but she manages to pull it off. It begins with Sir Richard Wyndham being accosted by his sister and mother, as they attempt to bully him into marrying. He feels he has no choice, but the woman to whom he is supposed to propose is connected to a family whose sons are nothing but trouble, and would drain Richard's fortunes if he let them. The woman herself understands the situation, and has no ideals about falling in love with him. Sir Richard goes out that night and gets completely drunk, and we get the impression that he had hopes of one day falling in love himself.
His life changes that night however, when he is walking home drunk in the early hours of the morning. He comes across a young woman escaping from her home by means of a rope ladder out the second story window. Due to his drunkeness, he makes some interesting choices, and ends up helping her continue her escape by escorting her - she disguised as a boy, and he as her tutor. The girl is seventeen-year-old Penelope Creed, and she is escaping her own unwanted marriage. She is completely naive, and totally unaware of the compromising position she has put both herself and Sir Richard in. Their situation only gets more absurd, with the addition of thieves, murderers, and young lovers too silly or scared to elope. But the romance that develops between the two main characters is lovely, and I never got tired about reading about Penelope.
Besides the delightful two main characters, there are several supporting characters that are also amusing and fun to read about. One surprising character is that of Cedric Brandon. When we first meet him, at the home of Sir Richard's intended bride, who is his older sister, he seems annoying and foppish. And maybe he is, but he is also thoroughly entertaining, and he in no way expects Richard to saddle himself with the Brandon family's difficulties. Besides the characters, the way that Heyer describes the fashions of the time is also fascinating. She seems to mock much of it, especially the men's fashion, adding another layer of humor. All in all this was a very enjoyable read.

Frederica by Georgette Heyer

2009-07-14T10:14:00.000-07:00

This is the second book I have read by Heyer, and I have to say that I enjoyed it much more than The Convenient Marriage. I'm glad I gave Heyer another try. This novel was written much later, in 1965, and takes place in the Regency Era.
Frederica is a young lady who has been taking care of her family ever since her mother died when she was young. She has four younger siblings that she looks after, and now that her younger sister is coming of age, she wants her to be able to experience coming-out in London. In order to help her accomplish this, she contacts a distant relation who she has never met, Lord Alverstoke, and asks for his help. Alverstoke is a confirmed bachelor who is bored by his life, and ends up taking on the challenge mainly to irritate his sister. He succeeds in both launching the Merrivilles into society and causing strife in his family, all of which amuses him. But he had not counted on actually beginning to care for Frederica or her younger brothers, and he must reevaluate much of his life as a result.
I just loved most of the main characters in this book, which was the main problem for me with The Convenient Marriage. Even though the Earl of Rule and Lord Alverstoke share many characteristics, Heyer made me actually like Alverstoke. And Frederica and her two younger brothers, Jessamy and Felix, are just fantastic characters. The social humor is very similar to The Convenient Marriage, and as in that book, the romance does not get resolved until the very final pages of the book. But it was well worth the wait, and a treat of a book in general.

The Convenient Marriage by Georgette Heyer

2009-07-05T15:58:00.000-07:00

I have seen Georgette Heyer's books so often, I decided to take advantage when I got a chance to review a handful. This was the first one I read by her. It was written in 1934, and takes place during the Georgian Era.
The Convenient Marriage is the story of Horatia Winwood (known as Horry), and her marriage to the Earl of Rule. She marries the Earl after he has proposes to her sister, because she knows that her sister is in love with someone else. But Horry also knows that it is necessary for someone to marry him, as that is the only way to keep her family out of debt. The Earl goes along with this change, because he merely proposed due to the fact that he has come to believe that he needs to settle down. And although she is young, and not very pretty, and has a stutter, Horatia enchants him. They agree to "stay out of each other's way" but Horry seems determined to be outrageous. She gets into a few "scrapes" and tries to keep these a secret from the Earl, but he is determined to win her over and show that he loves her, and she can keep nothing from him.
I found this story rather entertaining, and a fairly quick read. The details that Heyer gives of the time period are very interesting, and show that she knows quite a bit about it. I did not like it as much as I had thought I might, however. Horatia simply annoyed me, and while she started out fine, she seemed to get worse as the book went on. I think I was supposed to find her amusing, but she really just began to wear on me. I liked the Earl of Rule better, but not by much. I think that may have been my main problem with the book - I simply was not really fond of any of the characters. It was funny, and the romance sort of sweet, but I honestly did not really care what happened to the characters as the story went on. I have enjoyed the other Heyer books I have read since then more.
This is my final read for the Romance Reading Challenge. Funny how I managed to finish this one way early - I guess it's a good idea to sign up for year long challenges! I will have a wrap-up post up one of these days. It also qualifies for the New Author Challenge and RYOB 2009.

Apologies, Awards, and Announcements!

2009-06-28T11:24:00.000-07:00

First of all, I would like to apologize to everyone who reads this blog, since I haven't posted in ages. As I have mentioned in past posts, I am still reading, I am just tremendously behind on posts. But I have a good reason, which I will come to in the announcements!
Second, I have received another award! This one is from Gwendolyn, at A Sea of Books. It is the True Fairy Tale Award.
The award is for the hopes that one day all your dreams will come true!!
Because we all are still Cinderella's at heart!
How lovely - and Cinderella always was my favorite.
And, speaking of dreams coming true, I am now ready to make my announcement! I mentioned a few months back that my husband and I were planning a family, and we didn't have to wait long. I have just completed my first trimester, and I am right around 13 weeks pregnant!! I got to see my little baby on the ultrasound this week, and at some point I'll get the picture scanned and posted. I have created a blog specifically for updates on the pregnancy, so if you would like to check that out, you are welcome to! It is The Baby West.
Thank you for reading, and I will be continuing to post, although it's tough to say how reliable I will be. I have given up on challenges, although I will still track them. So I apologize to all of those lovely challenge hosts that I am ditching! I did complete two more for June, although I haven't caught up enough to post them yet, so I will try to get to that.
So anyway, that's what's going on over here in my life! Thanks again for reading!

Royal Blood by Rona Sharon

2009-06-10T16:36:00.001-07:00

I am really behind on my reviews right now - I just don't seem to have time to post! So I'm focusing on ARCs for the next couple of reviews, just to make sure I get those done. I may create another sidebar post for books I've read but haven't yet reviewed, like I did last summer. It seems that I slow down the pace of reviewing in the summer, even though I'm not reading any less.
Royal Blood is the story of Michael Devereaux, a young man who is the heir presumptive of the Earl of Tyrone, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. The story takes place at the court of Henry VIII, where Michael hopes to make a name for himself, and make his benefactor proud. There he meets Princess Renee, sister to the Queen of France, and daughter of the previous King. She is at the court on a mission of her own, one that is slowly revealed to the reader over time. There is romantic tension between these two main characters, but neither can let their guard down, not while assassins and even vampires are roaming the court. As they each attempt to reach their own goals, they also test each other, never knowing who they can trust.
It took me a while to get into this book, though I can't really say why. There was a lot of story set-up, and I found myself not caring much about the main characters. However, it did pick up around the middle, when the first vampire attack happens, and from there the story was more compelling. I was surprised by the continued revelations - either I was not paying very close attention, or some of the twists really did come out of the blue (I suspect the former). There was a tremendous amount of historical detail, almost too much, as I sometimes did not even know what it was the author was describing to me. Overall, this book would be enjoyable for readers of historical fiction or historical romance, who like a thriller twist.
This book covers a whole bunch of my challenges, so I'll just briefly mention them. For obvious reasons it qualifies for RYOB 2009, the New Author Challenge, and the Pub 2009 Challenge. It also qualifies for the Suspense & Thriller Reading Challenge, as it is a Romantic Thriller. And as a romance, I also read it for my fourth book in the Romance Reading Challenge.

Call of the Highland Moon by Kendra Leigh Castle

2009-06-02T09:29:00.000-07:00

This book is the first in the series about the MacInnes werewolves, of which I read the most recent book first, Wild Highland Magic. They can be read as stand-alone books, but I could tell that there was definitely a history to these books that I would really enjoy reading, so I picked up the first two.
Call of the Highland Moon is the story of Gideon MacInnes, the next Alpha of his Pack. He has always been the reliable one, but for once he decides to give that up, and he takes off to America (his Pack home is in the Scottish highlands, naturally). There he realizes that he has been followed, by enemies he suspects were sent by his traitorous cousin. After a fierce battle he is left terribly wounded, and shows up on the doorstep of a romance bookstore in a tiny little town in New England. That bookstore is owned by Carly Silver, who takes him in, convincing herself that he is someone's overgrown pet. In the morning she wakes up with this "pet" in her bed, but in his sleep he has turned back into a large naked man. This makes for some very uncomfortable explanations. But Carly and Gideon are drawn to each other, and now Gideon must figure out not only how to protect his Pack from his cousin's treachery, but also how to protect the woman he loves.
I think that my favorite thing about these books is the love stories. The Pack werewolves mate for life, and they know instinctively when they have met that mate, no matter how bad the timing. And of course, the timing is never good. But knowing that the couple is meant to be together adds a level of romance that I love. Castle creates terrific, three-dimensional characters that you would love to have as friends. And the fact that Carly owns a bookstore that caters specifically to romance lovers cracks me up. These books are very funny, with pop-culture references that are just perfect. Really, I love these books, and for paranormal romance lovers, I would recommend them whole-heartedly.
This is the second book that I have read for the Love Bites Reading Challenge, which is all about paranormal romances. It also qualifies for the Romance Reading Challenge.

Hominids by Robert J Sawyer

2009-05-30T11:28:00.000-07:00

Hominids won the Hugo Award in 2003, which led me to pick it up to bring me a smidgen closer to completing my 999 Challenge. (My book list for the challenge is here.) I think that I have liked this one the best of the Hugo Award winners that I have read so far. I even wanted to continue reading the series that this book begins, but due to some unfortunate circumstances, neither of the two copies of the second book in my library system are available. But I suppose it will stay on my reading list, and maybe one day I'll finish the series.
Hominids is an excellent example of speculative science fiction. What if parallel worlds exist? What if there was some way to bridge the gap between worlds? What might we find? In Hominids, it is not the human race on the world as we know it that manages to bridge this gap. We are simply the recipients. It is a Neanderthal named Ponter Bodditt, a quantum physicist in his own world, who comes to our dimension. In his world Neanderthals were the surviving species, while Homo Sapiens died out. While in our world, Ponter must figure out how to communicate and survive (he is helped tremendously by an advanced piece of A-I technology that learns languages and can communicate for him), while the people he meets have to figure out what this means for our world. And back in Ponter's world, his best friend and business partner must fight off unexpected accusations of murder, stemming from Ponter's disappearence.
This really was an incredibly fascinating, enjoyable read. I loved reading about the Neanderthal's world, as created by Sawyer. He does an excellent job of giving the reader a glimpse of that world through the trial against Ponter's partner, Adikor. And reexamining the human race through the eyes of someone close to us, but not the same, brings up some really interesting questions. The story itself is fast-moving and very satisfying, all leading me to want to continue the series! Ah well, I'll just have to keep this one in mind.

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party by MT Anderson

2009-05-28T17:21:00.000-07:00

**Once again I must apologize - I have had an internet issue on my computer for the past few days - I have many books to review, now I just need to get the reviews up!!
Well that title certainly is a mouthful. I do enjoy the fact that Anderson is not afraid to give his book a long title, if that's the title it deserves. And Octavian certainly has an astonishing life. In this book, the story is mostly told through "testimony" that is written in first-person by Octavian himself. But there is a great middle section where the story is told in letters, and we see what happens to Octavian during that time period through someone else's eyes. Octavian was raised, along with his very young mother, by a group of scientist/philosophers who refer to themselves as the Novanglian College of Lucidity. All of the men there are known by numbers, rather than their names, whereas Octavian, and his mother, Cassiopeia, are not. It takes Octavian (and the reader) some time to realize that he and his mother are actually parts of some of the experiments that the men of the college are studying. He also eventually learns that they are slaves, and are owned by 03-01, or Mr. Gitney, the man who runs the place.
This book takes place right before the Revolutionary War, in Boston. War actually breaks out during the course of the book, and Octavian learns that freedom means different things depending on who you are talking to and where you come from.
This was a fascinating, very quick read, and I am looking forward to reading the second book. Anderson's descriptions, and his storytelling, both through Octavian and through the letters, are intriguing, and even more so often because he is one of those authors that leaves a lot for the reader to fill in for themselves. It's more immersive than I would have thought, and I wonder how it will end for Octavian.
I picked up this book because it was a winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. I am reading award winners for my 999 Challenge - you can see my whole list here. This book was also reviewed by Dewey, qualifying it for the Dewey's Books Reading Challenge. She pointed out that the language sometimes did not seem like something a teen would be interested in reading, and I think I would agree, at least for younger teens. But I think many older teens would find it interesting, and a challenge, something different than most other books out there. While we're at it, this book also qualifies for the New Author Challenge (I will definitely be reading more MT Anderson after this) and the A-Z Reading Challenge ("A" author).

Lemonade Award - my first award ever!

2009-05-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

So sweet! This is the first award I have received - thanks so much Tutu!
I started this blog in order to keep track of my reading, and that's still the main purpose, but it has been so much fun getting connected with the book blogger community. I love all the comments I receive.
So, here are the rules for this award:
If you are nominated....
here are the rules for passing on the award to your favorite blogs:

1. Put the Lemonade Award logo on your blog or post.
2. Nominate up to 10 blogs that show great attitude or gratitude.
3. Link to your nominees within your post. Let them know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.
4. Link to the person who gave you your award.

Now, I had a difficult time choosing, as I read a couple dozen book blogs regularly. And I may not leave comments, but if I have nominated you, I do read your blog, and enjoy it! A few blogs that I wanted to nominate are not on this list, as I saw that they already had this one. So here are my nominees (in no particular order):

And there we are! Thanks again for the award Tutu, I appreciate it!!

The Midwife by Jennifer Worth

2009-05-20T22:17:00.000-07:00

The Midwife is the memoir of Jennifer Worth, and it follows a year or so of her life when she was in her twenties. Worth trained as a midwife with a convent of nuns who served London's poor East End in the 1950's. This book chronicles her time with the nuns.
The stories that Worth tells alternate between uplifting, heartbreaking, charming, and hilarious, and her descriptions of the characters that she meets and interacts with are fascinating. As I am currently planning a family, and thinking quite a lot about pregnancy, I found this book even more compelling. Worth gives some interesting history about midwifery and obstetrics, and I found it illuminating that, at least for East End women, the midwife was the only medical attendant they expected to have at the birth. Going to the hospital meant bad, bad news, and a doctor's presence meant only slightly less danger. Yet the nuns provided excellent prenatal care, and obviously excellent service, so no woman wanted anything else. In addition to the stories of the births she attended, Worth tells us stories about the various people she meets in her day-to-day work. From the disturbed, elderly Mrs. Jenkins, to the family of Len and Conchita Warren, this book is full of fascinating people.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I don't think it was just because of the connection I currently feel to all pregnant women and stories of birth. Worth is a great story-teller, although at times the chapters did not flow very well from one to another. And the end of the book came on me rather abruptly. But I guess when you are telling stories about real life, that is what happens. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in stories about real people, and is not afraid of the descriptions of birth that of course come along with a book like this.

Hunter's Death by Michelle West

2009-05-18T15:30:00.000-07:00

Hunter's Death is the sequel to Hunter's Oath, and concludes the story. In Hunter's Death, the two main characters from the first book, Hunter Lord Gilliam and his huntbrother Stephen, travel to the city of Averalaan, where they must accomplish their task and still be able to return home in time for the Sacred Hunt. But what they are supposed to accomplish there is something they are unsure of, and they know that it is likely that they will not make it back in time for the Hunt, which is something that no Hunter Lord would ever dream of doing. But they have been convinced by the seer Evayne, who they met in the first book, that this is something they must do, for the fate not only of their kingdom, but of the world.
This book is more difficult to describe than the first one. Many new characters are added, and they become just as critical to the story as Stephen and Gilliam. The story basically expands to encompass the larger world surrounding the kingdom of the Breodani, and even involves the gods to a greater degree than the first book did. I really liked the new characters that were added, and learning their stories made this book very interesting to read. Adding a Hunter Lord into the city of Averalaan, and the Kings' Court, was also very entertaining. This series, although only two books, really felt like epic fantasy to me, and it had a satisfying conclusion. I will have to add Michelle West to my list of authors to read in the future.
I picked up this series for the Reading My Name Challenge. For this one, we read authors that share our name - first or last. I went with last name, as that was easier to find. I only needed to read two books for this one, so it worked out perfectly, in terms of reading both by the same author, from a series. I'll do a wrap-up post about this one as soon as I get caught-up on reviews.

Lords of Corruption by Kyle Mills

2009-05-15T10:29:00.000-07:00

Josh Hagarty has done everything he knows how to do to try and get out of his crappy life in Kentucky. But now that he has his MBA, his criminal past is still keeping him from getting a job, meaning his hopes of getting himself and his teenage sister out of their trailer home are for nothing. Then a charity called NewAfrica offers him a job. It seems too good to be true - not only do they offer to pay off his college debt, but they also promise to help him pay for his sister's upcoming college tuition as well. And he will be helping people, in Africa. Maybe this is the new beginning he needs.
But of course it is too good to be true. When Josh arrives at his first work location, it appears that no one knows what to do with him, and he has no tools or outside help to make the situation work. And his contacts back in America just keep reassuring him that things will be fine. As the tribal violence in the area gets worse, Josh realizes that his African contacts may not be interested in helping this venture at all. And soon he becomes aware that his predecessor in this position did not quit - he was brutally murdered. As Josh discovers more about NewAfrica that they don't want him to know, he must protect himself and the people he loves in order to get the truth out, before he becomes another casualty.
This was a fast-paced page-turner, for sure, although it's not really my kind of book. I do have to say that I had a hard time putting it down anyway. It really draws you in, the action is pretty much nonstop. As is the violence, but that is to be expected from such a book. The two main problems I had with the book were the characters and the setting. I honestly really did not like or care about any of the characters. At one point in the story, when it seemed like the entire cast might end up dead, I wasn't really that worried. I just did not care. But I kept reading. The other thing that really bothered me about the book was the picture it paints of Africa. There is not one redeeming factor shown about Africa here - it is all just tribal warfare, petty violence, environmental degradation, and lots of "the Africans need to help themselves". It was just depressing, and while it may be an accurate picture of some areas of the country, I felt that it was very one-sided. Overall, while this book wasn't really my type, it would be enjoyed by anyone who likes fast-paced political dramas and action thrillers.
This is the second book that I have read for the Suspense & Thriller Reading Challenge. This book falls within the genre of a Conspiracy thriller - "In which the hero/heroine confronts a large, powerful group of enemies whose true extent only he/she recognizes". This book also qualifies for the New Author Challenge, The Pub 2009 Challenge, and RYOB 2009.

The Ten Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer

2009-05-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

**An apology for not blogging for so long - I've been sick, and it's difficult to sit at the computer when you don't feel well! At least I managed to finished several books, so I have something to blog about!**
The Ten Year Nap follows several months in the lives of a handful of women. What these women have in common is the fact that they are mothers. For the few that are central to the story, they are mothers that quit their jobs when they had children, and have not gone back to work even though it has been ten years. They each contemplate going back to work, for various reasons, but so far they never have. For Amy, the reasons are not fully formed - she's thought about it, but deep down she's afraid that she won't be able to keep up with the changes that have happened in the legal field since she left. Her mother is a strong feminist who worked as a novelist while raising her children, and she is constantly pushing Amy to go back to work. For the other central characters, life is just as complicated, and offers no easy answers about whether or not you can be a good mother and have a career.
This was a very interesting read, and meaningful to me, as I plan on quitting my job once I am pregnant - and I do not plan on going back once my child is born. Most women have an opinion on this subject, but that sometimes changes once they have children of their own. For the women of this book, many of them thought they would go back to work, and then just never did. There are some characters that act as foils for these women - mothers who work, whose children go to school with theirs. They work because they love their jobs, their career is important to them. But what kind of mothers are they? Are Amy and Jill better mothers because they do not work? The book does not answer this question, leaving it up to the reader to ponder.
One of the things that I really liked about the way this book was written is the way it went from character to character, telling us details about these women's lives. Then there would be a chapter about the mother of the woman of the preceding chapter, giving us a glimpse into her world. It made the characterization very deep and interesting. This book is an excellent look at the modern family woman, and was a very intriguing read.

Warriors: The Rise of Scourge by Dan Jolley, Bettina M Kurkoski, created by Erin Hunter

2009-05-02T09:18:00.000-07:00

I have been taking a break from reading the new Warriors series by Erin Hunter, and have been instead checking out the graphic novels. These are not written by Erin Hunter, but they are authorized by her, and she writes an introduction to each one to explain why she felt this particular story needed to be told. This is the second Warriors graphic novel that I've read, but I haven't reviewed the first one yet because it is part of a series.
The Rise of Scourge tells the story of how a kitten named Tiny became the leader of Bloodclan, known as Scourge. Scourge comes into the Warriors timeline towards the end of the first series, when Tigerstar attempts to take control of all four clans. But Scourge has other plans. He very violently kills Tigerstar, before being taken down himself eventually. This graphic novel tells how he became this seemingly evil, violent cat. It's not a pretty story. And as Hunter says in her introduction, she is not making excuses for him, just trying to tell his story.
I am sometimes surprised by how violent these books can be. I always say that I would have loved these if they'd been out when I was a kid, but really I think they probably would have been too violent for me. Especially this graphic novel version. Not that it really shows any blood, of course, but it is still a bit disturbing. Kurkoski's art is great though. She does a perfect job of capturing the way the cats move and look, while the other graphic novel I've read in this series (not illustrated by her) looked pretty much terrible. So it was at least nice to read something that wasn't hideous, and actually looked really good. This book would really only be enjoyed by those kids who are already involved in the Warriors series, but it may pick up some new fans as well.

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

2009-04-30T10:15:00.000-07:00

This book is well-known by now, but I'll give you a brief plot summary anyway. Bod (short for Nobody) Owens was raised by ghosts in a graveyard, although he is a living child. His family was murdered when he was barely old enough to toddle out of harms way, but because he was a curious child, he managed to escape the murderer by finding friends among the ghosts. The graveyard he lives in is unused, and is something of a historical site and nature preserve, although no one really goes there. So Bod is left to grow up with the ghosts, and with his guardian, Silas, who is not a ghost, and so can leave the graveyard to find food for Bod. But the man who killed his family, Jack, is still out there, and one day Bod will have to face him, or he may never be able to leave the graveyard.
I really loved this book. It surprised me in a lot of ways. But Neil Gaiman is nothing if not a surprising and adept story-teller. The book was creepy, but I didn't find it quite as creepy as Coraline. The reader begins to accept that the graveyard is a normal place for Bod, so while it could have been made creepy, instead it just seems sort of normal. Although there are still frightening characters, such as the ghouls and the Sleer. Bod was a different sort of character than I expected as well, and the choices that he makes when interacting with people of the world outside the graveyard were surprising, and showed a character with a lot of depth. This would be a great book to read aloud to grade school children, and would be enjoyed by older kids of all ages as well. And I can't help imagining what sort of movie it will make.

Wild Highland Magic by Kendra Leigh Castle

2009-04-29T10:00:00.000-07:00

Bastian an Morgaine is the last in a line of sorcerers who have been plagued by a curse for the last five generations. Bastian had hoped to be able to rid himself of it, and even though he takes steps to fight the curse, he truly does not have much hope. When he meets Cat, MacInnes werewolf, his life completely changes. Bastian is from the parallel world of Coracin, and Cat is from Earth. Bastian has fled to the MacInnes home in Scotland to recuperate and plan his next move, but his timing is terrible. He is there when all of the far-flung family converges for a reunion, which is what brings Cat, along with her two younger sisters, Poppy and Skye, and her estranged father. Events come to a head as old rivalries are brought up and new dangers surface. And of course there is a good amount of love at first sight (or bite, in this case).
I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to - I tend to occasionally judge books by their covers, and this one just seemed too typical. Thankfully though, the story was anything but. I also discovered that it is the third book set in the world the author has created. (The covers for the other two books are disturbingly similar to this one.) While reading this book I did not feel like I missed anything, as Castle does a good job of giving background information, but it was obvious that there was more history to the story. The other characters were clearly important to the author, as were their stories, even though they weren't the main protagonists of this book. The romance was lovely - and it's not just Cat and Bastian that get to fall in love, which was nice. The world as Castle has created it works very well, and I look forward to catching up and reading the other two books in this series now.
This book is great for several challenges, but the two important ones are the Romance Reading Challenge and the Love Bites Reading Challenge. The Romance Reading Challenge is pretty self-explanatory. The Love Bites Reading Challenge is similar, but involves paranormal romance. After reading this book, I decided that for the rest of the challenge I am going to read the previous two books in this series. Because this book will be released in May of this year, it is part of the Pub 2009 Challenge. And I am also using it for RYOB 2009 and the New Author Challenge.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

2009-04-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

This book was a life-saver during the read-a-thon. It definitely kept me going when my brain was starting to wander, and I myself felt a bit zombie-like. The first line alone makes me giggle every single time I read it:
"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains."
This sentence shows how the whole book is written - much of it is Austen's original text, which Grahame-Smith has added to to make it a horror story. It was very well done, although you could see the difference between the two writers clearly enough (if the fact that one wrote all the zombie parts wasn't clue enough). Austen is still very witty, and while Grahame-Smith tries to keep up with her, he definitely pales in comparison.
I loved the original Pride and Prejudice, so I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book, other than that I really hoped to enjoy it. And I found this book completely entertaining. The level of violence actually surprised me, which sounds stupid, since it is a zombie book ("Now with ultra-violent zombie mayhem!"). But the characters themselves are ridiculously violent. Elizabeth spends most of her time contemplating killing something, whether that be zombies, or someone who has offended her or her family's honor. It is actually very amusing, I was just surprised. One of my favorite things about the book is the discussion questions at the end. Those made me laugh out loud.
I am not sure that I would recommend this book for everyone. I got copies from the library for two male friends of mine, one who has read (and enjoyed) Jane Austen, and one who hasn't. So far the Austen reader hasn't finished the book, but my other friend finished it before I did and loved it. So it's good for zombie-lovers, and for Austen lovers who enjoy zombies, but for Austen lovers alone? I can't say.
I signed up for the Suspense & Thriller Reading Challenge ages ago, and I somehow have not managed to read anything that I think qualifies all year. The goal of the challenge is to read 12 thrillers from a list of thriller sub-genres. There are many sub-genres to choose from, so picking twelve is not difficult. This book fits nicely into the Comic Thriller, described as "a thriller played for laughs, whether through a spoof of the genre or wisecracking interplay between the protagonists." I think this one fits both of those descriptions. It was also just published in 2009, and so qualifies for the Pub 2009 Challenge.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

2009-04-27T16:49:00.000-07:00

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2008, which is why it was in my pile of books to read. I also went to a book club discussion about it.
The book is really difficult for me to describe. It is basically the story of Oscar, a hugely obese "Dominican ghetto-nerd" who is a character you love to root for, but at the same time he is incredibly pathetic and hopeless (and thus frustrating!). Oscar's family is from the Dominican Republic, although he and his sister Lola mostly grow up in New Jersey. Their mother's family did not survive the Trujillo dictatorship, and she herself fled to the United States as a teenager. Most of the story, including the history of the family, is told by Yunior, a sometime-boyfriend of Lola's who tries to help Oscar out of his depression in college. Two of the sections are told by Lola, but she only speaks of her own view of the situation, and she seems to be writing to Yunior, though it is difficult to tell.
What I liked best about this book was the writing - it was so much fun to read, even if it was hard to follow at times. Yunior throws in a ton of Spanish, as well as a tremendous amount of nerd-slang that I found really amusing. Most of it you can figure out from context, because it is certainly not explained for you at all. Yunior's voice is entrancing, in a way that I would not have expected.
As one of the 12 Mini-Challenges that I am doing this year, I went to a book discussion (#10). It was really interesting to discuss this particular book, because it is difficult, and sometimes inaccesible. There were seven of us at the meeting, I think three of whom had not finished the book. We brought up some topics that we thought were interesting, though we did not delve very deeply into any of them. It was more of a sharing of our thoughts, rather than really digging into the book. One thing that we didn't talk about much was the mysticism in the book, the presence of the golden Mongoose and the Man Without a Face. But it was otherwise a good book chat. I also read the book for my 999 Challenge, for which I am reading all prize winners (my list for this one is here). And, not to leave out anything, I am also reading this for the New Author Challenge and the A-Z Challenge.

The 16% Solution by Joel S Moskowitz, JD

2009-04-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

The original 16% Solution came out in 1994. I just finished the 2009 edition, which has been updated in many ways. The 16% Solution is about investing in tax lien certificates, which is something that I had never heard of before. Basically it involves buying tax liens from county governments, and then rather than the county earning the interest, you now earn the interest. Only 23 states sell their tax liens in this way, but Moskowitz includes all of this information for you.
The major differences between this edition and the first one is the fact that many counties now do their auctions online, or at least have websites that have very detailed information about the procedure. Moskowitz includes web addresses for all of the relevant counties. He also includes advice that is based on the current economic situation, rather than what the economy looked like back in 1994. The world is a different place now.
At first I was wary of tax liens - I felt that it must be in some way bad for the person whose lien is being sold, the person who has been unable to pay their property taxes. I would hate to participate in a system that made it easier for people to lose their homes because I bought the lien on their unpaid property tax. But in many states, it's actually better for the property owner - at the auction, the person who wins the bid is the one who will take the lien at the lowest rate of interest. Granted, some states seem to make it very easy to foreclose on someone, but I was interested in the states that seemed to be the most fair to the property-holder. All-in-all, this book makes tax lien investing sound like a really good deal. I plan on checking it out when I have the extra money ready to invest. And I will have this book read for when I need it.
I am glad I actually own this book, because then I can hang on to it until I am ready to use the information in it. So of course this counts for the RYOB Challenge. As a non-fiction book, it also gets a Dewey Decimal Number, making it work for the Dewey Decimal Challenge. I mostly tend to read history, so I already have my 900's book. The number for this one is 332.6324, so I actually get a 300's book now. And we can't forget about the Pub 2009 Challenge!

Martel-Harper Challenge - Second Quarter, 2009 - Completed!!

2009-04-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

This is the first challenge that I've completed on time in a few months. And I completed it two months early!
The idea of the Martel-Harper Challenge comes from the list of books that Canadian author Yann Martel has sent to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Martel sends him a new book and a letter about his choice every two weeks. The challenge is to read two of the books from the list every quarter. The list is incredibly varied, as you can tell from the books that I have chosen from it. You can find the list, and read more about it at What is Stephen Harper Reading.
The two books that I read for this quarter were The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman and Gilgamesh, a translation by Stephen Mitchell. I had planned on reading Maus for last quarter, and reading the Bhagavad Gita this quarter, but because I didn't get Maus finished in time, the Bhagavad Gita gets pushed back.
These two books were so completely different, I can't really say whether or not I prefer one over the other. They were both books that I have wanted to read for some time, so I am glad that this challenge pushed me to do that finally. And for the next time around I will be sure to read the Bhagavad Gita, and another interesting choice off of this fascinating list.

Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons

2009-04-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

This was my final read during the Read-A-Thon, the book I spend the last hour and a half reading. It is novella-sized, just a little over 100 pages, and I wanted something that I could finish during that last stretch. Unfortunately, I forgot that you have to pay attention when you read a book by Dan Simmons, so I found myself re-reading passages that my sleepy brain did not understand the first time through. I did finish it by the end.
Reading Dan Simmons is always interesting - he loves to just drop you into the world that he has created for the story, and you have to read carefully so as to not miss any clues about what is going on. This book is no different. It is narrated by Wilbr, a 20 SEY old man (what is SEY, you ask? not sure, Simmons hardly ever outright explains things like that - if I had been less sleepy, I'm sure I would have figured it out) who is a member of a traveling Shakespeare troupe. They travel the galaxy on their ship, the Muse of Fire, performing for the human slaves on the various worlds that the human race can now be found on. All human are slaves, for the most part. There is no real culture or technology any more. There is religion, and obviously there is Shakespeare, but otherwise the human race exists only as drones working for the higher alien beings. The book begins when the Archons, the race of aliens that supervise the humans, request to see a performance of the troupe. This has never happened before. The group realizes they are being tested somehow, and in some way, the fate of the entire human race now rests in their hands.
One thing that you have to love about Simmons' books is that he loves literature, and so do his characters. Obviously Shakespeare is central to this story, and it is interesting how he juxtaposes the Bard's work with a future culture-less humanity. It makes you wonder how Shakespeare survived for so long in this future as it is. This book is really about the redemptive power of art, or literature, and it was a beautiful, comforting read.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

2009-04-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know the plot, Coraline is a little girl who moves into an old house with her mother and father. Her parents certainly cannot be accused of paying too much attention to her, and prefer not to be bothered by her for the most part, as they both work from home. So Coraline must amuse herself. While exploring their new home, she finds a locked door that, when opened, reveals nothing but a brick wall on the other side. But for some reason Coraline is drawn to the door. And after opening it a couple of times on different days, one day she opens it to find a hallway leading somewhere, no more brick wall. Of course she follows it.
On the other side she finds her Other Mother and her Other Father, and all of the characters that live in her building are there, they are simply creepier versions of themselves. And they all have buttons for eyes. Coraline soon comes to realize that the one in charge in this creepy place is the Other Mother - it is she who wants to keep Coraline there forever, and will stop at nothing to fulfill this desire.
I loved this book, which was sort of expected. I saw the movie first, which is not something I usually do, but it did not really spoil anything for me. The two are different from each other, with additional characters being added in the movie, but for the most part the stories are the same. This is a fast-paced, creepy story that would be enjoyed by any older kids, as well as teens and adults. And one thing I have to say about movies made from books by Neil Gaiman - they seem to turn out okay. I have been so horrified by what Hollywood does to some wonderful books (exhibit A - The Golden Compass), but both of the book-to-movie adaptations I've seen have been slightly different from the book, but still very good. I really enjoyed both the book and the movie of Stardust, and the same goes for Coraline.
Coraline was reviewed by Dewey back in October of 2007. I think my favorite thing that she has to say about it is that rather having Dakota Fanning in a movie version, she wanted to see a 1988 Winona Rider. The Unshelved Book Club also did a comic strip about Coraline. It's pretty funny, so I thought I would share it with you. If you would like to see the challenges for Dewey's books and the Unshelved Book Club, you can find them here and here (respectively).

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

2009-04-22T11:37:00.000-07:00

Spin follows the lives of three friends, beginning when they are twelve and thirteen. The story is told by Tyler Dupree, and we follow what is happening to him in his "present" time, at the same time as he is telling us about his past. It makes for some very suspenseful reading.
Tyler's story of his past begins with the night the stars disappear. He is spending the evening with his two closest friends, the twins Jason and Diane. That October night begins what will later be referred to as the Spin. As the human race deals with this strange phenomenon, they make unsettling discoveries about what it means for Earth and its relationship with the rest of the universe. Because they discover that the Spin membrane (as it comes to be called) not only surrounds the Earth and blocks its view of the rest of the universe - it also effectively stops time for Earth. Each year on Earth is now equivalent to something like 100 million years in the universe, meaning that the sun is aging much faster relative to Earth, and within a few decades will destroy the Earth.
The glimpses we are given of the present, while hearing the history of the Spin from Tyler, make certain things in the story clear. But it leaves you wondering so much, so that you can't wait to get to that part of Tyler's history and find out what happened. I really was drawn into this book, and enjoyed it tremendously. Robert Charles Wilson will definitely be an author that I look for from now on.
I read this book for my 999 Challenge, because it won a Hugo Award in 2006. My full list of books to read for the challenge is here. Robert Charles Wilson is also a new author for me, so this is another one for the New Author Challenge. Oh, and this is my second "S" for the Read Your Name Challenge (just J and I to go!).

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan

2009-04-21T10:29:00.000-07:00

The Worst Hard Time: The Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl was everything that I'd hoped for in a non-fiction title. Egan begins his tale by introducing us to many of the characters who will populate his history: real people who lived through the Dust Bowl in the No-Man's Land of the Oklahoma and Texas panhandles and the southeastern corner of Colorado, with some stories of northeast New Mexico and southern Kansas thrown in as well. The Dust Bowl is not a respecter of state lines.
The chronological story begins with the wheat boom that brought settlers to the plains. Egan tells us how they were lied to to get them to stay, and how they convinced themselves that agriculture could work on the land. It is tremendously sad, reading how the buffalo were destroyed and the Native Americans removed from their lands. Egan then goes on to describe the first changes, the beginning of the drought, when people did not yet know that disaster was coming. This is a profoundly moving book, as we get to know each of the families - you see how they suffer, how they stick through the worst times, or leave in order to save their lives. It's hard to imagine living through something so terrible, but I suppose that we always want to believe that it can't get any worse. This book is highly recommended for anyone who enjoys reading about history.
I picked this book up because it won the National Book Award for Non-Fiction in 2006. I am reading award winners for my 999 Challenge. You can see my whole list here. Timothy Egan is a new author for me, so here's another one for the New Author Challenge.

Gilgamesh translated by Stephen Mitchell

2009-04-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

Gilgamesh is the original epic poem, the first written piece of human literature. It is the story of Gilgamesh, King of Uruk, and his struggle with power and against death. I have never managed to read it before, and I picked up this copy, translated by Stephen Mitchell, because that is what is suggested by Yann Martel, in his letter to Stephen Harper on the subject. Yes, that's right, this book is my second read for the second quarter of the Martel-Harper Challenge. (Here is the full list and Martel's explanation.) Martel sends Harper two different copies of Gilgamesh, but I will only be discussing this translation, for now. (Here is the letter that Martel sent along with a copy of the book.)
The introduction that Mitchell provides is a lengthy description of the entire story, and it provided an excellent background for the reading. Yes, it told the entire plot, but I don't feel that Gilgamesh is something that can be spoiled by knowing the plot ahead of time. And once I got into the reading, I was swept up into the story. It really provides a fascinating look at life in ancient Sumeria. Of course, it cannot necessarily be taken as an accurate picture, because it is a story, after all, but simply the descriptions of the gods, and the temples, and the city of "great-walled Uruk" are revealing. Not having read any other translations of this work, I can't really compare it, but I really enjoyed this one, and would recommend it for anyone looking at reading this ancient tale.
This is also the third of the many, many books I plan on reading for the Really Old Classics Challenge. Soon really old classics are all I'll be reading!

Final Read-A-Thon Post!

2009-04-19T05:10:00.000-07:00

Here is the final hour meme, now that the read-a-thon is over:
1. Which hour was most daunting for you?

that last one was a killer

2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was definitely a good choice

3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

nothing comes to mind, a little braindead at the moment - I thought it was great!

4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?

The meme's were really good, helped summarize how things were going

5. How many books did you read?

I finished four, read halfway through two others

6. What were the names of the books you read?

The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (halfway)
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (halfway)

7. Which book did you enjoy most?

this is difficult . . . probably Spin, although its hard to say

8. Which did you enjoy least?

I can't really settle on one for this, I enjoyed all of my books

9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?

Have your comments automatically publish!

10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?

Definitely, and solely as a reader, if I can

Finish
Title of book(s) read since last update: Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons
Number of books read since you started: six total, four completed
Pages read since last update: 90
Running total of pages read since you started: 812
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 105 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 15 hours and 10 minutes

Read-A-Thon Update # 9 and donations

2009-04-19T02:52:00.001-07:00

This may or may not be my last update. I'll do a final wrap-up, but I haven't decided if that will be at the end, or some time tomorrow after I've slept. I guess we'll see. I'm still reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. It is amusing. I am trying to remember how the younger Bennett sisters were portrayed in the original - in this one they are obnoxious brats, for the most part. I think Grahame-Smith is setting them up to be happily killed off in a zombie plague.
Despite his desire to stay up with me, my husband has gone to bed.
I'm thinking of putting aside the two books I've been reading recently. Neither will be finished tonight. I kind of wanted to finish another one tonight, so I think I'll be reading a book from my pile that was not on my original list for tonight. It is a novella by Dan Simmons that I heard about for the first time last year, and I've been waiting for it ever since. It's called Muse of Fire.
For the hour 23 meme we are talking about charity donations. I decided to donate $5 for every hour I read to ProLiteracy Worldwide. So it will be less than $100 but more than $60. Beyond that we'll know the details at the end!

Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
Number of books read since you started: five, three finished
Pages read since last update: 82
Running total of pages read since you started: 722
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 100 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 13 hours and 25 minutes

Read-A-Thon Update # 8

2009-04-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

Wow for some reason my brain didn't register that it was practically 1am - maybe I'll actually see the post of the hour when it goes up, rather than 30 - 90 minutes later. I'm really enjoying Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, although I have to say it's easy to see that Seth Grahame-Smith is not nearly as clever of a writer as Jane Austen (not that I was expecting that, but still). It is a fun read, and good for these last hours.

Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith
Number of books read since you started: five, three finished
Pages read since last update: 92
Running total of pages read since you started: 640
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 110 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 11 hours and 45 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: oh gosh, I may stop keeping track here :P

Read-A-Thon Update # 7 and Rereading mini-challenge

2009-04-18T22:37:00.001-07:00

The headache has been alleviated, thanks to good old-fashioned water. And I am halfway through The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which is good, because I have a book club meeting about it in a week!
I think for one of these updates I'm going to see how many challenges I read books for - maybe my final update, we'll see. 'Cause I'm sure these all count for at least two!
Another update - hubby has said he will stay up with me, though he'll probably be playing video games rather than reading. :) The dog I think is planning on sleeping.
I haven't decided if I'll keep reading The Brief Life etc, or if I will pick up one of my other books. I may be getting into zombie territory, in more ways then one! Okay, I'm sold on my own idea, I will be reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies after this break.
And now for this hour's challenge, from Jessica at the Bluestocking Society (I'm doing option # 2:
give us a list of your top favorite rereads of all time. You know, those books that you can go to time and time again for comfort and escape. (listed here in no particular order, besides the order in which they came into my head.)

The Chronicles of Narnia - I just love these no matter that they messed up the Prince Caspian movie, what can you expect from Hollywood? These are always lovely to sink in to.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy - yes it's clear that fantasy is my favorite escape. I love the story, the world, the language, the characters, everything.
The Handmaid's Tale - for no real reason I can articulate this is my favorite book and I could reread it uncountable times.
Most books by Octavia Butler, but especially the Xenogenesis series and The Parables - lovely, lovely writing and I love her characters - so strong and courageous!
The Belgariad and the Mallorean by David Eddings - like I said, I love fantasy.

I'm limiting myself to five for now - I can already feel my posts getting sillier and my writing looser from fatigue. I may babble forever if I don't stop myself now. And unfortunately I think that means no pictures - sorry!

Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Number of books read since you started: four, three finished
Pages read since last update: 88
Running total of pages read since you started: 548 (ack, I'm even starting to lose where I'm keeping this information tallied!)
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 110 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 9 hours and 55 minutes (ugh . . math)
Mini-challenges completed: Jodie's, Tammie's, Debbie's, Jessica's

Read-A-Thon Update # 6

2009-04-18T20:34:00.001-07:00

I began The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao for this last bunch of reading time. So far it's interesting. The writing style is definitely keeping me reading, and I'll probably stick with this one for the next batch as well. I have developed a rather pounding headache, but I think it might be from dehydration. We'll see if we can't fix that problem.
After my last update I also did two mini-challenges - Debbie's and Tammie's. And congratulations to the prize winners from my mini-challenge!

Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
Number of books read since you started: four, three finished
Pages read since last update: 75
Running total of pages read since you started: 460
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 85 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 8 hours and 5 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Jodie's, Debbie's, and Tammie's

Read-A-Thon Update # 5 and mid-event survey

2009-04-18T18:42:00.001-07:00

It was so nice to get back to reading after all that work I did on the computer during my cheerleading break. The work was for school, the cheerleading was fun! Since I got back to reading I read the rest of Coraline. I was only about 40 pages in before the read-a-thon started. So that was a nice change. I also ate some pizza, and we got enough to last me the rest of the read-a-thon! Yes!!
So, here are my responses to the mid-event survey:
1. What are you reading right now?

I just finished Coraline, which means I finished all of the books I had already begun! Next I think I will be reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

2. How many books have you read so far?

three

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?

oooh, tough one. I have both The Graveyard Book and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies waiting. I think I have to go with Jane Austen and zombies.

4. Did you have to make any special arrangements to free up your whole day?

Well, I had planned on spending part of the day at work, but got sick instead. So, not really, I guess.

5. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?

Interruptions from the dog and my husband. :) Usually by giving a little attention things get back to normal.

6. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?

How fast it goes by!! Noon came too soon, when I stopped to do schoolwork that I had neglected (instead of going to work). It was great to get back to reading.

7. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?

I guess I'm discovering how we really are all spread out all over the globe, so it's not really fair for me to ask that we start later than 12pm GMT . . . :P

8. What would you do differently, as a Reader or a Cheerleader, if you were to do this again next year?

I think I would focus on one or the other, not do both, even though I had a legitimate reason for doing both this year.

9. Are you getting tired yet?

Oh yeah. I got up at 5am after not being able to fall asleep until midnight-ish. I tried to go to bed early!

10. Do you have any tips for other Readers or Cheerleaders, something you think is working well for you that others may not have discovered?

Pizza! It's a life saver.

Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: Coraline by Neil Gaiman
Number of books read since you started: three
Pages read since last update: 153
Running total of pages read since you started: 385
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 70 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 6 hours and 40 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Jodie's
Other participants you’ve visited: everyone who participated in my mini-challenge! Thank you all!!

An Unfortunate Delay in my Return to the Read-A-Thon

2009-04-18T17:03:00.000-07:00

Argh . . . I almost finished the schoolwork that has to get done today, but not quite! That's what I get for procrastinating, but it's hard when you're sick!! /whine. Anyways, I should be back to reading in another half hour or so. I will be so thankful to get off the computer!!

And thanks to everyone who participated in my mini-challenge!! You guys are awesome!

Love Your Local Library Mini-Challenge!!

2009-04-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

I just love this picture, don't you??
For my time cheerleading I am hosting the Love Your Local Library Mini-challenge. The idea for this challenge was born out of the fact that I had a shift at work at the library today, so I planned on cheering while I was at work. Unfortunately I had to stay home today (weird dizzy spells), but I can still participate as a reader and cheerleader.
I love my local library. I have always been a library-lover, and working at libraries has not dimmed this love in any way. So I am curious about other readers' use of their local libraries. For this challenge, leave a comment and let me know:

What is the name of your local library? What city is it located in?
How often do you go to the library? If you're a regular, do the staff know you?
Do you browse while you're there or just pick up items you have placed on reserve?
What is your favorite thing about your local library?

Here are my answers:

The name of my library is the Crossroads Connection, which is in a local mall. It is located in Bellevue, WA. The closest regional branch, which I would use if I needed more research and browsing is in the neighboring city of Redmond.
I'm at my local library at least once a week, not counting when I work there (I actually am assigned to a whole group of branches, so I am only actually working at Crossroads occasionally). And I can't fairly answer the question about the staff . . . :)
Unfortunately, I almost never browse anymore. It's a sacrifice I have made. I think it comes from putting far too many books on reserve, and being afraid to check out any items that are not already waiting for me. (I have to draw the line somewhere!)
My favorite thing about Crossroads is the location. The Crossroads mall is very much a community place - it is one of the most culturally diverse areas I've ever lived in (and I grew up in Long Beach, CA), and the mall reflects that. The word "mall" does not accurately describe Crossroads - it is not typical in any way. The library reflects this diversity, and even though it is a small browsing collection, it is one of my favorite places both to visit and work.

Your responses don't have to be any where near as lengthy as mine! Just let me know what you think of your library! There will be two prizes given, the Pulitzer Pack from Biblio Brat. Thanks!!
***Edit: I forgot to let you all know you have a few hours to complete this one! Sorry! I appreciate all the responses so far. This will be going until 5pm PST, which I believe is Hour 12. Thanks for participating!

Read-A-Thon Update # 4

2009-04-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Last update before my cheerleading break. I finished Spin five minutes ago. I bet if I thought about it hard enough I could actually predict how many books I could read in the hours ahead. Because I predicted finishing Spin pretty much right on the money. But I don't feel like thinking about it. :P
I think I'll just do a quick update now, since my challenge is starting soon. But I will be posting again after that one starts!! Have fun!!

Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Number of books read since you started: two
Pages read since last update: 56
Running total of pages read since you started: 232
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 75 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 5 and a half hours
Mini-challenges completed: Jodie's

Read-A-Thon Update # 3

2009-04-18T10:08:00.000-07:00

I will be finishing Spin during my next batch of reading, I think. This will be a longer break then any of the others, but I once I get back to reading, I think I'll finish it before noon (my time - pst).
I guess I missed Brian's cover mini-challenge. It looked like a good one, I'm sad I missed out. Oh well. And I think I won't be participating in the challenges posted since then, up to hour six. They are cool challenges, my brain is just not YouTube-friendly right now, and drawing a comic might take me longer than necessary. I may change my mind by the next update however.

Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Number of books read since you started: two, one completed
Pages read since last update: 68
Running total of pages read since you started: 176
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 90 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 3 hours and 15 minutes (doesn't feel that long!!)
Mini-challenges completed: Jodie's

Read-A-Thon Update # 2 and Jodie's mini-challenge

2009-04-18T08:03:00.001-07:00

I seem to be having a hard time figuring out what to post. :P Too much coffee and too little sleep already! Since we last spoke I've been reading Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. It's a Hugo award winner, a great page-turner.
And for Jodie's mini-challenge, I chose the book Coraline by Neil Gaiman, which I will be reading later today. Here is the basic idea of the challenge:
Look through the pile and take a picture of the cover you like the best, for whatever reason. It can be the prettiest, the oddest, the brightest... Flip the book over and look at the blurb (or look on the inside of the jacket). Now here's the fun, little kid part - recreate the blurb anyway you want. What I'm looking for is some kind of tableau that expresses the main thrust of the book's plot (which the blurb should hopefully capture).
I always thought that the cover of Coraline was a tad creepy - I think I find Dave McKean's illustrations a tad odd. And the button-eyes thing about the other world that Coraline finds has always creeped me out. So I chose my own button-eyed friends for my tableau, two of which I made myself, one which a friend made for me. (The kind of creepy thing here is the black cat that my friend made for me was a gift for when my cat friend of 17 years passed - so there was a real-world creature that goes along with my other-world button-eyed cat.)
Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Number of books read since you started: two, one completed
Pages read since last update: 59
Running total of pages read since you started: 108
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 85 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 165 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: Jodie's
Other participants you’ve visited: none
Prize you’ve won: none

Read-A-Thon Update # 1 and first hour meme

2009-04-18T06:20:00.000-07:00

I finished my first book! Of course, it was one I was almost done with anyway, so I sort of cheated. That books was The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan. Other happenings in the first hour:

my dog whined so much, I had to take care of him, even though it's hours before he normally gets up
I've had two big cups of coffee when I have been drinking none! (I've been weaning myself off of it, but I still love it!)

For the first hour meme, here are my answers:

Where are you reading from today?

Bellevue, Washington

3 facts about me …

I am an online student at San Jose State, getting my Masters in Library and Information Science
I just celebrated five years of marriage (April 3rd) and we are currently trying to get pregnant!
In the past few years I have become a big DIY-er, saving more things than I can use in an effort to buy less.

How many books do you have in your TBR pile for the next 24 hours?

Including the ones that I already started, I have seven definite books. I've never done anything like this, so I don't know how many I'll actually get read.

Do you have any goals for the read-a-thon (i.e. number of books, number of pages, number of hours, or number of comments on blogs)?

No page or book goals really. I just want to read enough to make a small dent in the pile! I do plan on reading for 18 hours though. That's 24 minus my five hour cheerleading break, and an additional hour's worth of breaks, etc.

Update
Title of book(s) read since last update: The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Number of books read since you started: one!
Pages read since last update: 49 lol
Running total of pages read since you started: 49
Amount of time spent reading since last update: 80 minutes
Running total of time spent reading since you started: 80 minutes
Mini-challenges completed: none
Other participants you’ve visited: none
Prize you’ve won: none

The Read-A-Thon has begun!!

2009-04-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

The Read-A-Thon has officially started, it is 5am where I am. (I'm actually cheating and typing this post up Friday night - yay for scheduling!)
So far I simply plan on getting through as many of my books in my to-read pile as possible. I am reading three books right now, and I expect to finish those during the 24 hours. They are The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan, Spin by Robert Charles Wilson, and Coraline by Neil Gaiman. I will be starting The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz today for sure. Other possible reads are The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, The Living Bread by Thomas Merton, and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith. I am not ruling out any of the books in my various stacks (there are a few dozen to choose from), but these are the primary candidates.
I will also be cheerleading from noon to 5pm my time. I will be running a mini-challenge during that time as well. I had planned on this break because I was supposed to be at work, but now I think I'm actually calling in sick. I may use the break to do schoolwork, and I think that textbooks are fair game for the read-a-thon as well.
I haven't decided how I will be updating. Probably not hourly, but often enough. Yay! Here we go!!

The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E Lockhart

2009-04-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Frankie is a sophomore at an expensive New England boarding school called Alabaster. Her father is an Alabaster alum, and he has many happy memories of his times there; in fact all of his closest friends are from high school. So he sends his daughters off to Alabaster, even if in many other ways he is no longer a part of their lives. Frankie's freshman year at Alabaster is spent in relative obscurity, following her older sister who graduates, leaving Frankie on her own for sophomore year. Frankie has changed over the summer however, and now people (mainly senior boys) who never would have noticed her before begin to see her in a new light.
When Frankie starts going out with Matthew, she thinks she couldn't be happier. But Matthew has a secret - he is a member of the secret society, the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. Frankie knows about the Loyal Order because her father can't help bragging about his time with them. She desperately wants Matthew to share with her, but he continues to keep it a secret. And Frankie begins to realize that Matthew does not take her seriously, simply finds her adorable. She is back to being Bunny Rabbit, the hated nickname given to her by her family. Frankie is tired of feeling powerless when she knows she is not. If Matthew won't tell her about the Loyal Order, she'll just take matters into her own hands.
I really don't think that I can explain this book well enough to really get through how terrific it is. I absolutely loved it. It is definitely my favorite teen book, and I would recommend it without reservation to just about anyone, especially teen girls. Frankie never accepts the role that society has laid out for her, although she does think about it. She thinks about how lovely it is to be Matthew's girlfriend, and she wishes that she could just be sweet and simple and not complicate things. But she is not sweet, and she is certainly not simple. Frankie is a fantastic character, and I loved her conflicted-ness. But she still stands up for herself, in a way that shows how smart she is. Lockhart does a good job of not making her the hero of the school, however. Most of the students still don't understand the point behind the pranks, whereas Frankie had hoped to open minds and make change. Most students just find the pranks funny or weird or at least an interesting diversion in their day. For Frankie, it proves to her what she is capable of, and forces others to acknowledge that as well.

Library Loot - April 15, 2009

2009-04-15T22:52:00.000-07:00

I have absolutely no excuse for this insanity. Maybe I should blame the people who set up these challenges . . . or maybe I should acknowledge that I signed up for more than I could possibly read. . . . Nah.
So, what does the insanity look like?

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
Hominids by Robert J Sawyer
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (I am excited about this, and I seriously hope it doesn't let me down - I put it on hold for two of my friends as well, so we'll see how they like it)
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Hopefully I will make it to the book club I signed up for on this one)
Empire Falls by Richard Russo
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
The Penderwicks by Jeanne Birdsall (this is the first one)
Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle
Call of the Highland Moon by Kendra Leigh Castle
Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons
Epigrams by Martial
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (I just started Coraline today, yay for Neil Gaiman!)
Stray Sock Sewing by Daniel (fun crafty stuff)

I didn't feel like typing the challenge or other reason behind every single book. If you're curious, just ask in the comments. Hopefully the Read-A-Thon will help me get through some of this nonsense . . .
If you would like to join library loot, check it out here.

The Singing by Alison Croggon

2009-04-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

The Singing is the fourth book in the series The Book of Pellinor. It is the conclusion I have been waiting for since I read the first three last summer. It did not let me down, which makes me tremendously happy. (I hate it when endings do not live up to the book or series!) As with many endings, however, I was sad to see it, as I truly love the world that has been created, and the characters who live there.
The Book of Pellinor tells the story of Maerad and her brother Hem, how they come to the knowledge that they are fated to save the world. The Nameless One has been spreading his evil over the world, and in The Singing, they come to their only chance to stop him. Getting there is a trial. Book three of this series, The Crow, focuses solely on Hem and his journey - the last we heard of Maerad was in book two. They spend the first half of The Singing simply trying to reach each other, which is nearly impossible in their war-torn world. But of course, as with any good fantasy, the happy ending is there, even if it is different than what you imagined.
Croggon has done a marvelous job in building this world, and I truly love her characters. I think Hem is probably my favorite, along with his crow friend Irc. Maerad is difficult to love, although she is an excellent character - very conflicted and full of life. The supporting characters are also great, making the reader feel as though they are spending time with good friends. This is definitley a fantasy series I would recommend to any lover of the genre.
And on a challenge note - this is my first "S" book for the Read Your Name Challenge.

The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman

2009-04-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

The Complete Maus consists of both Maus I and II, bound together in a hardcover volume. I wanted to read them both together, to get the full story, and I am very glad I did. Maus is the story of Art Spiegelman's father, Vladek, and how he survived the holocaust. In the graphic novel, Jews are drawn as mice, Germans are cats, Poles are pigs, French are frogs, and Americans are dogs. The drawings make the material more unrealistic and yet they also draw us in more to the fact that though it seems unreal, this really happened.
Vladek survived the holocaust mainly through luck, but also by taking advantage of the situations he finds himself in. His wife, Art's mother, also survives, but ends up committing suicide more than 20 years later. The novel is not just about the holocaust, but it also documents Art's efforts to get his father's story. He does not have a very good relationship with his cantakerous father, and the novel shows how he has a difficult time being fair to his story. It gives the work more depth, and makes it that much more real to the reader. So much has already been said about this book, but I had never gotten around to reading it. I am so glad I did, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who has ever considered picking it up.
This book is my first read for the second quarter of the 2009 Martel-Harper Challenge. As I have described in previous posts, this challenge follows the list of books that Canadian author Yann Martel sends to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In his letter to Harper about this choice, Martel says that we sometimes need to be ripped apart in order to find our own stillness. The story of the holocaust certainly does that, and Maus is an incredible way of telling that story. I am also trying to read some of the books that another book blogger, Dewey, read throughout her book blogging years. This is for the Dewey's Books Challenge. She reviewed Maus back in January of 2006. And of course as a graphic novel it counts for the Graphic Novels Challenge - also the New Author Challenge, as I have never read Art Spiegelman before.

Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge Wrap-Up

2009-04-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

Another challenge finished, but finished late. This challenge ran from January 1st through March 31st. The goal of the Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge was to read three books that:
have a food name in the title
OR
be about cooking/eating
OR
have a place name in the title
OR
be about one (or more) person's travel experience
OR
be about a specific culture
OR
be by an author whose ethnicity is other than your own. I chose to read three books with a place name in the title. The three books I chose were The Swallows of Kabul by Yasmin Khadra, The News From Paraguay by Lily Tuck, and Europe Central by William T Vollmann. My favorite of these three was probably Europe Central. I own The Swallows of Kabul, and had wanted to read it for awhile, but it wasn't the best of the three. The News From Paraguay won a National Book Award for Fiction, as did Europe Central, but it was less obvious why. The book was interesting, but definitely not one of the best that I've read.
I enjoyed this challenge, it's original at least. I may or may not participate in such a challenge in the future.

Europe Central by William T Vollmann

2009-04-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Wow. This book was not what I was expecting, but I am glad I picked it up. (I honestly don't know what it was I was expecting, but anyway.) Europe Central won the 2005 National Book Award for fiction, and it is easy to see why. The writing is magnificent - I felt swept away, caught up in the stories. The book itself is difficult to describe. Each chapter is a parable of sorts, and the chapters are paired in a way that illuminates the story. Basically the book is about World War II, focusing on Germany and Russia. There is no main character, except perhaps Europe Central. Each story is told from a sort of omniscient narrator point of view, with the voice sometimes changing in the middle of the story. Like I said, it's hard to describe.
Even though it took me longer to read than I would have thought, I am really glad I invested the time in it. I know almost nothing about WWII, so a lot of what is described I had never known, but I only felt lost during one story (Airlift Idylls - that one completely lost me for a bit). Some of the chapters focus on real people, telling their stories as the author envisions it, people such as Field-Marshal Friedrich Paulus, Kurt Gerstein, Shostakovich, and then sometimes the story is told by someone who seems to be an individual but is really not (those chapters reminded me of And Then We Came to the End, if you've read that). Basically this book would be enjoyed by anyone who can invest the time, who is interested in that time period, or who loves it when an author can use the language so beautifully (even when describing terrible things). Vollmann obviously did a ton of research for this book, and it makes me curious to see what his other books are like.
I picked this book up because it was a National Book Award winner, which I am reading for my 999 Challenge (my list is here). I also read it for the Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge which ended in March, so I obviously didn't get it done quite in time for that challenge, but oh well. The National Book Award Winners have been interesting so far, so I'm excited to continue my list! This book is also my Read Your Name Challenge "E" book.

Library Loot - April 8, 2009

2009-04-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

Once again, a killer week at the library. Next week promises to be just as big!

library loot

So, we have:

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (for the Victorian Challenge)
The Queen's Husband by Jean Plaidy (also for the Victorian Challenge)
The Complete Odes and Satires of Horace (Really Old Classics Challenge)
Satires by Juvenal (Really Old Classics Challenge)
Secondhand Chic by Christa Weil (I picked this one up after flipping through it at the library - I love thrift store shopping, so I'm looking forward to reading this one)
The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Really Old Classics Challenge)
The Living Bread by Thomas Merton (Spiritually Speaking Challenge)
The Epic of Gilgamesh, Stephen Mitchell translation (I took back my other copy of Gilgamesh, as I wanted to check out this edition for the Martel-Harper Challenge)
Queen Victoria by Christopher Hibbert (Victorian Challenge)

Whew. I didn't have to return any this week, without having read them I mean, but next week might be a different story.

Dewey's Read-A-Thon

2009-04-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

My first ever read-a-thon! I'm super excited. As of right now there are 66 readers signed up, and seven cheerleaders. I am sort of going to be doing both. I'll be reading for the most part, but I have a five-hour shift kind of right in the middle, so I'll be cheerleading during that time. I'm even hosting a mini-challenge, although I haven't heard back from the organizers on that yet. So we'll see how it all goes.
The Read-A-Thon begins at 5am pacific on April 18th. I haven't yet decided how I'll be doing updates, but I may do hourly. Or I might do an update every time I need to take a break, which will not necessarily be hourly. But I guess we'll find out! Check the blog for updates!

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

2009-04-05T11:27:00.000-07:00

I picked up The Tale of Despereaux because of the movie that came out a few months ago. I didn't see the movie, and I actually heard that it wasn't very good, but I had the book at home anyway. And then I realized that it was on the list for the Unshelved Bookclub. I signed up for a challenge to read three of these books before June, so it works out well. Unshelved is a comic strip about working at a library, and it is right-on most of the time. Here is what the website says about the bookclub: "Every Sunday our characters talk about a book they've read in full-page full-color comic strips. " The comic strip about The Tale of Despereaux is not particularly amusing or insightful, but it does give a fairly decent summary of the plot.
Despereaux is a tiny mouse: the only one of his litter to survive, he was born with his eyes open. This would be enough for his family to find him strange, but his odd behavior continually sets him apart, eventually leading to his banishment. He refuses to learn how to scurry, and when he one day hears beautiful music, he follows the sound and finds the Princess Pea, who he promptly falls in love with. When she is kidnapped, he must face his fears to save her, the way a knight in a fairytale would.
I loved this story, and I definitely plan on having a copy around for myself. This would be a perfect book to read to child, one that they could grow into and read for themselves one day. It has some sadness - the fact that Despereaux is the only one of his litter who lives through their birth; the serving girl Miggery Sow (the name is bad enough), who has been beaten so badly throughout her life that she has gone practically deaf; the Queen who dies of fear of a rat. And even the protagonists are shown as having darkness in their hearts. Despereaux must learn to forgive his family for their part in his banishment, and the Princess must forgive the rat who kidnaps her. The whole story is done so well, however, I am in no way interested in seeing a movie version of it now. It's one of those books that is better read out loud than seen on screen.

The Fearless Fish Out of Water by Robin Fisher Roffer

2009-04-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

I have not been keeping up with the 2009 Mini-Challenges, so I thought I would use this book for one of them. There are twelve mini-challenges, and while it would make sense to do one a month, I obviously haven't done that. So I'll do a couple a month to catch up. This book is for challenge # 3 - read a non-fiction book.
The Fearless Fish Out of Water: How to Succeed When You're the Only One Like You is a book about using your uniqueness to do well in your career. The idea of the book is that many of us feel like fish out of water when it comes to corporate settings, or maybe just in particular situations. Roffer suggests that we use that outsider feeling to our advantage. There are seven chapters, each one with an overarching theme, like "Go Fishing For the Real You" or "Swim in Their Ocean Your Way". Obviously she keeps up the fish theme throughout the book.
This would be a really good book for anyone who fears losing their individuality in a corporate setting. Roffer advocates being true to yourself, while still maintaining good business relationships. She does not want her readers to stand out just for the sake of standing out however. She makes it clear that you should always be true to yourself, and not try to force or emphasize difference just to make a statement. And she counsels conformity up to a point, in cases where it shows respect.
As someone who would definitely be a fish out of water in a corporate world, this book made a lot of sense to me. However, I think I would rather eat my shoes than go back to a job in an office, so I won't be trying this advice out in that realm. It does apply to other types of jobs as well though - this advice could be useful in many fields. In the library field, at least where I work, uniqueness is a strength, and it is encouraged. Roffer's suggestions would still work well even in a field that embraces the fish out of water.

Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge

2009-04-03T10:36:00.001-07:00

Rainbows End won the 2008 Hugo Award, which is why I decided to pick it up and read it. I am a fan of science fiction, although it is not my favorite genre (that would be fantasy - similar, but not the same). This book is almost in the realm of speculative fiction, as it only takes place a little more than fifteen years in the future, and relies on the world remaining pretty much the same.
The book takes place over the course of several weeks, with most of the action happening in a single night. It is 2025, and our world looks very similar, although there are obvious differences. Technology has continued moving forward in leaps and bounds, paving the way for medical miracles and wearable computer hardware. Most young people have grown up with "wearables" - contact lenses and clothes that allow them to surf the internet and communicate as long as they are in range of the network (which means pretty much anywhere). The world has suffered from some horrendous events, which are mainly unspecified, but seem to be terrorist attacks as well as natural disasters. Two of the characters in the book are high-level Marines, and it is interesting to see how the past affects the way the military does things.
The main character is Robert Gu, a former world-renowned poet who lost much of his life to Alzheimer's. The medical establishment was able to cure him, and now he is making his way back in this strange new world. He lives with his son and daughter-in-law (the Marines), and their daughter Miri. In order to get up to speed with his clever grandaughter he goes to a local school for retraining - he is there with high school students and other elderly people who are trying to learn the same as him. From this point the plot gets rather complicated, and it is difficult to summarize without taking up paragraphs.
I really enjoyed Vinge's look at the future. It is easy to see how our world could become such a virtual place. One of the most entertaining and fascinating pieces of this future is the "belief circles". These are virtual realities created by fans of a particular author or work. An example from the book is the world that Terry Pratchett fans have created, which, if you tune in to their network, makes your world appear to be Discworld. It is very interactive and creative, as fans all over the world contribute to their particular belief circle to make it more fun for everyone. Vinge also does a great job of showing how not everyone is up to speed with all of the new technology. It's very much like today - some people are super internet-savvy, while others barely know how to use a mouse.
This was a great read, and I would recommend it to any science fiction fans, or anyone interested in speculative fiction. I read it for my 999 Challenge, for which I am reading award-winning books. It is also my "V" book for the A-Z Challenge, and Vernor Vinge is a new author for me, so I am counting it for the New Author Challenge as well!

Love Bites Reading Challenge

2009-04-02T10:47:00.001-07:00

I had to do it. I just had to sign up for another challenge, crazy as that is. For this one I only need to read three books, three paranormal romances, between now and the end of June. I don't have a list, just the first book I plan on reading: Wild Highland Magic by Kendra Leigh Castle. It's a werewolf romance.
After that I may read some of the vampire romances that my sister-in-law reads and enjoys. She has a great list already for me to choose from!
If you would like to participate, head to the challenge blog, or to Royal Reviews.

Library Loot - April 1, 2009

2009-04-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

Ah yes, another week with only one book added to the pile. Hooray! That book is The Street-Smart Naturalist: field notes from Seattle by David B Williams. I expected this one to be more field-guidey, but it looks more like a series of essays. I guess we'll see.
Also, I had to return The Story of Edgar Sawtelle this week, unread. Alas, another book has been added to my virtual to-read list.
But now that a new month has started, I have placed more holds in order to help me with my challenges. So unfortunately, this is probably the last light week for awhile. Just when school is getting more hectic! I think I need to do something about my priorities . . .

Unfinished Challenges

2009-03-31T18:51:00.000-07:00

Oh the sadness of the unfinished challenge. I swear I'm learning a lesson from this, really.
So the Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge ends today. I have about 200 pages left in the final book for that challenge, so I almost did it! I didn't feel like forcing the issue though, so I'll just do a late wrap-up post when I finish it.
The other challenge that ends today is the first quarter of the Martel-Harper Challenge for 2009. I will be participating for the second quarter, so the book that I would have read for the first quarter will be put off for that challenge. So I will not be doing an official wrap-up for this one, as it basically just carries over.
The good news is that I have no more challenge deadlines until the end of June! Huzzah! There is hope that I will finish at least one of these challenges before the end!

Lady Anne and the Howl in the Dark by Donna Lea Simpson

2009-03-30T10:43:00.000-07:00

Lady Anne Addison arrives late one night to the Darkefell estate, on a mission to see her recently married friend who has sent her frantic letters demanding she come. But when Anne arrives, she discovers that no one is available to escort her to the manor, and she must travel up the road in the dark, by herself. On her way she hears a blood-curdling howl, and then screaming, followed by groans of pain. She follows the sound, intending to help the woman whose scream she heard, and instead finds her dead body. She does make it safely to the estate to report the death, but after this welcome she wonders what the rest of her stay has in store for her.
Lady Anne's friend, the Lady Lydia Bestwick, married to the younger brother of the Lord of Darkefell, has apparently not told anyone that Anne is to be expected, and no one knows quite what to make of her. She is not a typically feminine woman, and being plain-looking and independantly wealthy, she has decided she has no need of marriage or men. She finds herself rather ridiculously attracted to Lord Anthony, the marquess of Darkefell, and he is typically arrogant and gruff, with smoldering good-looks, as many heroes are. Anne is determined to find out what killed the girl that she found, and she is equally determined to not believe in any of the stories of werewolves that the locals insist are real. Lord Darkefell is determined to keep his family's secrets safely hidden from the destructively inquisitive Lady Anne, at the same time as finding himself strangely attracted to her. They are continually at odds with each other as they both try to solve the mystery of the maid's death.
This was a rather entertaining read, although disappointing in some respects. The mystery itself is not very well written, and resolved a bit too quickly at the end. The romance that obviously develops between Lord Darkefell and Lady Anne is well done, but left unfinished, I suppose to set it up for a sequel. Lady Anne's character is entertaining, as is Lord Darkefell's, while most of the rest of the characters are necessary stereotypes. A few exceptions are there of course - Lord Darkefell's secretary, a rescued slave, is an interesting addition, and Lady Anne's cat, Irusan, adds humor and depth to her character. Overall this book was a fun, quick read.
This is the first book for my participation in the Romance Reading Challenge. I only need to read five, and I have that many in the stacks of books waiting to be read, so I think it will work out! This book also qualifies for the RYOB Challenge and New Author Challenge.

Martel-Harper Challenge - Second Quarter, 2009

2009-03-28T11:57:00.000-07:00

The Martel-Harper Challenge follows the list of books that Yann Martel sends to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to read. Martel sends Harper a new book every two weeks, along with a personalized letter about why he should read that particular book. So far, Harper doesn't appear to have read them, or at least he has not responded. But we can read along!
I have participated in this challenge since the last quarter of 2008, I think, so this will be the third time for me. I am still not sure I will be able to finish for the first quarter. I have Maus (#12) sitting on top of my stack of books, but I may not get to it in the next couple of days!! We shall see.
The goal of the quarterly challenge is to read two books from the list. My list:

Gilgamesh (either # 41 or #42 from the list, I'm not sure which translation I'll pick up)
The Bhagavad Gita (#5)

Hopefully I will get to Maus before the month ends (I have three more days!), but if not, it will certainly be on this list.

Walking Through Walls by Philip Smith

2009-03-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

Walking Through Walls is the memoir of Philip Smith, an artist and former managing editor of GQ. It follows his upbringing in Miami with his decorator father, Lew Smith, who also just happened to be a very powerful psychic healer. Philip begins his story when he is a child and his parents are the social butterflies of the town. Lew's initiation into the world of natural healing comes first through diet changes, when he decides that his family needs to eat a macrobiotic diet. From there he continues his exploration into mind-body connections, and begins to learn how to contact and be contacted by spirits. It is these spirits that share with him the revolutionary healing techniques that he will use to perform miracles.
I enjoyed this book at the beginning, reading about his parents' lives in Miami, and his father's decorating business. It was interesting to see how Philip's mother reacted to his father's explorations - she continued her coffee and cigarette habit even while her husband and son were living almost exclusively on brown rice. And Lew's spiritual journey was fascinating, whether or not you believe in any of the things he participated in. But after Philip's parents split up, and his father began to use his "pendulum" the book lost me. Lew just got too far out there, and while he may have performed miraculous healings, the explanations of his methods were just beyond kooky. The lengths that Philip went to as a teenager to try to escape his father and the spirit guides was entertaining, and gave a glimpse of what it must have been like to live with a man who performed excorcisms and received communications from the spirits on a regular basis. I know this was not the author's intention, but the book left me feeling sorry for Lew Smith, the man whose life was hijacked by "spirit guides" who left him no time for himself or his family.

Library Loot - March 25, 2009

2009-03-25T13:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I try not to do two posts a day, but I forgot about Library Loot! And wouldn't it be nice if I had managed to not pick up anything this week? Ah well, one can hope to catch up someday . . .
So, what did I get?

The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (Someday I really will get around to reading all of these books that I have for the Really Old Classics Challenge)
The Singing by Alison Croggon (this is the fourth and final book in the Book of Pellinor series)
Hunter's Death by Michelle West (the sequel to Hunter's Oath, I'm reading this one for the Reading My Name Challenge)

Library Loot

I am really excited about both The Singing and Hunter's Death, and I will probably eventually get to The Divine Comedy. And I didn't have to return anything without reading it this week. Yay!

The Dragons of Babel by Michael Swanwick

2009-03-25T13:36:00.000-07:00

I am still not quite sure what to make of this book, although I certainly enjoyed it. The Dragons of Babel takes place in a post-industrial Faerie, fully inhabited by so many types of mythical creatures I didn't even recognize them all. The main character is Will le Fey, a young man who has grown up in a village with his aunt. Then one day a wounded dragon shows up in the village and takes over. In this world, dragons are great mechanical beasts of immense power, but they need a lieutenant with mortal blood to help carry out their orders. Will becomes that lieutenant, allowing the dragon to become a petty tyrant over the village. When he finally breaks free of the dragon's control, he is banished from his village, becoming just one refugee among many fleeing the coming war. His wanderings eventually take him to the Tower of Babel, the capital of Faerie. There he struggles to find his destiny, while being continually manipulated by those who would find it for him.
I really enjoyed both the world-building of this book and the character development. The world of Faerie in this book is so different from what we are used to seeing. It reminded me of Tad Williams' The War of the Flowers, although this book is much more dark and grim. There are no real heroes or villains, all of the characters Will meets are conflicted in multiple ways. I was never quite sure where the story was going to end up, though the ending was quite satisfying. I have never read Swanwick's other book that takes place in this same world, The Iron Dragon's Daughter. I am not sure if there are any connections between the two books, but it would be interesting to read it now and find out.

Fortune's Magic Farm by Suzanne Selfors

2009-03-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

This is a sweet, fun little fantasy for kids ages eight to twelve. The main character is Isabelle, a ten-year-old girl who lives in the town of Runny Cove, and like everyone else in the town, works at Mr. Supreme's Umbrella Factory. She lives with her Grandma Maxine at Mama Lu's boarding house. Grandma Maxine found Isabelle on the doorstep when she was a baby, and no one knows where she came from. Runny Cove is a very depressing town, where it always rains, and everyone must work at the factory, but they can barely afford their rent. The women who run the boarding houses, Mama Lu in particular, are terribly mean and petty, and constantly accuse their tenants of stealing. Isabelle knows that she is someone special, she just wishes she knew where she was from, and why she was left on the doorstep.
It isn't until a sea monster shows up and sneezes an apple into her lap that her adventure truly begins, however. No one has seen an apple in years, and Isabelle can't wait to share this one with her sick grandmother and her best friends. Then she meets Sage, the boy who brought the apple to Runny Cove, and she discovers Fortune's Farm. But now that Isabelle has discovered where she belongs, she must keep her promise to her friends, and help make Runny Cove the town it once was - Sunny Cove - again.
This is a charming, magical tale that many children would enjoy. It could easily be read to kids under eight, and would be enjoyed by older kids as well.

Everything is Fine by Ann Dee Ellis

2009-03-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

This little book affected me more than I thought it would. It is the story of Mazzy, a girl of twelve or so (it's kind of hard to tell, maybe thirteen?), who is trying to pretend that her life is fine, that she and her mother don't need any help. The story is told in short, staccato sentences, and short chapters, almost verse form, but not quite. It really gave me the feeling of being inside Mazzy's head, which is not always a pleasant place to be.
The story is hard to piece together at first, but you get a better idea of what has happened the farther you go along. There has been a tragedy, involving Olivia, who seems to be Mazzy's younger sister - a character who is obviously no longer in the story. This tragedy has sent Mazzy's mother into a downward spiral of severe depression, so that she no longer gets out of bed or responds to her daughter. Meanwhile, Mazzy's dad got a job offer that took him to another state, so he basically flees, leaving Mazzy to make sense of everything. And in order to protect her mother and herself, Mazzy tells everyone, from neighbors to social workers, that everything is fine.
I really loved this book, although it is very difficult. It is very sad, although there is hope at the end. Ellis does a fantastic job putting us inside Mazzy's brain; from her thought process to the illustrations that Mazzy begins when she breaks into her mom's art studio, you can see how difficult life is for her. This book would be great for a lot of teens, although I would definitely not recommend it for anyone who would have difficulty reading about the tragedy involving a small child. I found it incredibly upsetting, but I guess that's why Mazzy's mom doesn't get out of bed anymore. So, recommended, but with that reservation.

Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

2009-03-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

The Martel-Harper Challenge is based on a list of books that the Canadian author Yann Martel has sent to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to read. I find this list fascinating, and I love the letters that Martel sends along with his book choices. He sends a new one every two weeks, which I think is a little unfair, as the Prime Minister is probably a busy man. But it doesn't really matter, since it doesn't seem like he even looks at them. He certainly does not bother to respond to the letters. But it gives the rest of us a good reason to stretch our horizons when it comes to reading. You can find more information on the website.
I honestly have no idea what made me choose Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges, out of the entire list of books. I did not think that I had even heard of Borges, let alone read any of his stories. On that point, I was wrong.
Fictions is a book of short stories, fantasies mostly, but not the kind of fantasy that I am prone to read. They are flights of fancy, literary plays, that I found really enjoyable, even though half the time I did feel a little lost. Martel does a much better job describing this book in his letter to Stephen Harper, so you should read that if you want a better description than the one I can give. One of my favorite quotes from the letter is describing a quote from the book: "That’s intellectually droll, in a nerdy way." That quote basically sums up how I felt while reading the book. I would find something amusing, and feel kind of nerdy for "getting it", but at the same time I wasn't quite sure if I actually got it at all. Another good quote from the letter: "One of the games involved in Fictions is: do you get the references? If you do, you feel intelligent; if you don’t, no worries, it’s probably an invention, because much of the erudition in the book is invented." I found reading these stories very enjoyable, mainly for their subtle absurdity, but I am glad they were short stories only. I think that I would have gotten very bored reading an entire novel written in this way.
There was probably only one story that really made me stop and say "Woah" when I had finished it - "Three Versions of Judas". That's also the only story that Martel felt made an intellectually thought-provoking point. The other stories are thought-provoking (at least I found them to be), but it is hard to find the point. Overall, this book stretched my reading boundaries, and I think it is worth reading for that purpose. Also, I realized that I had already read at least two of these short stories in English classes in the past. Obviously English teachers find them thought-provoking as well.
This book is on one of the lists (maybe both) of the 1000 books you must read before you die. I used this combined list to find books to read for the 1% Well-Read Challenge. And because this book is translated from the Spanish, it qualifies for the Lost in Translation Challenge.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2009-03-19T19:47:00.000-07:00

As much as I'd heard about this book, I really wasn't prepared to get sucked into quite so much. I read it in a day, which I would highly recommend. But if you don't have the time or inclination to do that, you will definitely have something to look forward to as you read some each day. This is a fantastic book. It had me captured within the first 20 pages - I was already telling my husband "You have got to read this book!"
The Hunger Games takes place in a future that has been ravaged by environmental and political storms, where the area that used to be known as North America is now known as Panem. Panem is divided up into twelve districts. These twelve districts are controlled by the Capital. They basically exist in order to provide food and other raw materials to satisfy the Capital's needs. District 12 is the poorest, the coal-mining district. Katniss is a sixteen-year-old resident of District 12, where she illegally hunts to provide food for her family, and she is allowed to because the powers that be in District 12 buy what she hunts as well. Katniss has been the "bread-winner" since her father died, taking care of her mother and 12-year-old sister, Prim.
So what are the Hunger Games? The Hunger Games are one of the ways that the Capital shows the Districts that it has complete power and control over them. Each year one boy and one girl between the ages of 12 and 18 are taken from each district. They are brought to an arena where they are forced to fight each other to the death. This is the best entertainment that the Capital can imagine, and the rest of the Districts are forced to watch as well. No one from District 12 has won in decades. Everyone prays that no one in their family will be have their name drawn. When Prim's name is drawn, Katniss knows that she must volunteer - she will not let her sister face that fate. And so the games begin.
I don't really want to say any more than that, although most people already know at least that much of the story. I'll just say that the games were a lot more like reality TV than I had expected, which raised the shock-value for me. Also, I loved the politics. Really good dystopian fiction always makes us question those things that our culture values. The Hunger Games does that for sure. Really I can't recommend this book enough. It is fantastic, and I can't wait to see where the next one (not out until September!) takes us.

A Rose by Any Name by Douglas Brenner & Stephen Scanniello

2009-03-19T11:48:00.000-07:00

This lovely little book is all about the history of roses and their names. As someone who knows almost nothing about roses, this book was a fascinating read. Each chapter is titled with the name of a rose, and the authors tell the story of that particular rose's name. The rest of each chapter is then spent explaining the names of other roses which got their names for similar reasons. Each chapter ends up with at least a dozen rose names explained. There are chapters on roses named after Presidents, royalty, celebrities, food, sports, and saints. I had no idea that there was a world of rose creators out there, vying for the right to name their hybrid creations. It gives me the urge to create a garden based on all peace-related rose names, or a garden full of Shakespeare-themed roses. The book has a very handy index in the back, so that you can look up any rose you are curious about. This book would be a terrific gift for any garden or rose-lover.
This is the first adult book that I've read that was published in 2009, so it counts for the Pub 2009 Challenge. The 2009 Pub Challenge is to read at least nine books that are published in 2009. I never manage to stay on top of new books, so this challenge might get me to read some new ones. This one is also for the RYOB 2009 Ch allenge, which is "read your own books". This is also something I need help with.

Library Loot - March 18, 2009

2009-03-18T09:50:00.000-07:00

Yay! A small week! I think I actually completed the same number of books this week that I checked out. So I'm staying even with my piles. I know that I already have two more books that are on hold for me that I will be picking up in the next week, but that's not many. So maybe I will catch up someday.
Except for one, all of this week's books were for the 999 challenge. I am reading award-winners for that one, so two of them won either Hugo or Nebula awards (now I can't remember which) and one won the National Book Award for books for young adults. The fourth book is simply one that I had on hold for so long it was about to expire if I didn't unfreeze the hold.
So here they are:

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge
The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, traitor to the nation: the Pox Party by M T Anderson
Consumed: how markets corrupt children, infantilize adults, and swallow citizens whole by Benjamin R Barber

I also checked out four Portland, OR travel guides, one of which is geared specifically to Portland's literary history (City of Readers by Gabriel H Boehmer). We're planning a weekend in Portland in a couple of weeks, so I'm excited to browse through these.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that I had to return The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society without having read it. I almost returned The Hunger Games as well, but I decided to just sit down and read the whole thing instead. I think I can handle the late fees! And it was soooo worth it. I would have had a review up already, but school is making me a little bit brain-dead lately.
If you would like to see what others are picking up from their library, or join in the fun, head over to A Striped Armchair.

The Mousehunter by Alex Milway

2009-03-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

The Mousehunter is the story of Emiline, a mousekeeper for the richest man in Old Town. In Old Town, and the surrounding world, everything seems to revolve around mice. There are thousands of species of mice, some of which are common, some of which are only kept in the collections of the very rich. Many mice can be trained to use their natural abilities to help people - there are the highly trained Boffin Mice, who can manage mechanical controls; the dog-sized Elephant Mice who work as servers and carriers; the Powder Mouse, which can carefully carry gunpowder for use in cannons; and the Long-Eared Mouse, that turns into a frightening monster called a Grak when it is submerged in water. These mice, plus thousands more, populate the world that Emiline lives in, which is why mousekeepers are needed. Mousekeepers tend the mouse collections of others - in Emiline's case, it is the famous Isiah Lovelock's collection. But Emiline dreams of becoming a famous mousehunter, so she leaves Lovelock's employ to join the crew of The Flying Fox, run by Captain Drewshank. Captain Drewshank has just been given the task of capturing the infamous pirate Mousebeard. But as Emiline, and the rest of the crew of the Flying Fox, soon find out, not everything is as it seems in the cutthroat world of mousehunting.
This book was tremendously entertaining, and would be enjoyed by many older children, ages 10 and up. The world created by Milway is a unique one, being focused on mice as it is. Because of this it almost felt too shallow - there is no glimpse of what life is like for anyone not associated with mice. But maybe no such people exist in this world. It's hard to tell. The characters are rather shallow as well, although there is a good amount of question about who is good and who is evil, and what makes a person such. Overall this is a fun book, and is set up for a sequel, so undoubtedly we will learn more about this strange world as the story continues.

Hunter's Oath by Michelle West

2009-03-15T10:07:00.000-07:00

This is the first book that I picked up specifically for this challenge. The goal of the challenge is to read at least two books by authors who share my name, or with my name in the title. They can share first or last name, so I went with last name, at least for the first two. If I find that I'm reading any books throughout the year that also share my first name, I'll go ahead and go above my goal.
Hunter's Oath is the first book in a two-book series by Michelle West. I actually picked this book up and read it several years ago, and then I never managed to find the sequel. At some point, I sort of forgot about the book, but I would see it occasionally at the library and want to pick it up again. I am so glad I finally did. I honestly do not remember liking it this much the first time I read it, but I loved it this time around.
The Hunter Lords of Breodanir have sworn a pact with their god. The Hunter God gives his people plentiful food in both the hunt and their farms, but once a year all of the Hunter Lords and their huntbrothers must participate in the Sacred Hunt, where they become the hunted, and one of them will suffer the Hunter's Death. Not too long ago, the King refused to call the Sacred Hunt, and his people were sorely punished for it. When the Prince finally killed the King and became King himself, that year the Sacred Hunt claimed many more than its usual one life. The Hunter God showed his anger, but he also gave back to his people, bringing them out of the famine the old king had left them in. The Hunter Lords know their burden, but they are also given special gifts by the god - they have the ability to communicate with their hunting dogs, to enter the hunter's trance and become more than simply human. Each Hunter Lord must have a huntbrother, someone chosen from the common people at the age of eight - the huntbrothers keep the Lords grounded, and they share a bond that is stronger than any other. The Queen and the Hunter Ladies are the ones that truly run the kingdom, while the King (Master of the Hunt) and his Hunter Lords provide for them.
Stephen was a thief in the King's City until he was chosen by Lord Elseth to become huntbrother to Gilliam, Lord Elseth's son. But Stephen has been marked by the gods for much more. The story continues to get complicated as we learn of the world outside of Breodanir, and of the Darkness that rises. Somehow the Hunter God, and Stephen and Gilliam, are involved in the coming battle, where all of their oaths will be put to the test.
I loved this book, and I am tremendously excited to read the next one, Hunter's Death. The world that West has created is different from many other fantasy worlds, and she does an excellent job of sharing that world with her readers. The characters are also very well written. Even though you want to hit them for making stupid mistakes sometimes, you still love them all the way. This book is highly recommended for anyone who loves fantasy and is looking for an interesting read.
Another fun challenge that I read this book for is the What's In A Name Challenge. This one includes six categories to read from, all relating to words in the title. I've already read books for the building and body parts categories. This one is for the "profession" category. I feel like I'm bending each one just a tiny bit, but I think it's okay. It certainly makes the challenge more interesting.

Medieval Challenge Wrap-Up

2009-03-14T17:57:00.001-07:00

At last, I have finished this challenge. The official end date was February 8, 2009. I think that I had only read three of my books by then. Which I think qualified for a lower level of the challenge, but not the six books I had signed up to read. The goal of the challenge was to read books related to the Medieval time period. These could be historical fiction set in that time period, non-fiction about the time, or books actually written in the middle ages. I chose to do two books from each category.
For the historical fiction books I read:

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks - I enjoyed this one, although not as much as I enjoyed Brooks' other books.
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. I've recommended it to several people since reading it.

For the non-fiction I read:

Medieval Britain: The Age of Chivalry by Lloyd and Jennifer Laing - not necessarily recommended, but a good way to learn more about the time period.
Women in Early Medieval Europe 400-1100 by Lisa M Bitel - very highly recommended text on the roles and perceptions of women during early medieval times.

And the texts actually written during medieval times:

Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory - boy, was this book hard to read; I would recommend not reading the full Middle English version and instead going for a Modern English translation.
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - I read a Modern English prose version of this, translated by David Wright. Very highly recommended.

Participating in a challenge that covers a specific time period is a great way to learn more about the time. Reading from the non-fiction and the fiction, as well as reading books written during that time really gave me some new ideas, and a greater understanding of the medieval time period.

The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer

2009-03-13T09:33:00.000-07:00

I have finished the books that I had set aside for this challenge! Yay! Sure, it's a month late, but I have enjoyed sticking with it. I'll have a challenge wrap-up post up soon.
For the Medieval Challenge, two of the books I read were texts that were written during the medieval period: Le Morte D'Arthur and The Canterbury Tales. I learned my lesson after the first one, and decided to go with a Modern English version for Chaucer. I chose David Wright's Modern English prose translation, written in 1964. I decided on a prose version because I really just wanted to know the stories, and if I'm reading a translation anyway, I might as well read it in prose form. As Wright points out in his introduction, it can be difficult to translate poetry while trying to maintain the poem, creating difficulties for the reader. One thing I found interesting was that for two of the tales, Wright simply gives the reader the gist of it, and does not bother including them in the book. He seems to feel that, even translated, these pieces are unnecessarily long-winded and unwieldy, and we would be better off without them. These are "The Tale of Melibeus" and "The Parson's Tale".
I was so surprised by the vulgarity, sex, and humor that were present in these tales. It was fascinating how the tales swung back and forth between morality stories about the saints and stories about wayward wives and their sexual exploits. I found some of the stories very very funny, which was another surprise. It's fantastic that even though this was written over 600 years ago, we still can find so many points of commonality. Of course, our views of women have changed (for the most part), and the overall culture's views towards God and the Church are different, but these details only make the tales more intriguing. I think it is truly incredible that we have this opportunity to read stories that give us a glimpse of what life was like centuries ago. And it is so much fun to read. Really, this is a very highly recommended translation for anyone who is considering reading The Canterbury Tales.
Reading classics is so much fun, I'm doing it for multiple challenges! This book fits right in with the Really Old Classics Challenge and the Centuries Challenge. It is also my "C" book for the A-Z Reading Challenge.

Library Loot - March 11, 2009

2009-03-11T18:51:00.000-07:00

Ugh . . . I can't even keep my stacks of books together anymore. But truthfully, and I know I say this a lot, I will not continue to get this many books in the weeks to come. I will catch up.
So here they are:

Bhagavad Gita (for the Really Old Classics Challenge)
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (see above)
Notebooks by Leonardo Da Vinci (see above)
The Known World by Edward P Jones (for the 999 Challenge - its a Pulitzer Prize Winner)
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (see above)
Legacy of Ashes by Time Weiner (another award winner for my 999 Challenge)
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan (see above)
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson (see above)
Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (see above)
Octavian Nothing - The Pox Party by M T Anderson (see above)
The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti (I can't even remember why I had this one on hold - so sad)
City of Thieves by David Benioff (another one I'm not sure about, but I have it now!)

And this week I took back Graceling and The Given Day without getting to read them. So they're back on the to-read list.
If you would like to see what others are getting or participate, head over here.

Amber and Blood by Margaret Weis

2009-03-07T09:38:00.000-08:00

Amber and Blood is the third book in the post-War of the Souls trilogy in the Dragonlance series of books. This trilogy is called Dark Disciple, and it focuses on Mina, a character that was introduced in the War of the Souls trilogy. For those who know nothing about Dragonlance lore, this review is not going to make a whole lot of sense, and I feel compelled to tell you that there are series spoilers in this review.
In the last book in the trilogy we discovered that Mina was actually a god - all this time she thought the gods were working through her, but it was really her power that was working. She was created at the beginning of time as a god of Light, but as her existence upset the balance between Darkness and Light, she was put into eternal slumber. She awoke when Takhisis stole the world, which precipitated the War of the Souls. Takhisis convinced Mina to work for Darkness, and Mina never discovered that she was meant to be a goddess on the side of Light. It's no wonder that at the beginning of Amber and Blood, she goes crazy and appears as the aspect of a six-year-old child, before she became a vehicle of Takhisis' will. Amber and Blood follows Mina's journey to Godshome, where she is drawn for some inexplicable purpose. She is joined by Brother Rhys, a monk, and Nightshade, a kender (with common sense), and their dog Atta. The choices she makes could upset the balance of power in the universe, but no one seems to no what she might do.
I really only finished this book because I wanted to see how Weis would end the trilogy. The book itself was definitely not great. I enjoyed it for the Dragonlance storyline, but even that really wasn't enough to make me care about what happened. It's disappointing, because I know that Weis can do better, at least I have read better books by her and Tracy Hickman together (The Deathgate Cycle is a must read for anyone who enjoys fantasy). But the latest Dragonlance books, especially this series, have really been a let-down.
This book qualifies for a few challenges I am participating in. For the What's in a Name Challenge, it serves as the "body part" category. For the Read Your Name Challenge, it is my "A" book (now I just need J-E-S-S-I). And it is also my "W" book for the A-Z Reading Challenge - I'm reading authors a to z.

Library Loot - March 4, 2009

2009-03-04T11:58:00.000-08:00

I did not have any library loot last week, as I was out of town, but this week I once again make up for it by adding more books to my list than I can manage to read in a week.

The Aeneid by Virgil (Another one that will eventually get read for the Really Old Classics Challenge)
Metamorphoses by Ovid (see above)
Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta (I have read so much about this book, I am looking forward to reading it)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski (on a Best of 2008 list, and still one of the most popular books at my library - I'm predicting now that I will not get it read before it's due back)
Coraline by Neil Gaiman (I already saw the movie, and I loved it, so now I finally have the book to compare it to)
Warriors: Tigerstar & Sasha #1 by Dan Jolley & Don Hudson, created by Erin Hunter (this is a manga that covers some of the back story of a few characters in the Warriors series - should be entertaining)

So there we are - as a note, it is obvious that I do not read quite this many books every week. Maybe I should start keeping track of the books that get returned when I can't even start them before they're due back. In that vein, this last week I returned Anathem by Neal Stephenson and Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. They have both since been added to my to-read list, rather than my physical to-read stack.

Suddenly Supernatural: Scaredy Kat by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel

2009-03-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

Scaredy Kat is the second book in the Suddenly Supernatural series; the first book was School Spirit. I didn't read School Spirit, but I still enjoyed Scaredy Kat. I did not feel like I was behind on the story at all.
Scaredy Kat takes place over Kat's spring break from school. She has recently turned thirteen, and with her thirteenth birthday she came in to her supernatural ability to see and communicate with spirits. When this book opens Kat has already had some experience dealing with ghosts. Now she's by herself on spring break, her best friend Jac off at a music conference, and she becomes interested in the abandoned house next door. She takes a few pictures of it, but when she loads them on to her computer, she sees something that wasn't there before: a boy looking out from one of the windows. When Kat decides to investigate, she realizes that sometimes spirits can be really scary.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and it seems like it will be a fun series. Kimmel does a great job of creating suspense for the reader. This is one of those books where almost every chapter ends in a way that makes it almost impossible to stop reading. And it is set up nicely for the next ghostly encounter in the next book. I liked the fact that even while Kat was dealing with the spirit world, she and her best friend were also dealing with being thirteen. They both had to make decisions about being their own person and relying on themselves rather than on their parents. The only difficulty I had with the book was that I felt it went into more detail about some of the supernatural stuff than was entirely necessary. Younger kids might have a hard time understanding all of the spirit world speak, like "energy work" and auras. But it's hard to say whether or not the story could be told without that. So it's a minor complaint.
This was a fun read, and would be enjoyed by older kids and middle schoolers.