The Ladybug Reads...

Kobo "Winter Escape" Contest

2012-01-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

For the next few weeks, Kobo is holding a "Winter Escape" contest. All you have to do is buy an e-book from Kobo between January 23rd and February 19th and you'll be entered to win a trip for two to a sunny vacation destination! Sounds pretty good, right? Even better, the contest is open to readers in the US, Canada (excluding Quebec), and the UK.

Any books bought from Kobo count (even the inexpensive ones), so head on over there and see what they have to offer! Try these links to get started:

Kobo Books

eBooks from Indie Authors all under $1!

Kobo Cheap Reads

Review - Pictures of Hollis Woods

2012-01-20T00:02:00.000-08:00

Pictures of Hollis Woods
by Patricia Reilly Giff
Date: 2002
Publisher: Dell Yearling
Reading level: MG
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 166
Format: paperback
Source: library

Hollis Woods has been in so many foster homes she can hardly remember them all. She even runs away from the Regans, the one family who offers her a home.

When Hollis is sent to Josie, an elderly artist who is quirky and affectionate, she wants to stay. But Josie is growing more forgetful every day. If Social Services finds out, they’ll take Hollis away and move Josie into a home. Well, Hollis Woods won’t let anyone separate them. She’s escaped the system before; this time, she plans to take Josie with her.

Yet behind all her plans, Hollis longs for her life with the Regans, fixing each moment of her time with them in pictures she’ll never forget.

(synopsis from Amazon)

I saw the TV movie version of this book a few years ago. It was a pretty good story, and I thought I might like to read the book. I finally got around to it. Unlike the last Newbery Honor book I read, this one really deserved the honour.

Hollis tells us the story in the first person. She's not really as tough as she seems, and she's an interesting character. I liked seeing the different aspects of her personality come out, depending on whom she was dealing with. We also get to know the other characters by seeing them through her eyes.

There wasn't much I can complain about with this one. I quite enjoyed it. Even though it's a middle grade title, it doesn't really read like one; there's no condescension on the part of the author and it'll hold an adult's interest as well as a 10-year-old's.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.57 out of 5

Review - Olive's Ocean

2012-01-13T17:05:00.000-08:00

Olive's Ocean
by Kevin Henkes
Date: 2003
Publisher: HarperTrophy
Reading level: MG
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 217
Format: hardcover
Source: library

"Olive Barstow was dead. She'd been hit by a car on Monroe Street while riding her bicycle weeks ago. That was about all Martha knew."

Martha Boyle and Olive Barstow could have been friends. But they weren't -- and now all that is left are eerie connections between two girls who were in the same grade at school and who both kept the same secret without knowing it.

Now Martha can't stop thinking about Olive. A family summer on Cape Cod should help banish those thoughts; instead, they seep in everywhere.

And this year Martha's routine at her beloved grandmother's beachside house is complicated by the Manning boys. Jimmy, Tate, Todd, Luke, and Leo. But especially Jimmy. What if, what if, what if, what if?

The world can change in a minute.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I'd never heard of this book, but when I saw it at the library, I thought it looked like something I might enjoy. It was a fairly good read, though not perfect.

The book takes place on the Atlantic coast, at Martha's grandmother's house. It's sort of a coming-of-age story, with early romantic feelings playing a role. The side story about Olive Barstow was just that: a side story. I wish that that aspect of the plot had been a little more developed. I also would have liked to see more about Martha's desire to be a writer. For someone with that aspiration, she didn't seem to write very much.

I wasn't sure I liked the supporting characters in this book. Martha's little sister was a total brat, a product of atrocious parenting by a couple of stereotypes (a frazzled stay-at-home father and an overachieving mother who's clueless about her offspring); it made me wonder how Martha and Vince (her older brother) could've turned out so normal. Martha was a likable enough main character, though she didn't always come across evenly. Sometimes she seemed her age, but at other times her thoughts and speech seemed just a bit off: too mature and sophisticated. It was almost as though the author was struggling to see things from inside the head of a 12-year-old girl.

While I would have liked to see more in the way of plot, what was there flowed along nicely. The writing was good but, again, the style didn't really fit with the age of the characters or the reading audience. (I don't have that small of a vocabulary, and there were a few words that had me pulling out the dictionary!)

All in all, it wasn't a bad book, and I did somewhat enjoy it. I'm confused as to why it received a Newbery Honor, though; I didn't think it was that great.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.43 out of 5

Review - Blue Chicken

2012-01-09T14:51:00.000-08:00

Blue Chicken
by Deborah Freedman
illustrated by Deborah Freedman
Date: 2011
Publisher: Viking Children's Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: We Give Books

In this deceptively simple picture book, author-illustrator Deborah Freedman has created an irresistible character that springs to life and wreaks havoc in a farmyard with a pot of blue paint. The innocent chicken just wants to help, but things get worse and worse -- and bluer and bluer -- the more she tries. Playing with colors and perspective, and using minimal text, this richly layered story reveals new things to see and laugh about with each reading.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Sometimes I'm just in the mood for reading picture books. There are some great ones out there, some with awesome stories, others with amazing art (and some with both, of course). I stumbled across this book as a link for the We Give Books program; if you read this book online, you'll have an opportunity to give a book to children in need. What a neat idea!

I wasn't expecting much from this short little book, but I was pleasantly surprised. The premise is simple, but the illustrations really bring the story to life. Can the chicken fix the blue mess she's created? You'll have to read the book to find out. (It's only 40 pages, with very little text, so it won't take you very long... unless you get sucked into poring over the cute illustrations!)

Premise: 5/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4.4 out of 5

The Ladybug's Top Reads of 2011

2011-12-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

I actually read more books than I thought I would this year. While I tend to gravitate toward young adult fantasy, many of the books I read were from different genres (or for different age groups)... including some of my top-rated reads for the year. Overall, I finished 34 books. There were only 3 DNFs.

These books made the top of my list (there are 11 because the last two were tied in rating):

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
My Review
Buy The Art of Racing in the Rain from Kobo

Room by Emma Donoghue
My Review
Buy Room from Kobo

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
My Review
Buy Ship Breaker from Kobo

The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
My Review
Buy The Adoration Of Jenna Fox from Kobo

The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder
My Review
Buy The Day Before from Indigo

Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
My Review
Buy Inside Out and Back Again from Kobo

The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller
My Review
Buy The Lost Crown from Indigo

The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
My Review
Buy The Magician's Elephant from Indigo

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
My Review
Buy Peter and the Starcatchers from Indigo

God Went to Beauty School by Cynthia Rylant
My Review
Buy God Went To Beauty School from Kobo

Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury
My Review
Buy Wrapped from Indigo

Honourable mentions (all rated 4 ladybugs or above):

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder
My Review
Buy I Heart You You Haunt Me from Kobo

Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
My Review
Buy Shiver from Kobo

Eli the Good by Silas House
My Review
Buy Eli the Good from Kobo

Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer
My Review
Buy Charlotte Sometimes from Kobo

Faves of TwentyEleven Book Awards - The Covers

2011-12-23T22:24:00.000-08:00

Here's another contribution to inkcrush's meme. It almost seems like covers are getting better and better as time goes on... like mini works of art!

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai

This is probably my favourite cover of 2011. I love the colours and the cute little figure standing in the breeze.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

This cover is really pretty, with metallic lettering and some sparkles. Very cute and perfect for a Peter Pan prequel.

Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury

The colours are what drew me to this cover. I haven't seen too many historical novels with illustrated covers, so this one definitely caught my attention.

The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller

This book has a pretty cover on the front... but also on the spine (a background of pearls) and back (a photo of three other girls). As a bonus, it also has photos of the real Romanov family inside.

Tempestuous by Lesley Livingston

While this isn't my favourite cover of the three book in this series, it's still rather pretty. I like the ethereal look of all three covers.

Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel

Though I didn't really like this book, the cover was one of the reasons I picked it up in the first place. The colours are gorgeous and the photo fits the title and subject matter very well.

Ice by Sarah Beth Durst

Though I ended up not really liking this one, I still love the cover. The chilly colours and snowflake patterns really help set the mood.

Evil? by Timothy Carter

This cover is pretty unique, being turned 90 degrees. It's certainly eye-catching.

Eli the Good by Silas House

This book evoked a hot summer in Kentucky very well. The cover continues in the same vein. I love the light coming through the branches.

I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder

This cover is simple, but very effective. You can tell pretty much right away what the story is going to be about. The casual, handwriting-like script for the title is a nice touch.

Faves of TwentyEleven Book Awards - The Characters

2011-12-21T13:07:00.000-08:00

I thought it would be fun to join in with inkcrush's meme. I read quite a few enjoyable books this year with some awesome characters.

1. favourite female main character - Jenna from The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson ~ Although she's not one of my all-time favourites, she was probably my favourite of 2011. It wasn't so much who she was as how she came across on paper; I thoroughly enjoyed her narration of this thought-provoking story.

2. favourite male main character - Jack from Room by Emma Donoghue ~ Who would've thought a five-year-old narrator would take my top spot for male characters? This book was unlike anything I'd read before, and Jack's telling of the story was unforgettable.

3. best couple <3 - Agnes and Caedmon from Wrapped by Jennifer Bradbury ~ A lot of young adult romantic couples are overly saccharine and not very realistic. I really enjoyed the interplay between Agnes and Caedmon, and even if they were mainly just friends, I was rooting for them to get together by the end.

4. who i so want to be best friends with - God from God Went to Beauty School by Cynthia Rylant ~ This is not the vengeance-seeking deity that inspires fear. Rylant's God is a kinder, gentler sort of character with a likeable hint of vulnerability. He'd be awfully fun to hang out with.

5. who i fell completely in love with (new literary crush) - Lyric from I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder ~ I don't know if I'd say I completely fell in love with him, but he was one of the least objectionable love interests that I came across this year. Sensitive, kind, and smart... what's not to like?

6. worst (best & baddest) villian - Richard Lopez from Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi ~ This guy was just plain scary. You never knew where or when he'd turn up next... but you knew that when he inevitably did, he would cause trouble.

7. best character twist (who you loved then hated or vice versa) - Cassie from Ice by Sarah Beth Durst ~ I didn't start out loving this character; in fact, I was pretty indifferent. But by the end of the book, I couldn't stand her. I guess I couldn't get over the fact that she let her "husband" (whom she initially married only to secure her mother's freedom) off the hook for tampering with her birth control and impregnating her against her will. Ew.

8. best kick-arse female - Nikki Heat from Naked Heat by Richard Castle ~ Nikki Heat is the very definition of "kick-arse"... especially in some of the scenes in this book.

9. best kick-arse male - Peter from Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson ~ Peter was pretty much a normal boy... until he started being able to fly. Then he was a force to be reckoned with!

10. broke your heart the most - Amber from The Day Before by Lisa Schroeder ~ I have to be honest: I still don't fully understand (or agree with) Amber's decision in this book. The whole situation was pretty heartbreaking.

11. favourite pet/animal character award - Enzo from The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein ~ If I'm being honest, Enzo could probably tie with Jack for my favourite male character (see above). I loved his storytelling.

12. best YA parents award - Eli's parents from Eli the Good by Silas House ~ I picked these two not so much because they were perfect, but because they were real. As an added bonus, they're actually an integral part of the main character's life (something that seems to be all too rare in today's crop of YA titles).

13. favourite sibling relationship - Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia from The Lost Crown by Sarah Miller ~ The author really captured the relationship between these four girls (and, to a lesser extent, their brother). After reading this one, I kind of wished I had a few more sisters!

14. favourite best friends/friendship award - Charlotte and Emily from Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer ~ These two almost had a sibling-type relationship, but since they weren't actually related, I've chosen them for the friendship category. Like siblings, they had their arguments and their ups and downs... but the dynamic was really interesting and made the most of the story's unusual circumstances.

15. best/worst character names - best: Count Jonty Um from A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine ~ A lot of the names in this book were fun (hint: say them out loud); worst: Dek from The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix ~ It sounds too harsh and negative... like "dreck". Her full name was Dekaterina, which is much nicer.

Review - The Art of Racing in the Rain

2011-12-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

The Art of Racing in the Rain
by Garth Stein
Date: 2008
Publisher: Harper Collins
Reading level: A
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 321
Format: paperback
Source: Indigo

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: a philosopher with a nearly human soul (and an obsession with opposable thumbs), he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver. Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. Using the techniques needed on the race track, one can successfully navigate all of life's ordeals.

On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through. In the end, despite what he sees as his own limitations, Enzo comes through heroically to preserve the Swift family, holding in his heart the dream that Denny will become a racing champion with Zoë at his side.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life... as only a dog could tell it.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I'm finding that some of the books that have been sitting in my TBR pile the longest are actually some of the best... and I keep kicking myself for not picking them up sooner!

I really enjoyed this one. Enzo (the dog) is an amazing narrator with an unforgettable voice. I thought perhaps that all the talk of racing wouldn't appeal to me, but it actually helps move the story along quite well and gives us more insight into the characters. This book is quite philosophical at heart, looking at some rather metaphysical issues from the point of view of an extremely insightful canine. Anyone who's had a dog and wondered if there's more behind that quirky gesture or inexplicable doggy behaviour will delight in this exploration of what if? What if your dog understood everything that was going on (possibly better than you could), but just couldn't express it in a way you could understand?

This book made me laugh, got me a little teary, and made me want to recommend it to lots of people. What a great book to help end a year of reading on a high note!

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.86 out of 5

In My Mailbox (51)

2011-12-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

Bought from Indigo:

Graceling
by Kristin Cashore

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

When she first meets Prince Po, Graced with combat skills, Katsa has no hint of how her life is about to change. She never expects to become Po’s friend. She never expects to learn a new truth about her own Grace—or about a terrible secret that lies hidden far away... a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Jolted: Newton's Starker's Rules for Survival
by Arthur Slade

Newton Goddard Starker lives with a mysterious curse. Members of the Starker family attract lightning, and nearly all his relatives have died from lightning strikes.

Newton is determined to beat the odds, and he may have found the answer: Jerry Potts Academy for Survival, a boarding school in Moose Jaw, Canada. Its motto is: Survival Through Fierce Intelligence. Newton’s ready to learn, and to be remembered in the school’s Hall of Heroes.

But for a boy who’s spent most of his life in a protective dome, making friends proves almost as challenging as the struggle to survive. Especially when he’s vying for top marks with the dynamo Violet Quon, a force of nature.

Leviathan
by Scott Westerfeld

Prince Aleksander, would-be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is on the run. His own people have turned on him. His title is worthless. All he has is a battletorn war machine and a loyal crew of men.

Deryn Sharp is a commoner, disguised as a boy in the British Air Service. She's a brilliant airman. But her secret is in constant danger of being discovered.

With World War I brewing, Alek and Deryn's paths cross in the most unexpected way... taking them on a fantastical, around-the-world adventure that will change both their lives forever.

Prophecy of the Sisters
by Michelle Zink

An ancient prophecy divides two sisters-

One good...

One evil...

Who will prevail?

Twin sisters Lia and Alice Milthorpe have just become orphans. They have also become enemies. As they discover their roles in a prophecy that has turned generations of sisters against each other, the girls find themselves entangled in a mystery that involves a tattoo-like mark, their parents' deaths, a boy, a book, and a lifetime of secrets.

Lia and Alice don't know whom they can trust.

They just know they can't trust each other.

Christmas came a bit early! I got four new hardcovers and didn't pay more than $6 for any of them. I love the bargain section...

I'm definitely going to have to make some sort of New Year's resolution about not buying any more books in 2012. Between the TBR pile, NetGalley, and the library, I've got enough to last me for years!

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - A Christmas Story

2011-12-14T23:26:00.000-08:00

A Christmas Story
by Jean Shepherd
Date: 2000
Publisher: Broadway
Reading level: A
Book type: short stories
Pages: 144
Format: e-book
Source: Kobo

The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family’s typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.

This edition of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parker’s shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and father’s pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphie’s duel in the show with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphie’s unstoppable campaign to get Santa—or anyone else—to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid”?

The pieces that comprise A Christmas Story, previously published in the larger collections In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, coalesce in a magical fashion to become an irresistible piece of Americana, quite the equal of the film in its ability to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I don't tend to read a lot of holiday-themed books. Even if I do, I usually end up reading them months away from the relevant holiday. I bought A Christmas Story last year when I found it for a good price, decided I would read it before Christmas rolled around again, and promptly forgot about it. I remembered I had it in my TBR pile just in time!

A Christmas Story is one of my favourite Christmas movies, so I was really curious to read the book. Although the book is comprised of five unrelated short stories, it manages to cover most of the major events in the film. I can't say that I was really surprised by anything in the book (other than the fact that, originally, the Bumpus hounds stole an Easter ham instead of a Christmas turkey); certain parts of the book were taken almost verbatim and put into the film.

While the stories are amusing, they seem a bit dry in comparison to the magic of the film version. I also wasn't crazy about the writing. The stories are told in an autobiographical fashion, with the narrator reminiscing about childhood events. However, the tenses were constantly switching between past and present tense (sometimes in the middle of a paragraph) and that grated on my nerves.

If you've seen the movie, you won't get much more out of reading the book. If you haven't seen the movie... where have you been every Christmas since 1983?

Enjoyment: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Selection: 4/5

Overall: 3.4 out of 5

In My Mailbox (50)

2011-12-11T00:01:00.000-08:00

Borrowed from the library:

I Heart You, You Haunt Me
by Lisa Schroeder

Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back...

... sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

For review from NetGalley:

The Green Man
by Michael Bedard

Teenaged O – never call her Ophelia – is about to spend the summer with her aunt Emily. Emily is a poet and the owner of an antiquarian book store, The Green Man. A proud, independent woman, Emily’s been made frail by a heart attack. O will be a help to her. Just how crucial that help will be unfolds as O first tackles Emily’s badly neglected home, then the chaotic shop. But soon she discovers that there are mysteries and long-buried dark forces that she cannot sweep away, though they threaten to awaken once more.

On A Dark Wing
by Jordan Dane

"The choices I had made led to the moment when fate took over. I would learn a lesson I wasn’t prepared for.
And Death would be my willing teacher."

Five years ago Abbey Chandler cheated Death. She survived a horrific car accident, but her lucky break came at the expense of her mother’s life and changed everything. After she crossed paths with Death—by taking the hand of an ethereal boy made of clouds and sky—she would never be normal again.

Now she’s the target of Death’s Ravens and an innocent boy’s life is on the line. When Nate Holden—Abbey’s secret crush—starts to climb Alaska’s Denali, the Angel of Death is with him because of her.

Abbey finds out the hard way that Death never forgets.

Saving June
by Hannah Harrington

‘If she’d waited less than two weeks, she’d be June who died in June. But I guess my sister didn’t consider that.’

Harper Scott’s older sister has always been the perfect one so when June takes her own life a week before her high school graduation, sixteen-year-old Harper is devastated. Everyone’s sorry, but no one can explain why.

When her divorcing parents decide to split her sister’s ashes into his-and-her urns, Harper takes matters into her own hands. She’ll steal the ashes and drive cross-country with her best friend, Laney, to the one place June always dreamed of going California.

Enter Jake Tolan. He’s a boy with a bad attitude, a classic-rock obsession and nothing in common with Harper’s sister. But Jake had a connection with June, and when he insists on joining them, Harper’s just desperate enough to let him. With his alternately charming and infuriating demeanour and his belief that music can see you through anything, he might be exactly what she needs.

Except June wasn’t the only one hiding something. Jake’s keeping a secret that has the power to turn Harper’s life upside down again.

Skyfall
by Michael Dahl

Far above the small town of Zion Falls, the stars fall from the sky. Deep below the sleepy city, an ancient evil awakens. Caught in the middle are four teens with hidden powers beyond their wildest dreams...

Someone Else's Life
by Katie Dale

When seventeen-year-old Rosie’s mother, Trudie, dies from Huntington’s Disease, her pain is intensified by the knowledge that she has a fifty-per-cent chance of inheriting the crippling disease herself. Only when she tells her mum’s best friend, ‘Aunt Sarah’ that she is going to test for the disease does Sarah, a midwife, reveal that Trudie was not her biological mother after all... Devastated, Rosie decides to trace her real mother, hitching along on her ex-boyfriend’s GAP year to follow her to Los Angeles. But all does not go to plan, and as Rosie discovers yet more of her family's deeply-buried secrets and lies, she is left with an agonising decision of her own - one which will be the most heart-breaking and far-reaching of all...

The Taming
by Teresa Toten and Eric Walters

Katie likes to believe she's invisible. It seems much safer than being exposed as she is--shy, poor, awkward. So getting up on stage in the school production of The Taming of the Shrew should be complete torture. But as Katie tells it, something totally unexpected happened when she stepped on stage: "My head exploded. I loved it. Acting hit me like a sucker punch and I loved, loved, loved it! ... Invisible Katie became visible Katharina."

Evan Cooper is, as they say, another story. He knows just what it takes to get noticed, and he uses every one of the skills he's honed after years of being the new kid. Like tossing the keys to his father's high-end Audi to a kid he's never met, first day of school. "I have insurance for car theft," he explains to a shocked Danny. "And there's a full tank." An abuse of the power that comes with privilege and money? Sure.

But more dangerously, is his romance with Katie another version of the same thing? Or is it the real thing?

Aack. NetGalley. Well, at least I'll have a lot of cool-looking books to read in the next little while!

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Deals at Chapters/Indigo!

2011-12-09T17:35:00.000-08:00

Until Sunday (December 11), if you spend $75 or more at Indigo.ca, you can get 15% off your order:

Indigo.ca - Save 15% Online Dec 9-11th!

There are some great deals in the bargain section right now! Here are some of YA titles I found:

Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston - hardcover for $5.99
Darklight by Lesley Livingston - hardcover for $5.99

Deadly Little Lies by Laurie Faria Stolarz - hardcover for $5.99
Deadly Little Games by Laurie Faria Stolarz - hardcover for $4.99

The Girl with the Mermaid Hair by Delia Ephron - hardcover for $4.99

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld - hardcover for $5.99

Need by Carrie Jones - hardcover for $5.99

Prophecy of the Sisters by Michelle Zink - hardcover for $5.99

Splendor: A Luxe Novel by Anna Godbersen - hardcover for $6.99

TMI by Sarah Quigley - hardcover for $4.99

At those prices, they'd make some cool stocking stuffers for the avid readers on your Christmas list! Be sure to check out the adult and child bargain sections, too... you never know what goodies you might find!

Review - I Heart You, You Haunt Me

2011-12-09T16:58:00.000-08:00

I Heart You, You Haunt Me
by Lisa Schroeder
Date: 2008
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Reading level: YA
Book type: verse novel
Pages: 227
Format: paperback
Source: library

Girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy.

Girl gets boy back...

...sort of.

Ava can't see him or touch him, unless she's dreaming. She can't hear his voice, except for the faint whispers in her mind. Most would think she's crazy, but she knows he's here.

Jackson. The boy Ava thought she'd spend the rest of her life with. He's back from the dead, as proof that love truly knows no bounds.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I've been feeling like I haven't read enough books this year. I'm able to fly through verse novels pretty quickly, though, so I thought I'd try to find some to help pad out my 2011 reading list. I read Lisa Schroeder's The Day Before back in June, and I quite enjoyed it. So I thought I'd read this earlier work about a girl who's in love with a ghost.

The writing in this one didn't wow me like the writing in TDB. There's nothing wrong with the writing; it just didn't knock my socks off. I did, however, enjoy the story more in this book. The characterization was better and I liked the supernatural element. There also seemed to be more of a positive character arc in this book (I'm still not sold on the decision the main character made in TDB).

Overall, it was a good story with interesting characters, and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it. I guess I'm becoming a Lisa Schroeder fan; it's probably inevitable that Chasing Brooklyn and Far From You will end up on my wish list (and probably in the TBR pile).

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4.29 out of 5

In My Mailbox (49)

2011-12-04T00:01:00.000-08:00

Borrowed from the library:

Distant Waves
by Suzanne Weyn

Science, spiritualism, history, and romance intertwine in Suzanne Weyn's newest novel. Four sisters and their mother make their way from a spiritualist town in New York to London, becoming acquainted with journalist W. T. Stead, scientist Nikola Tesla, and industrialist John Jacob Astor. When they all find themselves on the Titanic, one of Tesla's inventions dooms them... and one could save them.

The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman

After the grisly murder of his entire family, a toddler wanders into a graveyard where the ghosts and other supernatural residents agree to raise him as one of their own.

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family...

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

My Swordhand Is Singing
by Marcus Sedgwick

In the bitter cold of an unrelenting winter Tomas and his son, Peter, arrive in Chust and despite the inhospitability of the villagers settle there as woodcutters. Tomas digs a channel of fast-flowing waters around their hut so they have their own little island kingdom. Peter doesn't understand why his father has done this, nor why his father carries a long battered box everywhere they go, and why he is forbidden to know its mysterious contents. But when a band of gypsies comes to the village Peter's drab existence is turned upside down. He is infatuated by the beautiful gypsy princess, Sofia, intoxicated by their love of life and drawn into their deadly quest. For these travellers are Vampire Slayers and Chust is a dying community - where the dead come back to wreak revenge on the living. Amidst the terrifying events that follow, Peter is stunned to see his father change from a disillusioned man to the warrior hero he once was.

Numbers
by Rachel Ward

Since her mother's death, fifteen-year-old Jem has kept a secret. When her eyes meet someone else's, a number pops into her head - the date on which they will die. Knowing that nothing lasts forever, Jem avoids relationships, but when she meets a boy called Spider, and they plan a day out together, her life takes a new twist and turn. Waiting for the London Eye, she sees everyone in the queue has the same number - something terrible is going to happen.

Repossessed
by A. M. Jenkins

Don't call me a demon. I prefer the term Fallen Angel.

Everybody deserves a vacation, right? Especially if you have a pointless job like tormenting the damned. So who could blame me for blowing off my duties and taking a small, unauthorized break?

Besides, I've always wanted to see what physical existence is like. That's why I "borrowed" the slightly used body of a slacker teen. Believe me, he wasn't going to be using it anymore anyway.

I have never understood why humans do the things they do. Like sin — if it's so terrible, why do they keep doing it?

I'm going to have a lot of fun finding out!

Wither
by Lauren DeStefano

Obviously, something went terribly wrong. Genetic mutations have festered, reducing human longevity to twenty-five, even less for most women. To prevent extinction, young girls are kidnapped, mated in polygamous marriages with men eager to procreate. Sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery, a recent victim of this breeding farm mentality, has vowed to break loose from its fetters; but finding allies and a safe way out is a challenge she can only hope she will survive.

I went to the library on Monday, but not the one I usually go to. They had so many books that I wanted to read! I had to show some restraint and only pick a few. I hope my choices turn out to be satisfying...

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - Dreamhunter

2011-12-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

Dreamhunter
by Elizabeth Knox
Date: 2005
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 384
Format: hardcover
Source: Chapters

Laura comes from a world similar to our own except for one difference: it is next to the Place, an unfathomable land that fosters dreams of every kind and is inaccessible to all but a select few, the Dreamhunters. These are individuals with special gifts: the ability to catch larger-than-life dreams and relay them to audiences in the magnificent dream palace, the Rainbow Opera. People travel from all around to experience the benefits of the hunters' unique visions. Now fifteen-year-old Laura and her cousin Rose, daughters of Dreamhunters, are eligible to test
themselves at the Place and find out whether they qualify for the passage. But nothing can prepare them for what they are about to discover. For within the Place lies a horrific secret kept hidden by corrupt members of the government. And when
Laura's father, the man who discovered the Place, disappears, she realizes that this secret has the power to destroy everyone she loves...

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book has been in my TBR pile for ages. I think it was one of the first books I bought after starting this blog... and it's sat in the pile ever since as other books have clamoured for my attention (and won). Now that I finally got a chance to read Dreamhunter, I'm not sure what to think. I enjoyed it... and yet something was missing.

The pace starts out quite slowly, which was okay since the author spends a lot of time developing the setting of Laura and Rose's world. The whole idea of the Place is intriguing, and the scenes that describe the Rainbow Opera and what goes on there are evocative and colourful; I could almost imagine myself there, in the festive atmosphere, among society's wealthiest citizens in their silk pajamas... The writing is quite nice, with almost an old-fashioned style (quite different from a lot of the current crop of YA books).

Unfortunately, while the overall premise and the setting are unique and unforgettable, the plot is somewhat weak. For a book that's so long (actually, it wasn't that long, but the slow pace of the story made it seem longer), there isn`t a lot of action. The climax is amazing and satisfying and makes sense in the context of the story, but it's so long in coming that it was a bit frustrating. And while the climax makes sense for now, there are a lot of loose ends that weren't tied up. The book is advertised as the first of a "duet" of books, so I'm assuming those missing answers are in Dreamquake.

By the time I finished Dreamhunter, I thought I wanted to be done with the series... but now I find that I really want to see how it all turns out. I've got other books I want to read in the meantime, so it'll be a while before I get to Dreamquake... but I guess I have to give the author some credit for making me curious enough to want to continue!

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.57 out of 5

Kobo contest, Cyber Monday discounts, and more!

2011-11-25T17:55:00.000-08:00

Kobo is running a contest and it's easy to enter; all you have to do is buy a book!

Any customer who purchases an eBook from Kobo between Nov 18th and Nov 30th is entered to win a trip for two to one of five extraordinary locations: Paris, London, Italy, California or the Galapagos Islands.

Plus, there are going to be some big Cyber Monday discounts on November 28th. So be sure to check the Kobo store on Monday!

If you don't have a Kobo eReader, here's a coupon for $20 off the Kobo Touch:

Kobo Coupons!

2011-11-21T12:49:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of Kobo coupons. The 20%-off coupon should be valid through the end of December, and the $1-off coupon is good until the end of January.

20% Off Kobo eBooks with code "June20off"

Get $1 Off select Kobo eBooks - Kobodollaroff

To use the coupons, you need to enter the appropriate code during the checkout process where it says: "Have a gift card or promo code? Use it here." (If you've already used these coupons, they probably won't work again. But for those who haven't tried them yet, it's a pretty good deal!)

Review - Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure

2011-11-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure
by Naomi C. Rose
illustrated by Naomi C. Rose
Date: 2011
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Tashi loves listening to Popola, her grandpa, sing Tibetan chants to the click, click of his prayer beads. She also loves hearing Popola's stories about the village in Tibet where he grew up. But recently Popola has been sick, and Tashi is worried.

One of the stories Tashi remembers told how people in Popola's village use flowers to help themselves recover from illnesses. Will this healing tradition work in the United States, so far from Popola's village? Determined to help Popola get better, Tashi recruits family, friends, and neighbors in a grand effort to find out.

Lyrically told and illustrated with impressionistic paintings, Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure shines a tender light on the universal bond between grandchild and grandparent. Readers of all ages are sure to be inspired by the gentle power of this story and its spirit of compassion and community.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

The description pretty much sums up this book. It's a charming story, told in free verse, about a little girl's love for her grandfather, illustrated in vivid colour by the author. Even as an adult, I know very little about Tibetan culture. This book highlights one aspect of that culture in a way that's easy for kids (and adults) to grasp. The message was sweet without being sappy, and the pictures were pleasant to look at. I think I would have enjoyed this book when I was a child.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4 out of 5

2012 E-Book Challenge

2011-11-08T13:07:00.000-08:00

I had fun hosting this challenge this past year, but decided it was time to pass the torch to someone else. Sarah at Workaday Reads is hosting the challenge for 2012. I'm going to join the challenge at the CD level (10 books) and see how things go; I may upgrade later... we'll see.

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Off The Shelf 2012

2011-11-08T12:56:00.000-08:00

I'm doing the Off The Shelf challenge again this year. I'm going to aim for the Tempted level (5 books) for now; I felt very rushed and stifled with the 2011 challenge because I aimed too high with 15 books... and it ended up not being much fun. I want to get through all those books in my TBR pile and have fun doing it!

1. Pictures of Hollis Woods by Patricia Reilly Giff
2.
3.
4.
5.

1 / 5 books. 20% done!

E-Book Reading Challenge 2012 - New Host!

2011-11-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

There was quite a bit of interest in hosting the E-Book Reading Challenge for 2012... so much so that I had to randomly draw a name! The lucky winner and new host is:

Sarah

@ Workaday Reads

It's time to head on over there and sign up for this fun challenge!

Review - Ice

2011-11-01T11:48:00.000-07:00

Ice
by Sarah Beth Durst
Date: 2009
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry
Reading level: YA
Book type: prose novel
Pages: 308
Format: hardcover
Source: Chapters

When Cassie was a little girl, her grandmother told her a fairy tale about her mother, who made a deal with the Polar Bear King and was swept away to the ends of the earth. Now that Cassie is older, she knows the story was a nice way of saying her mother had died. Cassie lives with her father at an Arctic research station, is determined to become a scientist, and has no time for make-believe.

Then, on her eighteenth birthday, Cassie comes face-to-face with a polar bear who speaks to her. He tells her that her mother is alive, imprisoned at the ends of the earth. And he can bring her back — if Cassie will agree to be his bride.

That is the beginning of Cassie's own real-life fairy tale, one that sends her on an unbelievable journey across the brutal Arctic, through the Canadian boreal forest, and on the back of the North Wind to the land east of the sun and west of the moon. Before it is over, the world she knows will be swept away, and everything she holds dear will be taken from her — until she discovers the true meaning of love and family in the magical realm of Ice.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Warning: review contains SPOILERS

When I was a kid, I had a VHS tape of an adaptation of East of the Sun, West of the Moon. I probably watched it once, it was so mind-numbingly boring. When I bought Ice, seduced by the beautiful cover, I didn't realize that it wasn't just that film adaptation that was boring. The story itself is just not very interesting (which is probably why Disney never bothered)! Sarah Beth Durst added a whole new dimension to the story that provided some much-needed interest... but those same changes were what ultimately turned me off the story altogether.

I was enjoying the story up until Cassie found out she was pregnant. Up until then, it had been a nice mix of present-day action and fairytale romance. But then Bear had to go and get Cassie pregnant (against her will, I might add) and everything fell apart. The fairytale elements began to seem cheesy and jarringly unrealistic (whereas they'd blended better with the first part of the book) and the story started to remind me of Breaking Dawn, with Cassie talking to her unborn baby every time it kicked. I thought the glorification of pregnancy was a bit too much for a young adult book, even though it made sense in the context of the plot. With a bit of tweaking, this would have been better suited to an adult genre. As someone without kids, I found it hard to relate to Cassie after she got pregnant and started all the fetus conversations; I'm pretty sure a 13-year-old wouldn't really be into reading about that, either.

So I understand why the author might have chosen to go in the direction she did, but I'm not convinced it worked for the young adult genre. While Ice is an improvement on the folk tale, it was still a disappointment.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 2.29 out of 5

Review - The Poison Eaters

2011-10-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

The Poison Eaters: and Other Stories
by Holly Black
Date: 2010
Publisher: Big Mouth House
Reading level: YA
Book type: short stories
Pages: 212
Format: hardcover
Source: Chapters

Poisonous girls whose kisses will kill. A fateful eating contest with the devil. Faeries who return to Ironside, searching for love. A junior prom turned bacchanalia. In twelve short stories, eerie and brimming with suspense and unexpected humor, Holly Black twists the fantastical creatures you thought you knew in ways you’ll never expect.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I know I tried to read Tithe years ago, but I wasn't able to get into it. So I wasn't sure if I liked Holly Black's stories or not. I'm still not sure. This collection of short stories was okay... but I don't feel like I want to run out and get all of the author's other books.

The stories are short and creative and original... but good grief! This book had the WORST editing I've ever seen. There were typos, extra words, changing tenses, and even a main character whose name changed for two paragraphs (in the first story, no less)! What bothers me even more about this is that all but two of these stories had been previously published. When the publisher made this collection, it looks like nobody bothered to give the stories a final polish or even proofread them. I find that insulting and unacceptable; had I paid more than a bargain price for this book, I would have been pretty pissed off.

I can't really say that I loved any of the stories, though some did stand out more than others. "Paper Cuts Scissors" and "The Poison Eaters" were probably my favourites. I had high hopes for "The Coat of Stars" and "The Virgin", but their abrupt (and therefore unsatisfying) endings left me wanting. "Going Ironside" was a waste of time and was barely even a story. Neither of the stories that tied into Holly Black's Modern Faerie Tales series made me want to read the books.

If you're a fan of this author and don't mind atrocious editing that's on par with some of the shoddiest self-published stuff out there, you might like this book. If you're an urban fantasy fan, there might be a couple of stories here for you to enjoy. If you're not a fan of Holly Black or urban fantasy and editing issues drive you nuts, give this one a pass.

Enjoyment: 2/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 0/5
Originality: 4/5
Selection: 3/5

Overall: 2.4 out of 5

In My Mailbox (48)

2011-10-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

Bought from Chapters:

The Replacement
by Brenna Yovanoff

Mackie Doyle is not one of us. Though he lives in the small town of Gentry, he comes from a world of tunnels and black murky water, a world of living dead girls ruled by a little tattooed princess. He is a Replacement, left in the crib of a human baby sixteen years ago. Now, because of fatal allergies to iron, blood, and consecrated ground, Mackie is fighting to survive in the human world.

Mackie would give anything to live among us, to practice on his bass or spend time with his crush, Tate. But when Tate's baby sister goes missing, Mackie is drawn irrevocably into the underworld of Gentry, known as Mayhem. He must face the dark creatures of the Slag Heaps and find his rightful place, in our world, or theirs.

Sisters of the Sword
by Maya Snow

Kimi dreams of being a great samurai warrior, but she and her sister, Hana, are young ladies of feudal Japan, daughters of the Jito of the province. Her future seems clear: Girls do not become samurai.

Then, betrayal shatters the sisters' world. Their power-hungry uncle murders their father, and their mother and little brother mysteriously disappear. Determined to seek revenge and restore their honor, they disguise themselves as boys to train at a school for samurai. Kimi and Hana are thrown headlong into a life of warrior codes, sharp swords, and shadowy figures—as they work with fierce determination to avenge the brutal wrongs done to their family.

In a flash, life has swept them into a terrible adventure, more heart-pounding than Kimi and Hana ever could have imagined . . . and once it has been set in motion, nothing will ever be the same.

Sisters of the Sword was only $2 in hardcover! It's rare to find the first book in a series in the bargain bin, so I couldn't pass it up. (I really have very little self-control when I see those bargain-price stickers on the front of a book...)

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

In My Mailbox (47)

2011-10-09T09:00:00.000-07:00

I've been neglecting the In My Mailbox meme for a while. So I didn't actually get all these books this past week! They've been accumulating for a while... even though I've been trying to limit myself. At least I'll have lots of stuff to read if I go for the Off The Shelf Challenge again next year!

Bought from Kobo:

11 Birthdays
by Wendy Mass

After celebrating their first nine same-day birthdays together, Amanda and Leo, having fallen out on their tenth and not speaking to each other for the last year, prepare to celebrate their eleventh birthday separately but peculiar things begin to happen as the day of their birthday begins to repeat itself over and over again.

Penelope
by Penelope Farmer

Why does Flora, as a small child, have memories of people, places and events she could not have experienced? As she grows older, the memories increase in intensity and the name Penelope seems to be hers, not Flora, which everyone calls her. In this compelling novel, Flora slowly and painfully learns the source of her ghostly memoires.

Shark Girl
by Kelly Bingham

On a sunny day in June, at the beach with her mom and brother, fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood went for a swim. And then everything — absolutely everything — changed. Now she’s counting down the days until she returns to school with her fake arm, where she knows kids will whisper, "That’s her — that’s Shark Girl," as she passes. In the meantime there are only questions: Why did this happen? Why her? What about her art? What about her life? In this striking first novel, Kelly Bingham uses poems, letters, telephone conversations, and newspaper clippings to look unflinchingly at what it’s like to lose part of yourself - and to summon the courage it takes to find yourself again.

Bought from Chapters:

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
by Ransom Riggs

A mysterious island.

An abandoned orphanage.

A strange collection of very curious photographs.

It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an unforgettable novel that mixes fiction and photography in a thrilling reading experience. As our story opens, a horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a deserted island for good reason. And somehow—impossible though it seems—they may still be alive.

A spine-tingling fantasy illustrated with haunting vintage photography, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children will delight adults, teens, and anyone who relishes an adventure in the shadows.

The Poison Eaters: and Other Stories
by Holly Black

Poisonous girls whose kisses will kill. A fateful eating contest with the devil. Faeries who return to Ironside, searching for love. A junior prom turned bacchanalia. In twelve short stories, eerie and brimming with suspense and unexpected humor, Holly Black twists the fantastical creatures you thought you knew in ways you’ll never expect.

I guess five fiction titles isn't that bad for a couple of months. It helps that I've stayed away from the actual stores and their tantalizing bargain sections!

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - The Always War

2011-10-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

The Always War
by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Date: 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Reading level: YA
Pages: 210
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

In a war-torn future United States, fifteen-year-old Tessa, her childhood friend Gideon, now a traumatized military hero, and Dek, a streetwise orphan, enter enemy territory and discover the shocking truth about a war that began more than seventy-five years earlier.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I know I've read some of Margaret Peterson Haddix's books before (Among the Hidden and Running Out of Time) and I remembered enjoying them, so when this title came up on Simon & Schuster's Galley Grab, I thought I'd probably like it. I don't know what the problem was; maybe I was a lot younger (and less discerning) when I read those other books... or maybe The Always War just wasn't very good.

My main complaint is that I just couldn't develop any sort of connection with any of the characters. Tessa, the protagonist, has an extremely thin backstory. All we really know about her is that she's read a lot of old books and that her parents seem to be alcoholics who do nothing but sleep off their hangovers and go to work. (There have been complaints about uninvolved parents in YA literature, but Tessa's parents have got to be some of the worst I've seen. They only make one "appearance"... and that's when one of them anonymously gets up to flush the toilet!) Tessa as a character is bland at best and annoying at worst. Her constant self-deprecation borders on whininess and she actually makes Bella "I'm-never-good-enough" Swan look a bit conceited. The other two main characters aren't much better. Gideon is supposedly suffering from PTSD, but even that doesn't make him very interesting. I got the feeling that we readers were supposed to fall for him, but he was too boring to be really appealing and it seemed like he was being forced upon us a little too much. I honestly lost count of the number of references to his golden hair. Dek was the only character who had any chance of being interesting, and even she didn't really capture my interest. With three teenagers in a YA novel, you'd think you could at least count on some sort of love triangle... but even that never materialized. Besides, I was never sure if Dek was even a teen or if she was just some sort of precocious wunderkind... so a love triangle might've seemed inappropriate anyway.

The premise for the story was okay, but it wasn't executed very well. There weren't very many exciting moments, and the ending came rather quickly (and a little too conveniently). The Always War is a dystopian novel that takes place in the future, but it didn't seem all that original to me. Ender's Game and The Hunger Games both came to mind as I was reading this book. Plus, I was put off by the Americo-centric flavour of the landscape. As with The Hunger Games, North America is just one giant country... which always raises more questions for me than it answers. I usually assume that either Canada and Mexico have been amalgamated with the U.S.A. ... or that the author doesn't realize that the U.S.A. is not the only country on the continent (or even in the entire world... and some of the statements made by the characters in The Always War made me wonder about that, too).

The best thing I can say about this book is that it's short (at just over 200 pages). It's intended for ages 12 and up, but it really reads more like a middle-grade novel. The story is not very sophisticated, the characters are dull, and the writing is pedestrian. If I were eleven, I might be impressed... but I've read better YA dystopian fiction.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 1/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 2/5
Editing: 2/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 2.43 out of 5

E-Book Reading Challenge 2012 - Looking for New Host!

2011-10-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

As interesting as hosting the 2011 E-Book Reading Challenge has been, I think I'm going to pass the torch to someone else for next year.

It's not an awful lot of work. You'll need a Mister Linky account and some free time, but that's about it. If you decide you're up to the task, I can provide more details about what's involved.

If you're interested in hosting, e-mail me and let me know!

Cool project for book lovers!

2011-09-26T13:15:00.000-07:00

Over on ohdeedoh there's a really cool tutorial for turning your worn-out paperbacks into pretty hardcovers. I'd love to try this... though I'd probably get carried away and want to do my whole library. Imagine how a full shelf of these would look!

How to Turn Old Paperbacks into Custom Hardbacks

Review - The Other Side of the Island

2011-09-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

The Other Side of the Island
by Allegra Goodman
Date: 2008
Publisher: Razorbill
Reading level: YA
Pages: 272
Source: Chapters

From New York Times bestselling author Allegra Goodman comes a post-apocalyptic novel about love, loss, and the power of human choice.

Honor and her parents have been reassigned to live on Island 365 in the Tranquil Sea. Life is peaceful there; the color of the sky is regulated by Earth Mother, a corporation that controls New Weather, and it almost never rains. Everyone fits into their rightful and predictable place....

Except Honor. She doesn't fit in, but then she meets Helix, a boy with a big heart and a keen sense for the world around them. Slowly, Honor and Helix begin to uncover a terrible truth about life on the Island: Sooner or later, those who are unpredictable disappear... and they don't ever come back.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This was a strange book for me. It started off pretty well as a story that's being told after the fact by an unseen narrator. You get the feeling that a lot of things have since changed. More than half of the book is dedicated to building the world (which is interesting) and the characters (which are not). By the time the real action part of the plot started to take place, I was nearing the end of the book... with a somewhat uneasy feeling because there didn't seem to be enough pages to tie everything together satisfactorily. And there weren't. The story just stops, with a quick and happy ending, leaving the reader to speculate on the implications of what probably happened next. I would have liked to see it spelled out a little more; as it was, there were a lot of things in the last quarter of the book that seemed rushed and overly convenient. A better ending might have made me continue my first-impression sentiment of "Oooh!" rather than the "Meh..." I was eventually left with.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.43 out of 5

Review - Peter and the Starcatchers

2011-09-16T17:31:00.000-07:00

Peter and the Starcatchers
by Dave Barry & Ridley Pearson
Date: 2006
Publisher: Disney Editions
Reading level: MG
Pages:451
Source: Chapters

Don’t even think of starting this book unless you’re sitting in a comfortable chair and have lots of time. A fast-paced, impossible-to-put-down adventure awaits as the young orphan Peter and his mates are dispatched to an island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They set sail aboard the Never Land, a ship carrying a precious and mysterious trunk in its cargo hold, and the journey quickly becomes fraught with excitement and danger. Discover richly developed characters in the sweet but sophisticated Molly, the scary but familiar Black Stache, and the fearless Peter. Treacherous battles with pirates, foreboding thunderstorms at sea, and evocative writing immerses the reader in a story that slowly and finally reveals the secrets and mysteries of the beloved Peter Pan. (synopsis from Goodreads)

This book has been sitting in my TBR pile for ages. I'm trying to complete the Off The Shelf Challenge, so I went back to that pile and chose to read this book. I'd heard good things about it and, even though it is a middle grade title (and not the YA or adult stuff I've gravitated towards lately), I was not disappointed. In fact, I really enjoyed this one.

Peter and the Starcatchers is a prequel to the Peter Pan stories by J. M. Barrie. Most of the main characters make an appearance here (with the exception of Wendy and her brothers; presumably, this story takes place quite a while before those events). Peter starts out as an orphan who, along with some other young boys from the orphanage, is put on a sailing ship bound for a strange land. It's the beginning of a great adventure and the authors do a nice job of providing backstory for the later, more familiar stories about Peter Pan and Neverland.

I don't want to say much more about the story, for fear of giving too much away. But I will say that I'd definitely recommend this book... to middle graders, as well as to anyone else who enjoys the story of Peter Pan and would like to know what happened before Peter met the Darling children.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.57 out of 5

Review - Ashes (DNF)

2011-09-07T15:34:00.000-07:00

Ashes
by Ilsa J. Bick
Date: 2011
Publisher: Egmont USA
Reading level: YA
Pages: 480
Source: NetGalley

It could happen tomorrow...

A cataclysmic event. An army of "The Changed."
Can one teen really survive on her own?

An electromagnetic pulse sweeps through the sky, destroying every electronic device and killing billions. For those spared, it's a question of who can be trusted and who is no longer human...

Desperate to find out what happened and to avoid the Changed, Alex meets up with Tom---a young army veteran---and Ellie, a young girl whose grandfather was killed by the electromagnetic pulse.

This improvised family will have to use every ounce of courage they have just to survive. (synopsis from Goodreads)

I really enjoyed the author's first book, Draw the Dark, and I was hoping for another good read with Ashes. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish this one... and I'm hesitant to try anything else from this author now.

This was the most incredibly gory, disturbing, and potentially traumatizing thing I've ever read... and I only got about a third of the way through. I had nightmares after reading the book and I felt physically sick after some parts. Ultimately, this is not a young adult title. If anything, it more appropriately belongs in the "new adult" category. I would never give this book to a 12- or 13-year-old kid. Not unless I also gave them a gift certificate for therapy as well.

That said, the book itself was well written and engaging; it wouldn't have been so horrifying if it wasn't. I've heard that things sort of fall apart after the midway point of the story, but I can't speak to that as I never got there. If you're really into zombie novels or post-apocalyptic fiction, this might be your thing. I'm afraid it was just too much for my sensitive self... and I wish I could forget what I read of it.

So, in the final analysis, the reasons why I didn't finish Ashes are as follows:

overly graphic and traumatizing scenes of the end of the world
subsequent nightmares
my NetGalley copy expired (though even if it hadn't, I still wouldn't have finished)

Review - Sovay (DNF)

2011-09-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

Sovay
by Celia Rees
Date: 2008
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Reading level: YA
Pages: 404
Source: Chapters

It’s England, 1783. When the rich and beautiful Sovay isn’t sitting for portraits, she’s donning a man’s cloak and robbing travelers—in broad daylight. But in a time when political allegiances between France and England are strained, a rogue bandit is not the only thing travelers fear. Spies abound, and rumors of sedition can quickly lead to disappearances. So when Sovay lifts the wallet of one of England’s most powerful and dangerous men, it’s not just her own identity she must hide, but that of her father. A dazzling historical saga in which the roles of thieves and gentry, good and bad, and men and women are interchanged to riveting effect. (synopsis from Goodreads)

A while ago, frustrated by poorly written YA fare, I'd gone into a local children's bookstore and requested some suggestions for good YA fiction. Of the books recommended to me, I've since read and enjoyed two (Tiger Moon by Antonia Michaelis and Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi)... so I thought I'd really like Sovay. But one of these books is not like the others... and Sovay was a huge disappointment.

It still boggles my mind that this was recommended to someone who specifically asked for a well-written YA novel. It is not a well-written book, and I have no patience for authors who don't understand the basics of writing dialogue... especially when said author has been publishing books for almost two decades and should know better by now. Characters cannot shrug their speech; no matter how many times you write it, it doesn't make it any less ridiculous. The text was also filled with redundancies that were surely the result of a lack of editing and long passages of exposition that came across as the author showing off how much she knows about history.

I read over a hundred pages and just couldn't get into the story. Actually, I didn't buy much of the premise. Sovay is supposed to be this beautiful young woman that turns heads... and yet she's easily mistaken for a man when she puts on a pair of pants. (I thought perhaps this was because she wore a mask over her face, but she can't have done that all the time when she was robbing people because it took the townspeople a while to figure out that this mysterious "young man" was actually a highwayman. I'd have thought the mask would've been a bit of a giveaway.) The whole highwayman premise was poorly done as well. I don't find it believable that a genteel young woman such as Sovay would have developed a taste for robbing stagecoaches just for the heck of it.

So, in the final analysis, the reasons why I didn't finish Sovay are as follows:

bad writing
too much telling, not enough showing
seemingly endless (and boring) passages of exposition
barely believable premise

New Format for DNF Reviews

2011-09-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

I seem to be having quite a few DNF (did not finish) experiences lately. In the past, I've reviewed such books as I have all the others, grading them based on what I actually managed to read. I'm now thinking that that's not really fair... and yet I still want to share my thoughts about these books.

So, from now on, DNFs will not receive numerical ladybug ratings. However, I will be explaining why the book was a DNF for me and each title will still appear on the review pages.

Review - The Lost Crown

2011-09-01T10:44:00.000-07:00

The Lost Crown
by Sarah Miller
Date: 2011
Publisher: Atheneum
Reading level: YA
Pages: 448
Source: Chapters

Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. Like the fingers on a hand--first headstrong Olga; then Tatiana, the tallest; Maria the most hopeful for a ring; and Anastasia, the smallest. These are the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, grand duchesses living a life steeped in tradition and privilege. They are each on the brink of starting their own lives, at the mercy of royal matchmakers. The summer of 1914 is that precious last wink of time when they can still be sisters together--sisters that link arms and laugh, sisters that share their dreams and worries, and flirt with the officers of their imperial yacht.

But in a gunshot the future changes for these sisters and for Russia.

As World War I ignites across Europe, political unrest sweeps Russia. First dissent, then disorder, mutiny, and revolution. For Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, the end of their girlhood together is colliding with the end of more than they ever imagined.

At the same time hopeful and hopeless, naive and wise, the voices of these sisters become a chorus singing the final song of Imperial Russia. Impeccably researched and utterly fascinating, this novel by acclaimed author Sarah Miller recounts the final days of Imperial Russia with lyricism, criticism and true compassion. (synopsis from Goodreads)

When I heard that Sarah Miller was working on a book about the Romanov daughters, I was really excited. While this subject matter is not new in the YA genre (Laura Whitcomb's The Fetch and Joy Preble's Dreaming Anastasia come to mind), this is the first YA novel I've read about the Romanovs that is pure historical fiction (both of those other books deal with the survival myths and contain supernatural elements).

I've been fascinated by the family for a while, even before I was given Hugh Brewster's beautiful Anastasia's Album. So I knew the basic story about the doomed family. Strangely enough, though, even knowing how things are going to end doesn't make this book any less fascinating or engaging. The character development is really strong. It's easier to see the girls as real people, rather than just as characters in a story or as dry historical personages. I learned more about some of the older girls that I hadn't known, since so much focus seems to have been paid to Anastasia in the last 100 years; in this version of the story, she actually takes more of a backseat to her sisters, which is refreshing.

The actual writing itself is excellent, and the author knows what she's doing. It's lovely to see. I think I'll have to read Miss Spitfire now, since I know I can count on good writing from this author.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4.57 out of 5

Review - Charlotte Sometimes

2011-08-11T11:16:00.000-07:00

Charlotte Sometimes
by Penelope Farmer
Date: 1969
Publisher: Red Fox
Reading level: MG
Pages: 208
Source: Kobo

Charlotte Makepeace is the new girl at her boarding school. After going to sleep in the curious iron bed with the little wheels, she awakens the next morning to find that she has switched places with a girl named Clare Moby who lives in 1918.

At first, the girls view this strange phenomenon as a curiosity. They even figure out a way to communicate with each other over the 40 years that separate them. But when Charlotte finds herself trapped in the past, the question is not only how will she return to her own time, but who is she, really?

I've been itching to read this book for ages. I'm so glad I finally got to it, because it was quite good!

The time-travel theme has been done many times, of course, but I quite liked how it was done here. As far as I can tell, Charlotte and Clare physically travelled through time (as opposed to just their consciousnesses travelling); they must have looked very much alike for so few people to have noticed the difference. But the story is not so much about the time travel itself as it is about identity. It's also an English boarding school story, which is bound to introduce a number of interesting characters and scenarios. There were a few things that I thought might be relevant that were never addressed again (what was the deal with Elsie, for example?), but on the whole it was a pretty cohesive story.

I did like most of the characters, but I especially liked Clare's younger sister, Emily. She had such a big personality for a little girl; she was only ten, but in some ways she came across as more of an adventurous, rebellious teenager. The stuffy Chisel Browns were also pretty entertaining.

The narrative is quite lovely -- even poetic -- in places, and I enjoyed reading every word. However, the EPUB edition that I had (supposedly based on the 40th anniversary edition of the novel) was abysmal. There were numerous typos and odd, random punctuation (like errant periods or one half of a set of quotation marks just dangling in the middle of nowhere) and I find it difficult to believe that such mistakes were actually included in the original... and then continually overlooked for the next 40 years! (The good thing about this edition, though, was that it included the original ending. Apparently, someone in the 1980s decided that the last bit shouldn't be included.)

All in all, I really enjoyed this one and I can see why it's considered a classic. Funnily enough, it's the third book about the Makepeace sisters. However, you do not need to have read the first two books to enjoy the third (and it's a good thing, too, since the others appear to be out of print).

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4 out of 5

Review - Go the F**k to Sleep

2011-08-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Go the F**k to Sleep
by Adam Mansbach
illustrated by Ricardo Cortés
Date: 2011
Publisher: Akashic Books
Reading level: A
Pages: 32
Source: Kobo

This picture book about nocturnal frustration features charming illustrations and clever rhyming verse about the trials and tribulations of a toddler's bedtime.

Warning: Do not actually read this book to your children.

I heard about this picture book a while back. It was supposed to be hilariously funny, so I was curious.

Go the F**k to Sleep is funny... but not quite as funny as I'd expected. Maybe if you've actually been through the situation of trying to put a restless toddler to bed you can better see the humour.

A few of the verses were a bit clumsy and hard to read aloud because the meter was just a bit off. Perhaps that was intentional, since the book is told from the point of view of a frustrated, sleep-deprived parent. Still, I think it could have been even funnier had the meter been uniform throughout.

All in all, it's an amusing little book, but I'm not really sure where it would fit in anyone's library. It's not for kids, and yet the picture-book format and length are not what you usually see in adult fare. I can see this book being given as a gag gift to a new parent... but other than that, it's probably not going to have mass appeal.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.17 out of 5

Kobo Coupons!

2011-08-09T10:31:00.000-07:00

I can see by my Blogger Stats that the Kobo Coupons posts are still pretty popular. The only problem is, they're old and expired! Here are some new ones for you:

Get $1 Off select Kobo eBooks - Kobodollaroff Valid until August 31, 2011

20% Off Kobo eBooks with code "June20off" Valid until December 31, 2011

To use the coupons, just click on the link. That will take you to the Kobo site where you can choose a book. When it's time to purchase your book, enter the code (either Kobodollaroff or June20off) in the promo code box and apply it to your order before you finalize your purchase.

Review - Salt

2011-08-04T11:59:00.000-07:00

Salt
by Maurice Gee
Date: 2007
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Reading level: YA
Pages: 272
Source: Chapters

When Hari's father, Tarl, is sent off to Deep Salt -- a place from which nobody returns alive -- Hari vows to rescue him.

When Pearl is betrothed to a man she does not love, she and her maid, Tealeaf, make a daring escape.

When Hari's and Pearl's paths cross, they must come together to stop a terrible event that could spell disaster for their land.

Where do I even start with this one? To put it bluntly, it was awful. I'm not even sure I want to waste any more energy by reviewing it, but perhaps it'll be cathartic. (Warning: There WILL be spoilers.)

Things didn't start off too badly, at least as far as the plot went. In the beginning, we see Tarl (Hari's father) taken away to work in Deep Salt as a slave. This is the most dreaded of work assignments because nobody ever comes back alive. The setting for the book is a dystopian fantasy world that (in some ways) reminded me of Panem in The Hunger Games. There is a city populated by the rich (akin to HG's Capitol) surrounded by what are basically open-air prisons called the Burrows (similar to HG's Districts). Unfortunately, the world of Salt didn't seem very plausible to me, since it tried to combine too much in the way of technology. They still use horses and carts for transportation, yet their weapons are electrified. I suppose this could be because of the meshing of the cultures, but I still found it inconsistent. All the talk of horses and railway cars that have to be hauled up the mountain by hand... and then a jarring mention of a flatbed truck and batteries. Have these people had their equivalent of an Industrial Revolution or haven't they?

The plot seemed to get worse as the book went on, but the characters were uniformly awful from the start. I couldn't identify with either of the main characters, and I just couldn't care about them either. Hari was particularly unlikeable (he kicks his dog until it yelps, for crying out loud!) and Pearl was just bland. All the characters seemed to have flunked out of Social Skills 101; the dialogue was often stilted and juvenile. And everybody wanted to kill each other! Honestly... It was like a broken record with the men. Kill, kill, kill... That seemed to be their only thought. (Spoiler: What really made me realize how weak these characters were, though, was the ending. Hari and Pearl, despite having shown zero attraction to each other throughout the entire novel, somehow fumble their way through sex and get Pearl pregnant.)

The very worst part of Salt, though, was the way it was written. Both Hari and Pearl are telepathic, so much of their shared dialogue is silent. Unfortunately, this made for some very confusing dialogue because it was not set off from the rest of the text in any way. No quotation marks, no italics, no different font... Nothing. So there were paragraphs that contained both telepathic thought as well as regular text, and I sometimes had to read those passages multiple times to figure out what was dialogue and what was not and even who was speaking.

Aside from that, the writing just seemed very juvenile and condescending, and yet periodically overly verbose. Too many details, many of which weren't even relevant, just acted as padding for the thin story. And the way we find out the history of the country was so contrived it wasn't even funny: Hari tells the story back to the wizened old guru who taught it to him in the first place, with the latter gasping with his last breath that "It must be told." Come on. Pearl had lived such a sheltered life that she probably only knew the "official" version of events; it would have made more sense for Hari to tell the story to her.

This book came out in 2007 in New Zealand, so it's a bit older than the two books it reminded me of. As I mentioned previously, some of the setting reminded me of The Hunger Games. The character dynamic, on the other hand, reminded me a bit of Ship Breaker (so did the cover... the lettering for the title is almost identical!). However, The Hunger Games' setting was more consistent and the plot was meatier, and the character dynamic of street brat/rich girl was done far, far better in Ship Breaker.

Salt is the first book of a trilogy. The first chapter of the second book, Gool, was actually included in the back of Salt. I didn't read it. I've had more than enough of the world of Salt. It felt like an insult to my intelligence as a reader. And I don't think it would be appropriate to recommend it to younger readers because of the bad language and the sex. Overall, I got the feeling that this book was churned out to make money, with the publishers hoping that readers would be swayed by the author's experience and overlook the lack of character development and plot.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 0/5
Pace: 1/5
Writing: 1/5
Editing: 1/5
Originality: 2/5
Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall: 1 out of 5

Review - Ship Breaker

2011-07-23T11:56:00.000-07:00

Ship Breaker
by Paolo Bacigalupi
Date: 2010
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: YA
Pages: 336
Source: Chapters

Nailer lives amongst the ruins and shanties of the Gulf Coast, eking out a living on the light crew that scavenges the wrecks of old oil tankers. The work is dangerous... but so is his drug-addicted father. Life seems bleak, and sometimes only the loyalty of Nailer's friends -- his crew -- means he'll live to see another day.

After a massive hurricane, Nailer comes across the wreckage of a pristine clipper ship. Thinking to claim the salvage for himself, he investigates, only to find that there is a survivor... and she could very well change his life forever.

This book's been sitting in my TBR pile for ages. I wish I had known how good it really was; I would have read it sooner!

This is a great example of YA dystopian fiction, made all the more unnerving because our world could so easily become Nailer's. In the world of Ship Breaker, we see what might happen after the economic rise of China, the melting of the polar ice caps, unfettered genetic research, and a further widening of the gap between rich and poor. Category 6 hurricanes are common enough to have a name ("city killers") and people have finally given up on New Orleans, a city that can't exist in a world of rising sea levels. All these details help drive the plot forward and make Nailer's situation more plausible.

I thought the characters were all very interesting and well developed. Nailer is appealing as a main character; you want him to survive and succeed in that rough world of his. His father is just the opposite... but he's a great villain. The members of Nailer's surrogate family -- his crew -- are all unique and interesting in their own right.

Despite lots of details, the pace is good and holds the reader's interest. I don't think I ever got bored reading this one. It didn't lag, and I wanted to find out what happened next. My only complaint (and it's a small one) was that the ending seemed to come very quickly, and it was a bit open; I don't know if there are sequels planned or if this is a stand-alone title. I would not hesitate to pick up another book about Nailer and his world, though.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one. It's one of the best YA dystopian novels I've read.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.86 out of 5

Review - Tempestuous

2011-07-17T19:33:00.000-07:00

Tempestuous
by Lesley Livingston
Date: 2010
Publisher: HarperTeen
Reading level: YA
Pages: 368
Source: Chapters

After declaring that she doesn't love Sonny Flannery, Kelley Winslow finds herself caught in the middle of trouble. Faerie monarchs are falling ill, weird things are happening in Central Park, and to top it all off, Kelley has lines to learn for her part as Ariel in The Tempest.

She must learn to summon and control her own Faerie powers... because dark forces are conspiring and nobody is safe.

This book is really difficult to summarize. That's probably because, much like its immediate predecessor in the trilogy, it has very little plot.

The whole time I was reading this book, I was lost. Because these books come out once a year, readers are either forced to re-read or remember what happened previously... and remembering is kind of hard when something is so unmemorable. While Wondrous Strange was a very enjoyable and well-plotted book, I felt that Darklight and Tempestuous were written just for the sake of making a trilogy. Wondrous Strange can stand on its own; neither of the second books can. (Contrast this with a series like Harry Potter. I read the whole series of seven books over a period of way more than seven years... and yet I didn't have to re-read anything because each book had enough explanation and back story to refresh the reader's memory.)

The characters fell flat for me in this book, too. I remember that I really liked Sonny in the first book. He was actually kind of crush-worthy. But here, he just came off as bland. The attempted love triangle felt forced, and I thought the resolution (although it had been hinted at) was just a tad too pat.

While the plot was virtually non-existent and the characters didn't impress me, the writing and editing were pretty good. That was one thing that struck me about Wondrous Strange when I read it. It's just too bad there wasn't more of a story in the rest of the trilogy to go along with the writing.

All in all, I didn't really enjoy this one. I was pretty bored throughout. The climax was a bit more of a whimper than a bang and I felt sort of cheated; this is the final book of the trilogy, after all. I would definitely recommend Wondrous Strange, especially to fans of urban fiction. But the rest of the trilogy left me confused and unimpressed. Stick with the first book.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 2.86 out of 5

Review - Shiver

2011-07-04T12:37:00.000-07:00

Shiver
by Maggie Stiefvater
Date: 2009
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Reading level: YA
Pages: 400
Source: Chapters

Grace has been watching the wolves for years, ever since she was almost killed in an attack. She feels especially drawn to the wolf with the yellow eyes. One night, a yellow-eyed boy shows up, bleeding, on her back porch. Grace knows right away that it is her wolf.

When a classmate goes missing and is assumed killed by the wolves, Grace discovers that there has been a lot more going on in the woods around town than she could have dreamed. As her feelings for her yellow-eyed boy, Sam, grow stronger, she is forced to confront some troubling possibilities. And those possibilities could have dire consequences for those she holds most dear.

When I read a book that's had lots of hype, I'm always a little bit wary. Will it live up to my expectations? Or will I end up tossing it aside, wondering what all the fuss was about? I've had Shiver in my TBR pile since Halloween 2009... and I only just got around to reading it now! I'm glad I was pleasantly surprised by what I read.

While this is essentially another paranormal romance (it's a werewolf book), the author did some interesting things with the mythology. There are no full moons, silver crosses, or wolfsbane in this rendition of the tale. I quite enjoyed this variation, as the author was able to make it fairly original (and that's not easy to do with all the paranormal titles on the market).

The story is told in alternating first-person points of view, so we get to see the story through Grace's and Sam's eyes. To be honest, I wasn't a huge fan of this technique in this book because I found it a bit confusing. Sam's character seemed consistent, whether he was the storyteller or the subject. Grace, on the other hand, didn't work as well for me. I felt like her character was a bit different when she was telling the story as opposed to when she was being described by Sam. My other complaint with the characters in this novel was with the parents. Why were they all so uninvolved? I don't think I've ever read anything like it. While this sort of characterization may be convenient for the plot, I found it to be very unrealistic. One set of lousy parents, sure... But it seemed like every parent in Mercy Falls couldn't care less what their children were up to!

The book was a page-turner, though, and I had a difficult time putting it down at times. I did like the writing style (descriptive without being overly flowery) and the author knew how to write dialogue properly.

So, all in all, I can see now what all the fuss was about, and I'm glad I dug this one out of the bottom of my TBR pile to read it. Unfortunately, now I need to get my hands on Linger and Forever. Darn addictive trilogies...

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4.29 out of 5

In My Mailbox (46)

2011-07-03T16:56:00.000-07:00

Bought from Kobo:

Charlotte Sometimes
by Penelope Farmer

A time-travel story that is both a poignant exploration of human identity and an absorbing tale of suspense.

It's natural to feel a little out of place when you're the new girl, but when Charlotte Makepeace wakes up after her first night at boarding school, she's baffled: everyone thinks she's a girl called Clare Mobley, and even more shockingly, it seems she has traveled forty years back in time to 1918. In the months to follow, Charlotte wakes alternately in her own time and in Clare's. And instead of having only one new set of rules to learn, she also has to contend with the unprecedented strangeness of being an entirely new person in an era she knows nothing about. Her teachers think she's slow, the other girls find her odd, and, as she spends more and more time in 1918, Charlotte starts to wonder if she remembers how to be Charlotte at all. If she doesn't figure out some way to get back to the world she knows before the end of the term, she might never have another chance.

I've been wanting to read this book for ages, but I couldn't find a decent-priced hard copy. It finally came out in EPUB format earlier this year, so now I can afford to read it! I just hope it has the original ending...

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - Evil?

2011-06-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

Evil?
by Timothy Carter
Date: 2009
Publisher: Flux
Reading level: YA
Pages: 264
Source: Chapters

When Stuart Bradley, a gay teenager living in a conservative Christian town in rural Ontario, is caught masturbating in the shower by his little brother, it's only the beginning of his troubles. Soon, the whole town has gone crazy, hunting down and punishing anyone they consider guilty of the sin of "spilling".

What the townsfolk don't realize, however, is that they are being influenced by a fallen angel with an agenda. Stuart enlists the help of a Dachshund-sized demon named Fon Pyre to help get rid of the angel... but things rapidly go from bad to worse. It's up to Stu to save his town before all hell breaks loose.

Yeah, yeah, I know... Why on earth would I read this? I'd heard it was funny, that's why. And maybe it is... if you're a 10-year-old boy.

The plot actually had promise. Some fairly heavy themes were touched on, and the events unfolded rapidly enough to hold a reader's interest. But it just wasn't enough.

Stuart is a fairly bland, one-dimensional sort of fellow whose only distinguishing characteristic is that he's gay. And gay guys must be fairly hard to come by in the town of Ice Lake, because the pickings for love interests were slim. I just did not buy the attraction between Stuart and Chester... especially after Stuart had basically spent the entire novel insinuating that Chester was about as smart as a bag of rocks. The rest of the characters were not much better. The town seems to be populated by characters from bad 1950s public service announcements with names like Cindy and Chester and Jane. And those were supposedly the teenagers.

But what I really didn't like about this book was the writing. It tries to be funny, but comes across as puerile and crude... while also ending up somewhat preachy. I have no idea how the author managed that, but in any case, it does not work. The word "spilling" is used endlessly, and it quickly gets tiresome. The characters were constantly using the "universal hand gestures" for masturbation (what is this, a village of pubescent boys?) and homosexuality and, to be honest, I'm still not exactly sure what those are. Guess I'm not the audience.

There were also some continuity problems (such as Stu referring to his house as the one he'd grown up in... even though he'd only moved there two years previously) and some questionable punctuation. Overall, I wasn't impressed.

While the premise had some merit, it just wasn't done well enough for me to recommend this book to anyone. The characters' ages and subject matter make it more appropriate for teens... but the writing style and overly repetitive and juvenile references would probably only amuse younger boys. Give this one a pass.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 1/5
Editing: 2/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 2.14 out of 5

Review - The Adoration of Jenna Fox

2011-06-27T15:53:00.000-07:00

The Adoration of Jenna Fox
by Mary E. Pearson
Date: 2008
Publisher: Square Fish
Reading level: YA
Pages: 288
Source: Chapters

Seventeen-year-old Jenna Fox wasn't supposed to survive the accident, but she did. Now, after a lengthy coma, she's trying to get her life back. The only problem is, she can't remember anything about that life. She can't even remember who she is.

To make matters worse, nobody will talk about what really happened, leaving Jenna to try to solve the puzzle on her own. Just exactly who is Jenna Fox? And when she finds those answers... will she wish she hadn't?

I haven't read any science fiction (that wasn't dystopian) in a while. I'd read reviews (and spoilers) of this book a while ago, but I'd since forgotten most of them, so the story was pretty fresh to me. Even being able to guess at some of the events didn't lessen the impact of some of the overall messages, though.

I enjoyed the plot, even though I guessed at some of the plot points before I actually got to them. Most of that happened in the first part of the book, though. The second half had a lot of twists and turns that I didn't really see coming.

The characters were a bit more of a mixed bag. I'm still puzzling over the motivations of a couple of them, since they didn't seem 100% consistent to me (I'm talking about Lily and Allys here). I liked Jenna herself, though, even though she's kind of an enigma. We only find things out about her as she finds them out. She had an interesting voice, though, and I enjoyed the way she told the story.

I haven't been a huge fan of present-tense narration in the past, but I think part of the reason for that was that I read quite a few duds using that tense. In this book, it works (and because we're finding things out with Jenna in real time, it's probably the only tense that would've worked). I also liked the inclusion of the short "poems" on the grey pages. Sometimes you can say so much more with a few words of verse than you can with a whole page of prose.

Finally, I thought the whole undercurrent of medical ethics was important and timely without hitting the reader over the head. Some of the questions Jenna asks aren't easily answered... if they can be answered at all. But I was pleasantly surprised to find those questions in an enjoyable YA novel.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.71 out of 5

Review - Room

2011-06-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

Room
by Emma Donoghue
Date: 2010
Publisher: HarperCollins e-books
Reading level: A
Pages: 352
Source: Kobo

Room is the only world five-year-old Jack has ever known. Ma is there, too. Together, they play games, read books, take baths, do the laundry, eat their meals, and watch TV. It's just the two of them... except for Old Nick, who sometimes comes to visit Ma at night, and then Jack has to hide in the wardrobe.

While the sameness of this existence is comforting to Jack, Ma doesn't seem to feel the same way. For reasons Jack doesn't understand, Ma doesn't want to be in Room. She wants to get out.

I'd heard lots of good things about this book, so I was a little hesitant to read it, fearing it wouldn't live up to my expectations. Really, though, I don't know quite what I was expecting. Room turned out to be nothing like I imagined it would be... and yet it was one of the best books I've read in years.

It's difficult to write a synopsis or even describe what happens without giving away too much of the plot. There is a good plot, but this book is so much more than that. It's really about the characters... and mostly Jack. The author created such a vivid voice for him that I could hear his little five-year-old self in my head, describing things, even when I wasn't actually reading the book.

My only complaint was not with the book itself, but with the EPUB edition. There were a lot of missing paragraph breaks in the dialogue, which caused me a bit of confusion in certain places. There was also a line of dialogue preceded by a string of numbers and symbols that was extremely obvious and should've been caught. A good once-over by a proofreader should've caught those mistakes easily, so I'm assuming nobody bothered to check the EPUB once it was converted... which is annoying, since it was almost $15.

Really, though, there's not much more I can say about the book itself. It's awesome. Read it.

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.86 out of 5

Review - A Tale of Two Castles

2011-06-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

A Tale of Two Castles
by Gail Carson Levine
Date: 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Reading level: MG
Pages: 336
Source: NetGalley

When twelve-year-old Elodie is sent to the city of Two Castles to become an apprentice weaver, she doesn't realize that the rules of the kingdom have recently been changed and now all apprentices must pay to learn their craft. Almost penniless, naïve, and with more exciting ambitions than weaving, Elodie decides to follow a new path... and ends up as a dragon's assistant!

The dragon is known throughout the city for its inducing and deducing powers. So when the city's resident ogre suspects he is in mortal danger, he turns to the dragon -- and Elodie -- to help discover who is behind the plot.

This is the fifth book by Gail Carson Levine that I've read. I can't really say it's up there with some of my favourites (like The Two Princesses of Bamarre and Ella Enchanted), but it is an entertaining middle grade novel nonetheless.

Unlike most of the author's other heroines, Elodie is only twelve years old, and she comes across as very young and quite (especially in the beginning) naïve. This made it a bit difficult for me to relate to her. Her voice is distinctive and she's not unlikeable; she's just young. I did find it a little difficult to believe that parents would ship children of that age off, completely alone, so they could apprentice to some stranger in a foreign land. I don't know... something about that just doesn't sit right with me. I realize that that happened in the past, but all I could think about was this poor, vulnerable little girl who would be ripe for abuse by the first ill-intentioned person who came along.

There were some high points for me, nonetheless. I really liked Meenore, the dragon. (One of my favourite characters in The Two Princesses of Bamarre was the dragon Vollys. Gail Carson Levine can really write dragons!) And I loved what the author did with the names. It was very clever, and I almost didn't pick up on it. (Hint: Say the names out loud.)

I loved the world-building in the beginning, when Elodie was first discovering the city of Two Castles and describing everything she saw and experienced. The plot seemed to take a while to get going, though. When Elodie was taken on as the dragon's assistant and then hired by Count Jonty Um (the ogre) to investigate who might be trying to harm him, I thought things were finally going somewhere. But, for whatever reason, the story seemed to lose its momentum when Elodie arrived at the ogre's castle. I nearly lost all interest and almost didn't finish.

That would have been unfortunate, because after a few more chapters, the story became like a boulder rolling down a hill. Events tumbled quickly, one after the other, to a conclusion that neatly wrapped up most of the mysteries (and left room for a possible sequel). The plot itself wasn't bad; it was mostly the pacing that was off.

All in all, A Tale of Two Castles isn't a bad read... but it seems like it's for a younger audience than some of the author's other books. It's a true middle grade fantasy (as opposed to books like Ella Enchanted and Ever, which fall squarely in the YA category).

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.57 out of 5

Kobo Coupons!

2011-06-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't posted a lot lately. I haven't read much lately, either, thanks to some illness that's kept me (mostly) bed-bound and brain-fogged for a month now. I will hopefully have a new review up in the next day or so.

In the meantime, here are a couple of cool coupons for Kobo users!

20% Off Kobo eBooks with code "June20off"
Get $1 Off select Kobo eBooks - Kobodollaroff

And don't forget to check out the new Kobo eReader Touch! I'd love one of these, but I can't really justify buying a new e-reader at the moment. Still... a touch screen! So cool.

Review - The Day Before

2011-06-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

The Day Before
by Lisa Schroeder
Date: 2011
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Reading level: YA
Pages: 307
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

Sixteen-year-old Amber intends to spend one special day at her favourite place: the beach. A day where she can do what she likes and be who she wants and not have to answer to anyone but herself. She thought she wanted to be alone... but when she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy named Cade at the aquarium, her plans suddenly change.

This day is special for Cade, too, but he won't say why, leaving Amber to vacillate between fearing for the worst and hoping for the best. And all the while, these two teens share a special day, a day that nobody but them can truly understand: the day before.

I finished this book yesterday and, while I usually like to review books immediately after I've finished them, I just couldn't with this one. My thoughts needed to percolate for a while. I haven't read a book like this in a long time, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of my reaction to it.

First, so there is no misunderstanding, let me just say that the book is great. It's well written, well plotted, and populated with a cast of characters that are vivid and intriguing. The verse format works really well here and allows the author to use some beautiful turns of phrase that might sound a bit corny in a standard prose novel.

The negative (for me, anyway) was that two of the characters really pushed my buttons. I'm not the sort of person who ever yells at characters while I'm reading, but if I were, those two would have been the ones to push me over the edge. I couldn't feel anything but frustration, anger, and hatred toward them, and it somewhat coloured my view of the book for a while. Separating my dislike for the characters (who I'm sure were supposed to be provocative) from the book itself was a little difficult... which was why I needed to think on this one for a while. The theme of knowing who you are, what you want, and what's ultimately good for you, while being simultaneously told that someone else knows those things better than you do, is a great one for a young adult novel. It will resonate strongly with teens (and, depending on circumstances, probably many adults as well).

I prefer a bit more escapism in the books I read. The Day Before was a little too emotionally exhausting for my taste. But I really can't find any major faults, so I would definitely recommend it, especially to fans of contemporary YA fiction. Look for it when it's released on June 28, 2011.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.57 out of 5

Top Ten Tuesday - Minor Characters

2011-05-17T17:13:00.000-07:00

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Minor Characters:

10. Jackie Rodowsky from Logan Likes Mary Anne! by Ann M. Martin - This is one of the babysitting charges in The Baby-sitters Club series of books. He could usually be counted on for some sort of interesting event, due to his clumsy nature that earned him the nickname "the walking disaster".
9. Margaret Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen - Elinor and Marianne are the real stars of the story, but I kind of wish I knew more about little Meg. She was sort of tacked onto the story, orbiting the periphery of her sisters' lives. I'd like to know more about her in her own right!
8. Jane from New Moon by Stephenie Meyer - She's probably the only redeeming character in the entire series, simply because she wasn't afraid to torture Edward. (Can you tell I'm not a Twihard?)
7. Willa Jean from Ramona and Her Mother by Beverly Cleary - She was so obnoxious and I remember really disliking her when I was younger (and around Ramona's age). But she's actually kind of a fun character, a typical high-spirited kid who does things like destroy her teddy bear, Woger, and empty an entire box of Kleenex during a party just for fun.
6. Falkor from The Neverending Story by Michael Ende - Come on! Who wouldn't like Falkor? He's a flying dragon, for goodness sake!
5. Heloise from I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith - Yes, Heloise is a dog. But she was Cassandra's close friend through all the ups and downs in the course of the story. Sometimes a loyal dog is all the friendship you need.
4. Alba from The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - Sometimes child characters work, and sometimes they go horribly, horribly wrong (*cough*Renesmee*cough*). But I quite liked Alba, the daughter of Henry and Clare. What's cooler than a time-travelling kid who's resourceful enough to make the best of her unusual (and potentially dangerous) situation?
3. the baby from Murmel, Murmel, Murmel by Robert Munsch - I guess you could argue that this is more of a major character... but let's face it: the only thing it ever does is say "murmel, murmel, murmel". While funny, that's not quite enough for me to consider it a major character; the story is really Robin's.
2. Vollys from The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine - I think I liked this dragon more than many of the other characters in this book... even though she was arguably the villain. There was just something about her personality that really drew me in, and I almost found myself rooting for the other side!
1. Dorin from Jessica's Guide to Dating on the Dark Side by Beth Fantaskey - I couldn't help but love this quirky Romanian vampire with his penchant for specialty coffees and striped mittens. I wish there were more minor characters like him; some books would be a lot more interesting!

In My Mailbox (45)

2011-05-15T15:04:00.000-07:00

For review from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab:

The Day Before
by Lisa Schroeder

Amber’s life is spinning out of control. All she wants is to turn up the volume on her iPod until all of the demands of family and friends fade away. So she sneaks off to the beach to spend a day by herself.

Then Amber meets Cade. Their attraction is instant, and Amber can tell he’s also looking for an escape. Together they decide to share a perfect day: no pasts, no fears, no regrets.

The more time that Amber spends with Cade, the more she’s drawn to him. And the more she’s troubled by his darkness. Because Cade’s not just living in the now—he’s living each moment like it’s his last.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Top Ten Tuesday - Biggest Jerks in Literature

2011-05-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Mean Girls in Books:

10. Gale from Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Don't get me wrong: I really liked Gale in the first two books, and I really wanted to see him get together with Katniss. Not only did he not do that, he went off and did stuff that seemed totally out of character. I was disappointed, to say the least.
9. Draco from the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling - Everybody loves a good racist. Well, in literature, anyway. I'm torn between Draco and his father... but since Draco was the one who made life really miserable for Harry, he gets to make the list.
8. Patch from Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick - He's a big jerk, which makes for a fun character to read about... but really bad boyfriend material.
7. Edward from Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer - He was creepy in all the other books, but he was quite appalling in this one. He came across as a controlling, emotionally abusive boyfriend. It's not enough to just warn his girlfriend away from her friends... he has to physically tamper with her truck's engine to ensure she doesn't go anywhere!
6. Jacob from Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer - I thought Jacob was sort of a sweet kid up until this book. Then he sexually assaults Bella and has a laugh about it with her father. (Seriously... his daughter's just been kissed against her will -- and nearly broken her hand fighting the guy off -- and all Charlie can do is laugh? And he's the police chief?! Maybe I should've put Charlie on the list instead...)
5. Damon from The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening by L. J. Smith - Okay, granted, I've only read the first book in the series. But from the first time we encounter Damon, he seems to be aiming to win the title of World's Biggest Jerk. I have to wonder what, exactly, is wrong with this guy.
4. Daniel from Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding - This guy makes enemies because he can't keep it in his pants. Cheating bastard. Enough said.
3. Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - I don't know... Isn't everybody in this book a jerk?
2. Mr. Collins from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - I can't stand this guy. Not because he's particularly mean or nasty, but because he's such an utter bore. Seriously... who cares how many chimneys a house has?
1. God from the Old Testament by some guys in the desert - Love Him or hate Him, you've got to admit, the way this guy is written about in the Old Testament doesn't exactly do much to recommend Him. Even by conservative estimates, He's killed millions. It's kind of hard to top that in terms of jerkiness... so I'm afraid He has to take the top spot.

What should I read next?

2011-05-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

I really need to get going on the Off The Shelf Challenge. I haven't managed to read any books for it yet, and it's already May! I need some advice on what to read next. So please vote!

What should I read next?

Review - Wrapped

2011-05-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

Wrapped
by Jennifer Bradbury
Date: 2011
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Reading level: YA
Pages: 324
Source: Simon & Schuster Galley Grab

Seventeen-year-old Agnes Wilkins is on the cusp of her debut season in London society. Beautiful, refined, and wealthy, she is viewed as a prize by her suitors and as competition by the other debutantes. But Agnes is not interested in debuts and balls; she would rather be studying foreign languages, reading Jane Austen novels, or eavesdropping through her father's chimney flue!

When Agnes finds a mysterious Egyptian relic at Lord Showalter's mummy unwrapping party, it sets in motion a series of events that could have dire consequences... not just for Agnes herself, but for all of England.

I didn't really know what to expect from this book. Was it historical fiction? Romance? A paranormal mystery? Actually, it was a little bit of everything.

This was the first book I've read in a long time that actually got my heart racing and kept me wanting to turn the pages. The story was well plotted and moved at a good pace. And I really liked the characters. In so many of the young adult titles I've read recently, the love interest has been handsome but bland. It's almost as if we're supposed to like him just because the author said so. But Wrapped offers a love interest that readers can fall in love with along with the heroine. And -- wonder of wonders -- he's neither vampire nor werewolf, angel nor wizard. Sometimes it's refreshing to see regular old humans cast as the heroes.

Agnes herself is an intriguing character. She's quite modern in her thinking and bristles at the unfairness of women's roles during the time period in question (the book takes place in 1815). I could understand her frustration and her situation certainly did elicit sympathy. However, this modernity is probably the book's biggest weakness (though it's not a major one). The narrative is related through the first person, and at times I would have to remind myself that I was reading a period piece. Agnes's tone seemed just a bit too modern at times (especially contrasted against the actual dialogue of all the characters, which seemed just about right).

All in all, this was an immensely enjoyable book. The ending was satisfying, yet open enough to allow for sequels -- and I hope there is at least one! I'd love to immerse myself in Agnes's world once more, especially after the events in this book's final act.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 4/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.43 out of 5

In My Mailbox (44)

2011-05-08T02:05:00.000-07:00

Bought from Kobo:

Songs for a Teenage Nomad
by Kim Culbertson

What is the soundtrack of your life?

After living in twelve places in eight years, Calle Smith finds herself in Andreas Bay, California, at the start of ninth grade. Another new home, another new school... Calle knows better than to put down roots. Her song journal keeps her moving to her own soundtrack, bouncing through a world best kept at a distance.

Yet before she knows it, friends creep in -- as does an unlikely boy with a secret. Calle is torn over what may be her first chance at love. With all that she's hiding and all that she wants, can she find something lasting beyond music? And will she ever discover why she and her mother have been running in the first place?

God Went to Beauty School
by Cynthia Rylant

A deeply compelling collection of poems about God and our everyday world from a Newbery medalist.

Cynthia Rylant takes teens on an invigorating spiritual journey as she explores what God's life on Earth might be like. Rylant's reflective and often humorous verse follows God as he tries out human activities such as getting a dog, writing a fan letter, and making spaghetti.

God Went to Beauty School combines the awesome with the everyday in an accessible, thought–provoking, and intelligent manner.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - God Went to Beauty School

2011-05-07T19:06:00.000-07:00

God Went to Beauty School
by Cynthia Rylant
Date: 2003
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reading level:YA
Pages: 64
Source: Kobo

What would God do if he was just a normal guy? Get a dog? Sit around and watch TV? Cook up a storm in the kitchen?

This novel, written in free verse, explores what God's life might be like. It's by turns humorous, profound, and thought provoking.

Ever since reading (and really enjoying) Inside Out & Back Again, I've been wanting to read some more novels written in verse (if you have any recommendations for me, please leave them in the comments of this post... 'cause I'm still looking for more!). I came across this book and thought it sounded like it might be interesting... although, to be honest, I had some reservations because I'm not a fan of Christian fiction.

This book turned out to be nothing like what I expected, though. It's rather non-denominational (well, it's told from a mostly Christian perspective, but not an exclusively Christian one. Yeah, that's kind of confusing... but you'll see what I mean if you read it). Really, this is a book that just about anyone might enjoy. There's no real plot to speak of; rather, the book is a series of short vignettes that offer a glimpse into the everyday life of God.

I giggled out loud at some of the early poems. There's something amusing about the creator of the universe trying to make spaghetti or getting addicted to his cable TV. But each poem makes you think as well, about some of the deeper questions that we all have. The last poem, especially, is a doozy, but it manages to stay consistent with the flavour of the rest of the book without getting too preachy or dogmatic.

God Went to Beauty School is a very quick read, but a worthwhile one. I really enjoyed it.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.43 out of 5

Looking for some well-written YA verse novels...

2011-05-07T18:16:00.000-07:00

I'm looking for some recommendations for some good young adult novels told in verse. Genre doesn't really matter (historical, fantasy, contemporary... whatever), but I'm looking for ones that are well written and not too long.

Please leave your recommendations in the comments. Thanks!

In My Mailbox (43)

2011-05-01T02:44:00.000-07:00

For review from NetGalley:

A Tale of Two Castles
by Gail Carson Levine

Newbery Honor author of Ella Enchanted Gail Carson Levine weaves a spellbinding tale about a clever heroine, a dragon detective, and a shape-shifting ogre.

Newly arrived in the town of Two Castles, Elodie unexpectedly becomes the assistant to a brilliant dragon named Meenore, and together they solve mysteries. Their most important case concerns the town’s shape-shifting ogre, Count Jonty Um: Someone is plotting against him. Elodie must disguise herself to discover the source of the threat amid a cast of characters that includes a greedy king, a giddy princess, and a handsome cat trainer.

Readers who loved Ella Enchanted and Fairest will delight in this tale of a spirited heroine who finds friendship where she least expects it and discovers that goodness and evil come in all shapes and sizes.

Bought from Dymocks:

The Golden Day
by Ursula Dubosarsky

There were only eleven of them, like eleven sisters all the same age in a large family. Because it was such a very small class, they had a very small classroom, which was perched at the very top of the school - up four flights of stairs, up in the high sky, like a colony of little birds nesting on a cliff. 'Today, girls,' said Miss Renshaw, 'we shall go out into the beautiful Gardens and think about death.'

In the Gardens they meet a poet. What follows is inexplicable, shocking, a scandal. What really happened that day? Is 'the truth' as elusive as it seems? And do the little girls know more than they are letting on?

A haunting and unforgettable novel from a multi-award-winning author.

For review from Simon & Schuster Galley Grab:

The Lost Crown
by Sarah Miller

Olga, Tatiana, Maria, and Anastasia. Like the fingers on a hand -- first headstrong Olga; then Tatiana, the tallest; Maria the most hopeful for a ring; and Anastasia, the smallest. These are the daughters of Tsar Nicholas II, grand dutchesses living a life steeped in tradition and privilege. They are each on the brink of starting their own lives, at the mercy of royal matchmakers. The summer of 1914 is that precious last wink of time when they can still be sisters together -- sisters that link arms and laugh, sisters that share their dreams and worries, and flirt with the officers of their imperial yacht. But in a gunshot the future changes -- for these sisters and for Russia.

As World War I ignites across Europe, political unrest sweeps Russia. First dissent, then disorder, mutiny -- and revolution. For Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia, the end of their girlhood together is colliding with the end of more than they ever imagined.

At the same time hopeful and hopeless, naïve and wise, the voices of these sisters become a chorus singing the final song of Imperial Russia. Impeccably researched and utterly fascinating, this novel by acclaimed author Sarah Miller recounts the final days of Imperial Russia with lyricism, criticism and true compassion.

I requested A Tale of Two Castles a while ago but only just got around to downloading it. I've been feeling a bit overwhelmed by my TBR pile lately (and I'm not exactly doing anything to help the situation)!

As for The Golden Day... well, I read the description and it just sounded so intriguing. It doesn't seem to be readily available in North America, so perhaps that's why I'd never heard of it before. It's not very long, so it'll probably get read fairly soon.

And I've been wanting to read The Lost Crown since I first heard about it. I hope I have time to finish it! If not, I was going to buy it anyway. I love books about the Romanovs.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Top Ten Tuesday - Mean Girls

2011-04-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Mean Girls in Books:

10. Bridget from Here Lies Bridget by Paige Harbison - I actually hated this book, but the reason I did was because the main character was just so awful. So she had to make this list!
9. Cathy from Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë - I've never read the book (though I've tried to more than once), but I'm familiar with the character from movie adaptations. WTF is wrong with all the people in that book? They're all in desperate need of some sort of therapy (or medication).
8. Georgia from Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison - Maybe she gets better by the end of the series, but the first three books were enough to convince me that Georgia is a little bitch who really needs a good bite in the ass from karma.
7. Bella from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer - If she's not jerking around the two supernatural men in her life, she's playing games with her human friends and family because they're not supernatural. Self-centred, selfish, and an utterly shallow bore: what more could you ask for in a mean girl?
6. President Coin from Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins - Okay, so she's not the typical, catty mean girl. But she's willing to kill children for her cause, which puts her pretty high up on the meanness scale.
5. Mrs. Coulter from The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman - This is one scary lady and definitely not to be trusted... even if she is your own mother.
4. Hattie from Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine - The character is a bit different in the book than she is in the movie, but she's still entirely unpleasant in any case. I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit sorry for her, though, as she was very obviously a product of her mother's parenting; she didn't really have a chance to be anything other than mean.
3. Laurel from Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones - I don't like characters who stand in the way of true love, so Laurel had to be on this list. She's nasty for another reason, too, but you'll have to read the book to find out what that is.
2. Attolia from The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner - She cuts off our main character's hand in the first few pages of the book. I never could forgive her for that (and I never really forgave the author, either... Although the first book in the series is one of my all-time favourites, I couldn't get past this character's actions -- and the other characters' unrealistic reactions to those actions -- to read the rest of the series).
1. Sam from Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver - Sam is probably my favourite mean girl of them all... but not just because she was a pretty awful person at the beginning of the story. Seeing how she changed throughout the book (thanks to Oliver's skilled storytelling) made me really like her as a character. Sometimes the best mean girls are the ones who aren't just caricatures of evil; these are the ones who remind us that we all have a dark side, but that that dark side can be overcome if we just acknowledge it and commit to making a change.

Review - Naked Heat

2011-04-19T11:41:00.000-07:00

Naked Heat
by Richard Castle
Date: 2010
Publisher: Hyperion
Reading level: A
Pages: 304
Source: library

Detective Nikki Heat and tag-along journalist Jameson Rook are back to solve another case. This time, when one of New York's most outspoken gossip columnists turns up dead, there's no shortage of suspects. Plenty of them have secrets, and some of them would kill to keep those secrets out of the public eye.

As Heat and Rook try to figure out who committed the crime, more murder victims turn up and the intrepid duo eventually find themselves in the killer's sights. And even once they figure out who did it, they still don't know why... or who might be the next victim.

Yep... This definitely falls into the category of "guilty pleasure" reading. I love the TV show and the first book was passably good. Unfortunately, "Richard Castle" just isn't that great of a writer... which is too bad, because the stories themselves are pretty entertaining.

I actually liked the plot of Naked Heat a bit more than that of Heat Wave. It was more complex and offered more peril for the main characters (which always makes things a bit more entertaining). There were so many suspects that I was really thrown; I had no idea who did it (although, to be honest, I'm rarely right when I try to guess the culprit in murder mysteries).

On the downside, though, the writing seemed a bit lacking. I realized at some point that we have no idea what these characters even look like, which gives these books away as TV tie-ins; I'm guessing we're already supposed to be able to envision everything because we've watched the show. At times, the dialog seemed kind of forced. And I don't really buy the whole relationship between Heat and Rook. They tend to jump into bed together after stressful situations, and it seems to come out of the blue, especially after Nikki has spent the last few chapters being pissed off by her "partner".

All in all, though, it was a fun read. It's not award-winning fiction by any means... but it's still entertaining.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.14 out of 5

In My Mailbox (42)

2011-04-10T03:11:00.000-07:00

From Kobo:

At the Back of the North Wind
by George MacDonald

At the Back of the North Wind is a brilliant allegorical tale by George MacDonald. The protagonist Diamond befriends the beautiful and majestic North Wind. Her powers bring change where ever she goes. At first this awesome power seems to be a terrible force, but it becomes clear that all of the changes she has caused with her amazing power have been for good. A timeless classic.

The Jacket (Star-Rover)
by Jack London

Darrell Standing is a university professor serving life imprisonment in San Quentin State Prison for murder. Prison officials try to break his spirit by means of a torture device called "the jacket," a canvas jacket which can be tightly laced so as to compress the whole body, inducing angina. Standing discovers how to withstand the torture by entering a kind of trance state, in which he walks among the stars and experiences portions of past lives.

The Princess and Curdie
by George MacDonald

The sequel to The Princess and the Goblin, this story begins a year after Curdie, the miner's son, saved the Princess Irene from being carried away by the goblins who lived under the earth. It looked as if the kingdom would run like clockwork once again, but the goblins were back.

From the author:

The Unfinished Song: Initiate
by Tara Maya

DEADLY INITIATION

A DETERMINED GIRL...
Dindi can't do anything right, maybe because she spends more time dancing with pixies than doing her chores. Her clan hopes to marry her off and settle her down, but she dreams of becoming a Tavaedi, one of the powerful warrior-dancers whose secret magics are revealed only to those who pass a mysterious Test during the Initiation ceremony. The problem? No-one in Dindi's clan has ever passed the Test. Her grandmother died trying. But Dindi has a plan.

AN EXILED WARRIOR...
Kavio is the most powerful warrior-dancer in Faearth, but when he is exiled from the tribehold for a crime he didn't commit, he decides to shed his old life. If roving cannibals and hexers don't kill him first, this is his chance to escape the shadow of his father's wars and his mother's curse. But when he rescues a young Initiate girl, he finds himself drawn into as deadly a plot as any he left behind. He must decide whether to walk away or fight for her... assuming she would even accept the help of an exile.

I guess I'm leaning toward reading some more classics, though I may not get to them soon (I've got too much else in my TBR pile at the moment). I just thought I should pick up these e-books while I had some coupons (making them almost free); I paid less than $1.50 for the lot.

I have The Princess and the Goblin on my Kobo (it came free with the device), but I didn't have the sequel. And I've been wanting to read The Jacket for years. I could not find a decent synopsis on any of the book sites, so the one above is adapted from the Wikipedia entry.

The Unfinished Song: Initiate looks interesting. I'm not sure if I'll get to it right away (it's for Kindle, and since I don't have a Kindle, I'll have to read it using the PC app... and I'm kind of tired of reading books on my computer at the moment... or, rather, my eyes are tired of it!). I have to say, though... I really like the cover. Very pretty.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - One Night With The Fae

2011-04-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

One Night With The Fae
by Claire Farrell
Date: 2010
Publisher: Smashwords
Reading level: YA
Pages: 51
Source: Kobo

When Cara stumbles into a strange party in the park on the darkest night of the year, she unwittingly finds herself in the midst of a battle between a number of faery factions, each of whom wants to use Cara for their own purposes.

Will she find any allies amongst the warring fae? Will she manage to escape? Or will the night end in bloodshed with Cara as a sacrificial victim?

Oh, my goodness. I'd never read any books published by Smashwords before, so I wasn't that familiar with their publishing model. Now I know. It's basically just a self-publishing medium... and I have yet to be impressed with a self-published book.

The ridiculousness of this annoying (but mercifully short) book begins when Cara -- presumably a young woman, since she's out drinking with her friends -- decides to check out some odd lights in the park that only she seems to be able to see. This, despite Cara telling us that "the park was usually full of life at this time of night between drug dealers and prostitutes..." Really? You're slightly drunk, you know the park is usually full of drug dealers and hookers, and you decide to quietly abandon your friends and sneak over there by yourself? Shortly thereafter, she eats and drinks at the faery banquet of her own volition, despite mentioning that she remembered stories about faeries, and even obediently chomps into a magic apple given to her by a banshee. SNS, anyone?

Things just get worse from there. I don't mind multiple narrators, but in this book we spend most of the time in the heads of some very unappealing characters. Everybody is scheming and bloodthirsty... but not very bright. After Cara's initial chapter, we barely see her; the rest of the story is about a bunch of really immature faery morons decapitating each other and jockeying for position. Very little time was taken to actually develop any of the characters, so I couldn't really care about any of them.

The writing itself is awful. There are comma splices throughout the text, interspersed with (strangely) the correct use of semicolons. I'll chalk that up to lazy editing. But the writing style itself is weak and the dialog rather stilted. The following passage exemplifies the writing you'll find in One Night With The Fae:

The girl sat on the bed, her face blank.

"I'm going to die."

"You won't. Look at me, what's your name?"

"Cara."

"Good name. I am Drake and I don't want to die tonight so I'm going to make sure we both get out of here."

"Why are you really helping me?"

"I...don't really know."

"Can I touch your wings?"

He sighed. "Go on then."

"They're soft, softer than I expected."

Drake enjoyed the light touch of her fingers on his wings and sighed again. He tried to cover his obvious pleasure by speaking harshly to her.

"Your fringe is too long. You should cut it."

Because nothing shows disinterest in a girl more than insulting her hair while being hunted by bloodthirsty fae!

All in all, there's really nothing I can recommend about this book. The awful writing set my teeth on edge and the characters were so one-dimensional that don't think I would have cared even if they'd all been decapitated. It read more like a high-school creative writing assignment than a professional piece of writing. Skip this one... unless you're really bored, are feeling masochistic, and don't mind parting with one of your hard-earned dollars.

Plot: 2/5
Characters: 0/5
Pace: 1/5
Writing: 2/5
Editing: 1/5
Originality: 2/5
Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.29 out of 5

Hunger Games movie men!

2011-04-04T14:49:00.000-07:00

The boys of The Hunger Games have now been cast.

What do you think of Liam Hemsworth as Gale and Josh Hutcherson as Peeta? My first reaction was, "They got them backwards!" They cast a blue-eyed blond as dark-haired Gale and a brown-eyed brunet as blond-haired, blue-eyed Peeta. What the...?!

What I take from this is that they were casting based on character... not looks. Which will probably turn out to be a good thing.

What are your thoughts?

Kobo Coupons!

2011-04-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

I've got some coupons for those of you who use Kobobooks.com! Maybe you want to fill up your TBR pile. Maybe you need some more books for the E-Book Reading Challenge. Here are a couple of deals you can take advantage of.

The first is for $1 off a Kobo e-book. It's good until April 30, and you can use it as many times as you'd like. Considering that there a lot of really inexpensive books on the site (including many classics), you can easily fill up your library without breaking the bank:

Get $1 Off select Kobo eBooks - KoboSpring1

The second is for 30% off a Kobo e-book. It's only good until April 4th, but it can also be used as many times as you'd like up until then:

30% off select eBooks - MarchKobo30

Enjoy these deals while they last!

In My Mailbox (41)

2011-04-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

From Kobo:

One Night With The Fae
by Claire Farrell

A collection of short stories told from a different character's involvement and point of view. A young girl is lured to a faery festival hosted by the Irish fae. To survive she must avoid the attention of two warring Queens but the faery who helps her fears something even more sinister is going on.

I actually managed to get this one for free, since it was only 96 cents to begin with... and I found a $1-off coupon. I love bargains.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - Eli the Good

2011-04-02T17:01:00.000-07:00

Eli the Good
by Silas House
Date: 2009
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Reading level: YA
Pages: 304
Source: library

It's the summer of 1976 and ten-year-old Eli Book is dealing with a lot: his father's flashbacks of the Vietnam War; his teenage sister's rebellion and anger at their parents; his free-spirited aunt's presence in their house, a source of conflict that the children can't quite understand; and his best friend's tumultuous family life.

As the hot Kentucky summer stretches on, Eli learns a number of important things about love, history, and friendship, all of it set against the backdrop of the U.S. Bicentennial.

I chose to read this book because I needed to get started on the YA Historical Fiction Challenge. This isn't the type of book I usually read. I do like some historical fiction, but the setting of this one is fairly recent. To be honest, I almost gave up after 75 pages or so. I'm used to books having more plot, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. But I found that I didn't really want to give up on this one, since I'd been drawn in by the characters. I think that's actually the point here; Eli the Good has some nice themes, and the excellent characterization held my interest and conveyed those themes well, even after I accepted that there wasn't going to be much plot to speak of.

I really enjoyed the writing in Eli the Good. There was a certain sense of nostalgia for my own childhood that bubbled to the surface as I read Eli's descriptions of that summer in 1976, a time and a place seen through the innocence of a child's eyes. Though this story took place before I was born, there was a sense of familiarity that really drew me in; it seems that things have really only changed in the last ten years or so. When I was a child, we still played outside, pushing the boundaries of the curfew-by-streetlight, rolling in the grass and letting it prickle on our skin, and studying the myriad bugs we managed to capture (and then release, of course). This is a young adult title, and I'm not sure how much of this would be familiar to today's teens... so how much they can relate to is uncertain. But the themes in the book -- about family, friendship, and growing up -- are pretty universal.

Despite the slow start, I really enjoyed Eli the Good. By the end, I'd come to know the characters well. I can't say that I liked them all or even agreed with their choices, but I think that was part of the message the book was trying to convey.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4.14 out of 5

In My Mailbox (40)

2011-03-27T00:52:00.000-07:00

From Simon & Schuster Galley Grab:

Where Things Come Back
by John Corey Whaley

Just when seventeen-year-old Cullen Witter thinks he understands everything about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town, it all disappears....

In the summer before Cullen's senior year, a nominally-depressed birdwatcher named John Barling thinks he spots a species of woodpecker thought to be extinct since the 1940s in Lily, Arkansas. His rediscovery of the so-called Lazarus Woodpecker sparks a flurry of press and woodpecker-mania. Soon all the kids are getting woodpecker haircuts and everyone's eating "Lazarus burgers." But as absurd as the town's carnival atmosphere has become, nothing is more startling than the realization that Cullen’s sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother Gabriel has suddenly and inexplicably disappeared.

While Cullen navigates his way through a summer of finding and losing love, holding his fragile family together, and muddling his way into adulthood, a young missionary in Africa, who has lost his faith, is searching for any semblance of meaning wherever he can find it. As distant as the two stories seem at the start, they are thoughtfully woven ever closer together and through masterful plotting, brought face to face in a surprising and harrowing climax.

Complex but truly extraordinary, tinged with melancholy and regret, comedy and absurdity, this novel finds wonder in the ordinary and emerges as ultimately hopeful. It's about a lot more than what Cullen calls, “that damn bird.” It’s about the dream of second chances.

Wrapped
by Jennifer Bradbury

Agnes Wilkins is standing in front of an Egyptian mummy, about to make the first cut into the wrappings, about to unlock ancient (and not-so-ancient) history.

Maybe you think this girl is wearing a pith helmet with antique dust swirling around her.

Maybe you think she is a young Egyptologist who has arrived in Cairo on camelback.

Maybe she would like to think that too. Agnes Wilkins dreams of adventures that reach beyond the garden walls, but reality for a seventeen-year-old debutante in 1815 London does not allow for camels—or dust, even. No, Agnes can only see a mummy when she is wearing a new silk gown and standing on the verdant lawns of Lord Showalter’s estate, with chaperones fussing about and strolling sitar players straining to create an exotic “atmosphere” for the first party of the season. An unwrapping.

This is the start of it all, Agnes’s debut season, the pretty girl parade that offers only ever-shrinking options: home, husband, and high society. It’s also the start of something else, because the mummy Agnes unwraps isn’t just a mummy. It’s a host for a secret that could unravel a new destiny—unleashing mystery, an international intrigue, and possibly a curse in the bargain.

Get wrapped up in the adventure... but keep your wits about you, dear Agnes.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

In My Mailbox (39)

2011-03-20T00:46:00.000-07:00

From the library:

Naked Heat
by Richard Castle

Nikki Heat and Jameson Rook are together again in Richard Castle's thrilling follow-up to his New York Times bestseller, Heat Wave.

When New York's most vicious gossip columnist, Cassidy Towne, is found dead, Heat uncovers a gallery of high profile suspects, all with compelling motives for killing the most feared muckraker in Manhattan.

Heat's murder investigation is complicated by her surprise reunion with superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook. In the wake of their recent breakup, Nikki would rather not deal with their raw emotional baggage. But the handsome, wise-cracking Pulitzer Prize-winning writer's personal involvement in the case forces her to team up with Rook anyway. The residue of their unresolved romantic conflict and crackling sexual tension fills the air as Heat and Rook embark on a search for a killer among celebrities and mobsters, singers and hookers, pro athletes and shamed politicians.

This new, explosive case brings on the heat in the glittery world of secrets, cover-ups, and scandals.

From Chapters:

A Discovery of Witches
by Deborah Harkness

A richly inventive novel about a centuries-old vampire, a spellbound witch, and the mysterious manuscript that draws them together.

Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries -- and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

Debut novelist Deborah Harkness has crafted a mesmerizing and addictive read, equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense. Diana is a bold heroine who meets her equal in vampire geneticist Matthew Clairmont, and gradually warms up to him as their alliance deepens into an intimacy that violates age-old taboos. This smart, sophisticated story harks back to the novels of Anne Rice, but it is as contemporary and sensual as the Twilight series -- with an extra serving of historical realism.

Twinkie Chan's Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies
by Twinkie Chan

With Twinkie Chan's Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies, crocheters can have their cupcakes and wear them, too. The founder of her own popular line of food-inspired fashions, Twinkie Chan has whipped up a feast of head-turning scarves, mittens, hats, and more so that her many fans can learn to make her culinary creations at home.

You'll find recipes for food-themed scarves that feature sushi, salad, gingerbread men, buttered toast, eggs and bacon, ice-cream cones, popcorn boxes, and more. You'll also learn how to make a pair of strawberry fingerless mittens, a chocolate cupcake hat complete with a cherry on top, and even a coconut-lemon cake tissue box cozy. Twinkie Chan's Crochet Goodies for Fashion Foodies is divided into three chapters -- Sweet Things, Fruits and Veggies, and Savory Stuff -- and comes complete with an illustrated how-to section, lists of "ingredients" for each project, easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions, and full-color photos and illustrations. Beginning and experienced crafters alike will go wild for these quirky, colorful, wearable confections.

Gah... The TBR pile is growing, despite my best intentions not to let it get away from me. Okay, so this week I kind of had to buy some books. I had a $10 credit/coupon for Chapters that was going to expire, so I had to use it for something (I don't like letting free money go to waste). The crochet book is not really something I need to read, per se, so it's not quite as bad as adding another novel to the pile.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

In My Mailbox (38)

2011-03-13T12:47:00.000-07:00

From ireadiwrite Publishing (freebies for Read an E-Book Week):

Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting
by Darlene Foster

Amanda Jane Ross is certainly becoming a world traveler; she's found herself in Spain on vacation with her friend Leah and her parents. Strangely, she's encountered a mysterious young girl who looks eerily like the girl in a famous painting in the museum in Madrid. Even stranger is that this girl keeps showing up wherever Amanda finds herself - Madrid, the remote mountains of rural Spain, the beaches on the Mediterranean Sea and in the big city of Barcelona. Amanda wants to help this girl, but Leah is scared to do too much given the fact that they've just found out that a mean horse-dealer is trying to get to this girl and her beautiful pony.

Come with Amanda as she tries to unravel the mystery behind this sweet young girl and her beloved pony as they trek across Spain.

Amber Frost
by Suzi Davis

Grace Lynn Stevenson is an eighteen year old girl who recently moved with her wealthy, but busy parents to a new city. She’s popular, pretty and rich - what more could a girl want? But deep down, she’s sad, lonely and plagued by nightmares.

When she meets Sebastian Caldwood at her new private school, she’s inexplicably drawn to him and his strange tattoos. Sebastian always gets what he wants - he simply has to wish it; but he’s fighting his own inner demons, and struggling to remember a past that eludes him. When he remembers that he is much older than he looks, he realizes that he’s seen many people live and die, including Grace.

Once Sebastian realizes his true nature and finds what he has been searching for the past hundreds of years, he also realizes that it is now up to him to protect Grace from the dangers that have plagued them throughout eternity.

Armor of Light
by Ellen L. Ekstrom

George Ascalon, earl of Grasmere, returns from the Fourth Crusade to learn that his father, a man who has forsaken his family and noble title to take up Holy Orders, has assigned him one last battle. There is an evil permeating a neighboring lord's lands and George is called upon to vanquish it. With a band of followers that includes his sister, a knight, a fletcher's wife and a mysterious noblewoman, George sets out to honor the pledge and in doing so discovers that he indeed has dragons to fight, and the person most in need of saving is himself.

The Fantabulous Fens
by Gautam Sen

The Fens are a most unusual family. Father and Mother Fen are rather ordinary, but their children? First, there's Mumbo, an elephant-boy; Baby Panda, a Giant Panda; Koala, a koala (of course); and Pinchu and Panchu are very, very small.

When the Fens move into their new house, a curious neighbor, Mrs. Hysteria, drops in, and while the visit starts well enough, on spotting Mumbo, she passes out. When she finally leaves, she makes it her job to make this gentle family public enemies. What will become of the Fens?

We've Seen the Enemy
by Paul Dayton

An alien ship crashes on Earth; its contents make it clear that the dead ant-like aliens inside were on an offensive mission. As humanity is presented with the prospect of their doomed world, construction begins on hundreds of World Federation ships and extrasolar defense weapons to be used in the inevitable war.

We've Seen the Enemy is set 700 years after the Great War and is a desperate race by a suicide team that may finally lead to the end of this interstellar war. Meanwhile, pockets of left-over human tribes on Earth have their own struggles, as they face power-hungry dictators and warped religious leaders. Behind all this are multiple alien forces, each with their own agenda.

As truths turn into lies and friends become enemies, can humanity unite together to fight their common enemy?

What Scotland Taught Me
by Molly Ringle

Fresh out of high school, Eva Sonneborn is headed to Scotland with her best friends: scholarly, sarcastic Laurence; gorgeous, ghost-seeing Amber; and responsible, sweet Shannon. They plan to spend the next six months in Edinburgh, enjoying an adventure-filled work-abroad journey before parting ways for college.

But when Eva meets Gil, a local bartender, she figures a little innocent flirting won't hurt her relationship with Tony, her ever-faithful boyfriend back home. But just when things turn less innocent with Gil, the trip starts throwing curveballs at not only her but her friends too. By the end of the trip, they've all fallen in love, sometimes with the wrong people - and with consequences that may tear their friendship apart forever...

I got six books this week and didn't have to spend a dime! A big thanks to ireadiwrite Publishing for these freebies. I'm not sure if I'll read them all in the near future (although Amber Frost looks mighty intriguing), but I thought it would be a good idea to download them while they were available.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - Heat Wave

2011-03-12T14:56:00.000-08:00

Heat Wave
by Richard Castle
Date: 2009
Publisher: Hyperion
Reading level: A
Pages: 224
Source: library

In the middle of a heat wave in New York City, a real estate developer is murdered. It's up to Detective Nikki Heat to solve the case. Along with Jameson Rook, a reporter who's shadowing her for a story, Nikki and her team assemble the clues that will eventually lead them to the killer.

But then another murder occurs and things begin to heat up... in more ways than one. Nikki must sort out the clues -- as well as her growing feelings for Rook -- and solve the case before it claims any more victims.

This is quite possibly the weirdest reading experience I've had in quite a while. If you don't watch a lot of TV, you might not know that this novel is actually spun off from a TV series called Castle. It's about a mystery writer named Richard Castle who shadows an NYPD detective named Kate Beckett as research for one of his novels. This novel, in fact. Yes, the premise here is that Richard Castle actually wrote Heat Wave (and the sequel, Naked Heat, which is also available in real life) after gleaning information about the inner workings of the NYPD from his partnership with Detective Beckett. This led to a bit of mental confusion as I was reading the book. I can't say it wasn't fun, though.

For the first half of the book, I kept thinking in terms of Castle and Beckett, because Rook and Heat are pretty much carbon copies of them. For the second half of the book, I was thinking things like "Wow... this Rook character is really a self-insert, isn't he?" and "Wish fulfillment, much?" And then I'd have to remind myself that -- hello?! -- Richard Castle is a fictional character and he did not really write this book. It's so meta. As a result, I was shaking my head a lot and giggling to myself as I was reading.

As for the book itself, I'm not sure that it could really stand alone were it not tied into a successful television show. The writing is so-so, and the whole thing reads like an episode of Castle. I'm inclined to think that the readers of these books in the fictional Castle world are not quite as savvy as our real-life readers; I find it a bit implausible that this sort of novel would make you a publishing superstar. However, as a fun, fluffy diversion it works just fine... and it's even more fun if you're a fan of the show.

I noticed quite a few really weird typos, but I'm not sure if they were actual editing problems or merely errors that happened during the conversion process (I read this as an e-book). Other than that, the writing was okay... It's not a literary masterpiece by any means, but it's still an awful lot better than some of what's out there. There is some swearing and some sex and Nikki Heat apparently likes to be naked (all the stuff the writers can't get away with on the TV show), so it's not for kids. But it's a pretty enjoyable whodunit and I'm not sorry that I gave this one a go. I think I prefer the show more than the books, but at least now I better understand the references to the books made by the characters in the TV series.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 2/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 3.43 out of 5

Review - Inside Out & Back Again

2011-03-06T13:15:00.000-08:00

Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhha Lai
Date: 2011
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reading level: MG
Pages: 272
Source: library

In 1975, ten-year-old Hà flees from Saigon with her mother and three older brothers. Her mother makes the decision to take the family to America, hoping for a better future for her children.

Making the adjustment to life in Alabama is sometimes difficult, but strong-willed Hà learns and adapts, all the while shrewdly observing what's going on around her.

One year of the family is chronicled in this novel of free-verse poems, voiced by a ten-year-old girl with a unique and colourful perspective.

I didn't realize this book was written in verse until I'd downloaded it from the library. I've never read a novel in verse before, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect... or if I'd even like it. But I actually enjoyed Inside Out and Back Again quite a lot.

I was mostly unfamiliar with what happened in Vietnam at the end of the war. Hà's narrative provides a window on a time that many young people today don't know much about, and the short chapters of free-verse poetry make the story easily accessible. I liked Hà's family, the setting of Vietnam that she describes so lovingly, the trials and tribulations of a ten-year-old outsider in the American public school system, and the eventual reconciliation that the whole family must go through. The author's note in the back states that much of the story was based on the author's personal experiences. Realizing that real people did experience similar situations makes the story that much more immediate.

The book is classed as a middle-grade read, but there's nothing to prevent young adults or adults from enjoying the story. I'd recommend this one to fans of contemporary or historical fiction.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.57 out of 5

In My Mailbox (37)

2011-03-06T00:59:00.000-08:00

From the library:

Eli the Good
by Silas House

Bicentennial fireworks burn the sky. Bob Seger growls from a transistor radio. And down by the river, girls line up on lawn chairs in pursuit of the perfect tan. Yet for ten-year-old Eli Book, the summer of 1976 is the one that threatened to tear his family apart. There is his distant mother; his traumatized Vietnam vet dad; his wild sister; his former war protester aunt; and his tough yet troubled best friend, Edie, the only person with whom he can be himself. As tempers flare and his father’s nightmares rage, Eli watches from the sidelines, but soon even he cannot escape the current of conflict.

Heat Wave
by Richard Castle

A New York real estate tycoon plunges to his death on a Manhattan sidewalk. A trophy wife with a past survives a narrow escape from a brazen attack. Mobsters and moguls with no shortage of reasons to kill trot out their alibis. And then, in the suffocating grip of a record heat wave, comes another shocking murder and a sharp turn in a tense journey into the dirty little secrets of the wealthy. Secrets that prove to be fatal. Secrets that lay hidden in the dark until one NYPD detective shines a light.

Mystery sensation Richard Castle, blockbuster author of the wildly best-selling Derrick Storm novels, introduces his newest character, NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat. Tough, sexy, professional, Nikki Heat carries a passion for justice as she leads one of New York City's top homicide squads. She's hit with an unexpected challenge when the commissioner assigns superstar magazine journalist Jameson Rook to ride along with her to research an article on New York's Finest. Pulitzer Prize-winning Rook is as much a handful as he is handsome. His wise-cracking and meddling aren't her only problems. As she works to unravel the secrets of the murdered real estate tycoon, she must also confront the spark between them. The one called heat.

Inside Out and Back Again
by Thanhha Lai

No one would believe me but at times I would choose wartime in Saigon over peacetime in Alabama.

For all the ten years of her life, HÀ has only known Saigon: the thrills of its markets, the joy of its traditions, the warmth of her friends close by . . . and the beauty of her very own papaya tree.

But now the Vietnam War has reached her home. HÀ and her family are forced to flee as Saigon falls, and they board a ship headed toward hope. In America, HÀ discovers the foreign world of Alabama: the coldness of its strangers, the dullness of its food, the strange shape of its landscape . . . and the strength of her very own family.

This is the moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing as she journeys from one country to another, one life to the next.

I thought Eli the Good looked like an interesting read. Plus, it can count toward three of my challenges (I'm not reading as quickly as I'd hoped, so this is a good thing)! Inside Out and Back Again is written in verse... which is new for me. I'm eager to get started on that one!

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Read an E-Book Week

2011-03-05T15:53:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow marks the start of Read an E-Book Week. I'm in the middle of two e-books at the moment, so I'm good to go.

What about you? Are you planning on reading any e-books this week?

You can still join the 2011 E-Book Reading Challenge if you like. Just make sure to count only the e-books that you've read in 2011.

Get clicking and enjoy those digital reads!

Progress Bars for Your Challenges

2011-03-05T12:14:00.000-08:00

I've been asked a number of times about the progress bars for my challenges. They're not widgets (which means you have to update them by hand as you finish your books), but they're also not really complicated. If you want a status bar, just copy the following code and paste it into the HTML of your blog post (you can also paste it into the HTML widget on Blogger, too, if you want it in your sidebar like I have):

<div style="width: 190px; height: 15px; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0);"><div style="width: 0%; height: 15px; background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% rgb(155, 155, 155); font-size: 8px; line-height: 8px;"></div></div>

Your bar will look like this:

The width of the progress bar is set at 190 pixels and the height is 15 pixels, but you can change that to whatever you like (you might want to do this if you're putting it in a narrow sidebar so that it doesn't get cut off).

You'll probably also want to change the colours so that it matches your blog. In the code, where it says "rgb", it indicates a colour. The first one is the background of the bar (set as white in this case); the second colour (set as black) is the border colour; the third colour (it will be grey here) is the actual bar.

To change the "progress" of your bar, just set the "width" value (the one in %... not pixels) to whatever percentage you like. Here, I've set it to 33%:

Enjoy your brand new progress bars! Happy reading!

Review - The Magician's Elephant

2011-03-04T13:12:00.000-08:00

The Magician's Elephant
by Kate DiCamillo
Date: 2009
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Reading level: MG
Pages: 208
Source: library

Peter Augustus Duchenne is an orphan who lives with an old soldier named Vilna Lutz. He's always been told that he is alone in the world, that he has no family. But then a fortuneteller makes a stunning declaration and Peter discovers that his sister, thought to have died at birth, may in fact be alive. Not only that, but an elephant is the one who will bring them back together. But where is an elephant to be found in the cold and gloomy city of Baltese? On one magical evening, the citizens of the city find out in a rather surprising way... and nothing will be the same for any of them.

Kate DiCamillo has written a number of books that you may have heard of, including Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tale of Despereaux. I first heard about the author when my mom read and enjoyed The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I would have liked to read that book, but I couldn't find it at the library. I did, however, find The Magician's Elephant, so I thought I'd give it a try.

I really enjoyed this one. Despite the middle grade designation, the book could be enjoyed by pretty much any age group. Themes such as forgiveness, belief, love, and the magic of life are touched upon, and will probably be appreciated more by older readers. The writing style was magical, like that of a storybook, and brought the interesting and varied characters to life. We're introduced to seemingly unrelated Baltesians throughout the narrative, but DiCamillo skillfully ties everyone together by the end, reminding us of the interconnectedness that we often take for granted.

The book is illustrated by Yoko Tanaka; the charming and whimsical pictures really add to the atmosphere of the story. All in all, I quite enjoyed The Magician's Elephant. It's a quick read, but an enjoyable one nonetheless.

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Pace: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Editing: 5/5
Originality: 5/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 4.57 out of 5

Slow...

2011-03-01T11:44:00.000-08:00

My reading has been a bit slow lately. I've been reading a riveting non-fiction book (The World Peace Diet), so my fiction reads have taken a bit of a backseat in the last couple of weeks. I'm going to make a concerted effort to change that, though, and get through the two fiction titles that I'm in the middle of. The Lost Hours and The Magician's Elephant are both fairly good, so it shouldn't be too much of a chore to get through them once I put my mind to it.

In looking for something else entirely, I stumbled across this post that I wrote back in August of 2009. I think if I wrote it today, after another year and a half of reading some pretty bad YA fiction, the tone would be a lot more snarky... and a lot less kind.

Read How to Write Your Very Own Young Adult Paranormal Romance. And don't be afraid to leave your thoughts!

In My Mailbox (36)

2011-02-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

From Girlebooks:

Princess Priscilla's Fortnight
by Elizabeth von Arnim

First published in 1905, Princess Priscilla's Fortnight was no doubt written as a true-to-life fairy tale for Von Arnim's children. It tells the story of Priscilla, a hugely popular German princess, who grows tired of her lavish and pampered life. Through the instruction of her mentor, Herr Fritzing, she learns there is a wide and varied world outside the castle walls and yearns to escape.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Pet Peeves

2011-02-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

It drives me up the wall when...

10. ... people make a word plural by adding an apostrophe and an "s". I don't know what's going on in schools today, but I learned this way back in elementary school. If you want to make something plural, you usually just add an "s". You don't add an apostrophe. An apostrophe indicates a possessive or a contraction... not a plural.

9. ... people don't know the difference between "you're" and "your". When I see someone write, "Your gay," the only thing that makes me cringe more than the derogatory insult is the grammar. Your gay what?

8. ... people say, "I'm waiting on line." I'm not sure if it's a regional thing or if people are getting confused because of the Internet and the term "online", but it drives me nuts. You're not standing on the line; you're standing in it.

7. ... authors don't proofread their online words. If you can't be bothered to get the words right on your blog or message board, it makes me wonder if you bothered to get them right in your book. And if you can't be bothered, why should I?

6. ... I see ellipses with two periods instead of three. There is no such thing as a two-dot ellipsis.

5. ... authors use "said bookisms". If you can actually laugh, snort, groan, or gasp your words, more power to you. But most of us can't, so when I see book characters doing these things, I don't find it realistic.

4. ... people stick complete sentences together with commas. I shouldn't have to explain why this is a problem.

3. ... reviewers consider a book to be well written just because it's popular. That's dishonest. If you like the book, just say you like the book. I can't fault you for having an opinion. But if you say it's well written even though it's full of grammatical errors, purple prose, and typos, I'll probably lose trust in your opinion.

2. ... people don't know the difference between "loose" and "lose". If you say you want to "loose weight", it conjures up strange mental images. "Loose" (as a verb) means to set free. "Lose" means to be unable to find or have. While I guess you could technically loose your weight, I'm not sure exactly what that would look like. I'm imagining a bunch of little fat cells running free through the hills...

1. ... people misspell "definitely". There is no "a" in "definitely". Let me repeat that again, because I rarely see this word spelled correctly. There is no "a" in "definitely". It's not "definately" or "defenately" or "definantly" or "defiantly" (although that is a word... but probably not the one you mean). Please, please, please learn to spell "definitely"... or don't use it.

In My Mailbox (35)

2011-02-13T00:11:00.000-08:00

From the library:

The Magician's Elephant
by Kate DiCamillo

What if? Why not? Could it be?

When a fortuneteller's tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller's mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true.

From Chapters:

Tempestuous
by Lesley Livingston

"I don't love Sonny Flannery."

That's the lie Kelley Winslow told to protect the boy she loves from a power he doesn't know he possesses. Devastated, Sonny retreats—to a haven for Lost Fae that's hidden deep underneath New York City.

But Kelley's not about to let things end in heartbreak. To get Sonny back, she's got to find out who's after his magick—and how to use her own. She's got to uncover who's recruiting Janus Guards to murderously hunt innocent Faerie. She's got to help rebuild the shattered theater company she called family. And she's got to do it all without getting dangerously distracted by the Fennrys Wolf, whose legendary heart of stone seems to melt whenever he's around Kelley.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - Breathless

2011-02-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

Breathless
by Lurlene McDaniel
Date: 2009
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Reading level: YA
Pages: 176
Source: library

Travis Morrison is a talented diver, the star of his high school's team. One day at the lake, he takes a dive into the water and ends up in incredible pain. He thinks maybe he's broken his leg, but the diagnosis is far worse. Travis has cancer.

After surgery and rounds of chemotherapy, Travis is still losing his battle. He decides to take matters into his own hands, to take control of his own life. But to do that, he'll need help. Will anyone be willing to grant an unimaginable request?

Warning: spoilers in this review

When I was a teenager, a lot of kids were reading Lurlene McDaniel books. I don't think I ever read any at that time; she was just "that author who wrote about death", and I wasn't really into that. Years later, I was attracted to the cover of Breathless, as well as its short length, so I decided to give this author's books a try. But if Breathless is indicative of the style of these books, I don't think I'll be reading any more of them.

My main complaint is that it was a stereotypical story populated by clichéd characters who were all too similar in voice to make the switching points of view effective (or easy to keep track of). The main character is Travis, who basically has things happen to him for the whole story. His younger sister, Emily, is an über-religious teen who spends much of the story going to church to light candles and pray to God for her brother's healing (with predictably ineffective results). His best friend, Cooper, is trailer trash with an alcoholic prostitute mother. He always seems to have a beer in his hand, even when he's hanging out at Travis's house (presumably right under Travis's overprotective parents' noses). Travis's girlfriend, Darla, is the tired cliché of a battered woman, and even though she gets after her mother for letting her father beat them up, she still uses the same old "I walked into a door" line to explain her facial bruises.

As a result of all the blatant stereotypes, I couldn't really connect with any of the characters. And Travis's mother, in particular, infuriated me. That may have been the intent of the author, but the mother's character seemed to be written the way she was just to create complications in the story. I didn't find it realistic that someone who actually worked as a nurse (and had probably seen such cancer scenarios play out before) would be so callous and selfish as to refuse her 18-year-old son a DNR and want to keep him hooked up to machines indefinitely like some awful science experiment, completely ignoring his wishes or his quality of life... even if he was her son. The parents were in a terrible state of denial about Travis's cancer. By the end of the story, he was missing a leg, his kidneys were toast, he'd had a paralyzing stroke, and his parents were still trying to keep him "alive".

Overall, I found Breathless to be uninteresting and unoriginal. The twist in the very last chapter seemed to come out of nowhere, and was somewhat inconsistent from a character point of view. The only thing I liked was that the book was short, so I didn't have to waste too much time on it.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 1/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 2/5
Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.43 out of 5

In My Mailbox (34)

2011-02-06T00:20:00.000-08:00

From Chapters:

The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak

It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery....

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist – books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul.

The World Peace Diet
by Will Tuttle, Ph.D.

Food is our most intimate and telling connection both with the living natural order and with our living cultural heritage. By eating the plants and animals of our earth, we literally incorporate them. It is also through this act of eating that we partake of our culture’s values and paradigms at the most primal levels. It is becoming increasingly obvious, however, that the choices we make about our food are leading to environmental degradation, enormous human health problems, and unimaginable cruelty toward our fellow creatures.

Incorporating systems theory, teachings from mythology and religions, and the human sciences, The World Peace Diet presents the outlines of a more empowering understanding of our world, based on a comprehension of the far-reaching implications of our food choices and the worldview those choices reflect and mandate. The author offers a set of universal principles for all people of conscience, from any religious tradition, that they can follow to reconnect with what we are eating, what was required to get it on our plate, and what happens after it leaves our plates.

The World Peace Diet suggests how we as a species might move our consciousness forward so that we can be more free, more intelligent, more loving, and happier in the choices we make.

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening

2011-02-03T16:08:00.000-08:00

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening
by L. J. Smith
Date: 1991
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reading level: YA
Pages: 161
Source: library

Elena Gilbert is the girl that every girl wants to be and that every boy wants to date. She's used to getting what she wants, too, so when a foreign student named Stefan Salvatore shows up at her school, she sets her sights on a new conquest.

But Stefan is hiding a dark secret about his past, a secret that could threaten the lives of those closest to Elena... and perhaps even Elena herself.

You'd have to have been living under a rock to not at least have heard of The Vampire Diaries, which has been turned into a television series. This good old-fashioned YA paranormal romance has been around in book form since 1991 with the release of The Awakening. For whatever reason, I never read the books back when they were released, even though I would have been about 14 and among the target audience. (That was probably during my reading dry spell in high school where I pretty much read only what was assigned.)

Reading The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening reminded me of why I got sucked into YA fiction in the first place. It was written in a time when a good grasp of grammar and punctuation was actually expected of authors (imagine that!), so when I was reading I could just enjoy the story and not get tripped up every second paragraph by some character who, somehow, sneezed their speech. Okay, so this is not a literary masterpiece by any means. There are some pretty corny bits and some of the speech is not that realistic. But I quite enjoyed The Awakening, and was pleasantly surprised by what it had to offer.

There are a number of differences between the book and the TV series. In the book, Elena is a blue-eyed blonde with a preschool-aged sister who lives with her Aunt Judith and stepuncle-to-be (while those who've seen the TV series know that that Elena is a brown-eyed brunette with a teenage brother who lives with her curiously young Aunt Jenna). What's more striking, though, are the similarities to books such as Twilight. Elena is similar in some ways to Bella Swan, waxing poetic about wanting to spend eternity with a boy she's only just met (teenagers in paranormal fiction never seem to have any common sense or foresight, do they?). Stefan and Edward Cullen are likewise similar, in that they both have that self-loathing thing going on; however, Stefan's reasons for being that way make more sense to me.

The only thing I really didn't like about this book was that it had a cliffhanger ending. Actually, it wasn't even really an ending; it was more like the story just ended in the middle of the climax. I guess you have to keep reading to find out what happens next. I've got too much in my TBR pile to commit to reading the rest of the series right now, but I'm not going to rule it out in the future. As far as YA paranormal fiction goes, this book was pretty good. I just wish I didn't have to go back almost two decades to find something that has half-decent writing (technically speaking).

Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Pace: 3/5
Writing: 4/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 4/5
Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.71 out of 5

Dreaming Anastasia for Free!

2011-02-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

Who wants a free digital copy of Joy Preble's Dreaming Anastasia? Right now, you can download a copy for each of the major e-book reader formats:

Download Dreaming Anastasia for the Kindle here.
Download Dreaming Anastasia for the Nook here.
Download Dreaming Anastasia for the Sony Reader here.
Download Dreaming Anastasia for the Kobo here.

E-Book Freebie for Kobo & Kindle!

2011-01-23T19:00:00.000-08:00

Right now, you can download a free copy of Angie Sage's Septimus Heap - Book One: Magyk for your Kobo or Kindle (or the respective apps, if you don't mind reading on your computer).

Download Magyk for Kobo here.
Download Magyk for Kindle here.

In My Mailbox (33)

2011-01-23T00:02:00.000-08:00

From the library:

Breathless
by Lurlene McDaniel

What is the toughest request anyone can be asked to fulfill?

Travis Morrison is a champion diver and one of the most popular kids at school. On the first day of summer vacation, while boating on the lake with his friends, Travis attempts a silly stunt dive that goes wrong. He fears he has broken his leg. Instead, his trip to the hospital reveals he has a rare form of cancer, and to save him, the doctors tell his parents they must amputate. In an instant, Travis’s life and the lives of everyone around him are forever changed.

Travis is determined that he and only he should decide the course of his life. He has a plan, but he can’t carry it out alone. Will he convince one of his friends to fulfill his most important request?

Lurlene McDaniel tackles a controversial subject, probing the issues of personal choice and quality of life.

The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening
by L. J. Smith

A deadly love triangle

Elena: beautiful and popular, the girl who can have any guy she wants.

Stefan: brooding and mysterious, desperately trying to resist his desire for Elena... for her own good.

Damon: sexy, dangerous, and driven by an urge for revenge against Stefan, the brother who betrayed him.

Elena finds herself drawn to both brothers... who will she choose?

From Kobo:

The New World
by Patrick Ness

In this dramatic prequel to the award-winning Chaos Walking trilogy, author Patrick Ness gives us the story of Viola's journey to the New World. Whether you're new to Chaos Walking or an established fan, this prequel serves as a fascinating introduction to the series that Publishers Weekly called "one of the most important works of young adult science fiction in recent years."

Reaper
by Rachel Vincent

Tod Hudson was a typical teenager. He liked girls, sports, food and tolerated his younger brother, Nash. In fact, he had his whole life in front of him -- and due to his bean sidhe heritage, it was going to be a very long life indeed. And then the car accident occurred.

Suddenly Tod's future wasn't so sure, and he had to make a choice. Life... Death... or something Between....

Four books this week! Well, two novels and two novellas. And I didn't have to spend a dime...

What was in your "mailbox" this week?

In My Mailbox was started by Kristi of The Story Siren.

Review - Dash & Lily's Book of Dares (DNF)

2011-01-22T11:54:00.000-08:00

Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
by Rachel Cohn & David Levithan
Date: 2010
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Reading level: YA
Pages: 272
Source: library

When Dash finds a red Moleskine notebook in one of New York City's most famous bookstores, he doesn't realize that he's about to get sucked into a scavenger hunt that will take him around the city. As he and Lily (the girl on the other side of the Moleskine) pass the notebook back and forth, they share information and insights about their lives, as well as send each other to significant places around the city during one of the busiest times of the year.

I've still got a couple of weeks with this one (it's a library book... thank goodness), but every time I try to pick it up and read it, I set it back down again. It feels like work. Actually, it feels like high school all over again, when you had to read an awful, boring, horrible novel just because it was a "classic" and everybody should read it at least once. I'm going to invoke one of my New Year's resolutions and allow myself to abandon this one. While I do want to know what happens -- and why everybody has gone gaga over this book -- I don't want to know that badly.

Was the premise bad? No... actually, the premise is pretty cool. Was the writing bad? Not really; in comparison to some other YA books out there at the moment, it was practically a literary masterpiece. For me, there was one main problem... and it's one I just can't get past: I simply loathe these characters.

Dash and Lily are extremely annoying. They both remind me of that stereotypical angst-ridden kid that was in your homeroom in high school, the one who walked around with a Moleskine and thought they were smarter than everyone else, who secretly longed for friends but had none because they were paradoxically too stupid to realize that nobody wanted to be friends with someone who looked down on others and thought they were morons. Dash has one friend, Boomer, and this friendship makes no sense to me because Boomer seems almost mentally challenged, and I have a hard time believing that Dash would deign to be friends with someone not on his intellectual level. Lily apparently has no friends, and it's not surprising because she's kind of unstable and very immature (she actually shrieks at some women in the movie theatre who dare -- oh, horrors! -- to compliment her shoes).

Through these characters, the book tried to be clever, insightful, and funny... but it came off as pretentious, distasteful, and annoying. Macy's probably has a case if they want to sue for libel after the implications that their bedding department is full of dead vermin and they hire pedophiles to play Santa Claus. (That was probably the beginning of the end for me. The scene was probably supposed to be funny, but I found it disturbing and disgusting. No, Lily, your Uncle Sal isn't just "huggy". He should be in jail.)

For the sake of full disclosure, I'll say that I only got about a quarter of the way through this book. But I just can't take any more. At this point, I'm not enjoying the book. At all. It could have been good... but the characters are just too annoying to put up with for even one more page.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 0/5
Pace: 2/5
Writing: 3/5
Editing: 3/5
Originality: 3/5
Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall: 2 out of 5

Top Ten Tuesday - Most Inspirational Characters

2011-01-18T13:21:00.000-08:00

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted at The Broke and the Bookish.

This week's topic is Top Ten Most Inspirational Characters:

10. Joe from The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon - He made a lot of sacrifices and endured a lot of hardship, all for the sake of his family and those he cared about.
9. Katniss from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins - She impressed me with her initial self-sacrifice to save her sister, even though it meant almost certain death for herself.
8. Mary from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - She was instrumental in helping to heal the garden and, by extension, the Craven family.
7. Jane from Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - Jane is inspiring because she's strong, competent, and independent... but not so stubborn that she can't forgive and open her heart to love.
6. Chris from What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson - He braved hell (literally) for his wife. If that's not inspirational, I don't know what is.
5. Sara from A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Wise beyond her years, this little girl endured hardships and unfairness with a grace and maturity that was very endearing.
4. Marnie from The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan - It's sometimes difficult to stand up for what you know is right, especially when it puts your own well-being at risk. Marnie went against the grain and suffered for it... but ultimately triumphed because she stayed true to her heart.
3. Emily from Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery - Emily always wanted to be a writer, and she never gave up on that dream.
2. Birdy from Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman - Standing up against your parents is something most teenagers do. But standing up against your father in the year 1290 when he wants to marry you off to a middle-aged man (when you're only fourteen!) is pretty impressive.
1. the very strange enchanted boy from "Nature Boy" (song) by eden ahbez - "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." Need I say more?

The Ladybug Reads...

Kobo "Winter Escape" Contest

Review - Pictures of Hollis Woods

Review - Olive's Ocean

Review - Blue Chicken

The Ladybug's Top Reads of 2011

Faves of TwentyEleven Book Awards - The Covers

Faves of TwentyEleven Book Awards - The Characters

Review - The Art of Racing in the Rain

In My Mailbox (51)

Review - A Christmas Story

In My Mailbox (50)

Deals at Chapters/Indigo!

Review - I Heart You, You Haunt Me

In My Mailbox (49)

Review - Dreamhunter

Kobo contest, Cyber Monday discounts, and more!

Kobo Coupons!

Review - Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure

Top Ten Tuesday - Books I Read That Were Outside Of My Comfort Zone

2012 E-Book Challenge

Off The Shelf 2012

E-Book Reading Challenge 2012 - New Host!

Review - Ice

Review - The Poison Eaters

In My Mailbox (48)

In My Mailbox (47)

Review - The Always War

E-Book Reading Challenge 2012 - Looking for New Host!

Cool project for book lovers!

Review - The Other Side of the Island

Review - Peter and the Starcatchers

Review - Ashes (DNF)

Review - Sovay (DNF)

New Format for DNF Reviews

Review - The Lost Crown

Review - Charlotte Sometimes

Review - Go the F**k to Sleep

Kobo Coupons!

Review - Salt

Review - Ship Breaker

Review - Tempestuous

Review - Shiver

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Review - Evil?

Review - The Adoration of Jenna Fox

Review - Room

Review - A Tale of Two Castles

Kobo Coupons!

Review - The Day Before

Top Ten Tuesday - Minor Characters

In My Mailbox (45)

Top Ten Tuesday - Biggest Jerks in Literature

What should I read next?

What should I read next?

Review - Wrapped

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Review - God Went to Beauty School

Looking for some well-written YA verse novels...

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Top Ten Tuesday - Mean Girls

Review - Naked Heat

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Review - One Night With The Fae

Hunger Games movie men!

Kobo Coupons!

In My Mailbox (41)

Review - Eli the Good

In My Mailbox (40)

In My Mailbox (39)

In My Mailbox (38)

Review - Heat Wave

Review - Inside Out & Back Again

In My Mailbox (37)

Read an E-Book Week

Progress Bars for Your Challenges

Review - The Magician's Elephant

Slow...

In My Mailbox (36)

Pet Peeves