The Ladybug Reads...

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Share-A-Book Saturday (21)

This is something I found over on Just Another Book Addict =), and I thought I'd do my own. There are so many great books out there that get overlooked (especially if they've been out for a while)!

Every Saturday, you share (recommend) a book, preferably one that you haven't reviewed yet. It's just a way to get other books out into the blogging world. This is NOT a review.

Today I'm going to recommend Both Sides of Time by Caroline B. Cooney.

Imagine changing centuries--and making things worse, not better, on both sides of time.

Imagine being involved in two love triangles in two different centuries. What if, no matter which direction you travel in time, you must abandon someone you love?

Meet 15-year-old Annie Lockwood, a romantic living in the wrong century. When she travels back a hundred years and lands in 1895--a time when privileged young ladies wear magnificent gowns, attend elegant parties, and are courted by handsome gentlemen--Annie at last finds romance. But she is a trespasser in time. Will she choose to stay in the past? Will she be allowed to?

I read this book years ago. It's one that has really stuck with me... both for the time-travel aspect and for the romance. For anyone who's ever felt that they were born in the wrong century, it's nice to be able to live vicariously through Annie.

There are four books in this series. I've read the first two, and they're both good. I can't vouch for the third and fourth, though; perhaps I'll have to read them myself someday! The books are:

Both Sides of Time
Out of Time
Prisoner of Time
For All Time

Amazon also carries the stories in two volumes, each of which contains two books:

The Time Travelers: Volume One
The Time Travelers: Volume Two

Review - The Book of Lost Things

The Book of Lost Things
by John Connolly

I can't even remember where I heard about this book now. It's been on my TBR list for ages, and sitting in my TBR pile for months (since I bought it back on Hallowe'en). I finally got around to reading it, in part because I wanted to read something for the 2010 Fantasy Reading Challenge that wasn't YA. So here we are. And what can I say? I really enjoyed this book.

After the death of his beloved mother, David finds himself stuck living with his father, his stepmother, and his baby half-brother. In addition, he hears books whispering to him and has attacks where he blacks out and catches glimpses of a strange world of half-darkness, trees, and castles. He eventually finds himself lost in this other world. He sets off to see the king, who may know how to return David to his own world. But David has drawn the attention of a number of evil creatures, and they won't stop until they get what they want.

It's been a while since I read any fiction that wasn't young adult or middle grade. The Book of Lost Things may be classed as "adult", but it's really a tale about stories: those we tell ourselves and the power those stories can have. There were a few mature themes (such as bestiality and child molestation) that were touched on, but these things were mentioned in passing and never in much graphic detail. The violence was, at times, a bit gory, but I've actually seen worse in YA fiction. So this book would probably be suitable for older teens, as well as adults.

I was sucked into the narrative almost immediately; John Connolly's writing style is lovely and flowing, and manages to convey the perfect amount of emotion throughout the story without degenerating into purple prose.

David was an interesting character, and quite well-written. He was supposed to be about 12 (if I remember correctly), and he was written as such. Some of his reactions rang quite true. He wasn't portrayed as dumb, but he wasn't obnoxiously precocious, either. As far as the other characters go, I quite liked the Woodsman and Roland, two father-like figures that David meets in his travels in this strange world. But the secondary characters were fun, too. Connolly draws upon fairy tales to populate his world, and so David runs into wolves (Little Red Riding Hood), dwarfs (Snow White), and sleeping princesses (Sleeping Beauty)... but they're not what you'd expect.

There's not much more I can say without giving away too much of the plot and the little surprises that come with it. So I'll conclude by saying that, if you enjoy stories that incorporate fairy tales while also touching on some deeper themes (such as betrayal, love, and family), The Book of Lost Things might be something you'd enjoy.

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

Overall: 4.6 out of 5

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Word verification Balderdash (21)

This fun meme was started by Sheila over at One Persons Journey through a world of Books, and is now hosted by Ryan G of Wordsmithonia.

This is the weekly meme where anyone who wishes to play along can take those crazy word verifications they have had over the past week and apply a fake definition to them (much like how you play the board game Balderdash).

Here are this week's words:

arebacs - plural noun - anything that keeps coming back over and over again

bledenti - noun - a dental hygienist who is so rough that you end up bleeding all over your little paper bib

clolusn - noun - an unpatented chemical that is used to make antidepressant drugs for clowns and other children's entertainers

morstice - noun - the time of year at which the undead are at their most active and troublesome; the morstice was once believed to be around Hallowe'en, but it is now believed to occur in late June

pargum - noun - a type of chewing gum favoured by golfers; pargum is used in a game which involves chewing a new piece each time you're over par; bad golfers can end up with a huge wad of pargum by the end of the day

pughb - verb - to cough while the mouth is full; pughbing, if done properly, doesn't release any crumbs

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Share-A-Book Saturday (20)

This is something I found over on Just Another Book Addict =), and I thought I'd do my own. There are so many great books out there that get overlooked (especially if they've been out for a while)!

Every Saturday, you share (recommend) a book, preferably one that you haven't reviewed yet. It's just a way to get other books out into the blogging world. This is NOT a review.

Today I'm going to recommend The Willowmere Chronicles by Alison Baird.

I thought for sure I had recommended these on Share-A-Book Saturday before, as they are some of my very favourite YA books. Years ago, I'd read Baird's The Hidden World and loved it. So when I spotted this series, I knew I was in for a good story. Was I ever!

(The following descriptions come from Amazon.ca. The second and third books are available there, but the first appears to be out of print. It's available through Amazon Marketplace, though.)

The Witches of Willowmere

Whenever Claire passes by Willowmere, she is intrigued by the beauty and exoticism of the estate, so out of place in the small town where she lives. There is something oddly familiar about the eccentric old house, with its widow's walk, gingerbread trim and lofty turret. Willowmere's owner, Dr. Myra Moore, is equally fascinating. She tells Claire about the Wiccan belief system, which is not about dark spells and magic (as some of Claire's classmates seem to believe), but rather about affirming the goodness of the earth and all living things.

Claire begins to read about witchcraft and natural magic on her own, trying to understand what truth may lie within its ancient lore and wondering if it can help solve the mystery that torments her: Why did her mother leave so abruptly three years ago? And where has she gone?

Claire treasures her new friendship, but she can't shake the strange feeling that Myra is holding something back from her. And although she loves visiting Willowmere, she is haunted by the feeling that ancient events have pushed their way to the present and are beckoning her. Why is she having such strange and terrifying dreams? Why does she feel drawn to the portrait of Myra's ancestor, Alice Ramsay? Could Alice really have been a white witch?

As she struggles to uncover and understand the powers of both good and evil, Claire is drawn towards the past, to the witch trials of the 17th century, and must battle unexpected adversaries in the present. All the while, she searches for the true story behind her mother's disappearance, hoping her newfound knowledge and power will bring them together again.

The Warding of Willowmere

Claire Norton is a revenant - the reincarnation of a 17th-century noblewoman found guilty of witchcraft. While this amazing discovery explains some of the strange vision-memories she's experienced, it doesn't explain what she's supposed to do with these visions or how she'll battle the forces that have been against her since even before she was Mistress Alice Ramsay.

Claire is not alone on her journey. She is guided by Leo, her familiar, an ancient spirit in an animal's body. Leo helps her battle the Dark Circle coven, the black witches and warlocks. As Claire tries to come to terms with who she is, who she was, and who she must be, she also struggles to understand why her mother left her and her father three years ago. Could she have known her daughter's power and destiny? Claire wonders if her mother also visits the alternative dimension Leo has revealed to her. And as she prepares for future battles with the evil coven, Claire begins to wonder if she has the strength and knowledge to fight the terrible threat of their dark powers.

The Wyrd of Willowmere

Sixteen-year-old Claire Norton has come to terms with her new identity as a twice-reincarnated witch, but many things in her life continue to haunt her. Though she now believes her mother fled years ago in order to protect her family from the evil Dark Circle coven, Claire is still no closer to finding her. And although the head of the coven has been weakened by the harmful after-effects of his own black magic, the sinister young warlock Nicholas van Buren is poised to take over as heir apparent. As well, Claire must confront her growing feelings for a boy at her high school and her desire to get closer to him while at the same time trying to keep him safe from the supernatural dangers that surround her.

What shape will her final destiny take? Will Claire be able to defeat her enemies and enjoy a normal life at last—or will the ultimate sacrifice be demanded of her?

I must say, after reading through those synopses and refreshing my memory, I see a lot of similarities with Alyson Noel's Immortals series... though this series was written years earlier. There's the reincarnation aspect (though it's done better here) and also the alternate dream-like dimension that Claire visits that is very much like Summerland. Now that I think about it, it's no wonder I was so disappointed with Evermore and Blue Moon; I was expecting something similar to the Willowmere Chronicles!

One refreshing aspect of this series is Claire's quest to find her mother. In a lot of YA books, we have the absent-parent syndrome. This is somewhat the case here (simply due to the nature of the story), but Claire's parents are important to her. Her father even gets involved when he believes his daughter is in danger. It's nice to see parents who aren't completely oblivious to the fact that their teenagers are out risking their lives while trying to save the world.

Another thing I liked about this trilogy was that it wasn't focused around a hot supernatural guy that the heroine pines over for a few thousand pages. There is romance, of course, but it's not hitting you over the head. These books were written years ago (the first being published in 2002), so perhaps the "template" for YA paranormal romance hadn't yet been set in stone.

In any case, these three books are a fun read with a satisfying wrap-up at the end of The Wyrd of Willowmere. If you enjoy books like Twilight, Evermore, Wicked Lovely, or Hush, Hush, you'll probably find something to like here.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

And one more for good measure...

I received another award today! I haven't seen this one before. Thanks, Melissa (of Books and Things), for thinking of me!

The rules are pretty simple. Answer the following questions with Single Word answers then pass this along to 5 other bloggers. Make sure you let them know about it though.

Your Cell Phone? Nonexistent.
Your Hair? Reddish.
Your Mother? Patient.
Your Father? Impatient.
Your Favorite Food? Edible.
Your Dream Last Night? Boring.
Your Favorite Drink? Water.
Your Dream/Goal? Love.
What Room Are You In? Bedroom.
Your Hobby? Genealogy.
Your Fear? Insanity.
Where Do You Want To Be In Six Years? Elsewhere.
Where Were You Last Night? Here.
Something That You Aren't? Healthy.
Muffins? Tops?
Wish List Item? Books.
Where Did You Grow Up? Ontario.
Last Thing You Did? Ate.
What Are You Wearing? Pajamas.
Your TV? Downstairs.
Your Pets? Dead.
Friends? Distant.
Your Life? Sucky.
Your Mood? Exhausted.
Missing Someone? Yes.
Vehicle? No.
Something You Aren't Wearing? Hat.
Your Favorite Store? Bookstore.
Your Favorite Color? Purple.
When Was The Last Time You Laughed? Yesterday.
Last Time You Cried? Yesterday.
Your Best Friend? Nonexistent.
One Place You Go To Over And Over Again? There.
Facebook? Yes.
Favorite Place To Eat? Couch.

I'm passing this along to:

Ashley at PikeAlicious Books
Aye.Me? at Reversing The Monotony
GreenBeanTeenQueen at GreenBeanTeenQueen
Jo at Once Upon a Bookcase
Lauren at Lauren's Crammed Bookshelf

Word verification Balderdash (20)

This fun meme was started by Sheila over at One Persons Journey through a world of Books, and is now hosted by Ryan G of Wordsmithonia.

This is the weekly meme where anyone who wishes to play along can take those crazy word verifications they have had over the past week and apply a fake definition to them (much like how you play the board game Balderdash).

Here are this week's words:

afyinki - noun - a type of sock that has an open heel; some socks may become afyinkis by accident when they are in need of darning

barcatic - adjective - refers to roughened skin on the body, particularly on the elbows

crucers - plural noun - a variety of pastry; a crucer is tough and shaped like the pincers of a lobster, meaning that if you drop a crucer in your lap, you're liable to get pinched

inglist - noun - a list of -ing verbs; inglists are particularly useful to novelists who write in the present tense

ovlrot - noun - a condition that afflicts artists; ovlrot affects the ability of the artist to draw proper circles, ovals, and ellipses

smolisms - plural noun - sayings first uttered by the avant-garde (if somewhat unoriginal) poet daniel smol, whose claim to fame was eschewing capitalization

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Recent Awards

I've received a couple of awards recently, so I guess it's time to do another awards post.

A little while ago, I received the Humane Award from Cate at Sparrow Review:

This award is to honor certain bloggers that are kindhearted individuals. They regularly take part in my blog and always leave the sweetest comments. If it wasn't for them, my site would just be an ordinary book review blog. Their blogs are also amazing and are tastefully done on a daily basis. I thank them and look forward to our growing friendship through the blog world.