A Reader's Ramblings

2012 Reading Challenge

2012-01-14T17:13:00.000-05:00

This year's Challenge is kind of different- instead of choosing a number you can make your challenge whatever you want it to be. Some people are trying to read more books by male authors, or books in different genres, or a number plus a category (maybe they want to read 15 history books this year). For me I'm sticking with what works- a number. In 2011 I barely missed my goal of 121, in fact if some of the books hadn't been duplicates I would have sailed on past that goal. So this year I'm holding steady at 121. I probably won't make it, but I'm going to give it my all. Even if it means I don't get work done, and the dishes don't get cleaned and we have to eat fast food because I can't bothered to cook. The things we sacrifice for good books :)

Happy reading everyone!

2011 Top Ten!

2012-01-08T22:07:00.000-05:00

Note: I started typing this post almost a month ago, I had such high hopes of getting it posted during the Christmas break, but life got busy (shocking, I know) and now here we are, 8 days into the new year and I'm finally getting it posted!

I do have to note that not all of these books were released in 2011. Some are older, some were ARCS, but I read them all for the first time in 2011 so that's why they are on the list. They are also not in any particular order, since it's hard to rank books that are so different. So here we go, my top ten books of 2011!

1. The Tender Mercy of Roses by Anna Michaels (review)- this is a great book about love and loss, magic and tragedy... and rodeo.

2. Delirium and Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver (review / review) - I love Lauren Oliver. She can basically do no wrong when it comes to her books. Delirium was like a whole new world and Pandemonium let us revisit with friends, feel their pain as they tried to find their way, and go along for the ride as their worlds spun out of control. (and yes I know this is two books, I cheated)

3. Trapped by Michael Northrop (review)- I come from the land of the golden snowball awards and record snowfall, so a story abut a giant snowstorm appealed to me. I wasn't ready for all the twists and turns this story took, but the authors willingness to stay true to the story, regardless of the pain that meant, made this book memorable.

4. City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare (review)- I love these books, reading them is always fun b/c Clare has the ability to take these crazy story lines and make you believe. Plus I enjoyed seeing Simon take center stage!

5. Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare (review)- ditto everything I just said above except replace Simon with Jem.

6. Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (review)- yes I know I am totally late to the game on this one. I'm sure that my geek card was on the verge of being revoked do to the lack of Westeros in my diet. Thank goodness I remedied that in 2011. These books are hefty and you have to be in the right mood to get through it, but it's totally worth it and reading the books makes the HBO show so much better!

7. Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (review)- this book is set in one of my favorite places, Jackson Hole. The author got the setting so right that I'm pretty sure I'm going to be looking up for angels this summer when I'm there.

8. The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (review)- this is by far my favorite book by Maggie, which is saying something b/c her books are pretty damn awesome. I fell in love with the characters, the island they live in and of course the horses.

9. Wolves, Boys and Other Things that Might Kill Me by Kristen Chandler (review)- this one is also set in the Yellowstone area, so of course I loved it immediately. Add in a mysterious black wolf out near Slough Creek and I was done for!

10. Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg (review)- technically this is a 2012 book, but I grabbed it up at NCTE and read it right away. I love Eulberg's books and as a ex-theater brat this one struck especially close to home.

My Ramblings on The Fourth Stall Part II by Chris Rylander

2011-12-07T20:13:00.000-05:00

The Fourth Stall, Part II
By: Chris Rylander
Release Date: February 7, 2012
Author Website

Summary:

The tween-noir saga continues. The life of crime is good. Mac has taken down legendary high school crime boss Staples, business has been booming and Mac and Vince are getting ready for middle school baseball tryouts. But this can't last. Mac has always tried to keep his friends close and his enemies closer. But what happens when you can't tell the difference?

A dilemma walks into the fourth stall in the form of Trixie Von Parkway - an eighth grader with a mean look and an even meaner predicament. Seems that the new science teacher is terrorizing her, and she needs Mac to get him off her back. Sounds simple enough, but as Mac starts to dig deeper, he finds even more trouble brewing at his school, including a new administrator bent on destroying his business and indicating that Trixie isn't who she claims to be. The worst that could have happened to Mac before was that he might lose a little money, maybe catch a beating. In THE FOURTH STALL PART II, though, the stakes are even higher than that (from Goodreads)

My Ramblings:

So first I have to say that this book, and the first book in the series, are two of the funniest books I've ever read. I found myself laughing out loud several times as I read Part II (and getting some very funny looks from the people around me).

This book picks up pretty much where the first book left off, with a girl walking into the fourth stall and sending Mac's world spinning. Who is she really? What exactly does she want? Why do middle school girls have to be so darn confusing!? I'm not going to answer any of those questions for you, you'll have to pick the book up in February to find out. I will tell you that Rylander does a brilliant job at keeping you guessing at who the good guys are and who the bad guys are. I was pretty sure I knew the score, but I was totally wrong!

What I really like about these books is that Rylander doesn't dumb down the kids or the experiences they have. He acknowledges that kids have these whole worlds that we adults may not be privy too. In this case we see Mac continuing picking up his business as usual as he helps other students fix their problems. The problems the kids have are all very realistic. The last story dealt primarily with bullies (review here) and this one deals with state tests and the pressure they put on kids and teachers alike. Everyone is coming to Mac for help with the test and then there is the additional problem of a new administrator who is cracking down of shenanigans and a new teachers who may be the coolest teacher/coach ever or he might be the devil himself. The methods Mac employs aren't always on the up and up, and I sometimes shake my head that these kids would get away with it at all, but the way Rylander writes it allows for the reader to just go along for the ride, enjoying all the twists and turns as they go. It was also great to revisit some of the characters from the first book, especially the school bullies, who are both the bad guys (because they are bullies), but also the good guys (because they work for Mac).

I don't want to give anything away, so I will just say, take the next few months to go pick up The Fourth Stall so that come February 7th you are all ready for Part II!

Wear Star Wars, Share Star Wars

2011-12-05T16:40:00.000-05:00

So I'm writing about an event today and not a book, but it's a good one, so read on and I hope you participate too!

Event: Wear Star Wars, Share Star Wars

Date: December 16th, 2011

About:

Last Year, when first-grader Katie Goldman was taunted for being a girl who loved Star Wars, the Internet held a day of support for her. Please join us in the second annual Wear Star Wars, Share Star Wars event on December 16, 2011.

Celebrate this day of geek pride and anti-bullying by wearing something Star Wars or science fiction related. Since it is the holiday season, we ask that you also donate a Star Wars or science fiction toy to a child in need (but please put a post-it on the new, unwrapped toy specifying that it can go to a girl or a boy; otherwise, these traditional "boy toys" will only be given to boys). You can ring the toy to a hospital, a shelter or drop it off with any organization collecting toys.

Please invite everyone you know to participate in this fun event! The more people who join, the more toys that get donated, and the fun we all have dressing up! Last year 35,000 people participated!

(From Portrait of an Adoption's Facebook event page )

For more information you can also check out this article on the event from Chicago Now

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I'm jumping the gun a bit on this event because the charity I'm giving to, The Golisano Children's Hospital in Syracuse, NY who has a donation area at the iSchool at SU, has a deadline of this Wednesday for dropping off toys. So I figured I'd better get on it- although I will definitely be rocking my Star Wars shirt again on the 16th!

To learn a little more, and see what toy I picked up to donate, check out my Wear Star Wars, Share Star Wars video. Now go get your geek on and donate some toys!

My Ramblings on My First 5 Books from NCTE

2011-12-01T14:48:00.001-05:00

A few weekends ago I was in Chicago for NCTE and in addition to going to some great sessions I also walked away with 83 books to read, many of them ARCs. Now I hate reviewing ARC's super early,I always feel like I'm going to spoil it for someone, so a lot of times I think to myself "I'll hang onto this and review it when it comes out" and then I never do because I get busy and then suddenly the release date has passed me by. This happened last year- I got so many books at NCTE and then didn't review hardly any of them. So here is my solution... ARC mini-reviews of the first 5 books I read. These are the books I was most looking forward to getting my hands on and couldn't wait to read!

Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Release Date: January 3, 2012

My Ramblings: We saw this book sitting on the ARCs shelf at the publishers booth and were struck by the amazing cover. Then we saw that it was a dystopian retelling of Cinderella. Two of my favorite genre's mashed into one book. And it's going to be a series (sort of) with retellings of other fairy tales coming out over the next few years. It was pretty awesome! There were a few little spots that I felt were just added in to parallel the traditional story, but by and large it was done in a way that referenced the original without copying it, which I imagine is a really hard task. I especially loved the familial relationships in this story, the wicked stepmother, and the sort of ugly (on the inside) stepsisters. I also love the prince, Kai, and his story of stepping into his father's shoes and leading a nation. In short I absolutely loved the main characters and really can not wait to see what happens next!

Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Release Date: Marc 6, 2012

My Ramblings: This is the book I was most looking forward to AND most dreading. Delirium was one of my top books of last year, it was brilliant and I was terrified that Pandemonium would fall into the middle book trap and end up sucking. I really, really didn't want that. Luckily Pandemonium was every bit as wonderful as Delirium. In fact, both books could absolutely stand alone. Obviously this is a sequel, but the story is 100% complete in and of itself. I love that. I love Lena and it was heartbreaking to see her move forward in the Wilds and try to find herself. The story was also so full of hope, as she finds a new purpose and a new family. It truly is a brilliant book!

Take a Bow by Elizabeth Eulberg

Release Date: April 1, 2012

My Ramblings: I sometimes forget how amazing a writer Elizabeth Eulberg is. I'm not sure why this is, maybe because her books don't get nearly as much credit as they deserve. When I look back at her past 2 books (Lonely Hearts Club and Prom & Prejudice) they are both on my top 10 books for the year. They are so well written and absolutely capture what High School and being a teen is like. This book, set in a performing arts school hit particularly close to home for me. I was a theater brat, a dancer who really wanted to sing and act. A dancer who was never going to make it big (what with being a good 3-4 inches taller then all the boys- makes it hard to partner), but who loved being part of it all anyways. This book got it so right. All the drama, the competitiveness, the using people to get ahead, to get the best part, to be the star. The idea that you get pigeonholed into one role and you can't get out of it. Most importantly it get the idea that amid all the craziness that comes with being an artist, you can find some of the best friends in the world. I love this book. I can pretty much guarantee that it will be on the top 10 list again!

Everneath by Brodi Ashton

Release Date: January 24, 2012

My Ramblings: First of all the cover of this book is gorgeous (despite the whole decapitation thing) and it was all it took for me to read this book asap despite not knowing anything about it really. It is an awesome read! Amid all the vampires and dystopians I've been reading it was really fun to pick up something that still dealt with fantastical issues, but was totally fresh and new. The story was really intriguing, essentially looking at what you would do if you ad 6 months to undo all the pain you've caused other people, to make your apologize, set things right again and then ultimately say goodbye. How do you mend those wounds when you know you will have to rip them open again? Do you even want to? Like I said, so good. I loved the main girl, Nikki and I really liked both of the boys in this story, Jack and Cole, although I never really did get the feel of a love triangle. Which is totally fine with me, but I've seen some other posts/comments that talk about the choice Nikki has to make between the two boys. For me it seemed more like a choice between two fates, each one contains one of the boys, but I didn't not getting the feeling that there was much choice there at all, and that the boys were a minor influence instead of a major one. In any case, I LOVED that it didn't play as a true love triangle and I can't wait to see where it goes next and who Nikki will ave to turn to in order to really get things set right again!

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith

Release Date: January 2, 2012

My Ramblings: This is a really fun book and the title pretty much tells you everything you need to know. Is there such a thing as love at first sight? Is it possible to fall in love even as the relationships of those around you seem to be falling apart? Hadley is on her way to her fathers wedding where he will marry a woman Hadley has never met. She bitter and angry and doesn't want to go. When she misses her flight she ends up crossing paths with Oliver, who is headed back to London for an event of his own. From there they embark on a mini adventure together, each finding something they need in the other. But can one flight be enough to base a whole relationship on? What I really liked about this book is that it doesn't paint love and marriage as a one size fits all prospect- we see all types of partnerships here. Ones that work, one's that don't and second chances that make it all worthwhile.

The Truth About Twilight

2011-11-23T09:51:00.003-05:00

I love when new Twilight movies come out. Everyone gets so... defensive. Both sides. You either love the books and movies or you hate them it seems. Then everyone attacks each other. How dare you question these books!? How can you love something that promotes what is basically pedophilia of the vampire kind?! Edward is the most romantic man in the world- the way he cherishes Bella! Edward is a stalker who controls the woman he supposedly loves. Bella is a weak excuse for a modern woman. Bella is finding herself and becoming the woman (er...vampire) she was always meant to be. It's preaching about premarital sex and abstinence. It's promotes bad and unhealthy relationships. It's the best book ever written. It's the worst book ever written.

I get it. I do. I'm a Twilight Mom and a Library student. I also spent most of my undergrad tearing books apart trying to analyze every last bit of meaning. Between Lit classes and History classes and deconstructing music for choreography purposes I know how to rake a piece of work over the coals. I get why it's done. This need to understand everything is something that I think we all have. I've heard just about every argument you can think of. I made most of them myself. I agree with 90% of them (Yes. Both sides) They all make sense and hold weight. I think what people forget though is that books reflect the reader. You get out of it what you put in. Were you a Bella? A Jacob (I was)? Did you hope for an Edward to come walking into your life? Maybe you were a child of divorce who just wanted a chance with their father. Or a soon to be Mom who had a bad pregnancy and was terrified that this thing, this child, might kill you (me again). Maybe you were the opposite of some of the characters and that fact grated on you because you thought they were making all the wrong choices. How you view a book like this is directly connected to who you are. I think that is true of most books.

Do you want to know why I am team Twilight? I love these books because I don't think they were ever intended to be as big as they have become. I think they were, at their heart, just a story that the author wanted to read and felt compelled to write and share. Are they poorly written and full of weird story lines that make me cringe sometimes? Sure. (looking at you vampire birth scene, which frankly, so much better in the movie.) Are they hopelessly cheesy? Absolutely (now I turning my gaze on your sparkly vampire skin Edward). You know what else they are? Fun. Entertaining. Addicting. That's what I was missing in books when I picked Twilight up almost 3 years ago. Reading had become a chore. I was analyzing everything and not enjoying the ride. At what point did every book have to change the world? They don't all need to be literary classics on par with Shakespeare and Dickens. They don't all need to teach a lesson and make us better people. Sometimes a book is just a book. It let's us escape into it's pages and experience something we've never seen before. Reading should be fun. These books, for all they are not, are fun.

They also changed my life. They changed a lot of people's lives. Books can do that you know. Just when you least expect it, there they are, surprising you in ways you might not have been ready for. They opened my eyes to the wonderful world of YA and some of the most amazing books I've ever read. They brought some of the best friends I've ever had into my life through TM's and EFG. They forced me to take a hard look at my life and what I was doing. I wasn't happy, I hated my job and I needed something new. Thanks to one of those friends (my Fairy Threadmother Lauralee) I was introduced to the idea of being a librarian. So I quit my job and went back to school. I'm one semester away from graduation. All in the matter of 3 years- a complete 180. All because I found a book that reminded me that reading could be fun again. That is, after all, what reading is all about!

My Ramblings on Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

2011-11-01T14:41:00.000-04:00

Good gravy it's been a while since my last post. I confess that between homework and fieldwork for school and then the required blogging for school each week has totally sapped my book blogging energy. Every few days I think that I'll blog a review, but then something else (read as homework, which will get me good grades, which will hopefully get me a job that pays real money) comes up and this blog slips back through the cracks. Until today. Yesterday I finished an ARC of Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare. I can't stop thinking about it. It was amazing, so here I am, shirking my school work, because it was that good. Let's do this thing.

Clockwork Prince
By: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: December 6, 2011
Author Website

Summary:

In the magical underworld of Victorian London, Tessa Gray has at last found safety with the Shadowhunters. But that safety proves fleeting when rogue forces in the Clave plot to see her protector, Charlotte, replaced as head of the Institute. If Charlotte loses her position, Tessa will be out on the street and easy prey for the mysterious Magister, who wants to use Tessa's powers for his own dark ends.

With the help of the handsome, self-destructive Will and the fiercely devoted Jem, Tessa discovers that the Magister's war on the Shadowhunters is deeply personal. He blames them for a long-ago tragedy that shattered his life. To unravel the secrets of the past, the trio journeys from mist-shrouded Yorkshire to a manor house that holds untold horrors, from the slums of London to an enchanted ballroom where Tessa discovers that the truth of her parentage is more sinister than she had imagined. When they encounter a clockwork demon bearing a warning for Will, they realize that the Magister himself knows their every move and that one of their own has betrayed them.

Tessa finds her heart drawn more and more to Jem, though her longing for Will, despite his dark moods, continues to unsettle her. But something is changing in Will; the wall he has built around himself is crumbling. Could finding the Magister free Will from his secrets and give Tessa the answers about who she is and what she was born to do?

As their dangerous search for the Magister and the truth leads the friends into peril, Tessa learns that when love and lies are mixed, they can corrupt even the purest heart. (from goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

So first the tiny issue I had with Clockwork Prince and then I will commence with as non-spoilery a review as I can muster. If you don't want to know ANYTHING about CP then I suggest you stop reading now though. No promising I won't say something that you might view as a spoiler even though I don't. You've been warned.

My issue (prepare to eye roll). A few times in the story Tessa holds hands with a boy (I'm not saying who). It's said that her skirts are able to cover the hand holding so that no one else sees it. I cringed a teeny tiny bit when I read it. Have you ever worn victorian garb? I have. I've made a few dresses in that style, one being my wedding dress... and, well, the skirts are not that voluminous. In fact, besides the bustle, they are rather form fitting. No massive layers, no hoops, not a whole lot of extra fabric. I had trouble with the idea that the entwined fingers of our girl and her beau were able to be hidden from the people sitting directly around them. Is this a big issue? No. Is it one that bothered me due to years and years of creating historically accurate costumes being ingrained in my mind? Yup. So there you have it. My one issue. A matter of skirt volume. Moving on now.

The rest of the book. Wow. Loved it. How to best share my thoughts without giving it all away? Well, if you are a fan of Cassie's books then you know that life for our Shadowhunters and the girls at the heart of the stories are never simple. There are miscommunications, moments when you want to shake the characters and broken hearts. You are able to see the mistakes they are making as they are happening and you know that they probably won't realize it until it's too late. It's draining really, but the fact that it's paired with great action and humor makes it all balance out. It makes it all worth it.

For me this book was all about finding out more about the characters.

Why is Will the way he is? I was shocked by the story that we got here, but then it all started to make sense. The way he pushes people away, the sarcasm and hurtful words. The fact that he lets Jem in anyways. It revealed so much about Will that it seemed totally obvious and unexpected at the same time.

We also get a window into the relationship between Charlotte and Henry and why their relationship has played out the way it has. In a sense I see Charlotte and Henry as being a bit of a lesson to Tessa and Will (and everyone else for that matter). They waited so long to clear the air and make their real feelings known that they might have missed out on so many moments together.

I'm trying very hard to not give anything away here, but it seems like timing and honesty are big themes here. We see so many things left unsaid, or held in for just a moment too long. We see people not trusting themselves and others with these huge secrets that, if people had shared, might have changed everything. We see our characters making decisions based on wanting to make someone else happy without really considering the ramifications. Sometimes without even considering whether it's what they want. There were a lot of times I wanted to yell "Just say it already!!" at the book. The fact that I'm so invested in the decisions these people make is a testament to how well Clare writes. I want them all to figure it out and be happy.

You'll notice that I haven't really talked about the actual plot of the book. I can't figure out a way to do it without giving it all away. So I'll just say this.... the Magister is still deliciously evil and bent on getting Tessa and ridding the world of Shadowhunters. Automatons are still being creepy and working at the Magister's bidding. We get to see what really happened to Will's family and how they might factor in his future. There is an unlikely spy within their midst and an even more unlikely ally that steps forward. So basically, evil villian, creepy henchmen, mystery and new alliances. And of course lot's of action and romance. Pretty much a perfect book.

Oh yeah... and there's a Masquerade Ball. No good ever comes of those things.

My Ramblings on We're Not Leaving by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D.

2011-09-26T14:12:00.000-04:00

We're Not Leaving: 9/11 Responders Tell Their Stories of Courage, Sacrifice, and Renewal.
By: Benjamin J. Luft, M.D.
Release Date: September 6, 2011

Summary:

"We're Not Leaving" is a compilation of powerful first-person narratives told from the vantage point of World Trade Center disaster workers-police officers, firefighters, construction workers, and other volunteers at the site.

While the effects of 9/11 on these everyday heroes and heroines are indelible, and in some cases have been devastating, at the heart of their deeply personal stories-their harrowing escapes from the falling Towers, the egregious environment they worked in for months, the alarming health effects they continue to deal with-is their witness to their personal strength and renewal in the ten years since.

These stories, shared by ordinary people who responded to disaster and devastation in extraordinary ways, remind us of America's strength and inspire us to recognize and ultimately believe in our shared values of courage, duty, patriotism, self-sacrifice, and devotion, which guide us in dark times. (from goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

I think it's fair to say that most of us remember where we were when we first heard about the events of 9/11. I was in a morning class at college, Biology, half asleep in the back of the room when someone got a text from someone. No seemed to take it really think anything big was happening, class continued and we all walked back to the dorms. Then, with the TV on and calls flooding in from family and friends, it all began to sink in. A lot of my friends were from the Northeast. We all knew people in the city. We were 1000+ miles away from NYC and we were trying to track down loved ones and friends. Thankfully, everyone we knew was not in the area at the time of the attack. Not everyone had that experience, not everyone was as lucky. This book tells the stories of those who were there during the aftermath.

I won't lie, this is a tough book to read. I had to set it down several times and take a break. I imagine it is even harder on those who were in NYC on that day or who lost loved ones. A range of people share their stories in this book, everyone from firefighters and EMT's who were at Ground Zero and survived to those who came later to offer their support and help. They don't pull punches and some of the descriptions of what they saw are hard to take in. Still, I think we have to. These are the people who ran towards danger to help those who needed them. The reality of the situation should not be sugar coated. The honesty of the contributors is part of what makes this book so powerful. The fact that many of these people, who did what they could to save others, are now suffering from various medical issues, both physical and emotional is a testament to the cost of their actions in the days that followed the attacks.

This is a great book to read if you want a different, more personal, perspective on the events of 9/11 and the days, weeks and month following. There will be moments you want to stop reading, but it's important to finish. I think we've all heard people say that "we will never forget", this book provides one way to remember what happened and the sacrifices that were made by those who were there.

My Ramblings on Vacation Reads

2011-09-17T14:17:00.000-04:00

This happens every year- I take a little vacation, but before I go (or in this case, while I'm there) I stock up on books I've been dying to read. This time I was gone for a week, I read four books, which is wonderful. Only problem is that it makes it really hard to review them all because I read them back to back (sometimes multiples in one day). My solution? One big post. So here's the quick and dirty rundown of my vacation reads!

Variant
By: Robison Wells
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Author Website

Summary:

Benson Fisher thought that a scholarship to Maxfield Academy would be the ticket out of his dead-end life.

He was wrong.

Now he’s trapped in a school that’s surrounded by a razor-wire fence. A school where video cameras monitor his every move. Where there are no adults. Where the kids have split into groups in order to survive.

Where breaking the rules equals death.

But when Benson stumbles upon the school’s real secret, he realizes that playing by the rules could spell a fate worse than death, and that escape—his only real hope for survival—may be impossible. (goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

I received this book from Teen Book Scene as part of a blog tour for the other blog I write for (Eve's Fan Garden) and I will be doing a full review in the next few weeks for that site, so here I will keep it short and sweet. This was a very, very good book. I was all in from the word go, and then I was a little hesitant in the middle and wasn't sure what was going on, and then, in the end it all made sense and made no sense at all and it was awesome. I can't wait for the sequel, which is unfortunate what with the sequel not being due for release until next fall. At any rate, stay tuned for my EFG review and come October go grab this book up!

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Wolves, Boys and Other Things that Might Kill Me
By: Kristen Chandler
Release Date:
Author Website

Summary:

It's K.J.'s junior year in the small town of West End, Montana, and whether she likes it or not, things are different this year. Over the summer, she turned from the blah daughter of a hunting and fishing guide into a noticeably cuter version of the outdoor loner. Normally, K.J. wouldn't care less, but then she meets Virgil, whose mom is studying the controversial wolf packs in nearby Yellowstone Park. And from the moment Virgil casts a glance at her from under his shaggy blond hair, K.J. is uncharacteristically smitten. Soon, both K.J. and Virgil are spending a lot of their time watching the wolves (and each other), and K.J. begins to see herself and her town in a whole new light. (from goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

I don't read a ton of contemporary YA fiction- a lot of times I want the escape that comes with paranormal and fantasy, but every once in a while I will scoop up something more realistic. The quickest way to get me to grab your book? Yellowstone. It's as easy as that. So this book, set just outside the park in Montana and focusing on the controversy that came with the reintroduction of wolves in 1997, was a no brainer. I've done reports on the subject and spent countless hours sitting on the hill in Lamar Valley watching the Druid Peak pack go about their lives. I've sat on a carcass (not really sat on- I've sat in pull offs and watched a carcass) in the hopes that I will glimpse a wolf or grizzly coming in for a meal. I've said it before, and will say it again I'm sure, Yellowstone, for me is home. So any chance to visit I'll take. I live a four DAYS drive away, so a lot of times that visit comes through a book or tv show. Needless to say I was excited to read this one. So how did it do as far as visits go?

Simply put, it was excellent. I could see everything KJ and Virgil saw and was totally invested in their journey as they tried to figure out who they are and what they believe in. KJ, a lifer in her small town has grown up with one point of view, that the wolves are both bad for business (as far as the ranchers are concerned) and good for tourism (as far as her fathers guide business is concerned), but she doesn't feel passionately one way or the other. Other people in town do though, they want the wolves gone, and fast. Virgil on the other hand, blows into town with his mother, who studies wolves for a living and is sqaurely on the opposing side. For her, and by extension Virgil, the wolves are a great thing. When Virgil and KJ and partnered up on a column for the school paper on the wolves they find themselves confronting their own beliefs, the beliefs of the town and trying to find a way for everyone to live together.

I'm going to talk for one quick minute about KJ's come to Jesus moments regarding the wolves. It was good, and for me it was also funny. Here's why. Shortly after the wolves were released from their reintroduction pens in the Lamar Valley my family visited the park (as we did every couple years). Of course we were hoping to catch a glimpse of the wolves. There is a road in valley that goes back to a trailhead, camping area and a nice spot to fish called Slough Creek. We were stopped in there scanning for animals when I looked behind me and saw, up on a huge boulder, a black wolf. I looked at him, he stared at me, and then he backed off away from the ledge and was gone. It was my first connection to the wolves and it really does change you. I had no opinion before that moment besides "it's cool", afterwards I was certain of why the reintroduction was good and why we now had to protect the wolves. KJ's moment seemed to mirror mine. Everything she saw and felt made absolute sense to me. It was pretty awesome.

One thing that I feel the need to mention is that I wonder if people who do not travel to Yellowstone and the area often feel lost in the descriptions of where Virgil and KJ go with Virgil's mom in the park. To me it's as familiar as walking through my house, but I worry that others might not visualize it as I do, and mabye additional descriptions of what the area looks like might help. I'd be interested to know what others thought if they are not at home in the park.

Overall though, this was a phenomenal book. Chandler nailed it as far as I'm concerned. Not only did she bring me back to Yellowstone, but she created believable characters who are dealing with an issue that happens all the time around the park. I thought it was all really well done.

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White Cat

By: Holly Black

Release Date:

Author Website

Summary:

Cassel comes from a family of curse workers — people who have the power to change your emotions, your memories, your luck, by the slightest touch of their hands. And since curse work is illegal, they're all mobsters, or con artists. Except for Cassel. He hasn't got the magic touch, so he's an outsider, the straight kid in a crooked family. You just have to ignore one small detail — he killed his best friend, Lila, three years ago.

Ever since, Cassel has carefully built up a façade of normalcy, blending into the crowd. But his façade starts crumbling when he starts sleepwalking, propelled into the night by terrifying dreams about a white cat that wants to tell him something. He's noticing other disturbing things, too, including the strange behavior of his two brothers. They are keeping secrets from him, caught up in a mysterious plot. As Cassel begins to suspect he's part of a huge con game, he also wonders what really happened to Lila. Could she still be alive? To find that out, Cassel will have to out-con the conmen.

Holly Black has created a gripping tale of mobsters and dark magic where a single touch can bring love — or death — and your dreams might be more real than your memories. (From Goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

So as far as reading goes I jump from Wolves... to this in a matter of hours, and I'm not going to lie, it took me a little bit to switch gears and really get into White Cat. It was no fault of Black though, this book has a little bit of everything, but what really drew me in was the mystery surrounding Cassel and Lila and what really is going on.

I loved the character of Cassel, he was a perfect outsider who was trying really hard to fit in. He's afraid of himself and what he is capable of and is confused and scared about what is happening to him. To be honest this book is really hard to review because I feel like every time I go to write something I realize it's a bit of a spoiler. So instead I'll keep it simple. Black creates a believable world in which magic holds the ultimate power. Cassel, who comes from a family of curse workers, has resigned himself to simply being a conman with no magical abilities. Suddenly he finds himself in the middle of a plot that is not only the ultimate con, but laced with magic and deception. Figuring out who is playing who and to what end is enough to keep Cassel busy for the majority of the book, and his play to flip to power to his side is a great climax to the story.

As much as I loved Cassel and his family, there is one character I really want to know more about and that is Philip's wife Maura. I would love to not only know more about her life with Philip and what she has gone through, but also what her life is like now.

Of course I can't wait to get my hands on Red Glove (already on reserve at the library!) to see what happens next!

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I also read Bumped by Megan McCafferty and that review is here. I couldn't wait to review it because, well, I was so befuddled by that book that I had to get my thoughts out ASAP.

Until next time,

Happy reading!

My Ramblings on Bumped by Megan McCafferty

2011-09-09T21:39:00.004-04:00

Bumped
By: Megan McCafferty
Release Date: April 2011
Author Website

Summary:

When a virus makes everyone over the age of eighteen infertile, would-be parents pay teen girls to conceive and give birth to their children, making teens the most prized members of society. Girls sport fake baby bumps and the school cafeteria stocks folic-acid-infused food.

Sixteen-year-old identical twins Melody and Harmony were separated at birth and have never met until the day Harmony shows up on Melody’s doorstep. Up to now, the twins have followed completely opposite paths. Melody has scored an enviable conception contract with a couple called the Jaydens. While they are searching for the perfect partner for Melody to bump with, she is fighting her attraction to her best friend, Zen, who is way too short for the job.

Harmony has spent her whole life in Goodside, a religious community, preparing to be a wife and mother. She believes her calling is to convince Melody that pregging for profit is a sin. But Harmony has secrets of her own that she is running from.

When Melody is finally matched with the world-famous, genetically flawless Jondoe, both girls’ lives are changed forever. A case of mistaken identity takes them on a journey neither could have ever imagined, one that makes Melody and Harmony realize they have so much more than just DNA in common.

My Ramblings:

Well, this is going to be one of those rare moments when I don't have a whole heck of a lot of nice stuff to say about a book. This book, while it has received several great reviews and I heard good things about it from others, just really didn't do it for me.

It started off bad when during the first several chapters I kept getting confused as to which sister was which. I was constantly checking back to the beginning of the chapter and even then I couldn't remember which one was Harmony- the Bible thumper or the professional humper? (bad joke) This was an issue that carried over to other parts of the story, I felt like everything was on the surface without a lot of explanation and therefore I didn't connect with the characters or plot. Both Melody and Harmony seemed like stereotypes instead of fully formed individuals and I just couldn't get invested in their journey or their struggles. Even the world around them seemed to suffer from a lack of explanation. Acronyms were thrown out without definition, slang was tossed out in conversation left and right and without any context and it was hard to follow. The intentional spelling changes were irritating instead of lending insight into the world these girls live in. For instance- seeing the word really repeatedly spelled "rilly" was frankly really annoying.

I suspect that the author was trying to show the superficial world these girls are living in. That they have been reduced to breeding for profit and how horrifying that is, but I found myself unable to envision a world where this could be the reality, and therefore it wasn't horrifying at all, just laughable. I wish that there had been more context to it all. Where had the virus come from, what had been done to try and stop it, how did it get to the point where girls were treated like breeding stock? Without that background to back up the story I felt a bit lost.

Lastly, this book falls into the trap that a lot of books seem to fall into- that of the cliff hanger ending. They are written and set up for sequels and trilogies and there is the risk of the book not being able to stand on it's own. That is how I felt when I hit the last page. There is no resolution. A spectacularly written first book in the series will do two things in my opinion:

1. Come to a conclusion of some sort. It will have a satisfying ending that is enough all on it's own without needing the next book to finish the story. Of course there will be some loose ends to tie up, a promise of a next adventure, or some greater story that is waiting (for example- Harry Potter).

2. That anticipation of what could possibly happen next will leave the reader wanting more.

Bumped did neither of these things for me. There was no satisfaction to be found in the final pages of this book, it's all left for the sequel (or trilogy), Worse then that, I didn't even care about what was going to happen next. I have suspicions as to what choices Melody and Harmony will make next, but I'm not invested in their journeys in a way that when I closed the book I was instantly wanting more.

Is there a possibility that I've totally missed the entire point of this book? Absolutely. Maybe there is some greater message that I missed out on, or maybe I'm trying to read too much into a book that is just supposed to be fun. Either one of those scenarios could be spot on. So if you've read Bumped and you are reading my ramblings on it and thinking "WTF? Did we even read the same book? This girl is crazy!" let me hear it in the comments.

Until next time~ Happy reading!

My Ramblings on A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin

2011-09-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

So I kept feeling like I had forgotten to review a book somewhere in there. It seemed like I read more Fantasy & Magic books and then I realized that I never reviewed A Clash of Kings. I meant to, but it was just such a hefty book that I thought to myself "I've got to sit on this one for a little bit" and then it just slipped through the cracks. So here we go...

A Clash of Kings
By: George RR Martin
Author Website

Summary:

A comet the color of blood and flame cuts across the sky. Two great leaders—Lord Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon—who hold sway over an age of enforced peace are dead, victims of royal treachery. Now, from the ancient citadel of Dragonstone to the forbidding shores of Winterfell, chaos reigns. Six factions struggle for control of a divided land and the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms, preparing to stake their claims through tempest, turmoil, and war. It is a tale in which brother plots against brother and the dead rise to walk in the night. Here a princess masquerades as an orphan boy; a knight of the mind prepares a poison for a treacherous sorceress; and wild men descend from the Mountains of the Moon to ravage the countryside. Against a backdrop of incest and fratricide, alchemy and murder, victory may go to the men and women possessed of the coldest steel...and the coldest hearts. For when kings clash, the whole land trembles. (from goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

For me these books are so hard to review because there are so many people and stories swirling around and I struggle with how to talk about it without giving anything away. Martin has created a incredibly rich world and characters that are well rounded. I care about these characters, and I want to visit Westeros, and unfortunately for someone like me who gets attached to characters in books, nothing is sacred. Which is precisely the issue. At the end of the first book, Game of Thrones, Martin went ahead and killed off someone who should have been untouchable. With the drop of the sword nobody was safe, and I felt it all the way through A Clash of Kings. Again, because there are so many twists and turns to the story I'm only going to give a broad overview so that I don't ruin anything for anyone!

This books picks up where Game of Thrones ended and we follow our main players as the battle for the throne comes to a head. Robb in the North, Renly and Stannis and then Joffrey at Kings Landing (with his mother pulling the strings). Of course, we also have Dany and her Dragons still trying to find their way back into the seven kingdoms. In other words, there are a lot of people to keep track of, and those are just the people hoping to be King!

For me I found that there was a bit of a disconnect in this book that I didn't necessarily feel in the first book. There were some characters that I simply didn't care for, so I would skim their chapters in order to get to the chapters on the ones I did. I stressed over the fates of Arya and Sansa. Would she make it home to Winterfell and what would she find if she did? Would Sansa find her own voice and somehow find her freedom? I'm always entertained by Tyrion Lannister regardless of what he's up to, so I of course I loved his chapters and looked forward to them. As in Game of Thrones Tyrion did not disappoint! Even the characters who took a back seat to my favorites, Like Theon Greyjoy, still managed to be interesting (although the initial scenes with his sister were rather painful).

Overall, I learned more about Westeros, saw some of the old heroes come up short and witnessed the emergence of new powerhouse characters. So, basically, a good time was had by all! I can't wait to see how A Clash of Kings plays out on HBO.

My Ramblings on Shine by Lauren Myracle

2011-08-31T13:03:00.000-04:00

So the summer of fantasy and magic isn't quite shaking out as expected. Mostly b/c my library kind of blows and the wait between books is insane. (FYI- nice people but small inventory- I spend a crazy amount of time waiting for ILL's to come in...) As is I may have to wait 6-8 weeks for the next book in a series to show up. Which leaves a lot of time without books! So of course I found some other books to read!

Shine
By: Lauren Myracle
Release Date:
Author Website

Summary:

When her best guy friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know in the name of justice.

Against a backdrop of poverty, clannishness, drugs, and intolerance, Myracle has crafted a harrowing coming-of-age tale couched in a deeply intelligent mystery. Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author. (from goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

This book was a bit of a departure for me, I've been reading a lot of Fantasy and Paranormal books lately (some veering firmly into Sci-Fi) so changing gears and going with a Realistic Fiction book was a really nice change of pace. I'll be honest in why I grabbed the book. The cover. It's beautiful. The one flower about to bloom, the desolate landscape in the background. I didn't even read the jacket before checking it out. The book definitely lived up to the cover.

This book centers on a young girl named Cat growing up in a painfully small town where everyone is in your business and there is no room for anyone who is different. Everyone has secrets. Cat's secret has pulled her away from her friends and family and turned her into a shell of who she used to be. When her former best friend is brutally assaulted her world is shaken and she emerges with a mission. She has to find out who would hurt Patrick and why, and in doing so she takes a hard look at her town, her friends and herself.

This book is really beautifully written. The story jumps around some. As it moves forward, we also see the events that led to Cat's withdrawal from her friends and family, and how her life changed after. We also catch glimpses of Patrick's life as well as Cat's bother and friends. In the end we get a very clear picture of not only who these people are, but how they got there. Everyone knows people like this. The big brother who struggles with protecting his siblings while still maintaining his reputation. The big man on campus who thinks he can take whatever he wants no matter the consequences. The kid who is so comfortable in his own skin that he doesn't care what others think. The one who is so ashamed of who he is that he spends his whole life fighting it. The broken girl who just needs a chance to find her way again. The small town where it's so hard to stay, but where you can't imagine leaving either. This book is a slice of life, a specific story in a specific place and time, but it could be anywhere and that's what makes it powerful.

Sure I had suspicions as to who had assaulted Patrick before the big reveal, but there was enough doubt that it's didn't spoil it. So, I won't give anything away here either. It's worth reading and discovering for yourself.

My Ramblings on Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

2011-08-18T10:18:00.003-04:00

Dear Chain Reaction (and by extension Simone Elkeles), I love you. Not in a creepy way, but in a "I instituted a book buying ban but broke it for you because I simply couldn't wait until my notoriously slow library got you in." In other words, I love you enough to crack open the wallet and own you. (Errr... this keeps getting stranger, I think I'll move on). Although before I jump into the meat of this post I do have to give credit where credit is due and say thank you to MA from EFG who insisted I read Elkele's How to Ruin series- she was right, I loved them and now I'm hopelessly addicted to Elkeles' books. The only course of action is to ramble on about this addiction and do my best to make sure you guys read all of Elkeles books too. So here we go....

Chain Reaction

By: Simone Elkeles

Release Date: August 16, 2011

Author Website

Summary:

Luis Fuentes has always been sheltered from the gang violence that nearly destroyed his brothers’ lives. But that didn’t stop him from taking risks—whether he’s scaling a mountain in the Rockies or dreaming of a future as an astronaut, Luis can’t stop looking for the next thrill.

Nikki Cruz lives her life by three rules—boys lie to get their way, don’t trust a boy who says “I love you,” and never date a boy from the south side of Fairfield. Her parents may be from Mexico, but as a doctor’s daughter, she has more in common with her north-side neighbors than the Latino Blood at her school. Then she meets Luis at Alex’s wedding, and suddenly, she’s tempted to break all her rules. Getting Nikki to take a chance on a southsider is Luis’s biggest challenge, until he finds himself targeted by Chuy Soto, the new head of the Latino Blood. When Chuy reveals a disturbing secret about Luis’s family, the youngest Fuentes finds himself questioning everything he’s ever believed to be true. Will his feelings for Nikki be enough to stop Luis from entering a dark and violent world and permanently living on the edge?

My Ramblings:

As already mentioned, I loved this book. I love the other books in this series (Perfect Chemistry and Rules of Attraction). What Elkeles does is pretty amazing- meaning she writes realistic books about teens, and she writes them well. She doesn't shy away from the worst there is out there. Through the Fuentes boys, in this book specifically Luis, we see how no matter how much you want a better life, sometimes circumstances pull you back under. We see gang activity, shootings, drug deals gone wrong and a huge amount of cursing. We also see kids having sex for all the wrong reasons. Still, for every harsh reality we also see the best of humanity on display. We get to see true love blossoming (in all it's awkward and dramatic glory) and we see a family who sticks together against all odds and who would literally die for each other if it came down to it. Most importantly, we see that there is always hope.

As always I'm going to start with the negative and end on a high note. A really minor thing made me cringe, and I hate to mention it, but I feel like I probably should. Here it is... Paco, Alex and Brittney's kiddo is two and in the book it's stated that he smiles at Luis with his four tooth grin. Now I have a two year old- and she's had a full mouth of chompers for a while now- so that was something that made me wonder. (did I miss something here?) It certainly didn't ruin the book or anything, but Elkeles is one of those authors that I feel does an insane amount of research for her books (I've seen the pictures of her riding around with cops and in an interview she talked about visiting prisons) and this little thing struck me as out of character. Anywho- minor issue in a great book, so let's commence with the good stuff!

This book is told in alternating points of view, this time Luis (the youngest Fuentes) and Nikki and much like the other books we see how they meet, how they challenge each other, fight, love and eventually come out better people. I don't want to give any of the story away (I want you to go read it- like now) so I'm going to refrain from gushing about every little plot point and story line, but lets just say there is a lot of action, some devastating heart break, some laughs and some really, really good loving.

Not for nothing, but Elkeles is a master at a few things- accuracy, humor and love. And by love I mean everything make out sessions and sex scenes to proposals and weddings and happily ever after- she...uh... nails it.

So, the long and the short of it is that this is a great third book in a great series from a great author. If you haven't read Elkeles' books yet, you really should get on it! Oh, and if you ever get the chance to see Elkeles in person, do that too. She is a great presenter and a lot of fun.

I'm going to leave you with the book trailer for Chain Reaction... it's a good one (as are all her other book trailers)

My Ramblings on Why this Week is Awesome!

2011-08-17T14:57:00.002-04:00

Some very cool stuff happened in the last few days... some book related, some not, but all worth mentioning. Don't fret (I know you aren't)- a book review is coming soon! I just finished Simone Elkeles' Chain Reaction, I need a hot (and I mean hot) second to process it all and then I'll be back to share my ramblings with all you. First though... why this week rocks.

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1. I won TWO contests. One bookish, one not. One that I knew I was getting (based on when I entered), one I had no clue I was getting.

Contest one was from Elkeles herself as part of her Chain Reaction Release date festivities. All I had to do was post a picture of me with Chain Reaction. If I was one of the first 50 I would win an autographed picture of the Fuentes brothers. First I was bummed. I didn't have Chain Reaction. Then I got an email from BN- turns out I pre-ordered the book months ago and it was waiting patiently on the Nook to be read! So I snapped a shot, posted to Facebok and was in line for a picture.

(not sure why I look so smug here- I just do)

This means I get a picture of some sort signed by these three young men. Well worth sharing a crappy picture of myself with the internet, right?

By the way- have you read these books? If not, you should. Like now. And while you are at it, go get all her other books, and also, if you have the chance to see her in person, get on that too. I kid you not she is the funniest person I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. I won't even blame you if you stop reading this post to go do it. (although fair warning- there's Joey Lawrence in the next section. So you know, you'd be missing out on that.)

Contest 2 has zilch to do with books- but it does have to do with shoes, and who doesn't like that. Right? Anywho- my favorite brand of shoe is Keen. These are not sexy, man killer shoes. These are I'm going to wear them everyday while I chase a toddler shoes. Also, climb some mountains and play in the mud and water shoes. There are 3 people in my house- there are 8 pairs of Keens. My love for this brand clearly overpowers the purse-strings every time they send me an email. Yesterday I captioned a picture on twitter and low and behold I won a pair of Keens. I've been coveting these boots for MONTHS. I ordered them this morning...FOR FREE. So yeah-- awesome :)

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2. And now for what is clearly the most awesome portion of this week (although free stuff is hard to top). Yesterday I got an email from twitter. It was a generic "so-and-so is now following you" blah-blah-blah. I generally check the persons profile- see if it's someone worth following back and the delete the email. This is the notice I got yesterday....

Joey Lawrence as in "WHOA" was following me on twitter. I don't know why. I don't follow him (I'm not overly sure I even like him...he'll probably unfollow me now). Still- as a child who grew up on Blossom and TeenBeat, this is inexplicably cool. I have a few theories as to where the guy even found me. One is that he has a love for reading and found me that way...this is obviously a long shot. Maybe his twitter account was hacked and for reasons only known to the person who did, I was chosen as part of some nefarious plan and thus was followed- this is also silly. My last theory, which I almost love more then the fact that he's following me is that he twitter stalks the NKOTB twitter accounts and snags up unsuspecting fans to follow that way. I tweeted several NKOTB related tweets in the last few week and suddenly former teen heart-throb Joey Lawrence is all over it. Coincidence? I think not. Although, if this theory is true, um... there's no other way to say it, but dude...lame. Maybe if Joey Lawrence is reading this post (as I will be tweeting a link) he can give me the real deal- but until then I will simply say he is following me because I am awesome (obviously).

Furthermore- I prefer to believe that it's Blossom-era Joey Lawrence following me and not Melissa and Joey-era Joey. For obvious reasons and not just the hair. I mean come-on. Look at this vest:

(I mean really look at this vest. It's like Aladdin meets Tiger Beat and is clearly all awesome)

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So that is how this week has gone so far, and it's only Wednesday. Clearly I should be out buying a lotto ticket or something. *Sigh* Now I'm off to work on real book blogging stuff... you know, reviews and what not. Stay tuned for Chain Reaction, George RR Martin's Clash of Kings and Lisa McMann's The Unwanteds.

Hoping everyone else's week is loaded with awesome too!

My Ramblings About Expectations...

2011-08-13T21:29:00.000-04:00

... or where I ramble on about two books instead of one.

So this past week I read two books, Rampant by Diana Peterfreund and Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher. Rampant I bought at the store, mostly because the cover was pretty kick-ass (I mean, swords and unicorns. I'm in.) Demon Girl I had grabbed up for free for the nook a few months ago and it's been just sitting on there waiting to be read. I had high expectations for Rampant, I'd heard some great stuff about it, the ratings and reviews on GoodReads were pretty positive, and after reading the synopsis I was pretty stoked to dive in. Demon Girl on the other hand I had no expectations for. I hadn't heard anything about it and hadn't even looked it up on GoodReads. Needless to say, it didn't really have anything to live up to. Now here's the thing about expectations, they are usually unattainable. Occasionally a book will totally live up to the hype, but it's rare. Look at some of the great series' whose final entry falls short for one reason or another (ahem...Mockingjay). The chance for disappointment is huge. Now, having no expectations? There's really no where to go but up. Either the book is just meh, which isn't a let down since you weren't expecting anything to begin with, or it exceeds expectations and you are pleasantly surprised. It's probably easy to see where I'm going with this as it pertains to Rampant and Demon Girl but I'll let the reviews speak for themselves. Fair warning though- there will be some spoilers in these reviews, I couldn't really get around it, and since these are not new releases I think it's fair game. So let's get to it...

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Rampant

By: Diana Peterfreund

Release Date: August 2009

Author Website

Summary:

Forget everything you ever knew about unicorns...

Real unicorns are venomous, man-eating monsters with huge fangs and razor-sharp horns. Fortunately, they've been extinct for a hundred and fifty years.

Or not.

Astrid had always scoffed at her eccentric mother's stories about killer unicorns. But when one of the monsters attacks her boyfriend—thereby ruining any chance of him taking her to the prom—Astrid finds herself headed to Rome to train as a unicorn hunter at the ancient cloisters the hunters have used for centuries.

However, at the cloisters all is not what it seems. Outside, the unicorns wait to attack. And within, Astrid faces other, unexpected threats: from the crumbling, bone-covered walls that vibrate with a terrible power to the hidden agendas of her fellow hunters to—perhaps most dangerously of all—her growing attraction to a handsome art student ... an attraction that could jeopardize everything.

My Ramblings:

So, as you may have guessed by now this book fell way short for me. I was excited to read it, I liked the idea that we were going to see unicorns in a new light and I especially liked that the main character, Astrid's, path was dictated by the life of Alexander the Great. I saw so many cool ways this could go. And go they did. I was really into this book for about 90% of the pages.

To start I really liked the mythology behind who the unicorn hunters were, that they were descendants of Alexander the Great who had a great war horse, which was actually a unicorn. I liked how that whole plot line played out, the interweaving of Alexander and his horse, the mythology surrounding Diana and the virgin hunters and then how these girls are called upon to take up their place in the line of hunters when the unicorns re-emerge. Peterfreund does a phenomenal job creating this world, I felt like I could very clearly picture everything from Astrid and Giovanni to the Cloisters to the different types of unicorns. I never felt the need to page back and remind myself which was which- from the Zhi to the Karkadann I got completely what they were and what they looked like. Each hunter was well thought out and their reasons for being there played out nicely. I was completely with them as they struggled to become not just good hunters, but good unicorn hunters and as they contemplated what being a hunter meant. It was all very well done and then, for me, it crumbled.

Going into the last section I felt like there were a lot of loose ends. What ever became of Brandt, Astrid's sort of boyfriend who was attacked by a zhi and then miraculously cured by a unicorn poison remedy and then subsequently disappeared? To me it seemed like it was heavily hinted that the Gordian, who was bankrolling the hunters training may have taken him to perform tests on him. How about Seth, the seemingly good guy who we end up finding out was being paid by Gordian to deflower Astrid's cousin? He also disappears, but to where. What of the other hunters that the Gordian is supposedly keeping and running tests on? We know one was sent in to be a spy at the Cloisters (she changed sides), but what of the others? These are just three plot lines that are left completely unanswered. The final battle is supposed to be epic, but to me it was an epic let down. There was none of the gore and violence we saw earlier in the book, I wanted to see the girls really fight, but instead it seemed like they just walked on in and got down to slaughtering the unicorns. It ends and the head of The Gordian is taken out by the Karkadann and then it's over. I finished it and literally thought "Huh. So that was odd." Not the best way to end a book.

Others loved this book, so it's entirely possible I missed something, or that these things will be answered in the sequel, but on it's own I thought this book could have been great if it wasn't for these few things that closed the book out. (I'll talk about sequels in a minute)

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Demon Girl

By: Penelope Fletcher

Release Date:

Author Website

Summary:

Rae Wilder has problems.... Supernatural creatures swarm the earth, and humanity is on the brink of extinction. Stalked by a handsome fairy who claims she is like him, demonkind, Rae thinks maybe it was a mistake breaking the rules by going over the Wall into demon territory. Plunged into a world of dark magics, fierce creatures, and ritual sacrifice, she is charged with a guarding a magical amulet. The changes to her mind and body are startling, but rather than accept her purpose she struggles against who she is destined to be. Throw in a big lust for a vampire who can't keep his hands off her, and life starts to get complicated. Rae is forced to make the ultimate choice: to live and die human, or embrace her birth-right and wield magics that could turn her into something wicked, a force of nature nothing can control.

My Ramblings:

As noted I had zero expectations going into this book. I picked it for three reasons.

1. Cool cover.

2. It's YA Paranormal/Dystopian

3. It was free.

That simple. I grabbed it several months ago and let it sit on the Nook for a rainy day. To be sure there were some things about this book that I wasn't a huge fan of. I know formatting is sometimes not the authors fault with eBooks, but there was definitely some wonkiness going on. Random paragraph breaks and extra letters floating around here and there. I've taken other authors to task over things that could be fixed with better editing so it's only fair I mention it here, but honestly, the issues were few and far between, and it didn't really take away from the experience at all. So with that out of the way, did Demon Girl exceed expectations? Absolutely. This was a really interesting story that mashed together dystopian (which I love) and the supernatural (which I also love).

Our main character is Rae and she is a bit of an odd ball. She's an orphan, in training to be a cleric (aka Demon Hunter) and, oh yeah, she also happens to be a demon. I liked that Fletcher jumped right in with the fact that Rae is a demon. There was no beating around the bush, no "is she or isn't she", just Rae is a demon, the worlds about to go to hell in a hand basket (again), so what is she going to do about it. I really appreciate that. That being said, I would have liked a little more background on some of it. There were a few moments where I stopped and thought "huh?" but all in all it was well done.

So to the story, the Rupture was an event where the balance of power tilted and vampires began eradicating humans who began walling themselves off for protection. Rae lives and trains in one of those enclosures, but ventures outside to run despite the dangers of demons. It's outside where she meets Breandon, a fairy who revels to her that she is a fairy as well. Then her world pretty much spirals out of control as various demons come out of the woodwork and they all want something from her. She's bonded to Breandon, she has some crazy attraction/attachment to Tomas (a vampire) and the various fairy factions all want her on their side as a new war flares up. She not only has to deal with understanding who and what she is, she has to decide what her place will be as the power struggle comes to a head. Another thing I appreciated was that Fletcher didn't shy away from taking out a character in the process of building up the tension. Violence wasn't hinted at, it was shown. Fletcher did a great job at showing the good, the bad and the ugly of what life post-Rupture would be like.

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And now the so what moment of this post...

So what does all this mean? Well, I guess what struck me was how expectations really change how I look at a book. I'm not trying to compare the books in any way, since they are really too totally different stories, but how I went into them certainly is worth thinking about. It's possible that Rampant never stood a chance with me, with what others were saying any little thing would mean that it simply couldn't live up. The fact that there were some fairly big things missing meant that, for me, it was a huge let down. Demon Girl on the other hand couldn't really fail. Even with the minor issues, it still was better then expected. Had I gone into both expecting nothing, then both may have been seen as successful. The opposite applies as well, if both were supposed to be fabulous then any issue in either would have resulted in my disappointment. It's funny how expectations can do that.

Awhile ago I mentioned sequels- and I'll make one brief observation about those before I end this colossal post and call it a night. Both Rampant and Demon Girl are the first book in a series. Book two in both are out now. My library has neither, so if I want to read them and find out what happens I have to purchase it. I already bought Demon Day for my Nook (it was $2.99), I might not read it right away, but I intend to find out what happens next. The sequel to Rampant, Ascendant, is also available for the Nook ($6.99) but I just couldn't buy it, no matter how badly I want to know if those loose ends are ever tied up. I felt like the level of disappointment that would occur if I spent more money and still was left empty-handed would be too much. My expectations have now flipped. I fully expect Demon Day to live up to Demon Girl, so I'm willing to pay for it. I expect nothing from Ascendant, if I get the chance to read it for free (come on library!) I will and hope that it leaves me pleasantly surprised.

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So what do you guys say? Do you hate it when books just don't live up to the hype or do you ignore the hype completely (which is seriously hard to do!)? And finally- want to give any of these books a read? Head to the library, or your local bookstore and see what you think!

New Kids on the Block

2011-08-07T22:05:00.003-04:00

So every once in a while I take a step outside of the land of books and write about something else. Once I wrote about Garrett Hedlund and whether the movie Country Strong was worthy of seeing in the theater (verdict? NO), another time I wrote about my horse- today though I'm going to write about a slice of my childhood that has amazingly become part of my adulthood (how often does that happen?). Of course, I'm talking about New Kids on the Block. The first concert I ever went to (that wasn't Raffi or Sharon, Lois and Bram) was New Kids on the Block. I was 9-ish and I was obsessed. I loved me some Jonathan Knight. I went on to love Backstreet Boys and NSync, but NKOTB was always #1. Then, as luck would have it, they got back together and I got to see them in a small venue in my hometown with the same person I saw them with when I was nine.

Then- as if life couldn't get any better, not only did they go back on tour, but they joined up with the Backstreet Boys to make super-group boy band NKOTBSB (I know- why had this not occurred sooner!?) So I went with the same friend again to see them. Um... Greatest. Concert. Ever. The only downside? Jonathan (who as you may recall, has always been my favorite) was injured and couldn't perform. I had to make do with my second favorite, Donnie, and the rest of the guys...

Now, I know- we are not talking about musical brilliance here (as several people have pointed out)- but dear god, do these boys know how to entertain a crowd. In fact the concert was so good that the day after we got home we bought tickets for a second concert at the end of the summer. There is something awesome about getting to go back and be a kid again.

They genuinely are having a great time. They make sure the crowd is having a good time. They trot out all the old dance moves and do them like it's the first time. They make sure we know they appreciate us for hanging with them for 20 years. In fact, in the first concert Donnie made sure to take a moment to tell us. He said (paraphrasing here) "I hope you all know that we know what it means that you are here with us tonight. Don't ever forget what you mean to us" and it seemed like he really meant it. I hope they know how much they mean to us fans too!

Our second concert was better then the first (if that is possible). We sat right off stage right, 9th row, but only the row directly in front of us had people in it (and those people might have been related to the Knight's)- not only were we this close to the stage, but we could see back stage, which was awesome. Especially when the back stage crew had their own impromtu performance to "Please Don't Go Girl" complete with flashlight spot lights and a very dramatic singer. Sorry Joey, I couldn't take my eyes off the guys backstage! Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of it (too dark). However, our closeness to the stage did mean that I could use sport-shot on my camera and get some really, really good pictures!

The rest of the show was pretty spectacular. I'd go again tomorrow if they had another show in the area, it was that good. The guys were at the top of their game, they had a great time and so did I! I'm so glad that they got back together, joined up with BSB and went on tour. I really hope they come back again next year :)

Now for a few more pictures of this last concert! Enjoy!!

*for more NKOTB & NKOTBSB pictures from this tour and from a few years ago, click on over to my flickr album: ElstadRanch- New Kids on the Block

My Ramblings on Dune by Frank Herbert

2011-07-26T22:06:00.000-04:00

Dune
By: Frank Herbert
Release Date: 25th Anniversary Ed. Sept. 1990
Official Dune Website

Summary:

Here is the novel that will be forever considered a triumph of the imagination. Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, who would become the mysterious man known as Maud’dib. He would avenge the traitorous plot against his noble family—and would bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream.

A stunning blend of adventure and mysticism, environmentalism and politics, Dune won the first Nebula Award, shared the Hugo Award, and formed the basis of what is undoubtedly the grandest epic in science fiction. Frank Herbert’s death in 1986 was a tragic loss, yet the astounding legacy of his visionary fiction will live forever.

My Ramblings:

First off, let me just say, this is one hell of a book. Amazing, really. It's hard to know where to start with a book like this because it covers such a huge amount of information and a large chunk of time. I guess I'll get the negatives out of the way early. The biggest downside to this book really is just the sheer volume of information being put in front of you. It really is a whole new world. There are strange names, oddly familiar (but totally foreign) customs and beliefs and a cast of characters that can sometimes be hard to keep straight. Speaking of names- one thing that isn't a huge deal, but honestly got me thinking several times were the names. Specifically the names of the two main characters we follow. In this book we get names like Astreides, Harkonnen, Thufir, Gurney, Stilgar and Chani- all are slightly exotic sounding and speak to the setting of the story. Our two main characters- the concubine and son of the Duke Leto Astreides- whose adventures we follow bear the wildly unique names of (wait for it) Paul and Jessica. Now, again, is this a big deal? No. Does it take away from the story? Not really. Did I spend way more time then necessary trying to figure out why their names were so generic and bland? Absolutely. So for me, this was a minor distraction.

Beyond the massive quantity of information to take in and make sense of this book was pretty darn amazing. There were passages that, though written in 1965 originally, still hold strong today. As an aside, I picked this book up on the say so of my Uncle, who said "everything you need to know about life, you can learn in Dune". This may sound like tall order, but I think he's right (especially if you look beyond the story held in the pages). There are snippets of religious readings from the O.C. Bible and there are reflections and quotes on the life of Muad'dib. Little life lessons crop up, like"Parting with friends is a sadness. A place is only a place." and "The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.". A phrase that is often repeated is "I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." These (and others) all speak to the place where the characters are living and surviving as well as give the reader food for thought on their own lives.

Paul's story really is a classic hero story. Unfortunate circumstances fall upon him. He loses a role model in a tragic circumstance. He is exiled, he faces hardships and tests of faith. Eventually he overcomes these obstacles and eventually good defeats evil. Or does it? The twist here is that Paul is also fighting his own fate. A fate he has the ability to see laid out before him in potential possible paths. The thing he tries to prevent may be inevitable, no matter which path he chooses. Or, the choice to avoid one tragedy might actually cause something even more heartbreaking to befall him.

I don't really want to get into a lot of the plot of this massive novel. I think if I started I really wouldn't be able to stop. Suffice it to say that this book truly is epic. If you like SciFi and don't mind putting some time and effort into reading then this one really needs to be added to the to-be-read pile.

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How about a book talk?

2011-07-14T22:04:00.001-04:00

That's right, a book talk. This summer, besides indulging in fantasy and magic, I'm also taking 3 (count em' 3) graduate classes at Syracuse University. Life is busy, but a lot of fun. One of my classes is Youth Services in Libraries and Information Centers. Week one? Genre Study. Here in week two? Book talks. A slew of other things as well, but on the assignment front, book talks. I had never done one, so when faced with the task of choosing three books I was at a loss. They had to fit together somehow, be interesting and lend themselves to this format. I was stumped, and then, a bolt of lightning struck (that analogy would be extra awesome if I chose Harry Potter, but I didn't). Fae! That was it. Some of my favorite books in the past year have been ones that deal with Fae. So, without further ado...

So, are you interested? If you are hit up Amazon, the closest indie book shop or the local library and give them a go!

Wings (Aprilynne Pike)
Wondrous Strange (Lesley Livingston)
The Iron King (Julie Kagawa)

Waiting on Wednesday (5)

2011-07-13T08:53:00.000-04:00

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine- head to her site to see what everyone else is eagerly awaiting.

It's been a LONG time since I posted a WoW- so long I don't even want to admit to it (it's been 6+ months!). Still, I had a free moment in the midst of this crazy school schedule and there is a book that I am dying to get my hands on and it's taking every ounce of self restraint to wait until tomorrow. This week I'm waiting on Forever by Maggie Stiefvater. Yes, I know it came out yesterday- but tomorrow Maggie is coming to my town and I'll be heading over to the Barnes and Nobles to not only pick the book up, but get it autographed.

More about Forever...

then.

When Sam met Grace, he was a wolf and she was a girl. Eventually he found a way to become a boy, and their love moved from a curious distance to the intense closeness of shared lives.

now.

That should have been the end of their story. But Grace was not meant to stay human. Now she is the wolf. And the wolves of Mercy Falls are about to be killed in one final, spectacular hunt.

forever.

Sam would do anything for Grace. But can one boy and one love really change a hostile, predatory world? The past, the present, and the future are about to collide in one pure moment - a moment of death or life, farewell or forever.

Now if Maggie was not coming to town I would have bought this yesterday and this post would probably have been a review. So heads up, I'm hoping to plow through Forever in the next few days and then wallow in the sadness that comes in the ending of a great series. (this + the end of Harry Potter? I'll be a mess, it's guaranteed.)

If you haven't read Maggie's Wolves of Mercy Falls series get on it- it really is beautifully written and amazingly addicting!

My Ramblings on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

2011-07-12T15:56:00.001-04:00

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
By: J. K. Rowling

Summary:

Harry Potter has never been the star of a Quidditch team, scoring points while riding a broom far above the ground. He knows no spells, has never helped to hatch a dragon, and has never worn a cloak of invisibility.

All he knows is a miserable life with the Dursleys, his horrible aunt and uncle, and their abominable son, Dudley—a great big swollen spoiled bully. Harry's room is a tiny closet at the foot of the stairs, and he hasn't had a birthday party in eleven years.

But all that is about to change when a mysterious letter arrives by owl messenger: a letter with an invitation to an incredible place that Harry—and anyone who reads about him—will find unforgettable. For it's there that he finds not only friends, aerial sports, and magic in everything from classes to meals, but a great destiny that's been waiting for him... if Harry can survive the encounter.

My Ramblings:

And so the summer of Fantasy and Magic continues. Although if I was being honest with myself, it would be called the "summer of Fantasy, Magic and a ridiculous amount of homework", but I'm picked these books to read as an escape from all that homework, so let's forget it even exists.

On Thursday it all ends. No more books, no more movies, no more magic of the Hogwarts kind. Thank goodness we have Pottermore to look forward to, because at least it's something. For right now though, reading Sorcerer's Stone with Part 2 looming so near seemed fitting. Do you remember the first time you read it? The first time you imagined getting your own invitation to Hogwarts? I don't really. I think I was a senior in high school- so I was a good 3 years behind the game. I read the books right after I saw the first movie. So for me, Harry will always be Daniel Radcliff, Snape will always speak with that voice of Alan Rickman's and Hogwarts will always look the way it does on film. Of course this doesn't take anything away from the reading of the books because these are some beautifully and loyally made movies. They don't disappoint in any way.

How about the book though? Does it hold up after all this time? Obviously, the answer is yes. A million times yes. It was just as magical to read it this time as it was 10+ years ago. I found myself marveling over the lack of sympathy shown by the Dursley, hating Draco from the word go and falling in love with the trio of hero's that we find in Harry, Ron and Hermione. It was if I had no idea how it would all end, even though I do. That says a lot about Rowling's writing and the world she created.

There were other moments that once you know how they end, you can't really ever un-know, it changes the way you see the characters and their actions. You can see their motivation and their destiny now in a way that wasn't clear on the first read. I'm thinking, of course, of Professor Snape and Neville Longbottom. They have such a pivotal role by the end that seeing them for the first time here in Sorcerer's Stone takes on a new meaning because you see them as they will be instead of how Harry is seeing them for the first time. Can I again say that this says a lot about Rowling's writing and the world she created? I get the feeling that she knew from the first page where these characters would end up.

I think it's only fair to say that I love these books, I love this series, I love these characters and I'm not nearly ready for it to all end. As an almost 30 year old I still wish that I'd get my invite to Hogwarts. What a fabulous first stop on one of the best series I've ever read. Can't wait to pick up The Chamber of Secrets in a few weeks and of course to see Part 7 in a few days. I can't think of any other way to end this then to say Thank God for J.K. Rowling for giving us all a little bit of magic.

You've read Harry Potter right? If not, I can't say enough times, do. Read it. I hope you love it as much as I do!

My Ramblings on The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

2011-07-05T09:22:00.001-04:00

The Hobbit
By: J.R.R. Tolkien

Summary: Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo-alone and unaided-who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside . . .

My Ramblings:

This is the first book on my summer of Fantasy and Magic, in which I will re-read some of my old favorites and start some new discoveries; namely Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Song of Ice & Fire and lastly Dune (which was just recently recommended to be). I'm giving a go by reading the books in a rotating order. Game of Thrones I read a few months ago, so The Hobbit is my first from the LOTR series, and I've just picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, once I've finished the first book in each series, it will be back to the start for the second book, and so on. Enough about that though. How did I feel about The Hobbit?

Well, I haven't read the book since middle school, so it was a bit like rediscovering a world all over again, or visiting an old friend that you haven't seen in a really long time. Some of it was familiar and some parts I had completely forgotten. It was also hard to read the book without picturing the setting and charecters from the LOTR movies- which, as there were so well done, wasn't really a problem.

Some of the the things that I shook my head at were Gollum and his riddles. I love the moments where Tolkien says that the reader has probably figured the riddle out by now, I hadn't, and even when given the answer I wasn't sure I really got it (I'm not sure I should admit to that). I was also surprised at how deceptively simple the writing is. It wasn't hard to wade through and there wasn't a huge amount of extra descriptions and dialog- it was straight and to the point, but still worked for me. I'm not sure what I was expecting, but the writing seemed much more bare then I remembered, if that even makes sense.

The long and the short of it is that it was still an amazing book to read, even after all this time, and after seeing the movies bring the world to life. Bilbo was still brave and courageous and a remarkable complainer. The dwarves were still wimpy despite their strength and focused on the gold and revenge more the the plan. Gandalf was still the wise old man, pulling strings and setting everything in motion- he struck me as quite a bit more of a puppet master then I remembered, not in a bad way, but he had his hand in every misadventure and rescue throughout. I love how he believes in Bilbo and is genuinely proub of the little hobbit by the end of it all. Lastly, I can not wait to see this story come to life on the big screen and fall in love with it one more time!

A Journey to Middle Earth...

2011-06-29T22:33:00.005-04:00

...With a side trip to Westeros and a pit stop at Hogwarts. So this has turned into a very, very busy summer. 4 classes leading into fieldwork in the fall and then student teaching. Something has to give and unfortunately I think it has to be the constant blogging. Trying to keep up with the latest and greatest, the reading a book a night, the joining in on every blog tour I can and saying yes to every review request that peaks my interest- well, it's exhausting. Pile school on top of that and it's almost undoable. I'm sure you've noticed that the posts are getting fewer and farther between. It's not intentional, every day I think "today I'll get a post up" and then it gets late and I get tired and, well, the posts get's pushed back.

So I've decided to do something different. I'm taking a literary journey through some of my favorite series...Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and my new addiction A Song of Ice and Fire. I'll still be picking up books that I want to read (Hello Forever- I see you over there waiting), but I'm taking the pressure off.I'll still be rambling on about all the books I'm reading, I'm just taking the pressure to keep up with the Joneses off. So I hope you'll join me as I revisit old favorites (LOTR), say goodbye to good friends (HP. I'm not ready for the end) and embark on new adventures (SOIF).

Up first is The Hobbit- I'm reading it for the first time in about 15 years. So far it feels a little bit like coming home mixed with discovering that something you thought you knew is something altogether more amazing then you remember!

Care to join me on this journey? These are the books I'm getting into first...
J.R.R. Tolkien Boxed Set (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) (I actually own this set- it's awesome!)
Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7) (Also own this set- I'm a nerd)
George R. R. Martin's A Game of Thrones 4-Book Boxed Set: A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire) (I do not own this whole set yet- but holy cow, do I want to...badly.)

My Ramblings on The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

2011-06-15T23:30:00.001-04:00

The False Princess
By: Eilis O'Neal
Release Date: January 25th, 2011
Author Website
Debut Author Challenge

Summary:

Princess and heir to the throne of Thorvaldor, Nalia's led a privileged life at court. But everything changes when it's revealed, just after her sixteenth birthday, that she is a false princess, a stand-in for the real Nalia, who has been hidden away for her protection. Cast out with little more than the clothes on her back, the girl now called Sinda must leave behind the city of Vivaskari, her best friend, Keirnan, and the only life she's ever known.

Sinda is sent to live with her only surviving relative, an aunt who is a dyer in a distant village. She is a cold, scornful woman with little patience for her newfound niece, and Sinda proves inept at even the simplest tasks. But when Sinda discovers that magic runs through her veins - long-suppressed, dangerous magic that she must learn to control - she realizes that she can never learn to be a simple village girl.

Returning to Vivaskari for answers, Sinda finds her purpose as a wizard scribe, rediscovers the boy who saw her all along, and uncovers a secret that could change the course of Thorvaldor's history, forever.

A dazzling first novel, The False Princess is an engrossing fantasy full of mystery, action, and romance.

My Ramblings:

So I'll be honest and say that when this book showed up at my library with my name on it I could not for the life of me remember why I had reserved it. Was it on a list somewhere? Part of a Challenge? Was it the beautiful cover that had caught my eye? In the end I realized it was a combination of all three- it was on the list of books eligiable for the Debut Author Challenge hosted by The Story Siren and I picked it off the list because of the kick-ass cover. Phew. With that mystery solved I was ready to read.

First off, what a great story this is! One of my favorite things is when a story sneaks up on me. I'll admit to not really have any expectations of this book. I hadn't heard anything about it, so I went into it without any preconcieved notions. I was so pleasantly surprised on this one. The main charecter is a formidable one- raised a princess we meet her on the day that she discovers that she is, in fact, a false princess, brought in to replace the rightful princess in order to break a prophecy. O'Neal really weaves a twisted, complicated, but ultimately rewarding tale.

O'Neal packs alot into this relatively short book. There's friendship and love, revenge and murder, ancient plots and prophecies and ultimately a choice that must be made by Sinda. What I really liked is that O'Neal allowes her charecter the opportunity to go through all the emotions one would expect- she's angry, shocked, upset, depressed and eventually she comes to terms with it and even finds her new place in this world. Sinda has a kind of strength that sometimes comes off as stubborn or immature, but always is believable and genuine, and that is refreshing. The secondary characters all have a part to play, especially best friend Kiernan who also has to figure out this new relationship and what it means for him. There are very few characters that I felt were un-needed, and even they didn't bother me so much.

So, in short, I REALLY glad I chose this book of that list- it was just the right book to read at the start of my summer. (Summer reads for me and light and easy, but certainly NOT fluff) It's a great story about growing up and figuring out who you really are, and if it's the title or your actions that really define you.

I have to say I'm really hoping for a sequel on this one to see how everyone is adjusting to their new roles, but if it's a stand alone, i'm okay with that too. It tied up all the loose ends and I felt like everyone was where they were supposed to be!

Want to get more info or buy The False Princess?

My Ramblings on The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

2011-06-08T12:55:00.006-04:00

The Scorpio Races
By: Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: October 18, 2011
Author Website

Summary:
It is the first day of November and so, today, someone will die.

Even under the brightest sun, the fridgid autumn sea is all the colors of the night: dark blue and black and brown. I watch the ever changing patterns in the sand as it's pummeled by countless hooves.

They run the horses on the beach, a pale road between the black water and the chalk cliffs. It is never safe, but it's never so dangerous as today, race day.

My Ramblings:

I finished this book a little over a week ago and have been putting off writing the review. A few reasons slowed me down really. First, school, currently the bane of my existance started back up for the summer and second, what could I say about this book. "Wow" didn't seem sufficient despite the fact that it's the first word that keeps popping into my head. That and "I love this book". To start though, I'm a huge Stiefvater fan, I'd read just about anything she writes and I'd bet money on liking it, but this book is by far my favorite book of hers. For me, it blows the other ones stright out of the water. Let me see if I can explain why.

To be fair I might as well mention that I love horses. I grew up with them, I still have them, my two year kiddo already rides. They are a part of my life, a part of who I am, so the fact that Stiefvater so perfectly captures what that is like really goes a long way for me. In this story there are two types of horses, the inland ponies and the capaill uisce. Water horses who feed on blood and are known to kill animals and humans alike. On the island of Thisby, once a year, they capture and race the capaill uisce, and every year people die. There suspense that surrounds the race really pulls you in- who will survive, who will walk away stronger and who will be crushed under the pounding hooves?

The story focuses on two characters. First is Sean Kendrick, who works at the stables on the island and trains horses, regular ones for the bulk of the year and then the capaill uisce as the race approaches. He lost his father, a trainer as well, 9 year prior in the races and has been filling his shoes ever since. He and his horse, Corr, are something like legend on Thisby- their relationship is one built on respect (not trust) and a bit of magic. The are the one to beat in the races. Then there is Kate "Puck" Connelly who is a horseman in her own right. In order to save her family home after the loss of her parents to the capaill uisce, she is willing to pit herself and her inland horse Dove up against the water horses in the race.

So that is the center of the story- both Puck and Sean's futures hinge on how well they do in the race. Will Sean be set free from just being a trainer in some other man's barn and will Puck be able to save her farm and remain on the island she loves. There is so much more in this book though. the family dynamics between Puck and her brothers, Gabe and Finn, are both lighthearted and heartbreaking. Seeing Sean struggle to become his own man. Watching both Sean and Puck fight against those who would push them down and hold them back. Witnessing Sean and Puck finding eachother at the exact moment they need someone to lean on who understands. Wondering how a relationship can survive when only one can win even when winning might mean losing it all.

Like I said- it has it all, and for those of us who ride horses, there was one part where I said to myself "God she got it right"- so I'll share it here, it's from the first time Sean lets Puck ride Corr:

We are flying.

Corr's skin is hot against my legs- clingy, somehow, like when the current pushes your toes deeper into the sand. I feel his pulse in my pulse, his energy in mine, and I know this is the mysterious, terrifying power of the capaill uisce...

and then a paragraph later:

The magic becomes a dull hum through me. My body warns me of the danger of this capaill uisce beneath me, but at the same time it screams that it's alive....

Now I've never ridden a killer water horse who would just as soon drag me into the ocean for dinner, but there is something so right about this description as it applies to riding horses (the regular non-killer kind). There is that moment when you forget about the dangers that come with it, where you and the horse begin to merge into eachother and you just enjoy the ride. Troubles slip away and it feels like freedom. There are other quotes (to numerous to recount in a blog post) that speak to a love for the land, a connection to a place and sense of knowing where you belong in the world that I loved. There were so many moments where Stiefvater really hit the nail on the head for me. That's what Stiefvater captured in this book. That knowing where you belong. That moment when you lay it on the line, you throw caution to the wind, and enjoy the ride no matter the cost or where it might take you.

As far as I know this isn't a series of any kind, and while I'm REALLY looking forward to Forever (The Wolves of Mercy Falls series)- I'm not-so-secretly hoping that we'll see more of Sean and Puck and they capaill uisce on the Isle of Thisby.

Want to pre-order The Scorpio Races? (you know you do...)

In My Mailbox: BEA Edition

2011-05-30T22:20:00.002-04:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The idea is to share what books you got your hands on in the last week. This week was huge, because this week was BEA and the Book Blogger Convention. I was only in the exhibit hall for one day and I walked away with so many cool books. Some are books that I never would have picked up otherwise, and I've come to find that some of the best books are the ones you just happen upon. My favorite grab of the week? The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater- I already read it and seriously, WOW.I loved it. Review to come soon. Until then, check out my ridiculous IMM for this week!

In My Mailbox 5-22-11

2011-05-23T16:30:00.002-04:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The idea is to share what books you got your hands on in the last week. Again, it's been a few weeks since I last did an IMM, mostly because not alot came rolling in for me. Thi week however was insane with books from the library. I have 7 to share on this IMM and then just today 2 more books came in! Plus this week is BEA, so if all goes as planned there will be many, many more books to share next week :)

My Ramblings on Shelby and Shauna Kitt and the Dimensional Holes by P.H.C. Marchesi

2011-05-23T16:02:00.004-04:00

Shelby and Shauna Kitt and the Dimensional Holes
By: P.H.C. Marchesi
Release Date: March 18, 2011
Author Website

Summary:

Shelby Kitt never gets lost. Shauna, his sister, never gets sick. As far as most people are concerned, the inseparable Kitt twins are odd 13-year-olds. No one, however - not even Shelby and Shauna - can guess how extraordinary they are until the vice consul of Miriax, a planet from another dimension, asks them to take part in a dangerous mission. From that moment on, Shelby and Shauna Kitt discover that the universe is full of klodians, cities in jungles, giant bats, and tea with mushrooms. Most of all, they discover that it will take more than special powers for them to face - and survive - the evil that threatens the galaxy.

My Ramblings:

First I have to say that this poor book has been waiting to be read for months. I recieved a copy from the author and then school got horribly busy then suddenly it was finals and at last I had a 2 week break to read- so this review is a long time coming. This is another book that I probably never would have picked up on my own, it's not my usual reading fare, but I've come to find out that there are so many great books out there if you get lucky enough to stumble upon them. This is just one more of those good book finds!

There were a few little things that I struggled with in this book. For starters, well, the start of the book. In the beginning I was eager to find out about Shelby and Shauna and what these dimensional holes were, but they were nowhere to be found. Instead we are introduced to Marina (a disgraced scientist/engineer) and shortly thereafter we meet Lendox, our first look at an alien from Miriax. All of this introductory stuff seemed low to me, especially compared to the ret of the book. I also had some issues with all the Mariaxian names, which all end with an "x"- while I thought this was a great device to use, you knew right away when something was related to Miriax, at times I felt like I was confusing people or things because the names began to run together for me. Again, these things aren't huge, and other readers might not even be bothered by them, but for me they were little bits that got in the way at points.

That being said, the rest of the book was so much fun! Shelby and Shauna are pretty typical loaners. Not really popular and a bit odd, they stick together against bullies and bad guys and even interdimensional baddies. Their relationship was good to see, I've been liking these family adventures lately, where there isn't one big hero, but instead a group effort in the whole good conquering evil, save the world adventures. I also liked that the powers they discover are awesome, but not so otherworldly that they are not relatable. While we might not all be able to fly a plane on the first try like Shelby, or heal the sick without any training like Shauna, these are skills and jobs that we can aspire too. We can learn to be a pilot or a doctor and save the world in our way. (maybe not form Klodian... although you never know...)

The other place that Marchesi shines in in world building and the explanation of the science behind these interdimensional holes. Not being a scientist myself, I can't really attest to how likely any of it might be, but as a sci-fi geek, I have to admit that I am totally digging the idea that there are other planets out there, in other dimension who wee need to survive. That the balance of power and energy must be maintained for all to survive. Admittedly, I found the idea that the Miriaxan' feed off positive energy and the Klodians feed off the negative energy on earth a but silly, especially at the start, but as it went along I found that it didn't really bother me and that Marchesi wove that idea into the story well, so it worked.

In the end this is a really fun read that has adventure, humor and a few hidden messages about the power of positivity that are worth considering. While I thoroughly enjoyed the book, I suspect that the intended audience (MG) will enjoy it even more!

Happy Release! The Tender Mercy of Roses by Anna Michaels

2011-05-19T14:23:00.004-04:00

The Tender Mercy of Roses
By: Anna Michaels
Release Date: May 2011
Author Website

Summary (from book cover):
When the body of rodeo star Pony Jones is discovered in the northern Alabama woods, it is Pony's spirit- invisible to the eye but not to the sixth sense- that helps reveal clues to her murder. Pulled together in a whirlwind mystery of intense emotion and unexpected encounters are her grief-stricken father, Titus, bent on retribution; and Jo Both Dawson, a hard-drinking former detective new to town, who feels an otherworldly connection with the dead woman- and an irresistible compulsion to uncover the truth. What the unlikely partners do find is more shocking then murder itself: long-buried family secrets that will bring them to search their souls for redemption...and tie the three of them closer then they could imagine.

My Ramblings:
I reviewed this book way back in January (see review here)and more recently I re-read it in anticipation of the release. I have to say, I liked it better the second time! This time I felt like I was able to appreciate some of the more subtle moments in the book, where as th first time I was really eager to get to the end to find out how the mystery of the book would be resolved. This time I was able to really just enjoy the journey!

So I have to say HAPPY RELEASE WEEK to Anna Michaels on this great book!

My Ramblings on Slow Burn by EB Walters

2011-05-17T23:23:00.001-04:00

Slow Burn
By E.B. Walters
Release Date: May 1, 2011
Author Website
Blog Tour Hosted By: Forbidden Reviews

Summary:

She doesn’t want to deal with the past...

Ten years ago, Ashley Fitzgerald witnessed the death of her parents in a tragic fire and blocked the memory. She pretends to have moved on, is a successful artist and photographer, until the morning she opens her door to a stranger she assumes is a model and asks him to strip to his briefs .

He wants to expose the truth....

Wealthy businessman Ron Noble has the body, the jet, the fast cars and the women, but he hides a deadly secret. His father started the fire that killed Ashley’s parents. Now someone is leaving him clues that could exonerate his father and they lead to Ashley’s door. Blindsided by the blazing attraction between them and a merciless killer silencing anyone who was there the night of the fire, Ron dare not tell Ashley the truth. Yet the answer he seeks may very well tear them apart.

While a demented arsonist...SLOW BURN(s)...and plots his ultimate revenge

My Ramblings:

When I saw this book come up for blog tour I was interested right away. Based the summary I recieved (the same one provided here) I wanted to know more. Slow Burn combines some elements that I like- action, mystery and romance. I liked the idea that there are two people, Ron and Ashley, who are still realing from the loss of family members (in the same fire), and who both want answers. I was really intrigued by how their relationship would work, because they are, at the very heart of it, using eachother for their own ends. Still, when you are dealing with really personal issues, like love and loss and family, and you find someone who really understands how you feel, it's hard to not form a bond. So how would that play out? You are working with eachother, but agaist eachother. You are using eachother, but are drawn to eachother. It could be really interesting stuff.

Unfortunately there was alot about this book that didn't work for me. I had to reread several passages to make sure I had the plot right and the character relationships right. Even after a few re-reads I wasn't entirely sure I knew what was going on. There were also a lot of secrets floating around and there were times when I'd notice that the secret had been revealed to the characters, but not ot the reader. It wasn't anything earth shattering, but it was enough to take me out of the story and that's never a good thing.

I'm generally forgiving on errors in books, and with an ARC (which this was) I'm even more so. I expect a few mishaps here and there and for the most part ignore them. However, here, the errors were to plentiful to ignore. The book was riddled with grammar, formatting and spelling issues, so many that I found it hard to get into a groove with this story. I assume that these will all be cleaned up in the final published copy, but I felt it worth noting here because these issues directly impacted my overall feelings on this book, and I'd be remiss if I didn't explain myself clearly on all fronts.

So, in the end how is this book? I'd say that it's has a good concept and plot idea. I honestly feel like the story could do with a good once over and some clarifying and tightening up, and the technical issues absolutely have to be fixed for it to really have a chance.

The Stylish Blogger Award

2011-05-17T14:52:00.003-04:00

Check me out! Thanks to the fabulous Darby Karchut who gave me the Stylish Blogger Award, and now I must pass it on. It's hard to pick just seven (and I have to omit Eve's Fan Garden, because despite the awesomeness of EFG, it'd be kind of like giving myself an award, right?) So here goes, I love these 7 blogs and visit them all the time, to check out their reviews, scope out new books and particpate in memes!

Forbidden Reviews
Reading Lark
Page Turners
Mundie Moms
Crazy-for-Books

The Broke & The Bookish
Once Upon a Twilight

Now, seeing as this is how this award works, here are 7 things about me that you might not know...

1. I love to horse back ride, and still harbor dreams of being a successful barrel racer and/or rodeo queen (I may have aged out of that last one though...)

2. I've been dancing since I was three years old and most recently learned how to dance Salsa.

3. I have three tattoos and want more (lots, lots more)

4. I also had my eyebrow pierced, although that came to a tragic end when it was ripped out during a very intensive dance rehearsal...

5. I've attended 7 different colleges/universities, next May I will finally emerge with my Masters.

6. One of my favorite things to do is take wildlife photography, although in Upstate New York I'm limited to the occassional wild squirrel sighting.

7. I'm curretnly working on two different writing projects (while going to grad school!), both are, not surprisingly, set in the West and involve horses.

My Ramblings on Ravenwild by Peter J. Plasse

2011-05-09T23:12:00.004-04:00

Ravenwild
By: Peter J. Plasse
Website

Summary:
Returning home from another grueling shift of E.R. work, Dr. Blake Lee Strong comes across a downed motorcyclist and stops to help, but little does he know that his world and that of his family will soon be turned upside down. Duped into being transported to another planet called Inam'Ra, Dr. Strong and his family are thrust into a medieval world populated by Trolls, Gnomes, Elves, Dwarves, Humans and other alien beings. An epic odyssey begins as the Strong family fights for not only their own survival, but also for the continued existence of the citizens of Ravenwild.

My Ramblings:

This was a really good book that I held on to for way to long before jumping into. Admittedly, fantasy is not my usual fare, but when I was contacted to review this book I decided to give it a go. I'm really glad I did. It took me a little bit to get into the world and find my groove, but once I did I found myself really enjoying both the characters and the story that Plasse presents. It's fast paced and has a huge cast of characters, although it is easy to follow, and each characters is there for a reason. Plasse weaves the story together and manages to pack in fantasy, romance, mystery and action without it seeming overly complicated. At 494 pages it is a bit long, so this won't be your one-nighter, but it's worth taking the time and giving it a read.

One of my least favorite things that happens in MG and YA is the trend towards having main characters without parents or with dead beat parents. I was really excited to read a book that was about the whole family! This was such a change from so many other books I've read recently and I thought that it was really well done. Each member of the family had a purpose for being there and they functioned well seperately, but it was always clear that they were a close knit group and even when apart they were a united front of sorts.

Lastly, I want to point out the great drawings that are included in this book. Done by Mike Longenecker they are spread out through the book and add in a little something extra to the story. Part of the fun of reading is to imagine the world that the author creates, here we get a little peak into how they envision it. Done as black and white sketches, they are simple, which is perfect for this story. They add to the story without distracting from it. My favorite illustration comes from fairly early on in the book and is of the trolls breaching the wall- there is so much detail in the drawing that it really brings the story to life!

Overall this is a good book and if you are a fan of fantasy, then this is a great one to pick up!

In My Mailbox 5-8-11

2011-05-08T14:41:00.002-04:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The idea is to share what books you got your hands on in the last week. It's been a few weeks since I last did an IMM, mostly because I had ALOT of work for school, plus very few books came in (which, for the sake of the school work was probably a good thing). So here's what I got over the past few weeks.

Bought:
Chime by Franny Billingsley

Won or For Free (from conferences):
Possessed by Kate Cann
Buffalo Unbound by Laura Pederson
Attachements by Rainbow Rowell

Library:
The Latte Rebellion by Sarah J. Stevenson (debut author)
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu bu Wan-Long Shang (debut author)
Temptation by Jude Deveraux

My Ramblings on Unearthly by Cynthia Hand

2011-05-07T20:13:00.011-04:00

Unearthly
By: Cynthia Hand
Release Date: January 4, 2011
Author Website

Summary:
In the beginning, there's a boy standing in the trees . . . .

Clara Gardner has recently learned that she's part angel. Having angel blood run through her veins not only makes her smarter, stronger, and faster than humans (a word, she realizes, that no longer applies to her), but it means she has a purpose, something she was put on this earth to do. Figuring out what that is, though, isn't easy.

Her visions of a raging forest fire and an alluring stranger lead her to a new school in a new town. When she meets Christian, who turns out to be the boy of her dreams (literally), everything seems to fall into place—and out of place at the same time. Because there's another guy, Tucker, who appeals to Clara's less angelic side.

As Clara tries to find her way in a world she no longer understands, she encounters unseen dangers and choices she never thought she'd have to make—between honesty and deceit, love and duty, good and evil. When the fire from her vision finally ignites, will Clara be ready to face her destiny?

Unearthly is a moving tale of love and fate, and the struggle between following the rules and following your heart.

My Ramblings:

So, fair warning, this post is going to go slightly off topic. I won't be able to help myself, so beware. Let's get to it.

This book was wonderful, I'd put it at the top of my list for 2011 so far. And to think, I almost didn't read it. It came in from the library, got pushed aside when it was time for finals and suddenly my three weeks was up and it was time for Unearthly to go back. Luckily at the last minute I renewed and at last I began to read.

In theory, this is a pretty simple storyline. Girl, Clara, discovers she is something other, something special (in this case an Angel). Her mother, who is also an angel, doesn't tell her everything she knows, so Clara feels a bit lost, but determined to fulfill her purpose. Her visions bring her ever closer to solving the puzzle of what she is meant to do with her abilities. What I really liked about Clara was that even though she was clueless about alot of her powers and the history of angels, she was not ever a damsel in distress. She was confident and independent and unique but without being the outsider. She has great friends and her family is fairly well adjusted. For all intents and purposes, she is the everygirl. She crushes on the hot guy (Christian) and falls for the good guy (Tucker), and even though she becomes the silly-girl in love for a bit (didn't we all at one point, that's what first loves do), she never loses herself to it. When it's time to chose to follow her visions or her heart, she hesitates, but in the ends makes the decision on her own and is ready for the consequences of that choice. It's really well done.

The boys and Clara's friends in this book are great as well. On the friend side we have Wendy who is a normal Wyoming girl, rides horses and wants to be a vet and then we have Angela, a emo girl who knows more then Clara about the world of angels. Both girls are loyal friends who stick with Clara through thick and thin. These are the kind of friends we all want, and that someone like Clara needs. As for the boys, well, without a doubt I'm a Tucker fan. He's Wendy's twin, hard working, and a real cowboy. Little moments with him resonate the most, where you see beneath the sarcastic comments to the type of guy he is, which in the end is just an honest to goodness great guy. Christian is the golden boy, not a bad guy, but as Mr. Popular he's a bit out of Clara's league, although as he is part of Clara's vision, and the reason they moved to Jackson Hole, they are linked together. Plus, Christian has a bit of a secret too that is a game changer for Clara. Watching Clara navigate these relationships is great. How do you balance your purpose (Christian) against your heart (Tucker)?

The book ends on a bit of a cliff hanger, but you still feel like there was a resolution. Instead it leaves you wanting more, wanting to know what happens next for Clara and Company.

Here we go with the real ramblings... get ready...

For those who know me, you know that my biggest pet peeve in the world is poor research. Within that peeve, there is a one bit that really, really kills me, and that's when an author sets her book in a real town and then proceeds to make the town so unrecognizable that it ruins the whole story. That destorys a book for me, so when I realized that Clara and her family were moving to Jackson Hole, WY I was excited and nervous. Would she do it right, or would the story self-destruct before my eyes? Authors, take note. This is how you do it. I go to Wyoming every other summer or so and no matter where I roam, Jackson Hole has become my home (point's if you know what song that's from). If I'm not in Wyoming often enough I say that I get the itch. I miss the mountains, the way the air smells when it's about to rain, the way the sun reflects off the Snake River. I miss the people and the wildlife and I miss the way I feel when I'm there. It's a hard thing to explain, but that area is part of me and to see it in this book was wonderful.

Hand included everything that I love. From the touristy pictures under the antler arches, to the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, The Pink Garter, Mountain High Pizza Pie, Snow King and even Crazy River Rafting (the actual rafting company is Mad River Rafting if you are wondering, but I've always been more a Barker-Ewing girl myself, so I'll let that one slide). Everything is spot on. Even when they leave town it's perfect. Flying over Jenny Lake (how fabulous would it be to leap off from Cascade Canyon and just glide?), to sunrise over the mountains and the view from Teton Pass. Even the tiny snippet in Yellowstone was there. If Hand had included a scene from my personal favorite Teton spot, Schwabacher's Landing, I wouldn't have been able to contain myself (I'm not certain I'm containing myself now...).

In short, I loved this book not only or the story, but because it felt like home. There was a familiarity that made me connect with the characters that much more. I'm not a religious person (to say the least) and angel books tend to put me off because they sometimes come off as preachy. Hand never does, this is simply a great story, with great characters, in a great setting. Plus, if you've ever stood in the misty morning, bundled in layers of clothes and watched the sunrise reflect off the Tetons, it's hard to deny you may have found yourself in heaven. So, Bravo Cynthia Hand, you accomplished what so many fail at, you made a world I know and love come to life on the page and next time I'm there I won't be able to resist looking upwards in hopes of seeing an angel glide by.

Creating a Believable World: Guest Post by Chris Rylander

2011-05-03T20:19:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago I reviewed The Fourth Stall, then I had the chance to interview the author Chris Rylander, and now we have a great geust post from the author as well! So sit back and enjoy!

Creating a Believable World

One of the key elements to writing a successful book (and by successful, I simply mean one that most of its readers will enjoy as opposed to commercial success) is creating a believable world where the story takes place. This is often given the most importance for fantasy or science fiction novels, which often take place in a world or future that is drastically different than what we live in now. For those stories, making this imaginary world feel real and believable is obviously critical since the reader will essentially need to be told everything they will have to know about that world or they’ll feel disconnected or lost.

I mean, if I want to set my next story on Pancake Planet, I can’t just say it takes place there a few times and expect the reader to know what Pancake Planet is like. Pancake Planet needs to be constructed for the reader on the pages in a believable way. You’ll need to know what makes Pancake Planet what it is and how it’s different from or similar to what the reader can already relate to. Is it inhabited by pancake people who like to lather themselves in syrup every morning and wear pads of butter as hats? Or do regular humanoids live there, and the planet itself is made of pancakes and even the houses are pancakes which creates problems because some of the characters are eating their own homes and then there is a drastic housing shortage on Pancake Planet? Or maybe Pancake Planet has nothing to do with pancakes at all, but instead is a magical place where Bacon People lord over the sad, weak and repressed Leafy-Green Folk? It doesn’t really matter, but what does matter is that whichever of these happens to be true, it needs to be established firmly and in a way that makes sense and is somewhat logical to the reader. So that it feels like a real environment, a real setting, even though it’s not. (But probably there is a real Pancake Planet. I’m pretty sure it’s out there, just chock of full pancake houses which I will someday consume.)

Anyway, where I’m going with all of this is to say that this isn’t only true for fantasy or science fiction novels, as can sometimes be the misperception. It’s also true for realistic contemporary stories. Even ones set in middle school, which most of us survived and can probably remember well, and therefore already relate to. In fact, it’s that’s very reason that the believability of your setting or world is almost more important for a contemporary middle grade story than it would need to be for a fantasy or sci-fi novel. Because if it feels phony for even a second, then pretty much every single reader will be able to identify that right away.

So that brings me to this question: How do you create a believable middle school world? (Something I’ve been told that The Fourth Stall does well.)

This is where is gets tricky. There are probably many ways it can be done and, as with everything, it’s mostly subjective. So all I can do is speak for my own experience in creating the school-world in which The Fourth Stall takes place. Essentially, for me, it came down to memory above all else. Constantly I was putting myself back into my own shoes as a 6th-8th grader… what did I worry about most? What did I like and not like about school? What did my friends like or not like about it? Who was my favorite teacher and why? What was the layout? How did that affect me?

This is just a tiny sample of the questions that were constantly whizzing through my head as I wrote The Fourth Stall. And because I’m not a teacher and don’t have any kids, I had to rely solely on my own memories of middle school. Other writers may be able to use their experiences as a school teacher or being a parent in conjunction with their memories. And that’s okay, too, of course. But they key is to use some sort of real and concrete frame of reference.

And the secret ingredient, I think, the thing that separates an adequate fictional school-world from a great one, is that it needs to feel slightly off or unrealistic in some way. I’ll try to explain: it won’t be as successful if you merely copy down what you remember thought for thought. You need to use those real memories and experiences as a foundation and then build on it with fiction, with your own unique spin. Make it as real as you can, and then tilt it, so it’s just a little bit off. Oftentimes when I’m reading a book, the dialogue and events that stick out to me as feeling the most realistic and believable are the ones that feel totally unique to the book. Lines that I’ve never heard anywhere else and that probably couldn’t exist anywhere but in that story and still feel quite so real. For a good example of what I mean, check out the opening pages of the book Burger Wuss by M.T. Anderson: http://www.amazon.com/Burger-Wuss-M-T-Anderson/dp/0763615676, the first few pages contain one of my favorite conversations I’ve ever read in a book. It’s those slightly bizarre moments, occurring inside a world that was based on something real and concrete, that I think give a book or story an authentic feel. That bring the story to life in a unique but believable way.

More about the Author:

Website
Goodreads Author Page

My Ramblings on Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris NO SPOILERS

2011-05-03T14:33:00.004-04:00

Dead Reckoning
By: Charlaine Harris
Release Date: May 3, 2011
Author Website

Summary:

With her knack for being in trouble's way, Sookie witnesses the firebombing of Merlotte's, the bar where she works. Since Sam Merlotte is now known to be two-natured, suspicion falls immediately on the anti-shifters in the area. But Sookie suspects otherwise and she and Sam work together to uncover the culprit - and the twisted motive for the attack. But her attention is divided. Though she can't 'read' vampires, Sookie knows her lover Eric Northman and his 'child' Pam well - and she realises that they are plotting to kill the vampire who is now their master. Gradually, she is drawn into the plot -which is much more complicated than she knows. Caught up in the politics of the vampire world, Sookie will learn that she is as much of a pawn as any ordinary human - and that there is a new Queen on the board . . .

My Ramblings:

I want to start by saying that I'm not a huge fan of that summary (from Goodreads and Barnes and Nobles), but I couldn't find a better one, and unfortunately NookBooks don't come with the back cover info. I'm hoping that the hardcopy has a better description on it, because this one just didn't do the book justice. There is so much more going on in this book then is alluded to, and the new Queen it references is a such a small part of it all (although my suspicions are the next book will really look at her).

So with that out of the way, how did this book fare? Basically I loved it! There were a few things I wasn't down with, but in the grand scheme of the series, knowing we have a few more books headed are way, I thought it struck a good note. The main thing I didn't like was that the book really focused on Sookie and Eric (which is NEVER a bad thing), but the lack of some of the other characters left me feeling a bit empty. Where were Jason and Tara? Even though Bill was there, his part was small, and as much as I'm all over the Sookie/Eric relationship, I found myself missing Bill a bit. What the book did deal with, Sookie's fey relatives Dermot and Claude, the return of Sandra Pelt and her relationship with Eric and the blood ties and her place in the Vampire community was done really well. There was a lot of action, which was something I missed in the last book, and I liked seeing Sookie deal with how she felt about the world she was occupying. Mainly, she wants people dead (namely Victor), but isn't sure she should. What does that bit of blood lust say about her? I felt like she was finding her spot in this world finally.

Eric & Sookie together are my favorite of all the pairings (although I do love Alcide as well...)and I thought their relationship took a really great turn in this book. It seemed more, well, human. Eric is dealing with his emotions and so is Sookie, and it was fun to see them trying to figure it all out.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention my all tome favorite character, who got a ton of play here, Pam. Like Eric, in this book we see a more human side to Pam as she deals with some of the drama and heartache surrounding her current girlfriend. I don't want to give anything away, but let's just say it's emotional and heartbreaking to see her not only trying to back Eric's play, bring down a King (or in this case Victor- Regent of Louisiana, and get the girl. We see her icy wall come fown a bit and it was really refreshing. Of course she was still kicking ass when need be, but the balance was perfect.

Bottom line on this book is that is was wonderful. I can't wait to see where it goes next and how Sookie will deal with the gifts she's been given and the choices she might have to make.

My Ramblings on A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

2011-05-03T00:00:00.004-04:00

Game of Thrones
By: George RR Martin
Release Date: January 1, 2003
Author Website

Summary:
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective wall. To the south, the King's powers are failing, and his enemies are emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the King's new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but also the kingdom itself. A heroic fantasy of lords and ladies, soldiers and sorcerers, assassins and evildoers who come together in a time of grim omens. The first volume in George Martin's series

My Ramblings:
I had not heard of these book prior to seeing the commercials for the HBO show after an episode of True Blood last summer. It seemed interesting, but not interesting enough for me to keep HBO after TB ended for the season. I admit that I regret that decision. As the run up to the series premier started I began to hear more and more about these books, on facebook and twitter, on EW and other blogs. At the prompting of a few friends I borrowed this book (the first in the A Song of Ice and Fire series)from the library. It was immediately apparent that this was not a book borrow. It was one to own. I didn't want to be rushed through finishing it, it wasn't a one nighter, it demanded to be read slowly and it made me think about each character and storyline. This book, in short, was captivating. I'm a sucker for High Fantasy (and not just for the sex- thanks for making that generalization New York Times- see here for more on that debocle) and Game of Thrones met the mark.

This post could probably go on for pages if I tried to comment on everything. At 787 pages, there is a lot her. There are a few quotes that stood out- one is the Stark motto "Winter is Coming" and the other is "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die". Those two quotes pretty much sum it up. Dark days are on their way, and everyone is preparing for not only the literal winter that is bearing down, but also war as the struggle to claim the throne begins in earnest. To be sure, everyone is playing the game in one way or another. They want the throne for themselves, their family or for a friend. There is castle intrigue, betrayals, love, lust, double crossing, swordplay and relationships that are forged by blood and by steel. I was struck by how Martin was not afraid to illustrate the idea that you either "win or die", where most would shy away from the death of major characters, Martin doesn't. I was shocked to see people I thought to be invincible (in a literary world) get discarded early and those who I had thought to be more secondary players survive to fight again another day. It kept me interested and it left me wanting more.

This is a great book, and I can't wait to grab the next in the series and see where it goes from here. As for the HBO show, I'm all over it as soon as it's available on Netflix (I know, it'll be a while), but for now I'll revel in the books and the world Martin created!

My Ramblings on City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

2011-04-22T21:25:00.004-04:00

City of Fallen Angels
By: Cassandra Clare
Release Date: April 5, 2011
Author Website

Summary:

City of Fallen Angels takes place two months after the events of City of Glass. In it, a mysterious someone’s killing the Shadowhunters who used to be in Valentine’s Circle and displaying their bodies around New York City in a manner designed to provoke hostility between Downworlders and Shadowhunters, leaving tensions running high in the city and disrupting Clary’s plan to lead as normal a life as she can — training to be a Shadowhunter, and pursuing her relationship with Jace. As Jace and Clary delve into the issue of the murdered Shadowhunters, they discover a mystery that has deeply personal consequences for them — consequences that may strengthen their relationship, or rip it apart forever.

Meanwhile, internecine warfare among vampires is tearing the Downworld community apart, and only Simon — the Daylighter who everyone wants on their side — can decide the outcome; too bad he wants nothing to do with Downworld politics. Love, blood, betrayal and revenge: the stakes are higher than ever in City of Fallen Angels. (from Goodreads.com)

My Ramblings:

Cassandra Clare is one of my favorite authors. Her books are fun to read and Clare somehow takes some pretty crazy plot lines and charecters and makes them seem believable. It's really pretty amazing. Picking up City of Fallen Angels was like hanging out with old friends. Even though it's been awhile since I read the first three books in this series, it all came back pretty quickly.

This book picked up roughly where the last one left off. Simon was trying to figure his life out, how to be a vampire, how to deal with the Mark of Cain and more importantly how to deal with his new ladies man status! I personally really enjoyed his relationship with Isabelle, she's tough as nails, but I felt like we were starting to see the cracks a bit with her in this book. She's been through a lot and as a Shadowhunter is expected to just continue forward, but it was refreshing to see her keep her strength, but also be a little vulnerable with Simon.

The remainder of the supporting case was great as always. I enjoyed the addition of Kyle and his backstory to the group. I thought it was done in a way that made it important, so he didn't feel like a random additions, but instead a crucial part to unraveling the entire story. Alec and Magnus were great, I can't help but love them. I always feel like they have the most normal relationship of the bunch, and then I remember that Magnus has been around for centuries and isn't altogether human. I also was excited a the mention of Will (from Clockwork Prince), I'm hoping that further ties between the two stories will be revealed as both series go forward.

Of course the relationship between Jace and Clary is center stage and I have to say (and I may be in the minority here), I just dind't feel it in this book. I get that Jace is moody and he doesn't think he deserve's Clary. I also get that his dreams are being influenced by a power he can't even imagine, but after 3 books, I was a little tired of him. (I know, I know, blasphemy!)

Lastly, I have to say (without giving anything away) that I LOVED the ending. Based on the flurry of tweets following the release, I'm pretty sure I am in the minority here. As the book began to draw to a close and we got some insight into who was influencing Jace's dreams and the reasons behind why he was ignoring Clary, I began to guess at what was going to happen. I was fairly certain I knew where it was going. I was wrong. There's nothing I like more then when an author surprises me. The return of old enemies, the fall of one hero, the rise of a new one- I didn't see it playing out the way it did. It absolutely made the book for me. I can't wait to see where it goes next!

Book Blogger Hop

2011-04-22T08:22:00.001-04:00

This meme is hosted by Crazy for Books, so hop on over her way to see what she is up to!

This weeks question is:

"If you find a book you love, do you hunt down other books by the same author?"

This is a pretty simple answer- YES! If I find a book that I really love I want to read everything else by the author- thank goodness for the library so I can feed the habit without going totally broke!

Follower Giveaway Winner!

2011-04-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Congrats to IVY on winning the Follower Giveaway!!

Thank you to everyone who participated and I hope to see everyone at future events here at A Readers Ramblings!

Revisiting The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel

2011-04-19T21:55:00.002-04:00

The Land of Painted Caves
By: Jean M. Auel
Release Date: March 29, 2011

Back in November I was at NCTE in Florida and just missed the chance to snag an ARC of Auel's most recent book, The Land of Painted Caves. Luckily the gentleman working the desk said he would take my name and if possible send me a review copy. I was shocked and super excited when the book showed up in mid-December. I devoured the book in about a day and half. Immediately I sat down and write a review (which can be found here). A few people commented right away, mostly wondering how I got a copy, and mostly I forgot about the post. Then the book was released at the end of March and suddently my comment area blew up. People were looking for a place to discuss the book, which many felt was a bitter dissapointment. Even skimming through the comments here on this blog will reveal numerous reasons that people were disheartened, some of which I pointed out in my original review. Still, at the end of my review, I threw out the 5 star rating. Even with all the things I disliked, I still had some connection to the book and the story and I loved it anyways. Almost the way you do when a family member dissapoints. You shake your head, you hope for better next time (if there is a next time) but you don't lose those warm feelings for them.

The book wasn't great, but I still loved the series, and that influenced my rating. As the discussion wore on, I realized that conveying that in a post and especially a starred rating was hard. People were only seeing those 5 stars and then looking at all the dissapointment surrounding the book and feeling like there was a disconnect between what I said and my starred rating. In fact one commenter was "shocked and appalled" by my 5 star rating. To be honest, I felt the disconnect too, and posted this in the comments (and later added to the review):

"On a side note I read and reviewed this book in a span of a few days. I was basking in warm fuzzies of visiting with these characters again. There were, for certain, parts I didn't like and I was dissapointed in, as I noted in my review. Still, I tossed the 5 star out there. I wonder, now that I've had time to reflect, if I wasn't judging based on the good feelings the series as a whole gives me and not the merits of the individual book. I won't change the rating, because at that moment that's how I felt, but it does give a little food for thought on taking the time to really reflect on a book like this where you come into it with a huge bias. "

So what do you do when you find your feelings changing over time? I refuse to change my original rating, because, as noted in the comment, that is how I felt at the moment I closed the book. I grew up with these books, and I tend to be rather forgiving when things go wrong. I appreciate the huge amounts of research that went into this book, and I'm sympathetic to the fact that it seems at times it's the research that got into the way of the story, a bad habit I've been known to suffer from. My solution was to revisit it, hash out my thoughts, and post again on this book.

Looking back at the review- I think it's solid. I explain my deep connection to the series and outline my own feelings as to where I thought it fell short. It's funny how a review can stick with you. The farther away from reading the book (and writing the review) I get, and the more people I speak to, the more I realize that this book was a fairly monumental failure. Storylines were left dangling, people we love acted out of charecter and there were inconsistancies with the previous books. I didn't read the rest of the series prior to picking this one up. Frankly, I didn't have the time. So there were many things that others picked up on, like the inconsistancies with prior books, that I didn't have fresh in my mind, so I missed. Honestly, I'm glad I was in the dark on those as I read. Ignorance is bliss as they say, and here it kept me from being even more dissapointed then I already was.

I no longer do starred ratings, not because of this particular review, although the reason fits the bill. Ratings are personal and when you condense it down to stars you miss out on all the reasons why. It's unfair to all involved. You miss out on my reasoning and it might give you a false impression of the merits of the book. In this case- my 5 star, while warranted in my mind for the way the book made me feel, it wasn't earned in terms of the content of this individual book seperate from the series. Still, the shortcomings of this one book don't effect my affection for the series as a whole or for the author Jean M. Auel. In fact, I sincerely hope she writes another book, albiet a shorter, better edited one, and ties up all those loose ends. If not, I will still look back on the series, including this last book, with affection.

So, what say you readers? Did you love this book or hate it? Do the shortcoming in The Land of Painted Caves change your feelings for the Earth's Children series? Are you hoping for more books from Auel? Do starred rating systems totally throw you off? Sound off below in the comments. As always, keep it clean. I don't like to delete comments, but I also won't put up with a lot of cursing or negativity (to eachother). The comment thread on the original review has been amazingly wonderful, so let's continue that same atmosphere here.

In My Mailbox 4-17-11

2011-04-17T09:31:00.003-04:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The idea is to share what books you got your hands on in the last week. (you'll notice I accidently put the wrong date on the video title- oops!

In on Review:

Juniper Berry by M.P. Koslowsky (Debut Author Challenge)

Bought for my Nook:

City of Fallen Angels by Cassie Clare
13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

From the Library:

Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
Sweet Liar by Jude Deveraux
Unearthly by Cynthia Hand (Debut Author Challenge)

Blog Follower Contest!

2011-04-16T22:08:00.003-04:00

As my blog follower numbers have been creeping up I've mentioned a few times that if I hit 666 I'd have a giveaway. Well, that time is now! As a thank you to all my fabulous followers here on the blog, on Twitter (@ReadersRambling) and on my new Facebook page I have a great bunch of books to hand out to one winner.

Want to know what you can win (of course you do!)

I have 4 Melissa De La Cruz Blue Bloods books to giveaway- they aren't all in order, but they've got something to make it worth your while. All 4 are autographed! I'll also toss in some other author swag (signed and unsigned) for the winner.

The four books are:

Masquerade
Revelations
The Van Alen Legacy
Misguided Angel

Sound good? Want to know how to enter? (It's easy I promise!)

All you have to do is fill out the form below and be a follower of this blog. I don't usually require you to follow me, but as this giveaway is, after all, a thank you to my followers, it only seems appropriate. This giveaway is U.S. only and will run until Tuesday April 19th at Midnight. The winner will be chosen using Random.org and notified via email and announced here on the blog.

Good luck and thank you so much for following my blog. I appreciate it more than words can say!

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Interview with Chris Rylander

2011-04-16T08:06:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week I reviewed Chris Rylander's The Fourth Stall, now I'm happy to share an interview I was able to do with him! This was a super fun book and I'd recommend going and picking it up if you get a chance!

A Reader's Ramblings: Can you tell us a bit about The Fourth Stall and how the story came about?

Chris Rylander: Well, when I first started writing, I actually was writing books for adults. And then I queried an agent who suggested that I might have a good “voice” for writing YA or MG. And so that’s how I first was pointed toward children’s literature. As for THE FOURTH STALL itself, there really was no cool story or moment or dream or anything like that. Essentially, it was me sitting down and asking two questions: 1) What cool and funny and action-packed book did I never get to read as a kid? 2) What’s something adult, that I can put a kid-friendly spin on that lends itself well to the school structure? And so I came up with this idea to do like a noirish organized crime type thing. Well, that’s what I told my cat to write about, anyway. I mean, I didn’t actually do the writing myself. My cat is much better at that part of it, I’m more like the idea guy.

ARR: Mac run’s a pretty tight business, and so does rival Staples, where did the idea for the competing Middle School Mafia families come from?

CR: Definitely The Godfather and other such organized crime stories. The idea of rival mob families and crime bosses I thought could be transitioned to school fairly well and that it created a lot of opportunities for humor and action and mystery.

ARR: Your website has a lot of great drawings, did you ever consider adding drawings to The Fourth Stall?

CR: I actually never did think of it that way. I always considered it strictly a novel. I mean, I don’t hate the idea, but it never really occurred to me when I was writing it. That said, I’m not opposed to someday maybe getting to illustrate my own book. The only problem will be that I can only draw sharks and stick men who meet violent ends. So I’m not sure if that will fly as a kids book, even as awesome as it sounds to me.

ARR: Books for tween and teen girls seem to rule the marketplace sometimes, did you always want to write for Middle Grade boys?

CR: Not really, it never was a conscientious decision that I made. I just wrote what appealed to me and sounded fun to me. And, being a guy with the mindset of a 13 year old, I think it was only natural that the end result can be considered a “boy book.” That said, I’m pretty happy to say that a lot of middle grade girls have told me they loved the book, too.

ARR: The Fourth Stall ends with a bit of a teaser about a girl- will we get to hear about how this girl with “…damp hair and a swagger…” sometime in the future?

CR: Actually, yes. There will be a sequel coming out in February 2012. It picks up pretty closely after the first one ends, so you’ll definitely get to meet that girl a lot better in part two.

ARR: If Mac could give boys advice about dealing with a bully like Staples, what would he say?

CR: It would be to not put up with it! If you have a problem, then solve it! But he’d also say to be smart about it. I mean, if some giant kid who weighs 270 pounds of muscle is bullying you, he wouldn’t recommend going up to the kid and starting a fight. There are countless possible ways to solve a bully problem, or any problem for that matter, and that’s why Mac is so good at what he does. He finds the best ways to solve those problems, instead of always the easiest or most obvious.

ARR: Do you have any upcoming books or events you can tell us about?

CR: The only upcoming book for now is the THE FOURTH STALL sequel sometime next year. As for events, I will be speaking at the North Dakota State Reading Conference in Fargo, ND, April 14-16. Also, I serve as the Regional Advisor for SCBWI Dakotas, and we’ll be hosting our annual spring conference in Sioux Falls on May 14, 2011. We have some great speakers lined up for that this year.

Book Blogger Hop

2011-04-15T18:19:00.002-04:00

This meme is hosted by Crazy for Books, so hop on over her way to see what she is up to!

This weeks question is:

Pick a character from a book you are currently reading or have just finished and tell us about him/her

This is a good one- I just finished 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson. I could tell you about the main charecter Ginny, but instead i will tell you about her Aunt Peg. She is a free spirit who has trouble settling down in one place. She has a tendency to dissapear on those she cares about, including Ginny. Her absence doesn't mean she doesn't care though. In fact, she cares enough to send Ginny on a pretty amazing adventure (although some bits are ill advised). I wont give anything away, but through out the trip Ginny discovers a lot about the world, her aunt and of course, herself. If her Aunt hadn't taken the same journey first, we never would have had this story!

Color me Offended and the Resulting Changes to A Reader's Ramblings

2011-04-15T11:11:00.012-04:00

Today I read an interesting article at The New York Times which claims to be a Television Review of HBO's Game of Thrones (read the full article here)

For the most part it reads as a criticism of the whole project- the reviewer isn't a fan, which is totally okay, not everyone will love everything. Then I got to the following paragraphs:

"Like “The Tudors” and “The Borgias” on Showtime and the “Spartacus” series on Starz, “Game of Thrones,” is a costume-drama sexual hopscotch, even if it is more sophisticated than its predecessors. It says something about current American attitudes toward sex that with the exception of the lurid and awful “Californication,” nearly all eroticism on television is past tense. The imagined historical universe of “Game of Thrones” gives license for unhindered bed-jumping — here sibling intimacy is hardly confined to emotional exchange.

The true perversion, though, is the sense you get that all of this illicitness has been tossed in as a little something for the ladies, out of a justifiable fear, perhaps, that no woman alive would watch otherwise. While I do not doubt that there are women in the world who read books like Mr. Martin’s, I can honestly say that I have never met a single woman who has stood up in indignation at her book club and refused to read the latest from Lorrie Moore unless everyone agreed to “The Hobbit” first. “Game of Thrones” is boy fiction patronizingly turned out to reach the population’s other half."

The insinuation here is that no woman in her right mind likes stories like this unless there's some hot sex with hot boys involved. That we, collectively as a group, are champions of the likes of Lorrie Moore- who may be in fact be a phenomenal writer - but I've never heard of her, despite being a fairly well-read person. Thanks to wikipedia I now know that is she is "an American fiction writer known mainly for her humorous and poignant short stories." Great for her, but definitly not my cup of tea. And if I was in that particular book club, you can bet your ass that I'd be standing up and demanding some Tolkien (Silmarillion anyone?)to be included in the required reading. In fact, I'd hope that we'd be reading a wide variety of books- from YA and HisFic, to Fantasy and Chicklit. Of course if there was no chance of that kind of diversity, I probably wouldn't even bother to show up. Maybe that's why "no single woman" has challenged their book club on this, we simply think it's not worth the time. We are probably at home watching Lord of the Rings while wearing our Star Wars t-shirts and hanging out with other sci-fi/fantasy geek girls. In short, color me offended by the insinuation that my only interest in fantasy books, movies and tv shows is due to the sex scenes. To be fair- I certainly don't HATE that there are sexy guys running around, much in the same way that male watchers aren't turned off by they beautiful woman shown on the screen. Clearly this makes me a closet perv who can only be lured in by hot (naked) boys getting it on with anyone they can grab- the world building, the intrigue and the way that fantasy almost always is making a statement about historical events or the current state of the world is obviously lost on me.

Additionally, I worry about what message this line of thinking sends. As someone who is a current Library Student and who harbors a desire to work with Teens in the library setting upon graduation, I cringe when I think of how it will impact girls who like Sci-Fi and Fantasy. If we, as adults are being talked down to because we like this genre, then how will youngers girls feel? To be told that if you enjoy this genre then you must be only interested in the racy, illicit scenes is troubling. It implies that if you do like it for other reasons (as I do) that you are somehow outside the norms for your gender. Don't teens have enough to worry about without having to defend their choice of books, tv and movies to people?

So what does this mean for A Reader's Ramblings? How could it possibly result in changes here?

So here's the deal. My biggest gripe about this article was that it was presented under the guise of a journalistic review. There is absolutely nothing wrong with writing a scathing review about something that you didn't like, so long as you back it up with some sort of facts. When you begin to make broad generalizations without backing it up, as the review here did by lumping women together in an anti-fantasy pile, you cross the fine line between professional review and editorial. This read as the reviewers thoughts and opinions as opposed to a proper review. Immediately upon sharing this criticism with some friends I felt like a hypocrite. Isn't that what I do here everyday, share my personal opinion on books? Sure no one is paying me, but why should they be held to a higher standard then I am? So here we are, and I've decided to make some very small, but I think important changes.

Moving forward:

1. While the posts will not change in terms of what is included (i.e. my personal opinions on the books I read), how I refer to these posts will. From now on they will not be called reviews. Instead every post will be "My Ramblings on [book title] by [author]. It may seem like a small change, but it makes me feel like less of a hypocrite, and since it's my blog, I get to make these monumental, world changing decisions ;)

2. I'm eliminating the rating system from this blog. I don't particularly think it's adding to the posts and I often find it hard to hammer down a starred rating.

So those are my thoughts on this particular article as well as the changes that I'm amking here on the blog. I'd love to hear what you all think- are you offended too or am I totally over-reacting? Where is the line between review and opinion piece and where do we bloggers fit in? Sound off in the comments (but keep it clean!).

My Ramblings on 13 Little Blue Envelopes by Maureen Johnson

2011-04-15T00:09:00.005-04:00

13 Little Blue Envelopes
By: Maureen Johnson
Release date: October 1, 2006
Author Website

Summary:
When Ginny receives thirteen little blue envelopes and instructions to buy a plane ticket to London, she knows something exciting is going to happen. What Ginny doesn't know is that she will have the adventure of her life and it will change her in more ways than one. Life and love are waiting for her across the Atlantic, and the thirteen little blue envelopes are the key to finding them in this funny, romantic, heartbreaking novel.(from goodreads)

Review:
I'm not going to lie, I had a lot of trouble with this book. As a broad concept I loved it. Ginny, a shy teen from New Jersey, recieves a package from her Aunt instructing her to pack up and ship out to Europe where she will follow in her Aunt's footsteps on a bit of an adventure. She will inevitably learn something about the world and about herself. LOVE IT. In fact I kind of want to do it too. The people she meets up with along the way are interesting, I especially liked the group she hooks up with from Australia, and I found that I believed these relationships easily. I also really liked Kieth and Robert, who become a bit of surrogate family to Ginny as she completes the tasks laid out by her Aunt.

There's the rub though. Family. Ginny has one back in Jersey. She's got parents and a best friend. She is instructed via the package from her Aunt that on this trek she is not allowed to contact her family at all. Not by phone or email or text. It's radio silence. This one concept killed this book for me. For all the actual trip seemed plausible I had trouble believing that a girl of 17, who had never travelled before, let alone by herself, would be allowed to hop a plane on a whim and follow some letters to god knows where without being able to check in with her family. Maybe it's just that I can't seperate the way my family would have acted from how I think Ginny's family should have. I was allowed to travel quite a bit while in high school, but there would be hell to pay if I didn't check in a few times a day. Just a quick "hey, I'm alive, having fun, going to dinner, talk to you later." We don't get a whole lot of info about Ginny's family beyond the fact that her Mom dissaproved of the way Aunt Peg lived, but that fact was enough for me to feel like Ginny's Mom wouldn't have bought into the whole premis of the tour of Europe, alone, without checking in every now and then. I do realize that she was able to write good old fashion letters, since she sent a few to her best friend, but no where in the book is there mention of her writing to her family.I just didn't buy it.

I know that I just ranted a bit here on this point, but it really bothered me. It's also one of those aspects that might not bother other readers at all! If not for that one little thing I think I would have REALLY loved this book. The writing was good and the charecters were really well developed and relatable (although I do wish Ginny had taken advantage of her surrounding a little more). I liked the adventure of it, the going where the letter takes you and even how Ginny didn't see the forest for the trees until the very end. There was a lot there to latch onto.

So in the end- I didn't like one specific part of this book, but if you look past that, there is a lot to really like and enjoy. I'd say grab it up if you can and give it a read. I know that despite the issues I had here I will still be reading the sequel The Last Little Blue Envelope when it comes out later this month to see how the story ends.

Rock the Drop 2011

2011-04-14T14:36:00.006-04:00

It's time to Rock the Drop in support of Teen Lit Day! This event is hosted by the Readergirlz.

Here's how you can get involved (from their website):

* Snag the banner above, created by the uber-talented David Ostow (who blogs hilarious cartoons here), and add it to your website, linking back to this post to share the love, and proclaiming that you will indeed ROCK THE DROP!

* Print a copy of the bookplate below and insert it into a book (or 10!) that you'll drop on April 14th. Drop a book in a public spot (park bench, bus seat, restaurant counter?) and you're done. Lucky finders will see that the book is part of ROCK THE DROP!

* Snap a photo of your drop and email readergirlz AT gmail DOT com with the pic -- we'll be posting lots of pictures of drops happening all over the world at the readergirlz blog, and our friends at Figment will also be featuring the event!

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Of course I had to join in on the fun- so today I raided my bookshelves for unread books that I had multiple copies of(I'm a messy reader- no one wants my already reads...) and came up with Across the Universe by Beth Revis and The Haunted by Jessica Verday! I also pulled out some sweet author swag like bookmarks (some autographed) and stuck them in the pages of the books!

First up was to drop ATU- I knew just where I wanted it to go. Right outside the front of our local Target there are a few benches and and a really cool spot that is essentially a giant hole in a red wall. After school lets out there are always some teens hanging out there,drinking their starbucks and relaxing. So I headed out and dropped Across the Universe literally in the wall. I'm hoping the wind doesn't pick up too much and blow the book right over!

Next I headed toward the bus stop which is nearby to drop Jessica Verday's The Haunted. The stop is always busy, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it empty, which made it so much easier to drop the book and get the picture!

I had a great time participating in Rock the Drop this year. I admit I felt a bit like a caped crusader (you know, minus the cape and any super powers) as I hurridly set up my books and snapped pictures. I hope someone finds the books and loves them as much as I did!

Top Ten Tuesday

2011-04-12T00:06:00.005-04:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at Broke and Bookish

Here is what they have to say:
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND sign Mister Linky at the bottom to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Don't worry if you can't come up with ten every time..just post what you can!

This week list is all about what books you want to be seen made into a movie (assuming said movie will be covered in awesomesauce and not come from the land of suckville)

1. The Lonely Hearts Club by Elizabeth Eulberg- I love, love, love this book. I think the message is great and the characters are super relatable and... well... fun. I'd love to see it come to life on the big screen.

2. The Study Series by Maria V. Snyder- this is a toss up for me. I love the books, but there are so many places where it could jump the shark and land in cheeseville. Some genre's are better left between the covers, you know? That being said, seeing Valek come to life? It might be worth the risk.

3. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver- This is another one that I'd love to see, but which I'd worry might no translate to the big screen. It's such a moving story and they'd really need to capture it all for it to work.

4. The Wake Trilogy by Lisa McMann- this one may be cheating because they are working on it. Still, I want to see Janie and Cable in the flesh on the screen. I'm not even super concerned with the fact that it looks like Miley will be playing Janie. I just want to see McMann's story up there.

5. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- another bit of a cheat, but I seriously can not wait to see this movie. I'm down with the casting and I'm ready to see where it can go on the big screen- especially interested to see if they can preserve the graphic nature of the books, which really is what makes it so good, and still keep that pg13 rating.

6. The Berrybender Narratives by Larry McMurtry- I love a good western and this series is one of my all time favorites. I don't know if it's big screen movie material, but TNT should get on it and turn it into a mini-series movie!

7. Any Jude Deveraux Book- Have I mentioned my current obsession? I'm seriously addicted to these books right now. I'm reading one a week. how are they not already movies? I mean at the very least Lifetime should be all over this. Or maybe they are (are they? Are the Deveraux movies out there that I'm unaware of? Good gravy this obsession could take over my life...)

8. The Mists of Avalon by Marian Zimmer Bradley- Yes, I know it was already a (TV) movie once. It even starred one of my favorite actresses, Julianna Marguiles. Thing is, the movie resided clearly in the dreaded Suckville. I was so excited and it totally didn't do the book justice. So if someone could just go ahead and give it another try I would really appreciate it.

9. Stolen by Lucy Christopher- Have you read this book yet? If you haven't, go get it. I want to see this movie for one reason only. Australian Outback. Christopher created such a heartbreaking and hopeful story and it starred three characters, Gemma, Ty and the Outback. I want to see that desolate backdrop come to life on the screen. I want to see what Gemma saw and see it the way Ty does. It's not so much a want as a neccessity. This movie must be made.

10. The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander- I'm all over this book this week since I'm participating in the blog tour. Even if it wasn't The Fourth Stall week over here this book would still make my list. It's so funny and there are a lot of interesting and unique charecters in the story that I'd really love to see come to life. From Mac to Vince, from little Fred to big bully Kitten, I want to see these guys take over the screen as they battle for control of the school.

So that's my top ten this week- what books do you want to see take that leap to the big screen?

The Fourth Stall Giveaway: We Have a Winner!

2011-04-12T00:01:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Karen K. who has won an autographed copy of Chris Rylander's The Fourth Stall!

**winner was determined by using Random.org and has been notified via email**

Review & Giveaway: The Fourth Stall

2011-04-10T16:07:00.004-04:00

The Fourth Stall
By: Chris Rylander
Release Date: February 8, 2011
Author Website

Summary:
Do you need something? Mac can get it for you. It's what he does—he and his best friend and business manager, Vince. Their methods might sometimes run afoul of the law, or at least the school code of conduct, but if you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can pay him, Mac is on your side. His office is located in the East Wing boys' bathroom, fourth stall from the high window. And business is booming. Or at least it was, until one particular Monday. It starts with a third grader in need of protection. And before this ordeal is over, it's going to involve a legendary high school crime boss named Staples, an intramural gambling ring, a graffiti ninja, the nine most dangerous bullies in school, and the first Chicago Cubs World Series game in almost seventy years. And that's just the beginning. Mac and Vince soon realize that the trouble with solving everyone else's problems is that there's no one left to solve yours. (from goodreads.com)

Review: I've had this book sitting on my shelf for awhile. The cover was pretty great, but for one reason or another it kept getting passed over. Once I signed up for the blog tour I was excited to get to reading. I can't believe I waited this long! I've heard this book described a few different way- as a Ferris Beuller type story and as a Godfather/Mafia story. Both totally apply and the result is a funny, heartwarming, sometimes violent but at all times believable story about being a 6th grader who rules the school and the dark underbelly of the school that you have to deal with. Mac is our main man- he is both Ferris and the Godfather. He rules the school, trading favors with the janitor and working outside the rules from his broke-down bathroom office. He is also the one who everyone turns to when there is trouble- one by one they go into the fourth stall to tell Mac of their troubles, ranging from homework help to money issues, and hope he will help. At his side is his best buddy Vince. Together they call in favors from other members of the school and save their money so they can go to the World Series. Everything was working out fine until Fred, a puny 3rd grader enters the picture, with a tale of the legendary bully Staples and the bookie ring that is infiltrating Mac's turf. Soon, Mac's whole business is in trouble and he might lose everything.

The charecters are really well written. Mac, real name Christian, is a great. At first I scoffed at the idea that a 6th grader could really do all that Mac does, but Rylander employs little side stories that give us all the abckground we need to see how it happened. We find out how his team came together, why the fourth stall is available for his use and how the janitor came to owe him. We even get some pretty great backstories on the other charecters, including nemesis Staples. The more I knew about Mac, Vince, Staples and the rest of the cast, the more I bought into the world Mac occupies, which includes bullies named Kitten (who works for Mac)and middle school bookies on every piece of playground equipment.
There is a fair bit of violence in this book. Enough to make you cringe, not neccessarily because it's gratuitous, but because we can all remember these middle school fights (at least I can) Where there was no finesse, you just got right to it, punched as hard as you could, ganged up with your buddies if that's what it took to get the heck out of there, knock-down, drag-out fights. Even if we remember it, it's still hard to read about. Picturing some bigger kids beating up the little guy is hard to handle no matter which way you slice it. To not include it though, would have been shame, because it is the reality for kids (not that it should be) and it certainly fit into the world that Rylander created for Mac.

That's not to say that this is a dark/violent book. For every punch that is thrown there are lighter moments, including Vince and Mac having a catch as they discuss the Fred/Staples problem and Vince compares it to the time her "really wanted barbacue chicken but couldn't because" he "decided to be a vegetarian for two weeks to see what it was like to be a giraffe". For all they act like adults, these moments are great reminders of what it's like to just be a kid.

Before I wrap this up I have to say that I loved the way this book ended. There is a great conclusion to this story, but we are left with a great intro into a sequel when a girl walked in "with damp hair and a swagger that [Mac] found both attractive and unnerving". With that one sentence Rylander had me ready for more. I can't wait for the sequel to see who this girl is and what kind of trouble she gets Mac into!

Giveaway!
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The Fourth Stall Blog Tour

2011-04-10T15:53:00.006-04:00

This week I'm participating in the blog tour for Chris Rylander's The Fourth Stall. I'll be posting my review and giveaway information tomorrow and I was also lucky enough to get the chance to interview Rylander and that will be posted on Saturday.

Here is the list for this weeks tour stops:

4/11 – Review and Giveaway at A Reader’s Ramblings 4/11 – Review and Giveaway at Kid Lit Frenzy

4/12 – Guest post at Milk and Cookies: Comfort Reading 4/12 – Giveaway at Alison’s Bookmarks

4/13 – Interview at Alison’s Bookmarks

4/14 - Review at Eve's Fan Garden

4/15 – Review and Contest at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

4/15 – Interview at A Reader’s Ramblings

4/16 – Interview at Teach 8 YA book Blog

4/16 – Review and Giveaway at Tracey Edward Wymer’s Blog

4/17 – Interview at Kid Lit Frenzy

4/18 – Review and Giveaway at Read Now Sleep Later

Top Ten Tuesday

2011-04-05T09:34:00.014-04:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at Broke and Bookish

Here is what they have to say: Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND sign Mister Linky at the bottom to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Don't worry if you can't come up with ten every time..just post what you can!

This weeks Top Ten Tuesday is all about those covers that make you cringe! Which covers would you redesign if you could?

I do want to note here that while I may be snarky on the nature and design of these covers I have actually read and enjoyed all of these books. So it's not a knock against the books or the authors- just on the tragic (IMO) artwork that graces the covers :)

City of Bones by Cassandra Clare

I know. A lot of people LOVE these covers, but this one is just, um, weird. He's naked, mostly decapitated and there seems to be some odd green mist coming from his lower regions.

**EDIT** Upon further investigation I've discovered something disturbing. All of the Mortal Instrument covers have something south of the border going on. In City of Glass there appears to be mysterious fireworks eminating from the....um... well, you know where. And in City of Ashes there is a distinct blue fog rising up and spreading out over the city. Even City of Fallen Angels is not immune. Here we see a roving orange mist, a super mist if you will, combining the south of the border mist powers of the two characters who grace the cover, pouring out over the city. These mysterious mists may not mean anything, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they may be a part of whatever ailment keeps the cover models from showing their entire face. They may want to get that checked out...

High Fantasy books- like Elvenbane by Andre Norton and Mercedes Lackey

Creepy dragons (or other mythical creature) learing at scantily dressed ladies. It's like romance covers for mythical creatures...

Speaking of romance covers... Some are so cheesy that I actually cringe when I see them. I am physically embarrassed for these book covers. And they actually keep me from puchasing books like this. Don't even get me started of the ridiculous titles some of these books have...This is just one example- The Laird Who Loved Me by Karen Hawkins

**EDIT **Thanks to commentor Stephanie for talking about this cover. It made me take a second look and lo and behold I found even more to laugh about! Did you notice be has on the scottish version of Uggs? Like straight up fur boots. If it is that cold out, shouldn't he be rocking something more then a poorly wrapped skirt? Not that I don't appreciate a fine looking man, but boots and a skirt? He's not impressing anyone with that fashion sense...

Busy covers like Cat Patrick's Forgotten.

The underlying picture is nice, but add all that extra stuff and it all just gets messy and confusing looking.

Briefly mention in the City of Bones description is this trend that I simply don't get- the decapitated person. Swoon at Your Own Risk by Sydney Salter employs this trick. Why are we cutting off half the head? Are these models so hidious that there is a need to protect the publics eyes from their offending foreheads?

Technically these are already redesigns so what I really want is an un-design of these covers. They are the Movie Tie-in covers. I get that you are trying to suck every last penny from die-hard fans, but these covers are silly.

The Devils Kiss by Sarwat Chadda

There are two covers to this book (Thank god), and this one, well, sucks. There is so much going on and what is with that giant red X covering everything?!

The duel scene cover. Night Runner by Max Turner isn't the only offending cover to jump on this trend, but it is a good example. It always seems like the top part is randomly floating up there, smashed in for no good reason.

Frankentein by Mary Shelley.

I have this cover sitting on my shelf and every time I see it I laugh. Why is there a naked dude on the cover? I think it's supposed to be Frankenstein, but who knows. All I know is I can't pick it up without laughing...

**EDIT** Credit to the fabulous Darby Karchut for noticing that Frankentein here (if that's who he really is) is totally blushing. Even he is embarrased by how this cover came out.

10.

The translucent cover. There are a ton of examples here where the person on the cover is see through or fading into the background. The Revenant by Sonia Gensler is one such cover.

In My Mailbox

2011-04-02T20:56:00.003-04:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The idea is to share what books you got your hands on in the last week.

Library:

Days of Gold and Mountain Laurel by Jude Deveraux- Sara got me hooked on Deveraux's books. I'm literally reading one or two a week. These are just the latest two to come in for me at the library!

The Uses of Enchantment: The Meaning and Importance of Fairy Tales by Bruno Bettleheim- over at TwilightMoms there is a thread where we talk about Fractured Fairy Tales. I can get sucked into that thread for hours. Basically I got this book so I can do reasearch for a thread on a chat board. So yeah. I'm a nerd.

XVI by Julia Karr- I've already finished this one up. It was a really great dystopian and it also counts for the Debut Author Challenge.

M is for Magic by Neil Gaiman- This one is for the HS Book Club I help with. It's a collectio of short stories and so far is really fun!

For Review:

Ravenwild by Peter Plasse- I was contated by Michael Longenecker, who does some brilliant illustrations in this book, about reviewing Ravenwild. Between the artwork, the synopsis and the tagline on the website I was convinced! I mean under the title we have: "War...Tyranny...Courage...Honor...Loyalty" and then the fabulous quote of: "Sometimes even a fool can be reasoned with if you hit him with a big enough stick." That was enough for me! Check out their website for more information on the book!

Book Blogger Hop

2011-04-01T14:08:00.002-04:00

This meme is hosted by Crazy for Books, so hop on over her way to see what she is up to!

This weeks question is:

"Since today is April Fool's Day in the USA, what is the best prank you have ever played on someone OR that someone has played on you?"

I'm not a huge prank person, but when I worked at a small office we did gang up on eachother every once in awhile to pull some small time pranks. For one person's birthday we stayed at the office LONG after she left and then encased all her small office supplies, the stapler, the mouse, the keyboard, etc. in jello. Obviously we were all really big fans of The Office!

Review: XVI by Julia Karr

2011-03-30T13:01:00.006-04:00

XVI

By: Julia Karr

Release Date: January 6, 2011

Author Website Debut Author Challange Book

Summary: In the year 2150, being a girl isn’t necessarily a good thing, especially when your sixteenth (read sex-teenth) birthday is fast approaching. That in itself would be enough to make anyone more than a little nuts, what with the tattoo and all – but Nina Oberon’s life has taken a definite turn for the worse. Her mother is brutally stabbed and left for dead. Before dying, she entrusts a secret book to Nina, telling her to deliver it to Nina's father. But, first Nina has to find him; since for fifteen years he's been officially dead. Complications arise when she rescues Sal, a mysterious, and ultra hot guy. He seems to like Nina, but also seems to know more about her father than he’s letting on. Then there’s that murderous ex-government agent who’s stalking her, and just happens to be her little sister’s dad (from Juliakarr.com)

Review: It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of dystopian. I love the idea that you can take what is happening right now and imagine a future where the consequences are huge. In fact it's a lesson in unintended consequences. With all the marketing that is happening today, aimed at tweens and teens, it isn't a huge leap to see how in the future that we will be so inundated with it that it controls every moment of our lives and every choice we make.

Here we see a world where the media and the government work in lock step to control everything. Right down to when you can become sexually active. In fact you are tagged with a tattoo that indicates your age- for girls when you are 16 you recieve an XVI on your wrist which idicates you are now fair game, you are now officially "sex-teen". There was a lot here that I really liked. I enjoyed the premise. It didn't seem so far-fetched and that is what I enjoy most about the dystopian books that are out there.

Nina is a believable charecter who you can connect to really fast. You see that she has been raised outside of the mass media that is thrown at them every day. Still, some of it has got through, how could it not? To see her struggle with the reality that "not all is what it seems" is interesting. To see her reconcile what she thought was true and what really is true as secrets are revealed throughout the story is both heartbreaking and full of hope.

I absolutely loved the secondary charecters. Sal, as the love interest, is earnest in his beliefs and also is honest in presenting the secret world of NonComs to Nina. He knows more then she does about the world in which they live, including stuff about her family, but he tries not to overwhelm her, or give her hope where there may not be any. Her female friends Wei and Sandy are opposite ends of the spectrum. Sandy is the embodiment of what "sex-teen" is supposed to look like. She watches the videos and practices her flirting and her greatest aspiration is to join the FeMLs, which she believes will get her out of the Cementville adn help her family, but FeML's, like most other government and media programs are not all they seem,a nd the truth is much darker. Wei represents the resistance, the NonComs and who Nina could become. It was a perfect way to illustrate the two different worlds Nina lives in and the two possible futures that lay ahead of her.

Still, for all that was wonderful about this book, I was still left a bit dissapointed. Not hugely so, but enough that I feel it's worth mentioning. I felt like the broad strokes of the book were fomulaic. Dysopians, at least the bunch that I have read, seem to follow a pattern. There is usually a girl, who lives in a world that is unfair to some degree, who begins to question that world, who has an absent parent, who meets an interesting boy who shows her things she hadn't dreamed of about this world. Eventually she finds out something about her family and their place in the world and then she rebels. Then we wait for the next book. It was easy to predict where the story would go for the most part. That isn't to say it wasn't extremely well done, it was. So this isn't neccessarily a complaint about this book, so I hope you don't take it as such. It's more of a comment on dystopian books in general. XVI was interesting and well written, but still, I wanted some new twist, something that would surprise me, and it wasn't there. I also wanted to knowm more about how the world Nina lives in came to be. There were hints at wars and treaties, but not a lot of detailed information. As someone who LOVES history I really wanted more. That, I imagine, is more of a personal preference then anything else. Others who read the book might think it was perfect in that aspect- but for me, you can never go wrong with more information. Your book might be 1000 pages, but I'd be into it!

At the end of the book I wasn't ready to set it down. The ending was spot on. It wrapped up the story at hand nicely and gave us a small tease as to where the book would go next. If there was never a sequel I would be satisfied with how it resolved. Of course, there is a sequel, and I'm excited to see where Nina goes next on this journey!

Rating:

Top Ten Tuesday

2011-03-27T11:44:00.006-04:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at Broke and Bookish Here is what they have to say:
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists! Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND sign Mister Linky at the bottom to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Don't worry if you can't come up with ten every time..just post what you can!

This week is all about what authors you think deserve more recognition- my list if basically going to read like a top ten list of some of my favorite authors. It was hard to make the list- sometimes I wonder if they are really well known in some circles, even though it seems like I'm the only one of my friends who is reading their books. Paring down my massive list took quite a bit of time and even the ones that are fairly well known should have more press, because in my opinion, they are rock stars!

1. Alexie Sherman: I think he gets quite a bit of recognition in certain circles, but I'm always amazed by how many people have not heard of him. He's a phenomenal author who writes poetry, short stories, Novels and YA. His books have been made into movies (Like Smoke Signals- great movie). He is also the author of one of my all time favorite books- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian! I wish more people read Sherman's work- he really is a fabulous author who deserves every bit of press he gets!

2. Paul Goble: Who? Yeah- even I wasn't sure who he was, mostly because I was so hung up on his books as a kid that I never looked to see who wrote them. Once I started buying books for my daughter I realized that the same author wrote several of the books I love including The Girl who Loved Wild Horses and Buffalo Woman.

3. Joseph Bruchac: Another author who wrote so many of my favorite books and who's name I was unaware of until recently.

4. Joseph Marshall III: Here is an author that I've been reading for years. I've read his books as research, for class work and for fun. His book Keep Going: The Art of Perseverance is one of my favorites and I tend to keep it nearby wherever I go.

5. Darby Karchut: Karchut's first book, Griffin Rising, technically doesn't come out until June, so I may be jumping the gun on this one. However, I loved the book and I hoping the word gets out and she gets all the recognition she deserves!

6. Anna Michaels: Her book The Tender Mercy of Roses comes out in May, so I'm ahead of the game again on this one. It's another fabulous book though and deserves every bit of recognition it brings to Michaels.

7. James Kennedy: Have you read The Order of the Odd-Fish? If you haven't you need to get on it. Not only is the book funny and off the wall- but so is Kennedy. Having seen him give a presentation last year at t book fest I immediately picked his book and currently push it on every person who has the ability to read I see. You're going to read it right?

8. Lisa Schroeder: Her books are beautiful and heartbreaking and full of hope. All at once. I wish more people were reading her books because they are truly works of art. My favorite is Chasing Brooklyn, which coincidently made the RITA list. So maybe everyone is taking notice after all ;)

9. Shelton Johnson: I'm about half way through Johnson's book Gloryland. So far, amazing. Then I find out that he's a park ranger and has worked with Ken Burns on some of the amazing documentaries that I watch all the time. Seeing the man on the screen and reading the words on the page bring together a full picture of both the author and the story he tells.

10. Terry Parsinnen: I'm totally biased on this one as Parsinnen was my Undergrad History teacher. The man is a phenomenal teacher and he writes one heck of a book. The one that was most clasely related to my studies was The Oster Conspirancy (about a little known plot to avert WWII), but he has also published books on the history of narcotics and the international drug trade. If you are a history person, his books are totally worth the read!

PS: totally love checking out every one elses lists- I'm seeing ton's of authors I've never heard of but I'm itching to check out!

In My Mailbox 3-27-11

2011-03-26T23:01:00.000-04:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The idea is to share what books you got your hands on in the last week.

So the Borders near me is closing. Sad, obviously, for Borders, but awesome for me as the books were down to 75% off this week. I bought more then I needed, but seeing as I hardly ever buy books anymore that's okay! So this week for me it was a ton of books bought, a few from the library and one in on review.

Review:
A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Guiseppe Bianco
Click here to read it for FREE!!

Library:
I had the Right to Remain Silent...but I did not Have the Ability by Ron White
Read-Aloud Rhymes for the Very Young by Jack Prelutsky

Bought:
Now You See Her by Merline Lovelace
Justice of the Mountain Man by William Johnstone
Trail of the Mountain Man by William Johnstone
Revenge of the Mountain Man by William Johnstone
Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk
When She Flew by Jennie Shortridge
Nevermore by Nell Stark & Trinity Tam
Never Enough by William Voegeli
Old Border Road by Susan Froderberg
Gloryland by Shelton Johnson
A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz

Book Trailer: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After

2011-03-24T12:10:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week I review Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith. Today I got word that the book trailer has been released and it is fabulous! Check it out below and then go pick up PPZ: Dreadfully Ever After- it is a fun mash-up that continues the tale of Elizabeth and Darcy in a world over run by zombies!

Review: A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Giuseppe Bianco

2011-03-22T22:39:00.005-04:00

A Girl Named Willow Krimble
By: Giuseppe Bianco
Release Date: 1-1-11
Read for Free on the Willow Krimble Website
Author Blog

Summary:
Willow lives with her mother and older brother, Wyatt; she loves hanging out with her best friend, the feisty and sarcastic Razzel Fiora, and she has a close relationship with her grandmother. Seems pretty normal, right? It might be if the two most popular girls in middle school, Shayla Stergus and Snella Burenbine, did not taunt and remind her, on a daily basis, that she was born without her left leg.

Forced to maneuver through obstacles most teenagers would not need to tackle, Willow is suddenly blessed (or cursed?) with the unusual power to heal others through touch. Ever selfless, Willow’s desire to help the injured and sick thrusts her into a world where she is given immense responsibility, putting the needs of others before her own, all the while trying to maintain her secret.

Willow’s adolescent journey takes her through an emotional cyclone where she finds joy and purpose in helping an array of patients from an old man with Alzheimer’s to a mauled animal in a pet store. But Willow soon finds out there are limitations to her ability and, no matter how hard she might try, she cannot save everyone.

Through the intermingling of joy and pain, Willow is repeatedly tested to discover just how strong she can be, how strong she has been her entire life, and how everyone possesses the ability to effect another person’s world, with or without a secret power.(from goodreads.com)

Review:

**NOTE: there are some minor spoilers ahead. Nothing that gives the whole book away, but a few things I couldn't really leave out while writing this review**

This was a highly enjoyable middle grade book, which the author was nice enough to send me. Anyone can read it for free online on the Willow Krimble website, but there's something about holding onto a book that really helps me get into a story. So, straight off, THANK YOU to Guiseppe Bianco for sending me a copy of this great book!

Onto the story- there is so much going on here that I love that it's hard to know where to start. At the heart of the story is Willow Krimble, a rather unassuming 8th grader who has a pretty good life, a great family and a fabulous best friend named Razzel. Life is never quite as easy as it seems though. Willow deals with the normal teenage angst, boys that you kind of hate but maybe really like, mean girls that take advantage and bully you at school, and family problems and heartache that can come from losing a parent. Plus she has some not so run-of-the-mill issues. For one, she has only one leg and this makes her a target for taunting and also makes her self conscious sometimes. She also finds herself dealing with a mysterious skill, one that could be seen as a blessing or a curse, the ability to heal people by simply touching them. Still, where other people might become the victim, I never felt like Willow was. She is picked on by the mean girls of her school, but she is never broken. She could have shied away from using her skill, but instead she seeks out some words of advice at her church adn decides to embrace it, and change the lives of those she can. Even her worst enemy, who once upon a time was a friend. I adored that about Willow. She was a strong, independent, well adjusted kid who was loyal to her friends and who would do just about anything to help someone in need, including paralyzing some imaginary bats for a patient at the hospital.

Willow was not the only great character at work here. Razzel her best friend was always ready to defend her against bullies, and beyond that, Razzel was ready to defend anyone she saw as being picked on. It's good to have those people out there, even if they do have a little trouble controlling their anger sometimes. Even Shayla, a member of the mean girls clique, isn't one dementional. As the story proceeds we see how and why she ended up the way she is, and we see her trying to find her way back to a better place. Snella, Grandma Trish, Wyatt, the parents (who I will talk about in a minute) Mrs. Protts and Tristan are all characters that directly impact Willow in some way and despite being secondary players they are all given a chance to be fully developed. It's really great to see, every character is there for a reason, even if it's only for a few passages here and there.

Now for the parents. For anyone who has been reading this blog, you already know I have a hang up about parents in YA and Middle Grade books. I hate the bad parents, the absentee parents and the way they are used to make the leading lady seem like she is alone and needs to be rescued by some mysterious, brooding boy. I was so happy that we didn't see that here! Here we see some absolutely amazing parents who are involved and enganged with their kids, even as they try to hold down a job and put food on the table. Mrs. Krimble is busy being a single mom to two teens. She's busy, she's overworked and I'm sure she misses her husband. Still, she makes time to spend with her kids, she's ready to help them if they need it and she's paying attention enough to see when something is wrong. So. Refreshing. Mr. Krimble on the other hand is not around. Having died from Leukemia a few years earlier he is absent as his daughter finds herself dealing with her new powers. Bianco still amanges to make his presence felt through a few well times flashbacks. We see him at Willows birthday, 6 years in the past, already ill and trying to have some closure with his daughter. He knows he won't live long, and he wants Willow to know he loves her and that he believes in her. Even if she doesn't realize it at the time, he knows that he has to tell her these things because someday she might need to knw that he is watching down on her and is always on her side. I have to admit- I teared up a bit.

So, in short, bravo to Bianco for creating a character in Willow that I never felt sorry for despite her disability and the teasing she endures, and for putting some wonderful parents and friends beind her to help her get through it. This book is full of great messages about being yourself, finding great friends and standing by them, giving of yourself to help others and giving people a second chance. It's a book worth reading.

Rating:

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStafano

2011-03-22T11:44:00.001-04:00

Wither
By: Lauren DeStafano
Release Date: 3-22-2011
Author Website
Debut Author Challenge Book

Summary:
What if you knew exactly when you would die?

Thanks to modern science, every human being has become a ticking genetic time bomb—males only live to age twenty-five, and females only live to age twenty. In this bleak landscape, young girls are kidnapped and forced into polygamous marriages to keep the population from dying out.

When sixteen-year-old Rhine Ellery is taken by the Gatherers to become a bride, she enters a world of wealth and privilege. Despite her husband Linden’s genuine love for her, and a tenuous trust among her sister wives, Rhine has one purpose: to escape—to find her twin brother and go home.

But Rhine has more to contend with than losing her freedom. Linden’s eccentric father is bent on finding an antidote to the genetic virus that is getting closer to taking his son, even if it means collecting corpses in order to test his experiments. With the help of Gabriel, a servant Rhine is growing dangerously attracted to, Rhine attempts to break free, in the limted time she has left. (from goodreads.com)

Review:
This was a really great book that stuck with me long after I set it down. I read it about a month ago and I’m still thinking about certain aspects of the story.

At the heart of the story is Rhine, who lives with her brother day to day, trying to stay alive in a dangerous world. They are hoping for a cure before their inevitable deaths, at 20 for Rhine and 25 for her brother. When Rhine is kidnapped and forced to marry Linden, she finds herself trying to not only survive, but break free and get home. With her are her two sister-wives who have different feelings on their fate, both with Linden and in the world.

I really liked Rhine as a character. She took the hand that was dealt to her and did whatever she had to do to stay true to herself. For her there was no other option, she has to break out and get home, even if home is hundreds of miles away. Every step she takes while with Linden in towards release. It was interesting to see her try to manipulate her way out, even as Linden’s father is watching her every move and countering it however he can. In fact Linden’s father may be the most dangerous thing she faces.

I also really enjoyed the relationship between not only Rhine and Gabriel, her partner in crime, but the relationships she built with her sister-wives as well as Linden. It was easy to see that everyone involved was a victim of circumstance. Linden, although he is participating in a polygamous marraige with brides that have been kidnapped, is not, at heart, a bad guy. He only knows life in his house, on his compound, and with the information his father has given him. He doesn’t understand what life is like outside, and he doens’t even really seem to understand how his brides came to be with him. He thinks they are all orphans or alone and that in exchange for marraige they get a better life. He doesn’t realize that not only is that not true for them all, but that those that were rejected by his father met a far worse fate.

The only thing that really kept throwing me of was the term “sister-wife”. With the TV show of the same name out now I kept thinking of the promos I’ve seen of that. It’s just poor timing for DeStefano, as she said in a tweet (which I can’t find, so I will paraphrase) that she was using the term in this book long before the TV show made its debut. That’s such a small issue though, that aside from the fact that it makes me laugh, it’s almost not worth mentioning.

Without giving away the end, I will say that I’m very interested in seeing where Rhine’s story goes from here and I hope we have not seen the last of some of the characters even as they are moving farther away from Rhine.

Rating:

***Review originally posted to Eve's Fan Garden. If you want to chat about Wither and the series it is a part of, head on over the the Eve's Fan Garden forums! ***

Top Ten Tuesday

2011-03-22T02:04:00.004-04:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at Broke and Bookish Here is what they have to say: Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND sign Mister Linky at the bottom to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Don't worry if you can't come up with ten every time..just post what you can!

This week is all about book pet peeves. I've got lots of them, and at least one will be the opposite of what most people expect, especially when they consider the fact that I'm a year away from becoming a libarian.

1. Beat up books: I LOVE them. I hate when you see a line of books that are all pristine. So I guess my pet peeve would actually be pristine books. The look so...unloved. The more beat up my books are the better. Dog eared, finger smudges (I like to eat and read), wrinkled pages from where they've gotten wet and broken spines. All those things say to me that the book is well loved. There is nothing I like more then a book that looks like's it's been to hell and back- it just means it was so good that I've read it over and over again! Of course, borrowed books get special treatment, and a bookmark, but my books are all in the line of fire!

2. Dust Jackets: HATE them. Sure they are pretty and a lot of times it's that fabulous cover art that draws me in to begin with, but who they heck invented these things? They don't stay on while you try to read, then fall off and they generally get in the way. The first thing I do is toss those suckers in the trash.

3. Bad/Absentee Parents: to be fair I don't always hate this one, but I think it is so overused. From Cinderella to Wither (out today!) we see parents who are non- existant, for legitimate reasons or simply by virtue of not caring, as well as crappy parenting and the always popular wicked step-parent. Why do they always have to be bad or invisible? Can't these kids still come into their own with some great parents standing behind them? Obviously we see some great parents out there (Simone Elkeles and Darby Karchut: I'm talking to you), but by and large we see teens struggling to find their way with no parental influence to help guide them.

4. The Love Triangle: again, not always a deal breaker, but it seems like it happens a lot. Then it becomes predictable, and I find myslef picking out who will be our two love interests long before they reveal themselves in the story. It's distracting and I'm starting to hope for something new that will surprise me and make the book stand apart from the rest.

5. Different Covers/movie tie-ins: For someone who is so lax on the whole broken spine- dust jacket issue, I get really hung up on the covers of my paperbacks. Specifically the series covers. They have to all match. I hate when the cover art changes. The Sookie Stackhouse books for instance. I started out with one sort of cover and then suddenly my store only carried some weird new cover, and the books were totally different sizes. I couldn't have that- it would look weird on my shelf (dedicated solely to series'). So I had to order the right cover and wait for them to come in. Movie tie-in's go here too. I get that you want to make money off the movie and all, but the book should stand on it's own. I HATE seeing those movie poster shots staring out at me from the book shelf.

6. Epilogues: this one is pretty universal for me. I hate them. I see that word and begin to cringe. Occasionally I come across one that works for me, but the key is that it can't jump too far ahead and it can't become a "Happily Ever After" situation without any explanation. Two of my favorite book series' ended with the dreaded Epilogue. Harry Potter and the Hunger Games both jumped ahead a million years (I may be over exagerating here) and I felt like I missed too much. How did they get there? Why did they chose that path? For books that had a lot of turmoil, the epilogues seemed too neat and tidy. Often Epilogues feel like a cop out to me, almost like saying "here's where I wanted to end up, but it would take to many pages, so just go ahead and trust me, this is how it works out".

7. The Trilogy: I love a good series. Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, Sookie Stackhouse, Twilight and Hunger Games. All pretty well done. Of course with those huge success stories out there, everything has the potential to be a series, and should be a series. Right? Uhhh...wrong. I'm starting to hate getting the the end of a book and realizing that I haven't gotten to the end of anything at all. Often the ending seems clipped off or stilted as if at one point it was a stand alone and then the decision was made to make it a trilogy so the ending was hastily changed to accommodate more books. I even read one book recently that had a great ending. Totally stood on it's own, it left it opened for a potential sequel, but it also was satisfying enough to just be the end of it. Then I saw three words that killed the book for me. "To be continued." Uggg- what ever happened to just writing a great book?

8. Poor research: This is probably my biggest pet peeve, and also the reason I've been working on my book for 5 years. Poor research will absolutely sink a book for me. When authors allude to things that never happened, or they get dates wrong for historical events, or describe a place in a way that is wholly inaccurate, it 100% kills a book for me. I'm sure I've read a ton of books that get it wrong and because of my own lack of knowledge on the subject at hand I never notice. Which is the crux of the problem right there. If we are writing a book, even a work of fiction, that takes place in or around a real place or event, then isn't there some sort of duty to get it right? To get it wrong smacks of laziness and arrogance and it takes me out of a book faster then just about anything else out there.

9. Lust = love: Look, I'm all for those hot, steamy scenes where our mousy leading lady gets all hot and bothered by some sexy (usually supernatural) guy. Go for it. If the guy happens to be named Eric Northman all the better. But does that equal love? Should it? Is that the message we want out there? That the hot guy who happens to kiss like the devil is the one you should love and follow into whatever danger he might get in to, even if you've never actually had a conversation with the guy. Granted, it might lead to love. I'm still holding out hope for Mr. Northman there, but really, in a few hundred pages can that happen? I really hate seeing the girl just go blindly after a hot guy without ever thinking about why she's going. I always feel like the girl loses a bit of herself when she does and that's a shame. (ahem...Bella)

10. "It's the next Twilight!" aka Hype: Look I love Twilight. Those books 100% changed my life (no joke, but feel free to laugh). They were the right books and the right time for me. Still- were they really so good that everything that comes after has to be held to that standard? Frankly, I'd be hoping, if it were my book, that someone would say "Twilight who?" when hyping my book. Which brings me to hype (see how I stuck two for one in this last slot?) When someone says "It's the next Twilight" it tantamount to saying "It's the next big thing", which is pretty awesome if you are the author, but realistically, the chances you are the next big thing are slim to none. That's not to say that the book will suck, but seriously, we can't all be Stephenie Meyers and Suzanne Collins. That doesn't even neccessariloy refer to writing ability, just success. I'd rather hear honest thoughts then generic praise, because when a book falls short of the astronomic hype it's such a let down. Even when the book is great, not living up to the hype that's out there, can pull a book down. I'd rather a book come out of nowhere and surprise me then fall short of all the talk that's swirling around. Best example for me- Stolen by Lucy Christopher or Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. Neither had a ton of hype prior to release and both totally blew me away. That is so satisfying!

Review: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith

2011-03-22T01:35:00.004-04:00

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After
By: Steve Hockensmith
Release Date: 3-22-11
Author Website

Summary:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and its prequel, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, were both New York Times best sellers, with a combined 1.3 million copies in print. Now the PPZ trilogy comes to a thrilling conclusion with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After.

The story opens with our newly married protagonists, Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, defending their village from an army of flesh-eating “unmentionables.” But the honeymoon has barely begun when poor Mr. Darcy is nipped by a rampaging dreadful. Elizabeth knows the proper course of action is to promptly behead her husband (and then burn the corpse, just to be safe). But when she learns of a miracle antidote under development in London, she realizes there may be one last chance to save her true love—and for everyone to live happily ever after. (from goodreads.com)

Review:
To be honest, I've long struggled with the mash-up. I've liked a few, but I've also felt like they were hard to read because I was constantly comparing to the original and was unable to really get into the book at hand. So I was very excited to read Dreadfully Ever After because I knew that there would be no reference point for me to look back to. This book would be all it's own, taking characters I love and transporting them somewhere new. I was excited and nervous, and really hoping it would work out. I have to say, I enjoyed this book much more then any other mash-up I've read.

In this book we find Elizabeth and Darcy living near the Bingley's and still adjusting to their new life. One in which Elizabeth is no longer allowed to be the warrior she was trained to be (and who Darcy fell in love with). It simply isn't proper for a gentleman's wife to be out and about with weapons. So their relatonship is already strained when Darcy is bitten. From there the story becomes a race to save his life, with Catherine angling to get Darcy back for herself and daughter Anne and Lizzy and her family working to get the cure- while being manipulated by Catherine.

I'd love to say that the love story between Darcy and Lizzy continues in this book, but it doesn't. They are together for only a small part of the story and beyond that we see them dealing with circumstances seperately. That's okay. They need this time apart to realize what it is about eachother that they love and how to get that back. The story is not without romance. I was surprised and delighted to see Kitty step up to the plate as she ventures to London with her father and Lizzy to try and retrieve the cure. While there she has a role to play, seduce the doctor's son, the hilariously silly Bunny (who coincidently has a pet bunny who he dresses up in clothes). Add in the exotic and stoic ninja Nezu and we begin to see Kitty emerge from the shadow of her warrior siters and her "silly" sister Lydia to come into her own. The confusing and turbulent relationships we saw not only in the previous mash-ups, but in the original Pride & Prejudice, are continued her with Kitty and Nezu and even with Mary and the mysterious Man in the Box.

This is a fun, easy read and if you are a fan of mash-up or Austen then I'd say to give it a try. It far exceeded my expectations!

Rating:

Win Breathless Contest!

2011-03-18T15:27:00.006-04:00

This is amazing. I mean, sure the contest is awesome, but more amazing then that is the fact that I actually posted several times this week! I love Spring break <3>

So want to know more about this contest? Here's the deal. The fabulous Beth Revis is giving away all 5 books from the Breathless Reads Tour. Cool on it's own, but Revis does us one better- all 5 books are autographed!

Here are some super short summaries straight from Beth Revis. They are also linked to the goodreads page for each book if you want more information.

•THE ETERNAL ONES by Kiersten Miller is a fast-paced, adventurious love story that involves reincarnation, secret societies, and fire.

•THE REPLACEMENT by Brenna Yovanoff is a hauntingly beautiful book that scares the pants off me.

•NIGHTSHADE by Andrea Cremer is not about werewolves--it's about true wolves that can shapeshift into people written by a brilliant scholar who incorporate history into the tale.

•MATCHED by Allie Condie shows us that love can break through any barrier, and the most important thing is to not go gently...

•ACROSS THE UNIVERSE is the book that I wrote and I would really like it if you liked it. Also I think you're pretty and want to be friends with you.

Like what you see? Head on over the Beth Revis' website to see how you can win!

Book Blogger Hop

2011-03-17T23:54:00.002-04:00

This meme is hosted by Crazy for Books, so hop on over her way to see what she is up to!

Holy smokes it's been awhile since I joined in on one of these! It seems like I miss for one week because of school or work or whatever and then suddenly 3 months (eep!) have passed. Seriously- 3 months exactly. That's a whole lot of blog fail happening. At any rate- it's Spring Break, for this one week I'm free of homework and can have some fun!

Here's this weeks question:
"Do you read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?"

I almost always have several going. Usually one that is a bit heftier and will take several sittings to get through and then I fly through lighter fair at a rate of about a book every other day- and usually I read the whole book in one sitting. I also usually have one book in the car that is something that can be picked up and put down and not get finished for months- something like a collection of essays or short stories. I think I had a book called Mountain Men in my car for 6 months before I finished it! Right now my longer read is Sherman Alexie's Face (a collection of peotry) and I have a stack of tbr's that I'm working through as well.

I really like reading more then one at a time- it allows you to get sucked in to a really great book when it comes along, but allows you to always have another book to turn to.

How about you- are you a one at a time sort of reader or do you like to multitask?

Review: Trapped by Michael Northrop

2011-03-17T08:00:00.002-04:00

Trapped
By: Michael Northrop
Release Date: January 1, 2011
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Author Website
YA Contemps Challenge Book

Summary:
The day the blizzard started, no one knew that it was going to keep snowing for a week. That for those in its path, it would become not just a matter of keeping warm, but of staying alive....

Scotty and his friends Pete and Jason are among the last seven kids at their high school waiting to get picked up that day, and they soon realize that no one is coming for them. Still, it doesn't seem so bad to spend the night at school, especially when distractingly hot Krista and Julie are sleeping just down the hall. But then the power goes out, then the heat. The pipes freeze, and the roof shudders. As the days add up, the snow piles higher, and the empty halls grow colder and darker, the mounting pressure forces a devastating decision....
(from goodreads.com)

Review:
This was a really amazing book. 7 students are trapped at their high school as Snowpocolpse rages outside. They were supposed to go home early, but for one reason or another they were still in the school waiting hours later. Their rides home never showed up. The roads were closed and nobody was getting in or out. From there it becomes an interesting look at several things- how the weather can hold you captive, how the social structure that makes up a school changes when the need arises and how people can become heroic in the face of danger.

As for the main player here, the snowstorm, I felt like I knew it well. I'm from Central New York- it regularly starts snowing here before Thanksgiving and it's nothing to still have snow flying come Mother's Day. Average snowfall here is 121 inches and this year, affectionately being called “The Winter from Hell”, we’ve gotten 174 inches, so far. So I’m no stranger to snowstorms. The descriptions of the falling snow, the way it blankets everything and changes the landscape into something alien and unforgiving, the way it seems like it will never stop and the way it can bring the world crashing down as it freezes pipes and weakens roofs- it all made sense to me. I think that made it even more real, the idea that, despite the fact that I haven’t been trapped alone during a weeklong storm, it didn’t seem all that farfetched.

I don’t want to give too much away on this book, because one slip up could ruin the whole story. I didn’t see some of the parts coming, and I’m pretty sure my jaw literally dropped a few times. I really enjoyed seeing Scotty and his friends, and the other students, band together to try and survive. It was interesting to see how what starts as a sort of fun adventure quickly becomes a fight to figure out the nest way to stay worm, stay fed and make it home. It was also interesting to see who emerged as the leader, and who felt up to trying take a risk and make a big move to get everyone rescued. It didn’t end how I expected it too. In fact it ends a little bit in the dark. You have an idea what will happen next, but Northrop leaves it up to the reader to decide, to imagine what life is like in the next day or week, or as school starts up again.

This was a really well written book that sticks with you after you close the last page. It is a great read and I recommend everyone go out and grab it!

Rating:

Top Ten Tuesday

2011-03-16T22:50:00.002-04:00

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted at Broke and Bookish Here is what they have to say: Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This meme was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list complete with one of our bloggers answers. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND sign Mister Linky at the bottom to share with us and all those who are participating. If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Don't worry if you can't come up with ten every time..just post what you can!

I'm a day late with this- I'm going to blame it on daylight savings because I definitly, right until Survivor came on tonight, thought it was Tuesday. Way to go me. Anywho, this week's top ten is all about what characters you would want as family members.

1. Elizabeth Bennet from Pride & Prejudice- technically I want to be Elizabeth Bennet, but if I can't have that I'd want Lizzie as my sister and partner in crime.

2. Mr. Bennet from Pride & Prejudice- I'd like to throw most of the Bennets in the lake, but Mr. Bennet is fabulous. If I couldn't have my own Dad then I'd want Mr. Bennet.

3. Jacob from Twilight- Yes. Jacob. Prior to Breaking Dawn Jacob is awesome. I don't want him to imprint on me (although maybe one of those other wolves...) but I do want Jacob as my brother. He rides motorcycles, jumps off cliff and is generally up for anything. If my new sister Lizzie and I want to get into trouble I guarentee Jacob would cover for us or join in the mischief!

4. Mrs. Weasley from Harry Potter- I want to be a Weasley. I want both the Weasleys as parents, but since I already claimed Mr. Bennet as my new Dad I'll settle for just Mrs. Weasley as my Mom. She is fabulous and loyal and generally an awesome mom.

5. Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter- I would pretty much adopt most of the cast of characters from Harry Potter is a could, but I would LOVE Luna as a little sister. She's unique and independent and ready to defend her friends and family. Every family needs a Luna.

6. Basil from Griffin Rising- He'd make a pretty awesome Dad, but I'm going to claim Basil for my uncle. He's so understanding and ready to defend what he thinks is right. he's the guy you want on your side when things start to go wrong.

7. Junior from The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian- I want him as a younger brother, or a cousin, or something. He is so funny and honest and inspiring. He would definitly be ready to get into trouble with the rest of us!

8. Westley from The Princess Bride- Westley could be many things, but I want him as my husband. Sure there are a lot of other sexy literary guys out there, but Westley is funny and witty and ready to save his princess. Plus he wears a mask and really knows how to use his...sword.

9. Pippi Longstocking- Apparently Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Weasley have been busy (not really out of character) because I'm creating quite the family for them. I'd totally take Pippi as a sister too!

10. Sam from Shiver- Every family needs a pet dog, right? ;)

Review: Timeless by Alexandra Monir

2011-03-15T12:22:00.005-04:00

Timeless
By: Alexandra Monir
Release Date: January 11, 2011
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Author Website

Debut Author Challange Book

Summary:
When tragedy strikes Michele Windsor’s world, she is forced to uproot her life and move across the country to New York City, to live with the wealthy, aristocratic grandparents she’s never met. In their old Fifth Avenue mansion filled with a century’s worth of family secrets, Michele discovers a diary that hurtles her back in time to the year 1910. There, in the midst of the glamorous Gilded Age, Michele meets the young man with striking blue eyes who has haunted her dreams all her life – a man she always wished was real, but never imagined could actually exist. And she finds herself falling for him, into an otherworldly, time-crossed romance.

Michele is soon leading a double life, struggling to balance her contemporary high school world with her escapes into the past. But when she stumbles upon a terrible discovery, she is propelled on a race through history to save the boy she loves – a quest that will determine the fate of both of their lives. (from goodreads.com)

Review:
This was a tricky book for me. I liked it, then I didn't, then I loved what was going on, then I was rolling my eyes, then I was down with it again, and then I was frustrated. Timeless had a lot of really great parts, wonderful detail a story line that was both classic and original, there were just a few things that irked me. I'll start with the bits that bothered me and then end on a high note with all that was wonderful about this book. So lets get to it.

Two main things bugged me. this book is about time travel, which is generally very cool. I'll get into the way it was handled in a minute (it was pretty cool), but the language that was used during the actually moments of time travel drove me nuts. Overall the writing is good, the descriptions of the places and people are spot on, but the moments when Michele actually travels through time felt off. It almost felt like a throw away- the description were short and didn't do much for me, especially when sandwiched in between really well developed worlds. It didn't ruin the book by any stretch of the imagination, but it did bring me down a bit.

The second thing that killed me was the end of the book. It's "to be continued", literally. It says that. It was so not neccessary in my opinion. The suspense of the moment that occurs right before that is enough. It lets you know that there is more to this story. Even if there was never another book, it lets you know that this story will carry on for Michele. It was a pretty perfect moment, and then, "to be continued". Three little words that totally sunk the end of the book for me. I may be alone in this- I know I stand on my own island on the topic of Epilogues (HATE THEM)- so this might work for other readers, it just felt like a let down to me.

Alright- 2 small things that I didn't like. Done. Onto the stuff I loved, and there was quite a bit of it. Michele is a pretty great character. She's tough, she's resiliant and she's open minded. She knows what she wants and she's no concerned too much with what those around her think about her. Great, great character. Add to that the introduction of a succession of her Windsor relatives who she visits and you begin to see a long line of independant girls who are worthy of being role models. Despite the assertion that the Windsors are an upper class family and must meet a certain standard, it was refreshing to see that despite the contraints of mulitple eras the Wondsor girls manage to still maintain their own personalities.

It was also really interesting to see Michele grieve for the loss of her mother while trying to adjust to a whole new world in New York City. He grandparents are somewhat stand offish, but they are there for her nonetheless. As the story unfolds and we see who Michele visits in the past and who else may have the ability to travel through time, I was left wondering how much the Grandparents knew or understood. It seems like Michele's mother knew quite a bit, so it will be interesting to see how that part of the story unfolds in the next book.

Of course there is a love interest here- and while it's a good story, about how she manages to help Philip during her foray into NYC of the past, I didn't feel like it was the story. There was so much more going on for Michele and even though this relationship was big for her, I think that finding Philip and then having to deal with the fact that neither truly exists in the same time as the other, was something that helped her deal with other issues, like her mother's death and the father she has never met. I'm sure that as we move into the next book we will see how the relationship plays out, but for now I'll simply say that I liked the two of them together and Philip was a great guy.

Lastly- Time itself plays a big role. I really loved seeing and hearing about the different time periods in NYC. I especially enjoyed the parts in the Cotton Club and how the streets sounded different before the car took over the road. Monir's descriptions were wonderful and those were the parts of the book that I wish lasted a little longer! The idea of time being cyclical, that it the past, present and future exist side by side and overlap is a pretty interesting concept to explore. Monir did a great job intorducing the theories without being confusing or overwhelming the reader. I'm interested in seeing how it all plays out in the next book and if we get an answer to why the Windsor family are the ones who have the ability to move back and forth.

So, bottom line, great storyline, beautiful descriptions of NYC of the past, great main character and a few moments that made me cringe. At the end of the day I really enjoyed the book and if you like time travel this is a pretty good place to look.

Note:

Music plays a pretty big role in this story and Monir has the two songs from the book available for download on her site. Theya re really beautiful songs and Monir is a beautiful singer.

Rating:

In My Mailbox

2011-03-12T19:23:00.004-05:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The idea is to share what books you got your hands on in the last week.

I got in a lot of books this week- 8 to be exact. Most from the Library, but there is one win, one review and one from the fabulous Donna at EFG. Thank goodness Spring Break is coming up so I can read without the interuption of silly things like homework!

Library:
The Temptress by Jude Deveraux: I've said it a few times now, I'm addicted to Deveraux books, and I'm working my way through the Montgomery books right now. So far I think this one may be my favorite.

Dark Oracle by Alayna Williams: a few weeks ago I the book Rogue Oracle in from Donna and discovered it was a sequel, so I grabbed this one up from the library so I can read them in order!

Fall for Anything by Courtney Summers: this book is about a girl named Eddie who is dealing with the suicide of her father and the mystery that surrounds it. This book also counts for the YA Contemps Challenge for those of you who are participating in that.

So Shelly by Ty Roth: This book struck me as very intriguing. It follows two schoolmates as they take their mutual friend, Shelly's, ashes to a small island in Lake Erie (per her wishes). Roth uses poets like Keats, Byron and Shelly as inspiration for the modern day high school students, and I'm really interested in seeing how that plays out. This is a Debut Author Challenge Book.

The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness: This is a Dystopian I stumbled upon when a prequel short story came up for free on my Nook. That little taste left me wanting to know more!

Timeless by Alexandra Monir: This book is about a teenager who has her whole life flipped upside when she is forced to move in with her grandparents, The Windsor, across the country. She soon finds that Time moves differently for her family as she is plunged into the past to find her soul mate. This is also a Debut Author Challenge book.

From Donna:
Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck: This is another Debut Author Challenge book and it follows the sotry of a girl named Kelsey as she tries to break a 300 year old Indian curse.

Won:
Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington: I won this book from Penguin Books during a twitter contest. Up From Slavery is Washington's autobiography.

Review:
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith: This is a continuation of the Pride and Prejudice mashups in which we see Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth on their honeymoon, and dealing with the fact that poor Mr. Darcy has been bitten! I recieved this book from Quirk Books.

Smiling Indians and an apology for my absentee ways

2011-03-11T11:56:00.003-05:00

So let's start off with the apology. My blogging tendecies lately have been lax. I've said before and will probably say repeatedly over the next year that I have a good reason. Namely, Grad School. There is no getting around the fact that it is a major time suck. Rightly so- I would hate to be paying a small fortune for something that didn't require some time and effort- that would seem like a waste, right?

So the reviews have been trickling in. I'm reading when I can, but the time to put together a thoughtful and intelligent review has been slim. That being said I do have some stuff on the horizon, obligations that must be filled. Reviews of Wither by Lauren DeStephano and The Fourth Stall by Chris Rylander are on the horizon and with Poetry Month looming, be ready for some of my favorites to be featured.

I also recently stumbled upon a great video. It's not directly book related but it is important. Some of you know that I have a degree in History and a deep love for all things Old West. I also did my major undergrad paper on the misrepresentation of Native American's in the media. Recently, while talking to my Graduate Advisor, she pointed me to a great blog that deals with a lot of the same issues, but as they relate to children's and YA books. Debbie Reese's American Indians in Children's Literature. It's a veritable treasure trove of information and I wish I had it as a resource 6 years ago as I worked on my paper. If you have any interest in the subject head over there- you won't be dissapointed (although you will likely lose hours as you dig through all the information!).

It also provided some great insight on a video that I've seen a few other places. Ryan Red Corn's Smiling Indians. It's a response to those photos that you see everywhere, of the stoic Indian, taken by photographer Edward Curtis. I have a book of those pictures on my shelf, nestled in between other books by the likes of Joseph Marshall III, Sherman Alexie and Russell Means. The historian in me has always taken research with a grain of salt. You can't be told to "question everything" for 4 years and not take it to heart. Who wrote the history? What were they hoping to accomplish? What was their bias? All questions I've been taught to ask of history books.

It's why I struggle to write my own books. I have set my stories in the old west. Children's books and YA alike always find their home between 1860 and 1890 somewhere west of the Misssissippi and all are lacking in Native characters. Want to know why? Because despite all my reading and researching and studying I am no expert. I don't want to offend anyone. I don't want to perpetuate those misrepresentations. I don't want to be part of that cycle. So instead I bypass them, which is just as bad. It's why I am stuck in the 40,000 words into my YA novel. The so called "Plains Indian Wars" are looming along the Bozeman trail and my characters are walking into it. This is not a story of savages and innocent white men. I want to realistically represent what happened out there, during a time when tension ran high. I'm lacking the resources to go for it at this point. I'm hopeful that once Graduate School is over I will have a little more time to persure the quality research I need to present a fair look at the time even while writing a work of fiction. Time will tell if I can do it well. I would hate to do it poorly.

So to wrap this bad boy up:
1. Sincere apologies for the sorry amount of actual blogging that's taking place here at A Reader's Ramblings. Hang in there, it will get better!
2. Check out Debbie Reese's blog American Indians in Children's Literature.
3. Watch the video and think about the images you've seen and read about.

Review: Outside In by Maria V. Snyder

2011-03-04T12:29:00.003-05:00

Outside In
By: Maria V. Snyder
Release Date: 3-1-11
Author Website

Synopsis:

Me? A Leader? Okay, I did prove that there’s more to Inside than we knew. That a whole world exists beyond this cube we live in. And finding that led to a major rebellion – between worker scrubs like me and the snobby uppers who rule our world. Make that ruled. Because of me, we’re free. I thought that meant I was off the hook, and could go off on my own again – while still touching base with Riley, of course. He’s the one upper I think I can trust. But then we learned that there’s outside and then there is Outside. And something from Outside wants In. (from Goodreads.com)

Review:
This is the sequel to Maria V. Snyder’s Inside out, a story about a strictly divided and controlled world, and one girl’s journey to tear the walls down, between the uppers and the lowers and between the inside and the outside. We find out at the end of Inside Out that the contained world in which Trella lives is actually a ship and outside is space, so despite taking down the leading class, the Travas, they are still confined to inside.

Outside In picks up pretty much where Inside Out left off. In the aftermath of the rebellion, by the Force of Sheep (love that name), a committee has been created and they are trying to maneuver this new social structure. It’s not easy. There are hard feelings and mistrust from all fronts, and Trella is overwhelmed and doesn’t think she is up to the challenge, especially since the committee doesn’t listen to her. Pretty soon dissent among the lowers is running wild and they feel they situation hasn’t improved at all. On top of all that is going on inside, someone from the Outside wants in and they begin to take control of Inside’s computer system as they prepare to invade. Solving all these problems fills the entire book and it was interesting to see how all of the characters from Inside Out grow into their new roles in Outside In.

Trella was hard for me in this book. She came off childish and whining. She led this rebellion and then seemingly gave up because she either wasn’t up for, or simply didn’t want, the responsibility of actually creating a better world. She treats the Doctor, who is potentially her mother, like the enemy even while taking advantage of the fact that staying with the doctor provides her with a better place to stay. To say the least, I was annoyed by Trella, and I didn’t particularly like her here. By the end I realized that this was by design. I don’t think I was supposed to like her. I say this because one by one the people around her started expressing the same things I was thinking, they were as disappointed in her as I was. In the end we had the old Trella back, leading her friends against an invading force and uniting the community of Inside.

As for whom the outsiders were, well, I’m not going to give too much away. That being said, even after reading the book I wish I knew more about them. Who are they really and where did they come from? Are the Outsiders us? Are the members of Inside us? Are they all us, just spread out over space? These are all questions I was left with as the book wound towards its conclusion. I’m hoping that Snyder will revisit Trella and the rest of the Insiders and answer some of these questions.

** This review was originally written for Eve's Fan Garden. Check out EFG for more great books and an upcoming chat with Snyder! Don't forget to visit the EFG Forums to talk with other book lovers about Outside In. ***

2011-02-27T14:24:00.004-05:00

In My Mailbox is a weekly meme hosted by The Story Siren. The idea is to share what books you got your hands on in the last week.

So here is what I got!

Rogue Oracle by Alayna Williams

Clone Codes by the McKissacks

The Mephisto Covenant by Trinity Faegan (Debut Author Challenge)

Trapped by Michael Northrop (YA Contemps Challenge)

The Dutchess and A Knight in Shining Armour by Jude Deveraux

Hope everyone else had a great week and got some awesome books!

A Reader's Ramblings

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My Ramblings on The Fourth Stall Part II by Chris Rylander

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My Ramblings on My First 5 Books from NCTE

The Truth About Twilight

My Ramblings on Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

My Ramblings on We're Not Leaving by Benjamin J. Luft, M.D.

My Ramblings on Vacation Reads

My Ramblings on Bumped by Megan McCafferty

My Ramblings on A Clash of Kings by George RR Martin

My Ramblings on Shine by Lauren Myracle

My Ramblings on Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles

My Ramblings on Why this Week is Awesome!

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My Ramblings on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by JK Rowling

My Ramblings on The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

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My Ramblings on The False Princess by Eilis O'Neal

My Ramblings on The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

In My Mailbox: BEA Edition

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The Stylish Blogger Award

My Ramblings on Ravenwild by Peter J. Plasse

In My Mailbox 5-8-11

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Creating a Believable World: Guest Post by Chris Rylander

My Ramblings on Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris *NO SPOILERS*

My Ramblings on A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin

My Ramblings on City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

Book Blogger Hop

Follower Giveaway Winner!

Revisiting The Land of Painted Caves by Jean M. Auel

In My Mailbox 4-17-11

Blog Follower Contest!

Interview with Chris Rylander

Book Blogger Hop

Color me Offended and the Resulting Changes to A Reader's Ramblings

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Rock the Drop 2011

Top Ten Tuesday

The Fourth Stall Giveaway: We Have a Winner!

Review & Giveaway: The Fourth Stall

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In My Mailbox

Book Blogger Hop

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In My Mailbox 3-27-11

Book Trailer: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After

Review: A Girl Named Willow Krimble by Giuseppe Bianco

Review: Wither by Lauren DeStafano

Top Ten Tuesday

Review: Pride & Prejudice & Zombies: Dreadfully Ever After by Steve Hockensmith

Win Breathless Contest!

Book Blogger Hop

Review: Trapped by Michael Northrop

Top Ten Tuesday

Review: Timeless by Alexandra Monir

In My Mailbox

Smiling Indians and an apology for my absentee ways

Review: Outside In by Maria V. Snyder

My Ramblings on Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris NO SPOILERS