Please Comment If You Read This

I am debating whether or not to keep this blog going.  It doesn't seem to have warranted very much interest and it's pretty time-consuming.  I like having a place to chronicle my books, but it might just be easier for me to write them down at home like I used to.

So, if you read this blog and want it saved you better comment!

September Book #5

Book: Page After Page: Discover the Confidence and Passion You Need to Start Writing and Keep Writing (No Matter What) by Heather Sellers
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: Yes

This is a book I got from the library, but I would definitely buy it (and probably will if I ever see it when I'm shopping).  It's filled to the brim with good advice for writers of any level.  Even if you're a pro it's full of lots of great, refreshing advice and anecdotes.

There are also prompts at the end of every chapter.  I don't know how good they are because I never do prompts in writing books.  I don't like most of them.  I should probably try them sometime, but I didn't do it for this book so I can't speak for that part of it.

Sellers has a great voice and a good ability to relate to the beginning writer.  If you're a writer, or thinking about writing, this is a good book to read.

September Book #4

Book: Possession by A.S. Byatt
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

Watch the movie instead, it takes out all the boring parts.

September Book #3

Book: Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper by SARK
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes

If you're looking for a breakthrough writing book that will change your world this is not the one you want to read.  On the other hand, if you're looking for a creatively done book that will spark your own creativity you want this one!

This book is unlike anything you've ever seen before.  It's colorful, bright, and makes you want to go buy a new pack of Crayola markers.  Even if you don't want to read this book, I would suggest looking at it just for the ideas it will give you of how to format your own writing journal.

Happy reading!

September Book #2

Book: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

September Book #1

Book: Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: Yes, with reservations

Let me start by saying that the first half of this book was a total snooze-fest.  If I hadn't read the first book, and already bought the third book, I would have put it down.  She re-iterates all this stuff that happens in the first book, but it's lost all it's punch and emotional power because she's just TELLING us about it.  And the lead character, Katniss, is a total bawl-baby-titty-mouse.

But after the first 100 pages or so it gets good.  And I'm glad I read it, but I only recommend reading it if you're invested in the trilogy.  If you're on the fence I would say skip it and find something better written.

August Book #6

Book: Have a New Kid by Friday: How to Change Your Child's Attitude, Behavior and Character in 5 Days by Kevin Leman
Age-range: Any parent
Recommended: Yes

My beautiful baby boy is a big brat sometimes.  He's 2, which is not a good excuse for acting like a crazy.  I was at my wit's end, was contemplating selling Dutch to the Russians, when my mom sent me a couple of books.  This was one of them.

I can't recommend this highly enough.  While his "fool-proof" advice doesn't always work on my precocious boy, it has vastly improved my parenting and, therefore, my relationship with him.  It also has a handy-dandy section where you can look up the problem you're having and Dr. Leman will address it.

So, if you're having trouble with your kid this is a great book to help you!

August Book #5

Book: Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes

I'm not big on werewolf books, but this was an exception.  It's not so much about werewolves, in my mind, as it is a great story of a first love.  Ms. Steifvater does an amazing job of remaining true to the emotions a teenager feels as they fall in love for the first time.  There are a lot of great moments and good descriptions.  I got really swept up in the emotions.

The story is written from two perspectives: Sam's and Grace's.  I prefer Sam's voice over Grace's, but mostly because I think Grace is boring and a little dumb.  But that might just be me.  I couldn't really relate to her at all, but I found a lot of common ground with Sam.  Anyway, it was a good book, whether you like werewolves or not.

August Book #4

Book: The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes

This is the second book by Ms. Allen that I've read.  I loved her last book Garden Spells and I love this book too.  Her writing style is beautiful and she tells such intriguing, magical stories.

I won't say too much about this book because there are secrets within secrets.  One thing I will say, however, is it will make you crave some candy!

August Book #3

Book: Except the Queen by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

August Book #2

Book: Modern Library Writer's Workshop by Stephen Koch
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: Yes

While this book was, at times, dense and hard to muddle through it was also incredibly insightful and full to the brim of useful things for a writer to know.  I've found that I prefer books that don't order me to do certain activities, but instead tell me about what other people have done and maybe try it if I like.

There were a lot of quotes, and Koch referenced a lot of writers both classic and modern.  The scope was far-reaching and it would be beneficial to any type of writer from fiction to non-fiction, from poetry to memoir.

So, if you're a writer who is looking for your next book, this one's a good one!

August Book #1

Book: The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

Kindle

The other day my husband joked that I should get a Kindle now that they're so much cheaper.  He was joking because I've always been indifferent to e-readers.

But now I'm beginning to think I might like one.

What are the pros and cons? (Yes, I really want your opinion.)

July Book Review #13

Book: This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Mosley
Age-range: 10 and up
Recommended: Yes

I recommend this book with one small caveat: only read it if this is the absolute first book you've ever read on writing.  It won't help you much otherwise.

If you've ever wondered if writing is for you; if you have a burning desire to write; if you need a little motivation to begin your first novel; then this is the book you should read.  It's short and to the point.  You could easily finish it in one sitting.  Because of that I recommend you check it out from the library and not pay the hefty price tag.  Just my opinion, of course.

July Book Review #12

Book: Sirena by Donna Jo Napoli
Age-range: 10 and up
Recommended: No

I've decided not to write posts on the books I don't recommend.  I don't feel comfortable bashing them or trying to praise them while explaining why I don't think you should read them.  So, if you need reasons then please post in the comments and I will take the time to explain.  Otherwise, just leave it at the fact I don't recommend it.

July Book Review #11

Book: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

This is a novel about three different people and their lives.  The three different story-lines are separate, yet intertwined.  I don't recommend this book because of the three story-lines I only really loved one.

If you're going to read a book by Barbara Kingsolver, you should read a different one.  In my opinion.  Not to say nobody I know would like it, just that no one who reads this blog would.

July Book Review #10

Book: Beastly by Alex Flinn
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: Yes

This is a book that's been on my radar for a long time, but I never took the time to read before now.  It's also my first foray with this particular writer of fairy tales.  I have to admit I was very happy with both the book and the author.  I also have to admit that I checked this book out from the library because I was intrigued by the trailer for the movie that's supposed to come out at the end of this month.  Lame, I know, but that's sometimes how it happens.

This is a modern telling of "Beauty and the Beast" with all of the tropes you've come to expect from that particular story.  With some twists, of course.  Most of the twists are predictable, however, and the story feels more like returning to an old friend than going on a new adventure, but it was written beautifully.  So beautifully that I cried at the end.

If that doesn't convince you to read it, I don't know what will.

July Book Review #9

Book: Writing and Selling Your Novel by Jack M. Bickham
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: Yes

I don't really care for writing books that give you assignments to complete.  For the most part I ignore them and move on.  Every once in a while, if one sounds particularly compelling and I haven't done it before, I will do them.

There were a lot of assignments in this book.  I didn't do any of them.

That aside, it was an interesting, if somewhat dated, book that inspired me in a few ways that helped me move along with the story I've been working on.

July Book Review #8

Book: Ice by Sarah Beth Durst
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes

This book is based on the fairy tale "East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon."  If that fairy tale doesn't sound familiar than you obviously haven't been reading fairy tales in the last 5 or 10 years.  There are at least half a dozen versions of this tale that I can think of off the top of my head.  While Ms. Durst's is not the most original, it does stick surprisingly close to the tale while still being able to update it to modern times.  Not an easy feat.

If, however, you've read the fairy tale this book is based on then you won't be in for very many surprises.  There are some, of course, but if you know the basic premise you'll be able to see the ending coming from chapters away.

There were sometimes tedious moments when the book seemed to crawl to a stop (like when the protagonist is trapped in the tree man's house; SO boring), but for the most part it moves quickly.  It's a nice fast read and was especially refreshing to me because it's all about the cold of the great white north and I was melting in the heat.

July Book Review #7

Book: The Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

I have no idea why I even bothered to finish this book.  I just kept waiting for the plot.  There was none that I could discern.  The character ended being the exact same person he had been at the beginning.

Although, it did reinforce a lot of writing information I've received.  Always have a likable protagonist; have a "problem" the story has to solve; take your character on a journey so they are transformed into a different person by the end of the book.  This book did none of these things.

Also, the title was completely misleading and had absolutely nothing to do with the story!

July Book Review #6

Book: The Unhandsome Prince by John Moore
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes

This was a charming fairy tale (and written by a man, not many of those).  It combined so many different stories, The Frog Prince, Rapunzel, Rumpelstiltskin, and maybe others that I can't think of right now.  It's the story of Prince Hal, an unhandsome prince who is rescued from being a frog by a beautiful girl named Caroline.  Caroline, however, is not super-excited about marrying a prince who isn't handsome and won't actually inherit the throne.  Emily, who's mother cast the frog spell, is now responsible for making her mother's promises come true.

That's just the very beginning premise.  As time moves on and events happen, more characters are introduced and a larger story comes in.  It's fairly predictable, but funny and fast-paced.  I will definitely look for his other books the next time I go to the library.

July Book Review #5

Book: Writing Great Books for Young Adults by Regina Brooks
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

I think this would have done better as a series of articles instead of a full-blown book.  Each book was padded with repetition and got a bit tedious at times.

There were some very good gems of information, but nothing you couldn't find in a more interesting way in other books on YA writing.

July Book Review #4

Book: Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: Yes

You know the movie "Practical Magic" and how it was really good?  Well, did you ever try to read the book?  I did, but I never finished it.  That should tell you something.

Garden Spells is everything I hoped the book Practical Magic would be.  It's about two sisters who have certain talents (the author never uses the words magic or witchcraft).  One is wild and the other is stuck in her ways at home and afraid of love.

This book is beautifully written and incredibly intriguing.  I loved the fact that every family in the small town had certain things they were known for.  It was an exaggerated example of real-life small towns.

In short, I loved this book and if you have an interest in fantastic-realistic fiction then this is a book for you.  (I really think you'd like it, Hayden.)

July Book Review #3

Book: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Age-range: 16 and up
As good as the first time?: Yes
Recommended: Yes

If you were to ask a group of writers what the best book ever written on writing is I can guarantee this book would make the top five.  It's excellent and amazing.  I decided to read it again because almost all of the books on writing I've read recently mentioned Bird by Bird as a necessary book for writers to read.

I gleaned so much great information from reading this a second time.  The first time I read it I was just beginning as a writer.  I was finally beginning to take my writing seriously.  This time I've been writing for a few years now and feel that I have a pretty good sense of what kind of writer I am.

Anne Lamott uses humor, anecdotes, some profanity, and a lot of personal experience to to share everything she knows about writing (or did when she wrote the book).  It's not your typical book on writing, but sometimes that's exactly what you need.

July Book Review #2

Book: Owl in Love by Patrice Kindl
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: No

This was a book that I enjoyed... once I got into it.  It took me quite a while to really grasp the story, and the character felt so distant through the entire book.  It was Ms. Kindl's first book, so it's understandable that some things would not be as perfect as they were in Goose Chase (see the previous post).

This is a book about a girl named Owl who is half-human, half-owl.  She can change at will between the two species.  The creepy part about this book is that she's in love with her science teacher and the way she talked about him gave me the heebie jeebies.  Luckily, before the book is over, she's over him and in love with someone more suitable.

Like I said, this wasn't a bad book, it's just not one that you'd miss anything if you didn't read it.

July Book Review #1

Book: Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl
Age-range: 5 and up
Recommended: Yes

SO CUTE!  That is the way I would describe this book, no doubt.  It's sort of a fractured fairy tale in the sense that it has a lot of fairy tale elements without blatantly being about any particular tale.  I definitely think all my nieces would love this story.

Firstly, the writing style is so cute.  It's very fairy-tale-ish without being obnoxious or overbearing.  The voice is very distinct, however, and you absolutely hear her personality in every line.

Secondly, the storyline is original and not super predictable.  There were a lot of times when I was surprised by what happened, which is always nice.  This book was so well-written it actually helped me overcome my writer's block!

Lastly, it's the perfect story for any boy or girl who likes fairy tales.  You can even make it a game where you identify different things from different stories (being trapped in a tower, a goose girl, magical hair, etc.).

In short, it's a super-cute, super-quick read and you should run out to your local library and get it.  Right now.

The Amount of Books I Start Compared to the Amount of Books I Read

Just about every week I check out 5 books from the library.  I start all of them, but of the five I generally am only able to finish 2 or 3.  I am a lot pickier than I used to be about what I read.  If, at any point, I begin to wonder why I'm bothering to read it, I'll put the book down.  So keep that in mind when it doesn't seem like I'm reading a whole lot of books.  I'm READING a lot, but only FINISHING a few.  And, of course, I only review the ones I finish.

June Book Review #6

Book: Write: 10 Days to Overcome Writer's Block. Period. by Karen E. Peterson, Ph.D.
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

I've had writer's block for a few months now and I've been reading a lot of writing books to try to get rid of it.  This one seemed like a no-brainer when I saw it in the bookstore.  It was a very well-written, well-organized book, but it was much too clinical and filled with too much textbook speak for my taste.

The author is a clinical psychologist, so she brings a lot of her experiences doing that into her writing.  The crux of this book is her view that the right brain and the left brain don't communicate very well.  So to get any writing done you have to trick both sides of your brain into letting you do it.  There were quite a few "quizzes" where you were supposed to write with your dominant hand and then your non-dominant hand and the different results would astound you.

Both sides of my brain seem to get along just fine, which made this book sort of obsolete.  I did glean a few good tidbits, however, and I'm sure they will help me along the way.

June Book Review #5

Book: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: Yes, but with reservations

I keep my to-be-read books in red Moleskine notebooks.  I'm just starting my third one.  So when someone recommends a book to me I write it down, but it make take weeks, months, even years before I get to it.  Such is the case with Water for Elephants.  This book came out in 2006 and I had a friend recommend it to me that year.  So it took me a while to get to it.

The setting is a Depression-era circus troupe.  And it's fascinating.  Each chapter begins with an actual picture from a circus in the era.  It's sort of a hard book to explain, but I'll try.  Jacob runs away from his final exams at Cornell University where he has been attending veterinary school.  I won't tell you why.  He ends up on a circus train where this old man named Camel takes him in.  Through a series of events he ends up being the shows veterinarian, even though he doesn't technically have his degree.

There are amazing details, gorgeous writing, and an intriguing story-line.  I found the book so interesting that I stayed up late and woke up early just to finish it.  My only reservation in recommending it to other people is there are a few sexually charged scenes and events that might not be something that some of you want to read.  For the most part I thought they were a little unnecessary, but that's just me.  I was also annoyed at the somewhat perfunctory way a key plot point was taken care of, but I've only realized that as I was writing this.

In short, if you have an interest in the circus, the Depression, or in Jacob's story from the Bible and don't mind a little sex in your story, this book is for you!

June Book Review #4

Book: Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World by Jane Yolen
Age-range: 5 and up
Recommended: Yes

This interesting and succinct book is beautifully illustrated with information on famous female pirates.  Jane Yolen only chose the ones about who the most is known.  In every country and time-period where pirating was prevalent there have been female pirates.  I've never cared much for books about pirates, but this was so intriguing, I had to read it.  You know me, I'm a sucker for strong women in books.

Even though it's about women I think this would still be a good book for a boy.  If the kid in your life (or an adult) likes pirates then this book is an excellent quick read.

June Book Review #3

Book: A Dab of Dickens and A Touch of Twain by Elliot Engel
Age-range: If you're old enough to read the authors in the book you're old enough to read the book
As good as the first time?: Yes
Recommended: Yes

This book is divided into authors.  One chapter for each author.  It's full of the little details of their lives that people like me find fascinating.  Even authors I don't care for (stupid Hemingway) are still interesting to read about.

The authors included (in order) are: Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Edgar Allan Poe, Charlotte Bronte and Emily Bronte, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, Charles Dickens, George Eliot, Emily Dickinson, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, Thomas Hardy, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, D.H. Lawrence, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and Robert Frost.

Quite the collection, right?  If you even have a passing interest in any of the above-mentioned authors READ THIS BOOK!  It's fascinating, I promise.

June Book Review #2

Book: The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes

As a writer of young adult fiction it's an enormous travesty that I have never read this book before.  My friend told me this book was one of the reasons he became an author and I couldn't put off reading it anymore.  I read it and I loved it.

It's sad, so terribly sad, but so beautiful and poignant and... you just have to read it.  It's the first book of it's kind and what makes it even more amazing to me is that it's written by a woman.  The cast of characters is almost exclusively male, but she writes them so realistically.  It's a definite must-read.

June Book Review #1

Book: The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner by Stephenie Meyer
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: No

This novella is available online for free right now.  I had just gotten some bad news and couldn't sleep, but didn't have anything to read.  So I read it.

Stephenie Meyer has definitely improved as a writer.  There are some really beautiful passages, but it ultimately did nothing for me.  I don't feel that it's a must-read, unless you're a die-hard Twilight fan.

May Book Review #10

Book: Golden by Cameron Dokey
Age-range: 8 and up
Recommended: Yes

Rapunzel has no hair.  No, that's not the punchline to a joke, it's the truth.  In Cameron Dokey's Golden, anyway.  When Rapunzel is born with no hair her mother gives her away to the sorceress next door.  The book tells the story of their life together.

Don't worry, there's still a tower, still a rope of hair to climb, still a visiting prince.  But this is a G-rated version of the tale.  There's no rape, no blindness, no bearing twins in the desert.

I am sometimes critical of the books in the Once Upon a Time series for ending too abruptly.  This book was well-done and ended perfectly.  With a happily ever after, of course.

May Book Review #9

Book: The Virginia Woolf Writer's Workshop: Seven Lessons to Inspire Great Writing by Danell Jones
Age-range: 13 and up
As good as the first time?: Yes
Recommended: Yes

I first read this book a couple of years ago and instantly wanted to buy it.  Here I am, reading it for the second time as a library book.  This is a book that condenses all of the advice Virginia Woolf offered in her amazing career (cut short by her suicide).  The set-up of the book can be a bit distracting at first, but once you get used to it you can breeze right through.  The advice, writing prompts, and "sparks" at the end are great, inspiring, and fun.  Most people think of Virginia Woolf as depressed and depressing when in fact she had a wry sense of humor that's apparent in almost everything she wrote.  This book has a lot of humor, but really kicked me in the butt to get working.

If you're a writer, or a fan of Ms. Woolf, go and get this book.

May Book Review #8

Book: Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life by Natalie Goldberg
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Not really

This was an interesting book on writing.  There was a lot in it that I hadn't thought of before.  Unfortunately it was all overshadowed by the author's new-age crap that she slathered each page with.  If you're going to read a book by Ms. Goldberg, I would suggest Writing Down the Bones.  That one is much more worth it.

May Book Review #7

Book: A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
Age-range: 14 and up
Recommended: No

This is one of those books that a friend recommended to me ages ago, but that I just got around to reading.  It was not that great.  I think it's because I don't really care for the Victorian period.  And I'm always irritated when a historically set novel gives the protagonist modern ideals.  It's ridiculous.

About halfway through the book I was going to put it down, but felt like I had invested so much time I might as well finish it.  Now I wish I hadn't wasted my time.  I'm not saying it's a bad book.  It might be somebody's favorite book, and that's great.  I just didn't care for it at all.

Keeping Your To-Be-Read Books Organized

Every once in a while I have a genius idea.  This is one I decided to share with you.

Do you have trouble keeping the books you want to read in a coherent list?  Are you tired of hundreds of scraps of papers with titles scrawled on them?  Look no further than the stationary section of your local store!  All you have to do is buy an address book.  Instead of names and addresses you'll put in authors and titles.  Voila!  Your books are now organized in an easy to find way.  The best part?  You can find any shape, size, style or price-range for your address book book!

Let me know if you try it and how you like it.

May Book Review #6

Book: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes

This is a book that hordes of my writer friends have recommended to me, but I never really had much interest in it.  Yesterday I was going through the books on my (crappy) library's YA bookshelf alphabetically to find books I wanted to read.

My friend Hayden doesn't read the back of books.  She wants to know as little about a book as possible when she reads it.  I admire this.  I have never been able to do it.  With this book I had a vague notion of what it was about, but I decided not to look any further, not to read the inside flap or the back cover or online reviews or anything.  I just read it.  And it was an amazing experience.

This isn't really the type of book you can gush about.  It's so tragic what the main character goes through, which you don't know the full story of until 3/4 of the way through.  You guess, you conjecture, you think you know, but when the truth comes out it's shocking and sad.

I realize that this is a commonly banned book, but I don't believe in censorship.  One of my hero's and favorite authors Shannon Hale has a great recent blog post about it here.  This is a book about difficult things to discuss, but they are things that SHOULD be discussed with your child at some point.

So read the book.  And talk to your kids about it (when they hit the right age).

May Book Review #5

Book: Outwitting Writer's Block: and Other Problems of the Pen by Jenna Glatzer
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes

Last week I checked out 4 books on writing from the library.  I only finished 2.  The other two were not helpful, even one that I had read before and thought was amazing was suddenly very disappointing.  It's funny how we change and outgrow certain things.

I have been cursed with a very bad case of writer's block.  This book was immensely helpful.  It had amazing ideas, prompts, and lots of helpful advice.  I am taking a lot of it to heart and I hope I will be back to writing again soon.  This is definitely a book I want on my writing bookshelf.

If you're a writer, with or without writer's block, this book is AMAZING!

May Book Review #4

Book: The Folk Keeper by Franny Billingsley
Age-range: 8 and up
Recommended: Yes

I knew nothing about this book when I checked it out from the library yesterday afternoon.  All I knew was that somewhere along the way I had written it down on my to-be-read list.  So I picked it up.  It's an amazingly fast read with a full story.  It also reminds me of some folktale or fairy tale I've read before, but I can't place the actual name of it.  If, after reading this book, you know what it is then please put my mind to rest and tell me.

Corinna is a Folk Keeper, a responsibility that requires her to keep all the "Folk" (who seem to me to be close to demons or malicious sprites, or something) who live in a certain area happy.  She does an extremely good job and the book is her journal of what happens on certain days.  I will be the first to admit that diary- or letter-formatted books usually irritate me, but this one is very well done.  Corinna documents her move from a house to a large island where the Folk are more malicious and evil than any she's come across before.

It has everything: a mysterious former lady of the house, a sweet red-headed sailor, a calculating and cruel man who is not set to inherit, Sealmaidens, storms, death, and, most importantly, love.

The story is interesting and moves quickly from beginning to end.  It's definitely something I would recommend to anyone with the slightest interest in folk or fairy tales.

May Book Review #3

Book: The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan
Age-range: 14 and up
Recommended: No

You know that one M. Night Shaloogie movie "The Village"?  Well I sort of like that movie, except the whole stupid twist in the plot that was only put in there to be shocking.  I actually wanted there to be monsters in the forest.  So when I saw this book I fully expected it to give me everything that M. Night had not.

I was disappointed.

Anyone who knows me knows I am a sucker for happy endings, but sometimes they just aren't feasible with a story.  But no matter whether the ending is happy or sad it should be satisfying.  I was completely dissatisfied with this ending, and the whole second half of the book, to be honest.  Her writing was beautiful, but books about zombies just aren't for me.

May Book Review #2

Book: For Writers Only by Sophy Burnham
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes, but not whole-heartedly

If you follow my blog on writing you will know that I've been blocked for the last month or more.  In an effort to recapture my muse I have been reading a lot more books on writing.  This one was both very helpful and very unhelpful, depending on the chapter.

You should read this book if: you are looking for some great quotes by writers about writing; you are looking for a writer's personal experience with various things regarding writing; you are an alcoholic writer.

You should not read this book if: you are looking for practical advice to overcome writer's block; you are hoping for the secret to writing the next great American novel; you don't enjoy reading sappy personal stories.

May Book Review #1

Book: What the Dormouse Said: Lessons for Grown-Ups From Children's Books collected by Amy Gash
Age-range: 0 and up
Recommended: No

This was a book I saw at my husband's grandmother's house.  I was instantly intrigued.  Unfortunately, it did not meet my expectations.  Too many of the quotes only made sense in the context of the actual book and if you hadn't read the book you were up a creek.

So instead of reading this book, I would suggest you start collecting your own words of wisdom as you read with your children.  When you read a children's book looking for adult advice, I promise you'll find it.

April Book Review #6

Book: The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: Yes
As good as the first time?: Yes

Although this book is almost 15 years old, I didn't discover it until last year or the year before.  Surprisingly, our tiny little library in Pennsylvania had a copy and I read it, not really knowing what to expect.  This book is full of things that I love: fairy tales, mythology, the desert, writers, romance.  I have wanted to re-read this book for a while, but that proved more difficult than I expected once I moved back to Utah.  No bookstores within a 50 mile radius had it in stock and the one copy in the entire county was missing in action.

I finally found it yesterday (was it really only yesterday?) at a different library in a different library system.  So I started to read it again.  Through the Prologue and Chapter One I was confused at why I had liked it.  This wasn't the book I remembered it being.  Chapter Two made me even more wary and I was about to give up, but just couldn't do it.  Finally, there in Chapter Three I began to remember why I loved it.  I stayed up late, I woke up early, and I finished it in less than 24 hours.

This is a book difficult to describe.  The tag-line on the front reads, "An extraordinary tale of wild desert magic."  But that doesn't really get to the heart of it.  This isn't some wild fantasy, it's a remarkable book because of the very believability of it!  By the end you begin to wonder if you went out the desert you might find the characters populating this book.  You begin to believe.

So read this book.  Walk the spiral path.  I dare you.

April Book Review #5

Book: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Age-range: 13 and up (although it's not a book I would ever recommend to someone not already out of high school)
Recommended: Yes
As good as the first time?: Yes, but different

I will willingly admit that I read Twilight before there was a Twilight craze.  I read it before New Moon came out.  I read it before it came out in paperback, even.  I am responsible for at least 100 (not even kidding) people reading this book.  Once upon a time I loved it, was completely Team Edward (before there was a Team Jacob), and was vaguely embarrassed that I read and enjoyed a book about, of all things, vampires.

Then everything exploded.  That idiotic movie came out with Robert Pattinson playing Edward and suddenly I wondered if I had ever really liked Twilight at all.  Surely I was not one of THOSE fans.  And so many of my peers who wrote were bashing on Stephenie Meyer and her writing ability.  I kept my now-floundering opinions to myself, but I stopped recommending the book, and didn't touch it again.

Until this last week.

I had to see why I had loved the book so much that I had recommended it to so many people.  I had to remember why I had gushed and begged my sisters to read it.  I had to remember why I had loved getting a Team Edward shirt from one of my sisters for Christmas.  What was all the fuss about?  Surely it hadn't really been that good.  I must have just been in a reading dry spell to latch on to this book so much.

So I read it again.

And I loved it again.  The first time I read it as a reader.  This time I read it as a writer.  And while I'm the first to admit that there's at least 20 pages toward the beginning that could be deleted without any harm to the story, I still felt like it was an amazing book for a first-time author.  I fell in love with the characters again.  The Edward in my head was my original imaginary Edward and not that awfully-make-upped Robert Pattinson.  I had forgotten certain parts and enjoyed discovering them again, as if it were the first time.  I even became slightly obsessed again, staying up early into the morning to read the partial copy of Midnight Sun on Stephenie Meyer's website.  It's Twilight from Edward's point of view, and I actually prefer his voice to Bella's in some ways.  I hope she'll finish the book because I would definitely buy it.

Now this does not mean that I encourage or condone the reading of any other books in the series.  I have read them all and decided (back before the explosion) that I preferred the story as it is contained in the first book.  I have no use for half-human/half-vampire babies, werewolves, or any other thing mentioned in the other books.  (Although, to be fair, I was fairly suicidal when I read New Moon, so that could have influenced my reading of that book.)

In conclusion, you should read Twilight if you haven't.  Just ignore the hype.  And never, under any circumstances watch the movie.  You can, however, watch the New Moon movie.  But don't read the book.  That is all.

April Book Review #4

Book: The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver
Age-range: 13 and up
Recommended: Yes
As good as the first time?: Yes

I don't remember when I first read this book, but it's stuck with me.  It's over 20 years old, but it still reads like it could be today (aside from a few pop-culture references from the 80s).  It's an amazing story about family and what constitutes a family, about illegal immigrants and about abuse.  When you take most of the subject matter individually it sounds depressing, but it really isn't.

The book is about a southern girl, and the voice is perfect.  In the first chapter it's a very thick accent, but it fades as the book goes on so it never gets irritating or overbearing.  She moves from Kentucky across the country to Arizona, with a stop-off in Oklahoma on the way.  While she's in Oklahoma she acquires a baby girl.  In Arizona she meets a lot of colorful, wonderful people.

This book is sort of hard to explain, but it's beautiful and amazing and it makes you see things a little differently.  A definite must-read.

What I Learned About Myself

I don't do well with assigned reading.  Even if I assign it to myself.

I've had a hard time getting motivated to read my books this month.  Sadly, I think this will be the first, last, and only themed month on The Bookish Blonde.

April Review #3

Book: The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
Age-range: 0 and up
Recommended: Yes
As good as the first time?: Yes

This is one of the most beautiful original fairy tales I've ever read.  It tells the story of a mouse named Despereaux, a rat named Roscuro, a princess named Pea, and a nearly-deaf girl named Miggery Sow.  The story is told in 4 books.

I hope that you'll indulge me as I tell you how I chanced upon this beautiful book.  It was six or seven years ago and I was on-campus.  My class had been cancelled and it was 2 hours until my next one.  Too much time to do nothing, not enough time to be worth going home.  So I walked down to the bookstore.  After perusing the stacks there, on the sale table, was a little maroon book with a pencil-drawing of a mouse on the cover.  I bought it without looking much past that.  I went and sat by some big bay windows in a comfy chair and read.  And read.  And read.  I missed my class, finished the book, and fell in love with that little big-eared mouse.

Now I know that the writing style is not to the liking of some people, but it lends itself beautifully to being read aloud.  So find someone to read it to, or barring that, find yourself a quiet corner and whisper the words to yourself.  Stories, as the book says, are light.

Go shine some light.

April Book Review #2

Book: Fly By Night by Frances Hardinge
Age-range: 10 and up
Recommended: Yes
As good as the first time?: Yes, maybe even better

This book is not what it is advertised to be.  I remember buying this book because of the big sticker across the front that read: Imagine a world in which all books have been BANNED!  The trouble is,  not all books have been banned in the story.  And the fact that some books are banned makes up about .01% of the story.  So when you read the jacket copy and see the cover, just know that it's not an accurate portrayal of what the book is about.

Mosca Mye is our protagonist, a 12-year-old orphan with dark eyes and a "ferrety-look" about her.  The book begins with a long and boring first chapter that goes into way too many details about things that don't matter, so just hang on until you get passed it.  Mosca takes up with a sweet-talking con man named Eponymous Clent (aren't the names fabulous?) and rescues him from the clink.  And I can't forget Mosca's goose Saracen who plays an important part throughout the story.

The story is complex and hard to explain in a few lines, so I'm not going to even try.  I will tell you that (other than the first chapter) the book is amazingly well-written with fascinating names and creative world-building, though the setting is based on 18th-century London.

I'm pretty sure my favorite part of the book is the way Mosca talks.  She loves words, collects them even, but the way she speaks belies the fact that she's so well-educated.  Here's the first line she speaks where we really get to hear her voice:

"He's a mangy old nook-gazin' spy. 'S got papers, signed by the Stationers - I seen 'em."

Can't you just hear her voice?  My only beef is that you don't really get to hear her voice until almost 100 pages into the story, so you're thinking she's one thing when she's really another, but now you'll have the advantage of knowing what Mosca truly sounds like.

So go read it already!  I know my description is not the best, but trust me - you'll like it.

The Bookmark Conundrum

I don't have an e-reader of any sort.  I still read books the old-fashioned way.  When I read I usually don't bother marking my place; I can almost always remember exactly where I left off.  Lately, however, this has not been the case.

So I am searching for a way to mark my place.  I don't want to spend $5 on a bookmark I will probably lose anyway (why not just mark your book with a $5 bill?) and I don't like the ones that grip the page by magnet or other means because they rip the pages when I pull them off.  My biggest problem is that I need a place to put the place marker while I'm reading - someplace I won't lose it.  I've been marking my current book with a bobby pin and then sticking it in my hair when I read.  Unfortunately, my son caught onto this and now steals the bobby pin out of my book.

Any ideas for a bookmark for me?

April Book Review #1

Book: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie
Age-range: 0 and up
Recommended: Yes
As good as the first time?: Not quite

The first book I chose to re-read this month is Haroun and the Sea of Stories, a book that I have recommended and bought for countless people.  (Side note: I just read that he's coming out with a second book in the series!  Squee!)  I read it again to make sure I still liked it.  I did.

I will happily admit it was slightly less magical on the second reading, however.  Because I knew the twists and turns and surprises it was harder to suspend my belief and I got impatient for certain parts.  But it was still as good as it was the first time.

Haroun's father Rashid is the Ocean of Notions, the Shah of Blah, an amazing storyteller who, one day, loses his Gift of Gab.  Haroun then goes on a quest to get it back for his father and meets a number of funny people, including those with the unlikely names of Iff and Butt.

There are a lot of fabulous images, good lines, and an amazing use of the English language.  There's also, at the core, a great moral.  This is a book that can be told to children of any age (if they have the attention span) and even adults will love it.

So go out and read it already!

An Explanation of April's Theme

The official theme for April is "Revisiting Old Friends" and it gives me permission to re-read books I haven't re-read in a while, or ever.  I will not include books I frequently re-read like The Scarlet Pimpernel or Pride and Prejudice.  The books I read this month will only be ones I've been meaning to get back to, just to see if I still love them as much as I used to, SO, in light of the self-imposed rules I've set up I would love to hear some recommendations.  Is there a book I suggested to you that you loved?  Did I give you a book once that I adored and you hated?  Let me know, I will re-read it and share the results.

So suggest away!

Book Review #24

Book: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Age-range: 10 and up (with the help of a dictionary)
Recommended: Yes

This has been on my to-read list since it was published back in 2001.  Until I actually held the book in my hands I hadn't realized it was not a young adult novel.  Interesting.  I also love that Mark Dunn is a playwright and this was his first novel.  Also, I usually hate books written in letters and journal entries because, by their very nature, there's more telling than showing, and it drives me bonkers.  This, for some reason, did not.  This book is all about language.  There are a lot of big words in here that I had to look up, but that was part of the fun I had with it.

In the fictional island of Nollop, off the coast of South Carolina, there is a problem.  The island was founded by Nevin Nollip, author of the famous line. "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog."  This sentence uses all the letters of the alphabet with minimal repetition of letters.  The problem in Nollop is that the letters of the shrine are falling down, and the council bans each letter as it falls!  First goes the z, which doesn't seem so bad at first, but as the letters are limited one by one life gets harder and harder.

This book is supposedly a commentary on censorship and totalitarianism, but I read it a little differently.  In our lives if we justify one act, it's so much easier to justify the next, and the next, and the next, until we are someone who lacks character and integrity.  Although I do agree it makes you wonder about each limitation enforced and what will happen if you give an inch, so to speak.

All in all this is an amazing book full of beautiful words and I would highly recommend it to anyone who has a love of language!

Book Review #23

Book: Belle by Cameron Dokey
Age-range: 8 and up
Recommended: Yes

Yet another book in the Once Upon a Time series, this time a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast.  This book was VERY similar to another Beauty and the Beast re-telling I've read, but I can't remember what one it was.  My chief complaint of the story is there is not enough time spent with the Beast.  You don't even meet him until three-fourths through the book and that's just not right.  There is also a complete lack of roses in the main story and that was disappointing too.  But other than that...

This was the story of a youngest daughter named Belle with two older sisters who are beautiful with a capital B.  Her father is a merchant and he loves her best.  One interesting thing about this story is the fact that Belle carves wood.  I've never seen a female fairy tale protagonist who carved wood before, but I liked it.  Anyway, Belle's family moves from the city to the country and her father ends up getting lost in a storm and meets the Beast.  Unlike other stories, he doesn't take anything that doesn't rightfully belong to him, but he still ends up having to make the bargain with the Beast that Belle will come back in his place.

And you know the rest.  But you don't read fairy tale re-tellings for the surprise ending, you read them for a new journey to your favorite destination: happily ever after.

Theme for April

April's theme, here on The Bookish Blonde, will be Revisiting Old Friends.  During April I will be re-reading books I haven't read for a long time.  These will be books I have purported to be my favorites.  Some of my "favorite" books I haven't read in years.  I guess will see if they've stood the test of time or if I've changed too much.

Stay tuned!

Book Review #22

Book: Winter's Child by Cameron Dokey
Age-range: 8 and up
Recommended: Yes

This is a re-telling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale "The Snow Queen."  It isn't one that you see re-written very often.  It was excellent.

I've decided not to go as in-depth with my reviews since I'm pretty sure no one reads them.  But I do want to keep the list going, if only for my own benefit.

Book Review #21

Book: The Song of the Magdalene by Donna Jo Napoli
Age-Range: 13 and up
Recommended: No

It seems Ms. Napoli's books are becoming a hit or miss with me.  This book, while there were parts so beautiful I cried, was ultimately a disappointment.  This is the second book of hers that has featured rape.  This one much more graphic and horrifying than the one in her book Hush.

So, although I loved some of it, I can't recommend this book in good faith.

Book Review #20

Book: Beauty Sleep by Cameron Dokey
Age-range: 8 and up
Recommended: Yes

Yet another book in the Once Upon a Time series.  I think I enjoy reading these because I know I can get through them quickly and they almost always give me good story ideas as I'm reading (not directly related to the book, but inspiration for the stories I'm working on).  I was able to finish this one in a matter of hours as I was flying to Pittsburgh today.

If you couldn't guess from the title this is a re-telling of Sleeping Beauty.  While there were parts that were incredibly predictable, for the most part it was an amazing take on the tale.  I didn't feel there were loose ends or quick endings, the way there are in other books in this series.

All in all, it was excellent.  Happy reading!

Book Review #19

Book: Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George
Age-range: 10 and up (younger with mama's permission)
Recommended: Yes

This is a re-telling of the tale East o' the Sun, West o' the Moon.  I've read another re-telling of this tale (Edith Patou's East), but this was much better.

This is the story of a youngest daughter who's picked on (I can completely relate).  She's so unloved that she's never even given a name!  The person who loves her most in the world is her brother Hans Peter, who is haunted by an event in his past that he won't talk about.

It's well-written, beautiful prose, and if the characters are not as fleshed out as I would have liked, I didn't notice until the book was finished.  So, if you get the chance, and want something that will only take a day or two to read, pick this one up.

That Overwhelmed Feeling

I keep a list of books I would like to read.  These are books suggested to me, books I've heard of and found interesting, books that concern the genre I write in, or are writing books in general.  I have almost filled 2 red Moleskine notebooks worth of books.

The other day, after checking 8 books out from the library and crossing them off my list, I got really overwhelmed with how many are still on my list.

There are just too many books.  Even if I stop reading all the crappy ones at page 50 (if I can tell they're crappy by then, read my last book review) I won't be able to get through them all.  And there are more books being written every day, released every month.  I tried to think of solutions to my overwhelmed problem.  I could stop writing down books I want to read, but I that would probably stress me out more.  I could nothing else but read, but I'm not sure how my husband or baby would feel about that.

Do you have a solution to my problem?

Book Review #18

Book: Shanghai Girls by Lisa See
Age-range: 16 and up
Recommended: No

I love National Public Radio (NPR).  In Pittsburgh the radio stations are so random, they all play anything.  There's no oldies station or rock station, they will all play whatever they feel like.  This makes listening to the radio there an irritating experience for me, so I would listen to NPR pretty much all the time.  One thing I love about them is the interviews they do with authors.  I have learned about a lot of really wonderful books on NPRs shows.

Shanghai Girls is not one of them.

Not that it wasn't well-written, because it absolutely was.  Her prose is lyrical, descriptive and beautiful.  So much so that there were times when I would skip whole passages just because I as curious what would happen next.  And, as with any well-written book, she inspired some good writing in me that I probably would not have done otherwise.

I heard an interview with the author, Lisa See, on NPR and I heard why she wrote the book.  Unfortunately, I didn't learn enough about the actual plot to realize it was not a book for me.  It wasn't until three-fourths into the book that I realized it.  By then it was too late and I just finished it.  But I did not enjoy the ending.

Pearl and her sister May are beautiful girls in Shanghai.  Fate intercedes and their lives go from glamorous and fun to absolutely wretched... and then the book ends.  Seriously, it was so depressing to see how far they fell and it wasn't even a justified fall.  I think the author was making a point about the average Chinese person that came to America in the 1940s, but it was not good.  The story is told from Pearl's point of view and she goes from being an interesting, lovable character to being a superstitious, somewhat crazy (if you ask me) woman who's terrified of everything.  And NOTHING good happens to her.

So skip this book, but do look more into the history of beautiful girls in Shanghai in the 1930s.  Fascinating!

Book Review #17

Book: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Age-range: 12 and up
Recommended: Yes!

So many people I love have read this book and recommended it to me.  I had been planning on reading it for a long time, but there was always something else on my list ahead of it.  Anyway, I finally did it and I loved it!  The premise is not something I would have been interested in, but this book does well with it.

This is a science fiction book for people who don't care for science fiction (kind of like Nancy Farmer's House of the Scorpion).  It's set in a dystopic future where children from ages 12 to 18 are randomly selected to compete to the death - all televised.  See, it doesn't sound too great, does it?  Well it is!

I don't want to share too much because I don't want to ruin the surprise of the story.  Anyway, go out and read it right now!

Book Review #16

Book: If You Want to Write by Brenda Ueland
Age-range: 15 and up
Recommended: Yes

This book is excellent.  It changed the way I write, not only that, it changed the way I read.  That is one of the reasons I am no longer going to rate books.  Instead I'm going to say whether I would recommend the book or not. That seems more fair and more accurate, so there you have it.

There were whole sections of this book that were so thick I had to sludge my way through them, but it's surprisingly pertinent for a book written in the 1930s.  She's honest and doesn't shy away from applying religion to her writing, the way most writers would be now.  For instance, she believes that inspiration is the Holy Ghost, something I've always firmly believed in.

As far as actual suggestions of how to write, there aren't many, but it gives you confidence in your writing ability, which is something every writer needs to have.  You can't write when you're afraid of making it perfect, and this book helps you get over that.

So if you're a writer, or want to be a writer, go to the library and check this book out.  It might give you that boost you need to finish one more book, one more story, one more page.

Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It

If you read this blog you need to post a comment suggesting a book to me.  And if I've read that book you have to suggest a different one (I'll let you know).  I'm willing to try anything once.

Book Review #15

Book: Old Magic by Marianne Curley
Age-range: 14 and up
Rating: 3 out of 10

As a writer I have a natural editor I use when I'm re-reading something I've written.  It helps me catch the mistakes that I'm prone to make.  That, in a nutshell, is why this book was a little difficult for me to get through.  It's Ms. Curley's first novel and it makes a lot of the same rookie mistakes I make.  So the writing is a little sloppy and could do with a good going-over by a talented editor, but since it was published in 2001 it's a little late for that.

The story is unique and interesting, even though it takes a bit to get to the thick of it.  There's too much hemming and hawing by the male protagonist and it's irritating.  I'm also a sucker for a good romance and this was not a good romance.  The elements were all there, the execution was sloppy.

I would say this book is interesting, but there are too many good books out there to waste time on the mediocre.  And this is one of the mediocre.  Still, if Ms. Curley has written anything else I would be interested in reading it.  Most authors, like most cheeses, improve with time.

Book Review #14

Book: Midnight Pearls by Debbe Viguie
Age-range: 8 and up
Rating: 5 out of 10

Yet another book in the Once Upon a Time series.  I kow what you're thinking, "Does she read anything else?"  Not lately, no.  Because I can finish these books in one day during my son's naps it makes for an easy read.  I promsie I'll mix it up a little bit in the future, however.

This particular book is a re-telling of The Little Mermaid.  It's not great.  There was a lot I didn't like about it, especially since the book began by setting up a love story that never came to fruition.  The two main characters were suddenly thrown into other romances that were supposedly their true loves, but I didn't ever feel the connection between the other characters that they'd had with each other.

Once again the ending came too quickly and too easily for me.  I wanted there to be more of a fight, a difficult battle, but Ms. Viguie seems afraid to put her characters in any sort of serious danger.  Something every writer needs to get over if you want to have a book be intriguing.

Anyway, if you want to read a re-telling of The Little Mermaid, this one is not the book for you.

Book Review #13

Book: Water Song by Suzanne Weyn
Age: 10 and up
Rating: 9 out of 10

Yes, I read two Suzanne Weyn books in a row!  This is another book in the Once Upon a Time series (I'm working my way right through them).  This is a re-telling of The Frog Prince.  I was a little skeptical when I saw this was set in Belgium during World War I.  How could she possibly make the frog believable in that modern setting?  Well, ladies and... ladies, she did it beautifully!

Emma is a British rich girl who is literally stuck in Belgium on the front line of the war.  Jack is an American from New Orleans who enlisted in the British army.  He's also the frog prince.  You'll have to read the book to figure out how that works, I'm not telling.  It's very clever though.

There were a lot of good scenes and beautiful moments in this book.  Again, I wish it were longer and a few parts were expanded more, but I think that's a failing on the part of the publisher, not the writers in this series. It's definitely one of my favorite re-tellings of this particular tale.

Book Review #12

Book: Night Dance by Suzanne Weyn
Age-range: 10 and up
Rating: 8 out of 10

This is another book in the Once Upon a Time series.  I've noticed something about this particular series: all the books are short.  I think they must put a page limit or word limit on the three women who write these books.  Because of the shortness of the stories some parts of the stories feel rushed, no matter what book it is.  I think each of the books I read in this series could easily be expanded another 100 pages without being too long.

Anyway, on with the review!  It's no secret that my favorite fairy tales is The Twelve Dancing Princesses.  There are very few re-tellings of this particular tale, so when I find them I usually get excited.  This one combined two of my favorite things: The Twelve Dancing Princess tale and the King Arthur legend.  In the first few chapters I was a little wary of this combination, but the pieces came together nicely.  Again, I wish parts of the story had been expanded.

This seems as good a time as any to plug one of my favorite websites SurLaLune Fairy Tales (surlalunefairytales.com).  It's run by a women as obsessed with fairy tales as me, if not moreso since she doesn't discriminate.  The website has a handy-dandy feature where you can click on your favorite fairy tale and then click on a link that tells you all the modern re-tellings (that Heidi Anne Heiner knows of) about that particular tale! Pretty awesome.  She also has a blog that is really good, but focuses on all things fairy tale, not just books.  There are a lot of books I never would have found without her help and it's nice to have a place where you can read so many tales online.  Anyway, go and see it for yourself!

Book Review #11

Book: The Princess and the Hound by Mette Ivie Harrison
Age: 10 and up (younger with mom's permission)
Rating: 9 out of 10

This is the second book by Ms. Harrison that I've read and I'm excited to read more, including the sequel to this book.  Her writing style is easy to read and enjoyable.  This book is more complex than I can really explain, but let me just say that it's supposedly pegged as a Beauty and the Beast re-telling, but not by the author.  In this case the "beast" is the woman, but I don't feel that is an accurate portrayal of the story in any way.

Prince George has animal magic, as his mother did, as her father did.  (This seems to be similar to Shannon Hale's concept of animal-speaking in her Bayern series.)  Animal magic is feared and those who have it are usually burned, not by the king, but by his subjects.  George's story is sympathetic and often heartbreaking, but enjoyable to read.  I'll be honest, I rarely read stories with a male protaganist or a male point-of-view, but this was excellent.  I absolutely recommend it, although I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Mira, Mirror.

Book Review #10

Book: I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
Ages: 16 and up
Rating: 7 out of 10

This book was good, the concept behind it, the "moral" if you will, was great.  There were a few things that bothered me, the profanity in the story being one of them.

Here's the story Ed Kennedy is a 19-year-old cabbie with no future.  (This was another thing that bothered me, is age.  He acts more like a 30-year-old.)  Then one day, after he stopped a bank robber, a playing card shows up at his house with three addresses on it.  He has to go to each of the places and help the people who live there.  This happens with three more playing cards.

The journey he has is amazing, but the ending felt like a total cop-out when you find out whose behind the cards, etc.  It felt like he tried too hard to give it a "pay it forward" type of ending.  It felt forced rather than organic.  Although it does help you realize that if you look close enough to anyone around you there's a way you can make their life better.

Instead of reading this book, go do a good deed for a stranger, or harder yet, someone you know.

Book Review #9

Book: Scarlet Moon by Debbie Viguie
Age-Range: 13 and up (if it were a movie it would be PG-13 for blood and violence)
Rating: 9 out of 10

This is another book in the Once Upon a Time series, which are re-tellings of fairy tales written by three different authors.  This particular book is a take on Little Red Riding Hood.  It had all the elements you would expect to find in the story: a little girl walking in the woods, a red cloak, a wolf, a grandmother.  There is a complete ommission of the woodcutter, though.

At its core this story is a romance.  A very beautifully-written romance without ever veering off into dirty romance territory.  The main character, Ruth, is likable and well-written.  All the characters are well-written, except one whose motivations are left in the dark a little too long for my taste.  The ending also came a little too abruptly for me, but all in all the story was written so well that I would love to re-visit it again when my to-be-read list is not so full.

Correction: The Once Upon a Time series is written by five different women, not three.

Book Review #8

Book: Mira, Mirror by Mette Ivie Harrison
Age-range: 8 and up
Rating: 9 out of 10

This is the most unexpected re-imagining of Snow White I've ever read.  For one thing, Snow White doesn't come into it at all.  The main character is the magic mirror!  This takes such an interesting view on beauty and true beauty.

I wouldn't say there is a plot compelling the story forward, but the story is intriguing enough on its own.  I don't want to say too much for fear of giving too much away, but it's a good story to read and I would recommend it if you're at all interested in how the Wicked Queen's mirror became a mirror.

Book Review #7

Book: The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
Age-range: 8 and up
Rating: 4 out of 10

This book was a huge disappointment.  The premise is amazing, but the execution was not great.  For younger readers who don't expect the nuances that an older audience does, this might be a good read.  It's also the first in a series of 4 books, so it would be something a younger child could read for a while.

If you're an adult, skip it.  Instead, try my friend Maria V. Snyder's book coming out in April, Inside Out.  Here is the premise for that:

INSIDE OUT.  
Keep Your Head Down. Don't Get Noticed. Or Else.
 
I'm Trella. I'm a scrub. One of thousands who work in the lower levels, keeping Inside clean for the Uppers. I do my job and try to avoid the Pop Cops. The Trava family who rules our world from their spacious Upper levels wants us to be docile and obedient, like sheep. To insure we behave, they send the Pop Cops to police us.

So what if I occasionally use the pipes to sneak around the Upper levels? Not like it's all that dangerous--the only neck at risk is my own.

Until a lower level prophet claims a Gateway to Outside exists. And guess who he wants to steal into the Upper levels to get the proof? You’re right. Me. I alone know every single duct, pipe, corridor, shortcut, hole and ladder of Inside. It’s suicide plain and simple. But guess who can’t let a challenge like that go unanswered? Right again. Me.

I should have just said no...

Book Review #6

Book: The Storyteller's Daughter by Cameron Dokey
Age-range: 8 and up (with mama's permission)
Rating: 9 out of 10

This is another book in the Once Upon a Time series.  All of the books I've read in this series have been good, some better than others of course.  This one was amazing!  I literally read it during my son's nap, even though I was exhausted and wanted to take a nap of my own.  I just couldn't put it down.

This is a story about Shahrazad, the teller of the Arabian Nights.  I've read one other book about her, but I prefer this one.  It was written so well.  There's no sex, very little violence, and it's an amazing love story!  There were times when I got chills reading certain passages.  The writing was just so beautiful!

So the 9 out of 10 is because some of the stories within the story got a little dull.  I just wanted to know what was going to happen to Shahrazad, I didn't care about the story she was telling.  But that only happened once or twice, so don't let that deter you.

Read this book!

Book Review #5

Book: The View From Saturday by E.L. Konigsburg
Age-range: 8 and up
Rating: 7 out of 10

This is a book my sister Heidi forced onto me.  As I was leaving her house she tackled me and shoved the book into my arms, telling me she'd beat me up if I didn't take it with me.  And if you know Heidi at all you know I am being 100% honest about what happened.

Anyway, the book.  The first 2 chapters are boooring!  Thus the docking of 3 points.  The story really begins in Chapter 3.  This is a story about 4 kids and a teacher.  The kids are competing for some thing and the teacher is coaching them.  The kids are all in 6th grade, 3 boys and 1 girl.  It's the story of how they became the perfect team.  They call themselves The Souls.  Is this confusing?  That's probably because it is.

Just read it.  It makes more sense when you read it.

Book Review #4

Book: I am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I want to be your Class President by Josh Lieb
Age-range: 10 and up
Rating: 10 out of 10

This book was hilarious!  I was afraid with all the hype it received it would ultimately disappoint.  It absolutely did not.  This is a story told from the point of view of a 12-year-old 7th grader named Oliver who is a self-described genius of unspeakable evil.  It's engaging, compelling, imaginative, and quick.

Oliver is a genius who is fooling the world into thinking he's an idiot.  To get his father's attention (though he says he doesn't care what Daddy thinks) he decides to run for 8th grade class president.  Hilarity ensues.  It's not just a funny story, however, it also has some heart in it.  It really makes you think about how kids are treated and why.

I would suggest this book whole-heartedly if you're looking for something to make you laugh.

Book Review #3

Book: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Age-range: 16 and up
Rating: 5 out of 10

Okay, this book was recommended to me by about half a dozen people whose taste I value, writing I adore, and opinions are well-founded.  I read it and really really wanted to love it.  I kept reading, even when I had gone past my page limit waiting for it to be interesting.  It IS interesting, but it could have been just as powerful (if not moreso) as a short story.

This is a story about a man and his son trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.  You never really learn what exactly happened to the earth, just that it happened.  There were parts of this book that broke my heart and brought me to tears.  That is this book described in one word: heartbreaking.

So why did I only give it 5 out of 10?  Because it's repetitious and ultimately unsatisfying.  Perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mine to fully appreciate it, but this is my book review, not yours.  If you've read this book please share your experience with it so that everyone can know that mine isn't the only opinion out there.

So Many Books, So Little Time

I have over a dozen books that I received for Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, or forced onto me by my sister as I was leaving her house. :)  I wish I had more time to read, but it's not something I can do while Dutch plays because he's a one-man wrecking crew and I have to stop reading to chase him down every few minutes.  That doesn't really let the story flow the way it should.

I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions, but I am going to make the resolution to do two things after Dutch goes to sleep: exercise and read!

Book Review #2

Book: Fairest of All by Serena Valentino
Age-range: 10 and up, possibly younger with Mama and Dad's permission
Rating: 8 out of 10

To begin, the cover of this book is the most amazing thing in the world.  If nothing else, you should go to the bookstore and look at it.  Make sure to look UNDER the jacket too.  Amazingly spooky stuff.

This is a re-telling of the Disney version of Snow White from the Wicked Queen's point of view.  When the book begins you adore and love the queen and can't understand how she becomes what she does.  The process happens slowly, although there wasn't enough real motivation for her change, in my mind.

The imagery is beautiful and it's a nice, quick read.  If you like Snow White you will probably be interested in this telling of the tale.