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.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
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.
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.
Saturday, May 22, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
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 youraddress book book!
Let me know if you try it and how you like it.
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
Let me know if you try it and how you like it.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
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).
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!
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.
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.
Friday, May 7, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
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.
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.
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