Memorial Day

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Wishing all of you a lovely and safe holiday!  I'm currently on vacation myself, so no Listless Monday today.  I'll have a new list next Monday!  To tide you over and help celebrate Memorial Day, check out last week's list of 1940s books that include plenty of WWII historical fiction.  

I've also scheduled a review of A Golden Web by Barbara Quick for today as well, so be sure to scroll down and check it out.  

Finally, last day to enter my contest of a copy of Life As We Knew It - check out the post for details!

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Book Review: A Golden Web by Barbara Quick

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A Golden Web by Barbara Quick
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: April 2010
ISBN: 9780061448874
Source: ARC from Traveling ARC Tours

A Golden Web
 
Alessandra is not like other women.  Growing up with her doting father and despicable stepmother, she hasn't had as much freedom as she'd like.  All that is taken from her when they arrange a marriage for her to an unknown man, thus depriving her of the slim chance she had of studying medicine at Bologna University.  It is unheard of for a woman to study medicine, but with her life mapped out for her, she may as well give it up.  But, she simply can't and finds herself going to great lengths to make this dream come true.

Things I Liked:
Lovely story with a main character filled with plenty of spunk.  I liked the writing as well, filled with little beautiful parts and lovely descriptions.  Alessandra and Nicco were my absolute favorites.  It is always nice to read about strong women from the middle ages and how they overcame difficulties.  I like the journey and the hard work that Alessandra does to get where she wants to be.  Especially, I love her love of the natural world and how her mind wanted to explore and know more about how things work, especially the human body. 
"Her heart beat a little faster, thinking about how there might well be as many wonders beneath the surface of things as there are above, if one could but figure out how to see them." p 31
"Woman was created last of all, after all the animals and after Adam himself.  Why would God have done it thus if He intended woman as a lesser creature?  Would he not then have made her just after the animals and before Adam?" p155
Things I Didn't Like:
The story itself is pretty predictable and neat.  You can see what happens coming a mile away, and there is no great effort on the part of the main characters to get there.  It seemed with all the build-up of a woman doing what she shouldn't, there should have been a bit more fall-out.  There didn't seem to be quite enough historical detail to draw me into the setting either.  I loved the natural world descriptions, but I didn't get a great feel for the time period from that.

Read-alikes:
Alchemy and Meggy Swann by Karen Cushman
The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
very few

mrg-factor: X
it has a very sensual feel, but not much is blatantly described

v-factor: ->
it's got some blood and gore from a medical view

Overall rating: ***

What's your favorite thing about historical fiction?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Book Review: The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees

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The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O'Connor McNees
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publication date: April 2010
ISBN: 9780399156526
Source: ARC provided by publicist (one of the most beautiful ARCs I've ever gotten, BTW)

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott is twenty-two when her family spends a summer in Walpole, New Hampshire.  Louisa is itching to be back in Boston, pursuing a career in writing, but feels obligated to help the family settle, especially since they are nearly destitute because their father won't work.  When she meets the aggravating and handsome Joseph Singer, her plans start to change a bit.  She faces a difficult choice, but could she possibly give up her most prized possession: her freedom?
 
Things I Liked:
It was a lovely story, full of bright experiences and a delightful main character.  I loved Louisa's spunk and her defiance of tradition.  Since I positively adore Little Women, I love to read about Louisa and see just how much of her own life is reflected in that book.  I find that especially ironic, since she hated having people ask about her personal life and how much she was like Jo.  Louisa is the star of this book, shining brightly with a barely concealed energy and zest for life that is contagious.  I particularly love that she had flaws too - lots of them.  She had a real temper and that came through quite clearly.  Sometimes her anger made me want to slap her for some of what she says or does.  Of course, I have a temper as well, so this part of her I related to very well.  Here are some lovely parts:
New Englanders spent much of the year shrouding their bodies from winter's frigid gloom, but August, hot and fragrant, drew them into the open.  Out-of-doors became a state of mind as well as a place.  In the meadows, vanilla-scented wildflowers the locals called joe pye weed broke into pink feathering blossoms and were soon papered with monarchs.  p 47 ARC
Anna was a blade of grass, swaying in the wind in concert with all the other blades.  Louisa was a rare bird poking its head above them, a thing with purple feathers and a strangely hooked beak. p 157 ARC
Life was moving on and she approached each day the way she would cope with a rotting front tooth and no dentist nearby.  One learned to smile with her lips closed. p 281 ARC
Things I Didn't Like:
I found I was annoyed by some things (though these are all more personal and not a reflection of the writing or author).  I can see that her father Bronson was an idealist that didn't do much more than dream, but having his daughters and his wife talk such trash about him behind his back seemed a little bit out of character.  Maybe I don't know enough about them, but it was annoying that they kept harping on it over and over. [spoiler and rant] Also, I was annoyed at  Louisa and Joseph's little one night fling.  Really, is it always necessary to assume people in love can't control themselves, particularly during their period of time?  Also, Louisa mentions several times that marriage and love have nothing to do with each other.  I think her ideals about women's rights and freedom are great, but I got bothered that she had to take it to the point of looking down on those who choose marriage and family, even her own sister.  Just choosing a life of marriage isn't always "conforming to society's demands."  Really, I thought she was broad-minded.  If there were forward-thinking women at the time, there had to have been forward-thinking men. [end spoiler and rant]
 
Read-alikes:
For more fiction about Louisa and Bronson Alcott, try March by Geraldine Brooks
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (of course)
Invincible Louisa by Cornelia Meigs is my favorite biography of her
The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: X
really one scene

v-factor: none

Overall rating: *** or ****
(I'm pretty conflicted over this rating, I liked the book, but had a completely different opinion of love and marriage than that portrayed in the book.)

Any of you who've read this want to talk about it?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Book Blogger Conference via Armchair BEA

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Welcome to my attempt at Book Blogger Conference ideas.  Really, at this point I'm wishing I was there to hear other folks ideas on these things.  However, here's what I have to say about writing and content on blogs.

Tips and tricks on writing good book reviews:
The best I can say is to write what you feel.  Almost all book reviews are subjective.  You as a reader had a reaction to the book and the experience of reading it.  You share those reactions and feelings in a review.  It is so difficult to say objectively something about a book, writing, story, because everyone has their own opinions on the matter and we won't all agree on what's "good" or "bad."  Therefore, I say again, tell us what you feel.  

I do reviews both of books I enjoyed and those I didn't.  If I finish a book, I review it here.  This is why I have both a "Things I Liked" and a "Things I Didn't Like" section.  I rarely have a book that doesn't have something in both categories.  I do have to make sure, however, that I'm not specifically looking for things not to like in a book.  I know it's hard work to get it published, so I don't want to be picky and talk about every small detail that bothered me.  Still, I like to be balanced.  Not everyone is going to want to do this.  Which brings me to:

Do what you are comfortable with.  Find what works best with your style and personality.  You don't have to do things the way others do.  You don't need ratings or stars or publication information.  All you really need is the title, author, and your opinion.  You will probably want more in there, but those are the basics.  Don't try to conform to someone else's standard.  Make your own.

How do I balance reviews with other content?
This is an interesting question.  Going along with my last point about doing what you want, this is kind of the same.  If you've read my blog at all, you'll know that it is heavy on the book reviews.  That is just how I want it.  The purpose for my blog is to review books.  The other content, I try to keep to a minimum, generally two non-review posts and four reviews a week.  This is definitely not going to work for every blog.  In fact, lots of the big and popular blogs have plenty of non-review content.  Another reason I decided to do this is that reviews are what I like to read.  I'll be honest, I skip lots of the TV, music, random thoughts posts on other blogs.  I'm more interested in what someone thought of a book than those other things.  I think it's a great idea to do what you want to see on other blogs.  And also balance it according to what you enjoy writing.  

I'm out of ideas what do I do now?
Read a book.
Read a book blog.

That about does it for my thoughts.  Here's hoping I may have helped someone somewhere decide something!

Feel free to leave your ideas and suggestions for these questions as well! (No, really.  I could use them.)

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Necroscope: Harry and the Pirates

7:00 AM Nikki

As you will all recall, our Fantasy 202 post involved a lot of Horror. It is an under-appreciated genre that contains one of (in our opinions) the best writers out there: Brian Lumley. His novels, over the years, have continually been able to impress our critical minds. With the paperback due out soon, Tor sent us a copy of Lumley’s NECROSCOPE: HARRY AND THE PIRATES.

Upon first taking the book in hand, the reader will first notice two things. First, the cover is done by the true Necroscope series artist, Bob Eggleton (one of our favorite artists)…and yet it seems almost YA. Second, PIRATES is very thin, only 189 pages. Suffice it to say, PIRATES is not YA. It contains two novellas, and a vignette (as Lumley calls it) that are set during the Lost Years of Harry Keogh’s life. For the uninitiated, the Lost Years mark the 8ish year period between books 2 and 3. We’ll say right here that if you haven’t read NECROSCOPE and VAMPHYRI! You shouldn’t read PIRATES yet. It just won’t make enough sense to you. If you find yourself in that camp, do yourself a favor and buy those novels yesterday.

Harry Keogh is the Necroscope, meaning that amongst his several ESP powers, he can talk to the dead. In the first of the novellas “For the Dead Travel Slowly” Harry has returned to the area of his youth in an attempt to find his missing son and wife. While there, he encounters an ancient evil in the forests that is responsible for hundreds of horrors over the centuries. It is a terrific tale in which we are shown a jaded and vulnerable Harry. His body has been destroyed (literally, he inhabits a new body at this point per the end of VAMPHYRI!), and his family his missing. His feelings of loss and frustration are palpable. The plot of the story itself, as well as its resolution, are executed in only the way Lumley can manage.

The second novella “Harry and the Pirates” continues with Harry looking for his family, but becoming sidetracked when a long dead pirate wishes to tell Harry a story. Who doesn’t like a good pirate tale? Of course Harry listens. As the reader would expect, the tale becomes more strange, and Harry begins to feel that something is wrong. Again, another fantastic novella, though the ending will throw some people off if they haven’t read beyond the first two novels in the series.

The final vignette “End Piece: Old Man with a Blade” is only a few pages, and follows the PoV of Death as it watches Harry. There are some clever insights here, but no real meat. The purpose of PIRATES is the first two novellas.

Lumley has a unique way of writing. His descriptions of horror are truly horrific, and yet he can still manage to inject witticisms when the situations are in need. PIRATES won’t win any new reads for Lumley, but it will give fans of his work (and there are many of them) some more Lost Years tales to enjoy. If you are a huge fan of Lumley, you probably wouldn’t have thought twice about paying the $24 for the 189 page hardback. We wouldn’t have (especially Steve, who is an extreme Lumley fan). However, if you are a more cost-conscious fan, then wait to pick up the paperback that comes out on July 20.

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: Yup, but not a ton.
Violence: Oh yes. And it is always so well described.
Sex: Some mentions to it (especially in the first novella), but nothing like in you would find in Lumley’s other novels.


Brian Lumley's awesome website:

http://www.brianlumley.com/


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Dystopian Love and A Giveaway!

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As I noted yesterday, I'd love to have attended the dystopian panel for BEA.  Dystopian lit is a new favorite of mine.  Except, it isn't entirely new.  Back in high school, I remember reading and loving Fahrenheit 451.  That was my first taste of this sci-fi futuristic dytopian look at society.  That was followed closely by Nineteen Eighty-Four, which I didn't enjoy quite as much, but still found fascinating.  Those books have stuck with me for all these years, but it wasn't until I picked up Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer that I rediscovered my love.

Ever since I first read this book, I have thought about, written about, and read most anything dystopian I can get my hands on.  I was more recently blown away by Ella Minnow Pea (which doesn't exactly fit the mold, but was similar enough for me to count it), Incarceron, Birthmarked, The Dead-Tossed Waves, Inside Out, The Ask and the Answer, The Maze Runner, and of course Hunger Games.

My appetite seems insatiable when it comes to this, since I am anticipating more delicious dystopian books like Matched by Ally Condie, Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness, Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Across the Universe by Beth Revis, and The Passage by Justin Cronin.  I also discovered a delightful new dystopian author blog that fans will want to check out.  All of this is adding up to:

A giveaway of that book that rekindled my fire:
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Life As We Knew It
 
I just so happen to have recently picked up a second copy (what can I say, it was on sale).  Up for grabs, as part of Armchair BEA is my new paperback copy of Life As We Knew It.  

To enter, leave me a comment telling me your favorite thing about dystopian fiction (and a way for me to contact you). [Edit: US only, sorry.]  This contest will end on Monday, May 31st, winner announced Tuesday.  Good luck!

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Book Review: Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

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Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn
Publisher: Anchor
Publication date: October 2001
ISBN: 9780385722438
Source: Library

Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters
 
On the island of Nollop, off the coast of North Carolina, lives a young girl named Ella Minnow Pea.  Her linguistically lovely nation prides themselves on their learning and especially on Nevin Nollop, creator of the beautiful pangram "the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog."   But, when the letters of this sentence begin to fall off of Nollop's revered statue, the council officials believe it is Nollop, communicating from beyond the grave, that those letters should be excised from Nollopian use.  Things become progressively more difficult for Ella to communicate without reprimand and she sets off on a task to save the future of speaking and writing on Nollop.

Things I Liked:
The book is so clever in its conception and its execution.  It made me want to use big words and to be more aware of what I speak and write.  As the letters progressively disappear, the writing becomes more ingenious.  Until it suddenly is ludicrous.  What an interesting view of a government that thinks such ridiculous things about Nollop and how they enforce things on the people.  You almost expect them to start taking things left and right with the power they believe they hold.  The end was pretty surprising as well.  Here is some of the literary goodness (hey, I had a hard time whittling these quotes down):
"However, in the end, our assessments and opinions counted for (and continue to count for) precious little, and we have kept our public speculation to a minimum for fear of government reprisal, so charged with distrust and suspicion have the esteemed island elders (and elderess) become following last year's unfortunate visit by that predatory armada of land speculators from the States, harboring designs for turning our lovely, island Shangri-la into a denatured resort destination for American cruise ships." p 4
"Each member in deliberate provocation of the High Island Council had marched single file into last Tuesday's open session wearing cartoon masks and making loud duck sounds - sounds which any sentient Nollopian knows by now are forbidden - while holding aloft large cardboard containers of a certain recently outlawed brand of American oatmeal." p 48
"There is no such thing as accident or misspeak, only grossly underapplied discoursal perspicacity, with unguarded exposure to distractional digression." p 55-56
"Ours continues to be a free, open society.  There will be no censures or prosecutions for exercising one's free speech rights in service to the laws of this nation, even if those rights entail criticism of the High Council." p 78
"Now, Rory isn't a very religious man - at least I never thought so.  But he became at that moment positively apoplectic - moving to assault the representative with everything available to him in his verbal arsenal, utterly without restraint - letting loose with a veritable, vituperative salvo - nothing printable here." p 122
"Disorder to match the clutter and chaos of our marvelous language.  Words upon words, piled high, toppling over, thoughts popping, correspondence and conversation overflowing." p 206
Things I Didn't Like:
It's definitely not plot-driven.  Not much appears to actually happen to people, except the loss of letters.  But, that's not the purpose of the book and the writing and wit are what make the entire thing so much fun and also so interesting to read.  (It actually made me feel rather stupid writing this review after I read such awesome creative writing.)  I'd love to read this for a book group and get others' opinions on it.

Read-alikes:
Um, I guess it was a little like other dystopian books, though none of them quite had the linguistic factor 

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: none

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: none

Overall rating: *****

If you've read this book, I'd love to know what you thought!

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Paneling is More Than Just Really Ugly Wall Covering

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Second day of Armchair BEA, and apparently I really dropped the ball on this one.  Blogger interviews?  Oops.  Well, I've been enjoying reading all of yours and getting to know new bloggers.  

Instead of interviewing myself (which really sounds horrifying), I'm taking a page out of Marg at Adventures of an Intrepid Reader's book and mentioning some of the panels/events I would love to attend.

BEA Young Adults Editor’s Buzz
Blurb: Insightful and passionate, this intimate editorial exchange will provide you with an editor’s perspective on some of the Fall’s new YA discoveries and potential breakouts.

YA Authors of YA Editor's Buzz
See above - hearing the authors of said buzzing speak.  Excellent!

You're Reading That?
Blurb: How can booksellers and librarians supply the interests of their teenage customers yet stay connected with that crucial 18-35 year old demographic — the ones who still read and buy YA titles in great numbers? The recent success of Little Brown’s Twilight Series highlights the need for industry professionals to be proactive in supplying fresh and fascinating titles for this burgeoning market.

Dystopian Fiction
Hello, Ally Condie - local author with fabulous (well, I haven't read it, but I expect fabulous) new dystopian book coming out?  Why wasn't she on my author list yesterday?

Librarian's 2nd Annual Book Shout and Share!
Blurb: Two days, thousands of books, eight librarians!  Collection development librarians share their top picks (and best buys) direct from the floor of Book Expo America 2010.

And speaking of authors I forgot to put on my list to meet yesterday, why oh why didn't I include Maria Snyder?  I have serious love for her books.  All of them.  Sigh.

Anything you'd like to attend?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Book Review: Bel Canto by Ann Patchett

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Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: May 2001
ISBN: 9780060838720
Source: Library (for book group)

Bel Canto

This is a story about hostages taken by a terrorist group in an unnamed South American country.  Among the party are a famous soprano opera singer and a Japanese business man, whose birthday they were celebrating, a translator, a young priest, a French diplomat, and many other foreign dignitaries.  The ensuing standoff shows what kinds of unlikely friendships and alliances can arise between terrorist and hostage.

Things I Liked:
The writing in this novel is really superb.  I love how the phrases flow and how they are beautiful without seeming to notice it or having to try.  The story seems to glide along effortlessly and things just happen now and then, while we watch from a distance.  It was a very different reading experience for me.  The story is hard to want to read, because you know that the ending is inevitable, but you want things to turn out differently.  It was very interesting to watch how people changed.  They are thrown into this situation and the people adapt differently, but I think they are all very changed in the end.  It is a slow, methodical, and definitely psychological story - more about what people think than what they do.  Here's some loveliness in small doses:
"It was during that performance of Rigoletto that opera imprinted itself on Katsumi Hosokawa, a message written on the pink undersides of his eyelids that he read to himself while he slept. Many years later, when everything was business, when he worked harder than anyone in a country whose values are structured on hard work, he believed that life, true life, was something that was stored in music." p15 (I read the large print edition, so page numbers may be different)
"Their eyes clouded over for so many reasons it would be impossible to list them all.  They cried for the beauty of the music, certainly, but also for the failure of their plans.  All of the love and longing a body can contain was spun into not more than two and a half minutes of song and when she came to the highest notes it seemed that all they had lost came together and made a weight that was almost impossible to bear." p266-267
"It was impossible to say that her singing had improved, but there as something in her interpretation of the lines that had shifted almost imperceptibly.  She sang as if she was saving the life of every person in the room." p348
"Every now and then she wouldn't bring out the book at all.  She would say she was tired.  She would say that so much beauty hurt her.  I remember feeling almost frantic, such a dependency I had come to feel for those paintings.  But it was the rest from it, the waiting, that made us love the book so madly.  I could have had one life, but instead I had another because of this book my grandmother protected." p 378
Things I Didn't Like:
I had a really hard time liking anyone in the story.  I think we are supposed to feel for the characters, but the way it is written, I felt very detached from anyone.  The only one I remotely liked was Gen.  While the writing, as I mentioned, was great, the style turned me off.  We wandered from one character to the next without much transition.  Often, I had to look at the start of the paragraph to figure out who she was talking about now.  Honestly, I wasn't that thrilled by the story.  It took a long time developing and the end was abrupt, quick, and depressing.  Expected it to be that way, but still.  I think discussing it, hearing the reasons some people liked it, and learning more about the background story made it more enjoyable for me, so yeah for book groups!

Read-alikes:
The style and even the writing reminded me of Little Bee by Chris Cleave

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@#
not so much in number as in strength

mrg-factor: XXX
again, not very many, but quite descriptive

v-factor: ->->
not often, but pretty violent

Overall rating: ***

I know there are a lot of people who adored this book.  Feel free to tell me why.

CymLowell

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Sign Me Up!

2:11 PM mixagrip


When I saw this lovely idea show up in the blogging world, I was very excited!  I mean, I already whined about reasons I'm not going to BEA, so here was a chance to experience some of the fun right from my own armchair.  Hooray!  

I've noted some of the book signings I've been to before.  When I went through my books last night to see how many I had signed, I was surprised at the number!  I never thought of myself as a big collector of signed books, but apparently I'm off to a pretty good start.  Nearly all of my books are from local authors, who I love and adore.  A few were from visitors to the great state (I've never gone to one outside of Utah).  One was purchased already signed (not one of the fortunate to meet Stephenie Meyer in person).  But, they all bear the mark of the author inside.  Each one scribbling their name to express pride in their work and appreciation of those who read it.  I love a signed book for the meaning and the memories.  

Here's a break down of my signed books, (there were pictures, but right now I'm having technical difficulties) photos included (though, they don't necessarily correlate with the breakdown):

Most by one author: Shannon Hale (6)
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Most recent: Mette Ivie Harrison (The Princess and the Bear)
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Most famous: Either Stephenie Meyer or Kathryn Stockett (take your pick)
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Most prized: hm...can't say that I am able to choose!

Number signed, but didn't meet author: 4

Number signed, but not read: 2

Number Non-Utah authors: 5
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Number of complete series signed: 0 (close with Fablehaven and Books of Bayern!)
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Total number: ~25

I may also have mentioned before that I'm not really articulate when I do get my books signed.  Usually a well-placed "Thank you," is all I can get out.  The few times I have spoken, it was usually to say something that sounded better in my head than out of it.  (This is actually pretty true of when I meet new people in general.)  I got a real kick out of Suey's post about approaches to signings a few weeks ago.  

In any case, as I was trying to decide what authors I'd really love to meet, I realized I'd have to make categories.  (What can I say? I'm a librarian.  I categorize.)

At BEA: 
Kate DiCamillo, Richard Peck

Not at BEA: 
Robin McKinley, Megan Whalen Turner, Jean Ferris, Juliet Marillier, Karen Cushman

Not Likely (Ever):
J.K. Rowling, Patrick Ness, anyone British

A Bit Too Late:
Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis

Really, the longer I think about it, the more authors I would be adding to the list!  So, I think I'll just cut myself off now.

Who are you dying to meet - living, dead, possible, impossible?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Watcher of the Dead

7:00 AM Nikki

New J.V. Jones? Yes please. WATCHER OF THE DEAD made us want to sing the "we love J.V." song over and over. Yes, we wrote a song about her. We are Gods to you, our loyal reader-slaves, who are you to judge us!?

There are very few authors we like as much as J.V. Jones, and even fewer with the attention for detail that she has. If you couldn't tell from our previous mention of her, we just might have a little (OK, huge) crush on her. But it is with good reason!

As we flipped open the cover to the first page and began reading, we were blasted by the cold of her setting. The world she has created is so real and believable that it was hard for us not to go to the closet and put on a jacket for our read-through of WATCHER OF THE DEAD. Jones' writing, while sometimes getting lost in descriptions, gives such a tangible realization of the world and its inhabitants. In addition, we were immediately struck by the bleakness that inhabits this world. Jones has an uncanny ability to strike such a dark tone in her work. It is easily one of the things she does better than nearly everyone in the genre.

While we got the chills on the outside, we felt warm fuzzies on the inside reading about the characters Jones has created. We are attached to all of them. Jones is a master of characterization. She is also equally a master at making awful things happen to the main characters, and we definitely appreciate it when authors don't coddle their characters. We especially loved Raif in this book, which should be obvious since WATCHER OF THE DEAD is primarily about him. He has gone through some cool transformations, and the tolls exacted on him have been costly to say the least. However, there were, without giving spoilers, a few characters we wished Jones had spent a lot more time on. This is a common occurrence in multi-volume epic fantasies like this, but we were still disappointed when a few characters had limited screen-time.

Now, we realize we are mostly just gushing with praise for Jones, so to be fair, and so this doesn't just read like a fanboy review, there were things we took some issue with. Namely the plot thread with Angus. The first book put such an emphasis on his family and the events surrounding them, that we expected what followed in the next books to be big and exciting. Yet in book 2 and 3 Angus didn't do much but stand around (To be fair, most of the characters didn't get too much done in Book 3). In WATCHER, that storyline is largely resolved, but it was done in such quick and anticlimactic fashion that we wondered why it couldn't have happened way earlier. We felt pretty cheated there. There were also some plot threads that simply went missing, and some editing errors which bugged. Nothing worth crying too foul though.

The story is definitely not resolved by the end of WATCHER, but things are clearly coming to a head and we can't wait for the next installment. Until then we will continue singing praises of her and her series, and praying she is faster about getting Book 5 done, that she was with Book 4. We should address here what is seen as a double standard. We were once asked why we give Martin so much crap about the time between novels, but saying nothing of Jones. Well, simply, we just started her series a relatively short time ago. So it hasn't been that long for us. So there.

It should go without saying, but we will say anyway. If you are new to J.V.'s stuff, don't start here. You will be lost. The series is heading down the Jordan and Martin path of plots, sub-plots, and characters. Start at the beginning.

If you are looking for something in the vein of Bakker, Martin, Abercrombie, and Erikson, look no further than Jones. We were huge fans of J.V. Jones before WATCHER OF THE DEAD, and this book improved on Book 3 and completely cemented her in our Hall of Fame.


Recommended Age:We think we can safely stick to the 16+ despite the fact things are getting darker.
Language:Everything here is tame.
Violence:In strong Jones' style, there was fantastically clear and destructive violence.
Sex:An act or two. Nothing sticks out in memory as being too racy or graphic.


Go take a peek at Jones' site, and let her know how awesome she is.

http://www.jvj.com/


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Listless Monday, the War Years Edition

8:44 AM mixagrip

Listless Monday was inspired by both Amanda at A Bookshelf Monstrosity's feature Books by Theme and Court at Once Upon a Bookshelf's Listed feature.  Be sure to check out their lists!

 (My mother in the 1940s)

This is my last week for the decade lists (for now).  My family is having a reunion this summer with a 1940s theme (my parents were born then) and being the family librarian, I am compiling a list of books for people to read.  So, here's at least the start of the list:

Published in the 1940s:

The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Black Boy by Richard Wright
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
Cannery Row by John Steinbeck
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
Curious George by H.A. Rey and Margaret Rey 
Friday's Child by Georgette Heyer
Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
Stuart Little by E.B. White
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

Nonfiction about the 1940s

84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
Hitler Youth by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Night by Elie Wiesel
Three Against Hitler by Rudi Wobbe and Jerry Borrowman

Historical Fiction about the 1940s:

Ashes by Kathryn Lasky
Atonement by Ian McEwan 
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Born to Fly by Michael Ferrari
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne
The Boy Who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Briar Rose by Jane Yolen
The Devil's Arithmatic by Jane Yolen 
Flygirl by Sherri L. Smith
For Freedom: The Story of a French Spy by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
On the Wings of Heroes by Richard Peck
The Postmistress by Sarah Blake
The Swiss Courier by Tricia Goyer and Mike Yorkey
Tamar by Mal Peet 
Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata

Any favorites from this decade?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Book Review: Little Bee by Chris Cleave

8:31 AM mixagrip

Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Publication date: February 2009
ISBN: 9781416589648
Source: Library

Little Bee: A Novel

Well, the blurb for this book says, "We don't want to tell you WHAT HAPPENS in this book."  It then goes on to give you a few basics of the story, "This is the story of two women. Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice, the kind of choice we hope you never have to face. Two years later, they meet again - the story starts there ... Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens. The magic is in how the story unfolds."  So, I'm sticking with what they say and not really telling you anything about it (mostly because I had a beast of a time trying to figure out what to say)!

Things I Liked:
Well, this is most definitely a powerful story.  IT will take your heart and twist it and poke it and make sure it is still beating before beating it.  It will make you stop and think and then think some more.  I like the developing of relationships between Little Bee and Sarah.  I loved Charlie (aka Batman).  I thought he was the heart of the story, which was interesting, since it was basically about Little Bee.  The story itself was fairly interesting too - I definitely learned more about immigration in England than I ever knew before!  Here are some thoughtful quotes from the book:
"I ask you right here please to agree with me that a scar is never ugly.  That is what the scar makers want us to think.  But you and I, we must make an agreement to defy them.  We must see all scars as beauty...Because take it from me, a scar does not form on the dying.  A scar means, I survived." p 23
"Horror in your country is something you take a dose of to remind yourself that you are not suffering from it." p82
Things I Didn't Like:
You know, I just wasn't invested in the characters.  I thought it was very tragic and also quite powerful what happens, but the format really annoyed me.  The writing itself was quite lovely - beautiful turns of phrase and some great descriptions, but the way it was organized drove me insane.  It felt very stream-of-consciousness and I really don't like that in general.  I also felt pretty detached from the horrific events that happened in their lives.  I really did cry for Little Bee and her sister, but that only happened about once in the book.  Also, the fact that it says the story is "humorous" is really not true.  I laughed a few times with Charlie, but really that doesn't make the book funny.  At all.  Definitely an up and down book for me.

Read-alikes:
I'd say it was a bit like The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, but not as powerful

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !@#
plenty

mrg-factor: XXX
lots of this too

v-factor: ->->->
a few scenes that were quite disturbing

Overall rating: ***

What did you think of the publicity tactic of not telling you anything about the story?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Book Review: The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

8:07 AM mixagrip

The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong
Publisher: HarperCollins
Publication date: April 2009
ISBN: 9780061450556
Source: Library
The Awakening (Darkest Powers)

This book picks up right where The Summoning left off.  Chloe is being held in an experimental institution, awaiting further tests or tortures, she's not certain.  With Derek and Simon still on the run, her captors are making every effort to bring them in.  When Chloe finds out a secret about her and her supernatural friends, she is desperate to escape.  When she does, they end up on the run again.  But, she's beginning to fear her own powers of necromancy might be out of control.  Can they find help in understanding and controlling their powers before they are terminated?

Things I Liked:
After being impressed with the first in the series, despite its seemingly everyday paranormal plot, I was hoping this book wouldn't disappoint.  But, I found it just ok.  I continued to like some of the character interactions, particularly Chloe and Derek.  I even started to like Tori a bit more, though not much.  There was action and adventure and a lot of running and raising of the dead.  I also liked (again) some of the insightful thoughts Chloe has regarding violence and death in real life versus what we see in movies.  An entertaining read, but not as good as the first for me.

Things I Didn't Like:
In general, however, the book felt flat.  There wasn't much of a plot, except run away and then run away again.  I didn't feel like they were going anywhere in particular.  It definitely felt like a middle book in a trilogy.  I guess the spark from the first book, whatever it was, was missing in this one.  I'm sure I'll read the third book, to know what happens, and I'm hoping it will be an improvement.

Read-alikes:
Read The Summoning first 
Reminded me of The Girl Who Could Fly by Victoria Forester
Dull Boy by Sarah Cross

BOOK CONTENT RATINGS:
s-factor: !
not a lot, surprisingly

mrg-factor: none

v-factor: ->->
some action and dead body raising

Overall rating: ***

What are some great middle-of-a-trilogy books?

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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Acacia: The War With the Mein

7:00 AM Nikki

We have received quite a few requests to review ACACIA: THE WAR WITH THE MEIN, and we decided that we should probably honor those requests. We ARE very kind and giving, after all. Yeah, we know the book isn't a new release, but it seems a shocking number of people haven't read it. Luckily, our good buddy Rob was all sorts of anxious to do this review, and you all get to benefit. Enjoy--EBR.

****

Is your George R.R. Martin starting to sag? Do you still love his epic storyline, but hate the wait? Do you find yourself wondering if there will ever be a way to get that same gritty, edge-of-your-seat sensation without waiting years (or is it decades?) for character and plot progression? What if we told you it was possible? And what if we said that you could get it on-time? Early, even? That you could have twice the Martinesque, twice as fast? You wouldn’t believe us, would you?

Believe (feel free to drop a "hallelujah").

We've got what you need right here—and his name is David Anthony Durham.

A well founded writer of historical novels, Durham’s skill at crafting realism, culture, characters, and conflict is outstanding. He’s transplanted the richness, grittiness, and complexity of our world into The Known World of Acacia in the same way George R.R. Martin transplanted the intrigue and fullness of the War of the Roses into Westeros. Durham, in fact, has written for Martin's WILD CARDS series, and is a big fan of Martin's style--perhaps this is why we see so many stylistic similarities. ACACIA: THE WAR WITH THE MEIN, the first book in the Acacia Trilogy (That’s right—only THREE books), has replaced all our angsty Martin-pining with hope for a new future. A future where series have, you know, endings.

The Empire of Acacia has held sway over The Known World for centuries, both through a history of backstabbing and racial subjugation, and by supplying its subjects with an opiate known as the Mist. Those years of peace come at a great price, however, and the bill’s come due in the form of assassins, vengeful nations eager to avenge themselves and their ancestors, and the greed and addiction bought by human lives. Leodan--Ruler of the Known World--faces these threats, and prepares his four children for a plan that will preserve them and guide them towards a united world, free of its vices and vicious enemies.

David Anthony Durham won 2009’s John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. He deserves the recognition. His story is epic and diverse, while his prose (while lacking at times) can be beautiful and poetic. He stepped up to the plate for the first time (in the fantasy genre, anyway), and hit one out of the park. With the second book in the series already released, we’re thrilled to get our hands on a work that’s so thorough, so involving, and so riveting, with a sequel already available.
And while Durham’s admitted, “I could be happy writing in this world for a long time”, he’s also promised, “there will be at least three books and a reasonable amount of closure by the end of that cycle.”

Closure. That’s right, Martin fans, we’ll throw in the closure for free. Go pick this novel up, and while you are there, grab the sequel THE OTHER LANDS. If you are looking for a novel about nations in war, with that almost-Historical Fiction feel, this is the novel for you.

Recommended Age: 16 and up.
Language: Mild--Unlike Martin's Westeros, this world has no idea what the 'F' word means.
Violence: All sorts of violence. Durham seems to be a student of historical war, and it is accurately and vividly represented here. It is detailed, but not overly graphic.
Sex: Yes, but not gratuitous.

Go take a look at Durham's website:

http://www.davidanthonydurham.com/


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Loot From the Library

8:53 AM mixagrip


Library loot has multiple meanings this week:

Checked out from the library:
The Mark by Jen Nadol
The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan (yeah!)
The Red Tent by Anita Diamant (for book club)
Gone by Michael Grant

Purchased at the Provo Children's Book Festival (which was filled with awesome):
Penny from Heaven by Jennifer Holm 
(didn't get it signed - came at the wrong time for her)
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson 
(unfortunately didn't meet him - the hubby was in his line while I waited for Shannon Hale to sign my River Secrets book - he did, however, thank me for being an evil librarian)

Friends of the Library book sale (cause I can't resist):
Rose in Bloom by Louisa May Alcott (loved this when I was a kid)
Trickster's Queen by Tamora Pierce (so I haven't read Trickster's Choice yet, but here's some incentive)
Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
Cheaper by the Dozen by Frank B. Gilbreth
Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained by John Milton

Random purchases and gifts:
Fablehaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull 
Spells by Aprilynne Pike (from goodreads bookswap)

Random further note about the festival - I attended a discussion by Sara Zarr and Ann Dee Ellis about blogging.  I fell in love with their blogs, so go check them out!

If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percentage


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