Book Review: One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

9:13 AM mixagrip

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-GarciaPublisher: AmistadPublication date: February 2010ISBN: 9780060760885 Source: LibraryDelphine, 11-years-old, and her two younger sisters are going to spend their summer in Oakland, California, with the mother that left them.  Delphine does not expect much, but gets even less when their mother simply sends them off to spend their days at a summer camp run by the Black Panthers.  All three of them unexpectedly learn a lot both about themselves and their mother during that crazy summer.Things I Liked: This book was fabulous!  Williams-Garcia manages to combine an interesting and important bit...


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The Way of Kings

7:00 AM Nikki

From the very beginning you know THE WAY OF KINGS is a novel by Brandon Sanderson—you would know it even if his name wasn’t imposed over a Michael Whelan cover. Sanderson has made a name for himself through his imaginative magic systems, and TWoK is no different.He starts with the pacing set at a sprint. Following a series prelude (yeah, there is a prelude, then a prologue), we are put right into the action of things with a mysterious assassin, Szeth. Right from the onset of the novel we get hints of political intrigue, and of shadowy organizations pulling strings like puppeteers. What it seems to us is that Brandon is trying to start faster...


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Listless Monday, Back to School Edition

2:01 PM 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! (Yes, that apple is as big as my face.  No, it doesn't have much to do with back to school.  But, it is an apple...) Ah, it's that time of the year again.  Back to school time.  It always makes me think pencils and notebooks and clothes shopping and the dreaded homework.  Fortunately, I'm coming back to school now as a librarian and not a student.  However, I threw together a list of books where a large part of...


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A (Few) Girl(s) After My Own Heart

8:25 PM mixagrip

A Bit of Me(Me) is hosted by Danielle of There's a Book. I was going to skip the theme for this week in order to simply post photos of my vacations, but I decided I couldn't pass up a little love for (a few of) my favorite heroine(s).  (You should know by now I have a hard time picking one favorite anything.)   When I think of a favorite heroine in literature, the first few that come to mind are always: Anne Shirley and Jo March.  Really, those two shaped my childhood and on into my later years (I still love to watch the  Anne of Green Gables mini-series).  I even wrote a letter to Anne, expressing why I loved...


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Book Review: You by Charles Benoit and a Giveaway!

4:12 PM mixagrip

You by Charles BenoitPublisher: HarperTeenPublication date: August 2010ISBN: 9780061947049 Source: ARC provided by publisherKyle Chase is an ordinary teen.  He's just like you and me.  Though his story ends with a horrible incident, it unfolds just like every day of our lives.  Small choices, little things, lead him to where he ends up.  Somewhere he doesn't want to be.Things I Liked: I had really high expectations of this one.  In some ways, I was not disappointed.  I really enjoyed the unique second person narrative.  I've never read anything that pulled that off before.  I was impressed.  Admittedly,...


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The Devil in Green

7:00 AM Nikki

I like avocados. A good one will leave you longing for more without much effort. Soft, green flesh, that great nutty flavor, and all it needs is a bit of salt to provide, quite possibly, one of the finest snacks on the planet. Yum. I’m always on the lookout for some good Green.So I’d heard all sorts of coolness associated with Mark Chadbourn before finally getting to read any of his books, and as it ended up, this one was my first. Chadbourn’s a novelist living in the UK that got picked up by Pyr recently, and if you’ve been anywhere near their booklist in the last year, you would have had a hard time missing his name. Seven books of his...


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Book Review: Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

6:26 PM mixagrip

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins Publisher: ScholasticPublication date: August 2010ISBN: 9780439023511 Source: Purchased :)Katniss has survived her second Hunger Games.  She's now living in the mysterious District 13, part of a rebellion that she's been a pawn in without knowing it.  Peeta was taken by the Capitol and she doesn't know what's happening to him.  Will she be able to keep him, herself, her family, Gale, and everyone else safe or will she have to risk it all to be the leader of the rebellion?Things I Liked: After all the hype and the waiting, it was so great to finally pick up the final book.  Just reading a...


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Elitist Classics: A Princess of Mars

7:00 AM Nikki

First written as a serial in 1911, A PRINCESS OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs was soon after published in novel form in 1917. While the story is more adventure than science fiction, it was this Mars-based pulp that influenced the men and women who would later fuel the SF renaissance of the mid-Twentieth Century--writers like Ray Bradbury, Carl Sagan, and Arthur C. Clarke.PRINCESS follows the adventures of John Carter, Confederate War veteran, from his mysterious transportation to the planet Mars, to being captured by the green men, to meeting the lovely Princess Dejah Thoris of Helium. The storytelling itself compared to today's standards is...


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Back to the Library (and the Loot)

4:38 PM mixagrip

 (hosted by Marg of Adventures of an Intrepid Reader and Claire of The Captive Reader)I'm finally home from vacation (it's been quite a while since I wasn't living out of a suitcase, or at least it feels like it)!  Today is my first day back in my own library and I feel both happy and sad about it.  Going back to work is so hard, no matter where you work, I think.  Anywho, I'm also back in my local public libraries and checking things out again!  I really didn't get nearly enough of my review copies read to justify this, but I had a few books on hold that I simply don't want to wait for.  So, here they are:The Reckoning...


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Elitist Classics: The Martian Chronicles

7:00 AM Nikki

Happy Birthday, Ray Bradbury! He turned 90 on August 22nd (just this past weekend), and what better way than to celebrate one of his classics? A prolific writer of novels, short stories, essays, and other works, Bradbury originally published THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES in 1950. It's a short story collection about the human colonization of Mars--but it's not your traditional collection.Originally published in magazines as shorts, Bradbury gathered the stories in one book by stringing them along chronologically using brief vignettes to tie them together. At first it will seem disjointed and odd, but Bradbury's crisp prose and sense of humor is engaging,...


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Book Review: Don't Know Where, Don't Know When by Annette Laing

10:44 AM mixagrip

Don't Know Where, Don't Know When by Annette LaingPublisher: Confusion PressPublication date: August 2007ISBN: 9780979476945Source: Review copy provided by author Hannah and Alex just moved to pokey old Snipesville, Georgia from San Fransisco.  Unhappy with the move, Hannah is compelled by her father to attend a summer camp for writing, while her brother attends baseball camp.  The two of them do not expect to meet up with Brandon, a black kid also attending baseball camp, or the Professor, a strange woman who seems to follow them around.  But, what they least expect is their time travel to WWII England.  There seems...


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Elitist Classics--Part 3

7:00 AM Nikki

Science Fiction & SteampunkIt seems like we neglect SF a tad on this site. We treat it, generally, like that little kid on the playground that follows you around like a lost puppy. The thing is, SF has some pretty solid roots, and many of the great, early writers of SF also have huge influences in Steampunk.H.G. Wells - THE TIME MACHINETime travel machines. If this doesn't scream SF to you, you probably need to get your head examined. Published in 1895, THE TIME MACHINE is a prime example of early SF that doesn't seem to ever grow old. Oh sure, writers now days have come up with slicker looking versions of time travel; it's a theme that won't go away. From Connie Willis' BLACKOUT, to the TV show Lost, time travel is always being tinkered with. So why is THE TIME MACHINE still good?...


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The Last Stormlord

7:00 AM Nikki

Call me spoiled if you want. After the likes of epic fantasy writers Erikson, Sanderson, and Butcher (and others), I've gotten used to the current trend of jumping right into the middle of the story. You could say I'm a girl who likes her some action. Ahem.Alas, not all epic fantasy writers have gotten the hint. THE LAST STORMLORD, by Glenda Larke, reminds me of the epic fantasies of 20-odd years ago because the pacing is similar in its devotion to world-building without a visible purpose. There's the standard young boy being trained whose abilities will change the world. A girl on the verge of womanhood, trapped in a life not of her choosing....


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Book Review: Sleepless by Cyn Balog

3:10 PM mixagrip

Sleepless by Cyn BalogPublisher: Delacorte Books for Young ReadersPublication date: July 2010ISBN: 9780385738484Source: ARC provided by Traveling ARC ToursEron has been a sandman for nearly a hundred years and his term is coming to an end.  He seduces his charges to sleep each night, but he isn't supposed to become too attached to them.  But Eron is feeling inexplicable attracted to Julia, one of those he puts to sleep.  As the time for his return to human life draws near, he tries to teach his replacement who shows little interest in life as a sandman.  Even as he starts his transition to human life, he knows he should stay...


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A Taint in the Blood

7:00 AM Nikki

Shadowspawn used to rule the Earth as gods. But you can get kind of lazy when you're immortal and nearly indestructible. After thousands of years of cross-breeding with humans, today's Shadowspawn posterity isn't as pureblooded, making for all kinds of problems. Even worse, humans have over-populated the Earth and kind of taken over things. By the time you get around to dealing with the issue, you have to do something drastic, say, another plague to wipe out all the extra humans so you can reestablish yourself as the one in charge.Adrian Brézé may not be pureblood Shadowspawn, but he's got enough that his ability in the Power is stronger than...


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Book Review: The Mark by Jen Nadol

10:00 PM mixagrip

The Mark by Jen NadolPublisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's BooksPublication date: January 2010ISBN: 9781599904313 Source: Library Cassie is not like other teenagers.  She grew up with her grandmother Nan, after her parents died in a car crash when she was only two.  Even more unique, she see's a strange glowing, a mark, on certain people.  At first, she isn't quite sure what it means, but after watching a man die, she is certain the mark appears on those who are going to die that day.  She struggles to deal with the burden of this sight and the memories of those she's seen with the mark.  She must figure out why she...


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