I'm in Author Heaven: Brandon Mull, Markus Zusak, and Carrie Ryan

Ok, ok.  I've been putting this post off (but now I've got three events I can discuss, so aren't you glad I waited?)  There have been so many great Utah events with authors in the last few months that I've had to miss some (which is painful, I assure you).  Here are three I'm glad I didn't miss!Event 1: Brandon Mull, Launch PartySeriously, this was unlike any signing or launch party I've been to before.  (Check out my review of Beyonders: A World Without Heroes.) Brandon Mull knows how to throw a party!  Held at a high school auditorium, the place was packed with tweens.  It was so fun to see their excitement over...

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Posted in author fun , not a review , other awesome people

March Reflections

In March, I focused on rereading some of my favorite books. I reread twenty-one books this month! It was a lovely indulgence, I think. Very nourishing. Very satisfying. It was great to reconnect with Sarah Miller's Miss Spitfire, Lois Lowry's The Giver,  and Elizabeth Scott's Bloom. Not to mention, Richard Peck's The Teacher's Funeral! And of course, Susan Beth Pfeffer's Life As We Knew It--and the two companion books. And I read many Beverly Cleary books!!! And reading those just made me want more Ramona! As far as challenges go, I was able to read at least one book for each of these challenges: New Author Challenge, 2011 TBR Challenge,...

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Posted in 2011 Reflections

Book Review: The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley

The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag: A Flavia de Luce Novel by Alan BradleyPublisher: Delacorte PressPublication date: March 2010ISBN: 9780385343459Source: Library Flavia de Luce is at it again.  This time, when a famous puppeteer and his assistant end up in Bishop's Lacey, she befriends the odd pair.  Rupert is a short but charismatic fellow with a limp and Nialla is his beaten down assistant.  When a tragedy strikes, Flavia is compelled to find out who could have wanted the person dead and how that death relates to one five years ago.  What she finds leads her to some strange and complex discoveries that might put...

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Posted in 5 stars , adult , flavia de luce , highly recommended , mystery

Winner from Name That Book!

Thanks to the few of you who entered my Name That Book quick giveaway.  Odds were very good for those of you who did!  There were seven entries and only three people got them both right!  Good job to Stephanie O., Janicu, and Maire O. on getting them right.  (Book 1: Red Glove by Holly Black, Book 2: Under the Green Hill by Laura L. Sullivan).  The lucky winner of two books of your choice is:Marie O.Congrats!  I've sent you an email and I'll be getting the list of books to choose from together soon - so keep an eye out!  Be sure to check out Name That Book again in two weeks - and also check out Stephanie Reads, who has started doing some awesome Name That Book puzzles too! If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percent...

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Posted in giveaway , name that book , not a review

The Unincorporated Man

I found this book in the most unusual way. I went to the bookstore and saw it on the shelf. I know, weird right? I didn’t see it on some blog, or see it in some random post from another site. It wasn’t recommended to me by a friend or any of that. Nope, I was just at Barnes & Noble one day and thought I would check out what was new and what looked interesting--and there it was, calling to me. I then did the only sensible thing and I went home and ordered it off of Amazon.I’m glad I did.THE UNINCORPORATED MAN has a very simple premise that hooked me immediately. A man with a deadly disease is frozen in a cryogenic chamber hoping to be thawed...

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Posted in Books We Like , Dani and Eytan Kollin , science fiction

Book Review: Under the Green Hill by Laura L. Sullivan

Posted as part of Tween Tuesday, hosted by GreenBeanTeenQueen. Under the Green Hill by Laura L. SullivanPublisher: Henry HoldPublication date: October 2010ISBN: 9780805089844Source: Review copy provided by publisherWhen Rowan, Meg, Silly, and James are all sent from their home in America to visit a distant relative, they do not expect to have any adventures.  Phyllida, their great-aunt, lives in an isolated but enormous house that happens to be surrounded by fairies.  Rowan is immediately drawn into the fairy war, swearing to fight for the queen of the Seelie court, and Meg must fight with everything she can to keep him alive. ...

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Posted in 4 stars , fairy stories , Fantasy , middle grade , review copy , tween tuesday

I Don't Want to Kill You

One of the lessons we have learned during our time reading and reviewing novels is that it is hard just to get a book published. Making that first novel solid? Even harder. But you know what’s even MORE difficult than that? Writing a series where every novel gets better and better.Dan Wells’ horror series staring John Cleaver—a teenager who has all the early tendencies of a serial killer—comes to a conclusion (just for now hopefully) with I DON’T WANT TO KILL YOU. The novel is fantastic, even better than last year’s terrific MR. MONSTER. So what makes this novel so good? We’ll start with the character, John Wayne Cleaver. If you’ve read...

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Posted in Books We Love , Dan Wells , Horror

Name That Book, Episode 11

Name that Book is a biweekly game where you get to guess a book title from the photo clues.I've decided this week, since I'm packing up and really need to give away some books, that I'll offer one winner (chosen randomly from those who get the books right) a chance to choose two books from my pile (list has yet to be created). Be sure NOT to put your guesses in the comments, but leave them in the form below. I'll pick a winner sometime Wednesday.  Good luck!Book 1:Book 2:<p>Loading...</p>If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percent...

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Posted in giveaway , name that book , not a review

Sunday Salon: Week In Review #13

What I Reviewed at Becky's Book Reviews:Mansfield Park. Jane Austen. 1814/1998. Norton. 520 pages. A Red Herring Without Mustard: A Flavia de Luce Novel. Alan Bradley. 2011. Random House. 399 pages.Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller. Sarah Miller. 2007. Simon & Schuster. 240 pages. Cupid. Julius Lester. 2007. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 208 pages.Bloom. Elizabeth Scott. 2007. Simon & Schuster. 240 pages.Rules of the Road. Joan Bauer. 1998/2005. Penguin. 208 pages.What I Reviewed at Young Readers:Small Saul. Ashley Spires. 2011. March 2011. Kids Can Press. 32 pages.Mini Racer. Kristy Dempsey. Illustrated by Bridget Strevens-Marzo. 2011....

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Posted in 2011 Sunday Salons

Book Review: Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson

Forge by Laurie Halse AndersonPublisher: AtheneumPublication date: October 2010ISBN: 9781416961444Source: Library Curzon and Isabelle have escaped from the British prison ship Curzon was being held on.  But, when they part ways not the best of friends, Curzon finds he really misses having Isabelle around.  When he is drawn back into the war, fighting with some new friends, he little expects to enjoy it.  But, he comes to love his time with those new soldiering friends, despite the horrible privations and hunger they experience that winter at Valley Forge.  All of that gets taken from him, however, when an enemy from his...

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Posted in 4 stars , highly recommended , Historical Fiction , middle grade , seeds of america

Once Upon a Time V

Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings is hosting his fifth Once Upon a Time challenge. March 21st through June 20th.Quest the First. 5 Books. Folklore. Fantasy. Fairy Tales. Mythology.  1. The Ropemaker. Peter Dickinson.2. The Land of the Silver Apples. Nancy Farmer. 3. Inside Grandad. Peter Dickinson. 4. The Spellcoats. Diana Wynne Jones. 5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. C.S. Lewis6. The Throne of Fire. Kane Chronicles #2 Rick Riordan. 2011. Hyperion. 464 pages.7. The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood8. The Rise and Fall of Mount Majestic by Jennifer Trafton9. The Rumpelstiltskin Problem by Vivian Vande VeldeThis is one of my favorite challenges...

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Posted in 2011 Challenges

Library Loot: Fifth Trip in March

New Loot:Northanger Abbey by Jane AustenThe Lightning Thief: The Graphic Novel by Rick Riordan. Adapted by Robert Venditti.What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew From Fox Hunting to Whist: The Facts of Daily Life in Nineteenth Century England by Daniel PoolMurder at Mansfield Park by Lynn ShepherdOutside In by Maria V. SnyderWither by Laura DeStefanoThe Game by Diana Wynne JonesThe Chronicles of Chrestomanci volume 1 by Diana Wynne JonesConrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones The Chronicles of Chrestomanci volume 2 by Diana Wynne JonesThe Pinhoe Egg by Diana Wynne JonesLeftover Loot:The Complete Grimm's Fairy TalesPebble in the Sky by Isaac...

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Posted in 2011 Library Loot

Five Lucky Winners of Beyonders

Thanks everyone for entering the contest and I hope you all get a chance to read Beyonders, even if the random.org gods did not smile upon you for this contest.  Here are the lucky five who won a copy of Beyonders: A World Without HeroesNatalie R. Charlotte Erinberry Cori Kate H. Congrats!  I'm planning to have a few more contests before I move in May - hopefully so I have a few less books to pack and haul around.  Thanks for reading!  And special thanks to Simon and Schuster for allowing me to give away copies of Beyonders.If you buy through my Amazon linkage, I will get a very small percent...

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Posted in giveaway , not a review , other awesome people

Mansfield Park

Mansfield Park. Jane Austen. 1814/1998. Norton. 520 pages.About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronet's lady, with all the comforts and consequences of an handsome house and large income. What should you know about Mansfield Park? Well, it's not this movie or that movie*. Our heroine is a young woman named Fanny Price. She has been 'adopted' by the Bertram family. She has been "rescued" from poverty by her two aunts and uncle. (Aunt Norris is the most...

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Posted in 1800-1900 , 1814 , adult fiction , classics

Rules of the Road (YA)

Rules of the Road. Joan Bauer. 1998/2005. Penguin. 208 pages.I leaped onto the sliding ladder in the back room of Gladstone's Shoe Store of Chicago, gave it a shove, and glided fast toward the end of the floor to ceiling shelves of shoeboxes.I love Rules of the Road. I think it is my favorite and best Joan Bauer book. (In case you haven't read her, you should! You really should! She's fabulous!) I read this one in pre-blog days, so this is my first opportunity to gush about how wonderful it is.Jenna Boller, our heroine, has a part-time job selling shoes. And it's a job that she enjoys very much--especially on days when her drunk father doesn't...

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Posted in 1998 , dysfunctional families , library book , Penguin USA , road trip , YA Fiction , YA realistic fiction

Book Review: The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-LogstedPublisher: Houghton MifflinPublication date:ISBN: 9780547550244Source: Library Bet is dissatisfied with her life.  Taken in by kindly older gentleman when her mother died, she is brought up not quite a servant, but not one of the family.  She longs to go to school, like her almost brother Will.  Will, on the other hand, would do anything to get out of school, and has succeeded in being sent down from four other schools already.  When his uncle prepares to send him to another, Will and Bet form a plan so she can attend school and he can join the military.  Will she be able...

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Posted in 3 stars , Historical Fiction , Young Adult

Can You Survive the Zombie Apocalypse?

CAN YOU SURVIVE THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE? by Max Brallier has managed to break us out of our staunch anti-zombie book stance. It is a choose-your-own-adventure book for an adult, with a setting of...you guessed it, a zombie apocalypse. We figured it was different enough we could relent on our anti-zombie attitude for one more book.We are glad we did. This book is a riot!There is remarkably little to actually review about this book. You'll know whether it is something you're interested in or not just after reading that it is a Zombie Choose-Your-Own-Adventure. You don't expect great writing, storytelling, plot, character development, etc from...

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Posted in Books We Like , Horror , Max Brallier

Miss Spitfire (MG)

Miss Spitfire: Reaching Helen Keller. Sarah Miller. 2007. Simon & Schuster. 240 pages."Ticket, please."I wipe at my eyes and thrust the wretched thing at him. I've already had to change trains six times since Boston. On top of that, I have to take this train north to Knoxville to catch yet another train south to Alabama.I love Miss Spitfire. I just LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Miss Spitfire. It's such a feel-good, oh-so-magical, ultimate-comfort read--at least for me. It's a novel about Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller. A novel about a teacher who wouldn't accept failure, who kept persevering, no matter how big the challenge, no matter how big the tantrum,...

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Posted in 2007 , J Fiction , J Historical Fiction , library book , Simon and Schuster , YA Fiction , YA Historical Fiction