tapestry100's Thread the First for 2013

Well, 2012 proved to be a very embarrassing year for me around these parts. For all intents and purposes, I didn't participate in the 75 Group. At all. I started off strong, and somewhere along the way quite early on, I lost track of things. It wasn't just around here; it was in just about every aspect of my life. I think I also realized at some point during the year that I was looking at reading as a chore, and that's not cool at all. I want, no, I NEED, reading to be fun and an escape for me. I was so intent on trying to get to a certain number of books read, reading this particular book or that particular book, blah blah blah. I'm fairly certain I say this exact same thing each year, but it seems to have really gotten to me this year.

I want 2013 to be different. I want to enjoy reading and my books again. I want to participate in the grand discussions we have here in the 75. I feel like I let my friends here down by not participating, and I don't like feeling like that. I love the sense of community and family we have here in the 75, and I want to be a part of that again!!

So, this year, I promise myself: No Stress Reading! I'm reading for fun, not necessity. Not that reading isn't a necessity for me, but you know what I mean. I do want to challenge myself a little and expand my reading horizons, but if it doesn't happen, meh! It's a book. It'll still be there again if I wish to try something and it doesn't work for me now.

I'll still shoot for my 100 books, but if I don't get there, meh! It's just a number. If I read 25, 50, 75, 100 books, as long as they are good and enrich me someway, somehow, it's a good thing.

So, here is to a grand reading year in 2013!!

January 2013
Acquisitions Struck items have been read!
1. Snow White illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia
2. Nos4a2 by Joe Hill
3. Dust Girl by Sarah Zettel
4. Doctor Who: A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer (ebook)
5. Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K Vaughn & illustrated by Fiona Staples

Read
1. Incredible Change-Bots by Jeffery Brown
2. Snow White illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia
3. Building Stories by Chris Ware
4. Gris Grimly's Wicked Nursery Rhymes by Gris Grimly
5. Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
6. Doctor Who: A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer
7. Soulless the Manga Vol 2 by Gail Carriger
8. Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K Vaughn & illustrated by Fiona Staples

February 2013
Acquisitions Struck items have been read!
6. Shadows in the Silence by Courtney Allison Moulton
7. The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes, illustrated by Laura Carlin
8. Justice League, Vol 2: The Villain's Journey by Geoff Johns, art by Jim Lee
9. Driving Blind by Ray Bradbury
10. Birds without Wings by Louis de Bernieres
11. Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters & Jane Austen
12. Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
13. Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
14. The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb
15. The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb
16. Heist Society by Ally Carter
17. The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
18. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
19. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
20. On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
21. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
22. Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson
23. The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
24. De Soto, Coronado, Cabrillo: Explorers of the Northern Mystery by David Lavender
25. Doctor Who: The Nameless City by Michael Scott (ebook)
26. Batman: Night of the Owls by Various
27. X-O Manowar, Vol 1: By The Sword by Robert Venditti, art by Cary Nord
28. Harbinger, Vol 1: Omega Rising by Joshua Dysart, art by Khari Evans

Read
9. Locke & Key, Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill with art by Gabriel Rodriguez
10. The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes, illustrated by Laura Carlin
11. Justice League, Vol 2: The Villain's Journey by Geoff Johns, art by Jim Lee
12. Delta of Venus by Anais Nin
13. Locke & Key, Vol 2: Head Games by Joe Hill with art by Gabriel Rodriguez
14. Locke & Key, Vol 3: Crown of Shadows by Joe Hill with art by Gabriel Rodriguez
15. Locke & Key, Vol 4: Keys to the Kingdom by Joe Hill with art by Gabriel Rodriguez
16. Locke & Key, Vol 5: Clockworks by Joe Hill with art by Gabriel Rodriguez
17. A Calendar of Tales by Neil Gaiman
18. Doctor Who: The Nameless City by Michael Scott

March 2013
Acquisitions Struck items have been read!
29. Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi
30. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
31. The Two Princess of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine
32. Dave at Night by Gail Carson Levine
33. Black Feathers by Joseph D'Lacey
34. The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi
35. A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
36. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
37. Sever by Lauren DeStefano
38. Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, and Raven by Lauren Oliver
39. If a Stranger Approaches You by Laura Kasischke
40. Doctor Who: The Spear of Destiny by Marcus Sedgwick (ebook)
41. Glitter & Doom: A Masque of the Red Death Story by Bethany Griffin

Read
19. X-O Manowar, Vol 1: By The Sword by Robert Venditti, art by Cary Nord
20. Harbinger, Vol 1: Omega Rising by Joshua Dysart, art by Khari Evans
21. Detroit, An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
22. Batman, Vol 1: The Court of Owls (The New 52) by Scott Snyder, art by Greg Capullo
23. Batman: Night of the Owls (The New 52) by Scott Snyder, art by Greg Capullo, et al.
24. The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate
25. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce
26. Love to the Women by Heather Trefethen
27. Doctor Who: The Spear of Destiny by Marcus Sedgwick
28. If a Stranger Approaches You by Laura Kasischke
29. Glitter & Doom: A Masque of the Red Death Story by Bethany Griffin

April 2013
Acquisitions Struck items have been read!
42. Moonset by Scott Tracey
43. Doctor Who: Roots of Evil by Philip Reeve (ebook)
44. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
45. Doctor Who: Ten Little Aliens by Stephen Cole
46. Doctor Who: Dreams of Empire by Justin Richards
47. Doctor Who: Last of the Gaderene by Mark Gatniss
48. Doctor Who: Festival of Death by Jonathan Morris
49. Doctor Who: Fear of the Dark by Trevor Baxendale
50. Doctor Who: Players by Terrance Dicks
51. Doctor Who: Remembrance of the Daleks by Ben Aaronovitch
52. Doctor Who: Earthworld by Jacqueline Rayner
53. Doctor Who: Only Human by Gareth Roberts
54. Doctor Who: Beautiful Chaos by Gary Russell
55. Doctor Who: The Silent Stars Go By by Dan Abnett

Read
30. Doctor Who: Summer Fall by Amelia Williams
31. Batman, Vol 2: The City of Owls (The New 52) by Scott Snyder, art by Greg Capullo, et al.
32. Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
33. Ragnarök: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt
34. Daughter of Smoke and Bon by Laini Taylor
35. Cursed Pirate Girl by Jeremy Bastian
36. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
37. Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis
38. Doctor Who: Roots of Evil by Philip Reeve
39. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

May 2013
Acquisitions Struck items have been read!
56. X-Men: Schism by Jason Aaron, et al.
57. Doctor Who: Tip of the Tongue by Patrick Ness (ebook)
58. Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman
59. All-New X-Men, Vol 1: Yesterday's X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Stuart Immonen
60. speechless by Hannah Harrington
61. Saving June by Hannah Harrington
62. Reboot by Amy Tintera
63. Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
64. Glamour in Glass by Mary Robinette Kowal
65. Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal

Read
40. All-New X-Men, Vol 1: Yesterday's X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis, art by Stuart Immonen
41. X-Men Omnibus, Vol 1 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, et al.
42. X-Men: Schism by Jason Aaron, et al.
43. Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman

June 2013
Acquisitions Struck items have been read!
66. The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
67. Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
68. Red Moon by Benjamin Percy
69. Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
70. The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
71. The Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace
72. The Curiosity by Stephen Kiernan
73. The Never List by Koethi Zan
74. Babayaga by Toby Barlow
75. How To Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman
76. Under One Roof by Barry Martin
77. Fin & Lady by Cathleen Schine
78. Lookaway Lookaway by Wilton Barnhardt
79. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
80. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
81. Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
82. Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen
83. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
84. Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda
85. Someone: A Novel by Alice McDermott
86. The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton
87. Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff
88. Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi
89. The Drown Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi
90. Splintered by A.G. Howard
91. Ink by Amanda Sun
92. Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
93. Every Day by David Levithan
94. Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger
95. If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
96. Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt
97. Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
98. Inhuman by Kat Falls
99. The Lost Kingdom by Matthew J. Kirby
100. Wild Born by Brandon Mull
101. The Time Fetch by Amy Herrick
102. The Tilted World by Tom Franklin
103. Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan
104. Night Film by Marisha Pessl
105. Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi
106. Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things by Cynthia Voigt
107. Antigoddess by Kendare Blake
108. Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow
109. The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel by Deborah Hopkinson
110. The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde
111. Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik
112. The Facades by Eric Lundgren
113. The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan
114. The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell
115. The Midnight Promise by Zane Lovitt
116. A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson
117. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
118. The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
119. Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard by Jim Newman
120. Unbreakable by Kami Garcia
121. Mother, Mother, by Koren Zailckas
122. Teardrop by Lauren Kate
123. The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston
124. The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
125. Alex by Pierre Lemaitre
126. Zen of Wonder by Frank Beddor
127. Red Rising by Pierce Brown
128. The Rathbones by Janice Clark
129. The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
130. Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
131. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
132. Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
133. Relic by Heather Terrell
134. Sunday You Learn How to Box by Bil Wright
135. Entangled by Amy Rose Capetta
136. The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton
137. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
138. Stoker's Manuscript by Royce Prouty
139. Far Far Away by Tom McNeal
140. Lighthouse Island by Paulette Jiles

Read
44. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
45. X-Men Omnibus, Vol 2 by Roy Thomas, Gary Friedrich, Arnold Drake and Jim Steranko
46. World War Z by Max Brooks
47. Doctor Who: Hunters of Earth (Destiny of the Doctor, #1) by Nigel Robinson
48. Doctor Who: Shadow of Death (Destiny of the Doctor, #2) by Simon Guerrier
49. Doctor Who: Vengeance of the Stones (Destiny of the Doctor, #3) by Andrew Smith

July 2013
Acquisitions Struck items have been read!
141. The Art Forger by B.A. Shapiro
142. Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint

Read
50. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
51. Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger
52. A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson
53. Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint
54. The Wednesday Daughters by Meg Waite Clayton

August 2013
Acquisitions Struck items have been read!
143. William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher
144. Hollow Earth by John Barrowman
145. Bone Quill by John Barrowman
146. Bellman and Black by Diane Setterfield
147. Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet by Gerry Davis
148. Impossible Monsters edited by Kasey Lansdale
149. Krampus by Brom
150. Little, Big by John Crowley
151. The Fifty Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski
152. Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl
153. Metatroplis edited by John Scalzi
154. The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon

Read
55. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie
56. Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet by Gerry Davis
57. William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher

Welcome back! No Stress Reading is a very good rule!

Great introduction, I have the same goal: care less about the number, engage more in what I'm reading. Good luck to you!

Hi David,

For sure, I agree with you that reading should be fun. I find that the best way to do this is to allow yourself leeway - to pick what you want to read and when you want to read what you've picked. In addition, never force yourself to read a certain number of books or even to finish a book that you don't like. The fun of reading comes in hitting the ones you like and getting to talk to others about the books you like as well as why there are some you won't finish or even try reading!

I hope that 2013 puts reading for pleasure back on track for you.

Hi David,

Welcome back! I did pretty much the same during 2012 - a flying start with a fast fade. Resolved to try to do more reading this year for my own sake and to maintain a presence here where I so much appreciate the connections and sense of community. Excelsior! (...with apologies to Longfellow)

So good to see you here again! May 2013 be a bright shining year!

Happy New Thread!

Yes, we all find our own way toward stress-free reading... I think it's all about letting yourself set the pace and not being influenced by how much or what everyone else is reading. Or at least cherry picking -- deciding which book bombs to be waylaid by, and which to ignore. Or when to put down the books and go off on a hiking trip or watch a movie marathon.

yay! Another Who-vian! Ongoing discussion between DD-home-from-college and me--if you had to pick the Tardis without the Doctor (but you could fly it) or the Doctor without the Tardis, which would you choose?

Oh gosh, what a question streamsong! I think my brain may explode just pondering the implications of each. They are a matched set, not to be broken up!

Tapestry, I have you starred. :)

Hi David, I'll be joining you in 2013 -- see you soon!

David, I am joining you in the 'no stress' reading rules! I do not have the luxury of stressing myself out over something that is supposed to be enjoyable and neither do you :) Let's have fun in 2013, shall we?

Huzzah! No stress reading! I'm on board. 2013 is going to be fantastic... I'm sure of it. :)

Hello, darling. You know I am on board for the "no stress reading" thing. And huzzah for 2013! :)

I'll gladly climb on the "no stress" reading bandwagon!

>3 drneutron:: Thanks Jim, and thanks again for getting the group together for 2013!

>4 RosyLibrarian:: Marie, good luck to you too!

>5 SqueakyChu:: Madeline, such good advice!

>6 muddy21:: Yeah, I don't want a repeat performance from myself this year. I plan on sticking around!

>7 Whisper1:: The same for you, Linda dear! I have good vibes for 2013!!

>8 leahbird:: I love the new threads at the first of the year. Such potential!

>9 Chatterbox:: Truthfully, it makes me rather happy to see so many people with the same idea. I do feel like I'm in good company!

>10 streamsong:: Whovians Unite!!! And THAT is a tough question. You know, I think I'd have to take the Doctor without the Tardis. Flying it would be fun, but it wouldn't be any good without his sense of adventure. At least I think he'd get himself into some sort of adventure with or without the Tardis.

>11 UnrulySun:: I agree, it's hard to think of them separate, but if a choice HAD to be made to save all of time and space... =)

>12 AMQS:: Welcome, Anne! See you soon!!

>13 alcottacre:: Stasia, I am ALL ABOUT having fun in 2013!!

>14 dk_phoenix:: Faith, I've been having a good feeling about 2013 for some time now. I feel this is going to be a stellar year. Huzzah!

>15 beserene:: And Huzzah to you too! We'll have to keep each other honest with the "No Stress" thing this year. And not just with the reading bit, ok?

>16 rosalita:: Climb aboard!! The more, the merrier I say!!

See? SEE?! This right here is why I love love LOVE the 75! So many great people around here. I hope you all had a fantabulous new year and here's to a great 2013.

And now to discuss book acquisitions. All of these are books I got in the last 2 weeks or so of December, so they don't count against me for this year, but they are at the top of my TBR list as I'm trying to read whatever I buy/acquire this year!

Purchased at one of my favorite bookstores in Portland, ME, THE GREEN HAND:
Fine Dark Line by Joe R. Lansdale
The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale
Trouble Under Oz by Sherwood Smith
The Stress of Her Regard by Tim Powers
Moss Farm or the Mysterious Missives of the Moosepath League by Van Reid
Counter-Clock World by Philip K. Dick

Bought with a holiday gift certificate to B&N:
A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan
My Antonia by Willa Cather
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind by Hayao Miyazaki

From my LT Secret Santa, camelama:
Time and Again by Jack Finney
Foundling by D.M. Cornish
The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia
The Unnaturalists by Tiffany Trent

Purchased at RIVER RUN BOOKS in Portsmouth, NH:
Locke & Key Vol 5: Keys to the Kingdom by Joe Hill & Gabriel Rodriguez

From my friend Brad for Christmas:
Temeraire by Naomi Novik - first edition of the first Temeraire book, not yet titled His Majesty's Dragon
The Exorcist by William Blatty - another first edition!

And from our own dear Sarah for Christmas (who may have gone a little overboard on shopping this year!):
Building Stories by Chris Ware
Charles Dickens by Jane Smiley
From the Dust Returned by Ray Bradbury
Shelf Life edited by Greg Ketter
The Red House by Mark Haddon
Late Victorian Gothic Tales edited by Roger Luckhurst
God Save the Queen by Kate Locke
What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool
Inverted World by Christopher Priest
Souless Manga Vol 2 by Gail Carriger
City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
A loverly 1880s collection of 5 Charles Dickens stories that I don't already own
And I know there has to be more to this list from her, but I'm currently drawing a blank. It was such a whirlwind of books the night we opened gifts!

Overall, not a bad haul of books at all!

Whovians unite, indeed :) I couldn't even begin to answer that question - unlike many fans, I don't have much of a personal sense of adventure (plus not so much with the running, me) so I prefer to sit back and watch.

What a book haul! I love A Wizard of Earthsea and The Stress of her Regard. I also have The Alchemy of Stone to read--I've enjoyed the other two by her that I have read. And I've heard wonderful things about the Smiley biography. You are going to be BUSY! But in a good way. No stress!

>19 bluesalamanders:: I'm working on the running thing for this year. My one "big" goal that I've set for myself is to train to run the Princess Half Marathon at Walt Disney World in 2014, so I also like to think I'm in training for when the Doctor comes and whisks me away! =)

>20 ronincats:: Hi, Roni!! It's a loverly haul, isn't it? & I agree, busy in a good way. There are so many good books in that list, I had a hard time deciding where to start, but I'm working on Inverted World right now.

Did I get you City of Dark Magic? That wasn't in the Christmas gift pile. I thought the one I bought I gave to... me. Or did I buy two? Oh, never mind, it doesn't matter. Clearly I can't keep all the books straight, what with the flurry of book buying that was 2012.

But do you see how good I'm being right now? 3 days. No books. YOU have bought more books than I this year. Ha!

Pretty sure that won't last, but I'm loving it for the moment! :)

And, yes, we will have to help each other with the No Stress across the board. I'm in.

I'm happy to see you received Foundling! It's one I love and want everyone to read.

Sarah sent me His Majesty's Dragon for SantaThing. Have you already read it before? If not, LMK when you plan to, and maybe we can "group read" it just us, lol. Would be fun to discuss a book in real time. I have a feeling I won't get all the historical references.

>22 beserene:: Technically, you didn't buy me City of Dark Magic for Christmas, but you did buy it for me right before I left for Florida so that I could read it on the plane, so I'm counting that to the pile for the holidays. =D

>23 UnrulySun:: I have read His Majesty's Dragon, but it is SO GOOD I'll gladly join in on a group read of it again!

First book of the year, and not necessarily something I'm saying I'm proud that I read...



Incredible Change-Bots by Jeffrey Brown
3 stars

I'm almost embarrassed to say this is my first book of the year. I bought this sometime during the last couple of years, it got shuffled into a box during a move at some point, and I just found it again the other day. Basically, it's nothing more than one big parody of Transformers, especially the original 80s cartoon. It's not a great parody; it's not a terrible parody. There are some genuinely clever riffs on the original 80s cartoon, but it feels like it gets too bogged down in its own cleverness in other parts of the book. I personally can't see anyone who wasn't a fan of the cartoon from the 80s appreciating this at all, and even then it's more or less just a middle of the road caricature.

#2



Snow White by The Brothers Grimm, illustrated by Camille Rose Garcia
5 stars

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZRC1CnjDaQ8

I'm fairly certain everyone is familiar with the story of Snow White, so I'm not going to go into details about the story. What I am going to tell you, though, is you should go pick up this edition of Snow White! Right now!!

Camille Rose Garcia's art is so visually striking and unique, and the typographic design of the book really works with her art style to create something rather beautiful. I was first introduced to her style when I picked up the edition of Lewis Carrol's Alice in Wonderland that she illustrated a couple of years ago, and fell in love with her work then. I was thrilled when I found this new volume of Snow White at my local bookstore the other day, and am really hoping that she continues this partnership with HarperDesign and continues to illustrate more classic fairy tales. One book I'd particularly like to see in her vision is The Wizard of Oz. I'd be willing to bet she could create a truly stunning version of Oz and its inhabitants.

Check out the YouTube link above for some examples of Garcia's artwork and watch as she brings some of her illustrations for Snow White to life!

I've been meaning to pick that one up for a while. It does look oh so good.

It's amazing. I really love the entire thing, from her art to the art direction of the book. The Alice in Wonderland is just as good.

Love the artwork on that edition!

What a great acquisition of books. Now then, where will you put them all? Are you like me -- are they under your beds, in your closets, on various book shelves throughout the house? I also have some stored in my office at work.

I'm hopeless.

Nonsense, you are not hopeless, Linda. You are, in fact, full of hope. Book = hope. Therefore, you have lots. :)

Hello, David. It's been, what, 45 minutes since coffee? How's life? :D

David glad to see you back this year. I am also going to try and do a better job on LT this year.

Wow! That's some unique artwork right there. I'll definitely look out for it... does it get creepy? I like creepy, but not TOO creepy... there's a fine line between fascinating and disturbing... heh. Though, most fairy tales ARE disturbing, sooooo... *shrug*

#26: OK, I must be dense. What YouTube link, David? I am not seeing it.

Have a great Sunday!

>30 Whisper1:: Linda, I'll have to put some pictures up of my library sometime. I have a WHOLE ROOM dedicated to my loverly books. Plus, numerous other shelves about the house. I'll have to get the camera out this week and take some pics.

>31 beserene:: That right there, Sarah, is a perfect description of Linda! =) And believe it or not, I was actually able to go home and fall right to sleep. Sleep is a beautiful thing.

>32 bbellthom:: Bette, I am going to make it a point to be more active on the boards again! I love it around here. =)

>33 dk_phoenix:: Faith, watch the video at the end of this post. The art is creepy, but think more along the lines of Tim Burton creepy than truly disturbing creepy.

>34 alcottacre:: Stasia, that is because until you pointed it out, I didn't notice that I forgot to place the link for the YouTube video. So embarrassing. SO..... here is the link to aforementioned YouTube video where you can get a better idea of Camille Rose Garcia's art.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZRC1CnjDaQ8

#3



Building Stories by Chris Ware
5 stars

Chris Ware's Building Stories is a graphic novel presented in a boxed set of 14 connected but not connected stories, told through various types of formats. In the box you will find pamphlets of various sizes, a book that resembles an over-sized Golden Book, a couple of softcover books, one clothbound hardcover book, a newspaper, a board that resembles the board from a board game, and a handful of other layouts. Not one of these needs to be read in order as you find them in the box (even though that's how I read it), but as you read them, they all find a way to interconnect to tell a story greater than their individual parts, hence you're building the story.

Building Stories is the story about a three-flat apartment building in Chicago and the people that live there: the elderly landlady, the married/possibly not married couple on the second floor who never seem to be happy with each other, and an amputee who lives on the third floor, and chose to live there as a means of getting exercise due to her lost leg. There is nothing fanciful in these people's stories; there is nothing idyllic about their lives. If anything, this is the only complaint that I have with the story as a whole: nobody ever really seems to be happy. I know that Ware is trying to show people and their real lives, but as I finished reading, I was filled more with a morose feeling than anything else. Don't get me wrong, the emotions that Ware is able to pull from his simplistic art and bare dialogue is astonishing, I guess I just wish there was something of a "happy ending" in the book, even though there is no true ending per se. We see certain parts of the character's lives, but like any life that we witness from the outside, I still think there is so much more to the characters than what we have been shown. We are presented with snippets of their past and present, but we don't really know what their future holds, much like any person that we may know. I think I would be interested to see Ware revisit these characters in a couple of years, and show us where their lives took them.

I'm torn on whether I want to read anything else by Ware. There was such a pervading sense of melancholy throughout the entire collection, I don't know that I would trust anything else of his to not have that same feeling throughout. Yet, he presents these emotions so well that I think it would be a shame not to read something else of his again sometime. Maybe I just need to give myself some time to absorb everything from Building Stories before I move on to anything else of his, as I think this story is going to stick with me for some time.

i thought this was a cute video!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pdpKIjpaBU8

I love that video. I think I even pinned it a while back. It's so lovely.

PS: How are you doing with the Grimm stories?

That is a cute video, David!

#4



Gris Grimly's Wicked Nursery Rhymes by Gris Grimly
4 stars

I do love Gris Grimley's art, and his Gris Grimley's Wicked Nursery Rhymes is no exception. Here, Grimley takes familiar nursery rhymes such as "Little Miss Muffet" and "Jack Be Nimble" and turns them upside down, giving them a decidedly darker and twisted flavor. His accompanying illustrations are just as deliciously dark and twisted. These are definitely not your childhood nursery rhymes, but are perfect for anyone who enjoys things just a little bit macabre.

#5



Etiquette & Espionage by Gail Carriger
4.5 stars

I have been a huge fan of Gail Carriger since I first read Soulless several years ago, and have been following her Parasol Protectorate series. (Full disclosure here: I haven't actually finished the final book, Timeless, as I really don't want the series to end.) When I heard that she was going to be writing a YA series set in the same universe, I was thrilled. When I was given an opportunity to read an ARC of the book, I was beyond thrilled. I'm happy to report that Ms. Carriger has not let me down with this new series.

Sophronia Angelina Temminnick is, by all accounts, a tomboy in an era when such shenanigans by a female is frowned upon, at the very least. She likes to see how things work, she likes to be active, and she could care less about the finer points of civilized, ladylike behaviour. All in all, she's the bane of her mother's existence. Enter Mademoiselle Geraldine's Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. Sophronia's mother is hoping that sending Sophronia off to finishing school will help curb some of her more unappealing attributes.

Unbeknownst to her mother, Mademoiselle Geraldine's is not your typical finishing school, for Mademoiselle Geraldine's teaches its girls not only the finer points of ladylike behaviour, but also the finer points of subterfuge, seduction, poisoning, and various other talents necessary to a successful life of espionage. At first, Sophronia does not want to go to finishing school, until she discovers the underlying nature of Mademoiselle Geraldine's and finds that her particular skills help her to fit right in at the school.

One of the things that I liked most about Etiquette & Espionage is how Ms. Carriger works it into her preexisting universe. Taking place roughly 25 years before the events of the Parasol Protectorate, we find ourselves meeting the younger versions of some of the characters we're already familiar with. (I won't tell you who, as that's part of the fun!) I was curious how/if Ms. Carriger was going to tie these two series together, and I think she did an admirable job. If you come to Etiquette & Espionage already familiar with the Parasol Protectorate series, you'll find yourself recognizing some of the characters. If Etiquette & Espionage is your first outing with Ms. Carriger's characters, these younger versions stand perfectly well on their own, and you can use this book as a gateway drug into the more sophisticated world built in the Parasol Protectorate.

This draws me to the only fault I have with the book. The Parasol Protectorate is so witty and clever and sophisticated in so many ways, and knowing how Ms. Carriger is able to able to write, to see her scaling back on her sophistication to make it more palatable for a YA audience took me aback a little. I'm not even quite sure that that's the best way to put it. I can see all the hallmarks of her usual cleverness, but somehow it just didn't seem to hit the mark every time, and the book did seem rushed sometimes, as if she were forcing it to be shorter. Now, don't get me wrong, I was giggling through almost the entire book, but it did seem to be lacking something. Perhaps, being Ms. Carriger's YA debut, she needs time to grow into her YA voice, to get the pacing down and learn how to write a shorter story. I don't know. Maybe I'm analyzing too much. You can be sure that this one little thing won't be keeping me from picking up the rest of the series as it is released.

So, in my opinion, Ms. Carriger has proven that she can hold her own as a YA writer as well as an SciFi/Fantasy writer, and while there is the argument that there might a little room for improvement, she hasn't disappointed this reader at all. If you are a fan of the Parasol Protectorate, or are curious about Ms. Carriger's writing, I wholeheartedly recommend Etiquette & Espionage!

Etiquette & Espionage will be available from Little, Brown & Company on February 5, 2013.

I am still so green with envy that you got this ARC! I've already got it on pre-order.

I'm glad you liked it better than I. The points you make in it's favor are all fair, but it never approached my (possibly unfair) high expectations. I wanted to giggle and snort more and was sad that I didn't.

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed the new Carriger!!! I can see how it might take some time for her to grow into the YA voice, so I'll give her a little slack when I read it. :)

I admit that I haven't finished the Parasol Protectorate series either... I got stuck on the 4th book (it was moving reaaalllyyyy slooooowly...) but I heard the 5th book was fantastic, and I haven't read it as I don't want it to end either... but, hopefully I'll get to it this year. I definitely should. *sigh*

I couldn't read that whole review... because SOMEONE is just TAUNTING me with all this fancy-pants "I have an ARC" business. Hmph.

And for the record... HMPH.

Not that I am jealous. No. Never. Also, if your ARC goes missing, I have no idea where it went. None. Don't even ask me.

Well, if you blink all pretty-like, I could be persuaded to bring it with me tonight when I pick you up. ;-)

More taunting, I see. But that's okay, because you know if I get my hands on it you'll never see it again. Mwahahaha!

Hello David! Just stopping by to wish you a nice Saturday.

#6 Giant, Crazy Doctor Who-related post! You've been warned!!



A Big Hand for the Doctor by Eoin Colfer
4 stars

OK, so maybe not everybody that reads my blog (those few that do, thank you!) know this, but I am a HUGE Doctor Who fan. Possibly bordering on obsessed. It's hard for me to explain really, but the show makes me profoundly happy. I just love it. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the show, and I don't think there's a better time to be a fan of the show. So much is being done to celebrate the anniversary, and one of my favorites is a series of 11 new eshorts celebrating all 11 Doctors being written by some of the biggest names in young people's literature. Each eshort is going to be released on the 23rd of the month, with the eleventh story released on the 50th anniversary date, November 23. They are keeping each of the writers under wraps until early in the month of release for their story, so really, nobody knows who is writing which Doctor.

Eoin Colfer (of Artemis Fowl fame) was selected to write the First Doctor's story. In this new adventure, the Doctor is facing off against the Soul Pirates, a vile alien species that kidnaps children and harvests either their brain power to power their ship or their organs to repair themselves, allowing them to live inordinately long lives. The Doctor had been tracking them and wanted to put a stop to their evil ways, and along the way his granddaughter, Susan, is also kidnapped by the Soul Pirates, thereby making this a personal fight for the Doctor. What follows is a brief but exciting adventure as the Doctor does what the Doctor does best, saving the day.

(Full disclosure here: I've come at Doctor Who more with the New Who than the Classic Who. I remember watching Doctor Who in the late 70s/early 80s with Tom Baker, but I never really understood what I was watching, since I never saw a full story in a row. I've watched several of the William Hartnell stories now, but haven't seen them all.)

The First Doctor was portrayed by William Hartnell from 1963-1966, and his characterization of the Doctor was different from just about every regeneration of the Doctor that we've seen since. He's slightly grumpy, slightly curmudgeonly, and not very proactive. He was more of the think it through type rather than a call to arms type of Doctor, and I've read several reviews of this short that find fault in Eoin Colfer's First Doctor, as that is not necessarily the characterization that Colfer went with. Colfer's Doctor is a little more witty and adventurous than Hartnell's Doctor, and for hardcore Whovians, I can see where this would be a problem.

However, I think Colfer is creating a First Doctor for a new generation. Kids today, and especially their attention spans, probably wouldn't hold up well to Hartnell's characterization of the Doctor, so Colfer took the basic idea of the First Doctor and updated him a little bit. He still thinks things through, but he's a little more proactive in his execution of a resolution. He's still slightly grumpy, but has a certain wit that runs through that grumpiness. I've read complaints that the Doctor drops too many current references (Harry Potter, for instance). I'm sorry, but if he went around in this story only dropping references to things that happened in the 1960s when Hartnell was portraying him, kids today wouldn't understand those references. I think that's the point that many hardcore Whovians are missing, that these stories are written not for them, but for kids, and modern day kids, not kids in the 1960s. Maybe I'm wrong, and Colfer is actually doing a disservice to the memory of the First Doctor and William Hartnell, but for this reader, I think he did an admirable job of taking the old and making it new again.

Well, The Doctor is also a time traveler, so why in the world shouldn't he make Harry Potter references even though his stories were set mostly in the 1960s?

My impression of the series was that the modern authors are writing modern "twists" on each doctor. Not necessarily writing a story that would have been published in their respective decades. So I don't have a problem with the modern references.

I still haven't read mine yet, though. I'm not as familiar with the first few doctors so I'm not sure I'll recognize him in this one, but it should still be a fun story.

Considering that the first Doctor Who was meant to be a children's TV show... it makes sense that it would be updated in Colfer's imagining, at least to the point where he's relevant to adult readers! My father, who grew up watching Who from Ye Olden Days, may not know about these book releases... I should let him know, as it might be interesting to hear an opinion from an "original Whovian". (Though, he still hasn't forgiven Colfer for his Hitchhiker's installment, sooo... hmmm... *shrug*)

>50 leahbird:, 51, 52: THANK YOU! I just can't understand what all the dislike is for this particular story. I rather liked a slightly updated version of the First Doctor. Oh well. To each their own I guess. I thought it was a fun story. =)

I haven't posted pics of Sky here in a long time, so here are a couple of recent pics of my dog. =)







That adventurous puppy out on the frozen pond is Sky. I took her to my friend Kristin's house for a doggy play date with her two labs (they are in the foreground of the picture). Sky had a great time!

Dog! She's a pretty girl. :)

There's something about her expression in that second picture that just makes me giggle. Sky's a real beauty!

>55 UnrulySun:, 56: Thanks! She's a really great dog and makes me smile every day. =)

January Round Up

Books Read

8 books
1384 pages total
A solid mix of YA & Graphic Novels this month

Gender of author:
5 male, 2 female, 1 by both

Year of Publication:
1 - 2003
1 - 2007
3 - 2012
3 - 2013

Books Acquired

7 books total

1 hardcover purchased at store
1 graphic novel purchased at store
2 ebooks purchased thru iTunes
1 Kindle book purchased thru Amazon
1 hardcover was a gift
1 ARC

All were new and I read 3 of those

2013 Year to Date Total

Books Read: 8
Pages Read: 1384

Books Acquired: 7
Books Acquired Read: 3

Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples
3 stars

So, there's been a lot of buzz in the circles that I travel in about this series from Image Comics, but I just didn't get around to reading it yet. When my local comic shop, Clem's, announced a deal that they were going to run to get new readers in on the series where if you bought the collected edition of issues 1-6, they'd give you a free copy of issue 7, I thought I'd bite and take a chance on the series.

Well... I'm not as blown away by the story as I thought I'd be. Part SciFi Space Opera, part Fantasy, part Romeo & Juliet love story, Saga tells the story of Marko and Alana, each from opposite warring races who have fallen in love and have even had a child (no spoilers here, the child is born on page 2 of the first issue). What is interesting is Alana's race finds their power in technology, while Marko's race finds their power in magic, so their daughter is a mixture of this science and magic. What follows is Marko and Alana on the run from their respective governments and armies, bounty hunters, and in some cases the indigenous life of the planet they are on, trying to keep their daughter alive. I'm assuming that the daughter lives, as there are parts of the story that she is narrating as she remembers events.

Fiona Staples' artwork is excellent, and Brian K. Vaughan's writing is certainly up to his usual standards, there just wasn't a whole lot that happens in these first 6 issues, and I think what happened is that the story was just so hyped up for me prior to reading it, I think the series never had a chance to impress me all that much. I haven't read the free copy of issue 7 yet, and I'll more than likely pick up the second volume of the collected editions, as I'm curious enough to see where the cliffhanger in issue 6 takes them, but if there stands a strong chance that I may not read the series beyond that. It's not that it's a bad series, just not for me.

I really liked most of Y: The Last Man but the parts that I didn't like might actually keep me from picking up another BKV series. This one probably isn't the one to test that on...

>60 leahbird:: Yeah, I think the things that bugged me about Y: The Last Man are probably the same things that thru me off of this story, too. I can tell Brian K. Vaughan is a good writer, but his stuff just doesn't resonate with me all that much. Pride of Baghdad is the one exception to that rule. I found that story amazing, but it was a contained story. Maybe I just don't like how Vaughan deals with a story long-term.

(A re-read for me, as I'm going to work on reading the whole series)



Locke & Key, Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft by Joe Hill, art by Gabriel Rodriguez
4/5 stars

The first volume in Joe Hill's horror series from IDW Publishing, Locke & Key: Welcome to Lovecraft, sets up a nice storyline and some very interesting story concepts for future installments. The basic premise follows the Locke family, who has moved to the west coast trying to start a new life after the family has been attacked and the father, Renny Locke, is killed by some local high school students. The home that they move to in Lovecraft, Massachusetts, called Keyhouse, is a mansion with numerous doors and keys, and depending on which key you use, these doors open onto different realities or can change a person (in one case, into a ghost or in another, using the key will change your sex if you walk through a door). The house has apparently been in the family for decades, and Renny Locke's brother is the current resident of the house.

There is a ghost who lives in the well house who is unable to escape from the well house without the aid of the Anywhere Key, a key able to open any of the doors in Keyhouse to anywhere else the user wants to go. The well house ghost uses numerous means to escape, manipulating both the psychopathic high school student who murdered Renny Locke, and the youngest Locke child, Bode, to try to locate the Anywhere Key. Whether or not this ghost is benevolent is uncertain by the end of the story.

Joe Hill's writing is just creepy enough to give the story a real edge while at the same time not making it seem too far-fetched. Gabriel Rodriguez's art really captures the essence of the story.

I'm intrigued by how future volumes will play out, and I guess that's the important part; that the story has kept my attention enough to want to read more.

So far it's kept my interest!

What a lovely, lovely dog for a lovely, lovely man!

>63 drneutron:: Good to know! I've got the collected editions up thru volume 5, and I think that'll bring me close to current with the series.

>64 Whisper1:: Thank you, Linda!! Sky is a super dog. =)

So, I may have purchased a couple of books this weekend. Oops! So much for trying to keep my purchases under control!

I got:
The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes, illustrated by Laura Carlin (I had a coupon! Plus, it's The Iron Giant - I loved the movie and I've always wanted to read the book, and this was a loverly illustrated gift edition, plus Sarah practically FORCED me to buy it, because if I didn't, she would, and I couldn't have that!)
Justice League, Vol 2: The Villain's Journey by Geoff Johns, art by Jim Lee (I had another coupon! And I LOVE Jim Lee's art.)
Driving Blind by Ray Bradbury (It was used!)
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters by Ben H. Winters & Jane Austen (It was $1!)
Birds without Wings by Louis de Bernieres (Sarah bought this a couple weeks ago, and realized she already had it, so gave me this copy.)

I've already read two of those (Iron Giant and Justice League), so at least I'm trying to keep with the "If I buy, I read it" rule.

Great book haul. Few can write as well as Ray Bradbury. I haven't heard of Driving Blind. It is now on the tbr pile. Have you read The Illustrated Man? It is my favorite of his writings.

I haven't read the The Illustrated Man yet. I've got it at home. I'll add it to the TBR list for this year!

The Iron Giant by Ted Hughes, illustrated by Laura Carlin
4/5 stars

Well, this was certainly a pleasant surprise. I found this loverly illustrated gift edition at my local Indie the other evening, and I'm a huge fan of the film version directed by Brad Bird that was released several years ago so I thought I'd pick this edition up. While there are some significant changes from the book to the film (instead of saving a small town from an atomic bomb as seen in the movie, the Iron Giant helps save the Earth from a large space-dragon), the message of peace is still essentially the same. I can understand why Brad Bird made the changes to the movie that he did, as I don't think this version of the story would have translated well to film, but I like the story that Ted Hughes tells just as much. Taken on their own, each version of this story is excellent.

Nice! I'm most interested in the Justice League - which I'd probably not buy myself because I can never narrow them down, but am curious anyway. Whoa that sentence ran away from me.

>70 PensiveCat:: The New 52 titles from DC might be a good starting point for you, if you are interested in them, Pensive. DC just rebooted their entire line of comics to try to make them a little more accessible to new readers, as they originally had so much prior history originally. They all tell mostly the same back story as before, just updated a little to make them more "current". Make sense? (That whole response ran away from me! lol)

And having said that:

Justice League, Vol 2: The Villain's Journey by Geoff Johns, art by Jim Lee
4/5 stars

Well, I have to say that this arc was a large improvement over the previous arc from the first collected edition. Taking place a couple of years after the events in Origin, we are thrown right into the action as the League discovers that several of the villains they have fought in the intervening years have been attacked themselves and have been forced to give up what they know about the League and its weaknesses. What follows is an interesting study into what it means to have the powers that the League has and exactly what kind of good they have been using those powers for. They are forced to reexamine their role in the world as the villain, Graves, uses what he learns about their weaknesses against them. But why does Graves want to destroy the Justice League? That's the big mystery!

There are still some awkward story-telling moments, especially when referring to events that happened between Origin and this story, since to my knowledge, those events were never shown in any comics. Geoff Johns writing seems to be slightly tighter this time around, as he doesn't need to go through and re-introduce each character, which I found partly unnecessary. Jim Lee's art is astounding as usual, and the artists that stepped in to help finish up the issues all did admirable jobs themselves.

Overall, I felt this was a much better story than Origin, but it looks like right as Johns and Lee are hitting their stride with this book, they are handing off the reigns to another creative team and the book is being relaunched as Justice League of America. I'm not sure how that all plays out, but that's what the advertisements at the end of the volume seem to indicate. Either way, I think this is worth reading, and will probably pick up the next edition, just to see where this story is going now.

>71 tapestry100:: It actually does make sense!

Happy People-in-Love-Are-Annoying Day. I went a bit crazy with the great nerdy valentines this year and just made a whole pinboard for them. Check it out here, pick your favorite, and know it came straight from my shriveled heart!

>73 PensiveCat:: Good! I'm glad I wasn't too confusing. =)

>74 leahbird:: Love this idea! Thanks for sharing.

And now, all you loverly peoples, I'm heading off on vacation for a week and won't be back around here until Feb 26 or 27. I'm traveling to sunny Florida to spend a week with my family. Have a great week!!

You have a great vacation, David!

Have fun in Florida David! Bottle up some sun and send it to us.

I had a WONDERFUL time in Florida. I got to see almost my entire family (with the exception of just a handful of cousins) and spent a day at Walt Disney World with my sister. As usual, the trip went by far too quickly! I'll post some pics as soon as I get them off of my camera.

And remember, not even two months ago, when I said I was going to try to hold back on my book acquisitions this year? Yeah... that's not going so well. lol

Picked up at my local Indie the night of an Ally Carter signing (some are for future signings):
Heist Society by Ally Carter
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff (for a future signing)
The Tale of Halcyon Crane by Wendy Webb (for a future signing)
The Fate of Mercy Alban by Wendy Webb (for a future signing)
The Hunt by Andrew Fukuda
The Dog Stars by Peter Heller

These I picked up while I was on vacation (all were purchased at either the Goodwill bookstore in Sarasota or were remainders at either B&N or BAM):
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson
Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson
The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley
De Soto, Coronado, Cabrillo: Explorers of the Northern Mystery by David Lavender

Welcome back, David! Glad you had such a great time. Nice haul on the books, too.

Waiting anxiously for photos. I'm glad you had such a great time!!!!

Hopefully you did not return to snow and ice.

It is lovely to visit Florida in the winter months.

>79 ronincats:: Thanks, Roni!

>80 Whisper1:: I'll get pics up this afternoon, Linda. We had a snowstorm come in the day after I got home, but I had such wonderful weather while I was in Florida, I really didn't mind.

And I got some reading done this weekend. I've been reading almost only graphic novels this past month. February is always a down month for me. I know some other friends have the February blahs too. Hopefully with Spring in the air here (it's been lighter every morning when I go to work and I've been hearing birds in the morning!), I think my mood will improve and hence my reading will pick up, too. I did get one book read this weekend that wasn't a graphic novel, though: Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff. LeDuff will be signing at our Indie this week, so I wanted to read his book before I got to the signing:

Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff
4 stars

Well, that was a depressing book. Or was it? Charlie LeDuff, after years of living away from his hometown of Detroit, decides to move his family there when he feels that LA is becoming too crowded to raise his daughter safely. Obviously, my first reaction was thinking why he would think Detroit is a safer city than LA? Maybe it's because I live near Detroit and have been there and have seen the decline and fall of the city over the last couple of years. It's not like I go there on a regular basis, and it's not like it's ever been a really safe city to start off with, but over the last couple of years, you can clearly see the city struggling to better itself while at the same time falling apart at the seams. Maybe LeDuff really didn't know how bad things were when he decided to move home, but he certainly got a shock with how bad things are there, and through his journalist's eye, he takes us on a tour of some of the even less savory stories coming out of the city.

What he shows us is a city in far worst shape than I had imagined. There seems to be corruption at every level of government, huge corporations that can barely manage to keep themselves afloat, the police and fire departments are using outdated or damaged equipment, violence running rampant in the streets, people too poor to bury their dead and leave the bodies in the morgue until they can scrape enough money together for a cremation. One almost begins to feel that there is no hope for the city of Detroit, and I found myself wondering throughout the book why LeDuff, or anyone living in Detroit for that matter, doesn't just pack up and leave? In the end, thought, LeDuff shows us that there are still a handful of good people in Detroit, and that there is a glimmer of hope, however small, and that maybe this is why people stay. Or maybe it's because Detroit is all they know. Or maybe it's because they are too poor to move away and are simply stuck in their situation. Sounds hopeless, right? That's how LeDuff's book is: It gives us a taste of something maybe good in the town, yet there is always something bad right around the corner to take it away.

Personally, there's nothing redemptive for me about LeDuff's book. I feel like they should close down the city, move the people away, and let nature continue its reclamation. But where would the people go? Would their lives be bettered in any way by moving them to a new home? It's hard to say, but much like LeDuff tries in his way to do some good, I feel something should be done to the city.

Anyway, I don't know that this is necessarily a hard book to read. LeDuff writes his book in much the same way I imagine he writes his columns for various news outlets: the sentences are short, to the point, and filled with what I perceive as journalistic tropes. But LeDuff gets his point across. I'm not really sure what the point is, as there seems to be no conclusion to his narrative, but I felt like I understood Detroit a little better after reading this book.

Hi honey! Catching up a few threads at a time. Interesting review of the LeDuff... I'm geeked for the reading this week. :)

Finally some pics from my trip to Florida!


A lovely day at the Myakka State Park


My sister and my uncle


Me at the Magic Kingdom


Entrance to the Be Our Guest restaurant


Spaceship Earth at EPCOT

More pics!


Haunted Mansion at Magic Kingdom


Entrance to the new Little Mermaid ride


Pete's Dragon float from the Main Street Electrical Parade


Night shot of the castle


Me and my sister in front of the castle

Great pictures, David!

Looks like you had a great time, David!

Haha the pics are great!! I like Pete's Dragon, I hadn't seen him before in the parade.

You picked up some good books, too!

>86 ronincats:-87: Thanks for stopping by. We had such a great time in Florida!!

In other news, I'll be running my first ever race this weekend, the Get Lucky 7K in Chicago. Wish me luck and I'll post some pics up next week. =)

Good Luck on the race, 7K seems very far. Let us know how you do.

Delta of Venus by Anaïs Nin
3 stars

Well, quite frankly, Delta of Venus was not for me. I think part of the problem was in reading the foreword that explains how Nin came to be writing erotica, and knowing that she was purposefully trying to be over the top and push the envelope, I found these stories to be neither erotic nor titillating (not that erotica is supposed to be titillating, but I think you get the idea). Instead, I found myself giggling and rolling my eyes more often than not when reading the stories. Perhaps if I didn't know her reasons for writing them beforehand, I would have approached the book differently? Who knows. As a book club pick for my book group, this was a good selection that created some great discussion, but I don't think I would actively pursue more of her erotica in the future on my own.

Have a good time with the 7k. Do you run at all or is this a sink or swim moment for you?

What a funny choice for a book club!

>92 UnrulySun:: We have a rather eclectic group of readers in our group, so our choices are usually rather eclectic as well. We went from high fantasy, mannerpunk, Gormenghast, to erotica, Delta of Venus, to our current selection, Auntie Mame. It makes for interesting conversations! =)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce
3.5 stars

William Joyce's The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore is a charming picture book about the love a man, Mr. Morris Lessmore, has for his books and stories, and how in turn those books and stories love him in return. Unfortunately, after having seen the animated short that also tells this same story before I read the book, I don't feel that the book does its own story justice, so I'm also including the animated short, so that you can enjoy it just as much as I do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vftMo1-cfWE

Mannerpunk?

I love LOVE that short and probably adored the book for that reason alone. This is certainly not a case where the book is better than the film, but a book about the love of books sparks something in me that a film, even a spectacularly wonderful one, can't.

>95 rosalita:: Mannerpunk is named from comedy-of-manners plus magic/fantasy. You could call if fantasy-of-manners, but why not add "punk"? (ok, so the name is a little bit of a joke.)

If you are reading a book that is like Jane Austen with magic, or that is fantasy about people climbing social ladders rather than people killing monsters, you probably are reading mannerpunk. It has a lot of crossover with steampunk but the settings tend to be regency-ish or even late-renaissance-ish, rather than Victorian.

>95 rosalita:, 97: Thanks for the explanation on mannerpunk, Sarah. I hope that makes more sense for you, rosalita. =)

>96 leahbird:: Oh, don't get me wrong, I think the book is loverly. I just think the movie adds so much more to the story!

Here are some pics from my race a couple weekends back, the Get Lucky 7K in Chicago.

There were a LOT of people there! (1791 participants in the 7K, and somewhere over 1400 in the 1/2 marathon) - and did I mention it was C.O.L.D.?! Because it was about 30, with a wind chill of negative arctic!! It turns out they had warmer temps at the Polar Dash that took place in January. Go figure.


My friend Liz and I during the race. This is my FAVOURITE pic from the day!!


Liz and me after the race with our medals. I finished in 1:09:21.


A close-up of the bling, and my green fingernails.

Ohmigosh!! That looks like fun! You guys are adorable. :D What a neat medal. How did you feel (besides like a Davidcicle)?

Great pictures, David, and congratulations!

Well done, David! That is a very cool medal indeed.

Aack, David! I promised I would see you soon on December 30 and then I haven't been back.

*hangs head in shame*

I'm so sorry, but I do have to assure you that I have pretty much neglected everyone equally, and hope to be able to spend more time on LT... at some point (I am taking advantage of spring break to visit more at the moment).

GREAT pics of Florida and of the Get Lucky 7K!

Locke & Key, Vol 2: Head Games, Locke & Key, Vol 3: Crown of Shadows, Locke & Key, Vol 4: Keys to the Kingdom, Locke & Key, Vol 5: Clockworks by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodriguez

Well, this series has gotten nothing but better as it has gone along. I've been thoroughly impressed with Hill's writing and Rodriguez's art right along. They haven't lost anything in the storytelling and haven't weakened in their storytelling either. One of the things that I was worried about is that at some point they would lose their momentum, but five volumes in and that hasn't happened yet.

In Volume 2, Head Games, the kids are still recovering from the events at the end of Welcome to Lovecraft, events that may brought back a lot of memories that they were trying to forget. Kinsey and Tyler find some companionship in their new friend Zack, not realizing Zack's dark secret or intentions. Bode finds a new key, and as they start to uncover the secrets of this new game, Zack starts to become a little too recognizable for his liking.

Volume 3, Crown of Shadows, finds more secrets and more revelations in the background about Dodge and more keys. This volume deals a little bit more with the emotional impact prior events have had on each of the members of the Locke family. I really found these issues handled well in this volume, especially watching Kinsey after her change in the previous volume.

Volume 4, Keys to the Kingdom, was a series of shorter stories that all tied into the Key house and what is happening with the various characters. While not necessarily on complete story throughout the entire volume, each of these stories still successfully moves the story along.

I was concerned about going into Volume 5, Clockworks, as I'd heard that this was mostly a background story, and I wasn't exactly sure how a volume dedicated almost entirely to background was going to help move the story along, but holy crap was I wrong! I think this might be the best volume so far. We learn about the history of the Locke family, the Keys, Key house, the purpose of the villain behind everything (SPOILERS! - which ties directly in the title of the first volume). It just all came together amazingly well.

Needless to say, you won't find much about the actual story in this review, because it's almost impossible to talk about the story without giving anything away, as Hill seems to find a way to tie in almost every plot thread one way or another into all of the story. What I can say, is that this is completely worth reading and might be one of the better graphic novels you'll find. If you're not a fan of horror or of violence, this might not be the best series for you, but if you can stomach it, this is a fantastic series. I'll definitely be picking up the final volume when it's released.

Happy (creepy) reading!

Yeah, me too. This series is the one that got me back into graphic novels in a big way

The Locke & Key series looks like fun. I really needed a good GN rec, thanks!

Love the Disney pics above! I'm heading there with El Husbando in May for our 5th Anniversary... we took our honeymoon there and on the first day he said "we're coming back here for our 5th!" and thus it shall be. It's great to just be there and feel like a kid (not that I don't act like one every day of my life anyway...).

As for your book acquisitions, no judging here. I planned to do the same, but... yeah, I broke that rule pretty quickly. *facepalm*

>100 UnrulySun:: You know, I felt pretty good, all things considered. I didn't run the entire thing - I'm not quite there yet. Liz and I ran/walked the whole thing, but it was my first, and like Liz said, we weren't there to win it, we were there to prove we could do it. And we did. =)

>101 ronincats:: Thanks, Roni!

>102 rosalita:: Thank you! I thought the medal was great! Now, on to the next one!!

>103 AMQS:: Hi Anne! No worries. I hope you've been doing well! (and honestly, I've too been neglecting LT a lot lately myself - something I'd really like to work on).

>105 drneutron:: Hi Jim! Thanks for stopping by. I read a lot of graphic novels, but this one is by and far one of the best series that I've read in a LONG time. I'm anxious to see how they are going to wrap everything up.

>106 UnrulySun:: Kathy, I'd really recommend this one. It's a little on the violent side at times, but if that doesn't bother you, absolutely give it a go.

>107 dk_phoenix:: ohmygosh, Faith! There is so much new cool stuff going on at Walt Disney World now! I can't wait to hear about your trip. They have been making improvements all over the park and are working on a HUGE Fantasyland expansion. If you can make it, try to have lunch and/or dinner at the Be Our Guest restaurant - it's just fantastic. And as for book acquisitions...... I did so well at the beginning of the year, but by February I couldn't hold myself back any longer! Books MUST be purchased!!! lol

OH! I forgot - a couple of new book acquisitions, but I bought these on my birthday for myself, so they don't really count. Yeah. That's what I'm telling myself....

Black Feathers by Joseph D'Lacey - I don't know a thing about this book, but I liked the cover.
The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi - This one has been on my wishlist for quite some time now, and it was used.
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
Doctor Who Character Encyclopedia

Also, with a gift certificate I got for my bday I bought:
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken - Someone on here mentioned this book, and now I can't remember who or where it was mentioned.
Sever by Lauren DeStefano
Delirium Stories: Hana, Annabel, and Raven by Lauren Oliver

Yay books!!!

#26



Doctor Who: The Spear of Destiny: Third Doctor by Marcus Sedgwick

Marcus Sedgwick tackles The Third Doctor in this latest Eshort celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who. The Doctor and Jo are trying to recover (or steal, depending on how you want to look at it), a mysterious spear in a museum before it falls into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, somebody already has their eye on the spear, and the Doctor decides to try his hand at some time-traveling subterfuge to make sure that he secures the spear before anyone else.

Of course, nothing goes right, and Jo and the Doctor are captured, and then escape, and are captured again, and run here and there, trying to escape again. Good lord, there is a lot of running about in such a short story. I know the Third Doctor did a lot of running about in the show, but I guess it just comes across differently when you're watching it on a screen as opposed to reading it on a page. Speaking of the nods to the show, this short is chockablock with them: U.N.I.T., the Brigadier, Bessie, the Doctor's 70s fantastic wardrobe. Sedgwick certainly made sure he ticked everything off the Third Doctor checklist. I'm not complaining! He did a great job with the story, it just seemed like all the things from the Third Doctor were in this short. Good job him for pulling it off!

Possible Spoilers!
Something else that I've noticed, and I don't know if this was something that the authors were expected to do with these shorts, but so far each author has tied his story into either a previous historical event, a literary event, or some kind of mix of the two. Eoin Colfer let the First Doctor and his adventure be an inspiration for a certain literary character from J.M. Barrie; Michael Scott clearly borrowed many elements from H.P. Lovecraft for his adventure with the Second Doctor; and now with his adventure for the Third Doctor, Marcus Sedgwick tries to tie together the fabled Spear of Destiny with Norse mythology. I wonder if this is a continuing theme we'll see as the series of Eshorts will continue, or if these were simply one-off coincidences.
End of Possible Spoilers!

The Third Doctor was portrayed by Jon Pertwee from 1970-74. Pertwee's Doctor had been exlied to Earth by the Time Lords, so for the first time we see the Doctor dealing with the same cast of characters and the same locale (Earth) episode to episode. He was a much more adventurous Doctor that had been portrayed, and liked to play with all sorts of vehicular gadgets. I guess since he was locked to one location, they had to come up with something to make the Doctor fun, so throwing a bunch of super-spy tropes the like of which were popular with James Bond made sense.

I'm proud to announce that my cousin, Heather Trefethen, released her debut novel on Amazon this week, Love to the Women. I'll be posting up a review of it soon! =)

Here's a look at the cover for her book:



And the description:

Thematically reminiscent of Harry Chapin’s “Cat’s in the Cradle”, Love to the Women tells the story of senior architect Steve Sheridan who, in an effort to provide for his family, ends up nearly losing them.

Everything always seemed perfect to Steve, right down to his girls’ matching outfits and his wife’s basic black dress. Upon retirement, however, his dreamlike image quickly becomes a nightmare as Donna, his eldest, embarks on one pre-wedding rampage after another while her sisters, Ruth and Penny, wage their own separate battles. Even Jayne, his wife, seems a stranger. In a quiet moment of epiphany, Steve painfully realizes that although he’d always held faithfully onto his love for his women, his new purpose has to be to regain their love for him.

Filled with a variety of rich characters that leaves you smiling and laughing, caring and crying, Love to the Women promises not to disappoint as Steve and the Sheridan women all learn what it truly means to provide.

Thanks to our very own Linda for bringing this book to my attention!



Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
4 stars

Mo LoBeau, 11 years old and rising sixth grader, is smart, sassy, spunky, and ready to take on the world. After washing into Tupelo Landing, NC, 11 years ago during a hurricane and raised by the Colonel and the eccentric Miss Lana and helping to run their café, Mo didn't think her summer was going to be any different than any other, spending time with her best friend Dale and continuing to search for her Upstream Mother. That was before the murder. And the kidnapping. And the bank robbery. And Detective Starr. And Dale becoming the prime suspect in the murder. And another hurricane.

This is a laugh-out-loud funny books in some parts. Mo and Dale's friendship is hysterical, and their banter back and forth is some of the funniest bits in the book. Mo's no-nonsense sensibility is great.I really liked Turnage's message that sometimes family doesn't have to come from blood; the people around you and who care about you and take care of you can be just as strong a family as your biological one, sometimes more so. That may have been the best bit of the book for me, the care, understanding, and love that the Colonel and Miss Lana have for Mo.

I've heard that Sheila Turnage is working on a sequel to Three Times Lucky, and I'll be sure to be picking that up when it comes out to read more of Mo's adventures.

Highly recommended!

I think you're thread is trying to hint to me about something because it always bounces up to your Disney trip pictures when I click on it, when it should go to the first unread post. It's very weird, especially since my sister has been trying to get me to plan a trip there with her (well, there and Harry Potter World).

Oh, s--t, another book bullet with Three Times Lucky.

Hi David! I just ordered Three Times Lucky for both of my libraries -- can't wait to read it. Terrific review!

The Wolves of Willoughby Chase was an absolute favorite of mine when I was young. I read it maybe last year...? aloud to my girls, and was delighted that they loved it too (and that I loved it just as much as I remembered). There's an illustration from it on top of my current thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/151217

>114 leahbird:: lol - Every time I click into the thread, it takes me there too! Maybe my thread is trying to tell everyone to head to Walt Disney World. =)

>115 ronincats:: Roni, I think you'd like it. It's really quite a charming little book.

>116 AMQS:: I was actually surprised that my library didn't have Three Times Lucky and it needed to be shipped in from another library for me. I think it would be a great addition for any library. And I'm looking forward to The Wolves of Willoughby Chase. I'll be moving that up in the TBR pile, I think.

And now on to a review!

Love to the Women by Heather Trefethen
5 stars

OK, first off, full disclosure. Heather is my cousin. She came to me to be a beta reader for her book, and I broke my one rule for reviewing: never review something by a family member/friend. Firstly, because I don't want to be biased in my reading, and no matter how bad something could be, say it's the greatest thing ever, just because I know the writer personally. Secondly, because if something really is bad, I don't want to tell somebody I care about that they have written something bad. But, I know Heather, and I know how hard she's worked at being a writer, and I know it took a lot for her to make that leap of faith and ask somebody to read her work and quite frankly, I was honored that she asked me, so I said yes. I tried to be very subjective when I read that first draft of Love to the Women, and you know what? I loved it. I offered what I hope was some good, constructive criticism on that first draft, but she was telling a damned good story.  So there you have it, full disclosure on how I came at Love to the Women.

Now, on to a proper review.

Steve Sheridan has lived in London the last couple decades, working as a senior architect in a firm there, while his wife and three daughters lived in the States. He's always provided for them, and tried to give them everything they wanted, trying to make up for the fact that he wasn't at home, making a living abroad. When it is Steve's time to retire and move home for good, the idyllic life that he has had pictured at home with his family proves to be anything but. His daughters each have their own struggles that they are going through, self-imposed or otherwise, and his wife has been struggling harder than he realized to hold their family together. Over the course of that first summer back home, we watch as Steve's family falls apart, little by little, but by the power and love that is found in his family, they are able to pull through and find a happy place in their lives. It may not be the idyllic family life that Steve had imagined, but it turns into the kind of family life that he needed.

The characters are all vivid and Heather has done a great job bringing them to life and fleshing them out, imperfections and all, and their actions and reactions seem genuine. She paces the story along nicely, not rushing anything, letting the story tell itself. This is a great debut novel and I'm excited to see what else Heather will be writing in the future.

If you'd like to pick up a copy of Love to the Women, you can order a copy of the paperback on Amazon here or download a Kindle edition here.

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
2.5 stars

Well, that was fairly disappointing.

Alas, I really dislike writing reviews like this, but it is what it is. I wanted to like Daughter of Smoke and Bone. In fact, at the start of the book, I loved Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I did! There are fantastic characters, fantastic world-building, fantastic story-telling, everything that I like in a book seemed to be here, so I was pretty pumped. Karou, our heroine, is smart and sassy, while Brimstone and the other Chimera are great foils for her. The mystery surrounding her past is just intriguing enough to keep my attention; the errands that Brimstone has Karou running for him just as mysterious (what are the teeth for?). The banter back and forth between Karou and her best friend, Zuzana, is laugh out loud funny in parts. Even the city around Karou, Prague, takes on a life of its own and practically becomes a character unto itself. I loved it all.

And then Akiva, the love interest, is introduced into the story, and as far as I'm concerned, this is where the book falls apart completely for me.

As soon as Akiva shows, it's off to romance-trope, purple-prose land, and it was endless. Chapters and chapters of "moonlight in his eyes, starbursts in my chest" sort of writing. For me at least, it ripped me right out of the story and made the second half of the book arduous at best. I think if the entire second half of the book had been written more like the first half, I would have been fine with it. Even if it remained the same, but was at least trimmed down a little so that it didn't go on and on for chapters of pining for Akiva...

Anyway, I can see the potential of a fantastic story here. The world-building is really strong, and I think Karou is definitely a better character without Akiva (and not to spoil too much, but given the way Daughter of Smoke and Bone ends, there is a little hope for the follow up, Days of Blood and Starlight - even though that title doesn't fill me with much confidence). However, if Days of Blood and Starlight ends up like Daughter of Smoke and Bone, I'm going to be hard-pressed to continue on with the story (I'm assuming this is a trilogy, since almost all YA fantasy is a trilogy these days).

So, there it is. A fantastic book that completely loses itself in its over-the-top love story. Laini Taylor is a great writer. Her imagery is vivid and her prose is fluid, but I just feel like the second half of the book got away from her and carried her along in its excessiveness. I'll definitely give her a try again, and more than likely it'll be with the next book in this series, but I'm hoping she can rein in the purple prose a little.

And a word on the audio production. I really think this was the saving grace for me for this book. Khristine Hvam does such a bang up job with her narration. She handles all of the characters perfectly, and she is clear and easy to understand. I really think that if I had been reading this book, I would have given up well before the end, but Hvam does such an admirable job narrating the book, I was able to stick with it. I will definitely be listening to the next book in the series as opposed to reading it, as she is narrating that one as well.

I agree with you on Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I enjoyed it as fluff, but it was really 2 different books. The first one was pretty amazing, but the second part spoiled it. I'd MUCH rather have read more in the first half, since the world-building was so unique and Karou's story interesting. After we find about her past, I was more creeped out than enraptured by the romance.

I third you guys regarding Daughter of Smoke and Bone as well--couldn't agree with you more!

>120 UnrulySun:, 121: I'm glad I'm not alone in my thoughts on Daughter of Smoke and Bone. According to one of my friends, I have no soul since I didn't like the second half of the book... lol

Ragnarök: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt
2/5 stars

This is my second or third time with A.S. Byatt and I think it's clear her writing is just not for me.  I tried reading Possession years ago, and it seems that there was something else of hers that I tried reading and just couldn't get into. At least I finished Ragnarök: The End of the Gods.

This retelling of the Norse mythology is viewed through the eyes of a young girl (a stand-in for Byatt herself) who has been moved to the countryside during the German Blitz of London in World War II. She is given a book of Norse mythology, and we experience her reactions to reading the Norse myths. I don't know what I was expecting out of this book, but this wasn't it. Perhaps I was looking for a retelling of the myths? A re-imagining? Reading about a girl reading about the myths, regardless of how they make her look at the world around her, just didn't work for me.

Byatt's writing is beautiful, don't get me wrong. She does have a way with words that is nothing short of lyrical, but I can't get into the flow of her writing. For the right person, I imagine this book would be amazing. Unfortunately, I am not that person.

If a Stranger Approaches You by Laura Kasischke
5/5 stars

Laura Kasischke continually impresses me with her writing. From my first experience with her writing, The Life Before Her Eyes, to this latest volume, her first collection of short fiction, she has continued to grow in her storytelling ability. Truthfully, I don't usually enjoy short fiction. For me, there is never enough time to become invested in the characters or what if happening to them before the story is over and I'm usually left wanting more. Kasischke, however, proves that she is just as capable of writing short fiction as she is novels, and also left me wanting more, but in a completely different fashion. While usually I fell there isn't enough in a short story to make it worth my while, Kasischke's story make me feel like there is almost too much, and that each of these stories could easily be fleshed out into a longer, more involved story, yet they work perfectly as they are.

I took down some brief notes on each story as I was reading them, so I will just copy those here:

Mona - "First story in and I'm reminded why Laura Kasischke is one of my favorite authors. Eerie."
Memorial - "Haunting"
Melody - "Obsessive love crazy"
Our Father - "This has to be an idea for a longer story. There is so much potential here!"
Somebody's Mistress, Somebody's Wife - "What the what?! I don't even understand and I love it. This is particularly what I'm enjoying most about these stories: sometimes they make no sense whatsoever, and I'm good with that."
Joyride - "A love story. Of sorts."
The Foreclosure - "Obsessive craving meets ghost story."
Search Continues for Elderly Man - "Death can come visiting in many forms."
The Barge - "Probably my least favorite of the collection. Not even sure how to explain anything about the story."
You're Going to Die - "The relationship between a parent and child is not always loving."
The Flowering Staff - "Family isn't always something that needs to be shared."
The Prisoners - "Again, another story that has a lot of potential to become something more."
I Hope This is Hell - "Sometimes you just need to get away from your life."
The Skill - "Knowing you can take a life and knowing when not to."
"If a Stranger Approaches You about Carrying a Foreign Object with You onto the Plane" - "Everyone has heard this phrase at the airport. But what if it really happens to you?"

Kasischke is a skilled artist at taking the mundane, everyday world and skewing it just enough to keep it recognizable but totally foreign. There is a disturbing familiarity to the world in her writing, yet parts are so strange that they almost seem like a dream, and these stories are no exception. There is a common thread of loneliness or despair throughout, but in some ways, I almost think these stories in some ways speak to our times. I don't know, maybe I'm reading too much into it, but even though these stories do seem a little skewed and not entirely grounded in reality, there is still an element of truth to them.

Highly recommended!!

April 2013 Recap

Books Read

11 books finished

Glitter and Doom: A Masque of the Red Death Story by Bethany Griffin
Doctor Who: Summer Falls by Amelia Williams
Batman, Vol 2: The City of Owls (The New 52) by Scott Snyder, art by Greg Capullo, et al.
Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage
Ragnarök: The End of the Gods by A.S. Byatt
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
Cursed Pirate Girl by Jeremy Bastian
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis
Doctor Who: Roots of Evil: Doctor Who Fiftieth Anniversary Eshorts - Fourth Doctor by Philip Reeve
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

2344 pages total

Gender of author:
6 male, 5 female

Year of Publication:
1 - 1925
1 - 1955
1 - 1990
1 - 2011
3 - 2012
4 - 2013

Books Acquired

13 books total
1 new paperback purchased thru BN.com
1 Kindle book purchased thru Amazon
11 new paperbacks thru Amazon (11 Doctor Who 50th Anniversary paperbacks)

1 has been read

2013 Year to Date Totals

Books Read:39
Pages Read: 6952

Books Acquired: 59
Books Acquired Read: 15

David, I am very disappointed. As the only overlap this month is with Girl of Fire and Smoke (with which I agreed with you), The Great Gatsby (which I read so long ago I don't remember anything about it), and Good Omens, which happens to be one of my favorite books, I immediately scrolled up thinking I had missed your review of the last. But NO, there IS no review, none at all. I am desolate.

Come to think of it, I have read Auntie Mame as well. But no review of that either. *taps toe impatiently*

Oh, I want to know what you thought of Good Omens as well. Even though I own two copies, I just bought the ebook in case I need emergency reading. ;)

>127 leahbird: LOL I did exactly the same thing!

>126 ronincats:, 127: Not to worry! Reviews coming!! This is actually about the third or fourth time that I've read each of these. They are some of my FAVORITES! I read Auntie Mame for my book group discussion (it was my turn to choose) and Good Omens because I was giving it out for World Book Night.

I'm currently reading NOS4A2 by Joe Hill and came across one of the finest quotes ever to describe a library:

"She breathed deeply of the scent of decaying fiction, disintegrating history, and forgotten verse, and she observed for the first time that a room full of books smelled like dessert: a sweet snack made of figs, vanilla, glue, and cleverness."

Oh, I do like that quote. Okay, you are forgiven as long as the reviews pop up SOON!

Love that quote! Figs. :D

Hello Dear One

I love the Disneyworld photos. And, by the way, you and your sister look very much alike.

Your photos made me smile.

Hugs -- big ones! I am so glad you liked Three times Lucky. It is so very special and poignant.

>130 ronincats:: Roni, I PROMISE they will be up within the next couple of days!

>131 UnrulySun:: Kathy, isn't it great?

>132 Whisper1:: Linda, I read on her website that she is working on a follow up on Three Times Lucky, so I'll be reading that for sure!! Hugs back to you!!!

This weekend, me, Sarah and a couple of other friends drove down to Dayton to meet Joe Hill !!!

Very cool!

Very cool indeed! Was it a book signing, or did you just knock on his door at home?

>135 drneutron:, 136: It was a book signing in Dayton that I drove down to so that I could meet him. He actually lives over in New Hampshire, so my sister usually goes to his signings for me over there (she lives in Portland). I was pretty excited he was coming close enough to me that I could go see him! (It was about a 4.5 hour drive down there for us).

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
5/5 stars

sigh

I love this book! I really do. It's one of those books I'll pull off the shelf every couple of years to read, and giggle all the way through each and every time, because it's just that funny. Realistically, you'd think a story about the Apocalypse really wouldn't be that funny, but the such capable hands as those of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, it's laugh out loud hysterical.

Aziraphale (the angel protecting the Garden of Eden) and Crowley (once known as Crawley, the infamous snake of Eden) have been living comfortably in modern times, having become fast friends after the whole Adam and Eve thing. When it comes time for the Apocalypse to take place, they decide to maybe try to put it off a couple more years, since they rather like living in the human world. Unfortunately, there was a mix up with the Antichrist when he was born (Warlock, who is thought to be the Antichrist, is a wildly normal young boy, while the real Antichrist, Adam Young, is living in the English countryside with his wildly normal family, not having any idea as to his true nature), and now there is a race on to find the real Antichrist before everything basically goes to hell. The Four Horsemen are trying to find the Antichrist (Pollution has replaced Pestilence since penicillin was discovered), Aziraphale and Crowley are looking for him, and meanwhile all the incredibly accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter are coming true. And what do the Tibetans and aliens have to do with anything?

I think part of what makes the story so funny is that it doesn't try to take itself seriously at all. Gaiman and Pratchett never try to take the story farther that what it is, a comedy, and don't try to make anything really philosophical about it, so regardless of your actual beliefs or feelings about the Apocalypse, this story would be accessible to you and still funny. It is full of Gaiman and Pratchett's trademark wit and cleverness, even though it was written respectively early on in their careers, so it's not always a polished as it could be, which is also part of its charm

If you're looking for something that you don't really need to think too much about and is funny and clever, I really can't recommend Good Omens enough. Read it. You won't be disappointed!

I need to re-read 'Good Omens' now! I adore that book so much. It's a real bucket of giggles.

>139 rosalita:: Isn't it a great book?

Doctor Who: The Roots of Evil: Fourth Doctor by Philip Reeve
3/5 stars

Philip Reeve takes on The Fourth Doctor in this latest Eshort celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who. The Doctor takes Leela, who has been missing trees and nature, to the Heligan Structure, a genetically engineered tree that humans used to terraform uninhabited planets for their use. The Heligan Structures are basically the size of a small moon, so this is a fairly large tree.

Upon their arrival, they almost immediately encounter Ven (short for Vengeance-Will-Be-Ours-When-The-Doctor-Dies-A-Thousand-Agonizing-Deaths), a youth living in the Heligan Structure. It turns out that there is an entire colony living in the Heligan Structure and for some reason all the inhabitants of the Heligan want the Doctor dead...


The problem here of course, is that what they are upset with Four about hasn't happened for him, as he discovers a carving of Eleven in the Heligan Structure. So Eleven was around in their past, but this hasn't happened to Four yet, who is now visiting in their future and his present. Time travel is so tricksy. The bit I didn't really like about this is that I feel that we only got half a story. It's explained, but quickly, what happened with Eleven in the past, but I still only feel like I got half a story out of the whole thing, that Four worked it out much to quickly and hence I don't really feel there was much substance to this particular Eshort. Reeve handled his portrayal of Four fine enough, but as an overall story, I think this one has been the most disappointing of the lot so far for me.
End of Spoilers!

The Fourth Doctor was portrayed by Tom Baker from 1974-81, the longest tenure of an actor as the Doctor yet. Baker's Doctor may be one of the most recognizable of the Doctors, especially in the Classic Who set, what with his long scarf and fondness for jelly babies. After Three's exile on Earth, Four took well advantage of his ability to travel in space and time and had some really grand adventures. Four was my first experience with Doctor Who when I was a kid, so he has always had a special place in my heart.

Nice spoiler alert, dear. :D

I am not even going to pretend that I am going to catch up to the 100+ messages I was behind!

Now THAT was a review of Good Omens worth waiting for!!

>142 beserene:: Of course it is!!

>143 alcottacre:: I'm just happy to see you stop by! Hope you've been doing well. =)

>144 ronincats:: Thanks!

Has anybody around here read Finnikin of the Rock? I've been slogging my way through the audiobook version, and am just about halfway, and NOTHING HAS HAPPENED YET. A friend keeps telling me to stick with it, that it is /amazing/, but I haven't seen that happen yet. Unless something /amazing/ happens by the end of this book, I'm NOT going on to the rest of the series...

Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade by Patrick Dennis
5 stars

Auntie Mame: An Irreverent Escapade is one of my favorite books. I stumbled on the reprint edition when it came out in 2001 at my local Barnes & Noble, and the cover caught my eye (yes, I did judge this book by its cover, and I'm so glad that I did, since it caused a love affair with Mame that has lasted for twelve years now). Every couple of years, I need a Mame fix and I pull the book off the shelves and reacquaint myself with all the characters and madcap adventures found within (as well as the sequel, Around the World with Auntie Mame.

This current read was done with my book group (I'll be honest: this was my first selection for the book group, which had already been established when they invited me to join, and I was a little concerned how the book would be received. I'm happy to report that it was a rousing success with everyone!), so it was interesting to have three fresh perspectives on the book, as sometimes after so many readings, some of the finer nuances get lost in the sheer delight of rereading a favorite book (at least it does for me).

Mame herself, quite naturally, was the name reason for everyone enjoying the book. Starting off in the Roaring 20s, we watch as Mame's fortunes wax and wane with the Stock Market crash of the late 1920s, and how she struggles to keep her little make-shift family together, which she does through her own indomitable will. Told through the eyes of her nephew, Patrick, we watch as Mame raises him to the best of her ability, and while her techniques for raising a child may not be orthodox, they are certainly effective. Eventually, Mame meets the perfect man for her, and her fortunes are restored and she's back to her madcap ways. Through everything, though, Mame remains strong and resolute in her beliefs of equality and what's best for the people around her. What starts off as a seemingly ridiculous little adventure with a ragtag cast of characters becomes a heartfelt testament to what family means, both with the family we are born with and the family that we make for ourselves, and how important it is to stay true to yourself, even in the face of adversity.

For me, this will be a book that I will go back to over and over again for the rest of my life. I adore it; I adore the character of Mame; and I adore the message that Patrick Dennis leaves us with this book. If you've never read it before, please give it a chance. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Ahhhh, Auntie Mame! You know, I haven't read the books but I was introduced to the Rosalind Russell movie as a wee child, and it remains one of my dearest favorites. I can watch it again and again and laugh every time.

>147 UnrulySun: - Read the books!! They're wonderful, and if you liked the Rosalind Russell film, I'm sure you'd love the books!

Sarah and I were invited to our local Indie's Pub Rep Breakfast this morning hosted by reps of the big 6 publishers and where they pushed their big releases for the next couple months and we got free books! We're both in something of a book stupor right now, truth be told. My stack included:

The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers
Ghost Hawk by Susan Cooper
Red Moon by Benjamin Percy
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic by Emily Croy Barker
The Kings and Queens of Roam by Daniel Wallace
The Curiosity by Stephen Kiernan
The Never List by Koethi Zan
Babayaga by Toby Barlow
How To Be a Good Wife by Emma Chapman
Under One Roof by Barry Martin
Fin & Lady by Cathleen Schine
Lookaway Lookaway by Wilton Barnhardt
The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes
Rooftoppers by Katherine Rundell
Mrs. Poe by Lynn Cullen
The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer
Visitation Street by Ivy Pochoda
Someone: A Novel by Alice McDermott
The Edge of Normal by Carla Norton
Boy Nobody by Allen Zadoff

AND the other day, I got a surprise copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman in the mail from the publisher. I'm reading it now. It's wonderful! I'll post up a proper review when I finish it this weekend.

I'm going to go stare at my books now...

That is a super haul of free books. I'm only familiar with 2 of them but hopefully they will all be winners.

Look forward to your review of the new Gaiman!

Oh MY! *fans self rapidly to ward off faint feeling*

OK, to continue the theme of awesome book hauls....

This past weekend I went to Chicago and attended the ALA Book Expo. 61 books later (50 for me, 11 for other friends), I feel I had a pretty good weekend! lol

Ship Breaker by Paolo Bacigalupi (signed)
The Drowned Cities by Paolo Bacigalupi (signed)
Splintered by A.G. Howard
Ink by Amanda Sun (signed)
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (signed)
Every Day by David Levithan (signed)
Raven Girl by Audrey Niffenegger (signed)
If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt (signed)
Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis
Inhuman by Kat Falls
The Lost Kingdom by Matthew J. Kirby
Wild Born by Brandon Mull
The Time Fetch by Amy Herrick
The Tilted World by Tom Franklin
Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi (signed)
Mister Max: The Book of Lost Things by Cynthia Voigt
Antigoddess by Kendare Blake
Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow
The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel by Deborah Hopkinson (signed)
The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde
Blood of Tyrants by Naomi Novik (signed)
The Facades by Eric Lundgren (signed)
The Panopticon by Jenni Fagan
The Twistrose Key by Tone Almhjell (signed)
The Midnight Promise by Zane Lovitt (signed)
A Boy Called Dickens by Deborah Hopkinson (signed)
Whistling Past the Graveyard by Susan Crandall
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes (signed)
The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes (signed)
The Humanity Project by Jean Thompson
Anno Dracula: Johnny Alucard by Kim Newman
Unbreakable by Kami Garcia
Mother, Mother by Koren Zailckas
Teardrop by Lauren Kate
The Rules for Disappearing by Ashley Elston
The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater
Alex by Pierre Lemaitre
Zen of Wonder by Frank Beddor (signed)
Red Rising by Pierce Brown
The Rathbones by Janice Clark
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Article 5 by Kristen Simmons
These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman
Songs of Willow Frost by Jamie Ford
Relic by Heather Terrell
Sunday You Learn How to Box by Bil Wright
Entangled by Amy Rose Capetta

Holy cats! That's an impressive haul of books from ALA.

Edited because David is not Lori, at least not on LT. Sorry, David!

Ergh! David, just aaargh!

Amazing haul! And even more amazing is that we only have one book overlap, despite the fact that we were collecting books at the same conference! I do envy you the Naomi Novik one, though -- I missed out on that!

>153 rosalita:, 154, 155: Thanks! Between that Publisher Rep breakfast I went to a couple weeks ago with Sarah and ALA, I really shouldn't need to buy any more books for the rest of the year! (HA! We'll see how long that lasts! lol)

And foggidawn, they had I think maybe 5 on a table Sunday morning after the HarperCollins breakfast, and I just happened to be in the right place at the right time to grab one, I think. How did you do on your book haul? Anything you were super excited about getting?

In fact, I was in the right place at the right time several times. When I got to see both Audrey Niffenegger and Paolo Bacigalupi (these were the only books I purchased the entire weekend, just so I could get them signed), they had no one in their lines when I wandered past, so I had a chance to chat with each of them for several minutes. Paolo Bacigalupi was freaking adorable and so nice, I just wanted to pack him up with my books and take him home too. Of course, I decided at the last minute that being arrested at ALA for the aggravated kidnapping of an author probably wouldn't be in my best interest, so I left him there. lol

Bwahahaha! That's a great mental image.

#156: LOL at the author kidnapping idea! My most exciting finds were The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud, Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein, The Real Boy by Anne Ursu, and Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman. I posted a full list of everything I got on my own thread.

>158 foggidawn:: Oh my gosh! I never saw the Neil Gaiman or I would have been all over that! So cool that you got one, tho!!

#159:I picked that one up the first night -- I'm sure they ran out quickly.

So, this happened last night.




My friend Ann took this picture during his Q&A.

That right there is Neil Gaiman. I got to meet him last night. I got to shake his hand last night. I'm a little excited about that fact, not going to lie.

Nicola's Books hosted Neil Gaiman in Ann Arbor last night at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor (his only stop in Michigan!) on his final US tour for his new book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane (which is a beautiful, terrifying book - I'll have a proper review posted up this week). He ended up arriving almost an hour and a half late due to circumstances wildly out of his control (the unfortunate airline crash in San Francisco on Saturday). However, he was a the theater within 45 minutes of touching down at DTW and was apologetic, humble and sincerely grateful that we all waited patiently for him. Before he came out on stage, he scarfed down some sushi and then signed 200 books for people that couldn't stay for the signing after the reading. He read a little from The Ocean at the End of the Lane, answered some audience questions that had been written on note cards prior to his arrival, told some funny stories about his travels getting to us, and then read some from Fortunately, the Milk, his kid's book coming out in September. He then ran off to the signing table and signed I don't know how many books for all 1700+ people in the theater, never complaining, always smiling and having a kind word for each person, even though the team from Nicola's had that line running like a well-oiled assembly line machine.




In line, waiting for the signing.




Getting closer!




Almost there!




He's right there!! (And the lovely Nicola herself helping the line move along)




And... a blurry picture of Neil Gaiman signing my book! **squeeeeee**

The man was fantastic. He was never grumpy about all the people that were there, waiting to get books signed. He made the theater change the signing rules back to what they were supposed to be. Originally, we could get as many copies of Ocean signed as we wanted, and then one additional item. Because of his delay, the theater changed it to one item total. Neil let them know on the way from the airport that he wanted it back to the original rules, since it wasn't our fault that he was late. So yeah, Neil Gaiman is a superstar in my book.

After he signed my books, he took the time to shake my hand and thanked me for being patient. I'm a little sad that he won't be touring anymore in the US, but I can understand why he can't do it anymore. The number of people there last night was amazing, and I can't imagine how late he was there, as we left somewhere around 11pm, and there was still probably half of the theater left to still go through the signing line.

Needless to say, the evening was a rousing success and props to Neil Gaiman, Nicola's and the Michigan Theater for helping to make such a fantastic night.

And make sure to stop by Sarah's thread at some point and ask her about being HUGGED BY NEIL GAIMAN. Yeah, because that happened last night too!!

Is that a fountain pen???

>162 PensiveCat:: Yes it is. They had to stop to refill it several times.

Nice. A man after my own heart!

I AM SO JEALOUS OF YOU RIGHT NOW!

FANTASTIC!! What a great guy, how nice!

What a fantastic experience!!!

OMG - it WAS fantastic!!! =)

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
5+ stars!

I'm not entirely sure that I would be able to do justice in describing Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane. The book is equal parts nostalgia, beauty, terror, and magic. Nostalgia for a simpler time when magic was all entirely too possible for a young child; the book is beautifully written, nothing forced, it just is; Gaiman's writing is capable of creating such terrifying imagery to what can scare a child, something that would not be possible in less deft hands; Gaiman has created a magic all his own for adults, by reminding us that once upon a time, our childhood selves did believe in magic, and somehow he reawakens that sense of wonder in this small volume he has crafted. It's a wonder that such a slim little book is capable of manifesting so many emotions in such a short time. This is Neil Gaiman we're speaking of, so of course it really comes as no surprise to me when I really think about it.

I think I may just leave this review, for what it's worth, at that. I mean, I could go on and on about the book, but I don't want to give anything away. The magic of the book is in letting it speak for itself, telling you its story, and letting you take it all in.

So, if I haven't made it obvious, this is a book worth reading. I know it will be topping my list of books for the year, and I know it's going to be one that I will be revisiting over and over again through the years. This book and I are going to become best friends.

Go and read it. Read it again. You won't be sorry.

I'm 104th in line out of 170 at the library...Can't wait!

I loved the new Gaiman too!

The Wednesday Daughters by Meg Waite Clayton
5 stars

So, I'm not going to lie. When I received The Wednesday Daughters in the mail, I anxiously picked it right up and started reading, having loved Meg Waite Clayton's two previous novels. Then I thought for a moment that I was reading something a little too familiar. I felt like The Wednesday Daughters was treading too similar waters, that the characters from The Wednesday Sisters had been dropped into the setting of The Four Ms Bradwells, where friends go off to a cottage in the woods to deal with a major life change. Well, I was wrong. Yes, it does seem at first as if the Daughters borrow heavily from her previous two novels, but that's not really the case. At all.

The book opens with three of the Wednesday Daughters, Julie, Anne Page, and Hope, arriving at Ally's (Hope's mother) writing cottage shortly after Ally's death. They've come here to help Hope sort through her mother's belongings, and almost immediately on their arrival, Hope begins to discover there is an entire portion of her mother's life that she didn't know about. What follows is a lovely story on the discovery of family ties and friendships, and how those ties can bind, even through the years and beyond death.

Intermixed in the story is a biography of sorts of Beatrix Potter. Ally had been working on this biography when she died, and how Clayton has her go about working on it is actually quite clever.

Quite frankly, once I really got into the story, I couldn't put it down. I actually read the entire book in two sittings, and I'm honestly embarrassed by my initial reaction to the book. Meg Waite Clayton has clearly had some amazing female friendships in her lifetime, as she knows how to write about them and create realistic and believable characters and the experiences and emotions, both good and bad, that flow between friends who are more family and who have known each other their entire lives. I liked how Daughters isn't a direct sequel to Sisters. Yes, there is mention of the Wednesday Sisters from the first book, and there are even guest appearances, but this isn't really their story. This story deals directly with the Wednesday Daughters, and the challenges that their generation can face in the real world. You don't need to read Sisters to enjoy Daughters, but being familiar with the first book does enhance the reading experience for Daughters.

I love Meg Waite Clayton's writing. She writes in such a familiar fashion that is so easy to read, and moves the story along with such beautiful imagery. I enjoy her characters, I enjoy her pacing, I enjoy her language. So basically, ignore everything I said at the beginning of this review and pick up the book. If you've read her previous novels, you'll be reminded why Clayton is such a great writer, and if you are new to her writing, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

Highly recommended and happy reading!

*MUSt......RESIST.....book........bullets!*

>172 ronincats:: Resistance is futile! lol

So, I've been reading, just not writing about what I've been reading... I'm a slacker like that. I read Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint recently for my book group. This was my first experience with de Lint and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get around to reading him. I'll definitely be picking up more from him in the future. I also read (again) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd for my book group, too. One of my favorite Christie stories!

My mom picked up William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher, which is absolutely hysterical. It's not great literature by any means, and I'm sure Shakespeare scholars would gag over this book, but the execution of telling the entire first Star Wars movie as a Shakespeare play is spot on. I'm honestly hoping they do some of the later movies in the same fashion.

I read a couple of the books I picked up at ALA. Raven Girl by Audrey Neffenegger is a modern day fairy tale that deals with the ethics and morals around scientific experimentation on humans and animals. I also read Deborah Hopkinson's A Boy Called Dickens, a picture book about Charles Dickens' childhood, where he was working while his entire family was in debtor's prison.

Eventually, I'll get around to writing something proper on each of these, but in the meantime, I picked up a new Doctor Who book this past weekend!



Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet by Gerry Davis
4/5 stars

This is a current reprint from BBC Books of a vintage Target Books novelization of the Doctor Who story, The Tenth Planet, the First Doctor's final adventure. Target Books would release novelizations of just about every Doctor Who episode, though not necessarily in the order that they serials were released to television. For instance, Doctor Who and the Tenth Planet was released in 1976, while the serial it was based on was broadcast in 1966. I have not seen the episodes this novelization was based on, but I'm familiar with the events and feel like the novel did a more than adequate job of translating the story to print. In fact, I think given that the story was written a decade after the episodes aired, Davis was able to improve on the story in some ways, since the future that was being described in the 1960s episodes was far closer to the 1970s story being told here. In the afterword, it is revealed that there are some changes made to the story, replacing scenes where the Doctor was missing from the aired episodes (William Hartnell was absent from an entire episode of filming due to illness, so changes to the script had to be made to include that absence), slight changes in time (the television episodes took place in 1986, the novelization takes place in 2000), and changes to the way the Doctor regenerated.

This adventure was also the introduction to the Cybermen, who came from Earth's sister planet Mondas, and who were coming to destroy the Earth. Mondas was a dying planet, and when it came back into our solar system, it started to leech power away from the Earth, so that eventually Earth would be laid to waste and Mondas would be a strong planet again. The Cybermen come to Earth to keep the security forces of the planet from interfering with the energy transference to Mondas. Naturally, the Doctor and his companions, Polly and Ben, find themselves in the right place at the right time (or the wrong place at the wrong time, depending on how you look at it), and the Doctor seems to know exactly what's going on and helps to defend the Earth.  Through the course of this adventure, the Doctor grows more and more weak, eventually resulting in his first regeneration.

I really enjoyed reading this novelization. One of the things that made it really work for me was how contemporary the writing and feel of the story is for something that was written 35 years ago. Had I not know when the story was written before I read it, I would have thought it had been written more recently. I felt that the changes Davis made to the story worked well, especially since he wrote the original screenplay for The Tenth Planet and is responsible for the creation of the Cybermen, and was asked by Target to write this novelization ten years later.

This is my first experience with the Target Books edition of Doctor Who stories, and I'm fairly sure I'll be picking more up as I find them.  Recommended for Doctor Who fans!

Popping in to say Hey David!

Raven Girl was on my radar, and now it's made it to the WL!

Spirit Animals Book 1: Wild Born by Brandon Mull
4/5 stars

Spirit Animals is the next series in Scholastic's multi-author, multi-platform, multimedia book series for middle graders, along with The 39 Clues and The Infinity Ring. I haven't had any experience with the other two series, so I don't know how this one holds up to those two, but when I saw this book available at ALA earlier this year, I thought I'd give it a chance.

I was actually pleasantly surprised by Brandon Mull's world building. He doesn't waste much time before we are thrown directly into the story and are given history to the character's world and mythology right away. In the world of Erdas, when a child turns 11, they are given Nectar to see if they can call a spirit animal to them. Not every child calls a spirit animal, and it is never known which animal they will call. The spirit animals become a companion to the child and they learn to work together, the child gaining some more than natural ability that is attributed to what their spirit animal is. When the animal is dormant, it becomes a tattoo on the person that it is bound to.

Four children from around the world (very deliberately multi-cultural, and very PC with 2 boys and 2 girls) each are given Nectar and they then each call one of the Four Fallen great animals of legend. It has been prophesied by a member of the Greencloaks (those in charge of protecting the Nectar and Erdas) that these four children were going to call on the great animals because their world is endangered as the Devourer, a great evil from the past, has also returned.

What follows from here is a fast paced adventure where the children must take on their first challenge and learn to work together with both themselves and their spirit animals. I really think this series will be a hit with both boys and girls, as Mull does a great job of portraying the kids in the book realistically, showing that kids can be smart and strong, but at that age, they still have insecurities to get over, and that it's OK to have those insecurities because their still young. I think the fantasy elements will go over well with kids, as they are portrayed as grand in scope, but not overwhelming, so I think a younger audience will really go for this.

I'll be picking up the next book to see how the continuing authors carry on with the groundwork that Mull has set. The next book in the series, which if the cover is anything to go on deals with the wolf spirit animals, is written by Maggie Steifvater, who is no stranger to wolf-based fiction with her Shiver Trilogy for young adults. That book will be released in January, 2014.

You can pick up a copy of Spirit Animals, Book 1: Wild Born by Brandon Mull from Scholastic on September 10, 2013, at your favorite bookstore!

Night Film by Marisha Pessl
4/5 stars

Marisha Pessl's sophomore novel, Night Film, is a hard creature to categorize. Part occult thriller, part mystery, part WTFery, part paranormal chiller, part crazy, drug-induced reading material, I had no idea half the time where the story was going. I kept thinking, "Oh, this must be It! The Thing. The Thing causing all the crazy in these people's lives!" But no, I was wrong, every time.

The book opens with the apparent suicide of Ashley Cordova, daughter of legendary film director Stanislas Cordova, whose films are so gut wrenching and insanity inducing that they have been more or less banned from theaters and only available as bootlegged editions or played in catacombs around the world in the middle of the night (hence, the name, Night Film. Disgraced journalist Scott McGrath (who became a disgraced journalist due to his earlier work trying to uncover the secrets around Cordova) decides to investigate Ashley's death, to see if there is more to it than a simple suicide. What follows is this rabbit hole of a twisty, turny nightmare for Scott and Hopper and Nora, two people Scott reluctantly take on as "assistants" and who may or may not have something more to do with Ashley than they initially let on.

The story starts off relatively normal (for lack of a better word), but with each discovery made about Ashley's life, the stranger the turns in the story become. Most of it seems highly implausible, but the nature of the book makes even the most implausible turns in the story seem plausible in this book's particular world. Once the characters start down the rabbit hole of piecing together the last couple of days of Ashley's life, the reader needs to stop trying to make sense of what is happening in the story. Just go with it. It inevitably works in the end, even though there are sections of the book that made me feel that I may have been going a bit crazy myself. This is the thing with Pessl; I don't know that I can honestly say that she's a great writer. She's a good writer, just not great. What she is great at, though, is telling a story. Crafting it, honing it, making you feel a little like you're going down your own rabbit hole while reading the story, and when you finally come out the other end, you're left honestly wondering what just happened. It's been several days since I finished Night Film, and I can honestly say I don't really know what to make of the book. There are bits referenced towards the end of the book that I don't actually remember reading, but I'm sure are there. There are bits of the story that I had to read two or three times to make sure I could understand what exactly was happening, and I'm still not entirely sure I know what was going on. Most of what I'm talking about doesn't occur until the last 1/4 of the book, but once you read it, you'll know what I'm talking about. So, Pessl isn't a great writer, but she's able to carry off a damned good story over the course of a 600 page book with her own style and sense of ease.

However.

Dear lord, somebody needs to tell that woman that intelligent readers are able to figure out when emphasis or sarcasm are being implied in writing, and she doesn't need to italicize Every. Single. Instance. Every. Single. Time. No joke. Pessl wields italics like a child with a new toy; as if she just discovered the italicize function on her computer, so therefore must use it everywhere. There are at least 6-10 italicized words/phrases per page. PER PAGE! When you take into account this book clocks in around 600 pages, that is a staggeringly overused amount of italics. It's not always used for inner dialogue. If there was quite a bit of inner dialogue, that would be one thing, but sometimes it's just random words in a paragraph. Maybe she does it on purpose, and I'm sorry to keep going on about this, but damn, it is seriously distracting. I would find myself ripped out of the story, just to count the number of instances per page. Less is more, Marisha Pessl. Less is more.

OK. I got that out of the way. (Seriously. The italics bugged me. A lot.)

Now, I also need to talk about a very, very cool aspect of this book. Pessl is clearly very aware of the digital age we live in, so uses some very clever techniques in the book to create a sort of multimedia presentation in print form. Included within the pages of the story are text messages, web pages, court documents, phone transcripts, photos, magazine articles, etc., all of which help to tell the story and carry it along. These techniques also help to blur the line between fiction and reality, giving the book a slightly otherworldly feel, almost as if we may actually be reading the true account of the real-life journalist Scott McGrath and his real-life investigation into the larger-than-life, mysterious presence that is Stanislas Cordova.

And just take a moment to appreciate that cover up there. I LOVE the cover on this book. Whoever put the entire package of this book together did a bang up job.

So, I guess I can recommend the book, but with some reservation. I don't think it's going to be for everyone, but no book ever is, right? All I know is that Marisha Pessl impressed me enough that I picked up her first book, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, and am looking forward to starting that. If you like something a little out of the ordinary, something that is a little unique, you'd be hard-pressed to find something better than Night Film.

Nice review. I've added it to my TBR...

>178 drneutron:: Thanks! I'd be interested to see your perspective on it.

William Shakespeare's Star Wars by Ian Doescher
4/5 stars:

I'm fairly certain that one on going into this book is going to take it seriously. Shakespeareans and hardcore Star Wars fans could very well be appalled by the very existence of this book, but I think geeks in general will love this. The book is exactly what the title says it is, the entirety of Episode IV (A New Hope - here titled, Verily, A New Hope) presented in all the glory of iambic pentameter as if the Bard himself had written it, complete with archaic turns of phrase and punctuation. Ian Doescher is clearly well-versed in Shakespeare's writing style to have pulled this off so well.

Is it goofy? Yep. Is it a great work of literature? Nope. Is it still fantastic fun? Hell, yes! Do I want to see the other two episodes from the original trilogy presented just the same? Absolutely! Everything about the book and presentation, from the writing to the illustrations of scenes from the movie as if they were from an Elizabethan stage production (the illustrations are made to look like wood engravings) is just spot on to create a book that is damn fun to read.

Sometime soon, I think I may need to pop the Bluray of A New Hope in and read this while watching it at the same time. That should be an interesting combination! Happy reading!

Haha! I keep seeing this book in the shops and online... I'm not a SW fan (I know I KNOW) but your review makes me want to see what the fuss is about. :)

I guess you've seen Vader's Little Princess as well?

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black
3.5/5 stars

I'm not going to lie, I was a little concerned going into The Coldest Girl in Coldtown. I've been mildly burnt out on YA recently, with many of the current reads seeming vaguely formulaic. The biggest thing that constantly bugged me was the inevitable love triangle between the heroine and the two (predictably) hot guys, one being the friend who may or may not be already involved with the heroine, and then the "bad" guy, who may or may not actually be bad, but is clearly out of the heroine's comfort zone. A fellow reader told me that Coldest Girl was not like that, yet when the book opens with our heroine, Tana, waking up after a party to find everyone in the house dead with the exception of her ex-boyfriend and another vampire, I immediately thought, "Sigh. Another love triangle. And so soon!" I trust my friend, though, so I persevered and continued on without setting the book down after the first couple of chapters, and I'm not disappointed I did.

Black constructs some nice world building around her vampires and what it takes to infect a person and turn them into a vampire. Instead of an instantaneous transformation, humans can come down with an infection, known as going Cold, and it is possible to fight off the infection and not turn. Yet, if an infected human drinks human blood, then they will turn into a vampire. In order to quarantine both those infected and turned, certain cities across the country are walled off (known then as Coldtowns) and those inside try to get by as best they can. Like most of Black's stories, this isn't a fairytale world. These Coldtowns are dirty, grungy, dangerous places with their own sense of glamour and beauty.

Tana proves to be a strong protagonist throughout, not generally needing help from others. This was refreshing, as is the fact that this is a stand alone story. Black seems to have intentionally tried to downplay anything that makes for a "typical" YA paranormal story these days: Trilogies. Strong, but not strong, female protagonists. The love triangle. All of these things are almost there, but she pulls back before toppling too far into that territory, and for that I'm thankful.

Black's writing again leaves me in a love/hate relationship. Her writing is solid and clear, yet it always leaves me wanting. I'm never quite sure what I want, but it always seems that whatever that "thing" is that will push me over the edge to simply loving her writing is always just out of reach for me. The Coldest Girl in Coldtown is really good storytelling, and fans of her work shouldn't be disappointed and should be a good introduction for those not familiar with her work.

Perfect Ruin by Lauren DeStefano
5/5 stars

I'll just put it right out there, I love Lauren Destefano's writing. Love it. Several years ago, I received an ARC of Wither, the first book in The Chemical Garden Trilogy, and I honestly wasn't so sure about it. Based on the blurb, I didn't think I was going to like it at all, and to be honest, after reading, I still wasn't so sure but I liked the premise and world-building enough to check out the second book, Fever. That was when my love was firmly cemented for her writing. Now, to be fair, I haven't yet read Sever, the final book in the trilogy, only because I wasn't ready for the books to end and didn't want to wait too long until her next book came out. I'll be remedying that this week.

To see the jump in crafting her writing from Wither to Fever, and now onto Perfect Ruin, has been a pleasure. DeStefano is clearly learning how to hone her writing, and it is obvious in Perfect Ruin. Her style is so immersive and minimalist, she can pull you into a story with such little effort and ease. I quickly grew attached to not only the main characters of the story, but the secondary characters as well. Everyone in the book is an important part in how the story plays out, and she doesn't squander any of her characters.

The story takes place on Internment, a floating city in the sky above what I believe is Earth. Because of the limited space for the current population and no room for an increase in that number, the people of Internment live by some fairly strict rules set in place by the ruling family to make sure the peace is kept (Betrothals, birthing queues, forced lifespans among these rules). The people of Internment live in a forced peace, mostly content with their lives on the floating island, but there are some that wonder what is at the edge of Internment and what is on the ground below them. Those that get too close to the edge are never the same afterward, having been changed both mentally and sometimes physically by the experience, but what it is that forces these changes is never quite explained. In fact, while there is a tremendous amount explained about the workings of the city of Internment (if not explained outright, then through the explanations and reactions of the characters), but there is so much left to discover: What is Internment, exactly? Why is it floating above the Earth? What keeps it afloat? Much of this is kept secret from the reader, much like the residents of Internment are kept in the dark, and I think (hope) we'll find out the answers to these questions as they do. (I already have my suspicions. I'll be curious to see if I'm correct or not.)

These and many more questions secretly float around in the head of Morgan Stockhour. She knows that these thoughts would label her as an irrational, but much like her brother, Lex, who did get to close to the edge of Internment and is now paying the price, she can't get the thoughts out of her head. She knows that she should follow the rules, finish her schooling, marry her betrothed, and carry with her life like she should. She just can't; her mind wanders to the edge too frequently. When the first murder in a generation occurs, it throws the tight knit community into turmoil. Morgan finds herself in increasingly difficult situations, she slowly begins to realize that life on Internment may not be all that it seems to be. The cliffhanger ending to the book is pitch perfect, seriously leaving me gasping for more! I finished the last sentence and had to put the book down for a moment before going back and re-reading the last bits again. The sense of adventure and wonder that I was left with was palpable and I can't believe that I have to wait until who knows when for the next book. Alas and alack, first world problems and all that, right?

Needless to say, DeStefano has created a damned fine book. She avoids some of the YA stereotypes in this volume (Hello, lack of love triangle! So refreshing to see you again!) which I find as a huge plus for this book. Her characters are believable, and I feel for each and everyone of them. The mystery of Internment is fantastic, and as for what that happens next? Well, I will be waiting with bated breath for the next volume of The Internment Chronicles. Thank you, Lauren DeStefano, for crafting us such a fantastic book!

Perfect Ruin will be available October 1, 2013.

Well, you got me with Wither!

Hi David! Good to see you enjoyed both the Black and the DeStefano. I have the Black waiting on me in the other room, and the other is on the WL.

>184 drneutron:: I'll be interested to see what you think of Wither, Jim.

>185 UnrulySun:: Yeah, for having been trying to keep myself away from YA right now, I'm was very pleased with both of these books!

And I think it will be time to move this on to a new thread!! Please follow along! =)

183: Delurking to say that I'm glad that DeStefano's next book looks to be a good one. I blazed through her Chemical Gardens trilogy and am exciting to see what she does next!