In My Mailbox (1)

Here are just a few titles I picked up this week. They’re all sitting on my nook hoping to be my next read! This is my first attempt, not only with the meme “In My Mailbox” hosted by The Story Siren, but also with making a video. I will warn you…the quality is not great (note to self: clean the house so as to have more filming choices next week!). Plus, I may uhm and pause a bit, and my husband noticed some type of lip smacking ordeal that I was wholly unaware I did, lol. I promise to work on it all for next week…Critique and Encouragement welcome 😉

Books Featured:

– From Library –

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

Boy Meets Girl by Meg Cabot

Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

The Girl who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen

– Purchased –

Lips Touch by Laini Taylor

Moonglass by Jessi Kirby

Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Die for Me by Amy Plum

P.S.

Happy Father’s day to my Dad

He reads this blog every day and shares the link with everyone he meets. He must love me lots, because the Fallen series can’t possibly be his cup of tea 😉

Love you Dad! Thanks for always supporting me!

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Torment (Fallen #2) by Lauren Kate

Review

I love this series. The first book, Fallen, was so delicious. This series is just yummy. That being said…I have to admit…I hate the second in a series of four. I would bet, even if I’d never read a book in the series, that the main character is going to be frustrated and confused. Thus, as a reader, you’re going to be frustrated and confused.

Torment does not disappoint in this aspect. This book begins as Luce finds herself shipped off to a boarding school in California called Shoreline. Daniel (Luce’s insta-lover-angel-hottie-boyfriend) brings Luce into this new school blind. He flies her into Shoreline and drops her off with very little prep time, while also refusing to answer any of her questions…I was as annoyed as Luce.

I was really hoping that in this second installment I would learn more about the Angel/Demon community and Luce’s role in it. I mean, Luce has been brought to Shoreline because it’s an exceptional school for developing Angel/Demons called Nephilim. The Nephilim are a talent group of students descended from celestial blood. They attend a special program within Shoreline that teaches them how to hone their special powers as well as give them the knowledge with which to pick a side…good or bad…angel or demon. So there should be lots of info available about Luce’s past lives. Students mention quite frequently in the beginning of the novel that they learned of her forever love affair in textbooks. Why Luce couldn’t just pick one of these up is beyond me…I would have been on that faster than crispy bacon. She apparently has more willpower than myself, or she’s too blind to see the easy route.

Also, throughout this novel the reader is poked, prodded, and inundated with the idea that good and bad isn’t a clear-cut idea; remember, as Cam says: “The victors rewrite history” (pg 332). But it never goes further than that statement. Never as a reader do I see a reason why going bad may be a good idea. Never does Luce hear a reason as to why picking Satan is a good call. Can we say FRUSTRATED…

Now, I will give the Shoreline teachers a break here. Luce spends less than 3 weeks at the school and she spends most of her time illegally searching out and viewing what the shadowy Announcers have to say. While it’s a super cool talent, Luce is warned away from it so many times it makes me wonder if she’s got some type of learning disability…’cause she keeps doing it. This novel is basically about everyone and their brother protecting Luce, killing things for Luce, and reprimanding Luce for her poor choices. I mean really, all Luce has to do is stay on Shoreline’s campus. Not the hardest thing to do given she’s only there for 3 weeks. But nope, this girl is running away like it’s her job…

But wait…I can’t fully blame Luce either. Through all that protecting and reprimanding no one, and I mean NO ONE, gives her a viable piece of information with which to make an informed decision. She has no idea that she’s being hunted. She doesn’t know what her role in this story is. And Daniel is a bit of a jerk, treating her more like a spoiled child than the lover and partner she is. If someone would just give us a little intel I’m sure Luce would make better decisions. And as a reader I’d feel a little more satisfied by this title.

But even after all that frustration…I’m still hooked.

Even the text is reminding me to forge ahead: “Sometimes beautiful things come into our lives out of nowhere. We can’t always understand them, but we have to trust in them. I know you want to question everything, but sometimes it pays to just have a little faith.” (pg. 358)

I’m dying to find out if my theories are right. I won’t go into them because they’re spoilers. I’ll just say that the whole thing ends in another very climactic battle scene that brings back some familiar faces…and causes some major separations. So as annoyingly un-educational as this novel was I have faith that it’s just setting me up for an awesome third book…That I’m starting right now…

Rating: 7/10

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Library Musings…My Assistant is Leaving Me…

My assistant is leaving me!

Oh, The Horror!

We have spent 3 years “spending way too much time together” and I have no idea how I’m going to function without her. She’s moving on to an internship that will help her finish her degree in School Psychology and though I wish her well, I also wish she could stay in graduate school indefinitely and assist me with the trials and tribulations of the school library forever. As anyone who has ever worked in a library knows…the assistant and the librarian are inseparable. And to find someone you click with for 9 hours a day 5 days a week is rare. Ms. Katz has become more than my assistant…she’s become one of my closest friends…tear…

So, yesterday on our last day together as official boss and assistant Ms. Katz gifted me with knowledge on how to better be a mean boss. Apparently in the 3 years we spent together I was not “mean” enough. She put together my own personal How to be a Mean Boss for Dummies book.

Chapters included:

Time off…Denied! This section contained such tips as “When inquiring about time off, “shush” the employee into submission” and “If [the employee] misses two days in a row, they are on printer duty, indefinitely.” I guess with my next assistant I should deny a few of their days off. Not everyone should get to visit their nieces and nephews when they want 😉

The Art of the Frienemy I picked up a few choice reactions here as well…”If what the employee is saying is not important to you, cut them off and talk about you” as well as “Bring in baked goods. Make sure to keep the best choice cookie for yourself.”

How Do You Like Them Apples Had Michael Scott approved insults: “No, no keep talking! I always yawn when I’m interested…”

And finally,

Seriously? Seriously. (The Assistants Perspective) These were tear-inducingly funny with one-liners about library life that are, probably, only funny for librarians. There were humorous references to “Signing in” (for some reason students HATE to do this), “Digital means never moving books again” (we spent the entire year shifting every book in our library…dusty job, let me tell you), and “Stop giving out pencils” (why do students come to make-up tests with nothing to write with…we easily go through 3 industrial-size packs of pencils a year!)

The last part of the gift was a really sweet letter…and…a “Please ask me about my Staplers!” mug. Had me laughing to tears! All that education, the research skills, the literary knowledge, and yet my number one asked question is…

“Do you have a Stapler?”

Yes, yes I do…just look down…it’s right in front of you…

Nothing like seeing all that academia reduced to simple mechanics…

Lets just say I’m really going to miss my friend being there for all the laughs, and all the frustrations. There is no one I’d rather man a check-out desk with. The next assistant has some pretty big shoes to fill!

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Waiting on Wednesday (1) The Wild Rose by Jennifer Donnelly

Waiting on Wednesday is a blog post hosted by Breaking The Spine in which bloggers post about up-coming releases they’re dying to read.

My Pick:

The Wild Rose (publication date: August 2, 2011)

I simply devoured Donnelly’s first two…The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose…and am currently waiting very impatiently for August to come…

Summary From Library Journal:

As in Donnelly’s The Tea Rose and The Winter Rose, a pair of lovers must survive misunderstandings, betrayals, physical dangers, and emotional upheavals before they find happiness. After a climbing mishap on Kilimanjaro, Seamus Finnegan manages to save Willa Alden’s life, but she loses one of her legs. Embittered and despairing, Willa seeks refuge in Tibet, while Seamus gains fame through polar expeditions. When the novel opens eight years later, in 1914, Europe is poised on the brink of war. Amid social and political ferment, Seamus marries Jennie Wilcott, pregnant with his child. Willa’s return for her father’s funeral results in a passionate affair that ends abruptly when Willa’s brother confronts her. By 1918, Willa is using her photography skills in Arabia to support Tom (T.E.) Lawrence’s spy network, while Seamus commands a navy ship in the Mediterranean. Their paths converge at several points as they survive disasters such as a plane crash, a submarine attack, imprisonment, and torture. Familiar characters from the earlier novels also reappear. VERDICT Donnelly skillfully integrates historical detail while entwining multiple plotlines in a fast-paced narrative. Readers of the earlier books will be especially eager for this volume, which should also earn the author new fans.

What’s your “waiting on” pick this week?

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My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult

BookTalk

Kate Fitzgerald has a rare form of leukemia. Her sister, Anna, was conceived to provide a donor match for Kate. Anna gives her health for procedures that become increasingly invasive. At birth Anna gave stem cells at 13 Anna is expected to give a kidney. As this final surgical effort to save Kate is being planned Anna hires a lawyer to sue her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used. Meanwhile, Jesse, the neglected oldest child of the family, is out setting fires, which his firefighter father, Brian, inevitably puts out.

There seems to be no easy answer, and readers are likely to be sympathetic to all sides of the case. This is a real page-turner and frighteningly thought-provoking. The story shows evidence of thorough research and the unexpected twist at the end will surprise everyone.

Review

It’s been quite a while since I’ve read this book. And I’ll let you know: I really liked it. But it was too long ago actually give my personal reaction in relation to the story. So this isn’t so much of a review as the reasons why I love this book in my library.

I suggest it to my students for their outside reading projects all the time. The writing isn’t amazing, but it reads fast, tackles hot-topic-issues, always makes you cry…and…most importantly…is completely different from the movie!

AhHa! I am an evil Librarian 😉

It forces students to read the book. But, trickery aside, what’s great is that everyone I’ve given this title to has finished the book. Like, really read it, really finished it. And every student has come back to me with a tear in their eye and rave reviews. It’s high school library gold. So the discussion of literary value aside, I’ll take this title for its ability to actually entice students to read…and enjoy it.

This is a sure-fire teen suggestion that they’ll like and be able to write a paper on.

Rating: 8/10

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Going Bovine by Libba Bray

BookTalk

“As a kid, I imagined lots of different scenarios for my life. I would be an astronaut. Maybe a cartoonist. A famous explorer or rock star. Never once did I see myself standing under the window of a house belonging to some druggie named Carbine, waiting for his yard gnome to steal his stash so I could get a cab back to a cheap motel where my friend, a neurotic, death-obsessed dwarf, was waiting for me so we could get on the road to an undefined place and a mysterious Dr. X, who would cure me of mad cow disease and stop a band of dark energy from destroying the universe.” pg. 203

Cameron is a bit of a loner…well, maybe a loser. At 16 he’s floating through life, C+ student, a stoner, and the closest friend he may have is a dwarf he doesn’t know that he likes. Things are about to change. After some muscle twitches and a few visions of toasters bursting into flames Cameron is diagnosed with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, A.K.A. Mad Cow disease. While in the hospital a punk-rock-princess Angel sends Cameron on a Quixotic journey. With the help of Cameron’s dwarf friend Gonzo, they’re searching for Dr. X. Find the good Dr. and they’ll cure Cameron, find a gift for Gonzo…and save the world…sort of…

Review

Wow, I just finished this book and all I can say is that it was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever read. Simultaneously I feel as though…I may not be smart enough to ‘get’ this book…That I should have read Don Quixote…That I really did ‘get’ this book and it was wonderful!…That I should have stopped reading this book 30 pages in…This book made my head hurt…I should probably read this book again…Maybe I should smoke pot then read this book…Maybe I should read it again after reading Don Quixote…I need to YouTube the “Small World” ride…

There, you’re just as confused as me right now…This book was horrible and this book was awesome…

Going Bovine is a controversial book. Yet, it won the Printz. As you can tell I’m a little all over the place when it comes to my reaction to reading it. But if I’m choosing a team…I vote Team-I-Liked-This-Book. It’s a dark tale that mirror’s Quixote’s journey. I’d probably have lots of very literary things to say about the two books’ connections had I ever read Don Quixote…as you can tell from my wildly confusing opening…I haven’t…I’m a bad Librarian.

So that leaves me with the emotional reaction to the book. Know that the book is funny; it’s a dark comedy. Cameron is dying. His wild journey with friends is interspersed with clips from his time in the hospital. The hospital scenes serve as a reality touch-stone, badly needed in this acid-trip of a story. These hits of reality remind the reader that Cameron really is dying. Believe me, once you get sucked into Cameron’s crazy road trip you’ll see the need for the doses of death. You see, Cameron is a person who never really lived in his life and yet is given this chance to have an amazing adventure before his death. As a reader you’ll see Cameron grow and develop in ways your heart will ache to wish he had experience in real life…not just in this dream.

The plot is a crazy blend of philosophy and physics. Displaying messages about everything from how to live your life to the existence of parallel universes. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t know that I was smart enough for this book…I think I needed footnotes. Understanding all of the plot points aside, the message of this tale is really to live your life in the moment, take advantage of all it has to offer. I suppose, it’s not really about what your journey is…but that you take it. Not knowing how a Superconducting Super Collider works will not hinder your understanding of the take-away message.

Honestly, I’m still not positive I shouldn’t have read this on some type of illegal substance. Cameron himself spends quite a bit of time high…so it all might have been clearer to me. I’m not revealing any spoilers about the ending. But if you read it and you make it through, you may agree with me that the worth of this tale wasn’t about what actually happened in the story…but instead about the feeling you had when it was over. That you should be happy in whatever life you lead, and that you should live that life to the fullest.

Rating: 9/10

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Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen

BookTalk

The Waverly women are an intriguing bunch. Generations of these women are blessed with a touch of magic, and are given the care of an apple tree whose apples will reveal the biggest event in your life. Claire has taken over Waverly house, and its magical garden. She uses its flowers and herbs to run a successful catering business, where the dinner plans go beyond sustenance pairing food with a particular feeling the host wishes to impart. Roses in your cupcakes for love, Honeysuckle wine to see in the dark and reveal hidden truths. But while Claire’s gift has imparted success in her business it serves only to separate her from the community.

Sydney is running back home, back to the garden and magic she’s never embraced. Gifted with the ability to give the perfect hair cut and her daughter’s innate knowledge for where everything belongs. They are on their way to finding a home in Bascom. However, magic will not solve all problems and these women will have to repair their relationship and find strength in their hearts to receive the greatest gift of all…love.

Review

I liked this novel even more than my first read with Allen…The Peach Keeper. Garden Spells was Allen’s first novel and it contains more magical realism than her latest, The Peach Keeper. All of the magic is wonderful. Claire, Sydney, Bay, and even Aunt Evanelle are all gifted with a certain degree of magic. Claire can control the gifts of the family garden to elicit specific feelings in her diners. Sydney can give you a haircut that will change your life. Bay knows where everything belongs, from where the soup spoons go in your kitchen, to the person you’re meant to spend your life with. Although, of all the Waverly women Evanelle was my absolute favorite…she is taken over by an overwhelming need to give people gifts. The gifts are ones you’ll want to keep around as they will prove intimately necessary for you…from a ball of yarn needed a week later to finish a school project, to the condoms you were too embarrassed to use thus resulting in a pregnancy. When Evanelle gives a gift you use it!

The town of Bascom, North Carolina has relegated the Waverly women to the status of Odd-with-a-capital-O…and they wouldn’t be wrong. These women are definitely weird, but in a good way. The sisters in this story are haunted by the memories of their mother. Scarred in different ways by their upbringing, or lack thereof, Claire and Sydney have both run from the connection they need from their ancestral home…and each other. The magic of this story is delightful…like slipping into a cozy chair with a nice cup of coffee…But it simply adds a flourish on top of wonderful story of two women facing their fears and coming into their own.

Save this tale for a quiet morning. It’s a real girl’s book, full of beautiful things and hints of magic we all wish we had in our lives. Plus, at 200 pages, like Addison’s other works, it’s easy to devour in a short span. The problem is…you’ll want it to last for so much longer.

Rating: 8/10

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Feed by M. T. Anderson

BookTalk

When was the last time you left your house without your phone?

I’ll turn around halfway to work if I don’t have mine. I feel so disconnected if I don’t have it.

This chilling novel imagines a society dominated by the “Feed” a next-generation Internet/television/smartphone hybrid that is hardwired directly into the brain. Teen narrator Titus never questions his world, in which parents select their babies’ attributes in the conceptionarium, corporations dominate the information stream, and kids learn to employ the Feed more efficiently in School. But everything changes when he and his pals travel to the moon for spring break. There, Titus meets home-schooled Violet, who thinks for herself, searches out the truth, and asserts that “Everything we’ve grown up with, the stories on the Feed, the games, all of that it’s all streamlining our personalities so we’re easier to sell to.” Violet is not afraid to question things and is determined to fight the Feed…for a tragic reason she keeps to herself. Titus finds himself falling for Violet and awakening to the scary reality of his world. This satire offers a thought-provoking and scathing accusation that may prod readers to examine the more sinister possibilities of corporate and media-dominated culture.

Review

The scariest thing about this novel is how close to our reality it comes. Written in 2002 this story becomes ever more apt as the years pass. The citizens of Anderson’s world have a Feed inserted in their brain as babies creating a constant connection to society, practically from birth. Invasive as this may have sounded almost 10 years ago, we’d all have to admit that our own society is just as connected…if not in such a physical way.

In the book everything from entertainment, to social interaction, to sex is performed through the Feed. Not too different from the prevalence of YouTube, Facebook, or sexting. I’m sure there are people in our own society who would sign up in a heartbeat if someone offered to rid them of that pesky, and often lost item, ‘the cell phone’ for a more permanent direct connection. This novel hits hard the theme of corporate dominated culture. Showing how as a society we’re all trained to want the latest and best trends whether they be technological or a new hair style. The obsession with following these trends serving to limit our own free thought and creativity.

Anderson also includes an environmental aspect. The Earth of this novel is dying. Oceans have become inhospitable to life, women can no longer conceive naturally turning instead to in-vitro fertilization, and clouds can no longer form in our atmosphere. Again, the parallels of today’s world are scarily similar. While the environment is a secondary theme in this book it makes for great discussion given the Green trend that has formed in recent years.

What drives the reveal of these themes is the romance between Titus and Violet. Because of this Titus ends up dealing not only with the ramifications of his first true relationship but his own burgeoning awareness of the society he’s been trained to follow. He’ll deal with the loss of friendships and the weight that knowledge and adulthood bring. Titus does not end this story as a finished person. Instead the end only serves to bring Titus to his beginning as someone ready to fight the Feed.

Worry not, this book was published before the advent of the YA-series-explosion. It’s actually…gasp…a stand-alone novel, and a very good one at that. Again, the timelessness of this tale lies in it’s ever more accurate portrayal of our society. Take away the space-age setting and the physicality of the Feed and you’ll see a story too chillingly close to our own for comfort.

Rating: 9/10

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The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman

Review:

The layered tales in The Red Garden start as magical stories and culminate in a history of a town full of depth and feeling. It’s wonderful to see how stories from the beginning of the collection end up mentioned less and less realistically, less and less clearly, until they are part of the collective vocabulary of the town. To the modern resident they are ever-present and yet indefinable in their origins. As a reader you’ll begin to remember your own hometown folk stories. The rumors of a whirlpool in the lake, that road you didn’t drive on after midnight, even holding your breath as you biked past a certain house. Reading how Hoffman’s fictional town earned it’s legends you’ll wonder about the origins of your own.

Hoffman’s collection of stories present an extremely realistic view of a town. That being said, Hoffman’s tales do include her ever-present magical realism. A garden that turns all plants red. No matter what color a plant started as, they become blood-red for reasons exposed in the in the titular story. In another we meet a woman who may or may not have originated as a creature of the sea. Yet, while Hoffman’s blatant use of magic is enchanting, for the most part the magic in the stories is sutble…a woman and a bear who have a mother/child-like connection…a Johhny Appleseed who subsists on almost nothing…a woman who always brings you exactly what you need when you need it (like showing up on your doorstep with a basket of tomatoes when the craving hits). It’s truly the every-day magic that makes most of the stories special rather than common place. It’s that little bit of sparkle that makes a well told tale last through the generations.

Beyond the quiet enjoyment of watching a town history grow it’s the love that will keep you reading. Many of the tales follow stories of love lost and love taken. “Owl and Mouse” was one of my favorites, telling of a woman who walked her way into town and found the love of her life. The main character is a woman with her head in the clouds and her love is a blind man looking for the last adventure of his life. They have their day, and the memory of the dog forever. In “The Truth about my Mother” a child recounts the history of her mother as well as the tale of her entrance into the town and the beginnings of her second marriage. The daughter’s view is unique as she is at once a part of the story and yet, relegated to the edges of the town. Finally, my last favorite was “The Monster of Blackwell”. A love story in the theme of Beauty and the Beast with a more realistic ending. This one broke my heart in the best way possible.

This collection is a quiet work meant to be read with a cup of coffee and a comfy chair. Stories can be read singularly, but are best read continuously to build up the feeling of history…as well as remember each story correctly. At times they interlace and because many of the characters are named the same/from the same families, keeping everyone straight does present a problem. As does being aware of the passage of time. Hoffman skips around the years in a generally chronological manner, but heeds no structure to how long the gaps between stories are. Warning to the wise: take a note of the dates that start each story, it’ll help to orient you in time and with the family generations.

Rating: 6/10

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Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

BookTalk

Clay Jensen comes home from school and finds a package waiting for him…He’s excited…Nothing like an unexpected package – with no return addresss – to make your day. What Clay finds inside is a shoebox full of cassette tapes. What he hears when he inserts the first tape is the voice of Hannah Baker. Hannah, the girl he’d had a crush on, went to school with, and worked with at the movie theater. The girl who had changed, drastically, in the past few months.

Hannah Baker, the girl who committed suicide.

Clay soon realizes that these tapes aren’t just a suicide note, instead, these are thirteen reasons — thirteen people, to be exact — who created a snowball-effect of events that led Hannah to believe that suicide was her only option. But why is Clay on that list? How could he possibly be one of the reasons that she killed herself? You’ll learn along with Clay that it’s impossible to stop the future or rewind the past…

Review

The single saddest thing about this book is its cover! It catches female teen eyes like an Anthropologie display, but boys ignore it as soon as they see it. And it’s a travisty, really. This book is told from Clay Jensen’s point of view. True, you get a female voice through Hannah’s tapes but the action plays out based on a male perspecive. The book could have major crossover appeal if only guys weren’t so visual.

That aside, this is a great novel. What makes it so strong is that nothing too tragic happens to Hannah. The events and people she outlines as having led her to her final decision of suicide are seemingly normal teenage slights. The problem being…teenagers can be cruel. It’s violations caused by friends and the rumors based in untruths piling up over the course of years that become Hannah’s crushing weight. It’s enough to make anyone look back over their high school experience and wonder if they ever saw people clearly…not just through the lens of accepted gossip.

Another thing I love about this book is that it’s interactive. Readers can go to Asher’s site (http://www.thirteenreasonswhy.com) and listen to Hannah’s Tapes or even visit her Blog. If you think it’s a creepy/devastating prospect to read about Clay uncovering the reasons in the tapes…try listening to a real voice reading them. It adds an extra layer of realism that will not only drive the emotion of the story home, but remind readers that this story could be true. This book is timely in it’s subject given the recent press of teenage suicides caused by all too common bullying. The artistry of the book is that Hannah’s bullying is not extreme. She wasn’t ostracized or humiliated in a public place. Asher manages to restrain himself from employing all too common YA theatrics and drama. Instead, in real time with Clay the reader will learn how all of our actions and even our inaction can privately wound another person.

My one problem with the book was the addition of Clay becoming worried about another potential suicide risk within his school. I don’t think the book needed such a literal example of the lesson Clay learns from Hannah. It was a little after-school-special for my taste…but didn’t diminish my love of this book in the slightest. It’s a must read.

Rating: 9/10

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